A: Arrival of Memories / A New Year (Edited)

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It was junior year at Canterlot High, and a lot had happened in the months prior. Well, that would be an understatement. Many things have happened that have changed the way the students, as well as some of the faculty, perceived the world around them. sophomore year, Sunset Shimmer’s tyranny hit an all-time high, transforming into a she-demon and nearly enslaving the school, on top of the appearance of a Princess from a world populated by magical, talking, intelligent ponies.

Not too long after that, the school had the biggest musical competition ever held in the history of CHS, the infamous Battle of the Bands. This was originally a Musical Showcase, but thanks to the appearance of magical beings known as the Sirens, aka The Dazzlings, they almost managed to throw the school into chaos and hate and become the most powerful beings on the planet. It was also during this time that the local school rock band, the Rainbooms, stepped up and defeated the Dazzlings, with the help of Sunset Shimmer no less.

And now, more recently, the Friendship Games fiasco. A competition between CHS and Crystal Prep Academy, pitting their best students against each other. It was also during this competition that the aptly named “HuMANE Six” met this world’s Twilight Sparkle. A genius by all accounts but considered an outcast by her fellow Crystal Prep students. Needless to say, this caused a lot of confusion as well as frustration on the Six, although she looked and sounded like Princess Twilight, it was not her.

Even so it did not stop the Six from treating the girl with same friendliness and kindness that they showed Princess Twilight. The human Twilight Sparkle didn’t understand, having not been shown such kindness from anyone other than her family and some faculty, more specifically Dean Mi Amore Cadenza, but it all came to a fever pitch when Twilight was forced to unleash the magic she had stored within a device she invented, transforming her into a raven winged, dark angel, driven mad with the overwhelming amount of power she had taken in.

In the end, it was Sunset Shimmer who brought the troubled girl back to her senses. And, while things have appeared to regain some sense of normalcy, some things were still a little harder to deal with.

For Sunset, she took on the task of helping Twilight, despite the former Crystal Prepper being purified of her madness and dark persona, she still had to deal with the emotional baggage that came with her transformation. Sunset was more than willing to help her through it, having been through the same thing herself.

A new friendship had been created between these two, one that was much different from the one that she had with Princess Twilight. Although, Sunset was unsure how different it felt, but she didn’t dislike it. Though for some reason she did find herself staring at Twilight for longer than what would be considered normal, but that was nothing.

Today was just another normal day, with Sunset riding up to the school on her motorcycle. Some of the students waved to her and said “hi” as she rolled into the parking lot. Sunset had to admit, this was a lot better than getting angry glares and sneers from everyone. She dismounted her bike and propped the kickstand of her turquoise-colored speed bike. Sunset grinned when Twilight first got a look at it, she nearly freaked out, scared that Sunset was going to hurt herself. She had smiled and ruffled the nerdy girl’s hair playfully as she chuckled, Sunset appreciated the concern, and was even happy that Twilight was thinking about her safety like that, but she had been riding for bit in this world, it was easy for her.

Sunset took a deep breath in, the sun was shining, the other kids seemed to be in a good mood, and best of all, Sunset finally felt like she belonged in this world. It took a lot of hard work, stumbles, and tears, but it all paid off in the end. Now she had the future to look forward to. Sunset walked towards the quad, glancing about the other students as they mingled about with their friends and various cliques.

She stopped at the statue, the horse that had adorned the pedestal was still completely destroyed, except for the stubs of the legs and hooves. Luckily, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna managed to keep the pedestal and commission a new horse statue to be placed where the old one was. They realized how important this was to Sunset, since it was the only connection she had back to her home world, and you never know when a certain Princess might want to pay a visit.

The flame haired girl continued walking, entering the school. She gave a few waves of hi to some passing students, and noticed a few others, particularly, the couples. It sort of made Sunset feel a little uncomfortable, seeing some of them like that. Romance never crossed her mind before, but after your plans for world domination fall through, and you become more open to friendship, other things begin to take root and you start to notice things you would’ve normally never have given a second thought to.

One in particular caught her eye, despite their protests to the contrary, Lyra and Bonbon were closer than most would consider even for being “best friends”. Sunset was even sure she spotted a hickey on either girls’ necks at one time.

“Whatcha thinkin’ ‘bout?!”

“GAH?!” Sunset jumped back and assumed a combative stance, only to slump at who it was that nearly gave her a heart attack. “Pinkie, can’t you ever just – I don’t know – say ‘Hey Sunset!’ or ‘Sunset Shimmer, over here?!’”

“I could, but it’s just so boring and plain, besides, now you’re super alert because of the adrenaline boost from that scare, right?!” Pinkie asked.

I was already awake, now I’m just edgy.

In the end, Sunset let it go and walked side-by-side with Pinkie Pie down the hall to her locker. “So, where are the others?”

“Well, Rarity’s busy powdering her nose, Applejack’s helping out Apple Bloom with a project, Fluttershy’s secretly feeding her animals, and Rainbow Dash is practicing with the soccer team!”

When they reached her locker, Sunset put her helmet inside and counted off on her fingers. “That’s four, what about Twilight?”

“Oh, I think she’s in the lab right now?”

Sunset smacked her forehead. “Again?”

Pinkie nodded. “Again.”

“Ugh, I swear, that girl. She said she wanted to study friendship, but now she holds herself up in the lab and fiddles around with…whatever she’s making,” groaned Sunset. “You haven’t tried to get her out?”

“I could, but I think it’s better if you do it. She’s still a little skittish, Fluttershy and Applejack manage to get her out, but she likes it better when it’s you, Sunny!”

Sunset arched an eyebrow at that. “Me? Why me? I mean, yeah, I did help her turn back to normal, and yes I have helped her with the emotional trauma after the transformation, but still, why only me?”

Pinkie wiggled her eyebrows and shot the former bad girl a coy smile. “Why indeed?”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re implying something that the old me would’ve picked you up and thrown you into the nearest garbage can for?”

The cotton candy haired girl bounced up next to Sunset and patted her on the head, much to the annoyance of Sunset. “Don’t you worry, one day you’ll understand, when you’re older.”

“Pinkie, I’m old enough to be yours and Maud’s big sister,” said Sunset with a deadpan expression.

“Oh look, it’s Twilight!”

Sunset turned around, her eyes wide and lips curled into a grin, but then noticed that there was no one there. With narrowed eyes Sunset turned on her heel and glared at Pinkie Pie, who was sporting a grin that could match the Cheshire Cat.

“Gotcha~”

“PINKIE PIE!”

***___________________***

Twilight yawned loudly as she walked through the halls, escorted by Fluttershy, who had gone to check on their newest friend and found her slumped over her tray of breakfast stating, “I’m pancake”. As funny as it was, Fluttershy was a little concerned at how Twilight seemed to be getting less and less sleep. Everyone already knew she was a genius, her test scores and grades from Crystal Prep made that more than evident, so she really didn’t need to attend many classes, if none at all. Most of Twilight’s time at school was spent during her free periods, which she had a lot of, meeting up with the girls at lunch, or just plain dropping in on a class for the heck of it.

However, there was one part of the curriculum that Twilight wasn’t able to fully avoid, and that was PhysEd. Even though archery was required to be taken when she was at Crystal Prep, she wasn’t very good at it. Her performance at the Friendship Games was a testament to that. Still, she managed to skim by that, while her grades in the other areas more than made up for it.

Unfortunately, Crystal Prep and CHS differ in their PE classes a bit, so that meant Twilight had to attend PE classes whenever she was scheduled. In a way, she minded but not as much. When she took into account her physical performance at the Friendship Games, it made her realize how much she was neglecting her body in terms of physical condition. So, she bit the bullet and went to them, and they weren’t all bad. Occasionally the classes fell in line with either Rainbow Dash, Applejack, or Sunset’s PE classes.

Twilight suspected that it was less coincidence and more planning on the staff’s end. In any case she was grateful that at least she wasn’t going to be alone with total strangers during the classes, although the way everybody greeted her and talked to her, you’d think they were all friends from the start.

“*yawn*”

“Goodness, Twilight, will you be alright for PE? You’ve been yawning a lot, and you look really tired,” said Fluttershy with concern.

Twilight lightly chuckled and waved off Fluttershy’s concerns. “It’s fine, I’m fine, don’t worry. While, yes, I have been working rather extensively on a project that’s been on my mind every night for the past five weeks! It’s nothing to worry about, I assure you, I’m completely A-OK.”

Fluttershy eyed Twilight, seeing the stray hairs that stuck out of her bun, and she couldn’t help but notice the slight twitch from the bespectacled girl’s left eye.

“Okay…I still think you shouldn’t though…but be careful, fatigue combined with strenuous physical activity could make you sick, or you could hurt yourself,” Fluttershy cautioned.

Twilight smiled as she said, “No worries.”

With that, Twilight walked off down the hall towards the girl’s locker room. When Twilight was out of sight, Fluttershy quickly pulled out her cellphone and typed a quick text message to Sunset Shimmer.

[Twilight’s tired, tried to talk her out of PE, but wouldn’t listen. ☹

She won’t admit she’s tired, so keep an eye on her – if it’s not too much trouble, that is.

OH! And please don’t tell her I told you!]

***____________________***

Sunset had finished changing into her workout clothes when she received the text from Fluttershy, she gave a light chuckle at the end of Fluttershy’s message but understood. The flame haired girl released an exasperated sigh, she knew Twilight was pushing herself with whatever strange project she was up to, and she didn’t like it.

“Hey, Shimmer, you coming?” One of the other students asked.

“I’ll catch up in a bit,” Sunset responded.

It was practically empty in the locker room when Twilight finally entered, and like Sunset thought, she was looking around to see if anyone else was in so she wouldn’t have to change in front of anyone. Sunset chuckled at yet another adorkably nerdy trait of hers.

Twilight’s tired eyes eventually fell on Sunset, who was staring at her with a critical eye. For some reason this made Twilight feel warmer. The nerdy girl cleared her throat and put on a smile for her friend.

“Hey Sunset, did you arrive late? You’re usually already out before me,” said Twilight.

“Sit down, Twilight, we need to talk,” said Sunset in a calm tone of voice.

Twilight gulped, thinking she may’ve done something to annoy Sunset, her pulse quickened, and her brow beaded with sweat. She didn’t want to lose a friend so soon after gaining so many, and especially not Sunset, the girl who saved her. With trepidation, Twilight sat in the empty spot next to Sunset on the bench.

“Now–”

“I’m sorry!” Twilight interrupted. “I don’t know what I did to alienate you, Sunset! But whatever is I’m really sorry and I won’t do it again! Please I’ll do anything! I’ll–!”

Sunset quickly pressed her hand over Twilight’s mouth, silencing the frantic girl. “Whoa, whoa, who said I was mad at you? I’m not angry or anything like that!”

Twilight’s eyes widened; Sunset carefully removed her hand so that she could speak. “Y-You’re not?”

“No, I’m not.”

Twilight let out a relieved sigh as her features relaxed. “I’m sorry, I don’t know why I jumped to conclusions like that…I’m usually not that jumpy…”

“Hmm, could it have something to do with you working too hard on a certain project? Not enough sleep can mess with a person’s nerves, make them a little paranoid and not think straight,” said Sunset.

The bespectacled girl stared down at her knees while playing with the hem of her skirt, like a child being caught with their hand in the cookie jar. Sunset put her hand on Twilight’s shoulder, giving her gentle reassurance that she wasn’t angry.

“I understand that drive, Twilight. Wanting to figure out a puzzle and decipher it as quickly as possible, or being consumed with curiosity on an interesting topic, even more so when it’s got you stumped.”

Twilight’s eyes shifted slightly to Sunset, there was a look in them that said she wanted to tell the fiery redhead, but she wasn’t sure if she should. Sunset recognized that apprehensiveness, it was the same as her own.

“You wanna know something?”

“Hmm?”

“When Princess Twilight came back here for the second time, we were in the middle of dealing with a group of creatures called the Sirens. They pretty much had the whole school on edge and wrapped around their little fingers with dark magic, and the only way to stop them was with a counter spell through the use of music.”

Twilight turned her head towards Sunset, showing her intrigue in this story.

“The others looked to the Princess for the solution, and although I saw things that were becoming a problem for the group that might turn against us, I kept my mouth shut, because I didn’t believe I had a right to say anything. If I had, I would’ve learned that Princess Twilight was having trouble with the spell, and I could’ve helped the others resolve their bickering.”

Sunset sighed as she recalled the memory of her talk with Princess Twilight in the kitchen. “In the end, even the Princess of Friendship learned that she needed to rely on her friends, and voice her concerns when help is needed most, that you can’t do it all alone. So, whatever’s got you obsessed or keeping you from getting a good rest, tell me.”

Twilight released a reluctant sigh, she really didn’t want to burden her new friends with her problems, especially Sunset, who had done so much for her since transferring to the school and helping her to deal with her terrifying transformation. It didn’t seem fair, and yet, whenever she looked into Sunset’s eyes, Twilight felt a sense of security that was different from what she felt around her family, but it wasn’t as if she disliked it.

“I guess…I…I haven’t been sleeping well, lately…”

“Go on,” said Sunset.

“There are times when I have these dreams. Sometimes in a vast white space, surrounded by endless bookshelves, with an infinite number of books to choose from!”

Okay Twi, don’t have an orgasm, thought Sunset.

“Other times…I hear a voice, compelling me to build something…something important. What it is and what it will do? I have no idea, but this voice keeps compelling me to do it…and to be honest, it’s kind of scary how I just…know how to do it,” said Twilight.

Sunset had a worried expression on her face as she heard this, fearing the overcharge of magic that flooded Twilight’s body had somehow had more detrimental effects than just scaring the living crap out of her.

“If you want, I could talk to Princess Twilight, maybe between the three of us we can figure out what’s going on?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t really want to bother her, I mean, she’s royalty, a key figure in her world’s government! I can’t bother her with little problems like this!”

Sunset scoffed at the notion. “Please, just last week I got a message from her about how bored she was! She may be a Princess, but she’ll be the first to tell you that she’ll always make time for ponies – or people in this case – who need her help.”

Twilight still seemed apprehensive, making Sunset believe there was more to this than what Twilight was letting on.

“You’re still a little weirded out about Princess Twilight, aren’t you?”

Shamefully, Twilight nodded. “It’s just…how do you cope with the fact that there’s another you in another universe? Another you who is practically all powerful, an important political figure, and is considered a national hero?! When I’m…I’m just…”

Sunset placed her hand over Twilight’s, giving it a light squeeze. “You’re you, and Princess Twilight is Princess Twilight, don’t compare yourself to her. And don’t’ forget, she’s a lot older than you are, so she’s done a lot more.”

“Thanks Sunset…and I guess we can ask her later,” said Twilight.

“Good, now strip and get dressed, don’t want the Coach chewing us out for being late.”

***____________________***

Despite being a little fatigued, Twilight managed to keep up, marginally. Sunset stayed by her side the whole time though, fearing the introverted girl might accidentally trip on her own feet, or pass out from exhaustion.

Thankfully they were taking a break, and Twilight had taken to lying on the field sprawled out, sweaty, and gasping for air. Sunset sat next to her, taking a small swig from her water bottle before passing it to a still gasping Twilight. Without really thinking about it, Twilight desperately grabbed the bottle of life sustaining liquid and practically chugged it, much to Sunset’ surprise.

Twilight ceased before she could drown and handed the water bottle back to Sunset. The flame haired girl shook her bottle, whistling at how much lighter it was.

“Damn, Twi, you almost downed the whole thing,” said Sunset with a chuckle.

“Sor…ry…! Needed…water…! H2O…!” Twilight responded between gasps.

“Really gotta work on your stamina.”

Twilight’s breath hitched as she saw Sunset take a drink from the same water bottle that she just had her lips on, only now realizing that Sunset had had her lips on it first.

An indirect kiss…that’s what they call it right?! I just had an indirect kiss with Sunset!

Twilight’s face was burning, and not from being overheated from the workout earlier. Although, she had to admit, seeing Sunset from this angle, her silhouette against the early morning sunlight, it made her look…

“Beautiful…”

“Hmm? Did you say something, Twilight?” Sunset asked.

“NO!” Twilight blurted out. “Ahem, no, I mean…it’s nothing…”

Sunset grinned and rolled her eyes, chalking it up to another one of Twilight’s awkward moments.

What am I thinking?! Thinking of Sunset that way?! I don’t even like girls like that!…………Do I?

Twilight was still quite new to the ways of friendship, but to a degree she understood them, some were just plain common sense, while others were easier learned than told. Romance on the other hand, now that was an entirely different beast. Friendship was just that, friendship, a bond between one or more individuals that gave them a sense of comradery. Romance, in a way, was the next step for some. But the majority of what Twilight knew was that male and female friendships, especially those between two who have grown up with each other, were most often likely to end up as such.

She had only been around the six girls for little over a couple of months, and although they welcomed her with open arms, Twilight still felt unworthy, and undeserving of their friendship, feeling that she had done nothing to earn it.

And in that same light, she wasn’t even sure of her own feelings. What did she know about love? Especially this kind…heck, she didn’t even acknowledge such feelings whenever she was around other boys or girls. Though in retrospect, many of the boys and girls back at Crystal Prep were jackasses towards her, so any attraction was pretty much gone for most of them.

Suddenly, Twilight felt something thump against her forehead, snapping her back from her revere. Twilight adjusted her glasses and saw Sunset with an impish grin on her face.

“What was that for?!”

“You looked like you were thinking hard on something. Decided to snap you out of it before you grew roots,” said Sunset.

Twilight turned her gaze back to the sky. “It really wasn’t anything serious…I guess…”

“Remember what I said about confiding in your friends? Sometimes it can help talking it out, so spit it out Sparkplug, what’s on your mind?”

Twilight gulped, was it really a good idea to seek advice from the person who you’re having mixed feelings for?

“Well…it’s aaaaaAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”

A sharp pain rang out through Twilight’s head, making the bespectacled girl grab at her head. All eyes turned to Twilight and Sunset, watching as the purple girl rolled on the ground in pain. Sunset quickly grabbed ahold of Twilight, trying to keep her steady as her head continued to feel as if it was going to split open.

The crowd grew, with the Coach skidding to a stop beside Sunset and Twilight. “What happened?!”

“I don’t know, Twilight just started screaming and holding her head,” said Sunset.

The Coach looked around and saw Lyra, he then pointed at her and shouted, “GO GET NURSE REDHEART, NOW!”

Lyra nodded and ran like the wind.

Sunset continued to hold onto Twilight, feeling helpless as her friend continued to wail in pain. Just then, Twilight opened her eyes, and Sunset saw a glow of emerald light within them. Sunset’s eyes widened at the sight, was this caused by the magic she had taken into her body?

“Does anybody else feel that?”

“Feel what, Trixie?!” Another student asked.

“It felt like the ground–”

The earth beneath them crashed with thunderous noise, rumbling throughout the whole area. The football and soccer goals were shaking and wobbling like rubber, the metal bleachers began to groan, and a few windows were being busted out.

“IT’S AN EARTHQUAKE!” Trixie shouted.

“That’s not possible!” The Coach yelled. “EVERYONE GET DOWN AND STAY TOGETHER!”

The group of students stayed at the center of the field, away from any debris that might fall, huddled together. They gritted their teeth and tried to hold onto whatever semblance of balance they had. All this while Twilight was still in pain. Sunset cursed inwardly that this was happening now of all times, although, the timing was too perfect.

Sunset looked back down to Twilight, feeling helpless that she couldn’t do anything to stop it. “S-Sun…set…!”

“I’m here, Twilight, just hold on, please!”

“It’s…coming…!”

“What?! What’s coming?!”

“The…Memories…!”

Without warning, Twilight’s screaming, along with the quake, all went silent and still. It was unnerving, how quiet it was after such a thunderous roar and violent shaking. All the students and even the Coach poked their heads up, checking their surroundings to see if it had truly come to end. Unfortunately, there was more to come.

In the distance, a giant pillar of emerald light shot out from the ground and pierced the sky above. Its light was so strong that it could be viewed for miles around. From the pillar of light, something shot out, many somethings. They appeared as different colored streaks of light that flew out from the pillar in random directions.

One of those shooting star-like objects appeared to be angling dangerously close in their direction.

“That’s not heading towards us…is it?”

“No way, it just looks like it is.”

The streak of light, turquoise in color, suddenly made a sharp turn directly for the students’ position.

“IT’S TOTALLY HEADING RIGHT FOR US!!!”

The other students quickly scattered, all trying to find cover under whatever remaining structure was still standing. Sunset wanted to run, but Twilight was still weak, actually, now that she looked, Twilight was out cold.

“Twilight?! Can you hear me?! Wake up!”

No response came.

The turquoise streak of light was getting closer and closer, bathing the area in its blue-green light. The Coach was making ready to carry Twilight away, but Sunset could tell that the light had power, and that running away now wouldn’t save them. Whether out of desperation or instinct, Sunset acted.

She stood firm before the light as it approached, she took one look behind her, at the unconscious form of Twilight, and reaffirmed her resolve. Whatever magic still exists within me and around me, please, give me the power to protect Twilight!

Sunset thrusted her right hand forward, concentrating, trying to connect to the magic within her. Suddenly, her body began to glow with a golden aura, her hair lengthened until it appeared as if she had a tail, and upon her head grew two pony ears.

When the streak of turquoise light got closer, Sunset released her pent-up magical might, releasing a burst wave that roared out in all directions. The field of energy passed over Twilight and the Coach, not even harming them, but when the field struck the light, they collided in a powerful BOOM. Sunset grunted as she tried to push back against the streak of light, which was somehow very persistent at wanting to strike their particular location.

“I won’t let you through!” Sunset declared as her aquamarine eyes glowed with power.

The streak of light blinked several times and then, the shield shattered. Sunset’s heart sank with fear, she had failed to protect her friend, and now all three of them were going to die.

Without warning, the streak of light formed into an orb and zipped around until it landed in Sunset’s outstretched right hand. Sunset felt something solid within the light and grabbed ahold of it, and in that next moment, the sphere of light dispersed into particles of turquoise light.

Sunset panted, both from nearly avoiding death and the stress of calling her magical powers for such a task. The flame haired girl brought her right hand close to her chest and slowly opened it. Within the palm of her hand was an item that looked akin to a USB memory drive. The USB was colored a rich blue green, with the image of, from what she could discern, was a unicorn silhouetted in the shape of a “U”.

In the center, upper left-hand corner was the word “unicorn”, Sunset eyed the strange device with both curiosity and worry, the correlation between this object and her true form were much too coincidental.

Sunset looked back up at the pillar of emerald light, which was now growing smaller and smaller until it was nothing more than particles of green light that disappeared into the ether.

“What the hell is going on now…?”

***______________EXE_____________***

At the heart of Canterlot City, despite the various forms of damage to the city from the unprecedented earthquake, one building stood out among the others, practically unscathed by the phenomenon. Its tall structure was branded with the company logo “PhoenEXE Corp.”

This company was an up-and-comer, already rivaling almost all forms of business. Fashion, computers, pharmaceuticals, and even science and historical research. At the top of this towering skyscraper was a young woman, her hair a light purple with a sky-blue streak through it and tied into a ponytail. Her skin was a lovely shade of pale lavender, and her eyes were a deep violet, calculating and certain.

Behind her was a nameplate which read “Starlight Glimmer” and resting on that same desk was a USB drive object, at the center was an “L” and beside the space were two bars that formed an equal sign. Starlight turned around, facing the three members of her inner circle who were currently examining their own USBs.

A young woman, possibly the same age as Starlight, with fluffy, curly, dark raspberry colored hair, and strawberry colored skin, looked upon the red USB with a stylized “H” depicted in flames. She wore a nameplate on her lapel which read “Sugar Belle”.

Next was a young man, also with curly hair, and a cobalt blue complexion. His USB was colored yellow, its symbol a letter “L” stylized in the form of a crescent moon. Upon his lapel was the nameplate that read “Party Favor”.

The third was another young man, skin and hair as white as snow, but with piercing blue eyes. In his hand was an ice blue USB, the symbol was the letter “I”, but had icicles hanging off its ends. The nameplate for this young man read “Double Diamond”.

Finally, the fourth member of their group, lounging with her feet on the armrest of the chair she was sitting in. Her hair was a silvery-white, with skin as blue as the night sky. Her USB, crimson in color, had a “B” at its center, but the top portion of the letter looked like a bird’s beak. Her nameplate read “Night Glider”.

“Looks as if you four have obtained your Memories, did I not say that they’d find their way to you?” Starlight spoke.

“Yep, just as you said Lady Glimmer,” said Sugar Belle excitedly.

“Kinda lame how they just appeared to us, I was kind of looking forward to a scavenger hunt,” said Night Glider.

“Be glad that they did, otherwise some other people might’ve gotten their hands on them, people who are…less than stable minded,” Double Diamond remarked.

Starlight nodded. “Now that the Earth has awakened, we must proceed with the refinement of the Gaia Memories. The visions I have been granted have shown me the way.”

“But, Ms. Glimmer, do we really need to use…ugh…low life criminals to refine the Gaia Memories? They’ll run amok in the city,” said Party favor with concern.

“Well then…we’ll just have weed them out when they get too rowdy, no loss if it’s just criminals, right?” Starlight asked.

“Hmm, now that does sound like fun,” said Night Glider, pressing the button on her USB.

< BIRD! >

“I don’t normally like violence, but…” Sugar Belle’s eyes narrowed as a wicked grin appeared on her lips, “If it’s some scumbag, I don’t mind a little flambé.”

< HEAT! >

“And as per usual, I will put out those flames,” said Double Diamond.

< ICEAGE! >

“I still don’t like it, but since we’ll have the more powerful Memories, I think we can manage,” said Party Favor.

< LUNA! >

Starlight took hold of her Gaia Memory, and glanced back at the cityscape before her. “And soon, my dream of true harmony will be brought to fruition.”

< EQUAL! >

A: Arrival of Memories / Desperate Times, Desperate Measures (Edited)

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Sunset drove the streets on her metallic turquoise speed bike, noting the damage that was still being cleaned up after yesterday’s freaky earthquake. From what she was able to discern from the news, the epicenter of the quake could not be identified, and the strange emerald pillar of light and the streaking lights was supposedly caused by a disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field. Causing a unique Northern Lights effect.

“Aurora Borealis”, right, like that explains that thing that flew to me, thought Sunset.

Even though magic was still relatively new and awakening in this world, Sunset could tell that that phenomenon was not some random atmospheric disturbance, the pillar rose from the Earth, and even from the distance of the school, Sunset could sense it had power, old, ancient power. Sunset glanced at her jacket, feeling the USB stashed in the pocket. She had no idea why she was still holding onto it, but Sunset figured it was better than some random stranger picking it up, who knew what kind of power – if any – the device held within.

She turned on the next corner, weaving around some tree branches that had snapped off onto the street, some were small enough that Sunset just drove over them, some were entire limbs that would’ve tossed her off the bike.

There was a reason why Sunset was braving the still hazard ridden roads, after Twilight’s episode yesterday, she was taken to the hospital and stayed overnight. School was cancelled for the next three days to check the structure and make sure it was stable and safe to enter. Canterlot City was not built to withstand earthquakes, so many buildings needed to be inspected before anyone could safely re-enter.

The days off were probably a good thing right now, if this was another magic mishap, Sunset had no doubts all seven of them would need to investigate it, but first, Twilight.

Sunset had gotten a voice message on her cell from Twilight, she sounded weak, but informed Sunset she was otherwise alright. Currently the genius prodigy was back at home, resting and watched over by her mother, father, and big brother, and apparently Dean Cadance from Crystal Prep Academy was making a few stops.

She had to admit, despite the damage from the quake, the neighborhood Twilight lived in was quite…expensive looking. The houses were big, two stories, and most of them had turrets like old-timey medieval castles.

Eventually, Sunset found the correct address, stopping before the house and removing her helmet to get a good look at the house. She whistled, impressed. There were some cracked windows, and some were completely shattered, with cardboard covering them until they could be replaced. If it wasn’t for the cracks in the concrete and the damage, it would’ve looked very nice, but even while cracked and damaged, it was still a beautiful home.

Those window repair companies must be loving the boom in business right now.

Sunset carefully pulled into the wide driveway, looking around for a good place to park her bike so as to not be in the way of anyone. She was able to find a spot next to one the windows, far enough from the garages to make sure no one would hit her bike.

The flame haired girl made her way to the front door, feeling a little nervous. Despite having had Twilight at CHS for a couple of months, this was the first time she was going to meet her family. What if they didn’t like her, they seemed rich if the neighborhood was anything to go off of. What was she thinking? Of course they had a lot of money, Crystal Prep Academy wasn’t cheap considering their “reputation” as “the best”.

Nevertheless, Sunset steeled herself and rang the doorbell. Sunset waited patiently until she heard the heavy footsteps drawing closer to the door. The door opened making Sunset scoot back a little, seeing a tall young man standing before her. He was dressed in a tank top, white as snow, hair a navy blue with a light blue streak in it, azure eyes, and sporting some jeans and a tool belt.

“Can I help you, Miss?” he asked.

“O-Oh, um, I’m Sunset, Sunset Shimmer! I’m one of Twilight’s friends, she called and asked me to come over…”

The young man, most likely in his early to mid-twenties, looked Sunset up and down. It wasn’t the kind of scanning look common to boys checking out an attractive girl. No, his gaze was more critical, appraising, as if trying to determine her threat level or something. Sunset suddenly felt a little unnerved.

“Is someone at the door,” asked a familiar voice.

The young man turned around, allowing Sunset to see Twilight stopped at the middle of the stairwell, with Spike standing beside her and wagging his tail excitedly.

“Sis, you’re supposed to be in bed resting,” said the young man.

“Shining Armor, I’m doing much better, and why haven’t you invited Sunset in yet?”

Shining Armor glanced back at the flame haired girl, who waved nervously at him while putting on a sheepish smile. “Sorry about that, come on in.”

Sunset casually walked in, feigning confidence as she strode by him and to Twilight.

“Thanks for coming over, come up to my room, I have to talk to you,” said Twilight.

Sunset nodded and followed Twilight up to her room, very aware that Shining Armor’s gaze was still boring at her back until she disappeared from his line of sight. The young man released a sigh and went back to fixing the windows, hearing light footsteps coming from the kitchen and into the living room.

An older woman walked into the room, one could mistake her for Twilight’s older sister, but Shining Armor knew she was not. “Shiny, who was at the door?”

“One of Twilight’s friends, apparently,” said Shining Armor.

The older woman, with icy blue eyes, and purple hair with a white streak in it, bounced up and down while quietly giggling to herself, making Shining Armor arch an eyebrow in concern.

“Um…Mom, you alright?”

“Shining your sister has a friend over! A FRIEND!”

“Mom, c’mon, it’s not like she’s Twily’s first friend, what about that one girl…uh, what’s her name…” Shining Armor snapped his fingers repeatedly until the name popped into his head. “Moondancer! It was Moondancer. I remember those two hanging around each other back in preschool and elementary.”

Shining’s mother sighed despondently. “She wasn’t her friend exactly, although I could tell the poor dear was trying. The two of them were more akin to coworkers, or two scientists collaborating on a project.”

“Who’re you talking about, Velvet?”

An older man walked in, sporting a raggedy work shirt and tool belt as well.

“Moondancer, Night.”

“Ah, I remember her, sharp girl, shame we had to move away, I’m still kicking myself for that,” said Night Light.

“Dad don’t blame yourself, you got a better position at your job, and besides, Twilight didn’t seem to mind much,” said Shining Armor.

Velvet waved off the last part of that sentence. “Yes, well, Twilight’s always had her nose in the books, not a bad thing mind you, but still. Anyway, all that’s changed! She made new friends at her new school, and one of them is upstairs with her!”

Night Light raised an eyebrow at that. “One of her ‘friends’, huh? Does this ‘friend’ have a name?”

Velvet looked to her son for that.

“Her name is Sunset Shimmer,” said Shining Armor, knowing that tone in his father’s voice.

“Oh, okay then, well, this is cause for celebration! Honey, break out the good stuff!”

Shining Armor slapped his forehead and groaned, “Good grief.”

***____________________***

Sunset sat in Twilight’s room, which apparently was made up of two rooms, one that housed most of her science equipment, and other her actual bedroom/study. She sat in a chair across from Twilight’s bedside, petting Spike on the head.

“Your brother’s a little…intimidating,” said Sunset.

“Well, I’m not surprised, he is part of the Canterlot Police force,” said Twilight.

“HE’S A COP?!”

Twilight blinked. “Well, yes, he is. Are you alright?”

Sunset began tapping her right leg fast, making Spike bounce up and down in rhythm. “No, I’m fine, I’m fine! It’s not like I’ve been trying to stay under the radar with any law enforcement personnel because of the fact that I’m an unregistered citizen with no documentation whatsoever and an alien from a magical universe populated by sentient ponies! I’m perfectly fine!”

Spike looked to Twilight, and Twilight to Spike. The purple dog then shot Sunset a deadpan expression. “Yeah, right, ‘perfectly fine’.”

“I’m sorry, I should’ve thought about that before calling you over…”

Sunset shook her head and put on an apologetic face. “No, no, it’s fine! I haven’t done anything – recently – that would get me on a cop’s radar! Don’t worry about it, really.”

Twilight sheepishly smiled and nodded.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Twilight reached over to the opposite side of the bed and pulled up her laptop, furiously typing away at it. Sunset leaned over, abandoning her chair and opting to sit on the edge of Twilight’s bed to get a better look. If Twilight was paying full attention to this, she’d have noticed how Sunset’s shoulder was brushing up against hers, but right now she was driven by the subject of this meeting.

“I did some research on that phenomenon from yesterday, I assume you don’t believe it was some kind atmospheric disturbance?”

“Not for a minute.”

Twilight grinned. “Thought so. Ever since the first readings I got from CHS I’ve had some sensors calibrated to pick up on strange energy like that, and when I got back home and heard about the pillar of green light, I checked my instruments. Look.”

With the press of a key the laptop screen displayed readouts of the pillar’s energy signature. Twilight typed on the computer and it displayed another energy signature and brought them close together. The wavelengths seemed to match, not very surprising to Sunset, if this was magic then it must’ve been something from Equestria that breached the divide and punched their way into this world.

“Now here’s the kicker,” said Twilight as she hit a few more keys.

The computer disassembled the wavelengths, showing unique signatures for both.

“Wait…I don’t get it, they’re not the same?” Sunset asked.

“Yes, and no. The base energy is the same, the source is different. The signature on the left shows the energy that is produced when you and the others, um, ‘pony up’. While the other is unknown.”

Sunset cupped her chin as she wracked her brain trying make sense of this. “Our magic comes from Friendship and Harmony, so this magic, while basely similar, has a different source?”

Without thinking, Sunset reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the USB that had sought her out. Spike noticed the object in Sunset’s hand and began sniffing at it, his ears turning up as he backed away from the object.

“What is that thing, it feels…weird,” said Spike.

“Where did you get this?” Twilight asked.

“Would you believe it came from that pillar of light? And that it was heading right for us?”

Twilight’s eyes widened at hearing this. “What?! It was heading right for us?! On a collision course?!”

Sunset nodded.

“How – Why did it stop?!”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she spoke, “I kind of ponyed up and used my magic to stop it midflight…”

“Why would did you do such a reckless thing?! It could’ve killed you as fast as that thing was traveling!” Twilight scolded.

“Because you were still unconscious and there was no time to get you away!” Sunset confessed. “I…I didn’t – couldn’t – let you get hurt…”

Twilight looked at the USB device in Sunset’s hand. “May I?”

Sunset cautiously handed Twilight the USB, allowing Twilight to examine it close up. From what she could tell it looked like some kind of stylized USB memory drive, but judging from the way Spike was acting, it wasn’t ordinary.

Twilight blushed as she turned her attention back to her computer, now fiddling with the USB in her hands. “T-Thank you…”

Sunset smiled at her friend, but Spike was still deadpanning.

“Uh, guys, the strange thingy?”

Twilight snapped out of her stupor and refocused on the USB. “Right, well, if it’s a memory drive, loading it into my laptop should give us some answers as to what it is and possibly who sent it.”

Twilight carefully inserted the USB into the port and waited patiently for the USB to load whatever data was on it, but nothing happened, no prompts from her computer, not even a file location showed up.

“I don’t get it, why hasn’t it loaded anything?” Twilight asked.

Sunset looked at the USB once again and tilted her head when she noticed an addition to the device, “Huh, there’s a button on it, how did I not notice that?” Sunset reached out to the USB and pressed the button on the USB.

< UNICORN! >

Twilight, Sunset, and Spike yelped at the sudden exclamation that came from the USB. The drive glowed and sent a surge of energy into the computer. The screen was completely flooded with an enormous amount of data, making the laptop give off sparks. Just then, the insignia on the USB appeared on the screen and below appeared some information.

GAIA MEMORY DESIGNATION: UNICORN
VERSION: T2
STATUS: ACTIVE
USER IDENTITY (CURRENT): SUNSET SHIMMER
GENETIC COMPATIBILITY: 100%

“It…It says I’m its user?!” Sunset asked.

“‘Gaia Memory’? Gaia’s in reference to the name of the Greek titan of Earth, otherwise known as Mother Earth, so…it’s a memory of the Earth?”

Suddenly the screen showed something else, schematics showing some kind of device, a device that made Twilight’s eyes grow bigger by the second. And then, in the blink of an eye, the computer screen went black. It also made a few disconcerting noises that made Twilight remove the USB, or Gaia Memory, and put the laptop back on the floor.

“Sunset…we have to get back to the school!”

“What?!” Sunset and Spike asked in unison.

“That schematic, I’ve seen it before! In my dreams, it’s the thing that I’ve been trying to make for the past couple of months! And now I know how to finish it! We have to get back there, ASAP!”

Sunset shook her head. “Okay, one: no way in hell. Two: this is way too freaky of a coincidence that this ‘Gaia Memory’ would fall out of the sky and give you the last…whatever you need to finish that thing you’ve been building! And three: your parents and brother aren’t going to let you just waltz on out of here after that episode you had yesterday.”

“Plus, what if you have another one of those attacks like yesterday?!” Spike asked in concern.

“That’s why I’m asking you two to come with me, so I won’t be alone if something happens.

Sunset watched as Twilight hurriedly jumped out of bed and began tearing off her clothes as she entered her closet, changing in full view of Sunset. The flame haired girl felt her cheeks grow uncomfortably warm, quickly averting her gaze and putting her hand up as a blinder. Spike, well, Spike was a dog, so he really didn’t care.

“There’s nothing I can say that’ll change her mind, is there?” Spike asked.

“‘Fraid not, if there’s one thing I’m learning about Twilight, is that she’s committed when it comes to solving a puzzle. Best thing we can do is make sure she doesn’t hurt herself getting to the answer.”

Spike sighed, ever since he was a newborn pup, as far back as he could remember, Twilight had always been like this. A fact that worried the little dog, especially considering what happened to her within the last couple of months. Magical transformations, not sleeping well, and now she had to go to the hospital recently. It was times like this Spike wished he was human, at least then he might be able stop her or convince her to stay put.

Sunset saw the concern on the purple dog’s face and gently patted him on the head. “Hey, don’t worry Spike, between the two of us, we’ll keep that egghead safe.”

Twilight emerged from her closet, wearing a violet hoody and some jeans. “Alright, time to go to work!”

“Wasn’t that the same outfit you wore when I first saw you at CHS?”

“Yes, it’s inconspicuous.”

“Rrrrriiiiiight, nothing says ‘inconspicuous’ like a teenager in a hoody, breaking into a school that is closed and possibly structurally unsound at the moment,” said Sunset with heavy sarcasm.

Somehow Twilight managed to convince her family that she needed to get out of the house for a while. Shining Armor was obviously suspicious of her motives, but her mother and father were less so, they were just glad that she was getting out and enjoying life with a friend. Sunset promised that they’d be back soon, hoping not to make a liar of herself.

Sunset readied her bike and glanced behind her for Twilight. The girl in question appeared but wearing a pink bike helmet with flowers on it. Sunset tried in vain to stifle her giggling, making Twilight blush up to her ears.

“What?! It’s the only helmet I have, and Shining Armor wouldn’t let me out of the house without some protection!” Twilight huffed.

“You realize how – out of context – that could be taken, right?” Sunset asked with a devious grin.

“What do mean, ‘protection’? What’s wrong with–?” Twilight’s blush intensified as her quick-witted mind put it together. “SUNSET THAT’S SO IMMATURE!”

Sunset just broke out into full on laughter, slapping her thigh at Twilight’s reaction. Spike poked his head out from Twilight’s backpack, looking at both girls with confusion.

“What’s so funny?” Spike asked.

“Nothing’s funny,” said Twilight, still embarrassed.

Nevertheless, she mounted the bike, and grabbed onto the back. Sunset noticed this and shook her head. “No way, you’re not riding like that. This is your first time on a bike like this, right?”

Twilight nodded.

“Then wrap your arms around my middle or you’re going to go flying off.”

The bespectacled girl gulped, wrapping her arms around Sunset, bringing their bodies that close together, there was no way she could do that. “I-I should be fine like this!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, she then revved the bike, making the engine cry out. The sudden noise made Twilight yelp and quickly latch herself to Sunset, wrapping her arms around her stomach like a vice. “Geez, Twi, any tighter and you’ll crush my organs,” said Sunset not entirely unsure that that could be a possibility at this point in time.

“J-J-Just drive this thing already!”

With that said, Sunset revved her bike once more and took off down the street. The whole ride she could feel Twilight pressed against her back, it was a comforting feeling, one that Sunset wasn’t disliking. In fact, she kind of slowed down to drag out this sensation.

***____________________***

The two girls arrived at CHS; they circled the campus a couple of times to see if there was any sign of anyone being there. From what they could see, there were no cars parked anywhere on the school grounds, either they were done for the day or were taking a break was unknown, but as it stood, now was the best chance they had to get inside and get out without anybody noticing them.

Sunset and Twilight decided to cut through the soccer field, seeing as the distance to the science lab – or more accurately Twilight’s science lab – was a little shorter from there than going straight through the front door. Sunset hid her bike as best she could under the bleachers. Twilight let Spike out of her backpack and together the three of them ran across the field as fast as they could, stopping in the doorway. Both girls checked behind them to make sure they were not seen.

“Anything?” Sunset asked.

“No, Spike, do you smell anyone here?” Twilight asked.

Spike took a few sniffs of the air, raising his ears and tilting his head in different directions. “No, I don’t smell anyone, familiar or otherwise, and I don’t hear anybody either.”

“Good boy, now we just need to get in and get out so that I can complete it!”

Both Spike and Sunset groaned inwardly, Twilight’s ambitious side was good, but sometimes it could venture into the territory of “man was not meant to meddle”. Twilight was about to reach for the door when Sunset quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled Twilight away.

“Ow! Sunset what are you doing?!”

“Don’t touch the door, not yet.” Sunset pointed to the door in question, showing that the hinges were damaged. “You pull that hard enough and it’ll fall on you.”

“Oh…I-I’m sorry, I should’ve paid more attention I–!”

“Shh, no harm no foul.”

Sunset picked up Spike and gave him to Twilight, she then motioned for both of them to stand flat against the corridor wall. The flame haired girl prided herself on her quick reflexes and quick mind, as well as her physical strength. She wasn’t anywhere near as crazy strong as Applejack, but she wasn’t a lightweight either. Taking a deep breath, Sunset put her hand on the door and quickly pulled back.

The hinges came loose and did as gravity dictated, falling forward towards her. Sunset jumped back as far as she could, the door hitting the ground with a great metallic thud just inches from her boot. Sunset wiped her brow and sighed in relief.

“Least we don’t have to worry about the door now, let’s head in.”

“Oh…you didn’t have to commit property damage just for me…”

Sunset chuckled. “Please, wouldn’t be the first time. I blew up the front entrance with a magical energy ray, besides, the whole place is probably riddled with accidents waiting to happen thanks to that quake. They’ll just blame it on that.”

Despite the small amount of guilt, Twilight pressed on with Sunset and Spike in tow. The inside of the school didn’t escape the quake without damage. Lockers were skewed and jarred open, some toppled over. Twilight hoped nobody was in front of them when it happened. Windows were obviously cracked or shattered completely, making Twilight put Spike back in the backpack, not wanting his paws to step on a sharp piece of glass.

Some of the light fixtures were hanging low, a few strands of wiring was the only thing keeping them anchored to the ceiling, for now. As they trekked on through, Twilight and Sunset noticed where the contractors and safety inspectors had been. Both girls carefully worked their way through the semi-damaged school and stealthily arrived at Twilight’s little science lab. Sunset pulled out her cellphone and turned on its light, shining around to check and see if there was any danger of falling debris or anything dangerous.

“It looks clear, but be careful,” she warned.

Twilight nodded and proceeded inside. With a sigh of relief, Twilight made her way to the little vault she had created for her obsession, punching in a few random numbers until the vault unlocked. The bespectacled girl pulled out her creation and Sunset shined a light on it.

It had changed a bit since the last time Sunset laid eyes on Twilight’s project. It was looking more akin to a belt, but the face on the belt had device, as well as two slots on either side of where the hips would be. The mechanism on the front looked to be in the shape of horse head, with the horn sticking out from it. There was a slot at the base behind the neck where something was supposed to be inserted into it, and from the looks of it placed down into the horn.

“Wow,” exclaimed Sunset.

“It’s not finished yet, but with what I saw, I can definitely finish it with the equipment I have back home.”

Spike poked his head out of the backpack and looked to Twilight. “So, what will happen when you’re done with it? What will it do?”

Twilight opened her mouth to respond but stopped. She had no idea what this device could be used for or what it could do. As far as she was able to figure, the device had some connection to Sunset’s strange USB, the Gaia Memory.

Sunset glanced about, getting an uneasy feeling. “We can figure that out when we get back to your place. C’mon.”

Twilight nodded and let Spike out of her backpack to place the device inside. Not wanting to risk damaging the device, Twilight opted to carry Spike the rest of the way; Sunset took point and carefully made their way back the way they came.

“RRRRRRRRAARARGGH!!!”

Both girls went stiff upon hearing a horrible roar. They remained still as their eyes roved around the dimly lit hallway, Spike’s ears were twitching up and down, trying to pick up on the exact location the danger was coming from.

“S-Sunset…what was that?!” Twilight asked in a harsh whisper.

“I don’t know, I can’t even tell where it came from!”

“Uh, guys, I’m getting a whiff of something really not good!” Spike warned.

Another disturbing roar echoed out through the school, which was quickly followed up by an equally loud crash. Sunset and Twilight twisted around and watched as a dust cloud formed at the other end of the hallway. Within the cloud were two narrow, glowing blue eyes. Another roar bellowed forth, the force it generated blew away the dust cloud revealing the source of the terrible roar.

Its body was white as snow, with jagged spines and spikes coming from its back, forearms, and tail. Its four claws were long and razor sharp, its muzzle making it appear as some humanoid raptor-like creature.

“Run?” Spike asked.

“Run.” Twilight replied.

“RUN!” Sunset shouted.

Both girls took off like the wind down the hallway, an act that signaled the white raptor to give chase with astonishing speed. Its spines and spike tore into the metal lockers that it bumped into and gouged the linoleum floor with each step it took. The beast whipped its tail back and forth, leaving long dents and gashes in the already damaged lockers.

Sunset and Twilight continued to run, making a beeline for the exit. Suddenly, an unnerving sound caught their attention, making them glance back at the white raptor. From the monster’s left shoulder, a long crescent spike extended up. The white raptor grabbed ahold of it and removed it with ease. It then hurled the crescent spike right at them.

It spiraled in the air like a boomerang, making a whistling sound as it cut through the air. Sunset saw a turn coming and lashed out with her right hand, grabbing a handful of Twilight’s hoodie and swung her into the adjacent hallway. Using the momentum, Sunset followed after Twilight, narrowly escaping the flying crescent as a few strands of her red and yellow hair were severed.

The boomerang crescent continued onward until it hit the wall above the exit, causing the already weakened structure to collapse and cut off their escape route. The boomerang spike flew back to its caster, where the white raptor reattached it to its shoulder as if it were an accessory.

Neither of the trio had time to process this as they continued to flee for their lives. Sunset, Spike, and Twilight continued to run for their lives, the white raptor still chasing after them.

“WHAT IS THAT THING’S PROBLEM, WHY’S IT CHASING US?!” Spike asked.

“DON’T KNOW! WHY DON’T YOU STOP AND ASK IT?!” Sunset retorted.

The white raptor roared again as it took off its shoulder spike and prepared to launch it again. The trio saw this and quickly looked for a way to avoid it, the double doors to the gymnasium were quickly approaching. Sunset sprinted ahead and delivered a flying kick to the door forcing it open and allowing herself to slide along the smooth basketball court.

Twilight ran through the doors as they were about to close, sliding in on her rump and keeping Spike close to her chest as to avoid injury to her furry friend.

The gym doors slammed shut, only to be exploded off their hinges as the boomerang crescents sliced through doors. The kinetic force behind them ripped the doors off their hinges and sent them flying in opposite directions. Sunset and Twilight quickly sprang to their feet, the gym was wide, allowing for more room to move around, which was better than being caught in a linear hallway with a white raptor that can throw blade boomerangs.

The white raptor caught his crescent boomerangs and reattached them, snarling as it eyed both girls and the dog one of them was carrying. The creature began to circle them, hissing as it alternated between going on all fours and back to two legs as it tried to determine the best way to attack.

"S-S-Sunset…”

The fiery haired girl glanced out of the corner of her eye, seeing a frightened Twilight holding Spike close. It was obvious that Spike could sense his caretaker’s fear, responding to it by putting on a fierce look and baring his fangs at the white raptor, despite the fact that he was scared out of his mind.

“HEY!” Sunset cried.

The white raptor turned its head in her direction, snarling and preparing to attack.

“What are you doing?!” Twilight whispered.

“I want you to run, I’m faster than you so I can maybe outrun it for a little bit! You can get out and then call the cops or the people from Triassic World to come here and shoot this thing!”

“That’s just foolish! We stand a better chance if we–!”

“Sorry debate’s over!”

Sunset dashed away from Twilight, making the raptor’s head snap in her direction and give chase. The whole time she was thinking this was a bad idea – scratch that, it is a bad idea. But it was better, at least to her, than a friend getting eaten in front of her.

The raptor sprinted for Sunset, covering the gap between them in less than a few seconds. The reptilian monstrosity slashed with its forearm spike-blade, narrowly missing her kidney as she pulled away at the last second. But the beast was quicker, despite missing with its blade, it spun on its heel, and brought its tail around to whip it against Sunset’s side.

The fiery haired girl felt something crack inside her as the air in her lungs disappeared. She was sent flying to the other side of the gym, slamming against the mats that were set on the wall behind the basketball hoop. Sunset groaned and coughed, each intake of air feeling like she was getting stabbed.

Great, must’ve broken a rib…or six…!

The white raptor was readying himself for the kill, but a basketball suddenly sailed through the air and hit the raptor upside the head. The creature turned its head around, seeing a frightened Twilight and Spike, who looked about ready to wet herself under the glowing gaze of the reptile. The white raptor turned around, seeing that its other prey wasn’t going anywhere and no longer a threat, opted for the other two still standing.

NO…I can’t…I won’t…let you hurt them!

Suddenly, Sunset felt a strange warmth radiating from her jacket pocket. Carefully, she reached in and pulled out the Gaia Memory, its glow pulsating again and again, sending waves of energy coursing through her arm. It spoke to her, no, more like urged her to use it, but how? Without realizing it, Sunset had already began moving the blue connector end close to her chest but paused upon realizing her unconscious movement. Was this safe? What would happen to her if she did this?

“AAAAH!”

Sunset glanced back towards the white raptor, noticing that Twilight was backed up against the wall, with Spike baring fangs and claws, ready to fight to the death to protect his owner.

Dammit all, it can’t be worse than letting her die!

Sunset pressed the button on the Gaia Memory, making the device glow even brighter.

< UNICORN! >

Without a second thought, Sunset pushed the connector against her bare skin, and immediately the Unicorn Memory melted into her body. A rush of power coursed through her body, burning away the pain of her injuries and healing them altogether. Her fatigue had vanished, and new strength took its place. Her body glowed with turquoise light, making the white raptor turn around and stare at his prey with intrigue.

Sunset’s body morphed, her legs becoming more equine like. A silvery white tail protruded, along with a similarly colored mane. Her body was colored the same as the energy, with parts of her body covered in thick exoskeletal armor, covering mostly the chest, forearms and hands, thighs and ankles. Her face extended, but only slightly to form a small muzzle.

When it was all done, Sunset stood, a powerful being. She looked like an anthropomorphic unicorn mare, but her eyes were glowing aquamarine, and her horn was crystalline and shimmering with the same turquoise glow of the Gaia Memory.

The transformed Sunset stared down the white raptor, seeing something inside it, a glowing “F” that was in the form of three claw marks. That’s when she realized it, whatever this thing was, it was like her, a transformed person, a Dopant. That word stuck out in her mind, was that what it was called, what she was called?

< FANG! >

< UNICORN! >

The Fang Dopant roared and charged for Sunset, the anthro unicorn dashed for the raptor. Both met each other in the middle with a thunderous crash, the Unicorn and Fang creatures grappled with each other, snarling and snorting as they tried to overpower the other. The crystal horn on the Unicorn Dopant shined as a buildup of energy formed between them. Within a few seconds the Fang Dopant was covered in a turquoise aura, and was lifted into the air, ending their lock.

The Unicorn Dopant used its telekinesis to throw the Fang Dopant up to the ceiling, slamming it until it made a hole. With another flick of the wrist the Fang Dopant was thrown back down to the ground and then dragged across the floor and shot into the bleachers. For a moment, there was stillness.

But the quiet was over as the Fang Dopant ripped through the bleachers and tossed two boomerang spike-blades. The blades flew at such high speed that the Unicorn Dopant couldn’t catch them with her telekinesis. The two blades struck her in the chest, causing sparks of light to erupt from the two impact spots. Sunset felt herself weaken from the attacks, as if the sparks were in fact a physical manifestation of her power being bled out instead of more major damage.

The blades returned to their owner, who was now in the air and about to pounce on her. Sunset growled as she charged her horn with magical energy and fired a beam right at the Fang Dopant. The creature didn’t have time to dodge as it was struck in the shoulder, sending a shower sparks erupting from its left shoulder and making it plummet to the ground.

The Fang Dopant growled and was about to counterattack, but the Unicorn Dopant took a runner’s stance, the tip of the horn glowing with ethereal light. Sunset sprinted forward, her entire body becoming a glowing comet. The attack made contact, crashing into the Fang Dopant and sending both it and the comet hurdling towards the other end of the gym.

The comet streak crashed against the wall, exploding and punching a hole in the mortar and metal. A dust cloud formed, obscuring both from view. Twilight and Spike had been watching the entire event with slacked jaws, not believing their eyes. Sunset had transformed into a monster and fought another monster to protect her. But how did she do it?

Suddenly, a being rose from the dust cloud, and judging from the single horned silhouette, it must’ve been Sunset. Twilight allowed herself a grateful and relieved smile as she began to move towards her friend and savior. But paused when the Unicorn’s glowing, aquamarine eyes rested on Twilight, and narrowed.

“S-Sunset?”

A low growl and harsh snort escaped the Unicorn Dopant, which was now approaching Twilight, horn aglow. Twilight took a step back, with Spike doing the same.

“S-Sunset it’s me! Can you hear me?!” Twilight asked.

“Magic…Need…more magic!”

The Unicorn Dopant reached out to grab Twilight, but stopped, its hand shaking.

“T-Twilight…?”

“Y-Yes?”

The Unicorn looked at its hand, as if just realizing what had happened to its body. “I don’t…I don’t understand…? It feels familiar, I feel like my old self and yet…I’m not.”

“Sunset keep thinking like that, don’t let yourself become a monster like I did, you said you knew how it was to be overwhelmed with magic and power! Don’t let it consume you again!”

The Unicorn put its right hand to its head as she tried to remember. The primal power of the Unicorn Memory was starting to be suppressed by her more rational mind. The Unicorn’s body began to glow, reverting into a human form as the Unicorn Memory slowly ejected itself from Sunset’s body.

The former unicorn took hold of the Gaia Memory and pulled it the rest of the way out as her transformation finalized back to human. “Wha…What did I…?” The memories of Sunset’s transformation and actions came rushing back to her, making her drop the Unicorn Memory and grab her head in shock. “Oh Faust, Twilight I’m so sorry! I…I almost…! I’m sorry!!”

Twilight hurriedly grabbed ahold of Sunset’s shoulders, gripping them firmly to try and get Sunset’s attention.

“Sunset, it’s alright, y-you were just trying to protect me! You saved both Spike and me! It’s alright, just breathe and calm down!”

Sunset let her racing thoughts slow down, bringing her breathing back to its normal rate. She couldn’t break down right now, not after what just happened. A monster attacked them, and Sunset became a monster in order to save them. But she came close to being just as much a danger as that other monster was if Twilight hadn’t gotten through to her.

“I’m good, really,” said Sunset.

Twilight slowly nodded, still weary. “Okay, we need to leave now! Doubtless that nobody heard that commotion and called the police!”

Sunset had almost forgotten, she definitely didn’t need to be accused of destroying school property, the first was while she was insane with power, the second time…well, déjà vu. The fiery haired girl was about to turn to make their way to her bike when she spotted Twilight bending down to pick up the Unicorn Memory. Sunset turned on her heel and stopped Twilight before she touched it.

“TWILIGHT, NO! Don’t touch that thing!”

“Sunset we can’t leave it here for someone to find! Besides, it won’t turn me into a monster, it should only work for you,” said Twilight.

“We can’t be sure of that, what if this thing has a mind of its own!?” Sunset argued.

“Fine, I’ll take it!” Spike jumped in and took up the Unicorn Memory in his mouth, holding it between his teeth. “Ish Tish O ay!?”

Both girls looked to each other, at this point it they didn’t have much of a choice and it seemed that Spike wasn’t affected by the Memory. With a bit of reluctance, they let Spike hold onto the Memory and ran as fast as they could out of the school. Sunset, Twilight, and Spike hopped onto the bike and sped off in the opposite direction, deciding to take the long way around to avoid police and firefighters.

The power of the Gaia Memories, the power to morph the user into a monster and bestow supernatural abilities to them. And at the same time, make them nearly lose control of their senses in the process. Just what are they, and why did they appear?

***__________EXE__________***

Police and Firefighters had completely surrounded Canterlot High School, reports of strange, monstrous noises and explosions were reported from the surrounding residents. All this while the school was in the process of getting repaired for the damages from the quake they had not too long ago. Amongst the gathered crowd of onlookers, two figures approached the scene.

Double Diamond and Night Glider strolled past the crowd and into the disaster zone, prompting a couple of the police officers to intercept them.

“Hey, hey, you kids can’t be in here, get back behind the line!” The officer ordered.

“Chill copper, we’re here on business,” said Night Glider.

“Show some respect, Ms. Glider, we are here to offer help,” said Double Diamond.

The officer shook his head. “Look, I already told you two, go back n–!”

Double Diamond pulled out a business card. “We’re with PhoenEXE Corp., sir. We’ve been sent here on behalf of our company president to offer financial and rebuilding services for this school.”

The officer blinked. “You’re joking, right? You’re just kids.”

“Hey, I’m old enough to drink! Kind of…” Night Glider cleared her throat. “Look, our boss wanted us to come down here and assess the damage, now are you going to let us do our jobs or not?”

“I don’t care if you’re the President of–!”

“Officer,” said another voice.

The cop turned around and watched as a bald man walked over towards them, making both Night Glider and Double Diamond smirk.

“C-Captain!?”

“Yes, I requested representatives from PhoenEXE Corp. to come here and help. I believe this school could benefit from their contributions and I’ll personally escort them to the site, understood?”

The officer saluted his Captain and nodded his affirmation. The Captain then motioned for the two youths to follow him. Double Diamond and Night Glider waited until they were out of earshot before the spoke to the Captain.

“Real smooth there Party Favor, didn’t know you could illusion yourself,” said Night Glider.

The Captain’s eyes glowed yellow for a moment before they stopped, a smile forming on his lips. “Yep, and the good thing is, by the time I’m done messing with the real police captain’s memory, he’ll believe that the whole thing was his idea. So there won’t be any inconsistencies in his memory.”

The three walked towards the gymnasium, seeing the giant hole that was blown in the side of it. From the hole was a long groove cut into the floor, stopping some twenty feet away into the teacher’s parking lot. The trio carefully followed the trail back to its source, through the hole and into the gym. The inside was just as damaged, with some evidence of scorching from something that was generating a lot of heat.

Among the rest of the destruction were a lot of gashes, nothing like what an earthquake would cause. They were long and deep, some even trailed into the hallway where a door was busted down. Night Glider whistled as she looked over the damage.

“Geez, somebody really humped this bunk.”

“To put it mildly, yes,” replied Party Favor.

“No doubt about it, there was a battle here, possibly with two Memory holders,” said Double Diamond.

Night Glider placed her hand against one of the gashes, feeling how smoothly the cut was made and whistled, impressed. “Which one do you think it was that caused this much damage?”

“Starlight told us there were twenty-five Gaia Memories that breached our world, but unfortunately, she wasn’t privy to the names of each of them. Whatever they are, they must’ve turned the ones holding them into to total beasts,” said Party Favor.

“In any case, we’ve confirmed that it was caused by Gaia Memories, let’s report back to Starlight.”

Night Glider and Party Favor were now looking at Double Diamond, noticing that he was holding something in his hand and jotting down written notes this whole time.

“Um…what’re you doin’?” Night asked.

“Assessing the damage so that Starlight can appropriate the necessary funds for repair.”

“She was serious about that?!”

B: Birth of a Hero / Enter Kamen Rider Unicorn! (Edited)

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Sunset tossed back and forth in her bed, groaning and moaning as her brow beaded with sweat. Suddenly, she shot up out of her bed with a start and yelled out for a moment before silencing herself. Sunset panted and huffed, feeling her heart pound against her chest. She clutched at her tank top, taking in slow, deep breathes as she attempted to slow her heart rate.

After a couple of minutes, Sunset was able to calm down. The fiery haired girl wiped her damp brow and brought her hand before her gaze. It was shaking a little, a sight that made Sunset growl in anger, and making her clench the shaking hand into a fist to stop the trembling.

Ever since the battle with the Fang Dopant, she had been having nightmares about it. Nightmares that either involved her death by the Dopant and watching Twilight get murdered before her eyes or winning against the Dopant and seeing herself attack Twilight.

And then there was those words, “Dopant” and “Fang”, the moment she melded with the Unicorn Memory these words entered in her mind. It also made her aware that the monster was in fact another person, but someone who had given into the savage power of the Fang Memory.

Sunset cursed herself, she almost gave into the power and became the same kind of monster she swore to never become again. But the power, the raw, unmatched power of that Memory, it was so similar and yet different from when she used the Element of Magic. It was so enticing, how she could sense all the magical energy in the air and could wield it on a level she couldn’t have done with her normal human body.

Becoming the Unicorn Dopant allowed her to return to what she used to be, albeit an anthropomorphic version, but a unicorn all the same. What’s more, she had a hunger for more of the power, and she sensed it in Twilight, still touched by the magic she had absorbed last year during the Friendship Games.

“Twilight…”

Sunset glanced to her nightstand, she hesitantly grabbed her charging cellphone and looked up Twilight’s number. With the number was a picture of the dorky girl. It was Twilight, awkwardly waving and blushing in Sunset’s direction while she smiled. Seeing this picture made her anxiety flow away a little. Sunset pushed the “call” icon and waited for Twilight to pick up.

Great, I’m going to wake her up in the middle of the night over a nightmare…

[Hello?]

“Twilight?”

[Sunset, oh, how are you? What are you doing calling at 1:00am?]

Hold on? She sounds too alert to be just waking up, thought Sunset.

*Zzzzt*

“Twilight, what’s that sound in the background?”

[Oh that, it’s a soldering tool.]

“‘Soldering’? Wait a minute, are you working on that thing!?”

The buzzing noise stopped and there was a pause. [Um…no I’m not…]

Sunset slapped her forehead in dragged her hand down her face. “Twilight you’re a terrible liar, and you need to rest! After almost getting killed, and me almost…losing myself…you’re still working on it?”

[Yes, look, I’m sorry Sunset, but I believe that this device can help with that problem. From what I’ve gone over, this ‘Driver’ can allow you to use the Unicorn Memory’s powers without the side effect of losing your sense of self.]

“I told you, I don’t want to use that thing again! Not after I almost hurt you, I don’t want to become a monster again!”

[S-S-Sorry…! I just thought…I mean…we’re the only ones who can deal with weird and magical stuff, right?]

Sunset fell back onto her pillow and sighed. “Yes, we are, but this is way too different from the normal stuff we deal with…Stuff that could seriously get someone killed.”

Twilight scoffed at that. [Oh, and the stuff you were dealing with before I came to the school wasn’t? You becoming a she-demon – sorry – and using the student body as your personal army? Those ‘Dazzling Sirens’ coming in and making everyone in the school turn against one another and almost became powerful enough to spread their influence over the world? And let’s not forget…when I almost tore apart reality…]

There was a pause before Twilight continued.

[My point is, everything that’s happened has been dangerous and more than likely someone could’ve gotten killed! It’s just sheer dumb luck that it hasn’t escalated that far, yet.]

“It’s that ‘yet’ that’s making me worry. I don’t know, I thought I knew what magic in this world could do, but now…”

[It’s alright, sorry, I didn’t mean to push you or convince you to do something you didn’t want to do…I never wanted to do that.]

Sunset knew exactly what Twilight was talking about, considering that the Principal of her old school practically blackmailed her into competing in the Friendship Games, Twilight had a bit of a hang up with being like that towards others.

[Anyway, I’m sorry, again, what was it that you wanted talk about?]

“Ugh…I had a nightmare, as lame as it sounds. Just needed to hear your voice, and you can stop apologizing.”

There some incoherent sounds coming from the other end of the phone, but they seemed to quiet down after a minute.

[I-I’m glad I could help. Did you want to talk a bit longer?]

“Nah, I feel better now, I’ll just come by later tomorrow, and you better get to bed,” said Sunset with a mock stern tone.

[I will, goodnight.]

“‘Night.”

Sunset pressed the “end call” icon and placed the phone back on the nightstand. Tomorrow was another day.

***____________________***

One of the good things that came out of the quake, was extra time to do what you wanted. In this case, Sunset had gotten a call from Rarity, asking her to come with her to model one of her latest creations for a prestigious corporation that was looking for new talent.

Sunset had inquired of her friend why she needed her of all people and not someone who was more model looking, like Fluttershy. It took all of five seconds for Sunset to realize that she had just answered her own question as to why not. In the end she decided to go, besides, it was only one outfit. Not a whole closet like she usually made. She hoped.

Her bike whirred as it zipped down the streets of the city. As expected, the majority of the city had recovered from the quake. Despite the fact that many of the structures weren’t built to withstand it, Canterlot City was sturdier than some had realized.

Sunset rolled to a stop as the traffic light shifted to red, her eyes briefly glanced down at her left breast pocket, very aware of the Unicorn Memory that was inside it.

Although she said she didn’t want it anywhere near her, she couldn’t leave it with anyone else or risk hiding it and someone less stable finding it. So, the only other safe option was to keep it on her at all times. The urge to use it was still there, but it was a minor annoyance and easily pushed to the back of her head, for now.

A car honked behind her, making Sunset look up and see that the light had turned green. She hurriedly revved her bike and took off.

Get it together Shimmer, that thing is gone, and you can control yourself, everything’s fine, thought Sunset.

“RAAAAAAAAAAARGGGH!!!”

Sunset hit the brakes on her bike, the tires squealing as she came to an abrupt halt. Other cars stopped behind her, honking at her for the sudden stop. Sunset raised the visor on her helmet and quickly looked around. She knew it wasn’t in her head, it was loud, there even seemed to be some pedestrians looking around in confusion.

A man stuck his head out of his car window and glared at Sunset angrily. “HEY, EITHER GET OFF OF THE ROAD OR GET MOVE–!”

The man didn’t get to finish his sentence before a large, white raptor pounced down on the hood of his car, crushing the front half of the automobile. Sunset was thrown back by the force generated by the landing, but quickly recovered and gasped in horror. It was the Fang Dopant, its eyes gleaming and staring directly at Sunset.

Oh crap, it remembers me! Sunset’s hand unconsciously reached for her breast pocket but paused when she noticed the people around them and realized her actions. NO! I can’t – I won’t change into a monster! Especially with all these people around!

Sunset swiftly mounted her bike and revved the engine loudly.

“Hey Triassic World reject, come and get me!!”

The Fang Dopant roared, and Sunset peeled away, with the white raptor chasing right after her.

She weaved in and out of traffic, having several cars honk at her for her reckless actions, however, reckless was called for when trying to avoid getting killed by a five-foot-six raptor that could throw its spikes like a boomerang. Speaking of which.

Sunset ducked her head as her ears caught the subtle sound of the weapon cutting the air. The blade-a-rang flew over her, barely scraping her helmet as it sailed ahead and cut through a car. The car’s severed half careened into another car, which caused the second to fly off into the sidewalk and into a shop.

A quick turn and a narrow squeeze through two cars allowed her to avoid the domino effect of the crashing cars. The Fang Dopant had no quarrels with either jumping over some of the vehicles or slashing through them as they entered its striking range.

Thankfully, it wasn’t long before Sunset heard the wailing of police sirens, taking a look behind her to see that two patrol cars were advancing at high speed towards the Fang Dopant. The passenger window rolled down for the patrol car on the left, and the officer pointed a shotgun at the monster.

The officer released two rounds into the beast, but the hardened scales and near diamond hard spikes either deflected the bullets or stopped them in their tracks. The Fang Dopant growled angrily at the cop. Its right forearm spike extended into a crescent blade and the beast jumped. The officer followed its movements and tried to fire more shotgun rounds.

But it was too late, the Fang Dopant came down on the cop car, the blade charged up with energy and slashed right through the engine of the cop car, igniting the fuel inside it and detonating the cruiser in a fiery heap of twisted metal.

Sunset’s eyes widened at the horror of the destruction and loss of life. She quickly pulled around to a corner and went down an alleyway, stopping for a moment to catch her breath and to call a certain someone.

***____________________***

Twilight wiped her brow, staring at the object that had haunted her thoughts and now was made real. The belt was completed, the final circuitry put into place and with the data from the Unicorn Memory and the mysterious knowledge in her mind, she was able to finish it.

“Well, at least that’s done,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, but what’s it supposed to do?” Spike asked.

Twilight sat up from her chair and popped the kinks out of her back and neck. “Essentially, it will allow Sunset to utilize the transformative energies in the Gaia Memory, and manifest them in a stable and more viable form for better offensive and possibly defensive capabilities.”

Spike used one of his hind legs to scratch his ear then then tilted his head in confusion.

“It should help Sunset control that little green doohickey.”

“Oooooh, gotcha!”

Twilight giggled which morphed into a yawn of exhaustion, she pulled out her cellphone to check the time and gasped at how late it was.

“Einstein’s ghost, I’ve been up all night and morning!?”

“Yep, pretty much,” confirmed Spike.

Twilight sighed, disappointed in herself that she didn’t take the time to catch any much-needed sleep. As productive as she could be, even Twilight knew that the human body could not function too long without the required amount of optimal sleep.

“Guess I could hop into bed for an hour or two…”

Unfortunately, Twilight’s plans for sleep were put on hold when she heard scrambling coming from other side of her door. Twilight hurriedly made her way to her bedroom door, opening it to find Shining Armor, in his uniform, making a mad dash for the stairs.

“Shining Armor, what’s wrong? Are you late?”

The young man turned around, his expression serious and somewhat grim. “No, there’s some kind of dangerous animal rampaging downtown!”

“WHAT!?”

“It’s already caused multiple fatalities both to civilian and police personnel, the Captain’s called all on hands on deck! I’m sorry Twily, I have to go now, stay home and lock the doors! Mom and Dad will be back home later, I’ll call when I get the chance!”

Shining Armor rushed down the stairs afterwards, barely even giving his little sister a chance to respond. It wasn’t long before she heard the squealing of tires and the wail of his sirens as they got further and further away.

Twilight went back into her room and opened her computer to any live news feeds.

[We’re bringing you breaking news about, what witnesses are calling, a “dinosaur” tearing its way through downtown Canterlot. We’ve confirmed that the animal, whatever it is, is currently going down Trotting Hill.]

[Police are urging all residents and citizens to avoid this area at all costs until the crisis is over. We’ll continue to bring you further updates as this situation develops – Wait…Okay, this just in, our news copter is currently on scene, we’ll now go live downtown.]

The feed changed and now showed downtown Canterlot. Multiple cars were destroyed, most of the shops and buildings were either on fire or destroyed.

[I’m here on scene, where the animal is currently engaged with the police SWAT unit.]

The camera focused on the combat, showing a familiar white raptor.

“Twilight…is that the thing from two days ago!?” Spike asked.

“It is…! I knew it was too easy, even after all that!”

The white raptor tossed two crescent blade-a-rangs, each one cut through the air at high speed and struck down many officers in its path. Twilight gasped as the saw the carnage, averting her eyes for a moment.

[Ladies and gentlemen I apologize for what you just saw, but this is happening live. But as it appears, the SWAT unit is currently experiencing heavy losses and – hold on!]

The white raptor looked up at the helicopter, and I do mean directly at the helicopter. The beast took hold of one of its spikes and tossed the weapon straight at the news reporters. All that was heard was the tearing of metal and the panicked and fearful screams as the helicopter crashed and the feed cut off.

“Oh…my…god…”

Suddenly, Twilight’s cellphone went off, startling her for a moment. She scrambled to the device and saw that it was Sunset calling, quickly answering the phone. “Sunset! Are you there!? Did you see what was on the–!?”

A loud boom went off in the background, making Twilight pull the phone away from her ear for a couple of seconds. Fear gripped Twilight’s heart as she came to a realization, although prayed to whatever deity was listening that she wasn’t right.

“Sunset Shimmer, tell me you are not where I think you are right now!?”

[I could, but then I’d be lying!]

“What are you even doing there!?”

[The Fang Dopant just came after me, I was heading to see Rarity for some modeling thing, and then it just drops out of nowhere! I think it was tracking me, and now it’s tearing up the city looking for me!]

Twilight put her phone down and swiftly got a Bluetooth earpiece and put it on. With the same speed she went into her closet and rummaged through it as she continued to talk to Sunset.

“Where are you right now?!”

[I’m in an alleyway, hiding! I don’t know how long I can stay here, but if I run then it’s just going to come after me and get more innocent people involved! Unless…]

“No!” Twilight shouted. “Don’t merge with Unicorn Memory!”

Twilight found what she was looking for, a long black suitcase, which she promptly removed and plopped onto her bed.

[What choice do I have!? Right now, I’m the only one who can do anything to stop it!]

Twilight unlatched the case and pulled out something she’d never thought she’d take hold of again.

“I never said you shouldn’t, but not as you are. I’m sending you the Driver,” said Twilight.

[“Driver”, what the heck is that? And how?]

“I’ll explain later! Turn on the GPS for your phone and wait.”

[Okay, make it fast though!]

Twilight rushed to her computer and began typing at lightning-fast speeds, on the desk was fairly large, futuristic looking, arrow with a USB cable connected to the computer. After a few seconds she unplugged the USB cable and took up the Driver. She placed it into a holster, making the arrow weighted, but that wouldn’t be a problem.

The genius girl pushed open her windows and pressed the button on the object in her left hand. Immediately two curved arms sprang forth, connected to a high-tech shaft as a drawstring connected the two arms.

Archery was a requirement back at Crystal Prep Academy, but she wasn’t very good, evident by her performance at the Friendship Games. However, since then, Twilight had been practicing and at Applejack’s farm. Now it was time to put those skills to use.

“Spike you might want to take cover, I haven’t tested this, and it could end badly,” Twilight ordered in a stern voice.

Spike could hear it, there was no room for argument here. The purple dog ducked underneath Twilight’s bed, but kept his head peeked out a little to keep an eye on her.

Twilight notched the heavy arrow, taking a deep breath. She calmed the storm of thoughts in her mind and slowed her heart rate. The city was in the distance, but thankfully not too far.

She drew back the arrow, feeling her muscles strain as she pulled against the drawstring and held a firm grip on the bow. Twilight took one more deep breath then launched the arrow, hearing the bow release a satisfying “twang” sound.

The arrow flew up high for a few seconds, but it appeared as if the arrow was going to fall down due to the weight. But that’s when Twilight pressed the button the bow.

< HAWK! >

The arrow exploded out, transforming into a mechanical hawk. The mechanimal released a proud screech as its wings released jet fire that propelled it into the air. Like a rocket the Hawk droid shot off in the direction of Canterlot City.

Please be in time…

***____________________***

Sunset peeked out of the corner of the alleyway, watching as the Fang Dopant continued to hack and slash through one police trooper after the next, on a total rampage. She clutched at the Unicorn Memory in her hand, desperately wanting to use it to stop the out-of-control monster, but at the same time she was reluctant to do so. The constant fear of becoming like that monster was holding her back, despite her wanting to go and help.

“TWILIGHT, WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING YOU BETTER DO IT FAST!” Sunset yelled over the phone.

[Sunset, I launched the package just a moment ago, ETA: 20 seconds!]

“Wait, launched what?”

Suddenly, Sunset heard a loud screech like a hawk. She turned around and watched as a mechanical bird came swooping out of the sky. Its jet wings went from a roaring fire to a soft hum as it slowed down and hovered. In its talons was the belt device that Twilight had been working on. Sunset held out her hands and the hawk bot released it before flying away.

“Twilight, did you just send a robot bird to deliver that belt thing you were making?”

[Oh thank god it got to you in time! Now just put it on and insert the Unicorn Memory into the slot. Afterwards, push it down and into the belt and it should activate the system. Oh, and say “transform” after you push the button on the Gaia Memory and before you insert it!]

“What? Why!?”

[Its voice activated, it needs to recognize the activation of the Gaia Memory and the voice of the user! Look, don’t argue with me, just do it!]

Sunset sighed and decided to trust her friend. With her left hand, she placed the belt to the front of her waist, as if knowing, the belt itself released the leather strap that looped around and fastened the belt securely to Sunset. Into her right hand she took up the Unicorn Memory and touched the button.

< UNICORN! >

“Transform!”

Sunset placed the Gaia Memory into the slot, and with her left hand pushed it down into the unicorn belt. A couple of seconds passed, and nothing happened. Another couple more seconds passed, and still nothing. Sunset took out her phone.

“Uh, Twi…NOTHING HAPPENED!”

[THAT’S IMPOSSIBLE! I-I know it’s “transform”, that’s the command line to activate it! Hang on, let me look into this!]

A loud explosion caught Sunset’s attention, making her look out from the corner again. She spotted the Fang Dopant, now wrestling with a police issued armored assault vehicle. The Dopant dug its talons into the asphalt, giving off sparks as the pseudo tank tried to run the beast over. But the Fang Dopant wasn’t one to give in so easily.

The white raptor raked its claws into the fortified armor and roared out as it pushed the three tons of metal back. The Fang Dopant extended two of its arm spikes, charging them with blue plasma energy. It then slashed once, horizontally, and then a second time vertically. The cross shaped arc of light cut through the AAV and obliterated it in a powerful explosion, and then roaring its triumph into the air for all to hear.

Sunset gritted her teeth, hating how she felt so helpless to stop this monster.

[I got it; it was so simple – how could I have been so stupid! The original blueprints were written by a Dr. Sonozaki, a Neighponese scientist, so it stands to reason she used the Neighponese word for “transform”!]

“And that is!?” Sunset asked impatiently.

[Henshin!]

“Got it!”

Sunset ran into the street, her boots grinding against the asphalt as she skidded to a stop in the middle of the open space. “HEY, UGLY!” The Fang Dopant turned and snarled. “IF YOU WANT TO FIGHT, THEN I’M RIGHT HERE!”

The Fang Dopant made two of its shoulder spikes grow out, and then grabbed each of them. At the same time, Sunset took up the Unicorn Memory and pressed the button.

< UNICORN! >

“HENSHIN!”

The belt activated, the circuitry glowing and coming to life; seeing this, Sunset inserted the Memory and pushed it down. The Fang Dopant released both blade-a-rangs, glowing with blue plasma as they flew towards Sunset.

> UNICORN! <

A field of turquoise electrical energy sprang out around Sunset, blocking the two blade-a-rangs and throwing them back towards the Dopant. Sunset felt a surge of power overtake her body, similar to when she used the Gaia Memory the first time, but not as overwhelming. It was more refined, and focused. The energy began to strike Sunset, materializing an armored suit around her body. After a few seconds time, the field collapsed and released a glowing, sparkling ethereal wind that washed over everything.

Fires were put out, and injuries that some had sustained were healed in an instant. The Fang Dopant, however, was assaulted by the ethereal wind, causing sparks to fly off its body and threw it to the ground.

What stood in Sunset’s place was an entirely different being. A turquoise green suit, with sun yellow metal lines. The helmet had a green crystal horn, the edge wrapped in silver, protruding from the forehead, with two aquamarine oval eyes. New sensations flowed into Sunset, power, strength, and a sense of magical energy she hadn’t felt since the day of the Friendship Games. This was focused power, comparable to a blunt instrument versus a sword.

The Fang Dopant rose to its feet, its body feeling the effects of the buffeting force that had hit it moments ago. “Who…Who…are…you!”

“I’m…I’m…” Memories flooded into her mind, a memory of a warrior in a similar suit and a flowing scarf, and two words came to her mind. “Kamen…Rider…I’m Kamen Rider Unicorn!”

“Kill…RAAAARGGGGH!!!”

The Fang Dopant roared and ran straight for Unicorn. The Kamen Rider entered an offensive stance, its ethereal light shined towards her feet. Unicorn sprinted forward and reappeared behind the Dopant. The white raptor paused and glanced behind itself, confused as to how she got behind it.

Sunset surprised herself, but she didn’t have time to think about it. Unicorn used her speed and closed in on the Fang Dopant. She cocked back her right fist and delivered a powerful punch to the Dopant’s chest, causing sparks to fly out upon impact. The Fang Dopant dug its talons into the street, trying to stop itself from flying back. But Sunset didn’t let up, she spun on her heel and delivered a spinning kick to the Dopant’s head, launching it into the air and spiraling before it hit the ground.

The Fang Dopant recovered and began to form its shoulder spikes, taking one and charging it up before throwing it at Unicorn.

The Kamen Rider thrust out her left hand, the crystal horn glowing with magical energy. Suddenly the blade-a-rang stopped in midair, an aquamarine aura covering the weapon.

“Levitation, oh yeah, I am back!”

Unicorn, using her rediscovered telekinetic spell, threw the crescent spike right back at the Fang Dopant. But instead of just tossing it away, Sunset used the blade to strike back at her opponent. She waved her hand to the right, making the spiraling crescent slash the Fang Dopant’s shoulder and causing more sparks to fly. Unicorn waved her hand again, and again, and again, making more sparks fly and causing more damage to the Dopant.

Sunset released her hold on the spike and saw that the Dopant was disoriented and weakened. She had to finish it off, now, before it recovered, but how?

A glow emitted from her right hip, Sunset looked down and saw that there was a port connected onto the belt on her right hip, and at the that same time, the Unicorn Memory glowed. As if telling her what she needed to do.

“Alright, I’ll follow your lead!” The Kamen Rider removed the Unicorn Memory from the belt and glared down at the Fang Dopant. “You’ve caused so much damage, pain, and fear! Time to restore harmony!”

Sunset slipped the Gaia Memory into the slot and pressed the switch on the side.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Sunset entered a stance, energy began to gather around her, and focused itself on her right leg. Unicorn used the energy and jumped high into the air, performing one somersault before extending her foot forward for a flying kick. The energy began to lash out, forming a spiral drill-like cone that blazed around her foot.

“SPIRAL BREAKER!!!”

The Fang Dopant looked up, just in time to watch the Spiral Breaker descend on it. Unicorn’s attack struck the Dopant, sending up an explosion of aquamarine flames that completely engulfed the Dopant. Sunset appeared behind the Dopant, turning around to see the aftermath, and Sunset gasped.

There was a man on the ground, and a Gaia Memory lying next to him. Sunset walked over and picked up the device, noticing the same symbol she saw when she became a Dopant. Three jagged claw marks in the shape of an “F”.

“Another Gaia Memory, the Fang Memory…?”

It wasn’t long before Sunset noticed the incoming police sirens, she also spotted news helicopters hovering overhead.

“Yeah, I definitely don’t need to explain this to the cops!”

Sunset made a mad dash back to the alley and to her bike. The moment she touched the bike her horn glowed, sending a surge of energy into the motorcycle that changed its form. The body elongated a few inches, the front forming a long spiral horn. On the sides of the bike, the Unicorn symbol was emblazoned, and two wing-like fins protruded from the tail.

“Sweet!”

Sunset mounted her bike and revved the engine, hearing it roar with newfound power. The Kamen Rider went full throttle and peeled out of the alley at ridiculous speeds. The news copter followed her, but one more twist of the accelerator and Unicorn went flying down the street and away from all cop cars and surveillance.

***__________EXE__________***

Starlight watched the news on her office TV, Sugar Belle was sitting on the couch, watching this spectacle.

“Starlight…that person in the suit, she has one like you!”

Starlight Glimmer was twiddling the Equal Memory in her hands, staring intently as the news reran the images of the battle between the mysterious hero and the Dopant she defeated. The masked hero had taken one of the T2 Gaia Memories, and somehow had a Driver to utilize the refined power.

“It seems…that I am not the only one who has access to the Memories,” said Starlight.

“Do you want us to investigate?” Sugar Belle asked.

The young executive narrowed her gaze and shook her head. “Let’s see how useful this Kamen Rider is, we may be able use her to gather the other Gaia Memories that have been scattered. How are we with the production of the other Memories?”

“Oh!” Sugar Belle picked up the tablet next to her and began going through it. “We’re currently at 90%, we have a few Memories ready for distribution and testing, and we’re currently searching for…ahem…‘suitable’ candidates.”

Starlight nodded her head and turned to face the window, looking down at the city that was her “kingdom”.

Kamen Rider, huh? Starlight glanced down at her waist, showing a belt that had an E turned on its back, with the third bracket bent off to the side. This’ll be fun.

B: Birth of a Hero / Activate! Mimetic Drive!v (Edited)

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Twilight was pacing her room, having watched the whole fight on the news. She was screaming and shouting her exhilaration at every instance that Sunset landed a blow against the Dopant monster, and even squealed in delight when she jumped up into the air and landed that glowing flying kick to the monster. Twilight was surprised that her bike had changed and was now moving too fast for any helicopter or police car to catch.

“Twilight calm down, you saw Sunset leave, she’s fine,” said Spike.

“I know, I know…but I’m still worried! I mean, I haven’t tested the Uni-Driver, so who knows what effects it’ll have on Sunset! She could be under tremendous strain, or her cells could be deteriorating, or if – if – if –!”

*Ding-Dong*

“If she’s right at the front door?”

Spike felt a rush of wind and heard a door slamming open. The purple furred dog looked to where Twilight was, and then to where she went and chased after her.

Twilight practically jumped many of the steps before landing at the bottom step and dashed to the front door. The genius girl opened the front door, her eyes wide with worry as she beheld the intact former bad girl.

Sunset stood there, the belt still wrapped around her waist, minus the Unicorn Memory, and wearing a confident smirk.

“You’re okay!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Of course, I am me after all – oomph!”

Sunset suddenly found herself brought into a tight hug, at first, she was caught off-guard by the embrace and was feeling an unusual sense of warmth radiating from her face.

“I was so worried! I didn’t know of if the Driver would work, hurt you, or…or…!”

The awkwardness faded when Sunset heard the distraught tone in her friend’s voice, she gently patted Twilight on the back in a reassuring fashion, smiling kindly down at the shorter girl.

“Hey, I had no doubts about this little doohickey working for me, and you know why?”

“Why?”

“‘Cause you were the one who made it and I trust you,” said Sunset with sincerity.

Twilight began to blush, but continued to hug Sunset, nonetheless. After a few seconds more she realized the exact place her head resting on Sunset and Twilight quickly pulled away, looking flustered.

“Sorry, I – We should head inside before anyone sees you!” Twilight said quickly before pulling Sunset inside.

Spike came running down the stairs and leaped at Sunset, she caught him in her arms, and he started licking her on her face while wagging his tail happily. “Sunset, I knew you’d beat that thing! You were so cool!”

Sunset cradled Spike in her left arm and flipped her hair with her right. “Of course, it was all brawn and no brains.”

All three entered Twilight’s room and the bespectacled girl quickly closed the door behind them and locked it, making both Sunset and Spike turn around.

“Alright…Sunset…I’m going to have to examine you, now!”

“Wait, examine – Oh crap!”

Spike jumped out of Sunset’s arms and onto Twilight’s bed, just in time to witness Sunset get pounced on by Twilight, taking out wires and nodes from seemingly out of nowhere. Spike also witnessed several articles of clothing flying off, and heard many surprised shrieks, squeals, and gasps.

“Oh boy, she’s going into full analyzer mode.”

***__________EXE_________***

Double Diamond considered himself a patient man, cool, calm, and collected. In his hand he had a Gaia Memory, not like the ones he and his colleagues used. Personally, he didn’t see Sugar Belle being able to do something like this, Night Glider was too hotheaded, and Party Favor’s demeanor was too…soft for this sort of work.

But Double Diamond was different, he believed in Starlight’s grand plan, and knew what it would take to make it come to fruition, ready to do whatever Starlight needed of him. Even deal with lowlifes.

The white-haired young man walked through the dilapidated structure of an abandoned warehouse, hearing commotion coming from deep inside. There were cars parked in a circle, their headlights shining on two individuals fighting. There were other teenage boys and girls on the outer rim of the circle, goading them on and cheering for one or the other.

Double Diamond continued to walk in, carrying himself with unflinching confidence and strength. He entered the crowd, many of them looking at him funny because he was wearing a formal business suit while everyone else was wearing either something inappropriate or just casual. Some even dared to get in his face and ask Double Diamond why he was here.

The white-haired young man looked around the crowd and gazed at the one fighting. The boy, shirtless, delivered punches with savage strength and speed. He had red tattoos of a dragon winding around his body, with dark orange hair, and hazel yellow eyes. The other boy tried to punch at the orange haired boy. He dodged it and thrust out his right hand, grabbing the other teenager’s face and squeezing down hard on him. The vice grip made the teenager cry out in pain, but his cries ceased when the orange haired teenager threw that same teenager to the ground, headfirst. The orange haired boy looked down at the one he had slammed to the ground and smiled wickedly as he rose and saw that his opponent was thoroughly knocked out.

“KO, and Garble’s the winner!”

Garble stood up and cracked his knuckles. “Alright, who’s next, I haven’t even broken a sweat yet!?”

“I’ll take that challenge,” said Double Diamond.

The crowd parted, turning their heads to view the nicely dressed young man. Garble laughed mockingly at Double Diamond, finding the notion that such a person was even here absurd. The crowd joined in as well, throwing in curses and insults his way. Yet Double Diamond never flinched, holding his still calm and stoic expression as he walked down the parted path and entered the improvised ring.

“You really must have a death wish pal, this place ain’t for rich boys looking for a cheap thrill,” warned Garble.

The corner of Double Diamond’s mouth curled as he spoke. “Believe me, this won’t be for thrills, my conception of a thrill would make this spectacle look like a cheaply made Saturday morning kids program. To prove my point, I’ll only use one arm.”

Garble watched as Double Diamond put his left arm behind his back and kept his right arm loose and ready to fight. Garble growled at the posh boy’s attitude and came in swinging. Double Diamond blocked his first blow with his right forearm, but Garble came in with his right fist. Double Diamond quickly slapped Garble’s left arm away and then caught the right fist in the palm of his right hand.

The orange haired boy threw one fast and wild punch after the other, but Double Diamond was able to sidestep every action he took. Garble sprinted forward with a right straight punch, but Double Diamond feinted to the left, and used his foot to trip Grable, sending him rolling and tumbling until he hit the grill of a car. Garble rubbed his head, glaring at Double Diamond with venom.

“I am NOT going to lose to some preppy rich kid!” Garble threatened.

“You won’t lose to me because I’m a ‘preppy rich kid’, but because you’re weak, and do you know why you’re weak?”

Double Diamond brought up his left hand, within it he held his Gaia Memory and pressed the button.

< ICEAGE! >

The white-haired boy rolled up his right sleeve, exposing his wrist. He then placed the blue connector against his wrist, the IceAge Memory disappearing into his body. His whole body was encased in ice, glowing blue at its center. After a few seconds, the ice shattered, revealing an entirely different form.

His forearms were covered in diamond hard, sky blue ice, the fingertips shaped into claws. The lower half of his legs were also covered in the same icy armor, along with a chest plate and shoulder pauldrons of the same substance. The unarmored parts of this body were white as snow, with dark, navy blue lines weaved into intricate patterns. His head was completely covered in ice, with spiky icicles acting as his hair, and eyes glowing yellow.

The IceAge Dopant waved its clawed hands to the right and left, launching an icy blast of wind that froze the people on either side of him, creeping all the way up to the walls on the far end of the warehouse. The teenagers that were spared began to run away, but Double Diamond stomped his foot, generating an ice fissure that snaked its way around the area and prevented every one of them from leaving as the cutting cold began to affect them.

Double Diamond looked down at Garble, despite witnessing his incredible power, he still had a defiant look in his eyes.

“You’ve seen what I can do, and yet you dare give me such a look?”

Garble didn’t respond right away, almost as if he were trying to figure out a way to fight him or to get away. Double Diamond smiled inwardly.

“The dragon, a powerful beast, feared by ancient civilizations across the world, and revered. How would you like to be that creature?” Double Diamond asked.

“W-What are you talking about…?” Garble asked as his teeth shivered.

Double Diamond reached behind his back, and drew a gun-like object, and in his other hand was the Gaia Memory he had brought with him.

“This is the Beast Memory, use this, and you will have power like mine. Become the true beast you want to be!”

Garble looked at the Memory, and then to the destruction Double Diamond had caused around him. Such a power could be his, to become stronger than anyone. How could he say no?

“What do I do?” Garble asked with a cocky smile.

The IceAge Dopant, with inhuman speed, pressed the gun-like object against the teenage boy’s chest. He squeezed the trigger and the device fired, but its discharge sounded more akin to someone stamping something than firing an actual bullet. When the device was pulled away, Garble saw that there was a strange tattoo on his chest now. It looked similar to a USB connector. Double Diamond handed the Beast Memory to Garble, who quickly took it.

“Press the button on the Memory and place the silver end against the port.”

Garble didn’t hesitate, finding the button and pressing it.

< BEAST! >

***__________________***

Sunset adjusted her shirt, feeling a little violated after the whole thing was over. Twilight was diligently typing away at her computer, entering all the data she had gotten when she had the nodes hooked up to Sunset to take her physical data.

“Twi, I get you needed to get my physical data, or whatever, but was it necessary to strip me down while doing that?” Sunset asked.

“You had your panties on,” said Twilight as she continued her work.

Sunset rolled her eyes, but smirked. “Well, nice to know you can be forceful when you have to be.”

“Mmm-hmm.”

It was only now that Sunset had said something did Twilight realize what she had done. The memories flooded her mind, every article of clothing that came up, and the image of Sunset’s…assists. Her face went bright red as she became aware of this, radiating enough heat that she thought she could roast a marshmallow.

“I…I am so sorry about that! I didn’t mean to just do that without your permission,” said Twilight, very apologetic.

Sunset waved it off. “It’s alright, not like I have anything you don’t.”

Twilight kept her chair in front of the computer, not wanting Sunset to see how embarrassed she was. Sunset had to admit, it was a little mortifying to have Twilight do that, but it wasn’t all that unpleasant. It was then that she slapped herself across the face and groaned inwardly.

Get your head out of the gutter, Shimmer! This isn’t the time!

“So, what’s up? Am I dying?”

The genius girl turned around in her chair and glared at Sunset seriously. “Please don’t joke like that, Sunset!”

“Sorry, sorry, bad joke! But seriously…?”

Twilight sighed and turned around, she typed away and brought up her data.

“So far as I can tell, there’s nothing wrong that sticks out to me. But my knowledge of anatomy is basic, I’ll have to do a little more studying on abnormalities and genetics before I can say for sure that there are any. For now, though, it seems the Uni-Driver worked.”

Sunset shook her head in affirmation. “Yep, now we need to figure out what to do with that.”

Sunset and Twilight looked in the same direction, next to the Uni-Driver was the Fang Memory, and beside it was the Unicorn Memory. Even now, Sunset didn’t know how she did all that. The use of the Maximum Drive, the name of her form, and how to wield the energies.

“‘Kamen Rider’, the word to activate the transformation was ‘henshin’, Neighponese for ‘transform’, so is ‘kamen’ a Neighponese word too? ‘Cause I know it’s not the same c-o-m-m-o-n word.” Sunset asked.

“I did look it up, it means ‘masked’, a Masked Rider.”

Sunset thought about it for a moment and shrugged. “Eh, Kamen Rider sounds better.”

“Still, I’m amazed the Unicorn Memory gave you such knowledge, even combat oriented knowledge as well!”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head, embarrassed a little. “Well…the use of the magic wasn’t so much the Gaia Memory as it was my own memories of how to use magic. And the combat skills…that was all me.”

Twilight looked up at Sunset with shock, she knew Sunset was physically fit, but she didn’t know she was a fighter.

“It was back when I first came to Earth, I figured out pretty quick that I had no magical powers here whatsoever. All I could do was broaden my knowledge of science and improve my physical strength, which included learning various fighting styles. I just didn’t want to feel…powerless.”

Twilight placed her hand gently on Sunset’s arm and smiled up at her. “I understand, about being powerless and alone. But neither of us are like that anymore, right?”

“Yeah, not anymore,” said Sunset. “So, if I put that thing into the belt, will I become Kamen Rider Fang or something?”

Twilight typed at the computer and brought up the specifications of the Uni-Driver.

“Unfortunately, no, the Uni-Driver was designed for the Unicorn Memory, and only for the Unicorn Memory. The additional ports however seem to function with other Memories though.”

Both girls had already deduced the purpose of the right hip port. Once a Memory was inserted, it unleashed the full power of that Gaia Memory allowing the wielder to perform a “Maximum Drive” attack. The left hip port, however, was still unknown. Twilight growled in frustration as she had been wracking her brain as to what the second port’s purpose could be.

“I don’t get it! I made the darn thing; how can I not know what it does!?” Twilight spat. “Ugh, it reminds me of when I made that pendant all over again!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Yeah, been meaning to ask you. How did you create that thing? A device that locates and actually absorbs magical energy, and now a belt device that can transform me into a superhero?” She then spared a glance to the bow and arrow set. “Not to mention the robot bird arrow.”

Twilight head desked herself, groaning from both the pain and her ignorance. “I honestly don’t know…Sometimes I won’t even have to think about it too hard and I’ll just know, like the knowledge is there and ready for my use at any time! It’s only been recently that I’ve seen these infinite bookshelves in my head!” The genius girl looked up at Sunset with a saddened face. “Could…Could I be somehow tapping into Princess Twilight’s memories and knowledge?”

Sunset sighed and sat down on the desk. “Honestly, I don’t think so. I’ve been away from home for a while, but even I know that Equestria’s science hasn’t fully gotten to the point that it is here, so I don’t think the complex mechanics came from the Princess.” The former bad girl clasped Twilight on the shoulder. “For now, though, let’s just focus on the problem at hand.”

“Right.”

Twilight sat up straight and typed at her computer yet again. The images changed, showing their school, and a green pillar shooting up in the distance. She then brought up some videos that were posted online and correlating them with her own calculations. After a minute or two, Twilight was able to create a model of the event when all this craziness began.

“Alright, we can safely assume that the ‘Emerald Pillar’ was the cause of these Gaia Memories entering our world,” said Twilight.

Sunset leaned down and pointed her finger at the individual streaks of light coming from the main pillar. “Each of these represents – we can assume – one Gaia Memory flying off. Judging from the way they’re angling; I doubt they flew past the confines of Canterlot City.”

“That should make finding them easier, and unfortunately, we can’t rule out the hypothesis that some individuals have also found or that the Gaia Memories have sought individuals who are a ‘genetic match’.” Twilight began to hum in contemplation. “Maybe I could develop some kind of tracker that can key onto the energies of the Memories?”

Sunset yawned and stretched her limbs. “Well, I’d be glad to help Twilight, but I’m feeling a little tired after all that.”

“Of course, head back home and get some rest –” Twilight yawned, “– and I guess I’ll need to get some too. Oh, and take these!”

Twilight quickly grabbed the Uni-Driver and handed it to Sunset, along with the Unicorn and Fang Memories.

“You sure about this?” Sunset asked.

“It’ll be safer and easier for you if you had them. If another incident happens like today’s, it’d be dangerous for you if you couldn’t defend yourself,” explained Twilight.

Sunset nodded, taking both the Driver and two Memories, hoping she would not have to use them anytime soon, although, she had a sinking feeling that from this point onwards, she was going to be using both a lot in the days to come. She had made it downstairs and waved goodbye to Twilight, mounting her bike in preparation to head home.

And that’s when it hit her.

“OH CRAP, I FORGOT ABOUT RARITY!”

***__________________***

The next day came and went by quite fast, at Spike’s behest, Twilight was forced to sleep in to catch up on the sleep she missed working on the Driver. Sunset was with Rarity, thankfully the fashion show had been cancelled due to the crisis with the Fang Dopant the other day, so Rarity wasn’t upset that Sunset hadn’t showed up, and was informed it was to be moved to another date.

Meanwhile, there were reports of cops getting attacked around Canterlot City, the news stations and newspapers were calling it random attacks, but to some it was less than random.

The day after though, Twilight was riding with her big brother, Shining Armor, who was taking her to a doctor’s appointment. Twilight had repeatedly told her parents and brother that she was fine, but after one spontaneously falls unconscious, it does raise some red flags. So, the doctor had requested to see Twilight at least twice for the next three weeks to see if she was alright.

“Thanks for taking me, Shiny, I know you’re busy,” said Twilight.

“Hey, you don’t need to apologize. You’re my little sis, like I’m not going to drive you to the doctor,” said Shining Armor.

Both were traveling in Shining Armor’s car, he was given today off, having gotten on a later shift what with all the chaos. Despite his happy expression, Twilight wasn’t ignorant of her older sibling’s worry.

“So…how are your friends?” Twilight asked.

“Some aren’t very good, they got messed up pretty bad and are touch and go. Others are unconscious, and a few are little banged up. Someone’s targeting cops, and the force is trying to find out who,” said Shining Armor.

Twilight cupped her chin as she thought on this. “If you want, maybe I could help you? I have been wanting to try my hand at crime investigation.”

Shining Armor chuckled and ruffled Twilight’s hair with his free hand, Twilight groaned a little, but wasn’t opposed to the show of affection.

“I don’t think so Twilight, believe me, it’s a totally different beast from what you study. That, and it can get pretty gruesome, I don’t think it’s a good idea even if I was okay with you helping,” said Shining Armor.

Twilight sighed, she wanted to be of help to her big brother, he was her BBBFF, but she understood his reasoning. Although, her intentions weren’t all to help Shining Armor, Twilight suspected a Dopant was behind this, and if it was a Dopant, then local law enforcement wouldn’t be of any use in subduing one.

Suddenly, Shining Armor hit the brakes, the tires squealing as Twilight braced herself, feeling the seatbelt dig into her chest and stomach. After a few seconds the whole car came to a stop, allowing Twilight to look and see why her big brother had made such a sudden stop.

In front of the road stood a, shirtless, teenage boy with a red dragon tattoo. The boy’s narrowed eyes glared at Shining Armor, his smile wicked and sinister. Twilight glanced over to Shining Armor, noticing his change in demeanor. His hands were gripping hard on the steering wheel, his own eyes were narrowed, and his jaw was tensed up. Twilight had never seen this side of her brother before, she suspected that this was his “Cop face” when he was doing his job.

“Shining Armor?”

“Wait here, Twilight.”

Shining Armor slowly exited the car, keeping one foot in the car and one in the street. The orange haired teenage boy smirked, wickedly at that. Something about this wasn’t sitting well with Shining Armor, and neither was Twilight liking this.

“Hey, kid, why are you standing there in the middle of the street!? Are you trying to get yourself killed!?”

“Heh, you don’t remember me, Officer Armor?”

Shining Armor blinked, this kid knew him. “Judging from that response, am I correct in assuming we’ve met while I was on duty?”

The teenage boy clapped his hands mockingly and then pointed at Shining Armor. “Congrats, man, you figured that much out! Now, for ten points, who am I?”

Shining Armor combed his memories, he had done much in his time as a police officer and busted several punks and criminals in that time. Remembering all of them was impossible, but there were those that would sometimes stick out in his mind. Shining Armor focused on the boy’s face, staring at it intently until…

“Garble, also known as ‘Red Dragon’ Garble,” said Shining Armor with a stern voice. “We raided your little illegal ‘fight club’ and arrested you and other punks like you!”

“Someone get this pig a donut, he figured it out! Yes, you and the rest of those pigs took away the one place I called home! I only feel alive when I’m in a ring, unrestrained and unleashed! Street fighting is my life!” Garble shouted. “And now…”

Twilight watched as Garble reached into his pocket and took out a USB drive object, making her tense up. Even from where she was sitting, Twilight could tell it was no ordinary USB, it was a Gaia Memory, but it looked very much different from the Unicorn and Fang Memories.

“I’ve been saving you for last, now I’m going to go beast on your ass!” Garble declared.

< BEAST! >

Garble quickly placed the Gaia Memory against the strange circuit shaped tattoo, allowing the Memory to transform him. Shining Armor quickly got back in the car and started calling in the situation to his fellow officers. All the while, Twilight took in the details of the transformation. Red energy layered itself over Garble’s body, morphing his very being. When the energy disappeared, Garble had completely changed. His body was covered in ruby red scales, his face elongated to form a snout, growing fangs and eyes glowing green. Yellow scales formed down his chest, with shoulder pauldrons forming with three boney white spikes coming from it. Garble, or rather, the Beast Dopant, roared out with fury and crouched low, ready to attack.

Shining Armor threw the car into reverse and peeled out, tires screeching as he put his cop training into effect and shifted gears into drive, putting as much distance between the Beast Dopant and themselves. Garble roared and ran for the car, smashing into cars that weren’t able to get out his way in time. Shining Armor quickly pulled out his cellphone and looked to Twilight, who was gripping the passenger handle and the seat belt tightly out of fear.

“It’s gonna be alright, Twily, just stay calm.” Shining Armor dialed in 911 and waited until he heard someone on the other line. “This is Officer Shining Armor, badge number 81553! I am currently being pursued by…by some sort of creature like the one that attacked yesterday! Requesting immediate backup! Traveling down–!”

Shining Armor made a sharp turn and looked behind him to see that Garble was still hot on their tail.

“Traveling down Trotter Boulevard, currently in a civilian vehicle!”

Police aren’t going to be able to stop that Dopant, at best slow him down, but at the cost of their lives! The only other one who can stop it is…!

Twilight quickly pulled out her cellphone and using one hand to send a text, thumb moving like a blur across her touch screen phone. Shining Armor saw this but said nothing, his focus was squarely on keeping the dragon monster at a distance until some police units could come and subdue him.

Shining’s prayers were answered when the heralding sounds of police sirens came from every direction. The Beast Dopant looked to the sides, watching as two cop cars tried to box him in, but Garble merely jumped into the air and landed hard on the hood of the right car, crumbling it like paper. He then jumped up and landed on the roof of the second car.

Using his claws, he peeled part of the roof off and yanked both cops out of the car and threw them off to the sides like rag dolls. The part of the roof that Garble had ripped off, he threw ahead of him. The severed top of the roof spun in midair as it embedded itself in the road ahead of Shining Armor’s car.

The young officer hit the brakes as he and Twilight felt the car lurch forward. The tires screeched in protest to the sudden maneuver, forcing Shining Armor to turn the car around at the last second, having the vehicle come to a stop, just mere inches from the debris. Shining Armor and Twilight’s hearts were drumming in their chests, feeling as if the organ was going to burst out of their chests at any given moment.

Shining Armor glanced to Twilight and asked, “Are you alright!?”

“Y-Yeah, yes I’m okay! Look out!” Twilight shouted.

Shining Armor turned and watched as Garble leaped up and landed a few inches from the driver side door. The Beast Dopant grabbed the door, ripped it off, and grabbed Shining Armor. He then slammed him against the car, nearly knocking all the air out of his lungs.

“I’m going to kill you, and after, I’m going tear down every single police station, and every pig infesting it!”

“LEAVE HIM ALONE!” Twilight shouted.

The Beast Dopant glared at Twilight, making her slink back into her seat. “Heh, that your little sister? She’s cute, in a nerdy way.”

Shining Armor gripped Garble’s arm, squeezing it in a vain attempt to try and overpower him. “Don’t you dare touch her!”

“You don’t have a say, I’ll do what I want, and take what I want! And right now…” Garble raised his left arm, making his claws extend as he readied to deliver the final blow. “I want you DEAD!”

*VROOM*

“What the hell was that noise?”

Suddenly a turquoise light formed, and the sounds of a motorcycle echoed from it.

***__________________***

Sunset had left Rarity’s, after spending the last three hours modeling and standing as Rarity fitted dresses and different outfits for her. The fiery haired girl mounted her bike and prepared to leave the fashionista’s residence but stopped when her phone began to go off.

“Huh, someone’s calling?” Sunset reached into her jacket pocket and unlocked it, seeing the notification. “Twilight texted me. Guess she needs to follow up on something.”

Sunset tapped on the text, and her eyes widened when she read it.

[[SUNSET, SOS, DOPANT, BEING CHASED, TROTTER BOULEVARD, HURRY!!!!]]

“No…Twilight!”

Sunset turned on her bike and revved the engine, she reached behind her back and brought out the Driver. She placed it at her waist, the belt released the straps which shot out and wrapped all the way around until it connected to the other end of the buckle. Sunset reached into her left jacket pocket and pulled out the Unicorn Memory, pressing the button.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

Sunset placed the Unicorn Memory into the connector and pushed it into the Driver.

> UNICORN! <

A field of turquoise energy expanded around Sunset and her bike, the electrical bolts firing at her and materializing armor, at the same time, the bike morphed into a new form. When the field collapsed, Sunset was now in the form of her heroic alter ego, Kamen Rider Unicorn.

Wasting little time, Sunset opened the throttle on her bike and took off like the wind down the street. She did a mental calculation of her position, and where Trotter Boulevard was, and cursed under her breath.

“Dammit, I’m too far away to get to there in time, even with this speed! Unless…”

Sunset concentrated, tapping into her old magical abilities. The horn on her helmet began to glow, emitting particles of aquamarine light that wrapped around her and the bike.

My telekinetic spell worked, so…hopefully teleportation should too. But…I’ve never done long distances before!

Doubt began to fill her, but the image of Twilight entered her mind, and all traces of doubt evaporated. The particles shined brighter and doubled in number. In the next second, Kamen Rider Unicorn and her bike vanished in the blink of an eye.

Sunset found herself traveling down a tunnel of magical light, she never took the time to see the channels of magic that her teleportation spell took her through, but now that she was seeing it, it was beautiful. Unfortunately, admiring the view would have to wait, especially when she was able to see her destination coming up. Sunset opened the throttle and went full speed.

The Kamen Rider saw the situation in slow motion, knowing exactly what she needed to do. Sunset popped a wheelie and exited the tunnel, the Beast Dopant looked up at that last second and received a face full of bike tire. The Beast Dopant was sent flying from the force of the tire punch, making him bounce on the asphalt like a stone skipping water.

Sunset put on the brakes, performing a donut before coming to a complete stop. Unicorn dismounted her bike and quickly rushed to Shining Armor, checking him over.

“Are you alright?” Unicorn asked.

It took a moment before Shining Armor fully grasped what had just happened, and the fact that he was just saved by a girl in a greenish blue suit, with a horn. And that said suited girl had just knocked a dragon monster upside the head with the front wheel of her bike. Shining Armor shook his head, trying to make sure that this wasn’t a dream.

“Y-Yeah…I think so?”

Sunset’s features relaxed a bit but went rigid when she didn’t see Twilight. Her fears were put to rest when she saw the nerdy girl run from around the passenger side of the car and into the arms of her big brother.

“T-Twily!”

“You’re okay right!? Right!?” Twilight asked with worry.

Shining Armor hugged her tight and patted her back. “I’m alright, Twilight, really.”

Twilight released a sigh of relief, she then turned to Unicorn, or rather Sunset. Even though she was unable to see Sunset’s face underneath the helmet, somehow, she could tell her friend was smiling at her.

“Thank you S – uh – mysterious stranger I’ve never seen before!” Twilight quickly said, almost saying her real name aloud.

“You’re welcome,” said Sunset.

Suddenly, Garble, the Beast Dopant, rose from the daze he was put in after getting hit in the face with a tire. The Dopant growled in anger as he laid eyes on the one responsible for the insulting blow.

“Who the hell are you!?”

Sunset turned and walked forward, putting herself between Garble and her friends. “The name’s Kamen Rider Unicorn! I’m the one who’s going to kick your ass!”

“Huh, a chick!? Fine, doesn’t make a difference to me! Boy or girl, you get in my way, I’ll kill you!”

Unicorn entered a fighting stance, and underneath the helmet, Sunset smirked confidently. “Bring it, lizard boy!”

The Beast Dopant roared and charged for Unicorn, the ethereal, aquamarine energy glowed and flowed towards Sunset’s feet. She sprinted forward, preparing to intercept Garble as she cocked back her right fist. Garble reared back his right arm, preparing to strike.

When they met in the middle, both Unicorn and the Beast Dopant thrust forward. Unicorn’s punch headed straight for the Beast Dopant’s snout, at the same time, the Dopant’s punch weaved around Unicorn’s arm and continued forward. The result was both punches making contact, with Garble initiating a cross counter. Sparks flew from both fighters, pushing them back a few feet before coming to a stop.

Sunset looked up, surprised that the Dopant was able to counterattack like that. Putting that aside for now, Sunset sprinted forward yet again, closing the distance between herself and the Dopant.

Unicorn came in with a right hook, which the Beast Dopant blocked with his left. Sunset recovered and spun on her heel, raising her leg to deliver a spinning kick. Garble saw the attack coming and jumped back to avoid it, the Beast Dopant waited until Unicorn was in recovery and attacked.

The Beast Dopant struck Unicorn in the chest with a straight punch, causing sparks to fly off. His next attack came from the left, with a hook punch to Unicorn’s right side, causing Sunset to grunt in pain from the impact. The Beast Dopant pulled back and jumped up to deliver a kick. Unicorn was able to catch the attack, blocking it with her forearms as she dug her heels into the street.

The Dopant landed on the ground and charged his claws with energy. Garble jumped into the air and slashed towards Unicorn, releasing twin arcs of energy in the form of an “X”.

Sunset looked up at the last second, too late to dodge the attack as it struck her. The ground around her exploded with fury, causing sparks to fly off from her form like a sparkler. Unicorn was thrown to the ground, rolling around until she came to a halt, grunting and groaning in pain.

Damn, he’s not like the Fang Dopant, this guy’s in full control of his actions, thought Sunset. Oh yeah, and he’s skilled.

Garble landed on the ground and laughed mockingly at the Kamen Rider. “That the best you got!? Guess you ain’t nothin’ without your bike!”

Sunset picked herself up, standing on wobbly legs. She needed an edge, she needed something extra, but what? Suddenly, the left hip port began to glow, drawing Sunset’s attention. She sensed something happening and pulled out the Fang Memory. The Gaia Memory glowed, as if resonating with the port.

“Alright, I guess I have no choice.” Sunset glanced at Twilight and Shining Armor, reaffirming her resolve as she stood firm. “Let’s do this!”

< FANG! >

Sunset slipped the Gaia Memory into the port hit the button.

{< FANG! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Suddenly, the Fang symbol appeared behind Sunset. The symbol disappeared and the energy wrapped around Unicorn’s body. The pauldrons of her suit became curved and sharp, the tips of the fingers gaining sharp claws. The heels of her feet grew two long, curved spikes, while her arms grew segmented plates, along with the legs. Finally, Unicorn’s crystal, metal wrapped horn grew a couple of inches and curved like a katana blade. Parts of the suit were colored white, just like the Fang Dopant, but mixed with Unicorn’s colors as well.

“Unicorn: Fang Edge!”

Twilight’s eyes widened at Sunset’s newest transformation, the mystery of the second port had been revealed as a power up.

The Beast Dopant snorted. “So you changed up your outfit, big deal!”

Unicorn growled, her eyes glowing as she crouched low and flexed her claw tipped fingers. “If that’s how you feel, then bring it on!”

The Beast Dopant dashed towards Unicorn, but before he could get too close, Unicorn sprinted forward, appearing in front of Garble. She swiped her claws across his midsection, causing sparks to spray out and making Garble back up from the damage taken. It stung, but the quick healing of the Beast Memory was able to mend the damage.

Sunset growled and hit the button on the left drive port.

\ ARM FANG! /

Unicorn’s right and left wrists suddenly grew two curved fang blades, giving off a sheen in the sunlight. Sunset moved with the speed of a raptor, getting in close to the Beast Dopant to deliver a charged slash with the right fang blade. A streak of blue light appeared and hit Garble diagonally across the chest, causing more sparks to fly. Unicorn followed up with an uppercut from her left fang blade, the force generated from the energy slash threw him into the air. Unicorn pressed the switch twice, making both arm fangs disappear.

\\ LEG FANG! //

Two fang blades appeared, one on Unicorn’s left ankle, and another on her right ankle. Unicorn jumped up, channeling her energy into her blades. She threw a spinning kick, launching the right ankle fang like a boomerang. While still in the air, Unicorn performed a second kick, launching the left ankle fang.

The two fangs sailed through the air, appearing as spinning blue discs of destruction. Garble was helpless as the two spiraling fangs made contact, hitting him from the back and the front, exploding in midair and sending the Beast Dopant crashing to the ground.

Unicorn landed back on terra firma, she then stuck out her right leg, allowing the fang blade to reconnect. With perfect control, she dropped her right leg and spun around, catching the second fang blade, and returned to a standing position. Finally, Unicorn pressed the button on her left port three times and her two legs fang blades disappeared.

\\\ HORN FANG! ///

Unicorns’ curved horn grew out into a crescent blade, Sunset took out the Fang Memory from the port, inserted it into the right port, and hit the button.

>} FANG! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“Time to restore harmony!”

Unicorn’s horn blade gathered energy to it, blue raging energy, and ethereal, wispy green particles. The crystal portion of the horn glowed brighter and brighter, storing all the power it could. Garble got up, roaring with all his wrath and energizing his two claws in preparation to counterattack.

Unicorn jumped up into the air, spinning three times in the air and released the energy, creating a long blade of pure power.

“FANG KLINGENSCHNEIDER!!!”

Unicorn angled her head down, bringing the glowing energy blade down on the Beast Dopant. Garble could not counterattack as the blade hit him on the head and sliced through him, down the middle. The energy blade disappeared, with the Beast Dopant having a large blue-green gash running down his center.

Kamen Rider Unicorn slowly rose back up, at the same time, Garble went down, and exploded grandly, sending up fire and debris as Unicorn’s silhouette remained shimmering in the glow of the detonation.

When the explosion settled, Garble was lying on the street, with dark bags under his eyes, and groaning. Unicorn’s Fang Edge form disengaged as she walked towards Garble, spotting the Gaia Memory that he had used to transform. Sunset noticed that it looked very different from the Fang and Unicorn Memory, but she was sure that Twilight could figure it out once she retrieved it.

But just as she reached for it, the Gaia Memory broke apart, startling Sunset a bit. What the hell…? It shattered?

Sunset gathered the pieces into her hand, figuring she could at least take something back to get analyzed later. With that settled, Unicorn ran back to Twilight and Shining Armor to check on them.

“You two alright?” Unicorn asked.

Shining Armor nodded in response. “Yeah, we’re fine…um…who were you again?

Sunset rubbed the back of her helmet in a nervous fashion. “Kamen Rider Unicorn, just your friendly neighborhood monster buster!” Unicorn titled her head as she heard the sirens in the distance. “And that’s my cue to make a dramatic exit, stay safe!”

The Kamen Rider hurried to her bike, revved the engine, and peeled off down the road, leaving both Twilight and Shining Armor alone, until the police finally arrived and surrounded the area.

“Kamen Rider Unicorn…” Shining muttered.

“She’s pretty amazing, right?” Twilight asked, her voice betraying a hint of pride.

“Yeah, amazing…” And dangerous.

C: Crisis at Crystal Prep! / The Queen has Arrived! (Edited)

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2 DAYS PRIOR TO THE FANG DOPANT INCIDENT…

At a little café, some ways away from Crystal Prep Academy, Rarity was meeting an acquaintance from the Friendship Games. Sitting across from her was the stylish and refined Sunny Flare. Both girls were sipping some tea, reminiscing and telling each other of their days. Ever since the Friendship Games, Sunny had been corresponding with Twilight Sparkle, and by association, she had had frequent contact with Rarity. The two of them forming a formal friendship with each other.

“Sounds like you all got lucky, getting off of school for this long,” said Sunny.

“I won’t lie, I am a little sad about our school ending up in the shape it’s in now, but the extra time off has given me ample time to work on my creations, at least the ones I wasn’t able to finish due to homework and other things,” said Rarity.

Sunny Flare sipped her tea, swishing the liquid around as she thought. “So, how’s Twilight Sparkle adapting to CHS? Is she doing alright?”

Rarity gave a ladylike wave to Sunny’s question. “Oh, Darling, she’s doing wonderfully. She’s quite happy from what I’ve seen, and what she’s told me, but she has suffered a strange illness that had her in the hospital.” Sunny’s eyes widened with concern, Rarity caught the reaction and immediately added, “But-But she’s doing fine now! I assure you, in fact, she’s been at home with her family, and Sunset has kept me up to date on the matter!”

The Crystal Prepper sighed in relief but raised a curious eyebrow at the mention of Sunset Shimmer. “Sunset Shimmer, it sounds like those two have grown rather close, wouldn’t you say?”

Rarity raised an eyebrow as well, catching where Sunny Flare was going with that line of questioning. “Hmm, are we insinuating that Twilight and Sunset might have a relationship?”

Sunny Flare dropped a sugar cube into her tea and began to stir it as she contemplated her response. “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, goodness knows that girl needs something or someone good in her life……god knows we never showed her anything south of cordial.”

“Oh, Sunny, you girls shouldn’t keep blaming yourselves. Twilight has forgiven you, otherwise I would doubt she’d have gone through the trouble of keeping in contact with you. Deep down I don’t think she blames you all, whatever harbored ill feelings Twilight may have are most likely in the past. On that note, how are things at Crystal Prep? I know your school didn’t get hit as bad.”

Sunny Flare sighed heavily. “Well, Indigo Zap, Lemon Zest, Sour Sweet, and Sugarcoat, and I have done our collective best to sway our fellow classmates towards a more…how shall I put it? Friendlier atmosphere. But…it has been a little hard, some progress made, a lot lost in some cases.”

Rarity reached over and placed her hand on Sunny Flare’s. “The good thing is you’re all trying to make your school a better place, perhaps you can stage a protest for a change of Principals? Heaven knows that awful Principal Cinch needs to be ousted.”

Sunny Flare retracted her hand and looked away from Rarity. “Not an easy thing when……Never mind. I’ll make sure the school gets on the right track; I have to…”

“Darling, you know you don’t have to carry such a burden by yourself, if you–”

Rarity was interrupted when Sunny’s cellphone went off, the Crystal Prep student dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out the device, grimacing when she saw the touch screen flashing the word “Mom”.

“Excuse me Rarity,” said Sunny Flare as she got up and walked off a little out of earshot. “Yes?”

[And just where are you young lady? You should be home right now, doing your schoolwork!]

“I’m…out, Mother, having tea with a…acquaintance of mine.”

[Well I need you back home, I’ve noticed your grades slipping a bit and I need you to get back on your game!]

“Is this about that ‘A’ I got on that science test? What’s wrong with that?” Sunny asked.

[The problem is that it can be better! You used to have A+ grades, of course compared to……that girl…it’s subpar! Without her here, Crystal Prep Academy needs a new shining example of brains, but also one that possesses beauty as well!]

“That ‘girl’ has a name, Mother! It’s Twilight Sparkle, you know, the one you blackmailed onto the team, and forced her into unleashing magical energies that turned her into a Dark Angel of Destruction!”

There was silence on the phone for a few moments before Sunny’s mother spoke again.

[Young lady, you are not to speak to me like that again! I tolerated your insubordination at the Friendship Games, but I will NOT do so again! I am your mother, and your teacher! It’s bad enough I have to put up with your, ugh, orientation, but I will not let my reputation and the schools suffer for it! Clean up your act now, Sunny, else I will have to take more draconian measures!]

Sunny Flare flinched at the anger in her mother’s voice, she knew the lengths that her mother would go to ensure that what she wants, she gets. In the end Sunny Flare relented.

“Okay, Mother, I-I’ll come home in few minutes.”

[You have thirty minutes, starting now!]

*click*

Sunny Flare put her phone away and turned around to where Rarity was and picked up her bags. “I apologize, Rarity, we’ll have to pick this up some other time. I have some business to attend to back home. Rain check?”

Rarity nodded. “Of course, Darling, just give me a call, anytime.”

The schoolgirl smiled and placed some money on the table for her drink, she then walked away, glancing over her shoulder at Rarity and sighed.

She hated this, being under the control of her mother, and being able to do nothing about the state of things in her school. Sunny needed something, she needed power, the same kind of power or at least something like what Twilight had, but how…

***___________________***

PRESENT DAY…

Half a month had passed since the attack by the Fang Dopant and then the Beast Dopant, aka Garble the Red Dragon, appeared. It had taken some time, but the students and staff were finally able to return to Canterlot High. On the first day of their return the students and staff had seen some changes to school. Thanks to the generous donation from a wealthy company by the name of PhoenEXE Corp., the repairs went much more swiftly, and the school was even able to upgrade some of its computers, utilities, equipment, and many other essentials.

When commotion of the attacks had died down, Twilight had tried to get some information out of her big brother about how Garble obtained the Gaia Memory, without revealing that she knew what it was. Thankfully, he gave her a tiny bit of information, seeing as she had involuntarily gotten involved in the incident.

According to Garble’s account, someone gave him the Gaia Memory, after reportedly transforming into a monster as well. Twilight had done some analysis on the Gaia Memory fragments Sunset had recovered and discovered that they were completely different from the T2 Gaia Memories that Sunset was in possession of. Twilight and Sunset stood against the rebuilt Wonder Colt statue as they went over the information.

“How do you figure they’re different?” Sunset asked.

“For one thing, the casing isn’t as strong as the T2s. The connectors at the ends are silver, instead of the blue color yours are. Lastly, the residual energy in the fragments shows that it’s more unstable than the T2s,” said Twilight.

Sunset raised a curious eyebrow as she asked, “Unstable? Like how I was when I used the Unicorn Memory without the Driver?”

“Yes, but it’s a little different. If I had to compare it to something, it’s almost like a drug. Just as some have a natural resistance and high tolerance, there are those who have an addictive personality. You were able to resist the Memories influence, but the person who obtained the Fang Memory wasn’t.”

Sunset hugged herself, looking down at the ground. “I barely resisted. I almost gave into my raw instincts in that form…I could’ve hurt you!”

Twilight placed a hand on Sunset’s shoulder and gave her a kind smile. “But you didn’t, you resisted, and you’re strong willed. Which leads me to think that there are those who can control their Dopant forms, while others will either become corrupted from repeated use or just give into its influence.”

“These things are dangerous…and yet the only way to beat them is to fight fire with fire,” said Sunset as she recalled her bouts as Kamen Rider Unicorn.

“For now, it’s imperative that we find the other Gaia Memories before someone less…stable, finds them and uses them.”

Sunset put up her index finger, as if to add something to that statement. “Don’t forget, we also need to find out how that Memory that punk got was made, and where it was made.”

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Twilight couldn’t help but be a little giddy. Fighting to protect the city and its inhabitants, solving the mystery of an unknown creator of Gaia Memories, and then there was the added bonus of hanging around Sunset. Although Twilight would have to rank the latter of those three at the top. Which reminded her.

“Um, Sunset, do you still think it’s not a good idea to tell the girls?” Twilight asked.

Sunset frowned as she thought about it. “For now, I think that’s what’s best. We still don’t know enough to properly explain the situation. This isn’t like when I brought the Element of Magic to this world, nor is it like when the Sirens attempted to take over the school and the city with their dark magic. This is something else, some kind of magic or power that’s just as potent and just as old. At least from what I can feel from my time using the Unicorn Memory.”

Sunset sighed heavily. “For now, let’s gather as much info as we can, and do what we can to stop this before it gets anymore out of hand. The last thing I want is to put them in danger…same goes for you, Twi.”

Twilight felt her face heat up in embarrassment. “T-That’s sweet of you to say, Sunset! B-But I chose to be part of this. In fact, I know I’m supposed to be. I had the knowledge to make the Driver, and…well…something else.”

“‘Something else’?”

“I….”

“Hey guys!”

Sunset and Twilight turned towards the familiar voice, noticing Rainbow Dash and Applejack approaching them, with Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy coming up behind them. Except, Rarity seemed a little distracted.

“Howdy Twi, Sunset, y’all are here earlier than normal,” Applejack remarked.

“Y-Yeah, we just wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with the portal, or if there were any other magical surprises before we all got here,” said Sunset.

“Oh, oh, magical mystery hunt! Why wasn’t I invited!?” Pinkie asked. “I just got this neat little gadget that detects magic happenings!”

Twilight’s right eye twitched behind her glasses. “You have a device that can detect magic!?”

“Sure do!” Pinkie reached into her backpack and pulled out a gadget with a long handle, a square module connected at the end, with two long, wing-like prongs that had running LED lights on the edges. There was a screen on the module which rose and fell depending on where she pointed it. “It’s guaranteed to find weird supernatural stuff! Or ghosts, I never really read the instructions.”

Fluttershy began to shudder at the mention of ghosts. “It-it doesn’t really find ghosts…does it?”

“Of course, it doesn’t. Pinkie’s just yanking our chain,” said Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie spotted Trixie walking by and pointed the device at her, the wing prongs rose, the LEDs flashing rapidly until the screen blew out, making Pinkie Pie drop the gadget as it fizzled out and died.

“Wow, I do not want to go to a Halloween party with her,” said Pinkie Pie in a slightly scared tone.

The others couldn’t help but chuckle at Pinkie’s antics, noting that it was business as usual from their oddball group. However, Fluttershy noticed that Rarity wasn’t very talkative, which was strange since the fashionista almost always had something interesting to say. From what she could tell, Rarity was scrolling through something in her phone, an act that did not go unnoticed by the others.

“You okay Rares?” Applejack asked.

“Huh – what – pardon?”

“Ah was askin’ if ya were alright? Ya looked a little distracted, Sug.”

Rarity played with the curl in her violet locks, nervously. Deciding whether to speak on her worry to her friends, for fear of how they would react. “Well…it’s just…”

[Twilight Sparkle, Sunset Shimmer, please report to the Vice Principal’s office. Repeat: Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, report to the Vice Principal’s office.]

Rainbow Dash snickered at the announcement. “Looks like the school wants their money back for the damages.”

“T-They want us to pay for the damages!? B-But I don’t have that much money! I don’t’ even think my family has that much saved!” Twilight panicked.

Sunset elbowed the snickering Rainbow Dash. “She’s kidding, Twilight, they never made me pay. I’m sure it has nothing to do with that. C’mon.”

The five girls watched as Sunset and Twilight walked off into the school, heading to Vice Principal Luna for some unknown reason.

“So, Rarity, um, were you going to say something?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oh…well…it’s nothing, Darlings, I’m just a little distracted thinking of my latest creation, honestly,” Rarity assured.

The others didn’t think much of it, Applejack did however give Rarity a skeptical glance, but said nothing else. The others proceeded inside before the bell rang, with Rarity slipping her phone into her skirt pocket, the last image on the screen before it went blank was that of Rarity and Sunny Flare at a shop.

***___________________***

Both girls arrived at Vice Principal Luna’s office, even though they knew they had done nothing wrong to warrant a summons to her office, the fact that they were there was making them nervous. After taking a calming breath, Sunset knocked on the office door.

“Come in.”

She then turned the doorknob and saw Vice Principal Luna standing in front of her window. She never failed to give off that shadowy, mysterious vibe, like you had just walked into the Inquisitor’s office. Luna turned around, regarding both girls as they entered and shut the door.

“Thank you both for coming, please have a seat,” said Luna.

Twilight and Sunset sat in the chairs in front of Luna’s desk, Sunset noticed Twilight’s shaking hands. No doubt Twilight was having flashbacks to the time she was called into Principal Cinch’s office, where she was blackmailed into joining the Games against her will. Possibly, Twilight sensed a scenario like that playing out here in a new school.

Sunset reached over and placed her hand on Twilight’s shoulder, shooting her a reassuring smile that everything was alright. Twilight took a deep breath and calmed herself, and now both awaited to hear the reason why they were called in.

Luna turned around a walked to her chair behind her desk, keeping eye contact with both girls. “Thank you both for coming. First off: let me assure you that neither of you are here for disciplinary reasons. This is…well…more of a personal reason. And I believe that, due to the potential nature of the problem, you two are most qualified to handle it.”

Sunset and Twilight glanced to each other in confusion.

“Vice Principal Luna, what kind of problem is it that requires Sunset and I?” Twilight asked.

Luna laced her fingers together as she rested her elbows on her desk. “It concerns Crystal Prep Academy…more specifically, it concerns a troubling message I received from Dean Mi Amore Cadenza.”

Twilight shot up out of her chair with a worried look on her face. “Dean Cadance!? Why, what’s wrong!? Is she alright!?”

“That’s just it, I am truly unsure. The last I spoke to Cadance – Dean Cadance – there was some trouble over at that school regarding Principal Cinch and another student. Of course, she did not speak as to the student, but since then I have received no further communications, professional or otherwise.”

Twilight glanced worriedly to Sunset, and already she could see the fiery haired girl’s mind at work. “So, you believe it may be magic related?”

“I hope it is not, but…and mind you this is completely unprofessional, highly unorthodox, and in violation of several rules…” Luna rubbed her head and sighed heavily. “Twilight, Sunset, I would like for you to head to Crystal Prep to investigate.”

“I–”

“Of course, we will!” Twilight exclaimed, cutting off Sunset.

Luna nodded her head and smiled a little. “Very well, I hope I am just overreacting, in which case I will bear full responsibility. But if I am right, I hope you may be able to help.”

“When do we leave?” Twilight asked.

“For now, attend your classes, I have a plan to get you off campus and it should work for however long is necessary. I will contact you both after school with further details.”

Twilight gave a firm nod, and Sunset quickly mimicked the action. Luna stood up from her desk and walked to the door, opening it to usher them out. When they were past the doorframe, Luna spoke to them in a whisper “Thank you” before closing the door.

The two of them headed down the reconstructed halls of the school, with Sunset giving Twilight a look that made the genius girl cringe.

“I know, I know, I should’ve asked if you were okay with doing this before blurting out that we’d help! But, Sunset, this is Cadance! Possibly the one good person at Crystal Prep who actually cared about me! If something happened to her because of Principal Cinch, or if the magic I unleashed had some delayed side effects to the students, I have to help! I have–!”

Sunset quickly placed a finger on Twilight’s lips, silencing her. “Twi don’t sweat it; I know you want to help her. I’m not angry you said yes, but I was going to suggest that I recon the school, just to see if it’s a magic problem…or…”

Twilight knew what Sunset was speaking of, and now that she was thinking about it, she was starting to get more worried. Biting at her bottom lip, Twilight came to a decision.

“Go.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. Any mission starts with good intel and strategy, recognizance is needed to verify the type of threat we might face. It’ll also help us determine the best course of action.” Twilight deduced.

“Not that I mind playing hooky, but I’m sure that the teachers will notice.”

Twilight waved off the concern. “I’ll think of an excuse, and if needed I’ll have Vice Principal Luna corroborate my story.”

Sunset smirked at Twilight approvingly. “So, you do have a little devious and conniving side, don’t you?”

Twilight blushed. “J-Just go and be careful! Try to stay hidden, a few of the students might remember you from the Friendship Games, but the majority won’t notice you!”

Sunset saluted Twilight and took off down the opposite end of the hallway, headed straight for the parking lot.

***___________________***

Sunset made it to Crystal Prep Academy, having gotten directions from her GPS. The fiery haired girl whistled, impressed at the architecture of the fancy private school. Guess your rep must be good if you can afford to make most of your building out of crystal.

She had hidden her bike as best she could, deciding to head the rest of the way on foot. Once there, Sunset skulked through the shrubbery of the school grounds, trying to remain hidden as she surveyed the school. Sunset used the directions that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie provided when they spoke about their spy mission before the Games started. She made it to the track field, spotting several students already having gym class and working hard at it too, especially the archery area.

Damn, guess Twilight wasn’t kidding when she said that archery was a required course. What was Cinch planning on doing, training them to be soldiers?

With that lovely thought in mind, Sunset maneuvered around the field and headed towards the school proper. Sunset managed to get close enough to the building that she could peer through a window and see what was going on. All she saw was a teacher, and the students listening to a lecture, although many of them seemed laid back, so did the teacher, and they were…smiling. Not like the usual creepy smile that you’d normally see in a teen horror movie, but something akin to a genuine smile, like they were happy to be there.

Okay, that doesn’t exactly match up to what Twilight told me about this place, Sunset thought.

Proceeding to the next window, Sunset found a similar situation in the next class, and the next, and the next, and the next. Given who it was who ran this school, Sunset found it highly unlikely that these teachers and students could look this happy while here. Heck, many of the ones who visited CHS during the Friendship Games could give a crap if their teammates won a match. It was, as Principal Cinch once said: “Expected of them”.

“So why the smiles and upbeat looking attitude?”

“You’re not supposed to be here, intruder!”

Sunset heard a distorted voice and immediately tensed up, quickly glancing over her right shoulder, and spotting a creature nearly towering over her. Its body was colored a hot pink, with a long flowing skirt that practically covered the legs, if there were any. Upon its head was a golden crown, interlaced with glittering jewelry, its shoulders had broad pauldrons, with golden lines that formed intricate and elegant wisps. Her chest had a V cut collar that had white frills rising from it, all the way until it fanned out behind her head. On its face was a heart, colored white, and eyes of purple that stared back at Sunset.

“O-Okay…Well…um…this is awkward…is there any chance you can forget that you saw me?”

The pink Dopant raised its right hand and gathered energy to it, within seconds a sphere of pink light was formed and fired at Sunset. The fiery haired girl sprang into action, dodge rolling away from the blast that struck the wall behind her. Sunset kept rolling and shot to her feet as soon as she could and ran towards the bushes.

“COME BACK HERE!”

Sunset could hear the Dopant on her tail, along with the sounds of crackling energy orbs being flung. One of those orbs came dangerously close to her head, but only managed to singe her helmet a little before passing by and exploding against a tree. Unfortunately, said exploding made the tree snap from the trunk and caused it to fall in Sunset’s path. Without a second thought, Sunset sprinted and dove forward. The large tree groaned as it made its descent, crashing against the earth with a loud thud.

Thankfully, Sunset managed to be on the opposite end of the tree before it crashed, but the Dopant was still coming, if the sounds of something bulldozing through the trees and sounding angry were any indication. Sunset hid behind a tree, inspecting her helmet and seeing that it was still burning with some strange pink fissures spreading from the point of contact. Tossing the helmet away, Sunset reached behind her and pulled out the Driver.

“Okay, time to deal with this, now!”

Sunset placed the Driver at her waist, the belt automatically shooting out and wrapping itself securely to its wearer. Reaching into her jacket, Sunset pulled out the Unicorn Memory and pressed the button.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

The Gaia Memory was swiftly inserted into the main slot and pushed down by Sunset’s left hand.

> UNICORN! <

At that moment, the pink Dopant crashed through some trees and released an orb of pink light at Sunset. But it was too late, a field of turquoise light emerged around Sunset Shimmer, deflecting the blasts back at the pink Dopant, causing her to fall onto her back. The Dopant rose back up as quick as it could and tried to see the identity of the one who dared to enter her domain.

Thankfully, the energy field obscured Sunset’s more defining features, wrapping her in the special armored suit before the field dispersed into particles of shimmering light that wisped and flowed like the wind. The oval eyes of Sunset’s helmet shined for a moment and then her horn, cancelling the particles.

“Alright, no more running!” Unicorn declared.

“Y-You’re that girl from the news, Kamen Rider Unicorn!”

Unicorn crossed her arms and nodded. “The one and only, I guess you’ve seen my handiwork on the news, huh? So, you know that fighting me is a big no-no.”

The Dopant’s hands balled themselves into fists as her eyes glowed. “Why are you even here!? I’m not hurting anyone, mind your own business!”

Unicorn uncrossed her arms and looked to the Dopant with concern. “Look, I’m sure you’re confused about what you are right now, and that the power you have is addicting and comforting, but it’s dangerous! Using it like that will mess with your head if you continue to do so and distort the person you really are!”

The pink Dopant scoffed at that. “‘Distort’!? If anything, this power has helped to reveal the true me! As the Queen I am meant to be! Why would I give it up to someone who’s using the same kind of power!? Oh, I get it, you just want my power to add to yours, don’t you! WELL, THAT WON’T HAPPEN!”

Crap, she’s off on the deep end, guess we’ll do this hard way!

Unicorn dashed straight for the pink Dopant, dodging orbs of pink energy as she closed the distance. Her fist was cocked back as ethereal turquoise light wrapped around it; once Unicorn was within striking distance, she thrusted her fist forward, hitting the Dopant square in the chest. Sparks flew everywhere as the Dopant was sent flying out, eventually crashing into three trees before stopping against a fourth.

The horn on Unicorn’s helmet glowed, releasing a telekinetic wave that caught the trees before they hit the ground. With a wave of her hand, she made the trees rise, and with a second wave, threw them in the Dopant’s direction.

The pink Dopant recovered enough to watch as three large trees came hurdling towards her, with a fierce battle cry, she created a field of pink light that turned the three trees into wood chips, scattering them across the ground. Angrily the Dopant glared at Unicorn, rising to her full height. After a few seconds, the Dopant released a burst of energy, allowing her to float three feet off the ground.

Sunset’s eyes widened under her helmet. “Oh…so you can levitate, too?”

Without warning, the Dopant shot towards Sunset, sailing over the ground, and reaching out with her right hand. Before Unicorn could react, the Dopant had caught her by the throat, dragging her through the trees before throwing her the rest of the way forward.

With the added speed and inertia, Unicorn bounced on the ground five times before coming to a rolling stop on the school’s track field. Sunset groaned as she rose, but it seemed the pink Dopant was not about to let her off easy.

The pink Dopant waved its hand in a wide arch in front of it, creating small orbs of pink light. The orbs jettisoned themselves like glowing bullets and rained down on Unicorn’s position, setting off one explosion after another in rapid succession.

Unicorn was thrown into the air, sparks coming off her form until she landed back on terra firma. The pink Dopant landed on the ground, looking down upon her enemy with distaste. “Now, are you prepared to stand before me and accept your punishment with honor, or will you be put down like a dog?”

Unicorn chuckled at that as she rose to her feet, her body feeling very sore from the attacks. “I chose neither, ‘cause I’m not down and out just yet!”

Suddenly, Unicorn raised her left hand, holding within it the Fang Memory as she pressed the button.

< FANG! >

“Hope you’re ready for round two!” Unicorn belted as she inserted the Memory into her left hip slot.

{< FANG! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A bright blue flash of light engulfed Unicorn, making the pink Dopant back up. When the light faded, Unicorn’s suit had changed modes, becoming Unicorn Fang Edge. Unicorn widened her stance and crouched low, flexing her clawed tipped fingers as she prepared to strike. With her left hand, Sunset pushed down on the altered holster once.

\ ARM FANG! /

Both of Sunset’s arms grew long white, curved fang spikes that gleamed in the midmorning sun. Now with her new arms, Unicorn sprinted towards the Dopant.

The pink Dopant once again lobbed orbs of light at the Kamen Rider, but the result was different this time. With her extended blades, Unicorn slashed through one orb after the other, causing it to burst in midair and turn into sparkling pink dust. The Dopant waved its hand it in an arch, releasing the bullet sized energy orbs once again.

Unicorn hurriedly jumped into the air, flipped once, and came down with her clawed fingers. Slashing at the Dopant’s chest and sending sparks flying off every which way. Unicorn followed up with the Arm Fangs, slashing once diagonally, and spinning around with the same momentum to slash with the right Arm Fang. Both hits caused the Dopant to backpedal away, she tried to form more energy orbs, but the damage she suffered had forced her body into focusing it on recovery.

“I’ll end this quickly and free you and the school from that Gaia Memory,” declared Unicorn.

The Kamen Rider removed the Fang Memory from the left hip holster and inserted it into the right and pressed the button after.

>} FANG! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The Arm Fangs glowed bright blue, growing to a length of seven feet as Unicorn cocked back both arms.

“FANG CROSS SLASH!!!”

As Sunset swung forward with her right blade, she watched as someone came bursting out of the tree line behind the Dopant and stood in front of it. Sunset quickly halted her glowing fang blade, having it stop just mere inches from the interloper’s face, but was shocked at who it was.

With spikey navy-blue hair, and amber-gold eyes, wearing a pair of goggles on her forehead, was Crystal Prep Academy’s athletic star, Indigo Zap. She stood there, arms out, acting as a shield for the Dopant. Unicorn looked closer and noticed that there was a strangely shaped Q mark on Indigo’s right cheek that was glowing.

“What the hell is this!?” Unicorn asked.

“My Queen, are you alright?” Indigo asked, completely ignoring Unicorn.

The Dopant slowly stood tall, but still looked weak. “I am now, if you did not come as quick as you did.”

“We are here for you my Queen; we won’t let anyone harm you! Right girls!”

“RIGHT!”

“Wait what…?”

Unicorn turned around and watched as seven Crystal Prep girls stood in a row, each one armed with a bow and an arrow notched into the draw strings. Sunset shook her head and gave the Dopant a disapproving look.

“I can’t believe it; you actually brainwashed the student body into acting as your own personal soldiers!? Are you so low that’d you use innocent people!?”

“Humph, shows what you know. I am a Queen, and a Queen is nothing without her subjects, not only is a Queen willing to protect and die for those subjects, but the very act of doing so inspires others to do the same for the Queen.”

“READY!?”

Sunset looked back at the archers and shook her head at the display. “Look, you’re all wasting your time with those arrows, they’re not going to–”

“FIRE!”

The first round of arrows was released into the air, but as they flew, the arrowheads began to glow with the same pink energy as the Dopant. When they angled down, they rained on Unicorn, all seven arrows either hit the ground around Unicorn or hit her directly and detonated. Sunset was caught in seven explosions that had sparks flying off her armor and cancelled out her Maximum Drive. Her armor sizzled as Unicorn tried to remain standing, looking back at the seven girls in confusion.

“W-What the hell!? H-How did they do that!?”

“That is the power of my EnThrall ability.” The Dopant floated over to Indigo Zap, leaning down and gently placing her finger against the glowing Q. “This mark makes them loyal to me, a mental on-off switch that I can use to control them, however, I am not a monster that would just send them into battle with nothing. The marks also imbue my Thralls with some of my power, so they’re hardly anything but defenseless, right Indigo?”

“Yes, my Queen,” responded Indigo.

Unicorn growled at the Dopant, using such a tactic was cowardly, conniving and…and…

Exactly what I wanted to do when I brought the Element of Magic to Earth…!

“Indigo!” The Dopant ordered.

Indigo Zap sprinted towards Unicorn, her feet glowing with the same pink light as the all-girl archers. The athlete cocked back her left fist, now glowing with the same light as her feet, and punched Unicorn across the face of her helmet. Sunset dug her feet into the earth as she skidded to a stop, but Indigo was unrelenting. She chased after Unicorn, throwing punches and kicks at the masked hero.

Unicorn put her martial training to use here, being mindful she was still in Fang Edge form, and that if not careful she could accidentally impale Indigo and seriously hurt her. The thought of cancelling the Mimetic Drive did cross her mind, but right now, without it, she would be a sitting duck against the powered-up archers and a powered up Indigo Zap, plus there was the matter of the Dopant who was recovering from all damage prior and was no doubt getting back to full strength.

Dammit, guess it’s time for a strategic retreat!

Unicorn managed to block one of Indigo’s punches, using a counter move that allowed her to throw the brainwashed girl off and away from danger. With this spare moment, Sunset removed the Fang Memory, and replaced it with the Unicorn Memory.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Indigo Zap used her super speed to get in front of the Dopant, just as Sunset planned. Unicorn balled her right fist as energy gathered to it. A crescent formed first, and then the spiral of energy as Unicorn raised her fist into the air.

“SPIRAL SCHNEIDER BREAK!!”

The Kamen Rider brought down her fist right on the ground beneath her feet. A powerful explosion went off, sending chunks of dirt and a large dust cloud into the air. The dust covered everything in a thick wall, making it impossible for many to see. The only thing that the Dopant and her Thralls were able to do was flounder about in the dust until it cleared, coughing and spluttering as they heard the sound of a distancing motorcycle.

***___________________***

Twilight glared down at Sunset with a disapproving look, making the former bad girl cringe a little from her gaze. Sunset had just gotten through telling Twilight about what she had encountered back at Crystal Prep Academy, along with the Dopant, the students brainwashed into becoming her Thralls, and their shared power with the Dopant. While Twilight found this all to be valuable information, she couldn’t get over one simple fact.

“That was reckless of you, Sunset! You could’ve gotten hurt, or worse, ended up a brainwashed minion!” Twilight scolded.

“Well, I didn’t…and, besides, it wasn’t like that Dopant left me much choice! I was cornered! But luckily, I had my helmet on the whole time so there’s no way of them knowing it was me,” said Sunset.

Twilight sat in her chair and removed her glasses to rub the bridge of her nose. “That’s not the point. Now the school, or however much of the school, will be on alert! Look at this.”

The genius girl pulled out a laptop from her backpack and began typing away. She brought up news sites and live webcasts of current streaming news, Sunset looked curiously at Twilight and then at the screen, trying to figure out where she was going with this.

“Okay, I don’t get it.”

“There’s nothing on the news, at all. Despite, from what you’ve described, numerous explosions and sounds of battle that went on at the school. I’ve no doubt that the Dopant is somehow keeping a lid on everything that’s happening there. It might even have control of some the parents connected with the news media,” said Twilight as her mind worked out the details.

Sunset blinked. “Wait, just what kind of kids does this school cater to?”

“Most of what you would expect from a private school with a high reputation. The children of local politicians, news, judges, pretty much almost all movers and shakers. Thankfully many of them are seeking to have their children excel and become the best, whether in the athletic or scholastic field is up to them, but they do ‘breed excellence’.”

“In other words, with this Dopant in control, it can make it so that no one says anything about what happened,” said Sunset as she bit on her thumbnail.

Twilight tapped a few keys and closed the laptop. She then turned to Sunset with a pensive expression. “I think we should to a little more research on the Gaia Memory that this Dopant uses, at least maybe we’ll get an idea on how to best counteract it.”

“Sounds good, but how the heck are we going to do that? Not like a user manual fell out of the pillar too…” Sunset took notice of Twilight’s expression. She hesitated for a moment, but then her face morphed into one of disbelief. “No, you’re not really about to tell me you found an actual user’s manual for these things!?”

Twilight grabbed a lock of her hair and fiddled with it, nervously. “Not exactly…this past month I’ve learned something, about myself, and how I was able to create the Driver and the device that was able to detect and contain magic. Do you remember that dream I told you I had? The one about the infinite space of books?”

Sunset nodded her head slowly.

“I found out that that wasn’t just a dream. If I concentrate, I can return to that space, and well…it’s easier to show than tell.”

Twilight stood up out her chair and took a deep breath. Sunset faintly sensed something happening, she was still in tune with the magicks of Equestria, and thanks to the Unicorn Memory, she could sense the pseudo-mystic energies that was this new form of magic that the Gaia Memories possessed. So, when Twilight’s normal aura altered slightly, Sunset noticed.

“Twilight…?”

~~I’m alright, ~~ said Twilight, her voice sounding distant yet strong.

~*~*~*~

Twilight stood amongst an untold number of bookshelves, each one holding hundreds of thousands of books per shelf. She stood at the center of the storm, all the bookshelves rearranging themselves one after the other, some flying to one shelf, and some flying to another. As chaotic as it looked, Twilight could sense an order to it all, one beyond her comprehension, but that was for another time.

“I’m in the Infinite Library.”

--- ‘Infinite Library’? ---

“I don’t know what else to call it! But basically, it’s like a gigantic search engine in my mind. Before I was tapping into it subconsciously, but recently I’ve been able to access it with a little concentration.”

--- Okay, so what’s the plan? ---

“Since you were there, I’m going to ask you for some information on the Dopant itself, and maybe we can narrow down what the Gaia Memory is,” said Twilight as she began to slowly walk forward. “All I need is some key things you noticed about the Dopant. Are you ready?”

--- Yes. Well for one thing, it was pink. ---

“Look up: Pink Dopant.”

The bookshelves froze in place. Some of the shelves began to zoom away into the distance, leaving others behind. When the shuffling was over, at least ten bookshelves remained.

“Still not enough, what else?”

--- Let’s see, it could turn people into Thralls with a Q mark on them! ---

“Good. Look up: Q mark.”

The ten shelves disappeared after dislodging ten books.

“Almost there, just need one more thing to get it right, think hard Sunset, was there anything else?”

There was silence for a moment, but after a few seconds, Sunset answered.

--- Search for the word ‘Queen’. ---

“Look up: Queen.”

The last books floated away, leaving behind one. It changed color, transforming into a pink color, with gold letters and the Q letter emblazoned on it.

“Here it is!” Twilight exclaimed as she opened the book. “Okay, it’s the Queen Memory. It has the power to create Thralls, which are marked by the letter Q. Those who are marked by the EnThrall Q are empowered by the Queen Memory. Granting them enhanced strength, agility, and in some cases, energy-based abilities.”

--- Sounds a lot like what Indigo Zap was using, as well as some other Preppers who were shooting at me with energy arrows, --- said Sunset.

Twilight turned the page and read on. “It also says the longer the Thralls are under the Queen Memory’s control, the stronger the Dopant will be. It’s like a recycling system, she gives them energy, and they give it back to her. Overtime it only grows stronger, and then she’ll be able to EnThrall everyone.”

~*~*~*~

Twilight exited the Infinite Library, feeling a little tired from diving so long into its knowledge. Sunset quickly went to her side and eased her friend to the bed to sit. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

“Hard not to with all this stuff. So, do you think it’s Principal Cinch who’s controlling them?” Sunset asked.

“I hope by all things sacred and holy it isn’t, otherwise, we’re in more trouble than we realize. One thing’s for sure, we need to find out who it is for sure, and why they’re doing this.”

Sunset thought hard about who it could be. Somehow, she got the idea that Cinch would be a lot more calculating in her moves when she attacked or would’ve had one of the Thralls attack her first before revealing her Dopant form. Considering she had the smarts to think of blackmailing Twilight and do so under the radar of the faculty, primarily Dean Cadance, must’ve taken some careful planning.

“We may have to consider that this is a student at Crystal Prep, and not Cinch,” said Sunset.

“True, but who?”

C: Crisis at Crystal Prep / The Winds of Change! (Edited)

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The following day, Vice Principal Luna had met Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle in the quad, she approached the duo and told them “We will be leaving for Crystal Prep, as two of our brightest students, it would be prudent to establish better relations. And I believe it would be nice if Miss Sparkle could revisit her friends at the Academy.”

Of course, Sunset and Twilight accepted the offer, understanding that this was the ruse the older woman was planning on using to get them to Crystal Prep under the radar. After clearing it with Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna had both girls enter her car and they drove off to Crystal Prep.

Now alone, Luna sighed heavily and glanced to her passengers in the rearview mirror. “I am sorry, again, to ask this of you two. I know you’re still recovering from the Friendship Games, Miss Sparkle, but if there was anyone who could spot something amiss, it would be someone familiar with the student body.”

Twilight shook her head. “No, don’t worry Ms. Luna, I don’t mind. Especially if it’s to help Dean Cadance. And while we’re on the subject, there’s something you should know.”

Sunset and Twilight explained – with some parts omitted – about Sunset sneaking off to Crystal Prep to do a little recon on the school, and how she narrowly escaped getting killed by some creature.

“Is this…another magic related mishap?” Luna asked.

Both girls glanced to each other, as if having a silent conversation. After a couple of seconds, they came to some kind of consensus.

“Yes, and no, let’s just say it may be related to that masked hero on the news yesterday, and that monster they faced,” said Sunset.

“Just when I thought I understood – or at least had a vague idea – of how this magic works, something new pops up,” said Luna.

The feeling is mutual, Twilight and Sunset thought.

***____________________***

After an hour drive, Luna, Sunset, and Twilight arrived at the gilded site of Crystal Prep Academy. Both girls were already on edge, with Sunset ready to call the Uni-Driver at any time to transform. Inside Twilight’s backpack was the automaton Hawk she had created, probably her only means of defense at this time.

The trio walked down the smooth and polished stone path and past the crystal-like columns, once they entered through the doors, they were treated to a plethora of students who were walking about, either in the middle of transitioning to their next class or enjoying a free period.

Ahead of them they saw a couple of people they weren’t expecting to see right off the bat. Dean Cadance was standing there, her usual kind and warm smile brightening up the room. Next to her was Sunny Flare, and on her right arm was a red band that had the words “Student Liaison”.

All three CHS members were surprised to see her, given what they knew of the situation. However, they had to remain oblivious and ignorant of what they did know, approaching this as if they had no idea what was going on.

“Dean Cadance,” said Luna.

“Vice Principal Luna,” replied Cadance in a cheery tone.

Both women extended their hands towards each other and shook, maintaining their air of professionalism.

“It has been…awhile since I last was able to talk to you, are you well?” Luna asked.

“Yes, it’s just that things have been a little crazy around here. Principal Cinch has become ill and has taken a few days off to recover. I’ve been busy taking over her responsibilities until she gets back, so it’s been a bit hectic, sorry if I haven’t returned any of your calls.”

Luna wished she could feel at ease with that explanation, however, knowing what she knew, Cadance either had to be lying to protect the students, or was already under the control of the monster Twilight and Sunset spoke of.

“Well, so long as you’re alright.”

“Twilight Sparkle,” said Sunny Flare as she walked up to the bespectacled girl.

Twilight steeled herself and gulped. “Um, yes, Sunny Flare?”

Sunny hung her head a little low. “I want to say that I’m sorry, for what we put you through during the Friendship Games, and what…Principal Cinch did.”

“N-No need to apologize, it’s fine!” Twilight assured.

“No, it’s not ‘fine’! We…We were inconsiderate…self-centered, and just horrible people all around. But, with Vice Principal Luna’s permission of course, I’d like to show you around, let you see how we’ve tried to make things better.” Sunny Flare looked to Sunset. “Of course, I’d like it if the girl who saved Twilight and everybody at the Games accompany us. Who better to see the progress we made than the one who showed us the meaning of the word ‘friendship’?”

Sunset glanced to Luna, who nodded.

“We’d be happy to,” said Twilight.

“Perfect!”

“Well, I’ll talk to Vice Principal Luna in my office, this way please,” said Cadance.

Sunset and Twilight followed Sunny Flare, feeling a little anxious about leaving Luna alone. They had hoped that Dean Cadance wasn’t a Thrall, or worse that Dean Cadance was the holder of the Queen Memory.

“Things have been changing around here, Twilight, the girls and I have been making great strides towards that,” said Sunny Flare.

“O-O-Oh, how so?” Twilight asked.

“Well for one thing, Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet head up a student counseling department, in order to prevent others from feeling neglected, they have a place to talk about their problems, and solutions towards them.”

Sunny Flare led them to a room marked “Student Counseling Room”. Through the window they could see Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet, and a few other students, sitting down with various other students. From there she continued to another part of the school, where music was seeping out in a kind of funky, hypnotic beat.

“Lemon Zest took a few hints from Pinkie Pie and decided to bring a little cheer into the school, so now she’s taken charge of entertainment via the Student Clubhouse, a dedicated room for students to hang out, relax, and unwind a little.”

Sunset and Twilight peeked into the room, and sure enough the neon green haired girl was behind a turntable, bobbing her head as she masterfully crafted the beats. Twilight recognized many of the students, Fleur De Lis, among them, who looked particularly less perturbed and actually smiling and laughing. The tour continued, taking the two CHS girls through many halls and peeking in on several classrooms to see how the new Crystal Prep was doing. Although, neither could shake the uneasiness, knowing what was really happening.

How many of the students were Thralls? Who had the Queen Memory? Could they trust that Sunny Flare wasn’t a Thrall? They knew Indigo Zap was, and some of the girls from the archery range, but did that also mean that Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Lemon Zest were Thralls? Or were there only some who were Thralls and others who were not? In which case, the list of trustable people in the school was quite low.

Sunset decided to poke the hornet’s nest and strode beside Sunny. “I really like what you’ve done so far with the school, the atmosphere isn’t as oppressive as I was made to believe.”

Sunny Flare chuckled. “Thank you, honestly it was. Everyone striving for the number one spot, almost cutthroat. Now though, well, we still strive to the be best, but we’ve realized that there’s no point if we become total assholes because of it. Um, pardon my French.”

“No problem, still, I can’t imagine Principal Cinch is exactly thrilled with this change in mentality. It’s probably driving her up the walls,” said Sunset.

Sunny Flare stopped walking, almost having Twilight bump into her back from the sudden stop. “Oh, I don’t think Principal Cinch, has much say in these activities. So long as the grades and standards are met, ends justify the means.”

The fiery haired girl was studying Sunny’s demeanor, she noticed a slight twitch of the eyebrow and tightening of her jaw when she brought up Abacus Cinch. At this point, Twilight interjected. “Um, Sunny, if it’s at all possible, I would like to speak to Principal Cinch.”

The purple haired girl whirled around and looked at her in disbelief. “W-Why would you?! She blackmailed you and coerced you into unleashing that magic stuff that turned you into a monster! Why would you want to even see her, much less be around her?”

Twilight steeled her nerves as she stood proudly. “Because I want to show her that having friends, and enjoying life, doesn’t mean that you’re not the best. One can be smart and strong, and still have those close to them without shutting out that which makes a person who they really are.”

Sunny Flare was about to say something, that is until Indigo Zap rounded the corner and skidded to a halt before Sunny. “Indigo, what’s wrong?” The spiky haired girl leaned in close and whispered into her ear, Sunny’s expression went from a raised eyebrow and then confusion. “So sorry girls, I have a matter that needs seeing to, but Indigo can finish up the tour. Do you mind?”

Indigo Zap waved off the concern. “No prob, I got it.”

With that settled, Sunny left, and now Indigo Zap was with them. The sports girl quickly focused on Twilight and rushed to the nerdy girl, draping her right arm over her shoulders and shooting her a wide grin. “Sparkle, have ya been?!”

Twilight, who was blushing for some reason, chuckled. “I-I’m doing fine, Indigo, I’ve liked what you’ve done with the school so far.”

“Eh, we still got a long way to go. Hey, Sunset right, nice to see you again!”

Sunset’s left eye twitched, for some reason, seeing Indigo Zap hang all over Twilight, and seeing Twilight blush because of it, was irritating Sunset on a level. “It’s great to see you, too!”

“We totally need to have a rematch, I heard you ride all the time!”

“Well…y-yeah I do.”

“Sweet, maybe we could head to this track I know later after school?”

Twilight glanced to Sunset, and Sunset to Twilight. “Sounds great…!”

***____________________***

Luna walked alongside Cadance, neither had said much outside the occasional observation here and there. It was starting to worry Luna, honestly. Normally Cadance wouldn’t be that shy about showing how close they were, but now she was kind of being reserved, which was not like her at all, even for a place like Crystal Prep. During their walk, Luna couldn’t also help but worry for her two students. She knew from past occurrences that Sunset Shimmer was crafty, quick witted, and as far as she knew a bit of a brawler. So, there was little worry that the former bad girl of CHS could handle herself if the need to fight had to arise. However, Twilight Sparkle was not a fighter, sharp and brilliant, yes, but hopefully she had enough fight to get out of trouble or spot it before it happened.

“We’re here, Luna,” said Cadance.

Luna snapped herself out of her thoughts and looked to Cadance’s office door. The fuchsia woman opened the door and allowed Luna to enter first. As in keeping with the crystal theme of the school, Cadance’s desk was made of dark oak wood, with crystal edging on the sides, as well as the top of the desk being made of sturdy crystal. Behind her desk was a window that provided ample lighting and gave a nice view of the trees and city skyline in the distance. On the right wall hung her many diplomas in teaching and child psychology, and on her left wall were pictures of herself with some of the students. As well as a more recent one that had Twilight and the six girls who had saved the Canterlot High more than once.

As soon as the door clicked behind them, Luna turned around and prepared to barrage Cadance with multiple questions, but she never got the chance to say anything as her friend launched herself and drew Luna into a tight hug, surprising Luna and causing her to blush. “Um…uh…C-Cadance…?”

“I’m so glad you came Luna! I was so worried that she might see past this excuse to have you all here and…”

Luna could feel Cadance trembling, which only served to steel herself and remain steadfast. “It’s alright, I’m here. What’s happening?”

Cadance slowly parted from Luna and sat on the edge of the desk. “The students, they’re not themselves.”

“How do you mean?” Luna asked.

“Sunny Flare and her friends really are trying to make Crystal Prep friendlier; I remember after the Friendship Games they came to me wanting to draw up a plan to make that happen. Your students really inspired them, Luna.”

The light-blue woman blushed at the praise. “I can’t take the credit; those girls are amazing people. I feel honored to be their teacher.”

Cadance nodded to that. “Anyway, we started, but the plan was derailed a lot by Principal Cinch.”

Shocking, Luna thought.

“She saw the girls’ attempts as a waste of time and energy, that it was imperative, now more than ever, that Crystal Prep’s reputation be outstanding. The loss of the Friendship Games hit her hard, losing Twilight, the brightest student in the school, was an even worse blow. Most of the faculty could see this for what it was, but Cinch has too much clout and influence that they couldn’t go against her without risking their jobs.”

Luna leaned on the desk and smirked. “Somehow I don’t see you as one to worry about such things.”

Cadance smiled. “You’re right, I’m not. I repeatedly went to Principal Cinch to petition the proposal set by the girls to help make the students feel less stressed and create a less cutthroat environment for them. But she wouldn’t hear any of it. I felt so bad for Sunny Flare…”

Luna raised an eyebrow. “Why her, specifically?”

“Abacus Cinch is the mother of Sunny Flare.” Cadance waited for that to sink in, and it did, if Luna’s shocked expression was any indication. “So, you can imagine the kind of stress she was going through, dealing with this issue both at school and at home. And…well…”

“What else?” Luna asked.

“Sunny came out to me a few months back before the games. Apparently, it didn’t set well with Principal Cinch and I had to play counselor to them, thankfully she hasn’t done anything to her, but neither has she fully embraced that side of Sunny either.”

Luna felt she could relate a little to the young girl, especially considering who it was she was standing next to.

“I seem to be a magnet for others to come out to, considering how we were in college,” said Cadance.

“Well, we were girlfriends for a brief time…do you regret it? Any of it?” Luna asked with a bit of hesitance.

Cadance placed a hand on her shoulder and smiled kindly. “I don’t, I now know I swing that way too, and the time we spent together was fun, and warm. But I just didn’t see it going further. Sorry…”

“Don’t be, I’m glad you found somebody else, although I was not expecting it to be Twilight’s older brother,” said Luna with a raised eyebrow and coy smile.

“Do not tell her, Shining Armor and I will tell her when we’re ready.”

Luna rolled her eyes at that, knowing that the day she does find out will be their wedding day. Now that Luna thought about it, there was something about Cadance’s words that seemed off. “Cadance, if Abacus Cinch was against this, why does it appear that the atmosphere has changed, or did something change it?”

Cadance tensed up. “After the Friendship Games, things that I used to think were fairytales are suddenly starting to seem less farfetched, so…after seeing what she could do, I couldn’t deny it, or fight against her.”

“Who Cadance?”

***____________________***

Sunny Flare rounded the next corner and opened the door to one of the empty classrooms. “So, this is the girl who was meddling around?”

The girl in question was sitting in a chair, wearing a red trench coat, a gray-brown hat, and sunglasses, who was tied to the chair and had a rag wrapped around her mouth.

“Nice Shadow Spade cosplay, but you better tell me what you were doing snooping around the school?” Sunny Flare threatened.

She then snapped her fingers and Upper Crust removed the rag. “Sunny Flare it’s me Rarity!”

Sunny’s eyes went wide as she quickly moved closer, carefully removing the glasses and hat and revealing the long, violet curled locks of CHS’s fashionista, Rarity. She dropped the items and placed her hands over her mouth in shock. “R-Rarity?! What are you doing here?!”

“I came to find out what had happened to you, so – in a fit of desperation – I snuck out of school and came to Crystal Prep to speak to you, but then I was so rudely assaulted and taken in as if I were some sort of criminal,” said Rarity as she looked to Jet Set and Upper Crust.

“Untie her immediately!” Sunny ordered.

Both the boy and girl removed the ropes that bound Rarity, allowing her to rise as she rubbed the spots where the rope had pushed against her. “Leave us, I want no one interrupting us.” Jet Set and Upper Crust nodded and hurriedly exited the room, shutting the door behind them. Sunny Flare moved closer to Rarity and rubbed gently against the spots where the rope had bound her. “I am so sorry, Rarity, are you okay?!”

“Yes, Darling, I may look delicate, but I am quite tougher than I look,” said Rarity with pride.

Sunny smiled. “I don’t doubt that at all.”

Rarity moved to another chair and looked Sunny Flare in the eyes. “But on a more serious note, are you okay? I’ve tried to call and text you several times, but it was as if you had dropped off the face of the Earth, I…I may have overreacted but…”

Sunny Flare sighed as she shook her head. “No…No…It’s my fault, I’ve just been busy with some things here at CPA, and…at home.”

The violet haired girl noticed a hint of sadness in her friend’s voice. “Darling, if there’s something wrong you can tell me. I don’t know if I can help, but if I can I’d like to try, or at the very least lend an ear.”

Sunny turned her back to Rarity, she couldn’t believe just how sincere and generous this girl was. She was beautiful, creative, strong, and full of concern for others, but then again, if there was one person Sunny knew would listen to her, could possibly understand what she was trying to do, it was Rarity.

“Rarity…we’re friends, right?”

Rarity gave Sunny an incredulous look. “Sunny Flare, of course we are.”

“And…you’d listen to me, right? Even if they were hard things to talk about…things that might make you see me differently?” Sunny asked.

Rarity placed her hands gently on Sunny’s shoulders. “I promise you; I will hear you out, Darling. Nothing you say will make me see any differently. For goodness sakes, Sunset Shimmer turned into a She Demon, and now she’s one of my dearest friends, and the same can be said of Twilight. Sunny Flare, I’m here for you, right now.”

Sunny Flare felt as if she was going to cry, she gently placed her hand over Rarity’s, feeling strength coming from it. “I…I…I like girls Rarity…and I think I like you that way.”

“Oh…Oh my, well okay, that’s not as bad as I thought.”

“You’re not angry about that?”

“I find it flattering, Darling, knowing I can turn the heads of boys and girls alike.”

Sunny chuckled, of course she would be flattered by that.

“And in all honesty, I don’t believe in stifling a chance at happiness because I’ve been waiting for a prince charming, no one ever said that prince can’t be a girl,” said Rarity.

Sunny Flare turned around and gave Rarity a hug, making the fashionista squeak in surprise from the action. But after a moment, Rarity returned the hug when she heard Sunny Flare crying. “Thank you, Rarity, I was so afraid you would hate me! I-I don’t know if I could take losing you as a friend because of that!”

“Shh, it’s alright Darling, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“But I do! Because…that’s not all I have to tell you.” Sunny Flare reluctantly removed herself from Rarity and took a few steps back. “I tried so hard to make this school better, me and my friends, but she kept getting in the way of it all! She just…just couldn’t see how badly she acted towards Twilight, and what came of it! You’d think seeing a black winged angel of death ripping reality apart would be a sobering experience, silly me, it wasn’t!”

“I struggled to make sure that would never happen again, but nothing I do would sway my Mother! And what’s worse, she kept pushing me after that, wanting me to be better, to be smarter than Twilight, to take the top spot! But that’s not the way, that’s not who I want to be!”

“Sunny…are you saying your mother…is Principal Cinch?” Sunny Flare nodded, grimly. “Sunny…please tell me you haven’t done something you’ll regret, please?”

Sunny Flare reached and gingerly took Rarity’s hand. “Follow me.”

***____________________***

Cadance and Luna carefully, but quickly made their way up the stairs, avoiding as many of the students as they could. It was confirmed by Cadance that the students and many of the faculty were being controlled, and were little more than drones, believing their actions are their own, but not really knowing that there was someone controlling them in the background of their minds.

“She didn’t want me to become a ‘Thrall’ as she called them, she trusted me, and wanted me to help her make Crystal Prep a nicer place, but I had to be careful,” said Cadance.

“And what of Principal Cinch?”

“She only said that she was ‘indisposed’.”

Luna and Cadance finally made it to the top floor and opened the door to Cinch’s office. The inside was just as intimidating as it was the last time Cadance had entered it. The low lightning, the long mostly empty space between the door and the desk, it was almost as if walking towards the gallows. But what was more disturbing was the pink cocoon that was lying on the desk. Luna and Cadance rushed towards it and inside they could see Principal Cinch in a state of suspended animation.

“Sunny Flare did this?” Luna asked.

“Yes…I should be thankful she didn’t kill her, but I’m worried. Worried that if she uses that power, she’ll become how Twilight did when she unleashed the magic,” said Cadance.

“Well, well, well, I’m very disappointed in you Dean Cadance.”

Luna and Cadance quickly turned around and saw Sunny Flare standing the doorway, along with Rarity. “Miss Rarity, what are you doing here?!” Luna asked.

“Um…Vice Principal Luna…I might have left school grounds without permission…”

“Sunny Flare, I know what you’re trying to do is good, but you can’t go about it like this! Bending another’s will is not the way!” Cadance stated.

“I’m not ‘bending’ their wills. I’m just nudging them in the right direction, the majority of the Thralls are acting on their own, as they would normally, but in the new environment I’ve created, no one ever has to feel alone, isolated, or feel as if they were the next Sacrifices in the Starvation Trials book!”

“Sunny, listen to me, whatever magic you have come into position of, you can fight its influence! I’ve seen the good and bad that can come from it firsthand!” Luna argued.

Sunny Flare glared at the two women. “Adults, always think they can make things better. You always say, ‘We were young once too’, but that was in your time, not in the here and now! So, I won’t hear it anymore! I’ll make sure this school, and everyone, treats each other better! Even if it means having to silence you two as well.”

“Sunny what are you–!” Rarity spoke.

The mint-blue girl pulled out a USB device from her skirt pocket, pulled down her collar, and pressed the button on the device.

< QUEEN! >

Sunny pressed the Gaia Memory against her neck, the device shimmered and infused itself into her neck, disappearing completely. In that same moment, Sunny’s body underwent a transformation. Hot pink light coated her body, morphing it into a new form. Now the Queen Dopant was before them, her purple eyes shining bright in the dim lightning of the office space.

“S-S-Sunny Flare?!” Rarity gasped.

“Rarity…”

In true Rarity fashion, the fashionista fainted, but Sunny reached out with her power and caught her before she could hit the ground and raised her up. She then brought the girl she cared for into her arms, and then glared at both women. “I assume, that Twilight and Sunset Shimmer are here to help you, right?”

“Sunny leave them alone!” Cadance stated.

“I won’t hurt Twilight, this school’s hurt her enough. As for Sunset? In respect for what she’s done, I’ll just have them thrown out, I can’t promise what will happen if they try to return. As for you two…”

Sunny Flare thrusted her left hand forward and released strands of pink light that wrapped around both Luna and Cadance, after a few seconds both women were encased in pink cocoons. Sunny looked to Rarity, an expression of regret befell her features, this was not the way she wanted to reveal this power to her friend, to her crush, but there was no turning back now. The golden crown atop the Queen Dopant’s head began to radiate with energy, sending an invisible wave as she gave her commands to the Thralls.

“Hear my command: Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer are to be taken off school grounds. By force if they resist.”

***____________________***

Sunset and Twilight were on their way to the gymnasium, Indigo having challenged Sunset to an archery shoot out. Twilight leaned in close to Sunset and asked. “Do you even know how to use a bow?”

“I used to take some basic archery back in Equestria from the Royal Guard, most unicorns don’t bother learning it because they rely on their magic for offense, but you never know when somepony might have a magic canceller device laying around. Then you’re screwed.”

Both girls stopped when they noticed Indigo had stopped in the middle of the hallway, she pressed her right index and ring finger against the Bluetooth device on her ear and shot them her usual grin. “Hey, so, sorry to say guys that the tour is over. Just got a call from Dean Cadance that Vice Principal Luna’s waiting for you outside, something urgent came up.”

Twilight and Sunset glanced to each, suspicious of that. “Okay, so then Vice Principal Luna must’ve given you the password,” said Sunset.

“Password?” Indigo asked.

“Yep, Vice Principal Luna set it up a safe to make sure that we don’t leave unless she gives it. It’s to prevent abductions by unsavory people,” said Twilight.

“Password…right, um…let me…just confirm that.”

Indigo turned around placed her right hand against her right ear. During this time, Twilight reached into Sunset’s backpack and pulled out the Uni-Driver, and placed it into her hand, while Sunset stealthily pulled out the Unicorn Memory from her jacket pocket. Indigo Zap turned around looking a bit nervous.

“The password is ‘We are Wondercolts forever’.”

“Yep,” Sunset and Twilight stated.

“Good.”

“Except for one thing, there is no password,” said Sunset.

< UNICORN! >

Sunset quickly placed the buckle against her waist, making the belt release its metal loop and closing around her waist.

“Henshin!”

The fiery haired girl slipped the Gaia Memory into the slot and slammed down on it with her left hand.

> UNICORN! <

A field of energy formed around Sunset, and in just a matter of seconds she was placed into her suit of armor, eyes glowing upon her helmet as Sunset assumed her heroic identity, Kamen Rider Unicorn. The masked hero quickly thrusted her hand forward, calling her telekinetic spell to wrap around Indigo, she then pulled back bringing Indigo close to her and gave a light punch to the sports girl’s stomach. The blow, although light, was still much stronger than a normal punch, having enough power to knockout Indigo Zap. The Q symbol briefly appeared on her forehead, but soon Indigo lost consciousness.

“Guess the jig is up, the Queen knows why we’re here,” said Sunset.

“We have to find out who’s the Queen Dopant fast, but how?!”

“Simple, we make her come to us! Stay close behind me!”

Unicorn ran down the halls, with Twilight right behind her. Along the way they came face to face with many other Crystal Preppers and Faculty members, each bearing the Q, their eyes glowing pink as they were imbued with the otherworldly energy of the Queen Memory. Sunset slammed her hand against the floor, sending a wave of energy through it and making the ground rumble. The result caused a shockwave that tripped up everyone, and while in midair, Unicorn used her telekinetic spell to slam them against the walls for a swift knockout.

Many a time someone tried to grab for Twilight, but thankfully she was able to beat them back with a quick hit with her backpack, prompting Sunset to ask, “What the heck do you have in there?”

“Books, Hawk, and more books!”

Sunset rolled her eyes under the helm and pressed on. They needed to get into an open space, fighting inside made it too easy to get ganged up on, and would cause too many casualties when she fought the Queen Dopant one on one if she would even allow her to get that close. Sunset stopped as she looked at a wall. “Hey, is the track field on this side?”

“I-I think so, but–!”

Unicorn balled up her right fist, charged it with magical energy and struck the wall, pulverizing most of it and creating a large hole in it. When the dust settled, Unicorn and Twilight stared wide eyed. Apparently, Twilight was trying to warn Sunset that, yes, the track field was on the other side of the wall, but that behind the wall was also the girl’s locker room. Many of the girls were either wrapped in towels or in the middle of changing, and each one had a look of shock on their faces. Sunset and Twilight had the same expression as well, but their faces were beet red. The only thing that helped was that Sunset’s Unicorn helmet obscured her face.

“Um…Sorry…”

“We’ll…just be leaving…now.

Both girls dashed down the hallway and heard a collective scream coming from the hall behind them, making a solemn vow that they would never speak of that ever again. Thankfully they happened upon the doors to the field, Unicorn kicked them open and hurried with Twilight to the center of the track field and prompted Twilight to take cover.

“Queen! I know you can hear me! Come and fight me or are you that cowardly that you would send all these people to fight me?! What kind of leader just sits by and doesn’t join the fight?!”

A blast came out from one of the towers, and from it floated out the Queen Dopant, and in her arms, she held another girl, one that both Twilight and Sunset knew well.

“RARITY?!”

“What did you do to her?!” Unicorn accused.

“I did nothing, she just fainted.”

No surprise there, Sunset and Twilight thought.

The fashionista began to stir as her blurry vision came into focus, her first sight being that of a pink creature holding her. Her first instinct was to scream, but then she remembered that this pink creature was in fact someone else. “SUNNY FLARE!”

The Queen Dopant released Rarity, allowing her stand upon her two feet. “Rarity, I can explain…”

“What is all this?” Rarity looked around and watched as several of Crystal Prep’s staff and students came out, each bearing the Q mark on their bodies, eyes glowing pink, and reverberating in rhythm with Sunny’s crown. “Sunny, are you doing all this?”

Sunny Flare hugged her body. “I did all this for them, for everyone who was feeling crushed by this place!”

Unicorn walked towards them, but a group of students and staff blocked her path, and leading the group were Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, Lemon Zest, and Indigo Zap, having regained consciousness. Sour Sweet was dressed in her archery gear, and walked forward, along with six other girls who were geared up as well. All seven notched an arrow, the tips glowing with pink energy as they readied to fire at Unicorn.

“You say that, and yet look at what you’re having them do! They are not your militia, trust me when I say that this is not the way!”

The Queen Dopant scoffed. “You think I’ve been controlling them this whole time?! NO! Up until now, I’ve had everyone do as they wished. Everything I showed you was all true, we’ve worked hard to make this place better! I used this power to help with that, to show them that this school can have a high academic reputation, and not be a place of oppressiveness! The only one who stood in the way of that was my MOTHER! Now you’re coming here to disrupt everything we’ve worked hard to build!”

“SUNNY!” Rarity shouted, making the Queen Dopant look down at her. “Do not let yourself be consumed by whatever this power is! You saw firsthand how power can turn an innocent thing into a monstrous disaster!” Upon saying that, Rarity glanced to Twilight. “No offense, Darling.”

“None taken,” said Twilight with a sigh.

“Sunny, you can still achieve all of that, but using this power will just make things worse!” Rarity pleaded.

“I can’t, I have to continue, I have to fix this school! No…not just this school, the city too, it’s full of people who shun others and think only of themselves, they need a leader to stop it all, they need a Queen!” Sunny declared as her eyes shined bright, and her aura flared.

“This isn’t good, Sunset we have to separate her from the Memory, it’s warping her mind the longer she uses it like that!” Twilight stated.

Unicorn nodded and dashed straight for the Queen Dopant. Unfortunately, in doing so, she prompted the archers to release their arrows. The pink comets zoomed towards Unicorn and exploded around her, another wave was loosed, and even more explosions went off. A few of the arrows hit their marks, exploding against Unicorn’s armor and sending sparks of light shooting off her body.

{< FANG! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

\ARM FANG!/

Unicorn Fang Edge emerged from the smoke, both arms having sprouted crescent blades from them. The archers released more arrows, and as they got close, Unicorn sliced them in midair, cutting off their energy and turning them back into normal arrows. Blades of blue light slashed against pink as Sunset continued to head towards the Queen. But it was not over, the Queen Dopant gave the telepathic order and had Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, and Indigo Zap charge for Unicorn.

Sunset growled with indignation, canceling the Arm Fang and resorting to fists. Lemon Zest jumped into the air, spun once, and came down with a blazing ax kick. Unicorn brought up her forearms and blocked the attack. However, in doing so, she left herself open as Sugarcoat and Indigo came in with a double side kick to her stomach. The empowered strikes hit Unicorn hard, sending her flying back and causing more sparks to shoot out from the point of impact.

Sunset eventually landed on her back, a few feet away from where she was earlier. The attack had forcibly canceled out Fang Edge form. Damn, I can’t fight them. In this form I could seriously hurt them, and there are way too many to use my magic on. If only I could get around them without hurting them or Rarity. Unicorn heard a whistling sound and watched as several arrows came flying from the sky and were about to strike her position.

“SUNSET!” Twilight shouted.

Just then, the sound of howling wind kicked up, causing Twilight to quickly place both hands on her skirt to keep it from flying up. The wind started to take on a greenish, shimmering tint as it flowed straight for Sunset. In less than a few seconds a green orb flew towards Sunset and created a barrier of wind around her, deflecting the arrows before they reached their target.

Unicorn stood up slowly and looked upon the orb, she placed her hand into it and felt something. Once she grabbed it, the orb shattered and revealed a new Gaia Memory, colored green with a wispy, stylized “C”. “A new Memory?” Sunset looked ahead at the many Thralls, and beyond them to the Queen Dopant, Sunny Flare, who would soon be consumed by the power of the Gaia Memory. “Let’s see what you can do!” Unicorn shouted as she pressed the button.

< CYCLONE! >

Unicorn placed the Gaia Memory into her left hip holster and hit the button on the side.

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Sparkling emerald wind swirled around Sunset as a new power rushed into her body and transformed her into a new Mimetic Drive form. When the tornado faded away, everyone looked on in awe. Unicorn’s forearm gauntlets had taken on a winged edge, parts of her armor were tinted the same emerald color and had wispy wind patterns engraved into them. Around her neck was a long, red, twin tailed scarf that flapped behind her. Upon her helmet, on the sides, were frills in the form of wings, the same that adorned sides of her boots.

“Unicorn: Mystic Cyclone!”

“ATTACK!” Queen ordered.

The archers took aim again and fired their arrows. Unicorn didn’t move, instead, she waved her hand in front of herself, and caused a whirlwind to kick up. The wind caused the arrows to veer off and hit the other arrows nearby them, exploding upon contact. Unicorn crouched low, and jumped into the air, the wind aiding her ascent as she rose higher and higher. She then focused the wind to form a hardened surface below her feet as she vaulted off it. Her scarf flattened out, becoming gliding wings for her as she dove straight for Queen.

Queen prepared to blast her with an energy orb, but at the last second, Unicorn changed course and swooped down to scoop up Rarity into her arms and flew away before Queen knew what happened. Unicorn gently floated down back to the ground, landing a few feet away from where Queen was. Rarity looked upon Unicorn, she had seen the masked hero on TV, and yet, despite meeting her for the first time, she felt familiar. When she saw Twilight over in the distance, it made sense to her.

“Sunset Shimmer?” Rarity asked.

“You got it. We’ll explain later,” said Sunset.

The Kamen Rider turned around to find a very angry Queen Dopant glaring at her.

“I understand what you’re trying to do, it’s noble. But you’re letting that power corrupt your ideals.” Unicorn took out the Cyclone Memory and placed it into her right hip holster. “It’s time to restore harmony.”

>} CYCLONE! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn crouched low as glowing emerald wind wrapped around her, she then jumped into the sky, gathered more of the emerald winds to her. Facing her target below, Unicorn thrust both of her feet forward, on the outside it looked as if a jade tornado was descending from the skies above. Queen lobbed one energy orb after the other, but each time it got near the tornado, the turbulent winds caused the orbs to shoot off in another direction and explode harmlessly in the distance.

“TORNADO TOUCHDOWN!”

The tornadic winds struck the Queen Dopant, forcing her to remain where she was. Unicorn came with her dual blazing feet of emerald light and struck the Queen at the center of her chest. The impact caused a magnificent explosion within the tornado, ending with Unicorn skidding to a stop some feet away from where the explosion took place. When she stood up, it was revealed that Unicorn held within her hand the Queen Memory, and when the dust cleared, Sunny Flare was back to normal.

All of a sudden, the staff and students all fainted, the Q marks all faded away, no longer were they EnThralled. Rarity rushed to Sunny Flare’s side and was relieved when she found her friend still breathing. Sunny Flare stirred and opened her eyes to see Rarity looking down at her, mascara running as she cried. “You’re ruining your makeup.”

“I don’t care right now, I’m just glad you’re alright,” said Rarity as she continued to cry happy tears.

Sunny smiled and hugged her friend.

***____________________***

Case Report: Queen Dopant

It has become evidently clear that the Gaia Memories, while holding tremendous power, are dangerous in the wrong hands. And tend to warp the ideals and mindset of those who come into contact with them. My belief is that this partially due to direct contact with the Gaia Memory. Sunset Shimmer, while using the Uni-Driver, can safely access the powers of the Gaia Memories without being subjected to any mental alteration. If I had to compare its use, it is almost like a drug, some will have a high tolerance and might be able to resist the negative effects of the Memory, while others are less tolerant and may actually do more harm to themselves and others.

In the case of Sunny Flare, she wished to make Crystal Prep Academy a place that not only excelled in academics but also relationships between students and faculty, much like Canterlot High School. Unfortunately, Sunny Flare’s efforts were continuously thwarted by her mother, Principal Abacus Cinch.

Due to this emotional stress, combined with her ambitions, must have made her a perfect match for the Queen Memory. With it she was able to silence her mother for a period to implement her ideals to the school. Of course, with the aid of the Queen Memory, she was able to EnThrall them, but it seemed the EnThralling effect only went as far as she deemed.

After her defeat, it was apparent that many at the school did not even know that they were being controlled, it seems once her control was broken, all memory of being controlled was gone from the minds of the victims. As it turns out though, all of what Sunny Flare had accomplished did not come from the sole use of the Queen Memory, but by her own hands and the assistance of Dean Cadance. Dean Cadance herself did not find out until later what happened to Principal Cinch, and that’s when she contacted Vice Principal Luna for assistance.

It was nice to see that it didn’t take mind control to help CPA see a different way and knowing that their efforts were primarily their own gives me hope for my old school.

However, the same could not be said of Abacus Cinch…

“Twi, what are you doing?” Sunset asked.

Twilight looked up from her computer, remembering that Sunset had come over to her house and was patiently sitting on the edge of her bed. “Sorry, I was writing a report.”

Sunset quirked an eyebrow as she walked around and looked at the computer. “A report, on what?”

“On the Gaia Memories, and the Dopants that are created from them. I figured that keeping some notes on each incident would be more beneficial to us. That way we can look back on some of them in case we come across something conflicting or new.” Twilight explained.

“When did you start this?”

“A little after your battle with the Fang Dopant, I even made one for when you fought the Beast Dopant as well.”

“Huh,” said Sunset with intrigue. “So, we’re like investigators now.”

“Seems appropriate, given the recent events. How’s Rarity?”

Sunset got off the bed and walked to her window. “Rarity’s fine, she said she won’t tell the girls, but that we should probably tell them soon, or it’ll cause more problems for us than anything.”

“Makes since.”

Unlike the last two cases, this one ends on a bittersweet note. Principal Cinch, Dean Cadance, and Vice Principal Luna were cocooned during the fight. Dean Cadance and Vice Principal Luna were given a story that Sunset had turned into her alter form of Daydream Shimmer and used the Magic of Friendship to change Sunny Flare back to normal. I didn’t like lying to them like that but right now Kamen Rider Unicorn’s identity must remain secret.

But, unfortunately, Abacus Cinch remembered when Sunny Flare cocooned her, and was outraged with all the changes to the school that were made in her absence. She had threatened to change everything back, but thanks to the faculty and the students, no such thing was done. After the numerous complaints from students and staff alike about Abacus Cinch’s conduct, she was ousted as Principal of Crystal Prep Academy.

Abacus Cinch saw Sunny Flare’s hand in these events as an act of betrayal, and in the process, disowned Sunny Flare, throwing her out. Dean Cadance has taken up temporary guardianship as Sunny does not have any immediate family besides other than her mother. Hopefully Dean Cadance can obtain permanent guardianship, if nothing else, being around someone as kind and loving as Cadance will help to heal Sunny Flare.

Twilight saved her work and closed the computer screen. “So…are Rarity and Sunny…?”

Sunset shrugged and smiled. “I think they might want to be, but right now Sunny needs a friend more than anything.” The fiery haired girl looked into the distance as the sunset beget twilight. “T2 Gaia Memories, and the breakable one we saw a few days ago. Something is stirring in Canterlot, and it’s not good.”

Twilight got up from the bed and joined Sunset as she too stared out into city skyline. “Well then, we’ll just have to do what we can, this is a mystery, and we’ll solve it together. Kamen Rider.”

Sunset smiled, and Twilight returned with one of her own.

D: Deceit / There's another Sunset?! (Edited)

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A few days had passed since the incident at Crystal Prep, and for the time being things had been quiet in Canterlot City, so much so that it was starting to make Sunset Shimmer feel restless. She was granted great power, and now she had a responsibility to use it to defend the helpless against the Dopants. But not knowing when and where the next attack would come was making her a little edgy. Twilight and Sunset had concluded that there were now two types of memories, the T2s and the Breakable Memories. The Breakables, as their name states, shattered upon receiving a Maximum Drive attack, while the T2s remained intact after the attack, and unfortunately, the Breakables’ remains mostly disintegrated after being shattered.

However, that would have to be an investigation for another time. Now Sunset and Twilight had another thing to deal with. Since Rarity all but figured out that Sunset was Kamen Rider Unicorn, it was high time to come clean to the rest of their friends. The safest place for them to meet privately was decided as Applejack’s barn on her farm. Later in the afternoon all seven girls arrived at the big red barn, with Applejack closing the doors, and covering the windows. Granny Smith was busy in the house, Big Mac was out picking up parts for their tractor, and Apple Bloom and her friends were off playing around in the orchard.

“Okay, so y’all wanna explain to us what was so urgent that we need to meet in meh barn?” Applejack asked.

Twilight glanced to Sunset, and Sunset to Twilight. Both gave a sigh and began to explain the situation, the recent incidents with the Fang and Beast Dopants, and the incident at Crystal Prep Academy that Rarity added some exposition. Along with the fact that Sunset is Kamen Rider Unicorn. A full minute of silence reigned within the barn until Rainbow Dash finally spoke up, “Okay, I know ponying up is one thing, but turning into a masked hero is something else. And I really hate to be that person, but can you show us?”

Sunset figured that that would happen, so she was ready as she reached behind her back and brought out the Uni-Driver. She placed it against her waist and the belt quickly shot out and looped around Sunset’s waist, making Fluttershy squeak a bit at the sudden action of the device. Sunset took out the Gaia Memory from her jacket and pressed the button.

< UNICORN! >

“What the heck, did that thing just talk?” Applejack asked.

“Wait for it. HENSHIN!” Sunset shouted as she placed the Memory into the slot and pressed down.

> UNICORN! <

A field of energy appeared around Sunset, materializing an armored suit that covered her from head to toe. When the field disappeared, what stood before them was the armored clad warrior girl, Kamen Rider Unicorn. Her helmet’s eyes flashed for a moment, along with her horn as she took a step forward. “Well, girls, what do you think?”

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity’s jaws were hanging open, Fluttershy had fainted, and Pinkie Pie was bouncing around and wearing an excited grin at the spectacle she had witnessed. Spike walked up to Fluttershy and began poking her cheek with his paw, after a few seconds of prodding, Fluttershy finally stirred awake.

“Oh goodness, I had the strangest dream. Sunset turned into some kind of monster or…” Fluttershy looked up and saw Kamen Rider Unicorn crouching and extending her hand to her. “Oh…my”

“It’s alright, Fluttershy, I’m just in a suit of armor, my body hasn’t changed.” Sunset assured.

The shy girl carefully took Sunset’s hand, feeling that it was indeed a suit of armor and not a living body.

“So…um…Twi, can I get one of those?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No.” Twilight stated flatly. “I don’t think it’s wise to have more than one of these, besides, we don’t know if the other Memories will work with another Driver other than the Uni-Driver.”

“One’s fine, I seem to be doing okay for the time being. Especially when I get other Gaia Memories to help augment my form.”

“Wait, you can change how ya look too?” Applejack asked.

“Well, it’s not just her appearance that changes, it also augments her powers, gaining the abilities of the new Memory combined with the Unicorn Memory, if you don’t mind Sunset, would you demonstrate?” Twilight asked.

Sunset nodded and pulled out the Cyclone Memory, pressing the button.

< CYCLONE! >

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A gust of wind emanated from Sunset, throwing hay and dust everywhere. Rarity, Fluttershy, and Applejack shrieked when they found that the wind lifted their skirts higher than what was comfortable, exposing the briefest of glimpses of what was underneath. Rainbow Dash paid no mind to the wind, having on sports shorts under her skirt, Pinkie Pie…well…somehow, the wind only served to lift her up off the ground, Twilight had anticipated the use the of the Cyclone Memory and thus opted to wear shorts today.

When the wind finally died down, Sunset was now in Mystic Cyclone form, but she became a little embarrassed by the disheveled state her friends were in now. “Sorry about that guys…”

“I’m not, that was awesome! And on that note, Flutters.” Rainbow Dash glanced to her shy friend. “I was not expecting you to wear something that risqué. Respect.”

Fluttershy’s face turned as red as the barn itself as she hid her face behind her long bangs. Rarity threw Rainbow Dash an indignant glare. “Rainbow Dash, please refrain from acting like some dirty old man!”

Pinkie Pie finally dropped out of the sky and rushed to Sunset, taking in every detail of her augmented armor. “Wow, this is amazing! You’re a real-life superhero! Oh, oh, we totally have to celebrate this! Secret Superhero Party in AJ’s barn!”

“Whoa there, hold yer horses–!”

“No parties, Pinkie, this is serious,” stated Twilight

“Ah…” Pinkie sighed.

“It’s not that we wouldn’t want one, but right now things are kind of serious with this whole Dopant thing and me being a Kamen Rider. So, for now, keep it secret, everyone knows that we have magic, and that’s fine, so long as they continue to think that and nothing else.”

The five girls nodded in agreement.

Sunset flipped up the switch on the horn part of the buckle, disengaging the Unicorn Memory and causing her armor to break down into particles of light before vanishing completely.

“So, Ah guess from now on, we’re keepin’ an eye out for these ‘Memory’ things, right?” Applejack asked.

“I wouldn’t recommend actively looking for them, as those who obtain them may become mentally unstable due to the energies of the Gaia Memory,” said Twilight.

“For now, if you see someone with one, don’t call them out on it, just call me and Twi and we’ll deal with it ourselves,” said Sunset.

Rainbow Dash stretched, “Okay, don’t know about you guys, but I think it’s time we cut loose a little. Who’s up for a mall run?”

Rarity excitedly jumped up and down as she squealed, “Me, me, me!”

Applejack shrugged and decided why not.

As the girls left to head to the temple of consumerism, Sunset stopped Twilight from going further, prompting the bespectacled girl to look at Sunset questioningly. “What’s wrong?”

Sunset smiled and opened one of her bags from her bike. “I got you something, catch.”

Twilight held out her arms as Sunset tossed an object towards her. Upon inspection, Twilight realized that the object was in fact a motorcycle helmet, colored in streaks of lavender, pink, and dark purple. It even had her favorite six-pointed star pattern on each side. Twilight looked up to Sunset, seeing her rub the back of her head as she blushed a little.

“Is this helmet for me?” Twilight asked.

“Since it may come down to you having to ride my bike here and there, I thought I’d get you a real helmet.” Sunset arched her brow. “Unless of course you’re comfortable riding with that other helmet, I mean it’s cute and all, but…”

Twilight blushed and shook her head. “No, no, no, I-I love this! Thank you! Wow you even had it detailed with the star I like!”

“It’s no big deal, c’mon, let’s take it for a test drive,” said Sunset.

Neither girl could pinpoint it exactly, but the present of the helmet made both girls feel good for different reasons. Sunset felt warm inside, seeing Twilight’s beaming face from receiving her gift, and Twilight felt an odd sense of giddiness inside from receiving a gift from Sunset. It was not that big a deal though, it was just a friend giving another friend a gift, and it was a practical gift at that. No reason to think anything else of it, right?

***________________________***

Gaia Memories, powerful devices that erupted from the Earth and shot out to every corner to people or places unknown. Fortunately, one of these Memories fell into the hands of two girls, one, Twilight Sparkle, who has access to knowledge she never had before, and another, Sunset Shimmer, originally from another world, who uses the power of the Unicorn Memory to fight against those corrupted by the Gaia Memories as Kamen Rider Unicorn. Becoming, for all intents and purposes, a hero to the people of the city. However, like all heroes, whether through action or inaction, accidental or intentional, sometimes create their own villains.

Of course, Sunset did not subscribe too much to that idea. Now it had been a week since the last Dopant attack, and Sunset was enjoying the return of some normalcy, but as she walked along the quad, she was getting a lot of suspicious looks from the other students at CHS, looks that felt too familiar to forget. Sunset shook her head, that was not possible, everyone had forgiven her, having helped save the school and its students twice over would do that for you. Though, the looks were piercing.

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie appeared in front of Sunset, right before she reached the Wondercolt statue. “Sunset, you really need to go, like now!”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Um…why?”

“What is she still doing here?!” Sunset looked behind Pinkie Pie and saw Rainbow Dash rushing down the steps, practically zooming past everyone else and coming to a stop before them. Sunset swore she felt a gust of wind from that stop. “Pinkie you were supposed to stop her at the parking lot!”

“I tried, but she got here earlier than usual!” Pinkie retorted.

“Light traffic today, I breezed right through. Now would you guys tell me what’s going on?” Sunset asked.

“Sunset Shimmer!” Pinkie, Rainbow, and Sunset turned their gazes towards the front entrance to the school. Standing at the top of the stairs as an older woman, dressed in a purple suit and skirt, and a pink ascot around her neck. She had a tan complexion and blonde hair, and blue eyes that stared into the depths of one’s soul and made them feel cold. The other students parted for this woman as she walked towards the trio, stopping a mere three feet from them. “You have some nerve to show your face here after what you did.”

Sunset shook her head in confusion. “I’m sorry, Ms. Harshwhinny, but what exactly did I do?”

Ms. Harshwhinny huffed. “Typical, playing innocent as always.”

The fiery haired girl was now starting to get a little peeved. Ms. Harshwhinny had never subscribed to the whole “Sunset has changed her ways” effort, even after helping in saving the school and the student body, twice. No, Ms. Harshwhinny saw it all as a front as far as she was concerned and was just looking for a perfect excuse to put her in juvie. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your position, Sunset had managed to evade Ms. Harshwhinny’s efforts to do so, keeping most of her more heinous deeds done in secret or through clever deception, which also infuriated the older woman, knowing she was behind some of the misdeeds but never able to prove them to either the Principal or Vice Principal.

“I’m not ‘playing’, Ms. Harshwhinny, I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about,” said Sunset.

The older woman smirked. “Humph, we’ll see how long that innocent act lasts, follow me. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna are waiting for you.”

Sunset certainly did not want to go anywhere with that woman but considering that this might just be a misunderstanding – or vendetta – she followed Ms. Harshwhinny.

Once they entered the school, Sunset winced when she saw the broken trophy case, and several trophies smashed along with them. Almost as if someone had taken a sledgehammer to it. Along the way, they passed by a chemistry lab that had its door hinges blown off, and from the looks of it the explosion had done a lot worse inside.

“Ring any bells yet?” Ms. Harshwhinny asked in an accusing tone.

Sunset tightened her fist and steeled herself. “No, Ms. Harshwhinny, it doesn’t.”

“An actor to the end.”

After the long walk, Ms. Harshwhinny and Sunset arrived at Principal Celestia’s office. Once inside, Sunset beheld both sisters, one in her usual spot, setting behind her desk, and the other at her right side. There was a laptop on Principal Celestia’s desk that somehow gave this whole thing an ominous feel to it. “Thank you for coming Sunset, please sit down.”

Sunset placed her backpack next to the chair and sat as instructed. “Principal Celestia, what’s going on?”

Celestia flipped open the computer and turned it around, on it were multiple screens, six in total, each one a CCTV camera that was time stamped yesterday, Sunday night. “Please watch.”

Sunset watched the camera’s carefully, the top left-hand camera, which was trained on the entrance, showed someone breaking into the school late into the night. Upon getting further inside, this individual, who was carrying a sledgehammer, proceeded to smash the trophy case again and again. The upper center camera showed that the intruder was actually Sunset going into the chemistry lab, and after a few seconds, rushed out and an explosion followed soon after. The upper right hand camera window showed Sunset breaking into lockers, the rest of the bottom row were not any better. The whole time Sunset was shaking her head, not believing what she was seeing.

“Well Miss Shimmer, what do you have to say for yourself?”

“It’s not me!” Sunset answered.

Ms. Harshwhinny scoffed. “Typical, but you can’t deny that that is in fact you on that screen.”

“It has to be something else, I mean, even my clothes are different!”

The principals and teachers glanced back at the footage, the Sunset in question was wearing her old attire, the black leather, metal studded jacket, and boots with flame decal, a purple top, and orange skirt. Indeed, it was Sunset’s old outfit compared to her recent change in attire.

“That’s hardly valid as evidence of an imposter,” said Ms. Harshwhinny.

Sunset looked back at the footage, her mind going a million miles an hour as she tried to figure this out, but then it hit her. Like getting struck by the Beast Dopant, it hit her hard, the reality of who this might be. The fiery haired girl fell into the seat, her face almost draining of color. “It…It can’t be…”

“It is Miss Shimmer, and you cannot deny it.”

“I…I mean…I had always assumed, but to see it…”

Principal Celestia raised an eyebrow as she studied Sunset’s demeanor. She did not look like someone who was caught red handed, God knows she had seen plenty of students like that. No, this was different, something soul shattering had occurred in looking at the security feed, and it was panicking Sunset. “Vice Principal Luna, Ms. Harshwhinny, may I ask you both to step out for a minute, I’d like a moment with Sunset Shimmer.”

Ms. Harshwhinny smirked, believing that Sunset Shimmer was finally going to answer for her crimes, past and present. As Luna exited, she glanced over her shoulder to Celestia, an unspoken understanding passed between them, and she shut the door behind them. Now alone, Principal Celestia stood up from behind her desk and walked to Sunset’s right, she kneeled and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Sunset Shimmer, Ms. Harshwhinny would like to see only the bad in this situation. However, I know you’re not that same person anymore. And given the recent supernatural events that have happened at CHS, I can’t personally rule out that this might be something magic related, is that why you look so panicked?” Celestia asked.

“No…” Sunset sighed heavily. “You remember Princess Twilight, right?”

Celestia nodded.

“And you know that the Twilight Sparkle that was formerly from Crystal Prep is the Twilight of this world, her double.”

“Oh yes…I do recall you telling me about the pony version of me…the thousand plus year old, magical pony goddess of the sun,” said Celestia, feeling a bit intimidated that her pony counterpart was practically a god.

“Yes, well, for a long time I thought that maybe I was a unique existence. When I came to this world and found out about the doubles of those from my world, I figured that there might be a Sunset Shimmer here too. I searched everywhere, at least in the city, but I couldn’t find another Sunset Shimmer. I mean, it was always a possibility that she was in another country or in some different city, but up until now I figured I was the only Sunset Shimmer…”

Celestia played that phrase in her head, “…until now”, it was then that she made the connection. “You’re saying that that girl is the Sunset Shimmer of this world?!”

Sunset nodded her head, slowly and solemnly. “I’m not going to deny that I was a – and pardon my Prench – a queen bitch to everyone in this school, making them be afraid of me and doing some other bad things. I operated under the assumption that I was a unique existence and that there was no other Sunset Shimmer here. But in reality, it seems that there is, and quite possibly my actions have caused this version of me grief. Having rumors started about her because of my actions, if anything, this is probably revenge.”

Celestia thought about that for a moment. “So…if this is really another you, from this world, then there’s really no way for us to say it isn’t. I’d assume that anything we’d find of her, hair or whatever would more than likely be identical to you right?”

Sunset thought about that one. “Possibly, I mean, biologically speaking I’m human, but I’m not sure what my DNA would say under a microscope.”

The tall woman snapped her fingers. “Wait a moment, you and your friends can change forms, right? You can grow wings and pony ears, which should be singular to you only.”

“Yeah, yeah that could work!” Sunset exclaimed.

“Although…Despite the supernatural, magical events at our school, many of the faculty have either embraced it as the norm, refuse to accept that it was real and deny it as a hoax or mass hysteria, or deny it happened to retain some sense of normalcy in their lives. And convincing police would be harder on top of that.” Celestia began pacing behind Sunset as her mind worked feverishly to come up with a way to save Sunset from the actions of her doppelganger. “Sunset, do you have any kind of alibi for last night, anything?”

Sunset shot up, like a light bulb had clicked in her head. “I can, I definitely do!”

“Good, by now the rumors have spread through the school about the incident, but I don’t think the students are quick to accept them just yet. They know well what you and your friends have done to save them, and more recently all reality. So, I think they’re willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but if we cannot clear this up soon…I may not be able to stop Ms. Harshwhinny or deny her requests for expulsion and possibly criminal charges,” said Celestia with a heavy heart.

The former unicorn nodded, she knew what was at stake, and the stakes were high.

***________________________***

“Excuse me?!” Ms. Harshwhinny exclaimed.

“As I said ma’am, I was with Twilight Sparkle last night, all night actually,” said Sunset.

Ms. Harshwhinny straightened her ascot and looked down at Sunset. “Please refrain from explaining any illicit affairs you may be having other students Miss Shimmer.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Not in that way Ms. Harshwhinny. Twilight was sick this weekend, a bad stomach virus. When I heard I went over to help, I don’t get sick, like at all, so I thought I’d be able to help.”

“It is true, Sunset Shimmer has never been ill in all her attendance of CHS,” added Vice Principal Luna.

“Mr. Night Light was out on a symposium in the next town over, and Twilight’s big brother, who’s a cop, is working late due to the, well, strange things that have been happening around the city. So that’s why it was better for me to help, I was free anyway.”

Ms. Harshwhinny scoffed. “And how does this help your situation.”

Sunset Shimmer crossed her arms and smirked at the teacher. “Because at the time I was supposed to be doing all of this, I was holding Twilight’s hair as she…ugh…prayed to the porcelain god, if I’m not being too subtle. Mrs. Velvet was there as well and can confirm that I never left Twilight’s side the whole time this was happening.”

Ms. Harshwhinny eyed Sunset with scrutiny. “Well then, if I call Mrs. Velvet at this time, she’ll confirm this?”

“Go ahead, she’s staying home from work today to look after Twilight, she has her cellphone on her.”

Ms. Harshwhinny looked to Celestia, and the Principal politely allowed her to use her phone and computer. After searching the student directory and locating Twilight’s parents’ contact numbers, she called Mrs. Velvet’s phone and placed it on speaker.

[Hello?]

“Yes, am I speaking to Mrs. Twilight Velvet?” Ms. Harshwhinny asked.

[Yes, this is she.]

“My name is Ms. Harshwhinny, I am a teacher here at CHS. I would like to speak to you regarding Sunset Shimmer.”

[Oh dear, did she get to school late? I’m sorry, she was helping me take care of my daughter this weekend and Twilight was having a bit of a…ahem…well, she was praying to the porcelain god so to speak. It was late at night when it happened so if she’s a bit tired I’m sorry for that, I’ll take full responsibility, if she’s late I’ll sign for whatever you need me to in order to show this.]

Ms. Harshwhinny’s jaw dropped at hearing this, stunned speechless.

“Mrs. Velvet, this is Principal Celestia, Sunset is doing fine, but we’ll leave it up to her if she feels too tired today and excuse her, if need be,” said Celestia.

[Thank you, Principal Celestia.]

“Hey, Mrs. Velvet, it’s Sunset, is Twilight doing alright?” Sunset asked in genuine concern.

[She’s doing better, last night’s little episode helped.]

[Mom, who’s that?]

[It’s Principal Celestia, it’s about Sunset.]

[Oh no was she tardy?! It’s my fault, please don’t blame Sun – BLGAH!]

Everyone in the room went silent and had a look of disgust on their faces, along with a queasy feeling in their stomachs after hearing that.

[Well that’s my cue to go, again, if I need to sign anything just let me know.]

Ms. Harshwhinny composed herself before speaking. “Hmm, very well then. But the footage is still undeniable.”

“Come now, Ms. Harshwhinny, given events at Canterlot High School in the past year or so, I don’t think we can rule out something strange is occurring her. Whether it is connected to magic or something else entirely. Do not forget I have had a recent encounter at Crystal Prep Academy, as well as the Principal of the school, Mi Amore Cadenza,” said Vice Principal Luna.

The older woman waved her hand. “All this magic nonsense, it’s just some hype that the students are circulating and are going to great lengths to ensure it is real. If it keeps their spirits high then so be it, but I will not have it used as an excuse for poor behavior, or as a ‘get of jail free card’. But very well, I’ll be watching you Miss Shimmer.”

All three watched as Ms. Harshwhinny left the room, and a collective sigh was released.

“Honestly, Sunset Shimmer, it may do you good to take the day off and think of your next course of action. I can only imagine that this is magic related,” said Luna.

“No, leaving now would just make me look guilty. If I’m going to figure this out, I need to see if there were any clues left over from what the other me did,” said Sunset.

Luna and Celestia glanced to each other and nodded.

“Very well, Sunset, we’ve cordoned off the damaged areas so other students wouldn’t tamper with them. But be careful, others might see your investigating as returning to the scene of the crime.” Celestia warned.

Sunset grabbed her backpack and smiled to both Principals. “Don’t worry, I’ll figure this out.”

Despite the confident look on Sunset’s face, Celestia and Luna could not help but think this was going to get worse before it got better.

***________________________***

The rest of the day was what Sunset expected, suspicious glances from the students and faculty. Some were skeptical about the whole thing, given the magic mishaps at school, they could not rule out that something weird might be happening, so in that regard many were giving her the benefit of the doubt. Once free period rolled around, Sunset met up with the rest of the girls and filled them in on what was going on. They were all in various states of shock, even more so when she informed them that this might be Earth’s Sunset Shimmer.

“Darling, why would this other Sunset Shimmer want to do any of this to the school?” Rarity asked.

“Probably in retaliation for everything I did as her. All that time I spent making the students here fear me and all the time I spent dividing them, rumors must have traveled and fell on her. Others might have been tainted by what I did and made them think she was a horrible person!” Sunset sat on the piano chair, holding her head as she lamented her actions in the past.

“Well, luckily Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna are willin’ to give ya a chance to prove it, but Ms. Harshwhinny’s going to be a tough sell. She was really on yer case back in the day,” said Applejack.

“That’s the understatement of the year, she practically made it her mission to catch Sunset and expel her. Which…heh, heh…at the time was something we were all kind of hoping and rooting for – no offense!” Rainbow added.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “None taken.”

“Shouldn’t we, um, start searching for clues? The other Sunset Shimmer may have left something behind,” said Fluttershy.

“Great idea!” Pinkie exclaimed as she pulled out something from her hair, and in a rush of motion, was donned in an outfit straight of Sherlock Holmes. “Detective Pinkie Pie is on the case!”

“Oh, Darling, you cannot have a mystery solved without a crafty a mind, and critical eye like moi.” Rarity, in the same out of nowhere fashion as Pinkie Pie, was now clothed in a dark red trench coat, and wide brimmed hat, her signature Shadow Spade look.

“Thanks girls, and do me a favor, try to keep this under the radar from Twilight. She’s still sick and the last thing I want is to stress her out,” said Sunset.

The others nodded in agreement, especially after the story Sunset told about a weekend taking care of a sick and vomiting Twilight. Rainbow would have made a girlfriend joke but considering the situation, it was better kept on the backburner.

“I’m going to check the trophy case in the lobby, it was the first place the other me hit.”

“I-I’m coming too, it-it might be better if I was with you, so nobody gets suspicious if it’s just you,” said Fluttershy.

With their plans settled, the girls broke away and went to investigate the different spots that were hit during the night. Sunset and Fluttershy went to the trophy case, the area cordoned off by yellow tape and orange cones. Most of the glass had been swept away and contained within the small area, among the debris were various trophies from Canterlot High’s past victories that were crushed or bent out of shape from falling to the floor or receiving the full brunt of the hammer. It was times like this that Sunset wished she had her full magical powers back, along with a few spell books, she could easily cast a spell to notice any trace amounts of, well, anything incriminating. For now, she would have to rely on her deductive skills and discerning eye to find something, anything.

“That sledgehammer she used, in the rest of the security footage, she wasn’t carrying it on her way out,” said Sunset Shimmer.

“Do you think it’s still here?” Fluttershy asked.

“If it is, she did it on purpose.”

“Why?”

“Because…” Sunset raised her right hand and pointed to her fingers with her left, “…if we’re identical, then even our fingerprints will match. Speaking objectively, I’d most likely hide it somewhere not too out of the way, but not obvious either. She intentionally made sure that the cameras could see her face, because she knew I was going to be here and would take the blame in full. Again, objectively speaking, if I were her, I’d keep a good distance away from the scene, but close enough to know if my plan went right.”

“But wouldn’t that put her at risk? If she’s found, then it’ll show that there are two Sunset Shimmers, and only one of you has an alibi,” said Fluttershy.

“It is a risk, but for her plan to succeed she needs to be close by to make sure everything falls into place. The hidden sledgehammer can probably help us forensics wise.”

“Returning to the scene of the crime?”

Sunset and Fluttershy turned around and saw Ms. Harshwhinny standing there, arms crossed and a critical gaze falling upon them.

“Investigating, actually, Ms. Harshwhinny.” Sunset replied.

“I don’t know what game you’re playing Miss Shimmer, but it’s high time you answered for your past grievances. And you, Miss Fluttershy, I’m surprised a kind and gentle girl as yourself can be friends with her, considering all the times I remember you being the subject of her bullying,” said Ms. Harshwhinny.

Sunset felt a stabbing pain in her heart. Out of all the bad things she did, tormenting Fluttershy was the one thing she had yet to get over. Fluttershy was the kindest girl anyone would ever know, caring and loving, the fact that she yelled and cornered her so many times before and made her cry hurt Sunset. Sunset, even to this day, is surprised that Fluttershy forgave her for everything she did, willing to look past that and see the good in her. Still, bringing that up never failed to make her feel lower than dirt.

“M-Ms. Harshwhinny! I-I know Sunset isn’t perfect, and yes, she bullied me, but that’s not who she is anymore. She’s done so much to help this school and the students in it, did she lose her way, yes, but she found it again. Now, she’s a friend I can count on, always,” said Fluttershy with a surprising amount of conviction.

Ms. Harshwhinny huffed. “Do not touch anything, we’re preserving it as best we can.”

Fluttershy and Sunset watched Ms. Harshwhinny walked away, and once she was far enough away, Fluttershy released a pent-up breath she didn’t know she was holding. Sunset gently patted her on the back and smiled at her friend.

“Thanks for that Shy…and…sorry, again,” said Sunset.

“Sunset, I said I’ve already forgiven you.” Fluttershy placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Please forgive yourself.”

“I’m still trying.”

***________________________***

Rainbow Dash and Applejack visited the gym, another site of destruction by the other Sunset. The storage room had several balls deflated, stabbed, and left flatter than a pancake. Several other sets of equipment for baseball, soccer, football, and basketball were also completely trashed. Unfortunately, they couldn’t get close because this site too was cordoned off.

“Shoot, how are we supposed to look for clues like this?” Applejack asked.

“The heck with yellow tape, Sunset’s getting accused of crimes she didn’t commit, we have to find something to help her out,” said Rainbow Dash as she readied to hop over the tape.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Applejack and Rainbow Dash turned to their lefts and saw Sunset Shimmer, dressed in her old attire, and standing at the edge of the adjacent door. “Don’t want to contaminate the evidence, do you?”

“You!” Rainbow Dash shouted and pointed.

The other Sunset closed the door, prompting Applejack and Rainbow Dash to give chase after her. Both girls rushed through the door and entered the pool. It was vacant, not a soul to see. It was their first instinct to go into the locker rooms, but by now the other Sunset most likely would have gotten too far away.

“Damn, she totally got away!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Calm down, Rainbow, the fact that we saw her means she still here. Probably wants to see her plan unfold,” said Applejack.

“Heh, then that means she’ll be easier to catch. We gotta tell Sunset that – WHOA!”

Rainbow Dash and Applejack soon found the floor extremely slippery and somehow sloped down into the deep side of the pool. A flash went off behind them as both girls splashed into the pool and hurried back up to the surface. Only once they reached the top, they bumped their heads against something hard. Applejack punched against the invisible wall and cursed when it didn’t break. Upon further inspection, they realized it was akin to Plexiglas, unfortunately, it was kept just a couple of inches above the water, offering little room for Rainbow and Applejack to get air. They frantically looked around and noticed that Sunset Shimmer, the other Sunset, was standing at the edge of the pool and kneeling to look at them.

“Quite the conundrum, isn’t it? That’s pretty much bulletproof glass, so you won’t be able to break it that easily, or anyone for that matter. You see, I can’t have anyone expose what I’m doing, I need Sunset to fall, and pay for everything she’s done. I am surprised you’re actually friends with that bitch. Well anyway, good luck treading water, I figured you two are athletic so maybe you can last an hour or two?”

The other Sunset walked off casually, leaving both Rainbow Dash and Applejack alone in the pool.

“What…are we…going to do?!” Rainbow Dash shouted in a panic.

“Don’t panic Rainbow…we’ll just make ourselves more tired…we gotta find a drain or somethin’ to hold onto otherwise we’ll get too tired…just treadin’ water out here,” said Applejack.

Rainbow and AJ scanned the area, noticing a little gap up ahead. They began swimming to it, already noting that it was a bad idea as their clothes just created more drag making the swim a bit longer. Realizing this, Rainbow kicked off her tennis shoes, and AJ her boots. Rainbow ditched her jacket and Applejack her denim skirt. Now little lighter, both girls swam to the drain gap, hanging onto it with their arms and kicking lightly to keep themselves up.

“Tell me your cellphone wasn’t in your skirt pocket,” said Rainbow.

“It was, and at this point it’s probably too waterlogged to use, what about you?” Applejack asked.

“In my jacket, same situation.”

“Okay, we just gotta hold on then until Sunset and the girls come lookin’ for us. They’ll begin to worry if we don’t show up after a bit,” said Applejack.

“And how long’s ‘a bit’?” Rainbow asked in a deadpan tone.

Applejack looked around and felt a twinge of dread. “Hopefully not too long…”

***________________________***

As Sunset and Fluttershy walked down the hall, Fluttershy noticed something odd. There was a turquoise glow coming from Sunset’s jacket. “Um, Sunset, your jacket.”

The fiery haired girl looked down and saw that the pocket where she kept the Unicorn Memory was glowing bright. Curious, Sunset reached in and took the Memory into her hand. Upon doing so, something occurred, her vision was suddenly filled with turquoise, sparkling light. It spiraled about, like a funnel, but then the center began to open, revealing something. An image formed at the center, showing Rainbow Dash and Applejack in water. The vision faded away and Sunset was brought back to the now.

“Sunset, are you alright? Your eyes glowed for a second and then…”

“I’m fine, but Rainbow Dash and Applejack aren’t! I think I know where they are, c’mon!”

Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy ran down the hall and cut down various hallways until they reached the gym. Sunset glanced about and spotted the door that led to the pool, she dashed towards the door but for some reason, found the door completely sealed. There were no seams at all, as if the wall grew around the door itself.

“What’s going on, the door wasn’t ever like this!” Fluttershy stated.

“Something else is happening here, and unfortunately, I don’t have time for subtlety!”

Sunset reached around her back, the Uni-Driver materializing into her hand as she placed the buckle against her waist and making the straps shoot around. Once connected, Sunset pressed the button on her Unicorn Memory.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

The former Equestrian slipped the Gaia Memory into the slot and pressed down. A field of energy surrounded her body, generating armor all over her. Once the field came down Sunset Shimmer was in the form of her heroic alter ego, Kamen Rider Unicorn. Unicorn thrusted forth her right hand, the crystal horn and her right hand glowed bright with magical power as the door and part of the wall became enveloped in her aura.

“Fluttershy get to my left!” Unicorn ordered.

The shy girl did as she was instructed. In the next moment, Unicorn wrenched back her right hand. The wall began to crack until a large chunk of the wall was removed, along with the door. She floated the section of wall off to her right against the adjacent wall, and now free from obstruction, both Fluttershy and Unicorn entered the pool area. They were surprised to see that the pool was sealed in by some kind of glass layer. Fluttershy spotted Rainbow Dash and Applejack at the far end of the pool, hanging onto a drain. The Kamen Rider and Fluttershy ran to that side, noting the relieved expressions on their faces.

“Told ya…they’d find us!” Applejack stated.

“How are we going to get them out?” Fluttershy asked.

Unicorn thought for a moment and nodded. “Both of you hang on, this is going to feel weird!”

The horn on Unicorn’s helmet glowed bright as she concentrated on Rainbow Dash and Applejack. Their bodies glowed in the light of Unicorn’s aura, and with a flash of Unicorn’s eyes, Rainbow and Applejack vanished from under the glass. In the next moment they reappeared on either side of Fluttershy, both coughing up some of the water that had gotten into their mouths.

“Thanks *cough* Sunset,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Knew ya *cough, cough* would find us,” said Applejack.

“Who did this?” Unicorn asked.

Applejack and Rainbow glanced to each other and said in unison, “You did.”

“Sunset, you were right, she is close by!” Fluttershy stated.

“Yeah…” Sunset looked back to the glass still covering the pool. “But I wasn’t expecting her to have powers too.”

D: Deceit / Sins of the Past

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The girls regrouped in the locker rooms after a quick text to Pinkie Pie and Rarity about what had happened. Rarity had arrived with fresh dry clothes for her friends, when she had the time to get them and where she got them from was anyone’s guess, but would do for now, along with some backup boots and tennis shoes. Sunset, still in Kamen Rider form, created a sphere of mana that radiated heat to help her friends warm up and dry off quicker.

“I can’t believe this other Sunset actually did that to you two,” said Rarity.

“Sunset, Ah hate to say this, but we may need to start thinkin’ that this world’s you ain’t as nice as you are,” said Applejack.

“Yeah, even when you were at your worst, you never did anything life threatening like leave us to drown!” Rainbow pointed out.

Although her helmet was obscuring her face, it didn’t take much to show that Sunset was grimacing under that helmet. Sunset was berating herself, she never took into consideration that this version of her was not as “nice” as she was upon arriving to Earth. For all she knew, the other Sunset was a dangerous girl, and was out to get her because of all the good things she had done lately, like becoming the savior of the school, twice over.

“I’m sorry…I had always assumed Earth’s Sunset Shimmer was my opposite, kinder and nicer, and with less of an inferiority complex. But, I never took into account that she could also be worse than me, and in this case, dangerous.”

“Darling, you couldn’t have known! You told us once that Princess Twilight had said that our Twilight may act in a similar way to when she first learned of friendship, and for the most part that has been true.”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean everything is exactly the same…Okay, from here on out, you guys just attend your classes, I’ll look for her on my own,” said Sunset.

“Uh, isn’t that kind of a bad thing since Ms. Harshwhinny’s totally on your case right now?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Pinkie Pie’s right, one of us should stay with you so that no one thinks yer up to no good,” said Applejack.

“No!” Sunset stated, causing the mana ball to flare in response. After calming down a bit, Sunset continued, “If this Sunset is willing to endanger your lives without batting an eye, then I can’t have any of you with me or confront her. I have my Unicorn Memory and Driver, plus I can fight her even without transforming. So just go to class, make an excuse for me not being there, the other Sunset’s in this school and probably looking to finish what she started.”

A heaviness fell on the group, the girls wanted to help Sunset, but she had a point. If this other Sunset was willing to cause bodily harm to them, then there was no telling what she’d to any them if caught alone. For now, the girls reluctantly agreed to Sunset’s terms.

“By the way, how did you know we were trapped in the pool?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh, well, Fluttershy pointed out that my Unicorn Memory was glowing and when I grabbed it I had this kind of…vision, it showed me you guys were in trouble.”

Pinkie Pie gasped. “You have Friendship Danger Sense!”

Everyone looked at Pinkie Pie in confusion.

“Um, friend what?” Fluttershy asked.

“Friendship Danger Sense, kind of like my Pinkie Sense, but instead of random things, yours can tell you when a friend is in danger!”

Sunset looked down to the Unicorn Memory still in the slot. “I don’t know Pinkie it might’ve just been a fluke that that happened.”

“Or maybe because the more you use it the more you’re able to tap into its fantastical powers!” Pinkie countered.

It seemed unlikely to Sunset, but at this point there were a lot of unknowns concerning the Gaia Memories. For now it was a viable theory.

“I can’t believe you took your skirt off Applejack, honestly, what if some boy came in and saw you?” Rarity asked.

“The skirt and meh boots created too much drag when Ah swam, Ah had to ditch ‘em. And considerin’ the situation, bein’ seen in meh underwear was the least of my concerns,” said Applejack.

Pinkie Pie appeared next to Rarity and patted her on the head. “Aww, don’t worry Rarity. The author is keeping this rated ‘Teen’, so at most we’ll get fan service like panty shots, accidental/inappropriate touching, little bit of partial nudes, but nothing full blown X rated, or anything to push it into the ‘Mature’ rating.”

…………

“Pinkie, what the heck do you mean by the ‘author’?” Rainbow asked.

“Aw, don’t worry about it.”

Sunset cleared her throat and snuffed out the mana ball. With a flip of the switch, Sunset cancelled the transformation as the armor dispersed into tiny turquoise colored particles of light. “Anyway, just go to class. I’ll be fine.”

***______________________***

Ms. Harshwhinny had concluded her class, dismissing them to their next. She had a free period to get some work done and decided to stay in the classroom. Despite her best efforts to try and keep her mind on work, Ms. Harshwhinny refused to stop worrying about what Sunset Shimmer was up to. Celestia and Luna may have bought into her good girl act, but she didn’t. She may have acted like any other freshman did some years back, but after a while, you could see the seeds of darkness taking root. Ms. Harshwhinny remembered numerous times how the students parted for her in fear, how her very presence caused them unease.

Normally girls like her were delinquents of the worst sort, and wouldn’t bother with schoolwork. However, for all her menacing, she was smart. Sunset’s grades were always “A” or “A+”, she excelled physically and mentally, it was frustrating indeed, such a smart and talented girl resorting to thug like behavior and intimidation to make the students bend to her will. She had almost caught her during the Fall Formal a couple of years back. Ms. Harshwhinny knew she was the reason why that girl dropped out, and Ms. Harshwhinny would’ve had her, but Sunset Shimmer was far smarter than she gave her credit for. Sunset was a planner, and an improviser, a deadly combination.

Catching her in the lie had become a game of chess from time to time, and unfortunately, Sunset was a Grand Master of it. Then the last Fall Formal happened, with that new girl she had never seen before becoming the Princess of the Fall Formal. Ms. Harshwhinny wouldn’t lie, she felt extremely happy that it wasn’t Sunset that year, hoping that that would knock the girl’s ego and pride down to the dirt. Then there was that incident, the lights, the blacking out, the crater, and the big hole in the front of building.

Ms. Harshwhinny didn’t believe it when the rumors went around about what happened. Magic, such a thing like that only existed in fairytales and movies, not in this world, in real life. Then there was the Battle of the Bands, and Ms. Harshwhinny would admit, her recollection of that event was hazy, as if her mind was in a fog. But somehow, after that event, Sunset Shimmer went from Persona Non Grata, to someone the other students looked up to and were now friendly towards, and she to them. Ms. Harshwhinny would not be swayed, she knew deep down that Sunset was just playing them all, she was smart like that, so she’d make sure to keep a close eye on her, and never lose sight of what she really was.

Finally, there was the Friendship Games. Now, Ms. Harshwhinny would be the first to admit, there was a lot of strange things happening at the Games. From the giant plant creatures, to the tears in space, and the transformation of one of the Crystal Prep girls into some fallen angel creature was terrifying. But then, there was Sunset Shimmer, she stood up to that transformed student, and transformed herself into some angelic being. In the end, Sunset Shimmer somehow reverted the Crystal Prep student back to normal, and now was attending their school, and she must say, this Twilight Sparkle was quite the bright girl.

Ms. Harshwhinny shook her head. She couldn’t be swayed by those events, it had to be some smoke and mirrors, special effects or some kind of hallucination; Twilight Sparkle did activate a device at the beginning of the last event and released a shockwave and ray of light. Perhaps it scrambled their minds in some way that was not predicted by the supposed genius girl.

The older woman sighed and placed her hand to her forehead as she groaned. “This school used to be much quieter and less confusing until she came here.”

“Well, sorry for rocking the boat, teach.”

Ms. Harshwhinny looked up and saw Sunset Shimmer walking into her classroom. Sunset was dressed in her new attire, and sporting a grin of superiority as she closed the door and roamed the classroom. “You should be at your next class Miss Shimmer, I won’t be writing you a pass.”

“Yeah, don’t really care,” said Sunset. “You’ve been on my case for a long time, Harshwhinny.”

“That’s Miss Harshwhinny, respect your teachers.”

“When you’ve done something worth respecting, I will,” said Sunset as she sat on one of the desks.

The older woman stood from her desk and walked around to face Sunset. “See here, I know you’re planning something, I don’t know what, but I’ll find out. You have the whole school believing you’ve changed, but I see the truth in you! You’re scheming, and patient, you like to play the long game, and I know you’ll make a mistake along the way, and I’ll be there to stop whatever it is you’re planning.”

Sunset stretched and pop a kink out her neck before responding. “Hmm, very scary, but you lack one thing.”

“And what’s that?!”

“Authority, absolute, unwavering, authority,” said Sunset as she stood up quickly, making Ms. Harshwhinny take a cautious step back. “See, you’re scared of me, if you were truly in charge, you wouldn’t have flinched like that. You have no authority over me, because you’re too afraid of me! You say you know how I work, then you should know that I’ve planned for everything. I can ruin your career if I so wished.”

“Humph, I doubt it.”

“Oooh, a bet? I’ll take it. Let’s see? For starters…” Sunset waved her hand over her chest, a flash of purple light went off and afterwards her jacket was gone, revealing her sea-green blouse that was now torn up.“Oh no, please don’t Ms. Harshwhinny I didn’t mean to!”

Sunset waved her hand over left arm and immediately bruises formed on it.

“What…What are you doing?!” Ms. Harshwhinny asked, her eyes bulging from her skull.”

“No please, don’t I promise I’ll be good just don’t hurt me again!” Sunset waved her hand over her face, and bruises and a black eye.

Ms. Harshwhinny couldn’t believe what she was seeing, not a finger was laid on her and yet she was somehow creating injuries to herself. “This…This is absurd!”

Sunset chuckled evilly. “Now Ms. Harshwhinny, who are they going to believe? The teacher who’s had a vendetta against me? Or the girl whose clothes are torn and who’s covered in bruises and scratches.”

The older woman knew the answer to that, even just the accusation of such would follow her and ruin her career as a teacher, and possibly blackball her from any other teaching job in the city. Ms. Harshwhinny was panicking, this girl was even more conniving and cunning than she had anticipated.

Just then, Sunset waved her hands over herself and the tears and injuries were gone. “But I digress, I thought you might want to team up with me, but it occurs to me that for what I have planned, I do need you, but not the you in front of me.”

Ms. Harshwhinny cocked an eyebrow at that sentence. “Excuse me?”

Suddenly, Sunset’s body glowed bright purple and her entire form changed. Her body was a dingy brown color, with a bright purple node centered at the abdomen, and lines that glowed with the same colored light. Its right hand had a spike with a double helix spiral, and its left hand was white as snow. Its head was oblong and had a single glowing purple line running down its face. Ms. Harshwhinny screamed bloody murder as the creature approached her and grabbed Ms. Harshwhinny by the collar of her clothes.

“Don’t bother screaming, I changed the walls so that no sound can exit this room, and of course I covered the window into the classroom. So, Ms. Harshwhinny, be happy in the role you’re going to play.”

The creature raised its right arm, showing the instrument as it glowed bright. The creature slowly brought the tip to Ms. Harshwhinny and in the next moment, all that could be seen was a flash of purple light.

***______________________***

Sunset continued to roam about the halls of CHS, she was starting to get frustrated, and anxious. This other Sunset was dangerous, and walking about the school undetected. For now her friends should be safe in their classrooms, surrounded by other students and teachers. If this other Sunset was out to get her, she’d have to face her one on one.

I can’t risk their safety, I’m only glad Twilight’s not here. If there was anyone she could easily get to it would be her. I never thought I’d say this but thank Celestia for stomach viruses.

Most of the hallways had emptied out as the bell rang, signaling the start of another class. Sunset figured this would be the best time to look for her doppelganger, without any interruptions from other students or faculty. Just then, she spotted movement down the hallway. Sunset looked more closely and gasped when she saw the familiar fiery hair.

“HEY!” Sunset shouted.

The figure stopped and looked straight at her. Sunset’s eyes widened as she looked at a perfect mirror image of herself, except the other Sunset had an evil grin going for her, one that Sunset recognized on herself back before her reformation. Sunset dashed down the hallway just as the other Sunset rounded the corner. Once Sunset reached the end of the hall she glanced about, and saw a door open, a maintenance door that led down into the lower levels of the school. Every part of her brain told Sunset that this was trap and that she was probably playing into the other Sunset’s hands.

But this could be my only shot at stopping her.

Reluctantly, and on guard, Sunset descended the stairs. The sounds of the generator and boiler systems made Sunset strain to hear any other sound that could indicate attack or movement. She had contemplated transforming into Unicorn, but thought that that might be overkill at this time. As she made her way deeper into the room, she spotted a vacant spot, and it was there she saw a cage, and inside that cage was…herself.

“What in the world…?”

“SUNSET LOOK OUT!!!”

Before Sunset realized what had happened, she was blindsided by something hard hitting the back of her head and everything faded to black.

After what felt like hours of unconsciousness, Sunset was able to regain her senses, opening her eyes and seeing someone hovering over her.

“Sunset, can you hear me, please say something!”

Sunset blinked her eyes a couple of times before they adjusted and focused. Above Sunset was…Sunset. Without thinking, Sunset launched herself at the other Sunset, both tumbling about until Sunset had pinned the other Sunset against the cage wall and glared at her.

“Look, whatever sick game you’re playing at is over! I won’t let you endanger my friends’ lives or anyone else’s!” Sunset proclaimed.

“Miss Shimmer stop, it’s me, Ms. Harshwhinny,” the other Sunset yelled.

Sunset stopped, pulled back and looked at her for a moment with skepticism. “What are you talking about?”

“I-I know it sounds absurd, completely and utterly absurd, but you – well not you-you I suppose – came into my classroom, turned into some monster, and used some strange light to change me into…well… YOU!”

For a moment Sunset thought this other her had lost it, but that monster part had her attention. “You said ‘monster’, as in she turned into some she-demon thing with bat wings and talons?”

“No! She turned into…into…” The other Sunset looked to her left and pointed in that direction. “THAT!”

Sunset followed the other Sunset’s gaze and watched as a creature emerged from the shadows, with bright purple lines glowing in the darkness. “Finally you’re awake, I didn’t want you to miss the finale.”

A Dopant, Sunset thought.

The Dopant glowed and then reverted into Sunset’s form. “Perfect, all the players are assembled. Now I can finally get my revenge, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset rushed to the cage and wrapped her hands around the bars as she gazed directly at the doppelganger. “Listen before you do anything, you have to know how sorry I am!”

The other Sunset and Ms. Harshwhinny looked at Sunset with shock, especially because her eyes were watering.

“You have every right to blame me for what I did…I operated under the assumption that there was only one Sunset Shimmer in this world, without even considering how my actions might be affecting you, the other me! I don’t know what kind of life you led here, but I know that vengeance is not going to make things better!” Sunset fell to her knees as she continued. “Hanging onto bitterness, hate, and stubborn pride will only make you alone and in the end all you’ll feel is regret…I’m sorry…you don’t have to do any of this. If it will make things right I’ll leave, I’ll return home and give you your life back. Just let Ms. Harshwhinny go.”

Ms. Harshwhinny had never seen Sunset in a state of distraught as she was, and even so, she was pleading for her freedom. “Sunset…”

Suddenly, loud and mocking laughter rang out through the basement as the other Sunset Shimmer hunched over in hysterics. “Oh…Oh man, oh my sides! I-I can’t believe you actually think I’m you!”

Sunset’s head shot up, eyes wide. “W-What do you mean?”

The other Sunset sighed and in the next moment her body glowed, reforming until it revealed someone completely different. It was a girl, with a light mauve complexion, and hair colored black with streaks of blue and violet. Her clothes consisted of a dark purple blouse, and a frilly pink skirt. Her eyes were a striking shade of blue, and in her hand was a Gaia Memory colored a grayish-green.

“You…You’re –!”

“Glitter Glam, you know, the girl you humiliated two years ago at the Fall Formal and forced to drop out,” said Glitter.

“Miss Glam, I heard you transferred to another school, what are you doing here?!” Ms. Harshwhinny asked.

“Like it’s not obvious teach, revenge. I wanted to make Sunset Shimmer pay, when I heard she was dethroned by some transfer student girl I was so happy, but then I started to hear rumors about how she, and a few other girls, were becoming popular and actually looked up to! Sunset Shimmer, the girl who tormented everyone, actually liked?!”

Glitter growled for a moment and then calmed down.

“Anyway, I kept thinking of ways to get back at her, but nothing was viable, until that day of the earthquake and this little bad boy fell into my lap. It calls itself ‘Gene’, and from what I can surmise, it allows me to rewrite the code of anything and generate objects – to a degree – from the things around me. But also, I could use it to change who I looked like. So that’s when my plan to frame Sunset Shimmer for things so bad that they’d either hate her, throw her in jail, or she’d run away and never come back.”

“Glitter I…I…”

“What, you’re sorry?” Glitter asked in a mocking tone. The young girl walked up to the cage and kicked it violently, making Sunset fall backwards. “You don’t know what sorry is, at least not until after I’m done here.”

Glitter took the Gaia Memory and pressed the button on its side.

< GENE! >

Glitter placed the connecter against her left forearm and immediately she transformed into the Gene Dopant. But after a couple of seconds her form shifted again as she waved her right hand over her body, and transformed into Ms. Harshwhinny, battered, bruised, and clothes torn up.

“When they see me like this, and after I tell them you did it, no one will ever believe a word you say. So one way or the other, I’ll see you gone Sunset Shimmer.” Glitter’s eyes shined with the energy of her Gaia Memory, as if to punctuate her point.

With that said, Glitter – in the guise of Ms. Harshwhinny – walked up the stairs and left the real Ms. Harshwhinny and Sunset Shimmer down in the basement, locking the door behind her.

***______________________***

It was lunch time, and all five girls were gathered at their usual table. There was a heavy silence, the feeling of wanting to help their friend but knowing that she told them not to get involved for their safety was also something they couldn’t ignore. And truth be told, Sunset being a Kamen Rider gave her more credibility that she’d be alright if something went bad.

“Ah still don’t like Sunset bein’ alone out there lookin’ for that other her,” said Applejack.

“I know Darling, but after what the other Sunset almost did to you and Rainbow Dash, you can hardly blame her for wanting to keep us safe,” said Rarity.

“Yeah, we know, it still doesn’t make us feel any better,” said Rainbow Dash.

“M-Maybe we should call Twilight?” Fluttershy asked.

“Which one? Princess Twilight or Sci-Twi?” Pinkie Pie asked.

Four sets of eyes blinked at once and four mouths repeated the word in confusion, “Sci-Twi?”

“Duh, because Princess Twilight is obviously the Twilight from Equestria, and Sci-Twi – the Twilight from Crystal Prep – is like super smart and into science things,” said Pinkie Pie.

In a strange way, as often is the case with Pinkie Pie, the girls had to admit it was a good way to tell them apart.

“Then, ahem, I guess I meant Sci-Twi?”

“But she’s sick, and I don’t think having the stress of Sunset’s situation on her mind is good for her health,” said Rarity.

“Then maybe we should find Sunset’s journal and call Princess Twilight, she may have a solution we’re not thinking about,” said Rainbow.

“HELP ME!”

Suddenly, the cafeteria doors burst open and Ms. Harshwhinny came through them. Her clothes were torn and tattered, and all over her body were bruises and scratches as if she had gotten beat up by five people. Principal Celestia was the first one to run to her side, catching her before the teacher could fall to the floor.

“Ms. Harshwhinny, what happened?! Who did this to you?!” Celestia asked.

“It…It was Sunset Shimmer! I…I saw her roaming about the halls and I confronted her, and the next thing I knew she had dragged me into another room and…and…” Ms. Harshwhinny began crying into Principal Celestia’s coat, unable to finish the sentence.

Several students looked upon Ms. Harshwhinny in horror, the word was spreading already. Sunset Shimmer had assaulted a teacher.

***______________________***

Ms. Harshwhinny, still in the form of Sunset Shimmer, shook at the iron bars that kept them hostage. She grunted in frustration, having found no door or latch on their cage, as if it had been grown from the bottom up. However, as pressing a concern as this was, there was still one other one. The teacher turned around and saw Sunset sitting on the ground and curled up with her forehead against her knees.

“Sunset, please get up, we need to figure out a way out of here,” said Ms. Harshwhinny, who was still finding it odd to hear Sunset’s voice coming out of her mouth.

The fiery haired girl did not respond.

“This is no time to act rebellious! That girl is up there about to slander us both, and get away with all kinds of mayhem, are you just going to sit and let this happen?!”

“Maybe I should!” Sunset shouted.

Ms. Harshwhinny shook her head in confusion. “And why in the world should we?!”

“……Because, I deserve it.” Sunset raised her head and looked up to Ms. Harshwhinny. “I did that to her, I humiliated her, and blackmailed her into dropping out of the Fall Formal Princess race…my past is catching up to me.”

Ms. Harshwhinny wanted this, to see Sunset’s vindictive and spiteful acts from years past finally catch up to her, to see her realize the full gravitas of her actions. Now though, seeing her in this state, looking into her eyes that were once filled with a fiery glow, were dim with defeat and resignation to her fate no matter how bad it was about to be. Ms. Harshwhinny had a duty to protect her students, and as a teacher offer counsel to those students, and right now Sunset Shimmer needed it. Ms. Harshwhinny knelt down in front of Sunset and took a deep breath.

“Listen…Miss Shimmer, I know I have made my disdain for you very apparent for a while now. But I’m sure you understand where it stemmed from, right?”

Sunset nodded.

“I was always suspicious of you, always critical. I believed that you were just trying to further divide and conquer this school and the people in it. And to a degree you succeeded, until the last Fall Formal. I saw changes all around the school, and even more so after that dreadful Battle of the Bands, which mind you is still a big foggy haze in my mind.”

Sunset chuckled a bit, knowing the Sirens’ magic was to blame.

“However, after that, I saw how many of the students rallied around you, those five girls had a hand in making you the girl you are before me, aren’t they?”

Sunset nodded again.

Ms. Harshwhinny placed her hand on Sunset’s knee and looked into her eyes. “I didn’t want to believe that you had changed, the Sunset Shimmer I remember would be venting and fuming about this, and coming up with some sort of sinister plan to get back at Glitter. But you honestly tried to repent back there, and now, you’re sitting here in defeat. Despite what I may think, I know you’re not a quitter! You don’t deserve what Glitter is about to do, and I certainly don’t want her doing this with my face! So, c’mon, I know you’re a smart girl, you can think of a way out of this!”

Sunset chuckled as she shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m getting a pep talk, from myself.”

“Believe me Miss Shimmer, it is strange for me as well.” Ms. Harshwhinny stood up and offered Sunset her hand. “Now let’s go, we have to stop her!”

Sunset narrowed her gaze and grinned as she took Ms. Harshwhinny’s hand and pulled herself up. She wasn’t a quitter, and she had done everything she can to make up for her mistakes, maybe it was time to forgive herself. “Alright, let’s get out of here!”

“Excellent, so what is your plan, Sunset?!”

The fiery haired girl paused, her left eye twitching as she realized that Ms. Harshwhinny did not know about her identity as Kamen Rider Unicorn. She had the Unicorn Memory in her pocket and could materialize the Uni-Driver, but if Ms. Harshwhinny found out then there could be problems.

“Um…I…”

[Sunset!]

Both girls looked about hearing a voice echo in the room.

“Who’s there?” Ms. Harshwhinny asked.

Suddenly, they began hearing something scurrying about inside. Sunset got on guard, balling her hands into fists and preparing to fight. That is she was until they both saw the cause of the noise.

A little armadillo came shuffling towards them, but it wasn’t a live armadillo, it was mechanical. Its body was segmented, showing that it could curl up into a ball if need be. It’s triangular head looked up as its digital eyes blinked at the two girls.

“Um…Miss Shimmer, I know I’ve seen a lot of things today, but tell me you also see a robot armadillo too?”

“I see a robot armadillo.”

“Good.”

[H-Hold on a minute, two Sunset Shimmers?! Which one is the real one, I-I…]

Sunset listened closely to the voice, and after a second recognized the voice. “Twilight!”

[Yes!]

“Let me guess, you built that thing?”

[I did, but seriously I need to know which one of you is the real Sunset Shimmer.]

Sunset glanced to Ms. Harshwhinny. “Could you uh turn around please, Ms. Harshwhinny.”

The older woman quirked an eyebrow in confusion. “What for?”

“Because I told Twilight about a birthmark and it’s kind of in an embarrassing place. So I’d appreciate it if you would turn around and close your eyes.”

Ms. Harshwhinny blushed and went to stand behind Sunset and shut her eyes. As she did, Sunset pulled out the Unicorn Memory, and right after the Uni-Driver. The mecha armadillo nodded and Sunset quickly put the objects away. [Okay, so you’re you…and that’s Ms. Harshwhinny?!]

“Long story.” Ms. Harshwhinny commented.

[Okay, both of you stand clear of the bars.]

Sunset backed away to the other side of the cage. Once they were clear, the mecha armadillo immediately rolled up into a ball and spun out like a tire about to peel off down the street. The rolling ball of metal spun around and made a donut as it built up momentum, once it reached the desired strength level, the ball hurled itself at the bars, smashing into them and bending them at awkward angles. The mecha-dillo recovered quickly and rolled around to go for another strike, rolling all the way back. Sunset and Ms. Harshwhinny ducked down as they heard the little mecha-dillo launch itself again, this time smashing right through the bars and punching a hole big enough for both girls to exit.

Both Sunsets exited the cage and watched as the mecha-dillo had fallen on its side and couldn’t get up. Sunset chuckled and helped the little robot rodent get back on its feet. [The girls filled me in on what’s happening and so I sent my little friend to help out, now what’s the plan, because they said that Ms. Harshwhinny came in saying she was assaulted by you Sunset!]

“We have to stop her before she ruins both our names!” Ms. Harshwhinny proclaimed.

“Yes, but we’ll need help, if Glitter’s cornered then she’ll turn into that monster and possibly hurt everyone. I think I know what to do, but you’ll need to follow my instructions,” said Sunset.

***______________________***

The police were at the lobby, one of them being Officer Shining Armor, who was taking a statement from Ms. Harshwhinny while Vice Principal Luna and Principal Celestia helped to console her. Students had gathered in the halls, trying make sense of the situation, the division of opinion was apparent as half of the student body believed that this was some kind of trick or hoax, that Sunset Shimmer would never do this, especially after the times she and her friends saved them. However, there were those who somehow could see her doing that, given that Ms. Harshwhinny had always been on Sunset’s case even after she had changed.

However, the murmurs of the crowd stopped when Sunset came walking down the hallway, the crowd of students parted like the Red Sea for her, all eyes following her as she carried herself with strength under their gazes. Sunset continued to walk until she came to the entrance of the lobby area where the rest of the students moved out of the way, giving Sunset a clear path to where Ms. Harshwhinny (Glitter Glam), the Principals, and Officer Shinning Armor, along with two other officers were waiting.

Shining Armor was the first to spot her and turned to the girl, walking slowly towards her and stopping, keeping a few feet of distance between them. “Sunset Shimmer, you have a lot of explaining to do. Your facing charges of aggravated assault, I’m sorry, but you’ll have to come with me.”

“I would Officer, but I won’t be going anywhere, because I did not attack ‘Ms. Harshwhinny’ or rather, Glitter Glam!” Sunset stated.

The crowd erupted into murmurs, many remembered the name of Glitter Glam, the girl who ran for Princess of the Fall Formal, but hadn’t heard from her in a while.

“Miss Shimmer, don’t make this difficult.” Shining Armor warned.

“Let her speak!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

The girls broke through the crowd and took up positions on either side of Sunset Shimmer.

“Everybody here knows Canterlot High has had its share of weird things happein’ around here. If there’s any reason to give Sunset the benefit of the doubt, then y’all should do it!” Applejack proclaimed.

Rarity leaned in to Sunset and whispered, “Please tell me you have a plan, Darling?”

“I do.” Sunset pointed at Ms. Harshwhinny. “That woman is not Ms. Harshwhinny, like I said, it’s Glitter Glam. She’s using some strange power to change her physical body into the likeness of Ms. Harshwhinny.”

Shining Armor rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Okay, I appreciate you girls sticking up for your friend, but this is serious business, you’re technically aiding and embedding.”

“Officer Armor,” said Principal Celestia. “I think we should at least hear her out.”

“Principal Celestia!” Ms. Harshwhinny exclaimed.

“I concur, officers, allow Miss Shimmer to at least state her case,” said Vice Principal Luna.

Shining Armor looked around, many of the students, and now even the faculty were willing to hear Sunset’s side of the story. After a long sigh, Shining Armor walked up to Sunset and looked her in the eye. “You have one minute, if you don’t have any proof, I can’t help you Sunset.”

Sunset Shimmer smiled. “I have all the proof I need, and she’s standing over there.”

Ms. Harshwhinny shook her head in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

“You made a mistake showing me how you can change your form. When you changed into what you are now, everything shifted, even your clothes. I’m willing to bet that they are all a part of you, they may look and feel like the real thing, but they’re connected, you can’t take a piece off because it’s part of your form. And I found this out when you changed Ms. Harshwhinny, the real one, said you changed her whole body, clothes included, into an exact copy of me!”

Ms. Harshwhinny began to sweat.

“So, my proof is simply this…Ms. Harshwhinny please remove that jacket for us and drop it on the floor.”

All eyes shifted to Ms. Harshwhinny whose gaze was going between the officers, the students, and Sunset. “This is ridiculous! Why should I do something so absurd, can’t you see this is just another way for her to assault me! You’re police officers, arrest her!”

Shining Armor looked to Ms. Harshwhinny, and then back to Sunset. She seemed so sure and so earnest in her conviction that this was the truth. “Ms. Harshwhinny, ma’am, I normally don’t ask this. But would you please remove your jacket, you’ll need to do so anyway for evidence collection, and from the state it’s in, I don’t think you’ll be able to repair it. If you can do that, we’ll arrest Sunset Shimmer right here and now.”

Ms. Harshwhinny was beginning to sweat even more, she had to think of some way out of this. “This…This was not supposed to happen…” Purple electric crackles began to spark around the woman’s body. “THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!”

The older woman’s body turned to light, reforming until it was in its true form, that of the Gene Dopant. The students screamed and ran the other way back down the halls. Shining Armor and the officers drew their weapons, Luna and Celestia quickly ran to the six girls urging them to run.

“You’re not going anywhere!” Glitter shouted.

The Gene Dopant raised its right hand and struck the ground with its long wand, energy surged through the floor and collected around the open archways. The cement and drywall seemed to morph, filling in the archway until they were completely sealed shut, leaving the only exit behind the Gene Dopant.

“Get down on the ground or we’ll open fire!” Shining Armor warned.

Glitter chuckled evilly as she slowly approached them. “Please, you think a little pea shooter like that is going to hurt me? I’m a freakin’ monster, but hey, waste the bullets if it makes you feel better!”

“FIRE!”

Shining Armor and his partners fired several shots at the monster, the bullets struck, but just as soon fell to the ground. All three officers didn’t give up, continuing until they emptied their first clips and inserted their next. But in that time, the Gene Dopant swiped her right hand towards the officer on the left, sending them flying until they landed against the wall. The officer on Shining Armor’s right tried to punch the Dopant, but upon impact realized that the creature didn’t even register the blow. The Gene Dopant picked him up with its left hand and tossed him to the side like a rag doll. Glitter knocked the gun out of Shining Armor’s hand and hoisted him up by the throat.

“Now then, officer, how would you like your genes scrambled? I could turn you into a rabbit, or a gerbil, perhaps a cute little pony?” Glitter mocked.

Just then, the sound of a tire squealing echoed in the room, and out of seemingly nowhere, Mecha-dillo hurled itself at the Gene Dopant and hit it with enough force to make her release Shining Armor. The valiant officer backed up, taking up his gun and putting himself in between the Dopant and the students behind him.

“What was that?!”

“That was my friend, Dillo, but he’s the least of your worries!”

A bright flash of turquoise light went off and behind the Gene Dopant, revealing Kamen Rider Unicorn. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, and even Pinkie Pie did double takes, Sunset was standing right next to them, and yet Unicorn was standing a few feet away.

“Okay, I’m confused,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Don’t worry about it, everyone leave, now!” Unicorn ordered as she dashed towards the Gene Dopant.

The Dopant barely had time to react before Unicorn came in with a right hook, striking the Dopant across the face and forcing her to stumble back. Sunset’s friends, Shining Armor, and the Principals quickly went to the downed officers and helped them out of the building and outside. After seeing them gone, Sunset quickly took hold of the Gene Dopant, her horn glowing until both of them vanished in a flash of light.

A few seconds later, both the Kamen Rider and Dopant arrived outside on the soccer field. The Gene Dopant separated from Unicorn and blasted her with ray of spiral light from her right hand wand. The beam struck Unicorn in the chest, sending sparks flying and making her stumble a bit before she regained her ground.

“UGH, WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING THAT GIRL! She ruined my life!” The Gene Dopant yelled as she fired another beam.

Unicorn dodged the left and fired a magic bolt straight the ground in front of Glitter’s feet. “As hard as it is to believe, people change. I know what she did, Glitter Glam.”

“How…How do you know my name?!”

Unicorn stood firm and looked at the Gene Dopant. “Because she told me, she’s the one that called me to help everyone at this school, and to help you! That thing, it’s called a Gaia Memory, it amplifies your emotions, and the more negative emotion you feel the more the power will drive you to do something bad! Look at where you’re at!” Unicorn pointed to the school. “Sunset Shimmer told me about you, she remembers you Glitter Glam, you were a popular girl. Not just because you were pretty, but because you were kind and smart, someone deserving of the Fall Formal Princess title. I’ll be the first to admit, I don’t condone what Sunset Shimmer did, in fact, she was torn up about it! Practically begging me to save you!”

The Gene Dopant flinched at that. “Sunset wanted you to save me…? But…But – No! – She’s just…just tricking you! That’s what she’s good at!”

Unicorn slowly walked towards the Gene Dopant, keeping her hands out and to the side. “Glitter, as much as we want to, we can’t change the past. We have to carry the baggage of the things we’ve done, and even though Sunset wasn’t exactly a saint – no, less than a saint – now, in the present, she’s doing all she can to make up for it. I could see that in her. Glitter, don’t make this something you’ll regret, be the girl that was steadfast, be that kind girl you were. Don’t let this Memory cloud your mind!”

The Gene Dopant looked at its hands, after a few seconds, the Dopant’s body shifted, transforming Glitter back into her original form. The Gene Memory rose up from her skin and fell to the ground. Glitter fell to her knees and began crying as she placed her hands against her face. “What…What have I done…?”

Unicorn slowly walked towards Glitter and gently brought her into a half hug where Glitter cried against Unicorn’s armored chest. “It’s alright Glitter…It’s alright.”

“It will, so long as you hand over that Gaia Memory.” Unicorn glanced towards the new voice, and watched as a new Dopant walked towards them. The ground beneath its feet was freezing, even the air was dropping a few degrees and making Glitter shiver. “Don’t make this difficult.”

The ice Dopant fired a wave of glacier ice that roared towards both girls. Unicorn grabbed Glitter and teleported a good distance away from the Dopant. When Unicorn looked back, she watched as the ice Dopant knelt down and picked up the Gene Memory. Unicorn didn’t know what this Dopant wanted with the Gaia Memory, but she didn’t want to find out. The Kamen Rider dashed towards the ice Dopant and quickly placed her Unicorn Memory into the right hip port.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn jumped into the air, somersaulted once, and came down with a flying kick. Energy gathered at her right leg, forming a spiral horn that blazed as she descended towards the ice Dopant. The Dopant looked up and quickly formed an ice shell around himself. The moment Unicorn made contact with the shell an explosion went off, shattering the shell and having Unicorn skid to a halt on the other side. She frantically looked to and fro for the ice Dopant but somehow he had completely vanished.

***______________________***

Dear Princess Twilight.

Apparently, the past eventually catches up to you. I know you know I wasn’t a good person when we first met. But you never saw all my sins. One of them came back to collect.

A girl by the name of Glitter Glam tried to frame me for a crime I didn’t commit, using the strange power I told you about. These things, these devices, they have great power, but like the Equestrian magic that’s loose in this world, it seems to feed on emotions, and amplify them to such a degree that they almost lose themselves.

Fortunately, I was able to help her snap herself out of it. She confessed to the plot of trying to frame me, as well as the kidnapping of Ms. Harshwhinny and myself, as well as almost killing Rainbow and Applejack.

Unfortunately, the police really couldn’t do much in this case. The Gene Memory that she possessed was taken, I had an alibi for the night of the vandalism, and when she trapped Rainbow Dash and Applejack in the pool she did it in my form. So as you can see it would make a horrible report to file so in the end they could only take her in for trespassing on school grounds when she wasn’t a student at the school.

Glitter Glam…I wish I could do something to fix what I did. But I know I can’t, I was the reason why she felt the way she did. If anyone should be punished it was me. But like I said, it was in past, all I can do is move forward and not repeat my mistakes, and make sure to do as much good as I can. Either as Sunset Shimmer or Kamen Rider Unicorn.

“Are you done writing to Princess me?” Twilight asked.

Sunset sat in chair next to Twilight’s bed and closed her journal. “Yeah, I am. I’m sure she’ll reply with something sagely or panicked driven after reading all that.”

“Sorry to make you have to come back here, I hate being sick,” said Twilight.

“Just focus on getting better.” Sunset watched as Mecha-dillo came shuffling towards them, perfectly balancing a tray on its back. “When did you make this little guy?”

“A couple of weeks ago, it was after I saw how successful Hawk was, so I made another.”

Spike looked at the large robotic animal, which in turned and looked at him. “This thing’s a little freaky.”

“Said the talking dog,” said Sunset.

“Touché.”

Sunset sighed as she looked at her words written in the journal, Twilight sat up and looked at her friend with concern. “Sunset, are you going to be okay?”

“I…I don’t know. Everyone back at CHS had forgiven me to some degree, and there’s Glitter. It just made realize how horrible a person I was back then, and…I still find it a sore spot knowing that, while everyone knows I’m doing good, and that we’re friends, that the things I did won’t ever leave their memories.”

Without warning, Twilight reached out and hugged Sunset, resting her head against her friend’s shoulder. “I don’t know the Sunset from the past, all I know is this Sunset, is the one who saved me. Who brought me out of my magic induced madness and has stuck by my side to help me through the trauma of that ordeal. This Sunset, made me see how wonderful having friends can be, and how much more fun life is with them, and how much I’ve grown with them. So don’t forget that.”

Sunset felt her cheeks heat up and her eyes sting with tears, she returned the hug, and with all sincerity said, “Thank you, Twilight.”

“Sunset…”

“Hmm-mmm?”

“Please get the trash can…”

“OH CRAP!”

“BLGH!”

***___________EXE___________***

Starlight Glimmer watched as Double Diamond entered the room. His stoic, professional demeanor did not falter, even after having briefly battled Kamen Rider Unicorn. The Second in Command placed the Gene Memory on Starlight’s desk and stepped away.

The leader of PhoenEXE took hold of the T2 Gaia Memory examined it, as if one was examining a flawless diamond. “Good work Double Diamond, I heard you encountered Unicorn during your retrieval.”

“Yes, but I don’t think she’s a real threat to us,” said Double Diamond.

“Despite the fact that she’s already in possession of three Gaia Memories, not including her primary one?” Starlight asked.

“Compared to you, she isn’t as well versed in the power of the Gaia Memories, to add to the fact that her skills seemed a bit unperfected in combat. Perhaps it’s best that we crush her now while she’s still in a fledgling state of understanding the power of the Memories?”

Starlight raised her left index finger. “Careful Double Diamond, the reports say that the Cyclone Memory came to her during the confrontation with the Queen Memory user. Who’s stay that she doesn’t have a connection to the Memories as well?”

“You think more Gaia Memories would come to aid her if we attacked her?” Double Diamond asked.

Starlight rose from her chair and looked out into the city. “I’m saying that we can’t gather all of them, and some are hiding. Why not have Kamen Rider Unicorn work for us? At least we’ll know who has the Memories at the end of the day.”

E: Everything that glitters / A Friend in Need

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The full moon shined down upon Canterlot City, a city that was now a hotspot of supernatural happenings. The students of a local high school would tell you that that was nothing new, but the rest of the city might as well have chalked it up to wild imagination. However, the day of the “Emerald Pillar” had brought about a change, strange monsters were appearing, humans who had acquired unknown powers and did as they pleased, but these monsters have been so far silenced by the valiant power and might of the one known as Kamen Rider Unicorn.

Even knowing of her presence hadn’t stopped those who crave power, who want to break out from their moral binding chains, to commit acts of the criminal sort. And tonight was no different.

A man ran down many alleyways, trying in vain to get away from something that was chasing him. But before he could escape into the open, a wall of gold rose up before him that made the man stop in his tracks completely and fall to his rear.

“Now, now, you shouldn’t run, it only makes things worse for you in the end.”

The man turned around and watched as a golden creature walked towards him. It had three talons for fingers, a roundish armored belly and chest plate, with matching shoulder pauldrons and forearm bracers. Around its waist was a belt with a round node the shimmered in the aura of the gold wall. Its head was strangely shaped, armored with two eyes on either side of a large coin crest in the center.

“Please just give me some time! I can pay back the debt and more! Just please don’t!” The man pleaded.

“A deal’s a deal, no more credit, and we gave you ample time to repay the debt. Now there is only one way to pay it back, with the very thing you bet in first place,” said the monster.

The Dopant held out its right hand and materialized a large gold coin, with a strangely stylized M symbol at the center.

“L-L-Look, I can pay it back with something else! I just need to satisfy the debt and I can win it back right?! H-H-How about my daughter?! You like girls right?! She’s in high school!”

The golden Dopant stopped for a moment. “Got a picture?”

“S-Sure!” The man fished into his pockets and took out his cellphone. After cycling through his gallery, he found a picture of his daughter posing in front of her school. “Here, she’s very intelligent, and bit of a deadpan and blunt, but she’s pretty cute right?”

The golden Dopant swiped the man’s phone with its left hand and looked at it. It was hard for the man to read the Dopant’s expressions, considering its metal face and reading body language was out of the question. After a full minute of the Dopant staring at the picture, the creature chuckled. “She is a rather cute specimen.”

“T-Then you’ll take her?! B-B-But no funny stuff, I don’t plan on losing again!”

“Oh good sir, you cut me to the quick, what point is there using another person as payment? What do you take me for? Some slave trader, feh!” The golden Dopant tossed the man his phone, and in that moment of fumbling the phone, the Dopant closed the distance, pressing down on the coin to make a USB-like connector come out. The Dopant pressed the end against the man’s forehead, the connecter glowed as it began to meld into his skin. In a matter of seconds golden light shimmered from the man’s body before flowing directly into the coin. Once the aura was gone, the golden Dopant removed the coin and let the man fall forward, completely still, breathing, but essentially still. “No, what better way to make even more profit than to have the debt fall on the next able bodied family member. Ha, ha, ahahahaha!”

The golden Dopant walked away, disappearing around the corner. The wall of gold coins disappeared as well, leaving the man on the ground with his cellphone just a few inches away on the ground. The picture was that of a girl in a Crystal Prep uniform, with a bluish gray complexion, silver-gray hair that was done up in two long pigtails, and orchid colored eyes with orange rimmed glasses.

***____________________***

It was nice Friday afternoon and the Rainbooms were in front of the school, and each one was dressed in a cheerleader outfit. The girls were outfitted with different animal ears and tails. Sunset, whether as a joke or out of some show of school spirit, was wearing the Canterlot High Wondercolts pony ears and tail, Twilight had floppy doggy ears and a tail, Rarity had black cat ears and a long tail, Applejack had dog ears and tail that strangely resembled that of her dog Winona, Rainbow Dash had on squirrel ears and tail, Fluttershy had on bunny ears and cottontail, and finally Pinkie Pie…was wearing a gator suit that eerily resembled her plush doll she called Gummy.

The outfits themselves were…ahem…let’s just say fanservice-y. The tops exposed their midriffs, and were done in the colors of the Wondercolts, with the yellow C on the chest, and adding in with a little embroidery flare thanks to Rarity. The skirt reached just a little halfway down to their thighs, Rarity made sure to take into account each girl’s height just to make sure that they weren’t too long or too short. The girls each had a large stack of fliers in the crook of their arms, and handing them out with their free hand, and remarkably they were going through them really quickly.

Sunset side stepped next to Rarity, and with a flinching brow asked, “Rarity, please tell me why we’re dressed up like this? Wearing animal ears and tails, in cheerleader outfits that expose a little more skin then I’d like, and doing so in front of the school? Bear in mind that the old me is being restrained from dragging you to the nearest dumpster right now and throwing you in!”

Rarity chuckled at that question, both for the reason and for the empty threat. “Sunset, whether you’d like to admit it or not, the seven of us here are quite popular. After all we helped save our fellow students from both enslavement and dimensional annihilation. And if I may indulge in my own vanity for a moment, we are quite appealing.”

Sunset gave a deadpan expression. “Gee, really? I couldn’t tell by the guys who were practically groping me with their eyes! And if I’m not mistaken, I think I spotted a few girls as well!”

“All for a good cause, Sunset, all for a good cause! So strut what you got and own that figure!” Rarity exclaimed with vigor.

Emphasizing her point, Rarity sashayed over to a group of boys who were busy talking about something. That is they were until Rarity appeared and began talking to them about coming to the fundraiser and possible volunteer work for the local animal shelter. All three eagerly agreed and took one flier each.

Sunset face palmed herself, not knowing whether to be embarrassed for using sex appeal to help an animal shelter, or ashamed that it’s actually working. The former Equestrian glanced over to Twilight, she seemed quite skittish, this was possibly the first time the genius girl ever wore anything that revealing. Sunset sighed and walked over to stand beside Twilight.

“Hanging in there Twi?” Sunset asked.

“I-I’m not so sure I should continue wearing this, I-I’ve never really wore anything that showed this much of…well…my figure and…”

Twilight glanced towards her other friends. Rarity had a model slim figure, with long legs, and a perfect combination of grace and beauty. Applejack and Rainbow Dash were the perfect examples of physically fit. You could see some muscle on Rainbow Dash’s arms and legs, and even the beginnings of a six pack abs, but Rainbow had made sure she was lean and not too bulky, so as to not be weighed down by muscles. Applejack on the other hand boasted some impressive muscles, not too big, but not too small either. Years of working on her family’s farm had developed her physical strength, and it was most apparent on her stomach, sporting a six pack abs. And then there was Fluttershy, there were really little words that Twilight could use to describe her. She was cute, an hourglass frame, with great curves, she could practically be a supermodel or the cover girl of some big time magazine somewhere.

“Let’s be honest I don’t pull off ‘cheerleader’ as well as the rest of you,” said Twilight.

Sunset had to admit, Twilight was acting way too cute right now. Her nervous demeanor, combined with those glasses, and that cheerleader outfit, and her self-consciousness was endearing. Sunset placed a comforting hand on her friend’s shoulder, making Twilight flinch, but only for a brief second. “Hey, don’t worry, you look super cute right now. I’ll stand here with you the whole time if you want.”

“I’d rather stand behind you to avoid the stares,” said Twilight with a slight chuckle.

“Uh-huh, or are you secretly planning on staring at my butt, or flipping up my skirt?” Sunset asked with a mischievous grin.

Twilight blushed red. “I am not planning any such thing!”

“Hey, I don’t mind a little ogling Twi, but don’t touch without permission.”

“Sunset Shimmer!”

“Can you two stop flirting and hand out the fliers already?! I don’t want to look like a cheerleader any longer than I have to!” Rainbow Dash barked.

Sunset and Twilight were both blushing now, with a few coughs they resumed their work. A couple of hours later saw the group completely without a single flier to spare. The seven had gathered at the Wondercolts statue. Applejack had brought a cooler filled with water and apple cider, and each took a swig and let out a sigh of relief from the cool liquid. Out of the whole group, Fluttershy looked the giddiest about their little stunt.

“I can’t believe I was able to hand out so many fliers, I’ve never been able to get even ten of them out!” Fluttershy stated.

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “Well, when you’re dressed like a bunny girl cheerleader –”

Rarity quickly smacked Rainbow Dash upside the head, causing the prismatic girl to hiss.

“Hey what was that for?!”

“Sorry, Darling, but I feel as if there was a dirty joke near the end of that sentence,” said Rarity.

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to retort, but after a moment of thought, she conceded that there might have been an inappropriate innuendo or joke coming up.

“I just hope we got enough attention for the shelter,” said Sunset.

“Oh well, while we were doing this, I took the liberty of spreading the word via the internet as well. Mostly to the IP address of the residences around the shelter and a little on the outer perimeter to bring in more foot traffic,” said Twilight nonchalantly.

The girls’ eyes twitched at that, forgetting sometimes just how smart Twilight was and fearing that no amount of internet security could really stop Twilight if she put her mind to it.

“Pinkie, remind me to – ahem – move my collection to a flash drive,” said Rainbow whispered.

“Oh you mean your secret stash of girl-on –!”

Rainbow Dash quickly slapped her hands over Pinkie’s mouth, her face a crimson burning blush. The rainbow haired girl looked back to her friends who were now eyeing her suspiciously, Sunset Shimmer on the other hand though had a knowing grin on her face like a Cheshire cat.

“Oh c’mon I know I’m not the only who has a porn stash on their computers!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity exclaimed.

“Knew it,” said Sunset as she held out her hand to Applejack.

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Do ya see any pockets on this thing? Ah’ll get ya tomorrow.”

“Fair enough.”

“Twilight Sparkle?” The girls turned in the direction of the deadpan voice, and noticed the Crystal Prep student, Sugarcoat, was approaching them, and giving her old classmate a look of confusion. “Are you wearing a cheerleader outfit?”

Twilight blushed at having her former CPA classmate see her in an embarrassing, and somewhat revealing attire. “I-I-I have a very good explanation as to why I’m dressed like this!”

“Fascinating, would love to hear about it, later. But I’d like to talk to you…in private.”

The girls all looked to each other in confusion, it had been awhile since the incident at CPA where Sunny Flare had the Queen Memory, and as far as they knew everything was back to normal. But Twilight didn’t sense anything nefarious in just talking with Sugarcoat, in a wide open area. Twilight got up, dusted off her skirt, and walked with Sugarcoat a few feet away from the group, close enough that they could see, but far enough that they’d more or less catch bits and pieces of their conversation.

“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but it’s rare that you come all the way to CHS to talk to me,” said Twilight.

“I know, it’s out the norm, but I believed this requires more of a face-to-face than just over a phone,” said Sugarcoat. “You see, my father’s in the hospital.”

Twilight gasped, placing her hands over her mouth. “Oh Sugarcoat, I’m so sorry…is he…?”

“He’s…” Sugarcoat began to wring the strap of her backpack and feeling like she wanted to cry. “I don’t know and neither do the doctors. They couldn’t find anything physically wrong with him, all his vitals are normal, but he doesn’t respond to anything. Not my voice, not my Mom’s, and he barely – if at all – reacts to stimuli like getting poked with a needle! It’s like…It’s as if he’s not in there!”

Twilight gently placed her hand on Sugarcoat’s and looked at her with concern. “I’m really sorry this happened, but, Sugarcoat, why did you come to me? I mean I’ll be there if you need me, but…”

Sugarcoat took a calming breath, she normally didn’t get emotional like this, but then again, this was her father. “I may just be reaching, Twilight, but maybe it’s magic related. And, there’s no one else I know that knows more about it than you and those other CHS girls.”

Twilight’s brow furrowed, they couldn’t necessarily rule out that it might be magic related, even worse, it could mean there was another Gaia Memory user on the loose. “Sugarcoat, this may sound forward of me, but is it possible to visit your father, and if I can, bring someone who is a lot more well versed in magical happenings than I am?”

Surgarcoat nodded. “Whatever you need, just ask. I want my Dad well. I’ll text you the visiting hours and meet you at the hospital. Do you need a lift?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, I think I have my own way of getting there.”

Sugarcoat nodded and patted Twilight on the shoulder, showing a small smile of gratitude for her help. Honesty, Sugarcoat knew she was reaching, but at this point any explanation, medical or magical, would be helpful.

***____________________***

The next day, Twilight and Sunset were at Canterlot General Hospital. After explaining the situation to Sunset Shimmer, she was more than happy to accompany Twilight, and also explaining to the rest of their friends why they couldn’t be there for the fundraiser for the animal shelter. After being dropped off by Mr. Night Light, both girls went inside and were greeted by a downtrodden Sugarcoat. As the Crystal Prepper lead Twilight and Sunset through the halls of the hospital, Twilight began to notice how edgy Sunset was getting while being inside the facility.

“Are you alright, Sunset?” Twilight asked.

“Y-Yeah, just never been a fan of hospitals. Y’know, with that sterile smell and the…needles and other things,” said Sunset in a nervous tone.

“Sunset, if you’re not comfortable being here, then you can tell me,” said Twilight.

Sunset shook her head and took a deep breath. “It’s fine, Twi. Let’s just concentrate on helping Sugarcoat.”

Twilight was starting to wonder if Sunset had a bad experience at a hospital at one point. While no one liked hospitals, Sunset seemed like she was afraid of it for another reason other than an irrational phobia. But that would have to wait until another day, Sugarcoat was priority one. After a couple minutes of walking, all three girls arrived at Sugarcoat’s father’s room. The man was dressed in a hospital gown, lying upright in the bed as an IV tube kept him hydrated, while another fed him nutrients. A monitor to the side kept track of his vitals, the rhythmic “beep” sound going off at steady intervals to match his heart beat. The man had a bright blue complexion, and dark gray hair, but his eyes, his eyes were staring into the distance, blank and milky colored.

“Soft Pedal, that’s my Dad’s name. He’s been like this for two days. He can’t eat or drink, they have to feed him everything through those tubes, we’re just lucky he’s breathing on his own,” said Sugarcoat.

Twilight took out a device from her backpack, it was a magic detection device, similar to the pendant she used back in the Friendship Games. But thanks to the knowledge she gained from the Infinite Library, Twilight was able to modify it to not absorb but mainly detect. Twilight began scanning Soft Pedal while Sunset talked to Sugarcoat.

“So only a couple of days ago, but other than that, nothing out of the ordinary?” Sunset asked.

“He was gambling, a lot,” said Sugarcoat.

“Oh…sorry.”

“Why, you didn’t make him gamble.” Sugarcoat looked to her father with a mixture of disappointment and sadness. “He’d go to this place, he’d never tell us the name, but each time he went he won a lot of money. I mean, we have a lot, but then he just won more. Until one day he lost big at that place, and said he was going to win it back, and that was two days ago.”

Sunset glanced to Sugarcoat’s father, trying to figure out how gambling and this condition were connected. As long as Sugarcoat was being truthful, then she could believe that there were no drugs in his system, she was pretty that the hospital would’ve tested him for that right away. Of course there were no injuries to speak of either, and yet she could not deny his condition. After a minute or two more, Twilight finished her scans.

“Well?” Sugarcoat asked hopeful.

Twilight shook her head in dismay. “Sorry, Sugarcoat, but I’m not detecting any kind of magic from him. But strangely, enough, it’s also what I should be detecting that worries me.”

Sugarcoat shook her head. “What do you mean?”

“Ever since I…ahem…was ‘touched’ by magic. I’ve learned that every living thing gives off an aura of energy, separate from the Equestrian magic, a kind of personal energy field. But, when I scanned your father, I didn’t find any readings of it, it’s as if all his energy was drained and…”

“Left behind a husk.” Sunset finished. “Let me try something. Close the curtains.”

Twilight and Sugarcoat did as Sunset instructed. Once they were hidden, Sunset pulled out the Unicorn Memory, keeping it hidden in her hand. Sunset concentrated on the Memory and allowed its otherworldly power to flow through her. Within the palm of her hand the Unicorn Memory glowed with turquoise light, Sunset made that energy flow into her left hand, setting it aglow with the ethereal light of the Unicorn Memory. She waved her hand slowly over Sugarcoat’s father, sending a pulse of magical energy towards him. Once it hit, the energy passed through him, Sunset hummed in confirmation to her suspicions as the light faded and she turned to face the two girls.

“I know what’s wrong with him now,” said Sunset.

“What?!” Twilight and Sugarcoat asked at the same time.

“His life force is gone, I guess you could say he’s had his soul sucked from his body.”

Sugarcoat and Twilight glanced to each other in confusion, they had heard of such things but it was mainly from movies or comic books, but they never thought it could happen in real life. Then again, magic was thought make believe until recently.

“How can you tell?” Twilight asked.

“When I sent that wave of energy, it should’ve flowed around him and made his aura, his life force, visible to us. But it passed through him, he’s empty. Whatever happened to him drained him completely.”

Sugarcoat looked to her father with new concern. “When you say ‘life force’, you mean his soul. If that’s true, then, can he survive like that?”

Sunset glanced back at Sugarcoat’s father. “I…I don’t know. He’s breathing on his own for now, but that might just be by memory and survival of his brain, but without his life force, I don’t know how long he can stay like that before…”

Sugarcoat clenched her fists. “Before he dies…”

Sunset didn’t answer, but her silence said it all.

“Is there anything either of you can do?”

“You said he was gambling, and that this happened on the night he went gambling. Did he ever tell you where he was going?” Twilight asked.

Sugarcoat thought hard, but after a minute an idea came to mind. “He may not have told me, but I know where we might find out. His study, it was his private little sanctuary, the name of that gambling place must be there!”

Sunset nodded.

“I’m going to stay, I need to ask the nurses something and I’ll call you back later,” said Twilight.

“We have a plan.”

***____________________***

Sugarcoat had her driver take Sunset and herself back to her family home, while they were driving, Twilight had called them back and made a discovery that the clinic had been seeing an increase in people coming in like Soft Pedal, and were now starting to think that there might be some new disease going around and that there were so far thirty in the hospital with the same “disease”. But Sunset and Twilight knew better, if normal Equestrian magic was not behind this, then most likely this was the work of someone with a Gaia Memory.

Sunset looked out the door window and gasped. It was a large, immaculate white mansion, with a large driveway that the chauffeur pulled into and ended at a circle driveway with a fountain at the center. Once the car reached the front, the chauffeur exited the car and quickly opened the doors for both Sunset and Sugarcoat. The yard was wide with lush green grass, and hedge sculptures in the forms of giraffes, lions, tigers, and bears.

“Oh my…”

“Yeah, we’re pretty wealthy, but don’t treat me any differently,” said Sugarcoat.

“Never crossed my mind,” said Sunset as she continued to stare at everything.

Inside was a multitude of maids and butlers that were at work with the normal day to day chores of the house, those who were able to, stopped to greet Sugarcoat as she nodded to them in acknowledgement before passing by. Both girls ascended the pristine hardwood stairs to the second floor as Sugarcoat led the way to her father’s study.

“So…where’s your mom?” Sunset asked.

“Oh, she’s working. She’s a high dollar lawyer, and right now she’s looking into what happened to Dad. I think it’s Mom’s way of coping with the situation,” said Sugarcoat.

“And how are you doing? You don’t have to hide your feelings Sugarcoat, if you need to –”

“I’m fine, Sunset Shimmer. I’ll be better when we find out the truth,” said Sugarcoat.

After walking down the long hallway, Sunset and Sugarcoat stopped before a tall set of double doors that was locked by a key. Sugarcoat reached into her hair and pulled out a bobby pin, she began working the lock with the pin and after a couple of seconds the successful sound of tumblers clicking to the unlocked position was heard. Without a moment to spare, Sunset and Sugarcoat entered the study.

It was big, with a flat screen TV that overlooked a fireplace and furnished with a high comfort lazyboy chair, with a fur rug set before it. In the back was a hardwood desk with a desktop computer and several documents strewn about. Two bookshelves, at least four feet high, lined walls on either side of the desk, and behind the desk was a shelf with various pictures of Soft Pedal during trips with his friends from either work or back during his college days.

Along with them were several pictures of his family, his wife and Sugarcoat. Some were of them going to amusement parks, and others were of expensive trips out of the country. In each one Sunset could see the stoic girl smiling and looking genuinely happy, in some ways she reminded her a lot of Pinkie Pie’s big sister, Maud Pie. She too didn’t crack a smile, but when she did, you could tell it was genuine and heartfelt, and even if she didn’t always smile, you could tell she was happy, at least Pinkie Pie could, everyone else was still trying to read Maud.

Sugarcoat began rummaging through her father’s drawers, going over any and everything that could possibly lead them to this secret gambling den. Sunset began looking as well, starting at the bookshelves, as cliché as it might be there might’ve been one with a secret false inside.

“Do we even know what we’re looking for?” Sunset asked.

“We’ll know it when we see it, I hope,” said Sugarcoat.

After searching through Soft Pedal’s study for nearly ten minutes, both girls had turned up zip. Sugarcoat had taken to sitting her father’s office chair as she sighed in defeat, Sunset leaned up against a bookshelf and sighed as well. She envied those detective TV shows where the main character just somehow stumbled upon whatever they were looking for by chance or by some stroke of brilliance by the main character. In which case if I’m the hero, I should have a stroke of either luck or brilliance right about now…Wait a minute…!

“Sugarcoat, your dad wouldn’t happen to have a safe, would he?” Sunset asked.

The blue girl perked up as something came to mind. “I remember Dad told me not to play with the globe, I always thought it just had liquor in there, but…maybe?”

“Worth a shot.”

Sunset and Sugarcoat walked over to the huge globe that was set off to the side. It was held in place by a heavy metal stand. Upon inspection, Sunset and Sugarcoat could see a small seam that ran along the equator line, both girls began to examine the globe to see there was some way to open it. Sugarcoat found the latch to release the metal axis rings that hindered them, allowing them to slide back. Sunset ran her hands over the globe and as she did so, she could feel a bit of difference in the topography of the contents, some were smooth and rigid to represent mountains, but others were less so. After going over the globe for another time, Sunset could feel that something was definitely off about the globe. Feeling them once more, Sunset pressed her fingers into them, and immediately the globe began making mechanical noises as the top portion unscrewed and lifted up. Once open, Sunset and Sugarcoat beheld many documents as well as stowed away cash.

After rifling through the hidden compartments, Sunset spotted something. It was a card, or rather, a golden ticket. It shimmered in the light, and had black, engraved writing that read “Fortuna’s House of Wealth”.

“Is this it? I’ve never even heard of this kind of place,” said Sunset.

“It’s most likely an illegal gambling establishment, underground. Gambling is illegal in the city limits of Canterlot, you’d have to go far out of the city before you find a casino, like Griffonstone,” said Sugarcoat.

Sunset winced, Griffonstone was not a friendly place, either in the human world or in Equestria. “Well we have a lead…” Sunset turned the card around and smirked, “…and an address.”

“They won’t let us in, we’re just kids.”

Sunset held up the card and pointed to the fine print below the address that read “Permissible age: 14 and up.”

“Let’s do it.”

***____________________***

It was a late Sunday night as the waning moon hung overhead. Clouds floated by on a gentle breeze that would obscure the light of the moon for a time before revealing itself again. In a back alley, deep in the city, one man stood guard in front of a storehouse door. Not unusual as such with the recent attacks by monsters, people have increased security at establishments around the city. The man was wearing black slacks, and vest that had “Security” stamped on the left side, looking closer at the man’s belt one could make out a weapon, whether it was a gun or something else was a different story.

Suddenly, the man caught sight of something in the distance, a car pulling up and opening. The guard placed a hand on his right hip, hovering over his weapon in preparation. The car let out two occupants before driving away, and now the sounds of clacking could be heard echoing off the walls of the alley. The guard raised his hand in a stopping gesture and stated, “That’s far enough, state your business.”

The clouds parted, allowing the moonlight to shine on the area. Sunset was dressed in a beautiful, and sparkling red dress, with a slit that ran up to about midway on her thigh. It was backless, but thanks to Sunset’s long flowing, fiery hair, that wasn’t much of a problem, and the front of the dress supported her modest bust. Part of Sunset’s locks were covering her right eye, giving the former unicorn mare an air of mystery and allure, around her neck was a gold chain with a ruby cut in the form of a wispy flame. Opposite Sunset was Sugarcoat, she was a little more modest with a pink dress with rhinestones that were done in whimsical patterns, a purple sash wrapped around her waist as a string of pearls hung off her neck. Sugarcoat’s hair was allowed to come loose, allowing her long silver locks to flow naturally, and having the ends tied into a ponytail.

“We’re here to play and make some money, hun,” said Sunset.

Hanging off on Sugarcoat’s arm was a purple purse with golden embroidery, she fished into the purse and pulled out the golden ticket. The guard glanced at the ticket and then back at the two girls, and at this moment both Sugarcoat and Sunset were starting to think that they may have gotten the wrong address. But then the guard removed his hand from his holster and became less rigid.

“My apologies, please enter, and follow the guide to the play area.”

Both girls released an internal sigh of relief as the guard knocked on the door three times and another one opened it from the inside. The Shadowbolt and Wondercolt girls walked behind the burly guard, who was dressed in a black suit, with a purple shirt and white tie. The inside looked like any other storage house, but then the guard stopped and tapped his foot three times on the floor. A section of the floor slid back and had stairs that led down into a basement area.

Sugarcoat and Sunset gulped, not liking how far away they were getting from any potential exits. As they continued down the laminated path, Sunset was taking mental notes on possible ways to get out of underground gambling ring. However, her train of thought stopped when they reached the final door that had two more guards standing on either side, and these ones were visibly armed with slung automatic rifles.

After a quick nod to both, the large double doors opened and revealed the inside. The girls were awestruck at the vast underground room. Romanesque columns that were painted gold reached up to at least fifteen foot ceiling. There was a stage far in the back where a lady was singing and a live band was playing. Off to the right was a bar area, with a plethora of alcoholic beverages that were more than likely illegal. There were different tables sit up throughout the room, some were playing roulette, others craps, twenty-one or blackjack as others called it, and some were chess games of both the traditional and Neighponese variety. A woman in a bunny girl outfit quickly arrived before both girls and presented them with two masks and name tags.

“As a requirement, all guests must wear masks and identify themselves by an alias.”

Sunset and Sugarcoat put on the masks and wrote on their alias names on the name tags, with Sunset’s reading “Dawn”, and Sugarcoat’s “Sweet”. Once that was done, the girls were allowed free reign and a card that was good for five-hundred thousand in credit on the house each for betting. Once they were able to find a moment alone to themselves, both girls sighed in relief that they were able to get in.

“Jeez, I thought at some point one them was going to boot us out or shoot us,” said Sunset.

“Judging from the patrons here, they really don’t care how old you are, I can see some who look fourteen,” said Sugarcoat. “You really didn’t have to come with me, Sunset. Your parents are probably worrying about you.”

Sunset waved off the concern. “I live by myself, no parents, so I can stay out as long as I want. What about you, your mom’s probably worrying about you though.”

“I just told her that I’m staying over with Sour Sweet, she’ll cover for me. Right now, the important thing is finding out how this is connected to my Dad losing his life force. Do you know anything about gambling?”

Sunset crossed her arms and gave Sugarcoat a deadpan look. “Why? Do I look the kind of girl who’s into these kinds of high stakes games?”

Sugarcoat realized what she said began to shake her head. “No, no, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by –!”

The former Equestrian chuckled and patted Sugarcoat on the shoulder. “Just teasing, I know a little, it’s mostly physics, mathematics, and a dash of luck.”

The rich girl felt more at ease now, believing now more than ever that she came to the right people for help. But, as she looked to herself and back to Sunset, she couldn’t help but blush at the outfit she chose. “So…you always wear something like that?”

“Oh no, it was Rarity’s idea. She said I should go as a sexy femme fatale, I swear that girl is way too into that ‘Shadow Spades’ series. It is a little low cut and I’m not too crazy about the backless part either, but she said I make it work,” said Sunset.

Probably not a good idea to have Twilight Sparkle see her in that, Sugarcoat thought.

***____________________***

Two hours passed as Sugarcoat and Sunset Shimmer played the tables, with Sunset displaying her skills and luck in the ways of gambling, each table they went to Sunset was cleaning house, winning big at different tables. Sugarcoat had decided to just let Sunset handle their betting and play for both of them, she wasn’t really a card shark and right now she was too focused on finding out who it was that took her father’s life force away. Suddenly, there was a bell going off in the background and voice came over the loudspeaker.

[Good evening everybody! We have a challenger to take on the house tonight, willing to bet it all to win it all!]

The crowd cheered and whistled, but the newest additions look confused as to what was going on. The crowd walked towards the center of the room where a table was set up as one of the patrons sat down, he looked nervous, real nervous. Just then the crowd parted for a man with a navy blue business suit, with aquamarine colored rhinestones on the lapels. He wore a long ocean blue cape that glittered from the spotlight that shined on him, and wore an orange bowtie with yellow polka dots. His skin was a light plum color, with white hair styled into a pompadour, and with gray, intelligent eyes that glanced about the crowd. The man threw his arms into the air and the crowd cheered for him, and the caped man smiled back in gratitude.

“How y’all doin’ tonight, havin’ a good time?”

The crowd cheered back.

“That’s what I like to hear, ‘ol Gladmane’s happy when you’re happy!” Gladmane kept going until he reached the table and sat in his designated chair. “Mr. Sly, now what do I owe the pleasure of this call out?”

“I’m low Mr. Gladmane, sir! I-I just need another loan, and I’ll win it back!” Mr. Sly begged.

“Now, now, Mr. Sly, I can’t go loanin’ again, you know my rules.”

“Y-Yeah, I do! And that’s why I’m challenging you!” Mr. Sly declared.

Gladmane leaned forward and interlocked his fingers in contemplation as he rested his elbows on the table. “Now Mr. Sly, you know what will happen if you lose, right? You’re either all in or not all. Which is it Mr. Sly?”

Mr. Sly narrowed his eyes slammed his hand on the table. “All in!”

Gladmane nodded. “Name the game.”

“Blackjack!” Mr. Sly stated.

“Alright, set ‘em up! Best two out three!”

A dealer from one of the random tables came up and shuffled the deck in plain view of everyone, a spotlight was on them the entire time, Gladmane wanted to make it clear that there was no cheating by anyone, either on his part or on Mr. Sly’s. After a quick shuffle, the cards were dealt. The first set Gladmane stayed with his set and Mr. Sly took an additional card, unfortunately, the card was a higher suit and put him at twenty-three. The second round Gladmane and Mr. Sly took one additional card each, and called. Gladmane had twenty and Mr. Sly had twenty-one. The third round came with everyone on edge, the last round, and Mr. Sly’s last chance to “win it all” as they heard. Gladmane stared down Mr. Sly, he had an excellent poker face, a cheerful smile and upbeat attitude that radiated positivity, making it hard to know if his hand was a losing one or not. In the end. Mr. Sly stayed with his hand and called. Mr. Sly had thirteen, Gladmane had fifteen. Mr. Sly went pale as he saw the cards and shook his head in dismay.

Gladmane stood up and sighed heavily as he reached into his pocket and took out the device that Sunset knew all too well. “Sorry Mr. Sly, but you know the rules.”

< MONEY! >

Gladmane rolled up his left sleeve and pressed the connector against the circuit tattoo on his arm. In less than a few seconds Gladmane was covered in energy that morphed his body into that of the Money Dopant. Mr. Sly was so startled that he fell back on his chair and rolled until he landed on his back. In his stunned state, he barely noticed as Gladmane appeared right before him, materializing a gold coin from thin air, and crouched to look Mr. Sly in the eye.

“Now it’s time to pay good sir,” said Gladmane.

The Money Dopant pressed the coin against Mr. Sly’s forehead and immediately an aura of energy became visible around Mr. Sly’s body and in a matter of seconds that aura was sucked directly into the coin, making it shimmer with a brilliance as if polished to perfection. The Money Dopant flipped the coin into the air and let it absorb into his body before changing back to normal.

“Now everybody, go on and have some more fun!”

The crowd dispersed back to their games while the guards dragged the husk of Mr. Sly out of the casino. Sugarcoat narrowed her gaze in anger as she readied to rush Gladmane, but Sunset hurriedly grabbed Sugarcoat by the wrist and pulled her back. “What are you doing?! That’s the man responsible for hurting my Dad! We need to stop him!”

“We need to stay calm, I know what that thing was, and right now neither you nor I have what is necessary to stop him.” Well that’s not entirely true, I do have what I need, but I can’t use it now. “We need to fallback and talk to Twilight to get a better idea of what we need to do.”

Sugarcoat looked back and gritted her teeth, Gladmane, the man who stole her father’s soul, was just chatting up the other patrons as if that spectacle didn’t even happen, and the patrons were even worse, carrying on as if seeing a man’s soul sucked from their body was a normal everyday occurrence. The rich girl looked back at Sunset, thinking she could glare her down, but Sunset had the edge in this case, she not only had knowledge, but she could see Sunset had tangled with danger before, and was keenly aware that this was not the time to fight despite what Sugarcoat may feel. After a moment more, Sugarcoat relented to Sunset’s experience.

“Fine…we’ll wait.”

“Good, let’s play a few more tables and then we’ll leave, we don’t want to raise suspicion by leaving right after seeing that.”

“Well hello there my dears.”

Sunset and Sugarcoat turned to the voice and saw Gladmane walking towards them. The fiery haired girl thought quick and shot her arm around Sugarcoat’s waist, bringing them close together and making the rich girl blush.

“Haven’t seen y’all ‘round here, are you two new by chance?” Gladmane asked.

“Sure am, my girlfriend and I wanted to try our luck, but didn’t want to have to go all the way to Las Pegasus just to gamble, y’know,” said Sunset.

“Oh I do, love Las Pegasus, but you can only do so much in a place that’s saturated with casinos. Now, the underground gambling ring, now that’s where the excitement is. No laws to worry about, just people betting money and making it by lucks good grace.” Gladmane face palmed himself. “Goodness where are my manners, Gladmane, owner and operator, at your service.”

Sunset held out her hand and gave a confident smirk. “Dawn, and this is my girlfriend Sweet.”

Gladmane took Sunset’s hand gently kissed in gentlemanly fashion. Reluctantly, Sugarcoat offered hers as well and made a mental note to wash that spot with scalding water. “I just wanted to come by and make sure y’all were alright, seeing that might’ve put a scare in ya and I didn’t want your first time in my business soured by it.”

“Not at all, but you have gotten me curious. What’s up with that?” Sunset asked

“Oh well I can’t give out all my trade secrets, but that was what we call a ‘Last Ditch Effort’. Basically by whatever chance, ya happen to lose big and can’t pay back, you can win it all back if ya beat me in a game. If you win, your debt is erased and you’re given full credit with interest, however, if ya lose well…I kinda have to take somethin’s equal to all that money.”

“And what’s that?” Sugarcoat asked.

“One could say it’s the soul, your life energy. A life is priceless, but worth something to an individual. I say it’s pretty fair all things considerin’.”

Sugarcoat was doing all she could to not punch out Gladmane right now, the only thing that was keeping her in check was Sunset’s arm which was still wrapped around her.

“Don’t worry, we’ve seen a lot worse with all those monster attacks lately, so long as you’re not planning on destroying the city or anything,” said Sunset.

“Perish the thought, what point is there in destroyin’ the place where all my customers live?”

After exchanging some more empty pleasantries, Sunset and Sugarcoat left Gladmane to play a few more games before taking their leave. On their way out, they were given two cards that gave the location of a new venue. It made sense that an operation like Gladmane’s would have several backup locations in case one got raided. Once outside, Sunset apologized for the girlfriend bit, but couldn’t think of anything that would keep Gladmane from looking her over.

“It’s fine, but do me one favor.”

“Name it!”

E: Everything that glitters / Jokers are Wild

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Later that night, while comfortably settled into her bed, Twilight was awoken by the sound of her phone buzzing. She quickly sprang to attention knowing that Sunset and Sugarcoat had gone on recon to the underground gambling ring. It was times like this that she envied how Sunset could move about as she pleased, if Twilight did that, her brother and parents would no doubt scold her and ask what she was doing out so late. Not that she’d blame them with the all the things happening.

Twilight unlocked her phone and saw that there was a text from Sugarcoat.

{We finished the recon, Sunset will fill you in tomorrow.}

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief.

{Oh, and you missed out on this.}

Twilight quirked an eyebrow, but when the next message appeared it came with an attachment. Twilight tapped the attachment and went wide eyed. On her screen with as picture of Sunset Shimmer in the dress she had Rarity make for their covert mission. Twilight’s left eye twitched as her face became bright red, it was only made worse by the fact that Sunset was striking a pose, standing proud with one hand resting on her right hip, left leg pointed outward that exposed just how close that slit on the dress was to revealing what was underneath. And then there was the front.

The bespectacled girl quickly slammed her phone face down onto to the bed, feeling a strange sense of excitement inside herself that was both strange and good. Twilight shook her head, she couldn’t think like that, this was her friend, and she didn’t like girls that way…did she?

Twilight turned the phone over and this time her gaze fell on Sunset’s face, seeing that trademark confident smirk along with the those narrowed, almost sultry eyes. Another text came which made Twilight groan.

{Feel free to have lewd dreams tonight.}

“Sugarcoat! Ugh!”

Twilight pressed on the image and opened up the options to delete the image, but found herself hesitating. The options showed “Save Image” or “Delete Image”. She didn’t know why she was struggling so much with this, the answer was simple, delete. And yet, her thumb merely hovered over the button.

“I’ll…I’ll just save it as a…a memory of this event!” Twilight rationalized.

She then hit the “Save Image” button and Sunset’s picture was saved to the storage of her phone. Despite having the image saved and going back to bed, Twilight still couldn’t stop blushing, nor get that picture out of her head.

“Ugh, what is wrong with me?!”

***____________________***

The next day, Sunset went to school, yawning every other minute from how tired she was from the late night, but it was worth it. Now they knew how the people were having their life force drained, and knowing that it was a Dopant made it easier. Just like clockwork, the man that Sunset and Sugarcoat saw getting drained was on the news, having been admitted to the hospital, the news were toting this as a strange new disease, but the police and Mayor’s office were doing all they could to make sure people didn’t panic because of it.

Both girls went off to the roof top for a little privacy so that Twilight could access the Infinite Library, and after a couple of minutes she was able to discern the Memory in question. “It’s the Money Memory. It preys on people’s natural greed, with its coins it can store the life force of its victims and essentially make itself stronger the more it consumes.”

Sunset bit on her thumbnail as she thought. “Okay, if we go by the number of victims already, then that’s already thirty people, but what happens if we defeat him?”

Twilight shook her head. “Hard to say, defeating him may destroy the coins and the life forces that are trapped in them. We have to find a way to get them back before that. Otherwise the people in the hospital really will die.”

The fiery haired girl cursed under her breath, Gladmane was essentially holding hostages and using them for power. “Using Fang or Cyclone may not be a good idea in this case…”

“You could use the Queen Memory, it’s the only one that you haven’t used yet,” said Twilight.

Sunset thought about it, the Queen Memory’s EnThrall ability would not only grant those she placed the Q mark on with power, but would by extension grant her more power. However, it would in fact mean that Sunset would have to essentially enslave the minds of those around her to make it happen. Sunset’s mind briefly flashed back to the Fall Formal, remembering the surge of power that overtook her and amplified the darkness in her heart to a degree that she hadn’t expected or wanted, and transformed her in to She Demon Shimmer.

‘Why fight it? Use that Memory, it’d be like old times…’

Sunset whipped around, feeling that someone was behind her, but found that there was no one at all. Her hands were shaky, and she found herself breathing hard, for a moment Sunset recognized the voice, but it couldn’t be.

“Sunset, are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“Y-Yeah, I’m alright. But – uh – no, I really don’t want to use that Memory. The whole EnThrall thing sounds too close to the old me…you know…the Fall Formal thing that the others talk about.”

Twilight clasped her hands over her mouth, recalling that the girls had mentioned this to her, about how Sunset Shimmer transformed into a demon and almost enslaved the school. How could she forget that the one person who knew best how to help her through her own demonic transformation, was the same person who had gone through the same thing? “I’m so sorry, I-I can’t believe I didn’t see the correlation between the two! I…I…!”

Sunset quickly waved it off. “Hey, hey, it’s fine! It’s just still a sore experience, but I’m okay, really!”

“We’ll just have to figure something else out…” Twilight suggested.

Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound coming from Sunset’s pants pocket. She reached in an pulled out her cellphone and saw that it was a text from Sugarcoat.

{Sunset. I know you and Twilight are doing all you can right now. But I can’t let my Dad stay the way he is. Gladmane isn’t secretive because he knows no one will go against him, because he’s a monster. I’m going to play him, and win back my Dad’s life force! I’m sorry, but I need to do this!}

“WHAT! Sugarcoat you – ugh!” Sunset growled.

“We can’t let her go alone! Gladmane might…”

Sunset paced the rooftop as she contemplated their next move. Leaving now would just cause trouble, then again after the recent Gene Memory incident, Sunset could leverage some leeway in her up and leaving school. However, without a reason it’d just look like she was just using that incident as an excuse to leave school whenever she wished. Sunset ran her hands through her hair as she growled in frustration, finding the life of a secret hero restricting and a bit aggravating.

“It’d be so easy just to tell Principal Celestia or Vice Principal Luna that I’m Kamen Rider Unicorn so I leave whenever crazy crap like this happens!” Sunset stated in aggravation.

“It can’t be helped, we’ll just have to wait until after school, I can run a back trace on Sugarcoat’s phone and pinpoint her location that way we can go there immediately afterwards,” said Twilight.

Sunset didn’t like it, but it was the only option they had available. Hold on Sugarcoat.

***____________________***

The moment the final bell rang, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle dashed out of the school like the place was on fire. Twilight had pinpointed Surgarcoat’s location to a used car dealership, which was oddly not what they were expecting, but then again, no one would suspect a used car salesman as the leader of an underground gambling ring, and would help with keeping more of his high spending under the radar. Sunset peeled out of the parking lot of CHS and sped down the street towards the city.

Sunset opted to give Twilight her helmet, more worried about her safety than her own, and because was more experienced in riding. Twilight didn’t argue as she held onto Sunset tight as the bike weaved around traffic and made it to “Gladmane’s Used Car Emporium”. Upon arriving to the lot, the girls could tell that it was a lot nicer than most used car lots, there were a sparse amount of cars, but each was a different make and model and at a fairly good price. There were however some men that appeared to be security guards, Sunset tensed up though when she recognized one of them from the other night.

Sunset parked her bike in one of the spaces and dismounted, with Twilight following behind. The building ahead was quite large, with the name of the business at the top, some tinted windows since it was facing towards the sun, and a cardboard cutout of Glamne giving a thumbs up. Right on cue, Gladmane exited the office, wearing the same style business suit, minus the cape.

“Hello young ladies, and what can I do you for on this bright sunny day,” said Gladmane.

“We’re for our friend,” said Sunset.

“Oh, is she lookin’ into buyin’ a car? I’d be happy to work out a deal,” said Gladmane.

“Her name is Sugarcoat, but I think you’ll remember her as ‘Sweet’, and me as ‘Dawn’.”

Gladmane’s eyebrow rose as he studied Sunset. “Hmm, my, my, my, so you’re the girl she was talkin’ about comin’ to ‘take me down’, is that right?”

Twilight’s brow furrowed as she glared at Gladmane. “Where is Sugarcoat?!”

Gladmane waved his hands in a calming fashion. “Now simmer down little miss, no need to talk business out here. Step into my office where it’s much cooler.”

Twilight and Sunset, reluctantly and begrudgingly, entered Gladmane’s facility. Gladmane gave a quick nod to his men outside who safely closed the lot and put up a sign that showed “Out to Lunch”. Once inside, Gladmane showed them to the back room, which turned out to be spacious and with a window and blinds that let in just enough sunlight to give the room an ominous feel to it. In the back, they saw Sugarcoat, seated in a chair and with the same milky eyed, distant look that her father had. This only served to enrage Sunset as she readied to call on the Uni-Driver.

“So then, I think I know why you were at my little casino last night,” said Gladmane.

“Do you?” Sunset asked.

“Little miss over here said she wanted to get her daddy back, and to tell ya the truth, I do remember that one. Can y’all believe he actually tried to use his daughter as collateral? Terrible, simply terrible.”

Twilight rushed forward but Sunset kept her at bay. “You liar! Sugarcoat’s father would never do that!”

Gladmane grinned. “Little lady, you’d be very surprised what lengths people will go to become rich. Think about what you saw last night, ‘Dawn’, I never told that man to come and challenge me. It was by his own greed and desire for more money did he bet his own life for a chance to become richer. I’ve seen men and women alike sell things that were practically priceless, heck, even willin’ to sell their own pets! But I don’t accept things like that, what good does it do me to own another person, when I can just as easily shift the debt to someone who is younger, and has a higher chance of payin’ it back than the deadbeat who lost it all.”

Sunset glared back at Gladmane as she took out a chair and sat down. “Be that as it may, you create an environment that entices that side of people, and brings out the worst. True, the sin is there, but as the saying goes ‘punish the sin, not the sinner. And Mr. Gladmane, you’re the sin.”

“Elegantly put, so now we come to the crux of the problem. What are you going to do, Dawn?”

Sunset glanced to Twilight and to the husk of Sugarcoat. “How about a game?”

“A game ya say?” Gladmane asked.

“A game where we go all in, everything on the line. If I win, I get all the coins with the people’s life forces you stole, and that Gaia Memory you keep in your pocket,” said Sunset.

Gladmane flinched at that, looking at Sunset with new suspicion as to how she knew what the device was called, and what it was that it could do. “A high roller, I like that. Very well, but if I win, I take both your life force and the life force of your little friend.”

Sunset glanced to Twilight, who nodded with determination. “Deal.”

“Okay then, name the game, just so it’s fair.”

“Oh I got one, it’s one I saw in your casino, it’s called poker.”

Gladmane thought about it for a minute, but then conceded the game choice. “Okay, but I do have one stipulation.”

“What is it?” Sunset asked with suspicion.

“For every hand you lose, ya gotta strip, but in return if you win, I’ll give ya one of my special coins with the life force of someone in it.”

Sunset and Twilight both slammed their hands on the table, faces burning red as the glared bloody murder at Gladmane and shouted in unison, “EXCUSE ME?!!!”

The man with a pompadour laughed at the reactions of both girls, finding it hilarious. “A joke little ladies, that’s all. I may be a soul stealin’ businessman, but I’m sleazy to degrade you like that. As a sign of good faith, I’ll let ya take your friend back with you. And no, I did nothin’ to her in her comatose state before ya start askin’.”

Gladmane got up and straightened his suit before heading to the door, but before leaving he stated, “Oh and take her out the back way, not good for business if a teenage girl is seen bein’ dragged out of my office in an unconscious state. The place will be the casino, I’ll make sure my boys know you’re coming.” Gladmane made his exit, and Twilight and Sunset quickly went to Sugarcoat and hefted her up.

Thankfully she hadn’t lost all motor function and was at least able to stand, making it easier to walk her out. Twilight looked to Sunset with worry.

***____________________***

Later that day, Sunset and Twilight had admitted Sugarcoat to the hospital, thankfully they didn’t have to explain much as she was exhibiting the same symptoms as her father. Naturally her mother was called and advised to stay in the hospital under a seventy-two hour quarantine to monitor her if something happened again. They felt bad for Sugarcoat’s mother, both her daughter and husband were now in a comatose state, and the one responsible was free to do as he pleased. When the promised hour drew near, Sunset drove through the city streets on her bike, making sure to take back streets to avoid traffic as she was wearing the same outfit she did last time.

Sunset stood at a few feet away from the entrance, breathing calmly as she settled her nerves for the game that was about to occur. She heard beep noise coming from her bike’s saddle bags and took out her phone to see Twilight calling.

[Do you even know how to play that game you said earlier?]

“I watched some people at the casino, it looked simple enough once I got the hang of it. I actually won a lot at that game. But with any game, it comes down to luck, and I’ll see just how lucky I am tonight.”

[I wish I could be there, maybe I should have played instead? I can count cards – I mean, I know I’m not supposed to do that, but I just can. It’s all numbers in the end.]

“I can count too, Twi. Which is why I won big at most of the tables, but this game is little more luck based, which will make it harder for him to cheat.”

Sunset could practically hear Twilight pacing back and forth. [Oh, times like these I wish I could just leave in the middle of the night.]

The fiery haired girl chuckled. “Don’t do that, your parents and brother love you, so don’t worry them like that.”

[I know, just in case I’m going to have Hawk circle your position, I know you’ll be underground but at least you’ll have over watch.]

As if on cue, Sunset spotted the mechanimal perched on the edge of the rooftop to Sunset’s left. In the night and dim lightning, you couldn’t tell if Hawk was a real bird or a statue, which made it easy for him not to draw suspicion. Sunset looked at the time on her phone and sighed.

“It’s time.”

[Good luck.]

Sunset hung up the phone and walked towards the door where the guard nodded and opened the door right away. Sunset was again led down an underground passage and to a secret pair of double doors that opened up to show Fortuna’s House of Wealth, it had many of the same furnishings as the previous locations, with some subtle differences here and there. Again the room was packed with several people in masks, watching Sunset as she moved towards the center where Gladmane was already sitting and waiting for her. Apparently the announcement had already been made, and tonight Sunset would be the entertainment. Gladmane stood up nodded to Sunset, smiling is debonair smile.

“Glad you make it Dawn,” said Gladmane.

“Wouldn’t miss this, Gladmane, I’m looking to clean house tonight,” said Sunset.

“Remember the wager little lady.”

“I remember.”

Sunset sat on her chair and Gladmane followed. The owner of the house waved and soon one of the dealers showed up with a tray that had the deck of cards stacked up. Sunset glanced to the tray, and then to Gladmane. “Just so we’re clear, we’re both sportsman here, right?”

“Why yes.”

“And you wouldn’t go so far as to cheat because you were afraid of losing to a teenage girl, right?”

“Perish the thought.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I say…shuffled the cards myself?”

Gladmane shook his head. “Be my guest.”

Sunset motioned for the dealer to come to her. She took the stack of cards and began shuffling them back and forth, every combination she could possibly think of to make sure that Gladmane wouldn’t get an edge at all during this game. Despite his methods, Sunset could tell this guy didn’t need to cheat, he was good on his own, but considering what they were playing for, she couldn’t be careless. After her shuffle, Sunset gave the cards back to the dealer who gave three cards each to the players, and the game was on.

“Remember players, jokers are wild. Mr. Gladmane will be playing with his special chips which will be counted as equal betting to the challenger’s bet. Begin.”

Sunset noticed that Gladmane’s chips were in fact golden coins, and not just any, but the ones he had taken the life force of their victims. The Money Memory was obviously not on the table, but kept close to Gladmane. Sunset could see that there were several coins, about thirty-one total. Time passed, cards were dealt, bets were called and at the end of the first round, Sunset looked at Gladmane and said, “Call.”

Gladmane placed his cards on the table. 10 of hearts, 10 of diamonds, 10 of spades, 9 of clubs, and 9 of diamonds. “Full House.”

Sunset smirked as she revealed her cards. Jack of hearts, diamonds, spades, clubs, and 7 of diamonds. “Four of a kind.”

The crowd didn’t seem too fazed by the win, and neither did Gladmane. It was only the first round after all. For her reward, Sunset earned five of the thirty-one coins. Sunset couldn’t tell which one held the life force of Sugarcoat and her father, they all looked the same. I’ll just have to win them all just to be sure.

The next round began, Sunset placed another bet, adding two of the coins she won, and some of her chips, adding up to three-hundred thousand. Gladmane matched that with two coins, and said, “Fold.”

The crowd gasped, and Sunset looked surprised. Either his hand was not good, or he was waiting for something bigger.

Another hand was dealt, and this time, Gladmane put in seven coins down. Sunset matched the bet with the seven coins she had gotten back, plus some of her chips. After another minute of silence, Sunset said, “Call.”

The fiery haired girl laid down her cards. 4 of spades, 4 of clubs, 3 of clubs, 3 of diamonds, and Queen of clubs. “Two pair.”

Gladmane showed his cards. 7 of clubs, 7 of diamonds, 7 of spades, King of clubs, and 3 of diamonds. “Three of a kind.”

Sunset wanted to growl, but kept her emotions in check. However, it was starting to look grim. With each round that went by, Sunset was losing more and more of her chips, and until there were barely any left. Gladmane could see it, she was on the ropes and couldn’t do a thing, she had but one chip left, and few options at this point. “Tell ya what little lady, how about I make you a deal?”

“What kind of deal?”

“I can see how valiantly and badly you’re trying to fight for your friend. So how about this,” Gladmane reached into the pile of coins and pulled out one in particular, “I’ll release your friends life force, in exchange you’ll give me yours in her place. I’ll even let you call and make sure that she’s wide awake.”

“And her father?”

“Honestly he ain’t worth it, that girl yes, but him? I don’t see a man as sellin’ his daughter worth savin’,” said Gladmane.

Sunset began to question that herself, trading her life force for Sugarcoat’s seemed fair, but then again, without Unicorn, people like Gladmane would run wild in city and do all kinds of damage to the world if it spread out. However, she had only one chip, one last chance to win it all back, but could she do it? Just then, Sunset glanced at the deck, and spotting something strange. One of the cards in the deck was glowing, a purplish color surrounding only one of cards, and something about this glow made Sunset feel more confident.

“It may not be to me, but it is to her. Family is family, and to prove it, I’m going all in!” Sunset announced.

Gladmane chuckled. “Little lady you have only one chip left, hardly worth the coins.”

“No, but how about the location of more Gaia Memories, four stronger ones than what you got?”

Gladmane’s eyebrow raised in intrigue. “No foolin’?”

“You’ve been upfront with me, so I will too.” Sunset reached into the cleavage of her dress and pulled out the Queen Memory. “This is only one of the four, and like I said, it’s stronger than yours. I bet this Memory against all your coins!”

Gladmane grinned wider. “Offer accepted.”

The dealer shuffled the cards, Sunset watched as the glowing card was moved around, and surprisingly no one else seemed to see the glow. After the dealer was done shuffling the cards were dealt, and as if by divine intervention, the glowing card was given to Sunset. Once all cards were dealt, a small moment of time passed as both Sunset and Gladmane sized each other up. After one more brief moment, Gladmane said the word, “Call.”

The cards were laid out from Gladmane’s hand, 8 of clubs, 7 of spades, 6 of clubs, 5 of clubs, and 4 of clubs. “Straight Flush.”

Sunset narrowed her gaze and smirked and placed each card on the table one by one.

Ace of spades.

King of spades.

Queen of spades.

Gladmane’s confident grin was beginning to fade as the realization was coming upon him.

Jack of spades.

“No, no, no, you can’t possibly –!”

Sunset grinned and turned over the last card that was in her hand, the Black Joker. “Jokers are wild, right? Royal Flush, I win Gladmane!”

The entire crowd gasped in complete shock that Gladmane had lost, no had ever beaten Gladmane at any game before and yet this teenage girl pulled the ace card as if by magic. Gladmane’s hands shook as he eyes went wide, his reputation was now shot, and all his coins and Gaia Memory were lost.

“It’s over Gladmane, I’ll be taking all my winnings now.”

Gladmane looked up at Sunset, and showed that his debonair smile was now a maniacal smile. “Oh little missy, you won’t be taknin’ anythin’, but I will take everythin’ from you!”

< MONEY! >

The man with the pompadour hair placed the connector against his left arm, and in a matter of seconds was transformed in the Money Dopant. The large Dopant raised its left arm and brought it down, smashing the table. Sunset kicked off and let the chair fall backwards, allowing her to roll back until she eventually ran into some people who stopped her roll. Sunset quickly got up and began running, but as she did, Gladmane raised his left arm and began firing coin shaped energy blasts in rapid fire succession like a Gatling gun.

Sunset weaved around the tables and columns, eventually diving behind one. Gladmane began pummeling the column with blast after blast, chipping away at the column and growing closer to getting Sunset. Just ahead, Sunset spotted a roulette table. Thinking quickly, Sunset dashed for the table, keeping straight ahead to make sure the column was at her back the whole time, once she was close, Sunset dropped to the floor and slid under the table, and pushed the table on its side to offer herself some protection.

“Figures he’d be a sore loser,” Sunset reached back into the cleavage of her dress and pulled out the Unicorn Memory, and held out her right hand and materialized the Uni-Driver.

< UNICORN! >

“HENSHIN!”

> UNICORN! <

A field of turquoise light enveloped Sunset as lightning shot at her body, forming her armor. When the field went down, a flash went off and she disappeared. Gladmane on the other hand continued to fire at the spot where he last saw Sunset, unrelenting his drive to kill her. But then, a flash of turquoise light went off behind him, and Gladmane suddenly found himself getting struck with a roundhouse kick that send the Money Dopant flying to the other side of the room, smashing through one table before coming to a stop. When the Dopant looked upon the visage of the heroine, Kamen Rider Unicorn.

“Gladmane, I’m shutting you down, and taking back the lives of the people you stole from!” Unicorn declared.

“Heh, I was told that you might come if I stirred up too much trouble, but I didn’t think you’d ever find me,” said Gladmane.

The Money Dopant began firing again, but Unicorn was faster, teleporting quickly to avoid the first volley, and appearing high above. Mana was channeled to her right hand as Unicorn fired a magic bolt straight for Gladmane, the blast hit him square in the chest, sending sparks flying. Thankfully, the patrons of the casino had long since bailed, leaving Unicorn and Gladmane alone to fight. Unicorn fired three more magic bolts, two hit Gladmane and the third struck the ground before him, throwing the Dopant back even more. Unicorn landed on the ground and teleported once again right next to the Money Dopant.

The masked hero began throwing one punch after the next, pushing Gladmane back and giving him one spinning kick that sent the creature to the ground. “I'm ending this now, Gladmane!”

“Oh baby, you should’ve ended it when you had the chance!” The Money Dopant rose back up, and revealed the pile of coins that had the Money Memory symbol on them. The Dopant’s body began to absorb all thirty-one coins, and in less than a second its body shined, looking like polished gold with a faint gold aura about it. “Now I’m supercharged and fair warning hero, you destroy me and all these coins go with me, along with the life force trapped in them!”

Dammit, Sunset thought.

The Money Dopant charged in with a right hook, but Unicorn managed to block it. However, that was a feint for the left uppercut to Unicorn’s midsection and fired its Gatling blast point blank range. Unicorn was thrown back and slammed against a column, but Gladmane didn’t relent, dashing across the room for a lariat and striking with his right forearm straight through the column.

Unicorn fell to the ground, and looked up as Gladmane prepared to come down on Unicorn with the final blow. A card from the scattered deck from earlier rose up and shot straight for Sunset’s position. The card flashed a stylized “J” and released a shockwave that sent the Money Dopant back and skidding to a halt on the floor. Sunset rose up and recognized the card as the black joker card from earlier. The card changed into a sphere of purple light, which Sunset quickly placed her hand into. Upon grasping the objet inside, the sphere shattered and revealed the Joker Memory.

“What in the world?! How did that even happen?!” Gladmane asked.

“When it comes to magic and weird stuff, trust me, it’s better to roll with it!”

< JOKER! >

{< JOKER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The Joker Memory symbol appeared behind Sunset. The symbol broke apart into particles of light and power and wrapped themselves around Unicorn’s form. The field of light shattered after a few seconds, and revealed the new Mimetic Drive Form of Unicorn. The pauldrons of Unicorn had a sharp curve to them, colored black and purple, patches of the armor colored the same along the forearms, and biceps. Following up the below the knee and cover part of the thigh armor. On Unicorn’s helmet, a single black stripe went down the middle along with the purple striped going down the same way.

“Unicorn: Ace High!”

The Money Dopant rose to combat Unicorn, but before it could act, Unicorn teleported fast and struck the Money Dopant before it had time to react. Unicorn chased after the Money Dopant, but while in midair, Gladmane righted himself and aimed his left arm at the hero, firing its golden Gatling blast. However, to Unicorn, in Ace High form, the individual coins were moving slower, or rather, Sunset’s perception was faster. The masked hero laced her hands and forearms with blazing purple light and struck at the coins that got too close, to Sunset this was happening at normal speed, but to Gladmane it was as if Unicorn was moving at lightning speed, deflecting all his shots as she got closer.

Once Unicorn was upon him, she performed one midair somersault and came down with kick to the Money Dopant’s left collar bone. Gladmane was sent back to the floor with a loud crash. Sunset placed her left hand over the left hip port and pressed it once.

\ HAT TRICK! COUNT IT! /

Unicorn dashed down to Gladmane, coating her right forearm in the energies of the Joker Memory. She then came down with a vertical slash, right on the Dopant’s belly.

\ 1! /

Unicorn slashed again with a horizontal, creating glowing cross.

\ 2! /

Finally, Unicorn balled up her fist and struck the center of the cross.

\ 3! /

The sound of a slot machine hitting the jackpot rang out as the life force coins came spilling out of Gladmane’s body.

\ JACKPOT! /

Each of the coins began to crack and in the next moment shattered, releasing sprites of energy that zoomed out of the building and through the walls. Unicorn looked to one of the sprites, her horn resonating with it and sensing that it was Sugarcoat’s life force.

“Go back to your body,” said Unicorn.

As understanding her words, the sprite zoomed off through the walls. The masked hero looked at Gladmane, who was now staggering to his feet after losing the power up he got from the coins.

“This…can’t be how…it ends…!”

“Gladmane, your presence sows greed and disharmony in the hearts of others, but no more!” Unicorn moved the Joker Memory into the right hip port. “Time to restore harmony!”

>} JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn’s body glowed with turquoise and purple, and then, from Unicorn two more appeared, and from them two more for a total of five Unicorns. Each one took a fighting stance as their fists and feet blazed with ethereal energy.

“JOKERS WILD!”

Unicorn 1 dashed forward and struck Gladmane across the face with blazing fist. Unicorn 2 followed up with a left roundhouse kick. Unicorns 3 and 4 moved in and formed a double uppercut that made Gladmane fly. Unicorn 5, the original, jumped into the air and flipped once, bringing down her right foot for a flaming ax kick right on the Money Dopant’s head. The final blow caused in explosion, with Unicorn landing on the floor and having her clones absorb back into her. When the explosion subsided, Gladmane landed on the floor, sprawled out. The Money Memory landed next to him, but just as quickly, the Memory shattered to pieces.

The Kamen Rider walked up to Gladmane and hoisted him by the collar, she then looked him dead in the eye and asked, “Who was it that gave you that Gaia Memory, Gladmane! Do something good for once, spill!”

“I…I don’t know! It was some guy who approached me one day…said with that thing I could make more than I could ever do on my own! I was already doing this House of Wealth before I got it, but with it, I was makin’ more…”

Sadly I believe you, Sunset thought.

Thanks to the Joker Memory, Sunset was now aware of approaching people and released Gladmane. “The police will deal with you.” After that, Unicorn teleported, leaving Gladmane to the mercy of the CCPD.

***__________EXE__________***

“Party Favor, how went the Gladmane affair?” Starlight asked as she gazed out towards the city.

“Just as you expected, Ma’am. Kamen Rider Unicorn managed to beat him,” said Party Favor as she stood before her desk.

Starlight nodded her head. “Did we get enough data from his life force draining?”

Party Favor tapped on his watch and generated a hologram of said data. “Plenty, thanks to that we can advance a further now.”

“Good, then proceed with forwarding the police all of Mr. Gladmane’s business affairs and locations of his little underground casinos, I let run around my city long enough,” said Starlight.

***____________________***

Case Report: Money Dopant

I can’t say that this particular case was easy, it came with a lot of risks to everyone. Sunset and Sugarcoat heading into an underground casino full of greedy gamblers made me worry, but it was necessary in order to determine the cause of the comatose victims, one of them being Sugarcoat’s father.

Apparently Gladmane told Sugarcoat about how her father offered her as collateral for his debts in Fortuna’s House of Wealth, but Sugarcoat didn’t believe him. I can understand why she wouldn’t believe, I can’t imagine my parents using me as human currency like that. Nevertheless, Sunset appeared before Sugarcoat’s father, Soft Pedal, as Kamen Rider Unicorn and made sure that if stepped out of line again like that, he’d answer to her.

Gladmane’s establishment, and funds, were all seized in a raid that was conducted a couple of days ago. Apparently some anonymous source gave detailed information about each location of casinos and a list of the gamblers who frequented the House. So hopefully that will remove the temptation for Soft Pedal to try that again.

It just unnerves me how much a single Gaia Memory can escalate a situation, Gladmane didn’t appear on the radar until he started using the Money Memory, and someone is giving these dangerous objects out as if they don’t care about the kind of damage they could do to innocent people.

Regardless of this victory, we have yet to win this war. Unfortunately, I fear that Sunset and I have begun to wage one, we who are trying to stop the rampage of the Dopants, against those who are supplying the power for people to become Dopants.

F: Fame of the Diva / I am the Countess...

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Twilight and Sunset were on the outskirts of town, with Applejack having drove them in Big Mac’s pickup truck in order to carry Twilight’s equipment. Today was a field test of Hawk and Dillo’s new upgrades. Another lightning bolt of inspiration came to Twilight during the night and like the mad genius she was started to work on the robotic animals. Her upgrades came in the form of an additional component that would allow Hawk and Dillo to act as weapons, so to speak.

“Alright little guy, let’s do it,” said Sunset as she looked down at Dillo.

The little robot rodent wagged its tail and immediately went into ball form, it bounced once off the ground and landed in Sunset’s hand. She removed the Unicorn Memory and inserted into the up lifted slot, and pressing it down back into Dillo.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Sunset released Dillo as it began to spin, the rolling ball of metal did a donut around Sunset, building up momentum, and at the same time generating an energy field. Sunset crouched low, channeling that energy into her legs as she jumped straight into the air, at same time, Dillo followed after her. Using the knowledge of all the times she watched Rainbow Dash play soccer, along with all the countless soccer games on TV she made her watch, Sunset spun in midair and waited for Dillo to get into position.

Once the robot rodent was lined up, Sunset aimed for a vacant spot in the distance and kicked Dillo as hard as she could. The kinetic energy of Sunset’s kick served as a catalyst to energize the Dillo Ball and sent it flying like a rocket towards the spot Sunset was aiming. The ball blazed with turquoise light, sparkling as it left a trail of light and particles in the air. After a few seconds flight time, the ball of light struck the ground with tremendous force, sending a cloud of dust shooting up into the air and caused a small tremor.

Sunset dropped out of the sky and landed smoothly on her feet. All three girls ran to the impact site, but there as too much dust to see what was happening. Thinking quickly, Sunset took out the Cyclone Memory.

< CYCLONE! >

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Now in Mystic Cyclone form, Sunset generated a gust of wind with a flick of her wrist, causing the dust to blow away from them until the area was completely clear and visible again. The girls gawked at the five foot wide crater, and by Twilight’s rough estimates, the depth was at least four feet down. Although, the elation of the success was dwindled when they didn’t spot Dillo.

“Oh no…don’t tell me I destroyed him!”

“You couldn’t have, I-I made sure to reinforce his armor, the energy boost on top of that should have made it even harder for him to break,” said Twilight as she scanned the area.

“Uh, Twi, Sunset, ya might want to look my way,” said Applejack. Both turned around and saw that Applejack was holding Dillo in her arms. “Little guy musta gotten turned around in the dust cloud, probably was right behind us and we didn’t even know.”

Sunset and Twilight released a sigh of relief.

“I’ll have to readjust his tracking systems so that he can see through dust and smoke a lot easier. Probably install a GPS so that it will always know its location relative to where Sunset is,” said Twilight as she contemplated.

Dillo made a few robotic beeping sounds and jumped out of AJ’s arms. The little robot rodent walked up to Sunset and ejected the Unicorn Memory, allowing Sunset to catch it midair. After reinserting the Memory, Sunset disengaged her Rider form, returning back to normal.

“I think we should call it, if we’re out here too long after that display, we may be catching some attention,” said Sunset.

“Probably best we change up the spots y’all do these tests at, just to make sure that no one knows exactly where to find ya,” said Applejack.

“Good idea, and thanks again for driving us out here,” said Twilight.

Applejack walked back to the truck and opened the back. “Hey, don’t worry nothin’ ‘bout it. Ah’m just glad ya told us about this stuff.”

After loading Dillo into the back, all three girls filed into the pickup and drove back to the city proper.

“Well, to be honest, it would start to get harder explaining why we’re absent from the group, or when dangerous situations come up like with Glitter,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, couldn’t really break away to transform to save you and Dash, having Fluttershy there made it easier to move around the school, and to help you guys into the locker room,” said Sunset.

Applejack shuddered at that. “Yeah, Ah’d rather forget that Ah almost drowned.”

A wicked smirk befell Sunset’s face as she nonchalantly gazed out of the window. “Gotta say, I’d have never figured you for wearing striped underwear.”

The truck swerved a bit as Applejack shook her head at the comment, along with Twilight shooting Sunset a look as well. “P-Pardon?!”

“When we pulled you out, remember, your skirt was gone. And now that I think about it, it raises the question of if that was a matching se –?”

“HEY, WHY DON’T AH PUT SOME MUSIC ON!” Applejack suggested, loudly, and with a red face.

Twilight glanced to Sunset Shimmer, who was still sporting her smirk. It was then that the bespectacled girl made a mental note that Sunset had a bit of a pervy side to her. Meanwhile, Applejack quickly put on the radio and a song immediately blared out.

“Razzle dazzle

Glitz and glam

Turn it all up, it's a spectacle

Hear the applause

Here to impress

Not just a girl, I am the Countess!”

{And that was ‘The Spectacle’ by Countess Coloratura, everybody! A rising young star in the music world! Now listen up all diehard fans, Countess Coloratura’s giving a live performance here in Canterlot City!}

Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened with excitement at hearing that, while AJ smiled a little. Sunset was aware of this girl, over the past couple of years, Countess Coloratura has been rising in popularity, matching that of Sapphire Shores fame in a short amount time. Sunset had to admit, she did like her music, but she had noticed a shift in her singing style, if one looked back when she was first starting, her style was less pop idol and more songstress. However, Sunset couldn’t deny that the switch has allowed her to gain much fame and recognition, plus the new style wasn’t all that bad, the majority of the people seemed to like it.

***__________________***

Upon returning to Applejack’s home, the girls spotted an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Curious, all three disembarked the pickup and entered Applejack’s house. Granny Smith was sitting in her rocking chair, and across from her, sitting on the couch was a girl in a blue-green hoody and jean pants who kept her face low as to not be seen. Standing next to the couch was a man with a white complexion and salmon colored hair, he wore a blue business suit with a red tie, expensive loafer shoes, and designer glasses.

“Um, Granny, were we expectin’ company?” Applejack asked.

“Well…eh…” Granny began.

“Hello Miss, you must be Applejack I take it?”

Applejack nodded.

“Fabulous, name’s Svengallop, and before we get to the matter of why we’re here I must inform that any and all matters that are discussed here are private and privileged between the parties here present and who dwell in this house. Any disclosure of this information will be met with legal ramifications, okay?”

Sunset, Applejack, and Twilight blinked, but nodded a yes.

“Good, you can go ahead now,” said Svengallop.

The girl rose up and removed her hood, revealing a teenage girl. Her skin was a beautiful grayish aquamarine, with silky black hair that had light opal and gray orchid colored streaks in it, all done in a spiral ponytail, and her eyes were a shimmering ocean blue. “Hi, AJ.”

Applejack shook her head in disbelief. “Rara?!”

Sunset and Twilight glanced to each other and said in confusion, “Rara?”

Svengallop did a slight role of the eyes at that name. “Please address her as Countess Coloratura, or Countess.”

“COUNTESS COLORATURA?!” Twilight shouted before quickly realizing how loud she was. “Sorry, but, she’s really the Countess Coloratura?!”

Sunset glanced at Applejack. “And you know her?!”

Applejack blushed as she rubbed her left arm. “Well it was wasn’t my business to go around and tell everyone, besides, if Ah did, people would be houndin’ me and my family about gettin’ an interview with Rara or tryin’ to get a favor by helpin’ us in return. Ah didn’t want to put us or Rara through that so Ah kept it quiet.”

Coloratura walked up to Applejack and gave her friend a long overdue hug. “And I thank you for that AJ, but I’m happy to see you again, really.”

Applejack returned the hug, having missed her old friend after all this time. “Ah’m glad to see ya again, too. But why are ya here? Don’t ya have a concert?”

“Ahem!”

Everyone looked to Svengallop.

“And that’s why we’re here. Due to Countess Coloratura’s growing fame, it’s becoming a bit of a problem finding private locations for her to be safe before and during concerts. I offered the Countess several options of the best hotels with the highest of security for high profile guests. However, the Countess believes that this…ahem…rustic domicile would be more than enough to keep the paparazzi and rabid fans from finding her.”

Coloratura looked to Applejack with a pleading gaze. “It would only be for seven days AJ, just until the concert’s over and done with. Nobody would think to look for me on a farm out in the country. Plus, I’d really like to catch up with you.”

Applejack couldn’t deny that she wanted to spend time with Rara again, but this wasn’t her decision alone. The blonde cowgirl looked to Granny Smith. “Granny, is it okay if she stays for the week at least?”

Granny looked to Svengallop, she already didn’t like him, but she did like Rara, remembering the days when the two would play together in the back of the orchard when the girl was little and wasn’t a music pop star. Plus, it had been a long time since the two of them had seen each other and being around a girl like Applejack might keep Rara grounded. “Ah don’t see why not, mind you the youngin’ will at least need to do one or two chores ‘round the house to not make people suspicious.”

Svengallop spluttered at the idea. “Unacceptable! Countess Coloratura doesn’t ‘do chores’, and what would happen if she injured herself here doing gods knows what?!”

Coloratura stepped away from Applejack and stood before Svengallop. “I’ll be fine, Svengallop, it’s just a farm. I used to play here when I was a little girl, I’m used to the country. Besides, it’d be nice to do something normalish for a change of pace.”

Svengallop looked around the house as if appraising all the ways that Coloratura would and could get hurt with. “Hmm, very well, but she’s only to do light chores! Nothing that would require her to exert too much, remember she has photo shoots and rehearsals all this week leading up to the concert and excess work would only exhaust her.”

Granny shrugged. “Fair enough twig boy.”

Svengallop’s eye twitched at that. “Humph, well, let’s go and get your things. We’ll have a busy day tomorrow so don’t stay up and I’ll call you when I’m on the way to pick you up.” The lanky man then got closer to Coloratura and whispered, “If you need me to save you from this place, find a safe place and message me!”

Coloratura rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Svengallop, don’t worry.”

With that said, Svengallop and Coloratura went out to go and get her bags, while Applejack followed behind her. Sunset could hardly believe that a real popstar was staying with one of her friends, and that diva wasn’t as eccentric as the tabloids made her out to be, but then again she did do a lot of charity work, and knowing that she came from humble beginnings was nice to know.

“Guess we’ll be in the know about the Countess, right Twi…Twi?”

Sunset looked to Twilight, who was completely frozen, her brain somehow hadn’t fully processed that she’d met Countess Coloratura.

***__________________***

Since the arrival of Countess Coloratura, things had been going pretty well. Every day, Svengallop would come and pick up Coloratura in an unsuspecting vehicle and take her to wardrobe where she’d go through rehearsals and pose for the latest music magazine and interview at the local news agencies and some from out of the city. Later, after it was all done, she’d be spirited away by Applejack in their unsuspecting pickup truck and taken back to Sweet Apple Acres where the music star could rest in privacy.

Coloratura plopped onto Applejack’s bed and sighed heavily. The farm girl chuckled, seeing her friend in her exhausted state. “Ya look as worn out as Ah do during Apple Bucking season.”

“It can be exhausting, and a little maddening sometimes, but it has its moments,” said Coloratura. “Being able to come here and unwind even for just a little a bit helps out a whole lot. Don’t tell Sven, but I do sometimes miss the simpler times before I became a hit popstar.”

Applejack placed her Stetson hat on a rack and began to change, causing Coloratura to turn on her side, away from Applejack. “So why don’t ya just tell him to dial back the interviews and events? Ah mean, even Sapphire Shores takes a hiatus once and awhile.”

Coloratura felt her face heat up but ignored to it answer Applejack’s question. “I can’t, AJ. I’m still fairly new to the music scene, if I don’t get as much publicity and build up my fan base then I can easily be forgotten. The Music Industry is one big popularity contest, and if you you’re not at least on top eighty percent of the time, you’ll fall into obscurity and your career with it.”

Applejack paused midway through her changing and walked over to Coloratura, sitting at the edge of her bed. “Rara, that sounds like too much pressure to be puttin’ on yerself, especially right now.”

“It’s my dream AJ, it’s all I’ve wanted to do since we were little girls.” Coloratura dared to glance over her shoulder, spotting the broad back of her childhood friend and somehow feeling her heart race. “Of course…a lot has changed since then…I don’t remember you being that buff.”

Applejack grinned with pride. “Years of working on the farm will do that for ya. Ah’m just glad yer not skin and bones like some of those models, still got a little meat on the bones.”

To emphasize her, Applejack quickly pinched Coloratura’s side and made the singer release a cute squeal of surprise as she curled in on herself. “AJ!”

The farm girl chuckled and after a second, so did Coloratura.

Their laughter was stopped for a moment when a weird sound emitted from Applejack’s window. The farm girl glanced in that direction and put her hand up to signal to Coloratura for silence. Another weird sound emitted, like metallic rustling of some sort. Applejack was no stranger to weird sounds. Since her farm was pretty far from the city proper, the noises of the city she was familiar with after going to CHS for a while, and she was pretty well versed in the sounds that the farm animals and wild animals made at night. This one, however didn’t sound familiar.

Applejack inched herself to the window, approaching it from an angle so as to not make whatever was outside aware that she was there. Coloratura was getting a little concerned by this, seeing Applejack serious made her worry. When the farm girl reached the window she peeked through and scanned the outside, the fortunate and unfortunate thing about being so far out and having so much land, meant that neighbors were far. Meaning Applejack didn’t have to worry too much about modesty at this moment. Her emerald green eyes continued to watch for movement, the usual shadows and silhouettes of objects were there. However, there was something thin and shimmering in the faint light of the moon. Then, several objects began to glint from the moonlight, and Applejack noticed that several of those glints were starting to move towards –

“GET DOWN!” Applejack yelled as she ran toward her bed.

Coloratura quickly ducked on the side opposite the window just as Applejack dove on the other side and got low and under the bed next to Coloratura. At that moment glass shattered as the sound of several large objects came shooting through the window. Applejack looked back and noticed that several pitchforks, machetes, shovels, pickaxes, and axes were now lodged in her wall and door.

“Is…Is it over?” Coloratura asked.

“Not sure…”

Applejack dared to peek over her bed, with Coloratura doing the same. Both girls looked upon the ruined window, glass strewn on the floor, drapes shredded from the several sharp objects, and wood splintered by the speed and force of the objects flying through it. Coloratura squinted as she saw something else coming, there was a whooshing sound like something was flying through the air. The answer to the sound came when a scythe came crashing through the window and wall, Coloratura quickly rushed towards Applejack and pushed her down as the reaping tool embedded itself in the wall.

“Whoa…Thanks Rara!” Applejack exclaimed.

Coloratura’s heart was racing from the danger, and for some reason pinning Applejack to the ground while she was half naked was not helping matters. Still, the awkwardness of their positions was pushed to the furthest part of their minds considering how several farm tools were just launched at them.

The sounds of several footsteps came towards Applejack’s door, Big Mac carefully opened the door and entered with all due caution. “AJ, you alright?!”

“Fine, Bro, just damn near close to havin’ a heart attack after all that, but otherwise alright,” said Applejack.

“Granny, Bloom, stay back, and call the police,” said Big Mac as he dislodged one of the machete’s and inched his way to the window where they flew in through. “Ah don’t see anyone…but don’t mean they’re still out there.”

Apple Bloom stuck her head inside and quickly went to her big sister. “Applejack, you sure yer alright?”

Applejack, slowly got up with Coloratura’s help and mussed up her little sister’s hair. “Don’t start frettin’ sugarcube, Ah’m still standing, figuratively speakin’.”

“Ah called the police, they’re on their way, but considerin’ how far they are we’d best move inside the house and lock yer door Applejack,” said Granny Smith.

“Let’s move then.”

***__________________***

The next day was met with police and investigators going over the crime scene, considering the unusual nature of the incident, Applejack saw fit to call Twilight and Sunset over to see for themselves. After Applejack gave them a description of the attack, it sounded like another Dopant attack.

“Still, we can’t be sure. Then again, many other things I can think of that could throw dozen plus farm tools at your window with enough force to lodge them in the wall,” said Sunset.

Applejack looked up at her broken and sighed. “Yeah, well, Dopant or not, that Sven guy’s on a tirade now. Sayin’ that it ain’t safe for Rara here no more because of this.”

Twilight looked to Applejack with concern. “I’m so sorry this happened, Applejack.”

“Ain’t yer fault, but Ah guess a good thing don’t last forever…”

“ARE YOU MAD?!” Svengallop shrieked.

Applejack, Sunset, and Twilight glanced behind them and watched as Svengallop was practically pulling out his hair with Coloratura standing firm with her arms crossed. “I’m not Svengallop, I want to stay here.”

“But…But…you were just attacked! Someone knows where you are!” Svengallop argued.

“Look around you Svengallop,” said Coloratura.

The agent looked about, seeing cops and the normal amount of media that would cover an attack, but nothing like the rabid droves of cameras and paparazzi that would descend on the location of a star. “If everyone knew I was here, there’d be triple the amount of media, but it’s practically quiet.”

“But that doesn’t –!”

“Actually sir,” said Twilight as the trio approached. “I’ve been monitoring news and social media, and there hasn’t been any kind of leaks regarding, um, Rara’s presence here. If anything it’s just making the rounds on news outlets as a bizarre attack.”

Svengallop took out his PDA and smartphone, showing great ambidextrous movements and multitasking skills as he went through the sites to see this for himself. After a minute of searching, Svengallop concluded that there was no mention of Countess Coloratura’s whereabouts. “So then we can just rule this as some random attacker. Good…wait, no, not good! You definitely can’t stay then!”

“Sir.”

The group looked to the voice of someone familiar. Twilight’s eyes brightened up when she saw her big brother, Shining Armor walking towards them. “Shining Armor, you’re here too?!”

“Yep, anything freaky or out of the ordinary is now part of the Special Crimes Unit, or until proven otherwise,” said Shining Armor. “And due to this incident sir, we will be increasing police presence here for the next seventy-two hours, so you all can rest assured that you’ll be safe. ‘Sides, can’t let my lil’ sis’ friends be in danger can I?”

Twilight blushed but smiled at her brother.

“Well…if that’s that then we can move around some things to keep you on schedule, we’ll have that meet and greet with the school kids cancelled, so we can make the photoshoot,” said Svengallop.

Coloratura glanced to her agent with an incredulous stare. “Svengallop you know how important meeting the children is to me! I can’t break their hearts like that, and I’m not letting this get in the way of that. We have more than enough photoshoots lined up until the concert, so missing a few today won’t kill anyone.”

Everybody winced at that word, considering how close death was last night, jinxing it now was like asking lightning to strike you. With a reluctant, and somewhat disgusted sigh, Svengallop relented to Coloratura. “Fine then, we’ll meet the kiddies and cancel the shoots, but we must make that interview later!”

“That’s fine.” As Svengallop walked away, Coloratura turned to Applejack and her friends. “Are you sure you’re okay, AJ?”

“Like Ah said, don’t fret none over me. We’ll be fine, go and do your thing,” said Applejack.

With a bit of reluctance, Coloratura went to her day. Meanwhile Sunset took this moment to stand beside Applejack and nudge her. “So, how long have you two been a thing?”

Applejack and Twilight gawked at Sunset and said, “WHAT?!”

“Oh please, Applejack, I can see it, she’s got a crush on you.”

Twilight’s left eye twitched. “Countess Coloratura, has a crush…on one of my friends…!”

“Rara doesn’t have a crush on me!” Applejack countered. “She’s just worried is all! We did nearly get killed last night!”

Sunset shrugged. “True, but take this from a girl who’s been with a few herself, she’s nursing a crush on her long time childhood friend.”

Applejack grumbled and stomped off. “Ah’m goin’ to help with fixin’ my window, when yer done teasin’ y’all can come and help!”

Sunset chuckled a little, yes she was on the side of good, but every now again she couldn’t help letting that teasing side of her bad girl persona come out every once in awhile. “Alright, Twi, you mind sending up Hawk to tail…Um, Twi, you alright?”

Twilight’s face was bright red. “Um…Sunset…you said you’ve been with a few girls…what do you mean by that?”

Sunset blinked and then face palmed herself. “Oh right, translation error. Well back in my world, I was a bit older, and since I was older I dated a few mares. Remember, Princess Twilight and I are a bit older than you guys.”

“Oh…right, I forgot,” said Twilight suddenly feeling like a child before Sunset. “Um…about how much older would you say?”

Sunset thought about that for a moment. “Huh, well, I exited Equestria when I was twenty-one, and the last time I went back there I was relatively the same age. So I guess the portal saves what you last were, because when I entered here I was like fourteen or thirteen on or about, so like freshman age of AJ’s sister.”

Twilight managed to push the fact that Sunset was older and had dating experience to take in the information about the portal and at this point wanting to know more about crossing over from Earth to Equestria. But that could wait as Twilight reached into her backpack and pulled out the modified version of Hawk, which looked akin to a laptop. Twilight then pressed a button on the side of the device.

< HAWK! >

Twilight dropped the laptop, but before it could hit the ground, the portable computer metamorphed, spreading its mechanical wings and talons, craning its head as its mini thrusters kicked on and shot off for its target.

“Have I ever told you how cool those mech-animals you invented are?” Sunset asked.

“You could stand to mention it more,” said Twilight cheekily.

***__________________***

The day went on as Twilight and Sunset helped the Apple Family with the repairs, Rainbow Dash had texted that’d she’d come over and lend a hand once school let out. Twilight and Sunset were able to get out were for two reasons: the first was that both girls were pretty far ahead of their studies, Twilight especially, so missing a day wasn’t going to hurt them academically. Second: well, the Principals kind of owed them a favor after the Crystal Prep incident and recent incident with the doppelgangers. Every couple of minutes or so, Twilight would check her phone to see if Hawk alerted her to anything, but so far everything was running smoothly, and from the surveillance footage it seemed that the kids from the local middle school were having a good time.

What Twilight didn’t realize was that Sunset was walking up behind her with a cold water bottle and pressed behind her neck. The sudden chill made Twilight squeal and jump from her seat, looking back with a bit of an irritated expression on her face. “Sunset Shimmer that was…! Was…” Sunset had forgone her coat and blouse in exchange for a tank top Applejack had on hand. The image of Sunset’s sweat drenched body with that tank top was not helping Twilight’s composure in the least. “You…um…changed clothes?”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to get my jacket and blouse all sweaty, so I asked her for if she had a work shirt I could wear. Applejack’s got a few and lent me one,” said Sunset.

“Um…ahem…you’re not afraid it’s too revealing? I mean, I can see your…y-your bra and…and there’s a boy here too!”

Sunset shrugged it off like it was no big deal. “Hey, AJ’s wearing the same thing and she’s not skittish.”

Twilight crossed her arms. “Big Macintosh is Applejack’s big brother, and while I could say that having Shiny see me like that would be embarrassing it also depends on circumstance. They work on this farm a lot so it doesn’t bother them when their working like we are to fix that window. You and I, however, are two not related girls and as such Big Mac would naturally…well…look…at you.”

“We literally had boys and girls stare at us when we were wearing those cheerleading outfits, and comparatively, I’m showing less than we were back then,” said Sunset.

Fair point, Twilight thought.

*BEEP-BEEP!*

Applejack walked past the duo hearing the strange noise. “What in tarnation is that noise?”

“It’s Hawk! He’s alerting me!” Twilight stated as she opened her phone to live feed connect to Hawk. “Oh no…”

On the phone, the girls were bearing witness to a Dopant attack. The creature looked to be made of wood, with an X shaped plank on its back, the creature had blue lederhosen and gloved hands. The Dopant had a long wooden nose, and sharpened wood teeth, and dark circles with eyes that bobbled about. The image of this new Dopant made all three girls cringe, it looked like a demonic puppet from a horror movie.

“Oh c’mon, why does it have to be a possessed puppet monster?!” Sunset groaned.

“Look, there are things floating around it,” said Twilight.

Sunset reluctantly looked back at the image and watched as several objects were floating in the air, some of the objects included street lamp posts, cars, and other objects that were heavy enough to kill or sharp enough to impale.

“Sunset!”

“On it!”

The fiery haired girl ran outside and went for her bike. She quickly materialized the buckle and fastened it, and with her right hand she pulled the Unicorn Memory from her pocket.

< UNICORN! >

Sunset placed the Gaia Memory into the slot before peeling away down the road on her bike. Once she was far enough away, she pushed down on the Memory and activated the driver. “HENSHIN!”

> UNICORN! <

A field of turquoise light enveloped Sunset and her bike, hitting them both with sparks of lightning that transformed them both. Sunset became her alter ego, Kamen Rider Unicorn. The bike transformed into is supped up form, taking on more power and speed as Unicorn blazed down the highway towards the city. Sunset concentrated, forwarding her energy into her horn and conjuring the image of where the Dopant was attacking. She could sense it, people in danger, chaos and the disruption of peace. Suddenly, both Unicorn and her bike disappeared down a tunnel of turquoise light, crossing time and space in an instant.

In the distance there was an opening, showing the attack on Coloratura and the school kids. Sunset revved the engine twice and sped down the tunnel, popping a wheelie as she exited the tunnel and struck the Dopant with the front tire of her bike, sending the creepy creature flying into a car and coming to a complete stop. Unicorn put on the kickstand and dismounted her bike, she then quickly made her way to Coloratura and the kids.

“Are any of you hurt?” Unicorn asked.

Coloratura shook her head. “No we’re all fine, thank goodness you came when you did.”

“You’re that masked rider!”

“She’s so cool!”

Sunset was blushing under the helmet, but tried not to let the praise of the children get to her that much. “Take them further back, I’ll deal with this guy! Go!”

Coloratura began herding the kids towards a safer area, with security now coming in to help. Unicorn turned around to face the creepy Dopant, who was now peeling itself off the car she had smacked it into.

“So who are you and why are you attacking Countess Coloratura?!”

“Heh, heh, heh…The Countess, the Countess will be mine…heh, heh, ha!” The Dopant uttered as its wooden head jerked back and forth.

Unicorn got chills just looking at the thing. “Yeah, you’re just too creepy, I’m ending this.”

The puppet Dopant began to wiggle its fingers, and soon the objects that were hovering in the air began hurling themselves at Unicorn. The masked hero looked up as a mailbox came flying at her, she quickly dove to the right, missing it as the mailbox crashed against the asphalt, but the Dopant didn’t let up as a second object, a four-door sedan, was dropped on her location. Unicorn’s horn glowed and quickly vanished from the spot as the car hit the ground, crunching the chassis and shattering its windows.

Unicorn reappeared some feet behind the puppet Dopant and fired several magic bolts at her opponent, however, the Dopant waved its hand and brought the lamppost it had upheaved earlier and swung it about like a baseball bat, hitting each of the bolts and exploding on impact. The Dopant released its hold on the lamppost, letting its smoldering remains rest upon the ground, it then waved its hand towards another lamppost, and in a matter of seconds it was ripped from the sidewalk with the electrical wires snapping.

A makeshift stage was nearby, a setup for Coloratura to pose with the kids and maybe sing a few songs with them karaoke style. The Dopant waved its hands towards that stage and began ripping out the poles that kept the stage up. The quick snapping and breakage of the pipes gave them sharp, pointed edges, turning them into makeshift spears that the Dopant readied to launch at Unicorn.

Right before the Dopant was about to attack with the pipes, Hawk came in screeching and struck the Dopant across its chest with its right wing, the damage was minimal, but it did hurt the Dopant enough to make it lose concentration and drop the sharp pipes. Hawk flew towards Sunset, who held out her left arm to allow the robot bird to land on.

[I believe now’s as good a time as any to try Hawk’s new configuration.] Twilight stated.

“I’m game, let’s go! Hawk, Archery Mode!” Sunset shouted.

Hawk’s eyes shined as it took off into the air. The mech-animal flared out its wings, bringing the inner feathers in and leaving just the tips to point outwards. Hawk scrunched its head in an inch and kept its mouth open, and brought in its legs to form a handle bar. Unicorn raised her left hand and grabbed Hawk, and in so doing, a string of turquoise light energy formed to create a bowstring.

Unicorn pulled back on the bowstring, and at the center of Hawk’s mouth a glowing orb of energy began to form. When the string was released, Hawk fired an arrow made of turquoise light that sailed through the air and struck the puppet Dopant right in the shoulder, causing sparks to fly off as he stumbled backwards.

“Oh yeah, Twilight you are a freakin’ genius!”

Unicorn ran and began firing one arrow after the other. The Dopant was now on the defensive as it called several objects around it to act as shields against the light arrows. Sunset placed all four of her fingers on the bowstring this time, and released. The result was a succession of three arrows shooting out and hitting in either a piece of the stage, pipes, or another car and causing mini explosions to erupt from impact. Sunset knew it was time to end this, so she pressed the button on the side of Hawk and made a slot open up. After taking out the Unicorn Memory from the belt, Sunset placed it into the slot on Hawk and pushed it back down and made Hawk’s eyes glow brighter.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The Dopant quickly brought all the debris it could to the front, creating as thick a shield as it could. However, Sunset could tell that that was not going to work.

“SAGITTA MAGICA!”

Unicorn released the string and fired a massive beam of turquoise light that had an arrowhead at the tip of the blast. One by one the shielding objects were pierced as of ripping through wet tissue paper. In a matter of seconds there as a great explosion from behind the debris, causing it all to fall and silhouetting Kamen Rider Unicorn as the energy from her body dissipated. The onlookers just stared wide eyed at the fight and quickly snapped pictures of the epic scene.

Hawk released the Unicorn Memory, allowing Sunset to reinstall it into the Driver. With the fight complete, Sunset released Hawk allowing him to transform back into his flight mode and perch on her arm. She then petted the avian robot on the head and said, “Good job.” Hawk raised its head proudly from the comment, but became alert when it detected the sound of police sirens. “Let’s get the Gaia Memory and head out.”

Unicorn rushed to where the defeated Dopant laid. When she arrived, Unicorn saw that it was a guy with a Countess Coloratura shirt on, but unfortunately, she could not find the Gaia Memory that had caused the trouble. Unicorn wanted to search longer, but the sirens were getting closer and with a curse, she ran towards her bike, saluted the crowd and drove off with Hawk flying into the distance and out of sight.

***__________________***

The incident at the middle school was all over the news, the one responsible for the attack was apparently a rabid fan of Countess Coloratura, bordering on obsession and stalker like behavior. The man didn’t seem to make mention of how he learned about where Coloratura was during her stay in Canterlot City, nor did he make mention of how he obtained the power to transform into a monster.

Unfortunately, Svengallop was able to spin this into enough of a reason to cancel her other charity appointments, much to Coloratura’s dismay. Currently both Coloratura and Applejack were residing in the same guest room, with Applejack in the bathroom talking on her cellphone with Twilight and Sunset.

[I can’t believe I lost track of the Gaia Memory! That was such a stupid mistake!]

[From what I was able to discern from Shining Armor, the police haven’t recovered anything suspicious other than the normal evidence. The Memory must’ve flew off somewhere after the attack hit.] Twilight stated.

“Hey, so long as Rara’s alright, that’s enough for me, if ya want we can go over that spot with the girls after school,” said Applejack.

[It’s been too long already, I’m afraid someone’s already got it……screw it, I’m heading back there tonight to look for it.]

[Sunset don’t do that it’s late at night, plus there may still be police around the area, what would happen if you got caught?!]

[Just send Hawk to watch over me while I’m there. I’m heading out now.]

“Sunset?!”

[Sunset?]

Applejack sighed. “Ah guess she’s on her way, better send that bird out to watch her.”

[Sunset can be so…ugh! I understand how bad it is that the Memory was gone, but she didn’t have to run of like that!]

Applejack removed her work clothes and pinched the phone against her ear with her shoulder. “Well, that’s Sunset. She’s fiery and can sometimes take on the weight of world, probably a bit of a carryover from the Fall Formal. Probably feels like she still needs to do more good to make up for her past.”

[…Has she…ever told you – any of you – about what she was like before coming here?]

Applejack stopped in her disrobing and actually took a moment to think about that. After mulling it over in her head for a silent minute, Applejack said, “Honestly, no, she never has. Ah mean, we all know she was originally from Equestria, the same place Princess Twilight was from. As far as we’ve been able to learn, it was something to do with an argument between Sunset Shimmer and the Celestia of that world, she was her magic teacher, but beyond that Ah’m not sure what exactly happened. All Ah knew was the Sunset Shimmer of CHS, the girl who ruled the school with an iron fist, as far Sunset Shimmer the pony? Not sure, Sugarcube.”

[It would make sense as to what’s driving her, beyond just meeting my counterpart. I know she still harbors guilt about the actions she’d taken while at the school, but before that…]

“Maybe ya should ask her?” Applejack suggested.

[W-W-What I-I can’t – I mean…]

“Look, Ah ain’t an expert Twi, but you and Sunset seem to have a connection, maybe it’s because y’all went through the same things, or maybe ya just click with each other, but whatever it is, if anyone, Ah’d think Sunset would tell ya about her past if you asked, it’s up to you, Twilight,” said Applejack.

There was silence on the phone for another minute before Twilight spoke, [I’ll think about it, I just don’t want to make her angry and lose a friend because I made her tell me about a sore subject of her past.]

“Sunset’s tougher than she looks, just ask, all she can do is say no and that’s it,” said Applejack.

[Thanks, Applejack.]

The line disconnected with Applejack feeling happy that she may have helped strengthen the friendship between Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle.

***__________________***

The following day saw the girls all gathered in the music room, with Sunset Shimmer looking tired and with bags under her eyes as she laid atop the grand piano that Rarity had brought in back when the band was forming.

“Sunset, you don’t look so good,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Thank you, for pointing that out…I was up most of the night searching the area for that Gaia Memory, but no luck,” said Sunset

“Maybe you’re attack was so super powerful that it destroyed the Memory thingy?!” Pinkie Pie proposed.

Twilight mulled that over in her head. “I suppose it’s possible, we have been encountering some Memories that shatter after use. We’ve been able to determine there are two types, the T2s that Sunset uses, and the ones that Gladmane and that horrible Garble boy used which broke when Sunset used a Maximum Drive.”

“Then isn’t possible like Pinkie said, that it just a breakable one?” Rarity asked.

Sunset opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment. “I don’t know, it felt different. It’s hard to explain, it may be due to my connection with the Unicorn Memory, but I can feel a difference between them now. This one, it felt stronger, it might just be a T2. In which case, it means that either someone picked it up, or it found someone else to be its user. In which case, the only thing we can do is wait and see what they do.”

***__________________***

Another day of rehearsal went on without a hitch. Knowing that the attacker from yesterday was behind bars put Coloratura’s mind at ease, even more so knowing of Kamen Rider Unicorn’s presence in the city. It was quite surreal for the popstar, seeing an actual superhero fighting to protect people’s lives, and going up against a monster. Such things she only saw in movies, she had even met the movie stars who portrayed those heroes during interviews and some guest appearances, but to meet one for real, was exciting. And inspiring for a new song in her head.

Unfortunately, the reality of the attacker hadn’t left her. After hearing that he was a fan of hers and had stalked girls before, it made her realize that there were fans like that, but she knew that. However seeing it and experiencing it were on a different level. Svengallop had managed to use it as an excuse to cancel some of the charity events that Coloratura had wanted to do during the week in between the rehearsals. She didn’t want to think badly of Svengallop, after all, it was thanks to him that Coloratura was able to become as popular and well known as she was when she moved to Manehattan.

Granted she did have to change her image and singing style in order to get to where she was, but Coloratura adapted better than she had thought. “I’m just glad after all this he didn’t make me move out of AJ’s place…” The singer’s heart thumped at the thought of her childhood friend, but the beat was silenced quickly. “Stop thinking about her that way, Rara. You don’t have a right to think about AJ like that…besides…she might not even…”

Coloratura decided it was a discussion better saved for when her life wasn’t as hectic as it was now. The music star thanked her backup dancers and went on to her dressing room to change out to her street clothes to return to the Apple household. As she got closer to her dressing room, she noticed the door was cracked, as she got closer, Coloratura began to hear a voice coming from inside the room.

“I can’t believe that slob! I only wanted him to scare her into stopping those stupid charity events! Not kill her! And to think he had something like this, and used it for that spectacle?”

Coloratura peeked through the crack in the door and saw that it was Svengallop, in his hand was a maroon colored USB device. Svengallop pressed the button on the device and was shocked when it spoke.

< PUPPETEER! >

Svengallop pressed the Gaia Memory against the skin of his left hand, and immediately the energy of the Memory transformed him. Svengallop was donned in a white tuxedo suit, with two long coattails with red lining. His hand had black velvet gloves upon them, monogrammed with a strangely designed “P” letter. His face however was a mask of white porcelain, with silver hair coming off the back, with both eyes that had red paint over them, styled like scars running down both eyes.

“Amazing, yes, I understand now. Fool didn’t know what he had.”

Coloratura put her hands over her mouth, stifling any sound that would come out to give away her position. The popstar slowly backed away, she had to call the police or somehow contact Unicorn about what she saw. But as she backed up, Coloratura bumped against a box of stage equipment, making the electronics tumble to the ground and clatter loudly. Before she could react, Coloratura felt her arms, legs, and waist being wrapped in something that squeezed against her tight. A great force dragged her forward and opened the door, and as she flew in, the door slammed shut. Now the popstar was face to face with her agent turned Dopant, starting into the black holes where his eyes should be.

“Well, well, well, Countess. I really wish you hadn’t heard all of that,” said Svengallop.

“I can’t believe you had that man come there! He almost killed me and the children!” Coloratura yelled.

“Trust me, I had called the police in advance to prevent him from doing that. How was I supposed to know he had a device that could turn him into some kind of monster?! But it all worked out, in fact, better than expected, because I’m the one with the device, and the power it grants me.”

Svengallop waved his hands and wiggled his fingers, all of a sudden, Coloratura could see thin wires shimmering all around them, and all of them came from either his hands or silver hair.

“Puppeteer, makes since. Someone who makes things dance for their amusement, who controls them.”

“What do you want…?”

“Everything that I’m owed! Do you think I don’t deserve the best, same as you? I’m the one who made you a star, talent can only get you so far, but you need to know how to weel and deal, you can’t do that! I can! And I’m the one who makes it all happen, the stage, the special effects, and your image, all of it! And because I do, I demand the best!”

Coloratura thought back to all her performances. She never understood why, but there were always whispers going around that she was a needy diva, how she was requesting things that were either outrageous or wasn’t satisfied with what she had gotten. Coloratura could never understand why that was, she didn’t feel she was requesting anything outrageous, but now. “It was you…you were the one making the demands at each concert! I always got a strange vibe from the coordinators, as if they felt like they had to jump through hoops! Now I understand!”

Svengallop raised his index finger and made the wires coil around Coloratura, forcing her arms back, and wrapping around her body tightly as if to crush her or slice her. “Again, I created the best, so I deserve the best too.”

“So…So what?! Are you going to kill me now or something?! It’ll only mean you having to look for someone else and work all over again! But go ahead, do it!” Coloratura dared.

Svengallop shook his head. “No, no, I won’t kill you, jeez what good does that do me? And I won’t hurt you, no, I don’t want to damage that face or body. We’ll have more shoots for swimsuit magazines and I’d rather not have any marks on you. But there are other ways to hurt you, like say…that hick friend of yours?”

Coloratura’s eyes widened with fear. “Don’t you dare hurt AJ!”

“I will, with this power, I could slice her pretty head off her shoulders and she’d never realize it until she found herself staring at her ankles from the ground. Afterwards, I might just take care of her siblings, and the old biddy, and raze the farm to ruins. With these wires, I can do all of that and no one would be able to trace it back to me! And don’t think I can’t hurt them from far away, I got contacts that could easily hurt them financially and have them living on the streets.”

Svengallop approached Coloratura and looked her dead in the eyes. The fear was there, he knew Coloratura cared for Applejack, probably more than he was comfortable with, and would do anything to keep her safe.

“What do you say? From here on you’ll do as I say. It’s win-win really, I get what I want, and you’ll become a bigger star than Sapphire Shores, and I’ll make sure anyone who tries to stop our progress in that will meet an untimely end.”

“But…” Coloratura’s eyes began to water, tears fell from her eyes as she sniffled. “…Applejack will be safe, you give me your word that you won’t hurt her or her family as long as I do what you say?”

“As your agent, I’m a man of my word. So, do you accept our new contract?” Svengallop asked.

The wires that held Coloratura went slack and released her from their hold, allowing the songstress to fall to the ground, her body was sore from being restrained. Svengallop held out his hand, a gesture to seal their contract. Coloratura looked at that hand, believing she was about to make a deal with the devil. But then again, this deal would keep her friend safe, as well as her family. With a great amount of reluctance, Coloratura reached out and took Svengallop’s hand and shook it, sealing their new contract.

“Excellent, now first order of business…”

***__________________***

“Yer movin’ out?” Applejack asked in confusion.

Coloratura was in her stage wear, with the black veil over her eyes, and her hair done in its long ponytail, and colored a pale pink with a dark violet streak in it. She wore her leather, hot pink, jacket, and leather boots as she walked about and waited for Svengallop to get the rest of her things. “Yes, Applejack, I am.”

“Oh…sorry, guess after that it’s probably best ya do stay someplace with more protection,” said Applejack with a bit of a somber tone.

Coloratura sighed. “No, it isn’t that it’s…” the popstar clenched her jaw as she looked away from Applejack. “…It’s because I’m over this Podunk farm.”

Applejack looked at Coloratura as if she had just slapped her. “Excuse?”

“You heard me! I’m a singer, Applejack! I’m one of the most popular music stars, I can’t spend my whole time playing around in some dirt clod of a farm, and being seen with…country people,” said Coloratura.

Applejack felt a bit of a stabbing pain in her heart, but was then replaced with anger. “Rara –!”

Coloratura turned sharply and flipped her hair as she cut Applejack off, “And stop calling me ‘Rara’! My name is Countess Coloratura! I’m not that little girl anymore, and you need to realize that! It’s been fun, really, but I need to start taking my career seriously instead of messing around here, that attack made me keenly aware of that!” Upon saying that she briefly glanced to Svengallop before relaxing her features. Coloratura reached into her jacket pocket and presented Applejack with an envelope. “Here, this is a check for boarding me these last few days, as well as additional compensation for the repairs to your house.”

Applejack glared at the envelope and slapped it out of Coloratura’s hand. “Keep yer money Countess, we don’t need it.”

“Humph, I figured you were bull headed, but stupid wasn’t what I expected,” said Coloratura. “Goodbye.”

Coloratura began walking towards the car, but before she could reach the door, Applejack called out, “RARA!” She stopped and glanced over her shoulder to her friend who scowled at her, but with tears in her eyes. “Is that how ya really feel?! Ah thought…Ah thought we were friends, Rara!”

The songstress turned her head away and said, “Once upon a time, but reality isn’t a fairytale.”

Coloratura entered the car and Svengallop drove away, she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a defeated and saddened Applejack walk back towards her house, using her forearm to wipe away the tears. Coloratura ripped the veil off her face and began sobbing into her hands. All the while, Svengallop just smiled.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my end of our contract, I won’t hurt her or her family. So now you can focus on just being the star that you are,” said Svengallop.

“Just leave me alone…” Coloratura stated as she cried.

Svengallop rolled his eyes. “Fine, but make sure to clean your face up, you’re ruining your makeup.”

F: Fame of the Diva / I am Rara!

View Online

Saturday arrived, and the Canterlot Central Park was filled with many workers setting up the final pieces for the concert tomorrow. Vendors came out to set up booths for food and to sell merchandise. Of course a crowd was gathering around the area, some too eager to wait and deciding to camp out, of the attendees of this gathering, were the Canterlot Seven, by now the girls were made aware of Countess Coloratura’s remarks regarding her stay with Applejack and everything else. Naturally they comforted their friend, but for Applejack it wasn’t enough.

“Are you really sure this is good idea, Applejack?” Rarity asked.

“No, but it’s somethin’ Ah need to do,” said Applejack.

“Ooookay, because you were really bummed after what that meanie Countess said to you,” said Pinkie Pie.

Applejack stopped and looked to Pinkie as if she was about to say something, but stopped herself before she could. “Look…Ah…Ah just want to look her in the eye, and ask her if that’s how she really felt. Ah just have a feelin’ about this guys, alright.”

The girls looked between each in concern, until Sunset stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Applejack’s shoulder. “I understand…leaving on a bitter note can eat at you for a long time. So, better to make things clear now than to always be wondering, believe me.”

Twilight felt a bit sad hearing Sunset say that, after what she and Applejack spoke about a couple of nights ago, Twilight figured that Sunset was speaking from experience. “I agree with Sunset, we should at least try and help them clear the air, or make up. Making up would be good.”

Rainbow chuckled. “I’m definitely in, but you all probably realize we’re going to get in trouble for this right?”

“Absolutely,” said Rarity.

“Eh, we’re the good guys, we’ll probably get off easy,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Um…I definitely don’t want Applejack and her friend to end their friendship like this.” Fluttershy put on her best determined face and clenched her fists. “So I’ll do my best to help!”

“Great, ‘cause believe or not, I have a plan,” said Sunset.

Oh no, we believe it, the girls thought at the same time.

The Canterlot Seven had made their way to the back of the stage, of course there were police and security littering the area. However, none of them thought to look up and see that a mechanical bird was flying overhead, and watching them with its camera eyes. Down on the ground, the girls hid in an alley and used Twilight’s phone to get the aerial view of the backstage and security points.

“Okay, the equipment here provides good cover for us to move, but not all of us. At most, Applejack and one more person could make it, if they see all of us move they’ll notice. From there,” Twilight pressed a few buttons on the phone and switched Hawk’s eyes to a sonar view, allowing them to see inside, “from there it’s practically a straight shot to Coloratura’s room which is……there!”

Twilight pointed to a female figure in the largest of the rooms, more than likely Countess Coloratura’s dressing room.

“Obviously Applejack is the first of two, but who should go with her?” Rarity asked.

“I’ll go, I’ll make sure they have their talk,” said Sunset as she stepped forward.

“T-There are still a lot of police and security there, how are you going to get past them?” Fluttershy asked.

“Ahem!”

All eyes shifted to Pinkie Pie. “Helloooooo! If there’s one thing that I know how to do, it’s how to grab people’s attention!”

In practically the blink of an eye, Pinkie Pie zoomed away, leaving a smoke trail from where she was to where she went. The girls looked between each other, they knew some things were better left unquestioned when it came to Pinkie Pie, but even they were a bit skeptical that Pinkie Pie could create a big enough commotion to draw the attention of –

*KA-CHOOM!*

*BZZZZT!*

The girls looked up into the sky as several fireworks and firecrackers went off on the other side of the street some ways down. Loud music played, some rock, some rap, and some that sounded like it was meant for kids birthday parties. The six watched as several police and security guards rushed towards the noise, leaving the area that they needed vacant in order to slip in. After a few seconds, Pinkie Pie returned, covered in brown cake batter, and her puffy, curly hair straight and blown back as if an explosion went off in her face.

“Uh…I…what?” Twilight stammered.

“Yeah…I may have meant to just create a little distraction, but ended up making a giant fireworks display, and…”

*BA-BOOM!*

The girls winced and went “eew” when they saw a flood of the same batter come flowing down the street.

“…And I may have also made too much cake batter that didn’t quite bake as fast as I wanted it too…heh, heh,” said Pinkie Pie with a nervous look.

“Pinkie’s Party Terror Tactics aside, let’s go!” Sunset ordered.

Sunset and Applejack dashed for the equipment, diving behind it and waiting a moment to see if they had been spotted. Believing that they had not been spotted, both girls continued forward, moving quickly but carefully as they ran the length of the boxes and amps until they reached the entryway to the backstage area and disappearing from the sight of their friends, and with that it was their cue to leave the area and hope for the best.

***__________________***

Coloratura sat in her dressing room, looking forlornly at her cellphone of a picture of herself and Applejack taking a selfie in Applejack’s room. They both had a goofy look on their face, but were smiling the whole time. The songstress absentmindedly stroked Applejack’s face with her finger, and felt a pang in her heart when she remembered all those things she had said to her friend, probably the only one friend she’d had in a long time. The look on her face was one of betrayal and pain, and anger. But she needed to do that, she needed to make sure that Svengallop wouldn’t hurt Applejack. This was how things were now, and until she could find a way out, she’d have to obey her agent.

Just then, the door was thrown open. Coloratura quickly turned around in surprise, but was shocked to see the person who barged in was not Svengallop like she expected, but rather an old friend. “APPLEJACK?!”

Indeed, the farm girl was now in Coloratura’s dressing room, with the girl, Sunset if she remembered correctly, right behind her.

“I spotted a place where I can hide out, good luck,” said Sunset as she quickly ducked out of the room and left the two alone.

Applejack stared at Coloratura, who was staring back at her with wide eyes. She suspected that this was probably scary for her, a girl making it past all her security and the cops, someone who she had said many hurtful things to, was now alone with her with a lookout outside. Any person in their right mind would assume the worst was about to happen, so Coloratura looking scared wasn’t unwarranted.

“Listen, Ra – uh – Countess Coloratura…I’m not here to hurt you. Ah just…Ah…dang it.” Applejack rubbed her head as she tried to think. “Ah wanted to come here and give ya a piece of my mind…but…shoot…now that Ah’m here…Ah…”

“Applejack you really shouldn’t –!”

“Look!” Applejack interrupted. “Ah understand, Ah know yer a big time star. Ah do. But as much as Ah want to hate you for what ya said to me, parta me keeps holdin’ on to some hope that it wasn’t true. Because Ah can’t believe that that’s how ya really felt when you were havin’ fun stayin’ with us! Ah know that that was the real…the real Rara! Not the Countess! So…”

Applejack began to cry, she didn’t know why she came here in the first place. What did she think this would really accomplish?

“Dammit AJ…” Applejack looked up and was shocked to see that Coloratura was crying too. “…Why can you see through me so well?”

Applejack dared a smile. “Because we’re friends, right?”

Coloratura rushed towards Applejack and embraced her friend crying into her shoulder and saying again and again “I’m sorry”. Applejack returned the embrace, comforting her friend. Unfortunately, Coloratura knew she couldn’t keep this going as she pulled back and tried to compose herself. “Thank you, AJ, but you need to leave, now!”

“Right, maybe we could talk later and –”

“No you don’t understand, you have to leave before Svengallop gets here or he’ll kill you!” Coloratura warned.

Applejack furrowed her brow at that. “Why the heck would he do that?”

“AJ you don’t understand, he set up for that man to attack me! And then he stole this little device – thing – and it turns him into a monster, almost like the one that attacked that day,” said Coloratura.

Applejack realized what she was speaking of now, it was the Gaia Memory that Sunset wasn’t able to locate after the battle. “So he’s the one that took it…Rara, we need to get ya someplace safe!”

“No! If you leave now he won’t hurt you! I can’t…I can’t lose you AJ,” said Coloratura as she held onto Applejack’s arms tight.

The farm girl glanced towards the door. “Ya won’t, Ah think Ah have a plan, but Ah need ya to trust me Rara.”

Coloratura wiped her face and nodded to her firmly.

***__________________***

Svengallop walked down the hallway, feeling pretty good about himself now that he was sure things would go his way. He rounded the corner and stopped before Coloratura’s room, Svengallop was about to knock on the door before he heard noises coming from inside.

“Applejack you really shouldn’t be here,” said Coloratura.

“Ah can’t help it Rara, I didn’t believe a word ya said back there, Ah had to see ya again!” Applejack stated.

“Oh you have got to be kidding me?!” Svengallop barged into the room and saw Coloratura and Applejack quickly rise up from the couch, with the former standing in front as a shield. “I thought we had a deal, Countess?”

“No Svengallop, we don’t have a deal! Look I’ll do whatever you want, just let me see Applejack, she’s the only friend I have!” Coloratura pleaded.

Svengallop rubbed his temples. “I’m trying to work with you Countess, but work must come first, you can’t afford to –!”

“Ah know why you won’t let her!” Applejack interrupted.

The pale man narrowed his gaze. “Oh?”

Applejack put herself between Coloratura and Svengallop. “If ya were a real agent, you’d take her feelin’s into consideration, instead, yer just usin’ her to get what you want!”

Svengallop chuckled, and in a rather demented fashion as well. “And why shouldn’t I? I’m not the only one getting something, the Countess gets fame and money, and I too get to enjoy the finer things in life.”

Coloratura glared at Svengallop. “Like making outrageous demands of the vendors and event coordinators, and threatening them with me leaving, I won’t let you continue to exploit people or me!”

Svengallop sighed in frustration, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out the Puppeteer Memory and pressed the button on the side.

< PUPPETEER! >

The pale mane pressed the Gaia Memory into his left hand and was immediately transformed into his Puppeteer Dopant form. With a flick of his wrist, Applejack found arms being pulled up, and her body along with them and suspended two feet in the air. More wires wrapped around the farm girl, constricting her body and neck tighter with each passing second.

“I warned you, but you wouldn’t listen, so I’ll just break her body and toss her out with the trash,” said Svengallop.

Unbeknownst to Svengallop, all these events were being played out in front of Sunset Shimmer, who was still in her hiding spot. Sunset had already summoned the belt and had the Unicorn Memory in hand. “You won’t be doing that.”

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

A turquoise field of energy formed around Sunset, and in seconds she was Kamen Rider Unicorn. With a flash of her horn, Unicorn teleported from the hiding spot right inside the dressing room, startling Svengallop enough to make him loosen his grip on Applejack. Unicorn quickly took hold of Applejack and reached out for Coloratura. The songstress reached out as well and grabbed ahold of Unicorn’s hand, in the blink of an eye, all three teleported out of the room, with Svengallop yelling out in a fit of rage.

***__________________***

Seconds later Unicorn, Applejack, and Coloratura reappeared on stage before the crew and the crowd. Unicorn released Applejack, who was coughing and wheezing a bit from the strangulation of the wires from earlier. The superheroine looked to her friend with concern, but Applejack waved off her concern. “Miss Coloratura, I need you to get her and yourself to safety, and have everyone here move back!”

Coloratura nodded in affirmation and helped Applejack off the stage and towards the crew who helped her and began moving back away from the stage. Unicorn stood ready, and as expected, it didn’t take long before the Puppeteer Dopant came smashing his way through and onto the main stage for everyone to see. In the glow of the stage lights and sun, it was easier to see the wires now.

“Unicorn, and here I was thinking I was keeping a low profile,” said Svengallop.

“Evil like yours is not hard to spot, subtle as you may think you are, but it’s all over, Svengallop!” Unicorn stated as she pointed at the Dopant.

The Puppeteer Dopant feigned ignorance. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, that’s not my name.”

“Oh is it?”

At that moment, the large HDTV screen that was suspended above the stage turned on and began to play the entire conversation that he had with Applejack and Coloratura, including his transformation and Unicorn’s rescue of the two. The video replayed over and over again, and in the distance, the video had somehow made it to the cellphones of the people in the street and all the people were now looking at the Dopant with disgust and hate for what he had done and was going to do.

Svengallop’s eyes widened in shock, his secret was revealed, and by his own hand no less. “How…How did you get that footage?!”

Unicorn wagged her finger in disappointment. “First rule of showbiz, Sven, there’s always a camera on you.”

Svengallop yelled in rage as he worked his wires to grab ahold of Unicorn. Sunset teleported away, but more wires were loosed from the Puppeteer Dopant like spider webbing. Unicorn fired a magic bolt at the Dopant, but Svengallop apparently learned from the last fight he saw, and dodged her attack. Using the wires, he picked up an amp and hurled it at Unicorn. The masked hero nimbly dodged the object, but watched as it continued to sail towards the people, thinking quickly, Unicorn thrusted her right hand forward and concentrated on the amp. A turquoise aura formed around the object slowing it down considerably, making it land on the ground without as much as a scratch. The crowd cheered in adulation for Unicorn, but quickly gasped.

Sunset turned around and saw Svengallop weaving the wires together into a spear and hurled it at her. The weapon struck Unicorn in the side, sending sparks flying from her armor, and making her stumble back a few feet. Svengallop created sword blades by weaving the wires together and had them attack Unicorn from different sides, more sparks flew from her armor as Unicorn continued to take damage from the Puppeteer Dopant.

Coloratura and Applejack watched this, with the former wincing from the countless blows Svengallop was giving her.

“Don’t you worry none,” said Applejack in a raspy voice. “She ain’t done yet!”

The eyes of Unicorn’s helmet glowed as she raised her hand, gathering magical energy and firing straight at the stage floor. The explosion kicked up a cloud of smoke that made Svengallop hesitate in his attack, unable to see her. But that moment of hesitation was all she needed.

< CYCLONE! >

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The cloud of smoke was blown away as a mighty gust of wind kicked up, within the emerald wind Unicorn had taken on her Mimetic Drive form, Mystic Cyclone. Svengallop conjured more wires and willed them to encase Kamen Rider Unicorn, however, upon reaching the hero, the emerald wind blew harder, creating a sphere of dense air that pushed back against the wires. Svengallop began to panic as he tried desperately to end this fight.

“Svengallop, you wished to exploit a beautiful talent for selfish gains, and sought to ruin a friendship! This will not stand! Dillo!”

In the distance, the crowd parted as something came charging through it. A metal sphere spun like a wheel and raced towards the battlefield, the metal ball bounced up and slipped in between the wires and entered the sphere of wind. Unicorn grabbed the ball and watched as Dillo’s eyes lit up with glee as if saying “Ready when you are!” Unicorn took out her Cyclone Memory and placed it into the Drive slot and pressed it down.

>} CYCLONE! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“Time to restore harmony!”

Sunset, using the power of the wind, tossed Dillo straight into the sky. The mech-animal began spinning even faster, generating energy and calling the emerald wind to wrap around its body. Sunset shot up into the sky, away from the reach of Svengallop’s wires, and took aim.

“AERO SHOOT!”

Unicorn channeled her energy into her right foot and kicked Dillo, the result was a sonic boom that had sent the ball of tornadic energy flying at Svengallop. The Puppeteer Dopant panicked, not sure whether to defend or run, but in the end it was too late. The Aero Shoot struck the Dopant, creating green explosion that lit up the area. Unicorn floated back down to the stage and held up her right hand, Dillo rode the wind currents up and back down, landing right in Unicorn’s hand. She placed Dillo on the ground where the robot animal ejected the Cyclone Memory to give back to Unicorn.

“Thanks, Dillo,” said Unicorn as she petted the mech-animal, much to his delight. “Let’s get that Memory this…time…”

A new Dopant appeared on stage, walking towards Svengallop. Its body was female, covered in solidified plasmatic, ruby red flames, with dark patches over its chest and on its stomach, under its forearms and biceps, and on its inner thighs and calves. The Dopant’s face also had a dark patch, as if it were wearing a mask, but its eyes shined a brilliant sapphire blue. The fiery Dopant knelt down and took up the Puppeteer Memory, which, after having witnessed Sven’s transformation, was indeed a T2 Memory.

Don’t tell me, is she with that ice Dopant?! “Stop right there! I’m not letting you take that Memory!” The fiery Dopant looked back at Sunset, and then towards the crowd. It didn’t take long for Sunset to know what the Dopant was thinking. “Don’t do it!”

The fiery Dopant raised its right hand and created a giant fireball which she fired straight at the crowd. Unicorn and Dillo dashed for the civilians, flying across the way until she was right in front of it. Sunset called on the emerald wind and used it as a barrier to stop the fireball, a loud crash was heard as she slammed her hands against the burning sphere, trying to push it back and keep it away. Dillo entered ball form and rammed it with its body, using the residual energy of the Cyclone Memory to aid Sunset. Unicorn and Dillo struggled against the fireball for a full minute, but suddenly, the fireball dissipated, becoming embers and then nothing.

Unicorn looked to and fro, but the fire Dopant had vanished. “She knew I’d rush to save them, but did the fireball stop because she was out of range, or was she just trying to distract and that’s it?”

***__________________***

The day of the concert came, and several opening acts were going on, meanwhile, Coloratura was freaking out. She had just lost her agent and was quite uncertain about where things were going to go for her right now. She had made the decision to forgo all that Svengallop had developed her image to be, for in her heart she knew that the razzle dazzle was not her style, and it showed in her choice of outfits this night. A black blouse, with a see through lace skirt attached, and navy blue leggings, and around her neck was silver necklace that glittered in the lights of the stage.

“Nervous?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah…I’m going to be showing a different me out there, after the image Svengallop developed, I don’t know if they’ll like the new me,” said Coloratura.

“It ain’t ‘new’, it’s just you Rara,” Applejack placed her hands on Coloratura’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “This will be the real you, your song. If people don’t appreciate the true and beautiful you when yer singin’, then there’s somethin’ wrong with them, not you. All else fails, just sing, from here.”

Applejack placed her right hand over Coloratura’s heart, feeling that it raced faster upon contact. “AJ…later, I want to tell you something, no matter what happens here tonight, will you hear me out?”

“Course Ah will, now get out there and sing before Ah toss ya out there,” said Applejack.

The stage lights went off as Coloratura began walking, slowly, a spot followed her and brightened as she got closer to the stage. Many people murmured about her new look, which was a little more subdued than her normal appearance. Coloratura glanced over her shoulder and saw Applejack standing there, having her back no matter what happens. The songstress took a deep breath and began to address the audience.

“Thank you everyone, for being here after all the chaos of yesterday. When I arrived in Canterlot City, I was reminded of simpler times when I was a little girl, of the friends I had. Sadly, it has also made me aware of what I almost gave up. But then an old friend reminded me what real friendship is about, and she told me that if I was true to myself, I couldn't go wrong! This song may be familiar, but yet, it's totally different. Kind of like me.”

Behind Coloratura, a piano rose up from below the stage and locked into place. The songstress walked over to the piano and sat down, placing the mike in the stand. She took a deep breath and glanced once more in Applejack’s direction. Who mouthed the word “Sing.” Coloratura struck the first chord and did what she did best, she sang.

“🎵I’m here to show you who I am 🎵

🎵Throw off the veil, it's finally time🎵

🎵There's more to me than glitz and glam, oh-whoa🎵

🎵And now I feel my stars align🎵

🎵For I had believed what I was sold🎵

🎵I did all the things that I was told🎵

🎵But all that has changed, and now I’m bold🎵

🎵‘Cause I know~!🎵”

In back a curtain lifted as revealed a string orchestra playing along to her piano’s melody.

“🎵That I am only human🎵

🎵I make mistakes from time to time🎵

🎵But now I know the real me🎵

🎵And put my heart out on the line🎵

🎵And let the magic in my heart stay true🎵

🎵Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa🎵

🎵And let the magic in my heart stay true🎵

🎵Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa🎵

🎵Just like the magic inside of you~!🎵”

“🎵And now I see those colors🎵

🎵Right before my eyes🎵

🎵I hear my voice so clearly🎵

🎵And I know that it is right!🎵”

Coloratura stood up and began singing louder, pouring her heart into this song, showing the world that this was the real her.

“🎵They thought I was weak, but I am strong🎵

🎵They sold me the world, but they were wrong🎵

🎵And now that I’m back, I still belong🎵

🎵‘Cause I know~!🎵”

The audience, so moved by her song, pulled out their cellphones, creating a sea of lights that swayed to her song, tears forming in the eyes of those who felt this song in their hearts. And, whether by some trick of the light, or maybe perhaps the light of her heart, somehow it appeared as if Coloratura was glowing.

“🎵That I am only human🎵

🎵I make mistakes from time to time🎵

🎵But now I know the real me🎵

🎵And put my heart out on the line🎵

🎵And let the magic in my heart stay true🎵

🎵Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa🎵

🎵And let the magic in my heart stay true🎵

🎵Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa🎵

🎵Just like the magic inside of you~!🎵

🎵Just like the magic inside of you...🎵”

When the song was over, the audience erupted into deafening cheers, there was hardly a dry eye in the house. Even Rarity, whose mascara was running, hardly even cared, even the cheery Pinkie Pie cried tears of joy from hearing that song, and not even tough Rainbow Dash could contain her waterworks. Backstage, Applejack was crying her eyes out as well, she turned around when she heard the approaching footsteps of Twilight and Sunset Shimmer, who were also sniffling and wiping their eyes.

“That was beautiful,” said Twilight.

“Sure was,” said Applejack.

Coloratura rose up from her chair, and once she was a safe enough distance away, the piano lowered back into the stage. “Thank you, everybody, thank so much! Now, this next song, is a little more upbeat, I promise. And it’s to honor the hero who saved my life and that of my friend, but not only ours, but everyone in the city! Kamen Rider Unicorn, this one’s for you!”

Sunset blinked at that.

The orchestra was then replaced with a drummer, a bass guitarist, lead guitar, and a keyboard player. On Coloratura’s command the band began to play, and indeed the song was upbeat, with a hint of a heroic theme to it.

“🎵When given a chance, people will run away in fear🎵

🎵But you charge forward🎵

🎵You have the power within you🎵

🎵To turn the darkest nights into brighter days!🎵”

The big screen HDTV displayed an image of Kamen Rider Unicorn.

“🎵Wield the hopes of us all!🎵

🎵Defend your loved ones!🎵

🎵Fight on and defeat the evil before us🎵

🎵Great power sleeps in you, and when it is unleashed🎵

🎵The impossible will become possible…go restore har-mon-y!🎵”

Twilight glanced at Sunset who was blushing up to her ears, despite the song being about her hero persona, it was still her under that mask, and so it was a little embarrassing to hear a song dedicated to yourself. Twilight nudged Sunset in the arm and gave a bit of a teasing smile.

“Shut up,” said Sunset.

“I didn’t say anything.” Twilight replied.

Applejack turned to Sunset as she rubbed the back of her head nervously. “Don’t suppose you can make a little appearance, maybe not close up but…”

Sunset smirked as she pulled out the Unicorn Memory.

< UNICORN! >

Rara could feel the music in her, and people could see it, a shining radiance coming from her once again. The stage grew dark, with a dim light on Rara.

“🎵Dark days are sure come, but despite that

🎵You preserver through the raging storm, of terror and despair…🎵”

The lights shined on again, emitting turquoise light the strobed all around.

“🎵You’re our hero, a guardian against tyranny and injustice🎵

🎵We will cheer your name~!🎵”

“UNICORN!” The crowd cheered.

“🎵Dash, faster than lightning!🎵

🎵Soar, higher than the sky!🎵

🎵Show us a dazzling finisher!🎵

🎵Fight to keep the peace, and when you are victorious🎵

🎵Loyalty, Kindness, Hope, and Love🎵

🎵Will blossom forth…go restore har-mon-y!🎵”

The band went into an instrumental, but as Rara was showing off some of her dance moves, she spotted something in the distance. A figure was standing on one of the towering light fixtures in the distance, with glowing blue-green eyes, and a glowing turquoise colored horn. The clouds parted for a moment and allowed the full moon light to reveal that it was indeed Kamen Rider Unicorn. Rara’s eyes widened with surprise, but she maintained her composure as she now directed the song to the one who it was dedicated to.

“🎵Claim our shining future🎵

🎵Guard us against evil’s might🎵

🎵You are the hero we wished for🎵

🎵But didn’t deserve🎵

🎵When you doubt your strength🎵

🎵Remember we’re here, rooting for you always🎵

🎵You’re our Harmony~!🎵”

Unicorn nodded and jumped backwards towards the moon, but then vanished in a flash of turquoise light.

***__________________***

Sunday finally arrived, again, despite the craziness of last week, Coloratura felt that the concert needed to go on. However, now that her agent was jailed for exploitation and attempted murder, Coloratura was feeling a little lost and not sure where to go now, even as she sat in the orchard of Applejack’s farm, she couldn’t stop thinking of songs, not sure if she would be able to keep doing what she was doing after losing her agent.

“Ya doin’ alright there, Rara?”

Coloratura looked up and saw Applejack walking towards her. “Just thinking about what I should do now, it’s been a week since the concert and I feel so lost…Svengallop was in charge of everything, managing my schedule, booking concerts, sales…everything.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Ya ain’t sorry you…”

“No! He needed to be punished for what he did, especially for threatening you and your family. But, I honestly don’t know what I can do…”

Applejack scratched at her head as she tried to think. “Well…maybe ya can put in a job offerin’ for a new agent? Ah’m sure there are plenty of ‘em who wouldn’t mind takin’ that jerk’s place!”

Rara smiled a little. “I know there aren’t a shortage of them, but now I’m afraid of getting someone as bad or worse than Svengallop. He was right about needing tenacity to go forward in the music business, and he had that, but everything else he did was bad…”

“He made ya change yer style, and now everyone knows the real way ya sing, and they love it, still love it!” Applejack argued.

It was true, after the concert, Coloratura’s concert went viral, her first song and second song. Despite not having her normal stage attire and all the glitz and glam, her fans still loved her singing. It was comforting to Coloratura, knowing that so many of her fans young and old loved her still despite the showing of true self.

“I guess, I just don’t know how to move forward. I mean, I’m very much considering staying with you here, end my career on a high note, no pun intended,” said Coloratura.

Applejack looked at her friend with surprise. “Seriously?”

Coloratura brought her legs up into her chest and hugged them close. “AJ…even while I was in Manehattan trying to make a name for myself, I never stopped thinking about you. You were like a rock, something I could come back to and the harder things got, the more I started thinking of you. Actually the only reason I talked Svengallop into letting me stay with you is because I really missed and……”

Applejack gulped and then sighed. “Ya…Ya like me that way, huh?”

Coloratura winced. “Yes…Do you…Do you hate me for that?”

“One of my friends said ya might, but after hearing what ya said, Ah could kinda feel like it was more than just friendship,” said Applejack. “Ah don’t hate ya, Rara, but…Ah’m sorry, Ah don’t feel like that towards girls. Still doesn’t mean I don’t care about ya, though.”

Coloratura sighed. “I thought so, but I’m not as sad about it as I thought I would be. I guess I knew, but the main fear was losing you as a friend.”

Applejack smirked and brought Coloratura close to her, bringing her arm around to her and making the singer squeak in surprise, and blush like a schoolgirl. “Never gonna happen, Rara. Ah figured Ah could give ya this much. But don’t base yer decision to stay here because of me, singin’s what ya love so ya shouldn’t give up on it.”

“I don’t want to, but I wouldn’t know where to start?”

“Well, if I might give some input…”

Applejack and Coloratura turned their heads towards the new voice, and their jaws immediately dropped. Standing before them was a tall woman, with cream colored skin, goldenrod eyes, and curly sapphire blue hair. She wore a white top hat with a violet band, and a white dress with golden edging and blue gemstones studded at the ends. Of course they recognized this women immediately, you’d have to be totally music deprived to not know her, Sapphire Shores, the Queen of Pop.

“S-S-Sapphire Shores?!” Applejack and Coloratura

“In the flesh, honey,” said Sapphire Shores.

Both girls stood up quickly.

“M-Miss Shores, not that this isn’t an honor, but what are you doing here?” Coloratura asked.

The Queen of Pop walked towards Coloratura with a somber look. “I heard of the nasty business that happened here a week ago, for a blossoming singer like yourself, honey, I found all that unacceptable what that man did. But I was certainly moved by your voice, your song struck in the feels, girl! And that last one, whowee, made me wanna get up and fight some bad guys!”

Coloratura blushed from the compliments from the biggest popstar idol in the country.

“Excuse me, Miss Shores, how did ya find us out here?” Applejack asked.

“A couple of concerned friends brought Coloratura’s plight up to me.” Sapphire Shores glanced over her shoulder and smirked. “What are y’all, embarrassed? Get out here.”

From behind the trees, Sunset and Twilight stepped out, looking a little sheepish.

“They were able to get a message to me about what had happened, and about how you’re feeling right now. And Coloratura, I’d like to help you out.”

The songstress’ eyes gleamed with mirth at hearing those words. “R-R-Really?!”

“The agency that made me who I am today is offering to be your new managers. I promise you, you’ll never go through that again, honey,” said Sapphire Shores. The Queen of Pop noticed how Coloratura fidgeted and was starting to cry and rolled her eyes. “Girl don’t hold back, I can tell you’re a hugger.”

Coloratura rushed towards Sapphire Shores hugged her tight, grateful for the new opportunity. Applejack looked towards her friends, Twilight smiled at Applejack, and Sunset nodded. It was in this moment that Applejack realized just how lucky she was to have friends like them, and like Rara.

During this time of friendship, Sunset Shimmer did not notice, but inside her jacket pocket, the Unicorn Memory glowed, and the sound of a neighing horse faintly echoed.

G: Girl from Griffonstone / The Threat

View Online

At the mall the girls went into a fit of window shopping, grabbing smoothies at the Food Court, and catching a movie, Alien Alicorns vs. Space Pirates. The seven exited the theater with varying degrees of how they liked the movie.

“It was completely, and utterly, wrong!” Twilight stated.

“Oh c’mon, are you kidding?! That movie was cool! With the Alicorns banding together to stop the Space Pirate Guilds!” Rainbow Dash shot back.

“Rainbow Dash, please. How can a race of supposedly super powerful beings be brought to their knees by a bunch of Space Pirates?!” Twilight countered.

“Ugh, they had the Crystal of Tolamar! It sapped their powers! And that Pirate King, you can’t tell me he wasn’t OP as heck.”

“Granted that he was ‘OP as heck’, but you’re telling me that the one thing that could’ve shattered the huge gemstone, was not a powerful spell, nor was it some mystical weapon wielded by the Alien Alicorns, but their little sidekick, mascot alien creature that just so happened to hit it with his horn?”

The girls gave Twilight and Rainbow Dash space as they debated the pros and cons of the movie.

“Well, the over-the-top, special effects and acting aside, I rather liked the costume designs of the characters! They were simply gorgeous, especially the ruler of the Space Alicorns, what was her name again?” Rarity asked.

“Queen Andromeda,” said Applejack.

“Thank you, Darling.”

“Um, I really liked Scruffles, Cosma’s pet, he was just so cute and tried so hard to help everyone,” said Fluttershy.

“Don’t forget about, Cosmic Knight Solara she was totally BA!” Pinkie Pie added, she then slid next to Sunset and gave a wiggle of the eyes to her. “I think she and Cosma might like each other.”

“Well Ah don’t doubt that, after all that time they spent on that jungle planet, and Cosma gettin’ hurt, why wouldn’t they be closer friends,” said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash caught that part of the conversation. “She means that Solara and Cosma are bed buddies.”

“Beg pardon?” Rarity asked.

Sunset shook her head. “She means that Solara and Cosma had crushes on each other, they were in love.”

“WHAT?!” Applejack, Rarity, and Twilight said at once.

“B-But they were total opposites! Solara was a knight, and kind of a rebel. Sure she was smart as whip and could throw down with the best of ‘em, but Ah don’t see how she could…with Cosma,” said Applejack.

“Indeed, Solara was a bit a rough customer. Comsa on the other hand was a refined young lady, she was a Caster, if I believe my terminology is correct. Cosma was abundantly smart, and beautiful in a…reserved, and almost introverted way,” said Rarity.

“But, um, that spell that Cosma cast to empower Solara for the final battle, it’s power was directly correlated to how strongly the caster felt for the one receiving the power. And…um…We did see Cosma’s soul-self hug Solara’s soul-self from behind just before she grew her feathered wings,” said Fluttershy.

All the girls thought back to that scene for a moment, now that they thought about, Solara did look happy when she felt Cosma behind her, even placing her hand over Cosma’s while she was in the embrace.

“Are we seriously discussing the existence of a relationship between two fictional characters?” Sunset asked.

“Why not? There are tons of people doing that as we speak.” Pinkie Pie leaned in to whisper to Sunset. “I think that I get shipped the most with Dashie and Twilight, and I can totally see why! Tee-Hee!”

Sunset had learned to just accept Pinkie as, well, Pinkie. Thanking the gods that she never, ever, had to see what went on in the pink girl’s head. Just then, Rainbow Dash pulled out her cellphone, her happy mood soured as her brow furrowed at the phone.

“What the heck…?”

“What’s up?” Sunset asked.

The fiery haired girl took a peek at Rainbow’s phone and saw she had received a text message stating: [Hope you liked the movie, Dashie. ‘Cause what’s coming next is going to hurt, a lot.]

The others gathered around Rainbow and saw the message.

“Did someone just threaten you?!” Rarity asked.

“It’s probably just a prank text.”

“From a blocked number,” said Twilight as she looked at Rainbow’s phone. “I can probably backtrack the origin of the call if you give me a minute, and I’ll pass it along to my brother.”

Rainbow Dash swiftly took back her phone. “Chill you guys, who would want to hurt me?”

“Some crazy stalker type; them kinda people don’t think rationally.” Applejack stated.

The sports girl rubbed her chin. “Huh, didn’t think I’d get my first stalker until I became a super famous rock star, or athlete, or both.”

“AAAAAAAHHH.”

Screaming echoed out from the far end of the mall, along with some rumbling. At first the girls thought it was an earthquake, until they saw the people up ahead running away from something. In the distance something big and round was rolling through the mall, crushing every object in its path. It was, what appeared to be, a large ball made of metal and rock, about fifteen feet high and eight feet wide. The girls ran to the left, following the long corridor away from the giant ball of destruction, after running like mad for a few minutes, they stopped to catch their breath and braced for the moment the ball would hit the theater. However, much to their shock and horror, the ball slowed down, still spinning, and changed directions, their direction to be exact.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” said Sunset.

The girls began running again, with the giant wrecking ball following after them. Sunset Shimmer had had enough of this, and after checking the area, she dove towards a clothing shop just as the ball rolled past her. Sunset took out the belt buckle and strapped it on, and took out the Unicorn Memory.

< UNICORN! >

“HENSHIN!”

> UNICORN! <

The field of energy wrapped around Sunset and clad her in the armor of Kamen Rider Unicorn, when the transformation was complete, Sunset dashed out of the store and sprinted towards the wrecking ball. The girls were still running away from it, but realized that the corridor soon came to a dead end, where many other people were huddled together realizing that their fate was sealed.

Unicorn’s horn glowed as she reached out with her right hand, a wave of magical energy shot towards the wrecking ball, wrapping it in her aura. Sunset pulled back with her right hand, feeling the resistance of the ball as she tried to pull it back away from her friends and the people. It was uncanny, she could actually feel the wrecking ball pull against her, as if it had a will of its own. The tug of war went on for what felt like several minutes, but in reality it was only a few seconds. The wrecking ball relented and allowed itself to be pulled back, but with whatever sentience it had, the wrecking ball used that momentum to carry itself backwards and hurled itself straight for Unicorn.

“Oh crap!” Unicorn exclaimed.

The Kamen Rider’s horn glowed and in a sudden flash of turquoise light, Unicorn disappeared moments before the wrecking ball hit. She reappeared a few feet away glaring at the ball as it stopped itself in the middle of the corridor. The ball began to glow, shrinking down until it morphed into a humanoid form. It was then that Sunset understood what the ball was, a Dopant.

The creature had a body that was made of part metal and concrete. Parts of its right arm had traces of copper like metal, with concrete rock acting like exoskeletal armor, its right leg seeming to be made of a of the same metal material. The chest was chiseled into the form of pics and abs, made of a sturdy concrete that Sunset had no doubt only mimicked the look but was more than likely far denser than ordinary concrete. The left arm had a metal wrecking ball where its hand should be, and on its shoulders were dark iron looking plates. Long, railroad spikes protruded from its back, six in total, and its head was that of a metal, oblong dome that had only one eye that glowed a savage red color.

“Whoever you are, you need to stop this! That power you have is too dangerous, for you and everyone around you!” Unicorn stated.

The Dopant’s response was taking its right hand and pointing it at its chest, it was as if the Dopant was saying “Hit me with your best shot”.

“You think you’re tough, fine. I’ll call your bluff!”

Sunset removed the Unicorn Memory from its slot, placed it in the right hip port, and quickly hit the button on the side.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Sunset cocked back her right fist, gathering all the magical energies in the air and from herself. The magical heroine dashed down the corridor, closing in on the Dopant in less than a few seconds.

“GRAND IMPACT!”

Unicorn struck the Dopant right in the center of its chest, generating a powerful explosion around them. But, much to Unicorn’s shock, the Dopant hadn’t even budged. The Dopant raised its right hand and wagged its finger in a “tsk, tsk” fashion. That same hand quickly took hold of Unicorn’s right forearm and hoisted her up, the Dopant cocked back its left hand and struck Unicorn in the chest with its wrecking ball hand. The impact sent the masked hero flying as sparks shot off her body. Unicorn rolled onto the floor, clutching at her chest in pain from the powerful blow.

“Damn…I figured its body would be tough, but not that tough,” said Unicorn. “Then let’s try this!”

Sunset took out the Fang Memory and inserted it into the left hip port.

< FANG! >

{< FANG! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Unicorn’s body quickly changed, becoming sharper and spikier, changing into Unicorn Fang Edge. Sunset pressed the button on the left hip port once.

\ ARM FANG! /

Two long blades appeared on Unicorn’s right and left arms, and with a fierce growl she charged for the Dopant. The Dopant seemed to take this form a little more seriously, coming in swinging with its wrecking ball hand. Unicorn blocked the blow with the right Arm Fang blade, sending sparks flying from the sheer power of the impact. Sunset grunted from the reverberation, making her fear that the bones in her arms would break. Deciding to go straight for offense, Unicorn pushed the arm away and began slashing with the Arm Fangs at the Dopant’s chest, arms, and legs, small sparks flew off from each attack that landed, but it seemed to do little more than irritate the sturdy creature.

The Dopant had had enough, breaking away and charging back in with a shoulder tackle, hitting Unicorn hard. The Dopant took advantage of the stunned state of Unicorn, grabbing her by the left wrist and slamming her into the wall. The creature peeled Unicorn off the wall and threw her to the floor, it then jumped into the air and quickly transformed into its wrecking ball form, spinning at top speed as it descended down to Unicorn.

Sunset recovered enough sense to hurriedly take the Fang Memory and place it into the right hip port.

>} FANG! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Both of Unicorn’s Arm Fangs glowed bright blue as gathered her remaining power. “ARM FANG SCHERENSCHRÄGSTRICH!”

Sunset brought both arms across her chest, making both of her charged Arm Fangs slash at the wrecking ball like a pair of scissors. She was fully aware of the whole rock, paper, scissors, situation she was in, only difference is that her scissors were super charged energy blades.

The twin blades struck the wrecking ball, sending sparks to fly in every direction as the wrecking ball grinded against Sunset’s blades. She could feel the overwhelming force brought down on her, causing the ground beneath her to crater with each passing second. Sunset gritted her teeth as her arms began to burn and feel as if they were about to snap if they had to endure this punishment any longer, but thankfully, it seemed as if the wrecking ball Dopant couldn’t take much more either as a loud pop sounded between the blades and created a large shower of sparks that sent the wrecking ball rolling away from Unicorn. The Dopant momentarily returned to its humanoid form, despite not being able to move its face that much, Unicorn could tell it was not happy, glaring at her with malice. It briefly looked down the hall and stomped its foot against the floor before returning to ball form and rolling off.

Unicorn dropped her arms and panted, her body aching all over from the fight. However, she could not stay down long, she had to get up and leave before the regular law enforcement arrived. Unicorn peeled herself off the ground, stood up, and looked down at the approaching people who already had cellphones out, snapping pictures and taking video of the super powered vigilante. Sunset smiled from under her helmet and carefully waved to the people, all the while gritting her teeth at how much her arms hurt. The former unicorn pony could also see the faces of her friends in the crowd, all concerned after seeing her battle the Dopant. Thankfully, the heralding of the police sirens was more than what she needed to spur her to leave. The crystal horn on her helmet glowed, and in a flash of light, Unicorn had disappeared.

Thankfully, Sunset saw that one of the stores at the dead end was a clothing store. Using her teleportation spell, she reappeared in the store, more specifically in the changing rooms. Wincing, Sunset flipped up the switch on the Uni-Driver and removed the Unicorn Memory, cancelling her Rider form. Sunset leaned up against the wall of the changing room and slowly rolled up the sleeves of her leather jacket, she winced again upon seeing the bruising that she had incurred from battle with the Dopant.

Best keep my sleeves rolled down for now, if anyone asks I’ll say I got hurt when I was running away.

***______________________________***

The latter part of the day was filled with questioning by the police, with several people, along with the CHS Seven being among those questioned about today’s events. They decided to keep the threatening text to themselves for now, if this was connected to the Dopant, then the police would be ill equipped to deal with the culprit. Then again, one would argue Kamen Rider Unicorn was as well. Sunset was not able to ride due to her injuries, the vibrations of the bike sent jolts of pain up her bruised arms that made it hard for her to stay on it, let alone ride it. Thankfully, Rarity opted to give Sunset a ride, while AJ and Rainbow Dash hefted her bike into the back of Applejack’s pickup.

At the behest of Twilight, Rarity dropped Twilight and Sunset off at the Sparkle residence, and had Rainbow Dash and Applejack unload her bike there as well. Once they bid farewell to their friends, with a promise to discuss what happened later, Twilight ushered Sunset into her home where they were quickly pounced upon by a worried Twilight Velvet and Night Light.

“Oh my gods, Twilight, we heard what happened at the mall! Are you sure you’re alright?!” Velvet asked.

“I’m fine Mom, don’t worry. Aside from some bumps and scrapes, I’m healthy enough, but Sunset…”

Night Light and Velvet looked to the fiery haired girl. Their concerned looks made her relent as she rolled up her sleeves to show the bruising. “Not very pretty, it looks worse than it feels though.” Sunset poked one of the bruised areas and bit her tongue to stop a curse from flying out as pain radiated from her arm. “Okay…maybe it does hurt just as much.”

“My dear, you shouldn’t neglect that, you should be home resting up. Do you need us to call your parents?” Night Light asked.

“I…I live alone in a loft some ways from here…so no parents to speak of right now.”

Night Light and Velvet looked a little disconcerted by that knowledge that such a young girl lived by herself.

“Mom, Dad, I was wondering if Sunset could stay here for a little bit, at least until her arms heal? She rides a motorcycle and she won’t be able to drive herself home the way she is, if that’s alright with you?” Twilight asked.

Sunset glanced to Twilight with smiled. “Twi you really don’t have to put me up, I can take a bus or –”

“Nonsense,” stated Night Light. “You’re hurt young lady, it would not be prudent of us as adults and parents to just leave you at home alone with those kind of injuries.”

“But…”

“No buts Ms. Shimmer, you can stay with us until your arms heal up. I honestly wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving you alone with that kind of injury,” said Velvet with finality.

Sunset could tell that neither of Twilight’s parents would budge on this, and given how hard it would be to do some of the things on her own back home, it was probably not that much of a good idea to be alone right now. “Guess I don’t have a choice in this matter.”

“Not really dear, no,” said Velvet with a giggle.

“I’ll get the First Aid Kit out and wrap those arms up. If they don’t look any better after a couple of days we’re taking you to the hospital.” Night Light stated.

Sunset tensed. “That’s really more than you need to do for me, and besides, I really can’t ask you to pay for something like that.”

“Young lady, did we ask you to pay us back?” Night Light asked.

“You’re better off just letting it happen, Sunset,” said Twilight.

In the end, Sunset relented to Night Light and Velvet. Night Light had bandaged up Sunset’s arms and given her some over the counter pain pills to help ease the pain a little. After a while, Sunset and Twilight convened in the latter’s room to discuss what happened.

“This Dopant’s out of its mind, if it was the one that sent Rainbow that text we need to stop them, quick,” said Sunset.

“Agreed, we should start a Look Up,” said Twilight.

Sunset nodded in agreement.

The bespectacled girl stood up and held out her hands.

~*~*~*~

In no time flat Twilight was transported to the white space, where an infinite number of bookshelves was laid out before her. “Okay, what should try first?”

---Wrecking Ball sounds like a good start.---

“Look up: Wrecking Ball.”

The bookshelves shifted about, some had left, but there were still several bookshelves left.

“Guess it’s too vague. Next word?”

---Try left hand wrecking ball?---

“Look up: Left hand wrecking ball.”

Several of the bookshelves disappeared and left behind several books, at least a hundred in total.

“Close, but not enough. Was there anything else? Any small detail might help.”

There was silence for several seconds before Sunset let out a sigh.

---Sorry, I can’t think of anything else. We could try threatening text but…---

Twilight placed her hand to her chin, humming in contemplation. It did sound vague, but at the very least it might cut down the number of books and narrow the search. “Look up: Threat?”

Several more of the books faded away into the background, leaving only three behind.

“Sunset that was good there’s only three left now, we just need maybe one more thing! But, something tells me that’s as much as we got,” said Twilight.

---Yeah, we can get a fresh start on this tomorrow. Since that text seemed to work so well, maybe we should follow up on that.---

“I was thinking the exact same thing.”

~*~*~*~

Twilight returned from the Infinite Library and sighed. “Well for now, let’s head downstairs and have some dinner.”

“I second that, I’m starving,” said Sunset.

As they were about to leave, Twilight remembered. “Oh shoot, I should’ve asked Dad if he could drive us to your loft so you can pick up some pajamas.”

Sunset shrugged. “I’m fine sleeping in my underwear, but I wouldn’t mind if could loan me a baggy t-shirt.”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “But…um…Rarity told me you wear a shirt and pajama pants at their slumber party.”

“Well, I was still new to the group, and I didn’t want to make anyone feel uncomfortable. Most of the time that’s what I wear to bed.”

Twilight suddenly felt her cheeks heat up. “Oh, well, i-i-if you-you don’t mind I could see if I could pull one of Shiny’s old shirts from his room – but I’ll make sure to wash it first!”

Sunset shook her head. “Don’t mind at all. Thanks, Twi.”

Twilight watched as Sunset exited the room, she took a moment to contemplate this. Sunset Shimmer was going to be staying in her house, a couple of doors down from her room, wearing a baggy shirt and having only her…her…

“Uh, Twilight, you alright?” Spike asked.

“I’m fine!” Twilight shouted suddenly.

“Ooookay, if you say so.” Spike gave his owner a concerned look before heading downstairs to have his dinner.

Twilight snapped herself out the stupor she found herself in. She didn’t understand why the notion of Sunset sleeping in their guest room like that made her heart rate go up, or why her face felt warmer? Twilight sighed heavily, it was nothing, it had to be nothing, and she just wasn’t used to friendship that’s all. It was natural that her body and her emotions didn’t know how to react properly to close friends, or maybe this was her natural reaction. Then again, when she thought of the other girls in a similar situation, it didn’t have quite the same reaction. Although when she thought of Indigo and Rainbow she felt a little funny.

“Snap out of it Sparkle, there’s more pressing matters at hand!”

“You comin’ Twilight?” Sunset as she peeked from behind the door.

“Yes!”

***______________________________***

Sunset was limited in how comfortably she could sleep. Normally she’d sleep on her stomach or on her sides, but considering the condition of her arms either option would have painful consequences. Thankfully the painkillers that were given to her helped to dull the pain enough that she could at least sleep.

Despite trying to catch some shut eye, Sunset’s mind still couldn’t stop thinking about the fight. How the Dopant took not one, but two Maximum Drive attacks. The only other way I could beat it would be using a triple Maximum Drive. If I use the Unicorn for the initial, Cyclone for the follow up, then that should weaken the Dopant’s armor enough for Fang to finish it. Fang seemed to do more damage, maybe I should lead with that next time? Ugh!

Being a superhero was more complicated than she had anticipated. More so now that this particular Dopant may be targeting Rainbow Dash, one of her friends. Sunset cursed herself, despite having this tremendous power, she was still too weak to completely stop the Dopant, and at any moment that very creature could attack her friend, or any of them while she was resting.

Sunset gritted her teeth and shot up from her bed. She couldn’t just stand by and not do something, damn the pain, and damn the time, Sunset was a woman on a mission. The fiery haired girl made her way to the door and pulled it open with all due seriousness. Only to find out that there was someone on the other side. Shining Armor, who looked like he had just come off duty, stared at Sunset with a half opened eyes. Sunset realized that she was practically wearing nothing under the shirt, having abandoned all but the lower parts of her undergarments.

She stood there, frozen in place, afraid to move. In this moment, Shining Armor was like the T-Rex, vision based on movement, Sunset believed if she remained still, in his tired state, he wouldn’t notice her. After a couple of heart pounding moments, Shining Armor yawned and dragged himself down the hall and to his room. Shining Armor shut the door, and not a word was said. Sunset slowly stepped back and closed the door.

Okay, maybe just go back to sleep. Yeah, let’s do that.

***______________________________***

The next morning, Sunset waited for Twilight to be the one to enter her room, although the bespectacled girl seemed a bit flustered for some reason. In any case, Twilight had brought back the clothes she wore from the previous day, having been thrown in the wash to be ready the next day.

Sunset made her way downstairs where Night Light was setting the table, while Velvet finished preparing breakfast. Twilight went to help her mother and Sunset made her way to Night Light to assist.

“No, no, we need to check those arms first,” said Night Light.

Twilight heard what her father had said and excused herself to check on Sunset. Night Light had Sunset sit on the couch and slowly removed her bandages. Night Light and Twilight were both a little surprised to see that Sunset’s bruises, which were a nasty dark color, were now a lighter shade.

“Wow, they were a lot worse yesterday,” said Night Light.

“Guess they looked worse than they really were,” said Sunset with a nervous grin.

“Well then, I’d say one more night and you should be fine, but if you want we can still take you to the hospital to be sure?”

“Thank you, Mr. Night Light, but at this rate it might not be needed.”

Night Light nodded and went back to help his wife. While they were alone, Twilight sat next to Sunset, gazing at her bruised arms. Sunset could see that curious look in her eyes, her brain already at work deciphering the enigma at hand.

“You wanna know if I used the Unicorn Memory to heal myself, right?” Sunset asked.

“Well, that, or the Memory has some passive ability to heal you.”

“Sad to tell ya, it’s all me.” Sunset rolled down her sleeves and sighed. “Guess I should tell you, when I came through the portal and turned into a human, I think my magic shifted.”

“‘Shifted’?” Twilight asked.

“Since there wasn’t any magic here, all that energy had to go somewhere else. So it apparently went towards my cells, energizing them to the point that they regenerate faster.”

Twilight’s eyes widened at this revelation. “Sunset…are you saying you have rapid cell regeneration abilities?!”

“Nothing like I can regrow an arm if cut off type stuff, probably more along the lines of healing injuries, if they’re not too serious, and if I get the time to settle and rest.” Sunset brought up one of her arms. “I even have denser bones than most people, allows me to absorb more impact, I think that’s a carryover from when I was a pony. Ponies usually have thicker bones compared to humans, and of course stronger muscles. I was a unicorn so my physical strength wasn’t that great compared to an Earth pony, but I won’t say I’m on par with AJ, maybe a half as strong. Twilight…?”

Sunset didn’t know when she had did it, but somehow Twilight had pulled out a notepad and a pencil out of nowhere and had begun scribbling down everything Sunset had said. The movements of her pencil were so fast it appeared like a blur as one page after the other was filled with notes upon notes.

“That would explain how you were able to withstand the constant kinetic force applied to you when you used your Arm Fangs, most people’s bones would have cracked or broken completely. Not only that, but your muscle physiology makes more sense when you’re doing athletic activities, and I take it you haven’t been sick at all since coming here?”

Sunset shook her head.

“So it also translates into your immune system – Sunset you could be a walking cure for all diseases!” Twilight exclaimed with stars in her eyes.

The fiery haired girl was starting to get flashbacks to those alien abduction movies. “Um, mind just keeping that between us…? I really don’t feel like getting poked and prodded.”

Twilight noticed that Sunset was hugging herself, and there was a slight tremble in her voice. It was then that Twilight realized just how inconsiderate she sounded, of course Sunset would be afraid of something like that. She was essentially an alien in another world, if some government men in black came looking for her, they had all rights to treat her as an invading alien, it made total sense now why she was against going to hospitals or nervous when they were in one.

“I’m sorry, Sunset, I-I didn’t mean to sound like I was happy to experiment or…” Twilight looked as if she was on the verge of tears. How could I sound so excited about that?! Great, Sparkle, you messed up a friendship with the one person you who saved you and knew how to help you through it!

Sunset released herself and placed a comforting hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “Hey, hey, don’t get all teary eyed on me. To be honest, I’m kind of glad I told someone. You’re actually the only person I’ve said this to about myself, so at least you know something more about me…that I’m kind of a freak.”

Twilight turned to Sunset and looked her in the eye. “You are definitely not a ‘freak’! You’re kind, strong, considerate, and…and you’re you.”

Sunset blushed from hearing the sincere words that Twilight spoke.

“Can you guys not make out until after I’ve had my coffee…?”

Sunset and Twilight yelped when they heard the voice, they both turned around and saw that it was only Shining Armor. Bags were under his eyes and he looked half asleep. Both girls watched as Shining Armor dredged towards the kitchen and put on a pot.

“Oh honey, you should go back to sleep, you worked practically all night,” said Velvet with motherly concern.

“…That monster’s…on the loose…need to head back…”

Twilight walked up to her brother and looked him in the eye, she then shook her head and turned off the coffee pot. “What did your Sergeant say?”

“What…?” Shining asked.

“Did he tell you come back in the morning, or did you work yourself so much that he told you come home?” Twilight asked.

There was a long drawn out silence as Shining Armor ever so slowly looked away from his little sister’s gaze. To which she used her left hand to guide his face and eyes back to her. After a minute the young man grunted a “yes”.

Velvet and Night Light shook their heads.

“Shining Armor, go back to your and get some sleep, son. You’re no good to anyone if you collapse from exhaustion,” said Night Light.

“But…?”

“No buts!” Twilight and Velvet said in stereo.

Shining Armor eventually relented to his family and began the slow walk back up to his room. Sunset in the meantime watched all that go down with a bit of a bemused expression on her face.

Twilight walked back to Sunset and shook her head as she massaged her temples. “That guy, I swear, he’ll run himself into the ground if I don’t say something. What’s so funny?”

“You kind of acted like you were his wife.” Sunset snickered.

“Oh please don’t start that!” Twilight stated as she crossed her arms. “Okay, so maybe I developed some nonsensical crush on my brother when I was really little…BUT IT’S NOT LIKE THAT!”

Sunset’s grin widened. “Never said it was, harboring some unrequited feelings there Twi?”

Twilight spluttered. “No – I – what? – NO!” Sunset began to laugh at Twilight’s reaction, causing the studious girl to blush red as she puffed out her cheeks. “It’s not funny!”

“Oh yes it is. Ha, ha!”

***______________________________***

After breakfast, Sunset and Twilight decided to visit Rainbow Dash. Thankfully she did not live too far from where they did, so they decided to take a bus to see their friend. During the ride over, they had texted the rainbow haired girl a few times to tell her that they were coming, but had gotten no response. After yesterday’s events they began to worry a little, not sure if their friend had forgotten to charge her cellphone, had on silent, or something worse…

A few more minutes of travel found Sunset and Twilight at the doorstep to Rainbow’s house. Sunset knocked on the door and waited. The door opened and revealed a woman with light-orange hair with lighter highlights, and freckles. She had the same colored eyes as Rainbow Dash, wearing a yellow-orange sweater, and khaki pants. Sunset knew this woman as Windy Whistles, Rainbow Dash’s mother.

“Hello Ms. Whistles,” said Sunset.

“Sunset Shimmer! Oh it’s been awhile since Dashie brought you over,” said Windy.

“Who’s at the door?”

“It’s Sunset Shimmer, and Twilight Sparkle, Dashie’s friends!” Windy answered.

A tall, buff man walked towards them, wearing a polomare shirt, with a white t-shirt underneath that let one see the tiniest glimpse of a rainbow lightning bolt. The man had a five ‘o clock shadow, with pale blue complexion, and rainbow colored hair. His brilliant amber eyes glanced between the two girls and he gave a hearty smile. This man was the father of Rainbow Dash, Bow Hothoof.

“Greetings, small people,” said Bow.

“Honey, everyone’s small compared to you, you tower over most people.”

“Point taken, so, what we can do for ya?”

“We were wondering if Rainbow was in? She hasn’t been answering any of our texts, and after what happened yesterday we’re just kind checking on her,” said Sunset.

Twilight saw what she was doing, Rainbow Dash must’ve not informed her parents about the threatening text she received, and Sunset probably figured the same thing and chose her words carefully.

“Don’t worry, Rainbow actually left with one of her friends a few minutes ago,” said Bow.

Sunset and Twilight glanced to each other, surely one of the girls would’ve sent a text if they were meeting up, right?

“Yes, it was an old friend, I hadn’t seen her in a long time actually,” said Windy.

“Do you know where they might’ve went?” Twilight asked.

“Dashie grabbed her soccer ball and headed to the field a few blocks down the street, they’re probably still there.”

“Thank you, let’s go,” said Sunset.

Both girls waved goodbye to Windy and Bow as they jogged down the sidewalk.

“They seemed nice,” said Twilight.

“They are…a bit over-supportive, but they’re nice.”

Over-supportive, there’s such a thing?

After a light jog down the street, Twilight and Sunset found themselves at the park. They kept themselves at the edge of the park, trying to spot Rainbow Dash, which wasn’t really hard considering the girl had rainbow colored hair, an astronaut could spot her from space. Just as they reached the midway point of the sidewalk, they spotted Rainbow, and she was indeed not alone. There was a girl with her, with white feathery hair with the edges tinted in purple. She was fair skinned, with a light of amount of purple eyeshadow. She wore jean shorts and a black tank top, and had leather, fingerless gloves on her hands. As she ran alongside Rainbow Dash, both were fighting for control of the ball as the other girl smiled fiercely at their friend. Rainbow returned the smile, as she made a sharp turn and stole the ball away from the other girl.

But she wasn’t a slacker, turning nearly on a dime and catching back up to Rainbow. With a swift kick the girl managed to steal the ball back, turn, and run back towards her goal, but Rainbow was catching up. The other girl narrowed her gaze kicked the ball, it sailed for a good five seconds before hitting the net, prompting her to come to a skidding stop.

“Oh yeah, I still got it Dash,” said the girl.

“Yeah, yeah, G, that’s still one-one, how about a tie breaker?” Rainbow asked.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight called out.

Both Rainbow Dash, and the girl called “G”, glanced in the direction that Twilight’s voice came from as she and Sunset approached them.

“You know these two, Dash?”

“Yeah, sorry, you haven’t met them yet. Gilda, these are my friends. Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer,” said Rainbow.

Gilda looked at Sunset with intrigue. “Sunset Shimmer, oh yeah, I think I heard that name before. Weren’t you like the badass of CHS or something?”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head in an embarrassed state as she chuckled. “Yeah…‘badass’ wouldn’t be the first word that people would’ve used to describe me back then. Manipulative, cruel, bully, and some other choice words, but not that.”

“Hey, gotta get respect somehow,” said Gilda with a shrug and then turning her gaze to Twilight. “You I don’t know.”

“Well…uh…I’ve recently changed schools, I used to go to Crystal Prep Academy,” said Twilight.

Gilda scrunched her face at the mention of the CPA. “Ugh, that preppy, uptight, rich kid school?”

Twilight gulped. “Um…yes.”

“It’s okay G, trust me, Twilight’s nothing like those guys.” Rainbow walked up beside Twilight and draped an arm over her shoulders. “She may have been at CPA, but she’s a Wondercolt all the way. And most likely the smartest person you’ll ever meet, ever.”

Twilight blushed at the compliment.

Gilda smirked. “Well, if Dash vouches for ya, can’t argue with that.”

“By the way, what are you guys doing here?” Rainbow asked.

“We were just checking to see if you were alright, especially after what happened yesterday.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “Wait, what happened yesterday?”

Twilight and Sunset looked to Rainbow Dash, who nervously chuckled for a moment before giving the details of the attack by the Dopant the other day. After recounting the events, Gilda smacked her forehead and groaned. “Jeez, Dash, there’s being hardcore and then there’s you. Should’ve told me that happened, I wouldn’t have asked to hang out.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, no, it’s fine! I mean, I haven’t seen you in a long time…especially after last time…”

“Hey, water under the bridge, but what’s this about a text?” Gilda asked.

Rainbow Dash sighed, it was already out there, she might as well show her. Rainbow took out her phone and noticed the numerous texts that Sunset and Twilight had, she gave both girls a sheepish smile and said, “Sorry”, before continuing to her past messages. Rainbow showed the threatening text to Gilda, and watched as her brow furrowed.

“And this came right before that monster attacked?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah.”

“You think the monster did it, how?”

Twilight adjusted her glasses before answering. “I was caught in an attack similar to this a couple of weeks ago. I witnessed as Kamen Rider Unicorn attacked the monster that tried to kill my brother and me, and after she defeated the monster, it turned back into a normal person. Which means whoever sent this, is quite possibly working with the monster, or is the monster.”

Gilda’s eyes widened at this revelation. “Jeez, you weren’t kidding, she is smart. If that’s the case then maybe I can hit the streets for ya, not sure what I’d find.”

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No way, I don’t want you messin’ around with this. Just let the cops or that Unicorn take care of it.” The sports girl ever so slightly spared Sunset a brief glance, knowing that the superhero was with her the whole time.

“Alright.” Gilda walked over to the bench and toweled off before slipping on her brown leather jacket with white cloth lining around the collar. “I’ll be around for a while, so call me if you need anything, or if just want to hang.”

Rainbow nodded.

Gilda walked to Sunset and patter her on the shoulder. “Let’s hang out sometime, too, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Um, yeah, that’d be great.”

All three watched as Gilda walked off, yet, Sunset couldn’t shake this odd sense of foreboding coming from the tough girl.

***______________________________***

After their meeting with Gilda, Sunset and Twilight decided to split their efforts. Twilight was going to work on Rainbow Dash’s cellphone, and try to backtrack where the text came from and possibly who sent it. Meanwhile, Sunset was going to make some rounds talking to the rest of their friends about Gilda. Sunset had hoped it was nothing, but Sunset had learned to trust her instincts, she wished she had listened to them more. If she had, Sunset wouldn’t have jumped through the portal, wouldn’t have hurt so many, or put on the crown.

Fluttershy was the closest in walking distance, so she was to be the first to interview. Of course she sent a text to tell her she was coming, knowing that Fluttershy would probably appreciate a heads up. After an hour of walking, Sunset found herself before the residence of the Shy family. There was a modest garden on the front lawn, cared for by an older woman who was on her knees and tilling the soil as she tended to her flowers. She wore a round sunhat, with a white shirt, thick gloves, and jean pants. Her hair was a curly red, with turquoise colored glasses framing her face. Sunset knocked on the fence and called out to the woman, “Hello Mrs. Shy!”

Mrs. Shy poked her head up from her work and looked in Sunset’s direction, the older woman’s face contorted as she went through some different emotions. It was no secret that Sunset was more often than not the cause of their daughter’s torment back in the day, her constant bullying having brought Fluttershy to tears on some nights. So it was no surprise that Mrs. Shy looked at her with mixed emotions, considering now that she and Fluttershy were friends, but there was still that underlying need to protect their daughter.

“Oh…Miss Shimmer, how nice to see you,” said Mrs. Shy.

“The garden’s looking beautiful by the way, are those honeysuckle and daisies?” Sunset asked.

“Oh, why yes, yes they are, and some baby’s breath, and some couple of rose bushes.”

Sunset knew talking about her garden would at least help in lowering Mrs. Shy’s guard, she had been trying to show Fluttershy’s parents that she was not the same person she once was, but considering the number of times they saw her crying when Fluttershy came home after an encounter with Sunset, changing their perspective would probably take much longer than it did with the faculty and other students at CHS. Bet if I became Daydream Shimmer she’d like me more.

“Well, um, come on in Sunset,” said Mrs. Shy as she walked towards the front door.

Sunset followed the older woman inside, seeing their modest household reminded her of her previous household back in Equestria, but that was the past, this was now.

“Sunset, please wait in the living room while I go and tell Fluttershy you’re here,” said Mrs. Shy.

Sunset nodded and enter the room, sitting on a couch and waiting. While she waited, Sunset spotted someone coming out of the kitchen. A tall, lanky young man, with blonde hair, and a mint green coloring. He wore a lavender shirt and light-blue jeans as swaggered his way over to Sunset Shimmer. As remarkable as it may sound, and despite the young man’s height, this was in fact Flutterhsy’s little brother, Zephyr Breeze, whom Sunset had had the…we’ll call it ‘pleasure’…of meeting during a slumber party at Fluttershy’s house. Zephyr tried to hit on Rainbow Dash so many times during that night that she finally stuffed him in a closet for night.

“Why hellooo~ Sunset Shimmer,” said Zephyr.

“Hey Zeph,” said Sunset in a deadpan voice.

“If I knew you’d be comin’ over, I would’ve slipped into something more stylish, but then again I make anythin’ look good, heh, heh.”

Zephyr took up the empty spot next to Sunset, making her focus with all her might to restrain herself from punching him in the balls. “Yeah…I was just here to talk to Fluttershy, and only Fluttershy.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Sunset Shimmer you don’t have to play like that, if ya wanted to come and hang you could have, no need to front,” said Zephyr as he slowly inched his way towards Sunset.

“Heh, heh…not for nothing Zephyr, but I thought Rainbow Dash was the object of your affections?” Sunset asked.

“Oh now, Sunny, there’s enough Zephyr Breeze to go around,” said Zephyr as he ran his hand through his hair and shot her a handsome smile. “But just because Dashie has a crush on me, don’t mean I can’t keep my options open and not appreciate a girl of such…”

“Zephyr! Breeze!”

Sunset and Zephyr quickly turned their heads and looked behind the couch. Standing there was a slightly perturbed Fluttershy, arms crossed as she looked down at her little brother. Despite Zephyr being the taller of the two siblings, it did nothing to diminish Fluttershy’s authority as the big sister. It was these rare times that Sunset got to see Fluttershy’s more assertive side, and it was quite fun to watch.

“H-Hey Sis…”

“Zephyr, I’ve told you this many times, stop hitting on my friends. Especially after that stunt you pulled two months ago.”

Zephyr gulped.

Sunset remembered that incident, she remembered it well. Zephyr, after getting stuffed in a closet, decided to up his game and tried to peek in on the girls, who at that time were six in total. Now knowing that his sister was among the group did not seem to bother him in his teen boy pursuit of peeping on the girls and trying to catch them doing something that most boys his age believed girls did at slumber parties. He was found out, rather easily at that, and was given a severe tongue lashing by Fluttershy, her yelling could be heard from the other side of the room, followed by a swift, high pitched yelp. Apparently Fluttershy had given the family jewels a swift punt kick.

“Heh, w-w-well will you look at the-the time! I gotta be going! Bye Sunny! Love ya, Sis, bye!”

With that, Zephyr Breeze got up off the couch and rushed past the two girls and right out the door. Fluttershy sighed heavily. “I’m sorry about my brother, Sunset. He’s really a nice guy, but sometimes…most of the time…”

“He’s a player?” Sunset asked.

Fluttershy sadly nodded to that description.

“Don’t worry about it, I’ve seen and endured much worse than that.”

Fluttershy giggled and motioned for Sunset to follow her. Once the two ascended the stairs and entered the room, Fluttershy closed the door. Sunset glanced about the room, still as modest as she remembered it. The walls had a warm pink coloring to them, with a soft tan coloring, a white bedspread and awning with yellow embroidery. There were several posters that showed deer, birds, and other such creatures. A little white rabbit jumped out from out of nowhere and right into Sunset’s arms, hidden by the white bedspread.

“Good to see you too, Angel,” said Sunset as she sat down on Fluttershy’s bed. “Your mom still doesn’t like me, huh?”

Fluttershy sighed a little. “Well…I’ve tried to tell her, and Dad, that you’re not the same person that you once were. Although…”

Sunset sighed as well and waved her hand. “It’s fine, I don’t really expect your folks to just up and trust me just like that.”

“But we did,” said Fluttershy.

“Yeah, you guys did…” Sunset looked down at Angel and petted him gently. “And I’ll never thank you guys enough for that, especially you. So I can understand why they don’t want to, eventually I’ll be able to show them I’ve changed.”

Fluttershy nodded and sat beside her. “So what did want to talk about?”

“I was wondering what you know about a girl named ‘Gilda’?”

Sunset looked to Fluttershy, whose eyes were wide and hands clutching at a handful of her long pink hair. The fiery haired girl, unfortunately, recognized this reaction, it was the same reaction she saw whenever she approached Fluttershy back before Princess Twilight arrived. This was the reaction of someone who was afraid. As if sensing his owner’s distress, Angel hopped out of Sunset’s arms and to Fluttershy who then hugged him close, finding comfort in her little furry friend.

“Shy…what’s wrong?” Sunset asked.

“Um…it’s…well…Gilda wasn’t very nice and…I didn’t know she was back,” said Fluttershy.

Sunset gently grasped Fluttershy’s hand, giving it light reassuring squeeze and looked into her eyes. “Fluttershy, you don’t have to be afraid, I’m here. But I need to know what’s up with Gilda, given that this Dopant has popped up, the text Rainbow got, and now this Gilda girl showing up out nowhere, things are not adding up. If you know something about her, please tell me.”

Fluttershy let Angel settle on her lap as she rested her free hand on his back. “Gilda…Gilda and Dashie were friends a long time ago, Gilda lived in Griffonstone, you know about that place, right?”

Sunset winced, letting that settle into her mind. She remembered back when she was in Equestria that Griffonstone was a proud city, but fell from grace when they lost their idol. Due to that, most of the griffons she had met had either left Griffonstone and were nicer for it, or stayed behind not willing to leave, and because of it had become quite greedy and hostile towards others. Apparently that translated almost as well to this parallel world, Griffonstone was a town adjacent to Canterlot City and was notorious for having a bad rap. With some of the past mayors of Griffonstone being crooked, and the gang problems going on, it was a rough place to live, and the people who came from there just as rough. Which certainly explained the bad girl vibe she got from Gilda.

“Yeah, I am familiar,” said Sunset.

“Gilda never really liked any of us…Dashie and her weren’t able to keep much in touch with each other after going to the Junior Speedsters Camp, so after a while when Dashie and Gilda finally met up it was a happy reunion. For both of them. However…Dashie didn’t see how much she had changed until she introduced us to her. She kept trying to keep us away from Rainbow Dash, either occupying her to the point where she forgot about us, or outright threatening us to stop bothering them.”

“It kind of all came to a fever pitch when Pinkie Pie threw a “Get to Know Gilda party”. Unfortunately it fell on April Fools Day, and you know how Pinkie and Rainbow love pranks.”

Sunset groaned, she still to this day could not open her locker without taking a cautious step back, lest she get hit with a confetti cannon, spring loaded pie, or whatever kind of crazy trap contraption they managed to stuff into her locker. With no one noticing, mind you. “Oh yeah, I know all too well.”

“So…during the party, Rainbow Dash set up a lot of prank traps. Now, she meant them to be random, anyone could’ve walked into them, but it just so happened that Gilda triggered each one and ended up looking silly. She lost it and yelled at us, calling us ‘lame’ and ‘losers’, and she did it all with this really…really scary look on her face. If it wasn’t for Rainbow being there, I…I don’t know what she really would’ve done. However, Rainbow told Gilda it was her who set up the pranks, of course she said how it was dumb luck she set them off, but in doing so, Dashie saw how much Gilda had changed. And that’s when Gilda left her, she stormed out and we never heard from her again…until now.”

Sunset mulled over that information. Was it really that simple, or just an amazing coincidence that Gilda shows up after they all survived a Dopant attack? Although she did seem a little off put when she saw the text Rainbow got…Ugh, I don’t want to start accusing her just because of her past…that’d really be the pot calling the kettle black! Besides, she deserves a second chance, same as I was given.

Fluttershy placed her hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “Sunset, is everything okay?”

Sunset furrowed her brow as she continued to think. “Probably something, maybe nothing. A lot of circumstantial things piling up with no real proof, yet. Thanks Fluttershy, I’ll be keeping an eye on Gilda, text the others to make sure that they know.”

***______________________________***

“Is it done yet?” Rainbow asked.

“No.”

“How about now?”

“No.”

“You doing that right?”

“I assure you, I am.”

“Okay……Is it done, now?”

“RAINBOW DASH!” Twilight exclaimed.

The rainbow haired girl backed away from Twilight, who was currently sitting on Rainbow Dash’s bed as she worked to trace the origin of the threatening text. Unfortunately, Rainbow Dash had made it a habit of looking over Twilight’s shoulder and constantly asking her if it was finished tracing, like a child on a long car ride. Twilight took a deep breath and gave her friend a serious look.

“This is a complicated procedure, I’m practically hacking into your phone, and from there, your service provider, and back tracking from there where the message sent via triangulation from the cell towers in the area at the time the text was sent.”

Rainbow Dash tilted her head to the side with a confused look on her face.

Twilight sighed heavily. “Just play a videogame or something, I’ll tell you when it’s done.”

“Alright, alright,” said Rainbow Dash as she popped in a game and began playing. “So, what’s up, you like Sunset?”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “W-W-W-Why would you ask me something like that?!”

“Hey, no need to be all embarrassed. Just a question, not like I can judge,” said Rainbow.

Twilight crawled to the edge of the bed and looked at Rainbow. “What can’t you judge?”

“I’m bi, Twi. So I can appreciate a hot girl when I see one, and Sunset is hot.”

Twilight’s face was heating up. “I…I…How can you say something like that?! She’s your friend too!”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Yeah, I know, but she’s not my sister or cousin or anything like that, so it’s not weird. And there’s no rule saying we can’t date each other. Heck, I’d date you.”

Twilight jumped up and quickly backed up all the way to the head of the bed. “W-W-Why would say that?!”

“Why do you keep acting like that?” Rainbow asked.

“Because you’re saying things like that! Why wouldn’t I feel flustered?!” Twilight shot back.

“I said I would, I never said I’d make you.”

“Not the point!”

*Beep-Beep*

Oh thank gods, perfect timing! Twilight thought.

Twilight went back to her computer and quickly typed at the keyboard, it seemed that the triangulation had found something. Rainbow Dash looked and saw that Twilight had gone quiet, when she got up Rainbow saw that the computer was running numbers, with a map of Canterlot City and three tower structures forming a triangle. “It’s working now right?”

“Yes, it’s zeroing in on the phone, and once I’ve found it, we can track down the Dopant!” Twilight stated.

Rainbow pumped her fist and watched as the screen zoomed in bit by bit as the location of the perpetrator was locked on. After a minute both girls’ blood began to run cold.

“Twi…that’s my house.”

“No, that’s in front of your house!”

Suddenly, the wall and window of Rainbow Dash’s room exploded out. Rainbow quickly grabbed Twilight and threw the both of them to the floor on the other side of the bed. Wood, glass, and plaster showered the area as a dust clouded the room. Both girls coughed from the thick cloud, but managed to get up to their feet. There was a stampede of footsteps heading for the room, and in the next moment Windy and Bow had thrown open the door and gasped in horror at the damage. Bow quickly rushed to his daughter’s side while Windy went to Twilight, helping the girls back their feet.

“Rainbow, are you alright?!” Bow asked.

“I’m alive,” said Rainbow.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Windy asked.

“I…I think so, but we need to get out of here now!” Twilight warned.

The adults wasted no time in getting both Twilight and Rainbow Dash out of the house, but unfortunately, something was waiting. Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles’ eyes bulged at the sight of the Dopant, standing a couple of yards away as it slowly made its way towards them. Bow’s paternal instincts took over, putting himself in front of his family to protect them, but the Dopant did not seem impressed as it smacked its wrecking ball hand into the flat of its right hand.

Rainbow Dash growled, having had enough and ran until she was at the edge of the sidewalk and yelled at the Dopant, “What do you want from me?!”

The Dopant stopped walking, as if it became hesitant in its actions.

Fortunately, that brief moment of time was all that was needed.

< UNICORN! >

The Dopant was then assailed by several bolts of turquoise light that exploded off its body upon impact, although there was barely any damage, the attack did manage to push back the Dopant as it was caught off guard by the attack. All four looked to their lefts and watched as Kamen Rider Unicorn came charging in, right hand glowing as she loosed another bolt of light. This bolt managed to strike the Dopant in the face, further disorienting the creature.

Now or never!

Unicorn took out the main Memory and placed in the right hip port, and slamming down on the button.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The Unicorn’s right fist glowed with magical might as she charged in for her attack, however, the Dopant saw the attack coming and readied itself to strike back. But at the last second, Unicorn’s horn flashed and the Kamen Rider disappeared. Another flash went off, revealing Unicorn who had teleported behind the Dopant.

“Warp Grand Impact!”

Unicorn slammed her fist into the middle of the Dopant’s back, sending sparks flying as it pushed back against the Dopant. The creature released an enraged growl, as it whipped around and prepared to attack. But Unicorn managed to jump back, and pulled out the Cyclone Memory.

< CYCLONE! >

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A whirlwind kicked up, and transformed Unicorn into Mystic Cyclone form. Unicorn wasted little time in placing that same Memory into the opposite hip port and slamming down on the button.

>} CYCLONE! MAXIMUM DRIVE {<

A tornado of emerald wind formed around Unicorn, she floated into the air, soaring higher. She raised her left arm into the air, holding straight like a blade. The wind formed around that arm, and once wrapped around, the remaining emerald wind propelled her forward, faster than what the Dopant was able to counter as Unicorn brought down her left hand.

“Whirlwind Cutter!”

Unicorn struck the front of the Dopant, and raked her hand down in a full on slash. The energized wind created a cutting vacuum force that continuously slashed at the Dopant and sent even more sparks flying and made the Dopant stumble backwards. Unicorn panted, the multiple Maximum Drives was putting strain on her body, but she had to endure, the Dopant looked as if it wasn’t able to take the multiple Maximum Drives. Then again, it doesn’t look like I can either…C’mon Sunset, you’ve almost won!

Unicorn took out the last of her Memories, and inserted it.

< FANG! >

{< FANG! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

In a flash of blue and turquoise light, Unicorn transformed into Fang Edge. Unicorn growled as the wild power of the Fang Memory invigorated her, but even still, she was feeling the hurt all over her body. But this was the last resort. Unicorn pressed on the left hip port button three times.

\\\ HORN FANG! ///

Unicorn’s horn grew, becoming elongated and sharpened to a point. She then switched to the right port and slammed down on the button.

>} FANG! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

This has to work!

Unicorn jumped into the air as her horn gathered energy and became a long glowing blade, at the same time, the Dopant transformed into its wrecking ball form, spinning at tremendous speed as it built up momentum. The Kamen Rider spun once in the air and descended down, leading with her glowing horn blade. The Dopant countered by jettisoning itself towards Unicorn at full spin.

“FANG KLINGENSCHNEIDER!!!”

The glowing blade and wrecking ball collided in midair, and immediately upon contact a large explosion took place, creating a blinding flash of light, followed up by flames and a large smoke cloud that obscured both Unicorn and the Dopant. After a few seconds the wrecking ball was sent flying way into the distance, changing back into its humanoid form and landing some ways away out of sight. However, Unicorn fell straight down and landed right in Rainbow Dash’s backyard. Twilight and Rainbow Dash glanced to each other, worry etched onto their faces.

“Mom, Dad, call the police!” Rainbow Dash stated before rushing towards the backyard.

Twilight didn’t waste any time with explanations as she took off after Rainbow Dash. Both girls entered the backyard through the house, and saw a small crater were Kamen Rider Unicorn landed. She was still in Fang Edge form, but the armor was beat up and had blackened areas of damage. Twilight and Rainbow slowly approached Unicorn, not sure how to help her, but just then, the armor glowed and transformed into particles of light, revealing a very beat up Sunset Shimmer underneath. She was gritting her teeth, biting back the pain of using three Maximum Drives, her head was also bleeding a little, with a trickle running down her left eye. Twilight’s eyes widened with fear, Sunset was badly hurt, panic began to overtake her, she didn’t know what to do, she didn’t have the necessary medical knowledge to help she –!

*SMACK!*

Twilight lurched backwards and winced as her left cheek erupted with a stinging pain. The bespectacled girl looked to Rainbow Dash who was glaring at her, she seemed just as panicked as Twilight, but somehow wasn’t completely freaking out.

“Sparkle, get a grip! We need to get Sunset some help!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

Twilight shook her head and was about to go to ask Rainbow’s parents for help, that is until she remembered what Sunset had revealed to her about her body. “No…w-we can’t! We have to get her out of here, we need to move her to someplace safe!”

Rainbow looked at her friend incredulously. “Are you kidding me?! She’s bleeding from her head, and she looks like she literally lost a fight with a wrecking ball, and she did! Sunset needs a hospital!”

Twilight grabbed ahold of Rainbow’s shoulders, gripping them hard as her body trembled. “Rainbow Dash, please, I know she needs a hospital, I know that! But trust me when I say that even if we did, it would only make things worse for her!” Rainbow had a confused look on her face. “I know it sounds crazy, but we just need to get Sunset someplace safe for the time being, I’ll explain later!”

Rainbow Dash looked to Sunset, and then back to Twilight. Part of her knew that Sunset needed to see a doctor, every sports injury she ever received and doctor who treated Rainbow told her that bleeding from the head like Sunset was is bad. Twilight may not be a doctor, but surely even she knew this was not good? And yet, the former Crystal Prepper was vehement that Sunset not go to a hospital. Her mind told her that Twilight was new to their group, and maybe didn’t want to get into trouble? But the look in her eyes was serious, almost knowing. In the end, Rainbow Dash relented.

“Fine, where do we even take her?!” Rainbow asked. “Cause if you haven’t noticed, my place is kind of trashed.”

*Beep-Beep!*

Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked up and saw a yellow bug car. They heard a door open and immediately saw someone jumping up and down, waving their hands frantically. Rainbow rushed to the fence door and opened it to reveal, Fluttershy.

“Fluttershy?!” Twilight and Rainbow exclaimed.

“There’s no time! Help her into my car!”

Without hesitation, Twilight and Rainbow Dash carefully helped Sunset into the back of Fluttershy’s car. Once loaded, Fluttershy peeled off down the alleyway and rounded the corner out of sight. Twilight sighed and then looked to Rainbow Dash as an uneasy expression befell her face. “I hope you know what you’re doing, Twi. If something happens to Sunset…”

“Trust me, please Rainbow, I know it’s crazy, but…” Twilight wanted to tell her that Sunset had a regenerative ability, as bad as she was Twilight was hoping that ability would be enough to get her back on her feet. Telling Rainbow would dispel her worry, but the fact that Sunset Shimmer hadn’t told her friends meant she was keeping it a secret, and Twilight was the only one who knew. “I can’t really say.”

Rainbow released a frustrated sigh. “Let’s get back to my folks, and then we’ll see about checking on Sunset.”

***______________________________***

A smoldering object fell from the sky and landed in Canterlot Scrap Yard, plowing through several heaps of twisted metal until it came to a full stop against an old van, imbedding itself into its side. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed to be the Dopant, the creature growled as it tore itself out of the van and huffed. The Dopant’s body began to shift and distort until it became more human, female. When the energy distortion faded, it revealed a girl with a brown leather jacket, Gilda. In her left hand she held a Gaia Memory with the letter V on it. The bad girl looked a little in pain as she rubbed her left shoulder.

“Damn that superhero freak, I almost had her…!”

“Oh yes, you really did, up until she completely owned your ass.” Gilda saw the shadow of a bird fly overhead, and frantically looked about. Blue feathers began to cascade down around the area, until Gilda heard a thumping sound behind her. She turned around and saw Night Glider sitting on the van she had peeled herself off of it. “Admit it, she totally blitzed you and you couldn’t do a damn thing.”

Gilda huffed as she rubbed her shoulder. “You gave me this damn Memory thing, shouldn’t I be strong enough to beat that horned superhero wannabe?!”

“Hey, I warned you, Kamen Rider Unicorn took down the last guy we gave that to, and he made the mistake of just going full throttle out in the open, same as you,” said Night as she hopped off the van.

“They don’t know it was me! I used a burner phone!”

“Did you toss it?”

Gilda snapped her eyes to her coat pocket and cursed under her breath.

Night Glider smirked. “Thought so, and that’s why you went psycho on her house?”

Gilda stamped her foot and glared at Night Glider. “I had to do something! That damn nerd was going to do some techno crap that would trace it! I had to stop her!”

Night raised an eyebrow at that. “You really think this friend of hers is that smart?” The midnight blue girl walked up to Gilda and reached into her jacket pocket, taking out the cellphone and throwing it to the ground hard, and following up by stomping it. “There, get a new one. But next time, don’t play around with Unicorn. End her. I gave you the T2 Memory, but that doesn’t mean I’m here to bail you out if things go south for you.”

Gilda shoved past Night Glider. “I never asked you to, there’s only one person who I can rely on…and she’s surrounded by losers…I need to show her, only I can be at her side…can…” The rough girl continued walking on, ignoring Night Glider.

“Tch, you’re so lame. You’re just a scared little girl on the inside who lost her friend and doesn’t want to share. But hey, that’s fine, that Memory will benefit from this whole thing anyway.” Night Glider reached into her pocket and pulled out her Gaia Memory.

< BIRD! >

G: Girl from Griffonstone / Steel Resolve

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Fluttershy drove down the road, trying to keep a low profile as she did. Every few seconds she would look in her rearview mirror to check on Sunset, and each time she would wince when she heard her friend grunt in pain. The pink haired girl so badly wanted to take her to a hospital, but Twilight’s warning for her not to take Sunset Shimmer to a hospital rang in her head. She couldn’t imagine Twilight purposefully denying Sunset help out of fear of her being caught as the Kamen Rider, it had to be something else. Sunset began to stir, coughing a little as Fluttershy came to a stop before a red light.

“Fluttershy?” Sunset groaned.

“It’s me Sunset,” said Fluttershy.

“Sorry for…for bailing on you like that.”

Fluttershy remembered, after talking with Sunset she had offered her friend a ride back to Rainbow Dash’s house, considering Sunset couldn’t ride her bike with her injured arms. During the drive, Sunset and Fluttershy spotted the Dopant attacking Rainbow Dash’s house. Sunset had quickly left the car and transformed to fight the Dopant, meanwhile Fluttershy remained close by, watching the battle until the very end, seeing Sunset land in Rainbow Dash’s backyard. Spotting her two friends running into the backyard, Fluttershy drove back there, and rest was history.

“I see…ugh, I feel like crap,” said Sunset.

“Sunset, I-I don’t know what do right now…I know I should take you to a hospital, but Twilight said not to! Sunny, you’re bleeding and…and…I’m just really scared for you right now,” said Fluttershy in a trembling voice.

The fiery haired girl felt her heart ache, Fluttershy really cared for everyone, and Sunset knew seeing her friend in this state was probably tearing her apart. “Shy, I know it doesn’t make much sense right now, but trust me, my body will heal quickly. I just need to rest up a bit, sorry, but can you just drive around for a little while?”

“W-Why? I could take you back to my house,” said Fluttershy.

“Thanks, but Twilight’s folks wanted me to stay over a couple of nights, and if I come back looking like I am, they’ll worry, and then I’ll be forced to go to the hospital! So for now, like I said, just drive around, I should be able to walk on my own after an hour or two.”

Fluttershy was still skeptical about this, every cell in her body was telling her to ignore this and drive straight to the ER. But there must’ve been a good reason that she didn’t want to go, either out of fear or something else, Fluttershy wasn’t sure, but it was something big that Sunset Shimmer didn’t feel like divulging at this time. “If you start to get any worse, I’m going to the ER, I don’t care what you or Twilight say.”

Sunset chuckled. “Whatever you say, ‘Mom’.”

“I’m not joking,” said Fluttershy in her stern voice.

Sunset knew she wasn’t kidding, but thankfully, she could feel that her body was healing itself as the aches and pains, and the throbbing in her head was lessening as the minutes passed by. “Alright, I understand Fluttershy.”

***______________________________***

Rainbow Dash had bid Twilight farewell, still skeptical that Sunset was alright, but she had to believe that she was. Sunset Shimmer was tough, and an obvious fighter, so there was no way she could stay down. Rainbow helped her parents with packing some essentials, as their house was now technically a crime scene, and a bit structurally unsound after getting part of the second floor bashed in, her family was setup with temporary housing headed by PhoenEXE Corp. for victims of disaster. Apparently they were making a killing due to the recent earthquake and now Dopant attacks.

In either case, Rainbow Dash and her family were taken by police escort to the house that was designated for them. Thankfully it wasn’t too far from CHS, and was two stories tall, a “cookie cutter” home as some would call it. Rainbow was helping her parents get their luggage in, when she heard a familiar voice.

“Rainbow?”

The prismatic girl turned to her left and watched as Gilda walked under the streetlamp. “Gilda? What are you doing here?”

Gilda shrugged. “I roam around here from time to time, but what are you doing here?”

“Heh, our house got attacked by that monster thing I told you about, wrecked my room and messed up some of the house. So for now we’re shacking up in here until the cops say it’s okay for repairs to start,” said Rainbow.

“Damn…” Gilda walked to the SUV and pulled out a couple of bags. “Let me help out a little.”

Rainbow Dash smiled as she and Gilda helped to bring in the last of the luggage, all the while trading stories about what has happened, Rainbow had even told Gilda about the magic that had shown up in CHS. The two of them settled in the backyard and continued on where, of course, Gilda didn’t believe it at first, at least until Rainbow kindly took out her guitar and played a short tune, making her ears and wings appear. The tough girl just sat there on the lawn chair, mouth agape at seeing her friend with pony ears and feathered wings, and a hair extension that made it look like she had a pony tail.

“Jeez, I leave you for a few months and your school becomes crazy magic central,” said Gilda. “And you’re saying that Sunset Shimmer became a demon?!”

Rainbow put down the guitar, and in an instant, her pony up ended. “Yeah, but then she became some kind of angel thing, it was freakin’ awesome!”

“Heh, you got yourself some weird friends, Dash, really weird.”

Rainbow sat on the opposite lawn chair and reclined back. “Yeah, I do, and almost everyday is something crazy and exciting.”

Gilda glanced to Rainbow. “This whole thing count?”

Rainbow winced. “Eh…not exactly, I mean, those other times people could’ve gotten hurt, but we managed to stop it before it got too crazy, and it was happening at our school. Now though, this mess with monsters popping up at random is worse, especially when we don’t know if it’s something to do with magic or something else. I just…I just hate not being able to do anything!”

Gilda sighed. “Same old Dash, wanting to be a hero.” She then looked to her left hand and narrowed her gaze. “But…you can’t save everyone…”

Rainbow Dash turned to her side. “G, what happened to you? I mean…you kinda stormed away and I couldn’t find you after that. So…I was worried until you showed up out of nowhere. Did you go back to Griffonstone?”

“Tch, you say that as if I had someplace else to go,” said Gilda as she stood up. “I learned one rule in Griffonstone, anybody who grows up there knows this rule. ‘The one and only person you can count on, is yourself’, and Griffonstone drills that into your mind and soul on day one. But you…you were different, you didn’t grow up in Griffonstone, but you were still cool, confident, and didn’t take crap from no one! Ugh, just tell me Rainbow, why do you hang out with those girls?!”

Rainbow Dash got up from her chair and looked at Gilda with an incredulous gaze. “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t I?”

“Even with all that magic and stuff…I mean…come on! That one chick is fashion obsessed, another one acts like she was born with pure sugar running through her veins, that country girl, and that wallflower?! If she’s your girlfriend then, whatever I won’t judge your taste, but those others?”

Rainbow Dash furrowed her brow. “G, I know you haven’t known them as long as I have, and yeah, they’re not exactly the kind of people someone like me would hang around, but that’s just it! I like them because of how different they are! And CHS is a place where everybody, jocks, ‘nerds’, and everyone actually gets along with each other! Is it perfect? Do we fight sometimes? Yeah, but what friends don’t argue or something, but thanks to them, my life’s like…more fulfilling, I guess is the right word? They’re the kind of friends that always have my back, and I’d always have theirs.”

“I can’t believe how much you changed, the Rainbow Dash I remember was cooler, and didn’t bother with lame-os like that, and I thought you’d…you’d always be there…” Gilda’s left hand began to tremble, at the same time a shooting pain ran up her arm that made the tough girl inhale sharply.

“Gilda, what’s wrong?” Rainbow asked as she reached out towards her.

“Don’t touch me!” Gilda yelled as she swiped her hand away.

The action caused something to fly out from Gilda’s jacket, Rainbow watched as a USB device landed on the patio. Curiously, Rainbow reached out and grabbed the device, there was a “V” letter in the center, but the design of the USB looked familiar. And that’s when it clicked. This…This is one of those Memory things like what Sunset and Twilight have!

Before she knew what happened, Gilda swiped the Gaia Memory back. Rainbow was on edge now, she didn’t want to believe it, but after seeing the evidence, there was no doubt. Gilda was the Dopant. But as Rainbow looked at her face, it seemed that Gilda didn’t catch on that Rainbow knew what the device was. “Heh, that’s a weird looking memory drive, G.”

“Y-Yeah, it’s a custom design…sorry, I just got some important stuff on it,” said Gilda.

“Heh, like what, your porn stash?”

Gilda smirked and punched Rainbow in the arm. “I better go, sorry for killing the mood. I’ll see ya around.”

Rainbow nodded and walked Gilda out, watching her as she headed down the street. Every part of Rainbow Dash was telling her to go after her friend, to try and talk some sense into her and give up the Gaia Memory to Sunset and Twilight, but if she really was the Dopant who had attacked yesterday, and today, she couldn’t just confront her like that. She did not possess the power that Sunset had to stop her, the only thing Rainbow could hope for was to talk her into giving up the Memory, or swiping it away. Gilda though was tough, and a fighter, getting it away like that would not be easy.

So, in the end Rainbow did the only thing she could do. She whipped out her cellphone as soon as she was in her room and typed the message: [Gilda has a Memory thing, had a V on it.]

***______________________________***

Thankfully, Sunset had managed to heal up enough that Fluttershy didn’t have to drive her to the ER. Twilight was already at home and intercepted her friend before her parents had a chance to see her. They got through dinner easily enough, and when it came for bedtime, Sunset collapsed onto her bed groaning as the aches and pains she had been trying to suppress had come back.

“You should’ve just told them that you wanted to go to bed early,” said Twilight.

“I know, but I really was starving after that fight,” said Sunset.

“I understand, you used up a lot of energy, and no doubt your healing factor is speeding up your metabolism, so that explains your wolfing down a good portion of the dinner.”

Sunset blushed and sunk low onto the bed, feeling embarrassed that she practically shoveled most of the food Mrs. Velvet made into her mouth. “Your mom and dad must think I’m a total a pig…”

“Actually, they were pretty okay with seeing a girl with a good appetite, if anything my Mom’s jealous you can eat like that and still keep that figure…” Twilight realized how that sounded and quickly added, “Her words, not mine!”

Sunset smiled and rose back up against the pillows. “Well, now we need to figure out how the Dopant knew to attack you and Dash at her house. If this was a stalker I assume they knew where she lived, but it seems too much like a coincidence that you were tracking the Dopant, and not too long after, it attacked.”

“We were in the park, but there weren’t that many people in earshot of us except…”

Suddenly, Twilight’s phone went off. She quickly took hold of it and swiped at the screen. She read the message sent from Rainbow Dash and her eyes went wide. Sunset saw the look on Twilight’s face and asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Rainbow Dash just may have given me the final clue as to what the Memory this Dopant is using, and it seems that she found out who it was,” said Twilight as she handed the phone back to Sunset.

Twilight took a step back and dove into the Infinite Library.

~*~*~*~

Twilight watched as the multiple bookshelves flew away as they released books, those books then flew off into the white nothingness and once again leaving only the two. With confidence, Twilight spoke the new keyword. “Keyword: V.”

The book on the left vanished leaving only the one. It changed its cover, matching the look of the Dopant. Twilight opened the book and began reading.

“It’s the Violence Memory, characterized by a strong destructive need. The Dopant has a hard body, boasting incredible strength and durability.”

---Could’ve told ya that.---

“It’s wrecking ball form is its strongest form, the more it spins the more momentum it builds up, reinforcing its already dense body. Your triple Maximum Drives may have done more damage than we thought then, it remained in humanoid form during the fight, and received two attacks in that form, and it looked staggered, no doubt the third made it a little worse,” said Twilight as she closed the book and left the infinite space.

~*~*~*~

Sunset glanced at the message and cursed under her breath. “She was right there, I should’ve been more observant, I was getting a bad vibe from that girl and I should’ve gone with my gut! But I…”

Twilight looked to Sunset, “But what?”

“……I saw myself in her. She had the eyes of someone who had always been alone, and looked out only for themselves and no one else!” Sunset growled. “I don’t know why I didn’t follow her?!”

Twilight sat at the edge of the bed and twiddled her thumbs. “I may be just thinking out loud, but…I think it’s because you did see yourself in her is the reason. You were given a second a chance by someone – the other me – and you wanted to believe that she wasn’t all bad, and maybe she’s not. Maybe she’s just looking for someone to reach out, like you did for me…”

Sunset sat up and looked a Twilight, she moved closer and rested her head on Twilight’s back while hugging her from behind. This Twilight may not be Princess Twilight, but just now, in that moment, she spoke words that sounded as if they came straight from Princess Twilight, encouraging her to go on. “Thank you, Twilight.”

Meanwhile, Twilight’s heart was thumping wildly as her face became nearly red, she knew this was a completely platonic moment and did not want to ruin it with her strange feelings. “N-No problem.”

After a few more seconds of hugging, Sunset backed away and sighed. “Now that we know that Gilda is the Violence Dopant, we need to find a way to confront her and get the Memory away from her.”

“I can look up areas that will have the least amount of people, it’s important that we make sure that we have control of the field of battle, each time has been near populated areas, and we can’t risk her going wild and attacking innocent bystanders,” said Twilight.

“We’ll need to call Rainbow Dash on this, she needs the heads up. And I doubt she’ll just standby while we work,” said Sunset.

“Sunset…what if we can’t get the Memory away from her? You can’t fight her in your condition,” said Twilight.

Sunset paused in her dialing, it was true, her body still ached, and she wasn’t really sure she could take another round with Gilda in her Dopant form. However, the only ones who could deal with this crisis, was a Kamen Rider, a hero. “I’ll just have to do what heroes do, fight, and win.”

***______________________________***

It was early morning in Canterlot City, and Gilda was already out on the streets. Her left had throbbed, pulsating, urging her to use the Violence Memory, but she had to resist it, transforming now served no purpose, not unless Rainbow Dash or her lame friends were around. She hated feeling this way, but still couldn’t forgive her, all she knew to do was strike back at anything that hurt her, Griffonstone taught her that. Gilda had arrived in the new neighborhood that Rainbow Dash was living in for the time being, she knew her old friend would most likely see her other friends again. Why couldn’t she take the hint? She was dangerous to be around now, so why would they still hang around her?

“They’re the kind of friends that always have my back, and I’d always have theirs.”

Gilda growled, her hand reaching to grab the Violence Memory, but she stopped herself. She didn’t want to hurt Dash, but if push came to shove…

Despite her warring emotions, Gilda continued to follow Rainbow Dash. She milled around some of the typical places she’d expect Rainbow to go to. She headed into some sports shops, mostly checking on motocross bikes, apparently having grown an affinity for the sport after the Friendship Games. Gilda continued her stalking, feeling as if she was being dragged around town, but so far, Rainbow hadn’t met up with any of her friends. Gilda was growing a little suspicious, but decided to think nothing of it, even with friends, sometimes it was good to have alone time to yourself.

Although Gilda became a little panicked when Rainbow Dash bought a skateboard and began shredding down the sidewalk, it was a leisurely ride for Rainbow, but it made Gilda have to double time it to keep up. After a bit of running and following, Rainbow ended up in the abandoned industrial district of Canterlot City, the old steel mills from a time when the country did all it could to help supply soldiers during the Great War. Again, Gilda questioned why Rainbow Dash would even come to this place, but remembering the skateboard, it would prove to be an excellent place to practice tricks. Gilda waited outside as Rainbow Dash entered one of the buildings, the echoes of her board grinding against concrete and metal rang out through the empty buildings, and Gilda wished she could watch.

However, Gilda heard a terrified scream as Rainbow Dash came flying out a large hole in the wall. She grabbed onto the ledge for dear life as the skateboard plummeted down from the three story building. Gilda’s eyes widened with fear as she saw her old friend hanging there and losing her grip. In the end, Gilda threw caution to the wind and ran towards Rainbow Dash. But as she did, the rainbow haired girl lost her grip and began to fall. Everything happened in slow motion as adrenaline pumped through Gilda’s mind and body. She had no time to think, only act. Gilda removed the glove of her left hand, and pulled out the Violence Memory from her jacket with her right hand, pressed the button.

< VIOLENCE! >

Gilda pressed the blue end onto her left hand and immediately transformed into the Violence Dopant. Once underneath Rainbow, she jumped straight up and held out her arms, catching her friend before she could hit the ground. Gilda braced herself as they both came down with a powerful thud, causing a small tremor. The Violence Dopant panted, but after a moment calmed itself, until she realized what she had done. The Violence Dopant looked down at the girl in her arms, who was now looking up at her with concern in her eyes. She dropped Rainbow Dash, unceremoniously, to the ground and was about to run.

“GILDA!” Rainbow called out.

The Violence Dopant stopped.

“I know it’s you, G! Don’t turn your back on me!”

The Violence Dopant did not answer.

“You’ve attacked me and friends at the mall, attacked my house and almost hurt my parents and my friend! Now, now you go and save me! If you wanted to hurt me, you could’ve just let me fall! So why?!” Rainbow asked.

“I…I don’t want you dead! Hurt, maybe, but not dead!” Gilda spoke. “How long have you known?”

Rainbow Dash began slowly walking towards Gilda, but approaching at angle so that she could see her. “Since last night when that USB fell from your jacket. I know what it is, and it’s dangerous. I don’t know if it’s some kind of magic or something, but it messes with your head the more you use it.”

“Tch, I need it, I need the power, to be stronger, strong enough that nothing keeps me held down, or away from something!” Gilda stated.

“You mean Griffonstone? Gilda, what happened after Camp, you were way different from back then! You were almost like Fluttershy levels of shy, but after a bit you became one of the toughest girls at Camp! Then a couple of years later, you become like a total jerk to my friends, and they’re probably some the easiest to get along with people you’d ever meet!” Rainbow shouted.

The Violence Dopant turned to Rainbow Dash and looked like she wanted to say something, but was hesitant.

“It’s because she’s afraid of being powerless.”

Both Gilda and Rainbow Dash watched as Sunset Shimmer walked into view from the alleyway of building ahead of them.

“Sunset?! How the heck did you even find me?!” Rainbow asked.

Sunset pointed up, and as Gilda and Rainbow looked up they saw a hawk flying around. “Hawk has a surveillance camera installed in it. I figured you might try and reach out to Gilda somehow, so I had Hawk watch you, just in case.” Sunset continued walking forward and stopped as she gazed directly at Gilda. “Trust me when I say Gilda, power alone won’t fix everything, or get you everything. I had great power, and it turned me into a monster, I thought I knew what I wanted, but when I got it, it just made everything twisted!”

“That was you! That’s not me, I know what I want!”

“Do you? You’re alone, you feel powerless and strive to get more than what life has dealt to you, right?!”

The Violence Dopant looked to Sunset, its one eye glaring at her. “How do you know that?!”

“Cause I’ve been there, and someone gave me the chance to rise above it, in spite of all the bad things I did, I was given a second chance. I can’t wipe away all of my sins, I have to live with them, and make myself better than I was yesterday! Gilda, Rainbow Dash did what she did because she believes in the good in you, don’t you see that?”

Gilda looked to Rainbow Dash, the look on her face was one of conviction, and everything Sunset had said was what Dash believed. “I wish you were with me the rest of the way. I don’t know what happened to you back home, but you can always start fresh and make a new start! You just have to give yourself a chance!”

The Violence Dopant heard their words, and it did strike a chord within her. Maybe she could be better, maybe she didn’t need this power to get what she wanted. Suddenly, an energy surge shot through her body, sending sparks of violet electrical energy shooting off her body. Rainbow and Sunset ducked down as the bolts struck the surroundings, setting off small explosions. When the energy dissipated, the Violence Dopant was glaring at both girls with a violet glowing eye.

“I won’t let anything else be taken from me, and you’re one of those I must crush!”

“GILDA!” Rainbow shouted.

Damn, the Memory must be affecting her mind now!

Sunset pulled out the Uni-Driver and her Unicorn Gaia Memory.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

The turquoise field of energy wrapped around Sunset as she ran towards the Violence Dopant. The monster came in swinging with its wrecking ball hand, but a quick teleportation saved Unicorn at the last second, appearing behind her and charging up her right hand to loose a magic bolt. But the Violence Dopant was ready, turning on a dime to backhand Unicorn. The blow struck her in the chest, sending sparks flying as Unicorn spun in the air and landed hard onto the ground. Before Unicorn could recover, the Violence Dopant rushed towards her and grabbed her. The Dopant hoisted Unicorn up and began smashing its wrecking ball hand against her chest, over and over again.

“GILDA STOP, YOU’LL KILL HER!” Rainbow Dash shouted as she rushed towards them.

The Violence Dopant snapped its head in Rainbow’s direction, it then threw Unicorn away like a rag doll and proceeded towards Rainbow Dash. Unicorn coughed and heaved after receiving the vicious blows, but regained enough sense to see what was happening. Sunset, despite the pain in her body, got back to her feet and teleported away. A flash of turquoise light appeared before Rainbow Dash, and in the next moment both were whisked away. The Violence Dopant growled from being denied its target, but the denial didn’t last long as Unicorn reappeared a few feet away, collapsing onto one knee as the injuries from the previous bouts were catching up with her.

“Sunset, what’s wrong?!” Rainbow asked

“I’m still in rough shape, you need to run, now!”

Rainbow looked to Sunset, and to Gilda who was already charging towards them. Sunset got back up, and stood in front of her friend, her body was weak, but she had to stand, to protect Rainbow and to free Gilda from the Memory.

The Violence Dopant was almost upon them, transforming into its wrecking ball form to finish of Unicorn once and for all. However, before the Dopant could strike, metal plates shot out from the buildings and formed a wall before Sunset and Rainbow Dash. The Violence Dopant struck the shield, releasing sparks as it grinded against it, trying to run it down. But the metal plates would not give as a silvery energy lapped off them and burst, forcing the Violence Dopant to roll back and return to humanoid form.

The plates released something, a ball of silver light. Sunset understood what this was and reached into the ball of light, pulling out a new Gaia Memory. As soon as she did, the plates of metal fell to the ground. Sunset opened her hand and saw a gray colored Gaia Memory, with the letter “M” metalized.

“Is that a new Memory thing?” Rainbow asked.

“Yep, and it’s just what I needed. Let’s go!”

< METAL! >

Sunset placed the Metal Memory into the left hip port and slammed down on the button.

{< METAL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Silver-gray light appeared around Unicorn as a new Mimetic Drive Form was ushered in. Silver gauntlets appeared over her right and left forearms, with rivets along the outlines. Her lower legs turned into sleek metal boots, with plates forming on her thighs and biceps. Her shoulder pauldrons rose up slightly, giving them a curved look, followed by riveted armor on her chest and back. The crystal horn was encased in a sharp metal sheath, and from the top to the back of her head was a blade in the shape of a horse mane. This Metal Memory felt strong, made her stronger, and somehow sturdier, this was the form of her resolve, unwavering and unbending.

“Unicorn Iron Heart!”

The Violence Dopant remained unimpressed. “You can change that costume as many times as you want, you’re still not strong enough to beat me!”

Unicorn raised her left hand and waved to her in a taunting fashion. “Come and try me.”

The Violence Dopant growled and charged for Unicorn. The Kamen Rider merely began walking towards the charging Dopant, not even flinching as it began changing into its wrecking ball form. Unicorn slammed down twice on the left hip port.

\\ ARMOR UP! //

The metal armor plates on Unicorn began to expand and cover her entire form, Unicorn slammed her knuckles together and took a defensive stance. Once the wrecking ball approached, she reached out with both hands. The wrecking ball impacted against her hands and caused a shockwave of force to roar out, shattering the glass and causing the ground to fissure in every direction. Sparks flew from Unicorn’s hands as she braced herself against Gilda’s unrelenting spin, however, during this whole time, Unicorn hadn’t even moved an inch. Feeling invigorated, Unicorn took a step forward, feeling the ball move back. She then took another step, and another, and another, and then breaking into a sprint.

“Wait, what the hell are you doing?! Y-You can’t be this strong!”

“Looks like I am!” Unicorn shouted as she cocked back her right fist and punched the spinning wrecking ball.

The Violence Dopant shot backwards, bouncing once in wrecking ball form before returning to its humanoid form. Unicorn’s armor up ended, prompting her to hit the button once more.

\ METAL RING! /

Unicorn held out her hands as a flash of silver-gray light went off, and in her hands she held a metal ring. It looked to be made of copper, iron, and steel, and wrapped tightly together at eight points. The Violence Dopant didn’t wait for Unicorn to figure out her weapon as she ran and came in swinging with her left arm. On instinct, Unicorn swung the ring, intercepting her attack and knocking it away. The ring was slightly heavy, moving almost on its own, which threw off Sunset’s balance a little. The Violence Dopant attacked again, but Sunset used the momentum of the last swing to counter, knocking that attack back.

It was then that Sunset understood how this weapon was to work. She looped the ring around her arm and began spinning it around as she charged for the Dopant. Sunset used the built up momentum to strike a powerful blow on the Violence Dopant’s chest, causing sparks to fly. After the first blow, Unicorn fluidly switched the ring to the left hand, spun around, and came down again for a second blow, hitting hard and making Gilda back track. Unicorn saw this and threw the ring at an angle, bouncing off one surface after the other and striking the Violence Dopant at different angles, one last ricochet brought the ring sailing back to Sunset, who grabbed it and looped it over her body.

“Gilda, you’ve let that Memory mess with your head and distort your view of your friendship!” Unicorn took out the Metal Memory and placed in the right hip port. “Time to restore harmony!”

>} METAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn jumped into the air and began spinning the ring around her waist like a hula hoop. The ring glowed a bright silver color, and latched onto the right hip port, extending out and becoming akin to a long tail. Unicorn did on filp and descended down with the glowing tail following behind her.

“METAL LASHING!”

The metal tail struck the Violence Dopant once, twice, thrice, continuing until ten lashes were given in total. Glowing gashes formed on the Dopant’s body until the gashes released their energy and exploded, a bright flash went off inside the explosion as Gilda and the Gaia Memory were separated from each other. The glowing tail detached and returned to ring form which looped itself around Unicorn’s body and then disappeared. She quickly went to Gilda, with Rainbow Dash following behind her.

Both girls knelt down to the knocked out tough girl, shaking her a little so as to wake her. After a moment Gilda began to stir, opening her eyes slowly and seeing Unicorn and Rainbow Dash staring down at her. Tears began to well up in her eyes as looked away from them. “I’m such an idiot…”

Rainbow Dash placed her hand gently on Gilda’s shoulder and flashed her a comforting smile. “Gilda, it’s okay, you made a mistake and your head was messed up from that Memory thing.”

“Yeah…my head was messed up, but it only got that bad because of how I felt…I don’t deserve a friend, or anybody to care about me,” said Gilda as she continued to cry.

“You’ve done some bad things, like I said before, you can’t erase them. They’ll always be there, but what matters is what you do from here on out to show a change. You already have one friend that’s willing to help you get there, and you have one more,” said Sunset as she reached out to the girl.

Rainbow Dash stood up and extended her hand as well. “You got two friends giving you a hand G, you gonna turn ‘em down?”

Gilda looked back up at Unicorn and Rainbow Dash, and smile graced her lips, a genuine, heartfelt smile for the first time in a long time. The girl from Griffonstone reached out and took ahold of both their hands and was helped back to her feet. Unicorn nodded to Gilda and turned to go and retrieve the Violence Memory. Until she heard something from up above, in the light of the sun, a shower of blue energy beams came flying down towards their position.

“GET DOWN!!!” Unicorn yelled as she hit the left hip port button twice.

\\ ARMOR UP! //

Gilda and Rainbow Dash crouched down low as Unicorn covered them with her body. The increased defensive power of the Armor Up aided in deflecting many of the beams as they deflected off to the sides and away from Rainbow and Gilda, after a few seconds the barrage stopped, allowing Unicorn the glance over her shoulder and see what it was that had attacked them.

Down on the ground was another Dopant. It looked akin to a harpy, with long blue wings for forearms, and three taloned fingers. It’s feet resembled that of a bird of prey, long and incredibly sharp, even as she stood the talons were raking into the concrete as if it were nothing. Her body was a midnight blue, with tail feathers that hovered over the ground and had a whimsical curve to them. Upon her chest was a red ruby, with white, almost tribal markings. She had a white Mohawk, with a mask that covered her eyes and was connected to a beak that covered where her nose would be, and glowing yellow eyes that pierced through all that they gazed upon.

“Thanks for doing all the dirty work, I was really not up to a fight today, so I’ll be taking the Memory and saying my goodbyes,” said the feathered Dopant.

“Wait a minute -!”

The winged Dopant extended it right wing and waved that wing at Unicorn, releasing several quills that energized and shot towards her. Unicorn braced for the impact, but the shots only landed a few inches in front of her, causing several explosions that kicked up a dust cloud. After a few seconds the dust cloud was blown away by a strong gust of wind, emanating from the takeoff of the winged Dopant. The last thing Unicorn saw the Dopant mock saluting her before she zoomed off into the distance, too fast for even Hawk to follow.

***______________________________***

Case Report: Violence Dopant

It was eventually determined that the Violence Dopant was in fact Gilda, upon questioning from Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer, Gilda had informed them that she was given the T2 Gaia Memory by a girl she had never met until that day. At first she didn’t believe her, not until she used her own Gaia Memory to transform in front of Gilda. From what she remembered, it was called the “Bird”, which matches the harpy-like description of the Dopant Sunset encountered snatching back the Violence Memory. It is unclear what this girl’s motives were in handing this Memory to Gilda, but regardless, it served Gilda’s needs.

According to Gilda, there were problems back in Griffonstone, with her family and a gang she thought were her friends. That gang had settled on leaving her to rot, so to speak, until that Harpy Girl gave her the Violence Memory. According to Gilda, she went on a small rampage and took down the gang. Feeling empowered, she tried to fix things at home with her parents, but it seems that they rejected her, throwing her out. Gilda retaliated by using the Violence Memory and demolishing their home, taking only what she felt was important to her.

Rainbow Dash was her one only lifeline back in Canterlot City, and believed that she was forgotten after getting some new friends and wanted to break her away from us, to have it be only the two of them, and no one else. The Harpy Girl seemed to assist with her vendetta, granting her a burner phone with Rainbow Dash’s phone number in it. Thankfully, during her attack at the mall, no one was seriously injured thanks the report I managed to sneak from Shining Armor, a lot of property damage, but nothing that can’t be fixed. The same could be said for Rainbow Dash and her family, repairs on their home have already been undertaken and will be done in the coming weeks.

I won’t lie, part of me thinks we should report her for the damage she caused during both attacks, but Sunset assured me that Gilda was going to change. Like I stated, I am a bit skeptical, but comparing what Sunset had told me about her actions before meeting my otherworldly doppelganger, it does grant me hope for her.

However, I am concerned about the person who gave the T2 Memory to Gilda, all she said is that it was a girl she had never seen before, but apparently had knowledge of the Gaia Memories. I’m starting to believe that there is in fact a separate entity searching for the Gaia Memories, and possibly producing the breakable versions.

Twilight finished typing at her computer and gazed ahead, seeing Gilda, with Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer at her sides. It was a reintroduction of sorts, and an apology as well. At first there was hesitation, mostly from Rarity, Applejack, and Fluttershy. But it wasn’t long before Pinkie Pie was zooming towards the the girl from Griffonstone, and hugged Gilda with a big grin on her face.

It amazed Twilight how these six girls could see past the bad in someone and find the good that even that very person didn’t know existed. How forgiving they were of deeds done in the past, knowing that the past doesn’t define you, but your actions going forward do. And each day, Twilight felt grateful that she was a part of this group of amazing girls, and even more grateful to have a friend like Sunset Shimmer, a hero.

H: High Speed Attack / Enter the New Kamen Rider!

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Another month had passed, and while the city was still recuperating from the Puppeteer and Violence Dopant attacks, the Memories stirred. They still searched for their perfect matches, some were hiding, others were actively searching, and some had already found their perfect matches, as was the case of Sunset Shimmer and her Unicorn Memory. However, some things happen for a reason, and sometimes we need to accept them, even if one of those somethings is a dangerous power.

School at Canterlot High was back to its normal routine, classes, sports, lunch, more classes, and the occasional craziness that came from the trio known as the Canterlot Mishap Crew, or CMC as they were nicknamed. A sense of normalcy had befallen the school and for a group of seven girls, despite the fact that their lives had been touched by otherworldly magic and probably wouldn’t get anywhere close to normal for a long time.

Case in point was today. Six of the seven girls had sat down to lunch when a certain Rainbow haired girl came bursting through the cafeteria doors and bolted right for the table where her friends were seated, ducking and weaving through several other students before arriving there.

“Guys, guys, guys, you won’t believe what happened!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Calm down Rainbow Dash, you’re making a scene,” said Rarity.

“Sorry, but this is like super big!”

“Oh, what is it?!” Pinkie Pie asked.

Rainbow Dash sat up straight and looked to her friends seriously. “Okay, before you all ask. No I did not look for it, no I did not use it, like, at all.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she raised her carton of milk. “Didn’t use what exactly?”

Rainbow Dash glanced back and forth and leaned down and whispered to her friends, “I found one of those Gaia Memory thingies!”

Sunset and Twilight spat out their beverages in a spray of tea and milk that practically drenched the rainbow haired girl. Applejack offered a bunch of napkins to which the sports girl gratefully accepted and began drying off her face.

“You have a Gaia Memory?! When?! How?!” Twilight asked.

“It just appeared to me, like Sunday when I was out riding my motocross bike, I was in the zone, riding fast and about to catch some mad air!……And then I missed up and found myself in freefall…”

A round of concerned looks appeared on the faces of her friends, and already she could see their eyes roaming over her body, looking for any sign of injury. Rainbow Dash however waved off their concerns.

“I’m fine guys don’t worry, but that’s because of what happened next. In the seconds before I hit the ground I was wishing really, really hard that I could pony up and grow my wings. But that’s when this bad boy came flying out of the sky!” Rainbow Dash reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the Gaia Memory in question. A golden yellow Memory, with an “N” that looked similar to wings. “Then the next thing I know I’m floating in midair with these glowing, fiery, electric wings coming out of my back and landing on the ground like nothing happened. This thing flew into my hand and well, rest is now.”

Twilight glanced to Sunset. “That sounds almost similar to how you got your Unicorn Memory, Sunset.”

“It came to me because I was its perfect match, and so this one’s your perfect match,” said Sunset.

“So does this mean that Dashie’s going to…” Pinkie leaned in for a whisper. “That she’s going to become your Kamen Rider partner?!”

An excited look befell Rainbow Dash, she had joked before about wanting a belt, but now that a Gaia Memory had come to her, saved her, and had chosen her, it felt like destiny that she was to become a Kamen Rider like Sunset. However, her excitement faded a little when Sunset Shimmer crossed her arms.

“No way.”

“What?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Fighting these Dopants is not like what we’ve been fighting against, these aren’t just people corrupted. Some are dangerous, you saw what happened to Gilda, and Glitter Glam!” Sunset argued.

“Yeah, but you seem to be doing alright, plus you could just teach me how to fight! I mean I’m a pretty good brawler, but you know, with some of those martial arts moves you can polish my style up so I can help you! Two Riders are better than one,” said Rainbow Dash.

Sunset closed her eyes and looked to Twilight. “What do you think, Twi? I know you don’t want to see her in the same kind of danger we’re in.”

Twilight looked to Rainbow Dash and then back to Sunset. It was true, what they were doing was dangerous, but then again her becoming Midnight Sparkle and nearly ripping reality a new one was dangerous, and from what she had heard of their previous battles, it was equal to or less than the danger they were facing. But first things first.

“I’m inclined to agree with Sunset, but at the same time I do see the benefit in us having two Riders. The battles would be a little less dangerous, and if there were problems on two fronts you wouldn’t have to stress about getting from one place to the other during a battle. But in the meantime while we’re debating this, can I see that Memory?” Twilight asked.

Rainbow Dash looked reluctant to give it up, seeing as how it did save her life. But in the end she knew that that kind of thinking was how Gilda and Glitter went down the paths they did, so without resistance, Rainbow handed Twilight the Gaia Memory. However, when she did, Rainbow’s thumb accidentally hit the button on the side of the Gaia Memory.

< NASCA! >

Suddenly, blue and gold light shot from the Nasca Memory and right through Twilight’s arm. The energy surged through her body and right into her mind, making her eyes glow bright white. In the time brief time that Twilight was holding the Nasca Memory a vision appeared before her. The vision of a warrior, with glowing, fiery-electric wings. This warrior was a shadowy figure, barely any discernable features, but the one and only thing Twilight was able to see, was a belt.

< UNICORN! >

Without warning, Twilight was ripped from the vision and brought back to reality. All around the table the girls were staring at Twilight, with Sunset’s hand grasping onto Twilight’s tightly while she held the Unicorn Memory in her other hand. The Nasca Memory had fallen onto the table and Rainbow Dash had this look of fright on her face.

“Twilight, are you alright?” Sunset asked.

“I…I’m fine, I think so anyway,” said Twilight as she held her head.

The girls sighed, but Rainbow still held her breath, she hadn’t meant for that to happen and for a brief moment she had thought she’d seriously hurt Twilight. “Twi…I…I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for that to happen I –!”

Sunset glared back at Rainbow. “This is why we said their dangerous, Rainbow! Why you should’ve called us all immediately when you go that thing!”

Twilight looked to her friend with concern. “Sunset I’m fine, really.”

“I don’t like that many close calls with you, first the pillar, and now this?!” Sunset reached out and took the Nasca Memory and placed it in her jacket pocket. “This Memory is staying with me, and that’s final!”

Rainbow Dash lost any will to protest, especially after her careless action. “I…I’m going to, uh…yeah.”

The others watched as the rainbow haired girl walked out of the cafeteria, despite her confident posture, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy could tell Rainbow Dash was feeling low right now.

“Um…Sunset, you didn’t have to yell,” said Fluttershy.

Sunset snorted, a habit she had from back when she was pony. “Look, it’s better that she knows now not to mess around with these things, Dash’ll get over it. Are you sure you’re okay Twilight?”

The bespectacled girl nodded. “I am, trust me.”

***____________________***

Later that night, Sunset hadn’t stopped thinking about the events of the lunch room. Even as she stood under the warm cascade of the shower head, her mind couldn’t stop thinking about the look on Rainbow Dash’s face. More precisely, it was her eyes. In her time of studying and analyzing the girls from when she was a more villainous, and more recently after knowing them as friends. Sunset was able to notice tells when they were feeling down or depressed. Rainbow’s was in her eyes, she’d put on a confident smile, but really, it was her eyes, and when she was giving Rainbow Dash that tongue lashing, she could see the hurt in them.

Sunset smacked her fist against the shower wall, growling in frustration of herself. “I can’t believe I did it again…!”

This was not the first time Sunset Shimmer had let her bad girl side show, the first time was when they first met Twilight after the race. When her pendant device was going out of control and nearly killed her fellow Crystal Preppers, herself, and Rainbow Dash. She yelled at Twilight, although she yelled because she was concerned and afraid for her friends’ wellbeing, there was definitely a different way to have gone about stating that than yelling at Twilight. In a way, she could argue that it was because of that that it led Twilight to be more easily swayed by Principal Cinch into unleashing the magic.

Sunset believed she had learned her lesson, but now she wasn’t so sure. She had done the exact same thing to Rainbow Dash when Twilight was in the trance. If it wasn’t for her using the Unicorn Memory to aid in pulling Twilight out of the trance, Sunset wasn’t sure if it would’ve become permanent. Sunset exited the shower and wrapped herself in a towel before heading to the couch, she dried off her hair and still continued think of her actions, all while staring at her cellphone on the coffee table.

With a heavy sigh, Sunset picked up her phone and scrolled through her list of contacts until she landed on Rainbow Dash’s number. At this point she wasn’t even sure if Rainbow would even pick up. Deciding to cross that bridge when it came, Sunset pressed the button and dialed. She began to feel a little nervous, not sure if Rainbow would be angry, nervous, or still hurt from what she said. After the third ring she thought Rainbow would just let it go to voicemail. Until…

[Whew, jeez, made it! A man, sorry Sunset, I was coming out of a shower when I heard the phone ring.]

Sunset sighed in relief. “It’s okay, Rainbow, I got out myself a couple of minutes ago.”

[Oh ya did? So, what’re ya wearin’?]

A deadpan look befell Sunset’s face. “You know exactly what I’m wearing you perv.”

[Pot calling the kettle black, Sunset.]

Sunset thought about that for a moment. “Touché. But, uh, listen Rainbow, I wanted to say I was sorry.”

[For what?]

The fiery haired girl played with the hem of her towel as the nervousness came back. “You know, for getting angry like that, and yelling at you. I did the exact same thing to Twilight at the Friendship Games and I thought I had learned my lesson about doing that, but…evidently not. I had no right to get that angry at you, I know you didn’t do that on purpose, it was an accident.”

There was some shuffling on the other end of the line before Rainbow spoke again. [Sunset, chill. I’m not going to lie, that stung a bit, but after a minute to think I knew where you were coming from. I remembered that time at the Friendship Games, and how similar you sounded back then. So I knew you weren’t yelling to just yell, you were scared for Twilight, like you were scared for us during the games.]

Sunset began to blush, feeling her cheeks grow warmer. “T-Thanks, Rainbow. I just didn’t want this to –”

[And if my girlfriend got hurt I’d probably yell at the person who hurt her too.]

Sunset’s left eye twitched as she stood up suddenly. “Excuse me, what?! Girlfriend?!”

[Uh, duh, ya. Getting aggressive because your friends are hurt, that’s one thing. But when it’s your girlfriend, then some people can get like dragon levels of protective.]

The former unicorn was gripping her phone hard, but trying with all restraint to keep from breaking it. “Rainbow Dash, please stop with the teasing already, especially when I’m trying to apologize!”

[……Wait, you mean you guys really aren’t?]

“No.”

[Seriously?]

“Yes.”

[……Are you sure, I’m not going to say anything if you are.]

Sunset slapped her face with her left hand and dragged it down her face. “I am not going out with Twilight Sparkle, we’re friends! And besides, she doesn’t like girls like that! And the last thing she needs after everything she went through and with what’s going on, is relationship issues! Especially from me!”

There was a long drawn out groan on the other end of the line. [Geez, you guys are like perfect shipping material, I mean I would’ve pegged you and Princess Twilight – which I think would’ve been superhot – but you and our Twilight – it’s like hot and cute at the same time.]

Sunset couldn’t believe what she was hearing, she wanted to yell again, she wanted to deny it and tell Rainbow to leave her out of her little shipping fantasies. And yet, curiosity prevailed. “……Purely out of morbid curiosity……why could you see me with either or?”

[Ha, where do I start?! Okay, for Princess Twilight, she saved you from being a She-Demon, and during that Sirens thing, you guys seemed to have a kind of chemistry. Not so much like teacher and student, but like an understanding that’s deeper or something like that, and I could see it more since you two are from the same world.]

Sunset pondered that for a moment, and she wouldn’t deny that she held some kind of fondness for Princess Twilight that bordered on a crush. “And for Twilight?”

[Same scenario in reverse, but different. She’s still a little vulnerable after that Midnight Sparkle thing. Only difference is that instead of just having me and the girls, she has you, someone who has been through what she went through, and who brought her back. Plus, she’s still learning stuff about relationships if that time I spent talking to her meant anything.]

Unfortunately she could also see that as well. And Sunset couldn’t deny she was feeling something for Twilight, but she wasn’t entirely sure if she should cross that line with someone who just went through a traumatic experience as she did during the Games, especially since Twilight was just starting to understand how good having friends was.

“You put entirely too much thought into that. You know that, right?”

[Hey, before that, I was shipping you with everyone in our group, even me.]

“Now that’s the line.”

Laughter could be heard on the other end of the phone, and Sunset couldn’t help in laughing herself, feeling relieved that today’s events hadn’t soured their friendship at all.

[Sine we’re past that now, there’s something I’d like to ask.]

“Okay, what is it?”

[There’s a motocross derby coming up this weekend, and I was wondering if you wanted to enter? Seeing as you ride, and if it wasn’t for that plant monster, you totally would’ve beaten Indigo Zap.]

Sunset thought for a moment and smiled. “Heh, why not. Something different anyway.”

[Sweet, Indigo’s joining too, so it’ll be a bit of a rematch for her, but I’d like to think of it as friendly competition.]

Suddenly, the loud roar of a motorcycle engine broke through the silence of the night, and Sunset would know that roar, she rode one every day. The unusual thing here was when the engine roar went off, the entire loft began to shake and rattle. Sunset rushed to a window and watched as something red and trailing fire came rushing down the street, stopping at the intersection and doing donuts there.

[Sunset, what the hell was that noise?! I could hear it all the way here!]

“I gotta go, hero stuff, we’re on for the weekend!”

Sunset hurried and put some clothes on, and quickly called on her Uni-Driver and Unicorn Memory.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

Sunset opened the window to her loft and jumped out of the second story window, in the brief time before she hit the ground, the turquoise electrical field had formed around her, and by the time it was finished, Sunset landed on the ground, Iron Mare style, clad in her armor of Kamen Rider Unicorn. Unicorn’s horn shined and immediately her motorcycle came to life, transforming into its supped up form and revving towards her. Unicorn jumped up and landed on the seat with flawless grace and rode down the street.

Unicorn passed by several cars in the blink an eye before coming to a halt before the wall of fire. “Whoever you are, stop now or I’ll make you stop!”

The roar of the engine grew louder and sounded closer now. Unicorn ducked down as the motorcycle burst forth from the flames and caused to cars to swerve to the sides, hitting a lamppost and mail box before coming to a stop. Unicorn looked back and saw the one responsible. It was a bike, red in color, with no driver seat. The back wheel was large, and the angle of the bike was slanted, allowing less wind resistance. There was a flaming decal on the top and sides. But after a second the bike glowed and shifted into a humanoid form.

The creature before her had a blue visor for eyes, and six vertical vents on its face plate. Armor covered its upper torso and shoulder, forearms, and legs. The shoulder pauldrons were shaped almost like handle bars on a bike, and the flame decal somehow shifted to the stomach and unprotected gaps of the armor. “Well looky here, Kamen Rider Unicorn! Was wondering when you’d show up, thought I’d have to tear up and down the city before I caught your attention?!”

“What do you want?” Unicorn asked.

“A race, I wanna see who the fastest rider in the city is! I’ve seen you fight, and that’s fine, I’m pretty sure I could wup your horse ass up and down the block, but I’d rather race first,” said the Dopant.

“Yeah. I don’t think so.”

The red Dopant’s visor glowed. “Not really giving you a choice, hero. Either you race me, or I’m going to go for the joy ride to end all joy rides through Canterlot City! On your marks, hero!”

The red Dopant glowed and again and metamorphed into the hotrod motorcycle again. The back wheel squealed against the asphalt as the Dopant tore down the street that Unicorn just drove down. Unicorn growled and revved the engine of her bike and took off after the red Dopant. It didn’t take that long before Unicorn was on the Dopant’s tail, getting closer until she was right beside her.

“Looks like you accepted my challenge!” The red Dopant shouted.

“As if you gave me a choice! That power you have is dangerous, too dangerous for you to use like this! You’ll hurt innocent people!” Unicorn warned.

“Any price to be the best! Push everything to the limit and beyond!”

The red Dopant popped a wheelie and increased its speed, weaving around the cars that were in its way or outright pushing them aside. Unicorn was more careful, or at least trying to be as she passed two sedans, squeezed between A pickup and a van, and was now coming up on highway. Both racers entered the busy street, but then the red Dopant hopped the divide and drove into oncoming traffic. In a panic, Sunset sped up and jumped the divide as well, still in pursuit.

The red Dopant made a beeline for an eighteen-wheeler, but at the last second moved to the right, but not before creating a red hot spike on the hub cap and slicing through the front left, and back left tires. Consecutive explosion blowouts occurred as the big rig struggled to maintain control. Sunset’s eyes grew wide as saucer plates under her helmet as she saw the large truck coming towards her, at the last second, Unicorn angled the bike low, sliding just underneath the gap of the trailer the truck was carrying. Unicorn spun around and reached out with her magic, concentrating as she wrapped the truck in her telekinetic magic aura and lifted it up before teleporting it off the highway and onto the shoulder of the service road.

Unicorn snorted in anger at the actions of the Dopant, and drove after her. The red Dopant had stayed back some ways, apparently watching the show, but when the Dopant spotted Unicorn it quickly sped away, laughing the whole time. Unicorn poured more of her magical power into the bike, further increasing its speed. She had contemplated teleportation, but with the number of cars she dared not risk a sudden teleportation, nor could she risk firing a magic bolt.

“You could’ve killed that driver and the people on the road!” Unicorn yelled.

“What good’s a hero who can’t save a few people?! They’re fine, focus on the race!” The Dopant shouted back.

No, this ends now!

Unicorn pulled out the Metal Memory and pressed the button.

< METAL! >

{< METAL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The M symbol appeared behind Unicorn, and in a flash of silvery light, she was now in the drive form of Iron Heart. Sunset hit the button on her left hip port once.

\ RING! /

Unicorn held out her right hand and materialized her metal ring, she glanced around the road and noticed there was going to be a brief moment of no oncoming cars. When the point was reached, Unicorn tossed the ring. The ring sailed and struck against the concrete divider, ricocheting off of it and heading straight for the Dopant. Sunset hit her the button on the port three times.

\\\ BIND! ///

The metal ring detached and began to move like a snake, coiling around the red Dopant. The moment it had, the Dopant felt an incredible amount of weight being placed on it, reducing its speed considerably. Sunset smirked under her helm as she sped up and prepared to deliver the final blow to the Dopant. However, when she got closer, the Dopant’s body began to glow crimson red, tires squealing as the smell of burning asphalt filled the air. Flames ignited under the tires until a little infernal blaze bellowed forth, the power generated broke off the Ring and allowed the Dopant to blaze down the highway. Unfortunately, the inferno was heading right for Unicorn.

The hero and her bike were engulfed in the flames as cars began to stop and moved away from the fire trail. Some who had watched what happened feared for the masked hero as she had not emerged from the fire.

\\ ARMOR UP! //

The sound of Unicorn’s bike echoed into the air as she exited the blaze, her body and bike coated in plates of heavy armor that sizzled from the intense heat of the Dopant. The armor deactivated and Unicorn panted, she looked at the fire trail, but could already hear the police on the way. There was no way she could catch up to the Dopant tonight, and she feared, that she might not even be able to at all.

***____________________***

That Saturday saw the girls at the Canterlot Motocross Track, a special course built on the outskirts of the city where the land was tilled and upheaved to create the best possible track for motocross enthusiasts. Today the PhoenEXE Corporation was holding a race over the weekend, consisting of several races with the best times moving up. Several would-be and hardcore riders entered to participate, with the grand prize being that of a thousand dollars. Of course it just wasn’t the money, no, it was the publicity, with so many news and sports magazines coming to cover the event, it was a good way to stand out and get recognized.

For Rainbow Dash it was just a day for fun, with a competitive edge added on. Indigo Zap had invited the rainbow haired girl, but when she found out Sunset Shimmer was coming as well, she was even happier, the rematch of the Friendship Games was happening.

The races started early, allowing for some last minute entries. Indigo, Rainbow, and Sunset all managed to get best times in their individual qualifiers, weeding out the less graceful of the participants and leaving only those skilled. Compared to riding as Unicorn, Sunset found the course easier than expected, and was actually having fun, especially with their friends cheering them on from the stands, Pinkie Pie being the most vocal and shooting off confetti cannons every time they moved up in the rankings. Sunset was surprised to see that some of the Shadowbolts had come to watch Indigo, mainly, Sour Sweet, Sugarcoat, Lemon Zest, and Sunny Flare.

Sunset couldn’t help noticing how Sunny Flare kept making eye contact with Rarity, the two of them casually flirting. The fiery haired girl smiled under her helmet, feeling happy that Sunny Flare was able to at least have someone to care about like that, and for Rarity to reciprocate those feelings.

“Watching the lovebirds?” Indigo asked.

Sunset looked to her left and chuckled. “I’m just glad Sunny’s doing better, and that Rarity was actually open to the idea of them going out.”

“Yeah, but I think they were wishing their date was at a fancy restaurant, with a ‘happy ending’ at an even fancier hotel,” said Indigo with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

“Jeez, you and Dash really need to hang out more, if she weren’t already racing I’d say she was right here with me,” said Sunset.

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Both girls were in the same race group, and the top three from this race would advance. The contestants revved up their bikes, the whining sound of the engines drowned out the roar of the crowd as the riders focused on the course before them. The overhanging lights flashed red, and then yellow, and after an almost agonizingly long moment, shifted to green.

All the riders took off down the dirt track, some taking the dirt mounds to perform aerial tricks once they were high enough and safely to the ground. Sunset rolled her eyes at those contestants, as this was a race of speed, and not a performance, at least that particular event wasn’t happening for a bit anyway. Sunset used the mound to propel her over a few of the riders and moved up to fifth place, Indigo Zap was hot on her tail, not wanting to come in last to Sunset, she wanted this to end in the finals, but if neither of them made it then it wouldn’t be as much fun.

Indigo passed two more riders, putting her in sixth place, and slowly pulling up next to Sunset Shimmer. Both girls glanced at each other and grinned beneath their helmets, and as if in complete sync, began pushing past the other competitors weaving around them as if they were standing still, completely in the zone and shutting out all other distractions. However, there was one distraction they couldn’t ignore. The sound of an approaching bike.

The rider wore a red and blue suit with black gear, and a blue bike with yellow lighting streaks. The rider started to gain on them, passing several others. Sunset and Indigo had made it to the head of the pack, and were fighting for first place, but the unknown rider was getting closer, quicker than they had expected. The finish line had neared, Sunset and Indigo were neck and neck, with the blue rider coming in fast and now right next to them. Finally the finish line was upon them and in an unprecedented moment, all three riders crossed at the same time, with the rest of the riders trailing behind.

All three riders pulled into a safe area to stop. Indigo and Sunset pulled off their helmets and fist bumped.

“That wasn’t half bad, Indigo,” said Sunset.

“Heh, don’t get used to it, I plan on smoking you and Dash at the finals, I’m making sure I don’t lag behind.” Indigo Zap turned to the third rider and smirked. “You were good out there, that was some crazy speed! What’s your name?”

The rider took of their helmet, revealing a girl with spikey blonde hair, a mint green complexion, and gold colored eyes. “Name’s Lightning Dust, and I came to win it all ladies.”

“Heh, I like your attitude,” said Indigo replied.

Sunset rolled her eyes as she smirked. On the sidelines she could see the rest of their friends waving at them, Rainbow Dash with them, still dressed in her motocross gear. Indigo and Sunset rolled their bikes over and were greeted to a round of congrats from their friends.

“Sweet, you guys had the best times, we’re definitely going to the finals!” Rainbow declared.

“Thanks, so how was your run?” Sunset asked.

The rainbow haired girl put her helmet back on and closed the visor, crossing her arms. Indigo and Sunset gave confused looks at the action, prompting Pinkie Pie to answer in her stead. “Well she beat everyone, but…have you met Rainbow’s parents?”

“Briefly,” said Sunset.

“Heh, heh, welllll…”

“WHOO-HOO!”

Rainbow Dash noticeably cringed when she heard the cheer. The girls turned around and watched as Bow Hothoof and Windy Whistles came rushing towards them. Windy was wearing a wig done in Rainbow’s colors, and a flag that had Rainbow Dash’s signature personal emblem, a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt. While her husband, Bow, had painted his face with a rainbow, had a shirt on that bore Rainbow’s emblem, and had a giant foam finger that read “RD #1”.

“You girls did great out there, really neck and neck,” said Bow.

“And Dashie here went and pulled it off back in her race, left everyone in the dust!” Windy exclaimed proudly.

The girls smiled at their enthusiasm, while Rainbow Dash was wishing the helmet made her invisible at the same time. Lightning Dust watched this spectacle while chuckling as she rolled up next to Sunset and Indigo. “Who are those two?”

“Meet the parents of the girl who’s cringing with her helmet on,” said Sunset.

“They always this over supportive?”

“Yes,” groaned Rainbow Dash.

“Heh…must be nice,” said Lightning Dust. “Anyway, see you guys in the finals.”

Lightning Dust rolled off, Sunset couldn’t help but feel as if there was a hint of sadness in her voice, and maybe jealousy? Eh, I’m overthinking it.

“Okay, can we go and see the junior division now?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Yeah, Scootaloo’s going to be up soon,” said Sweetie Belle.

“Hold yer horses we’re headin’ that way, Dash, ya comin’? Ah know Scoots would like it if ya were there,” said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash lifted the visor and sighed. “Yeah, the Squirt can use some support.”

“Oh shoot, how could we have forgotten?!” Windy exclaimed.

“Quick, swap out!” Bow added.

Bow opened his backpack, and somehow both husband and wife fit their Rainbow Dash cheer attire into the backpack and replaced it with Scootaloo themed gear. Windy now had on a wig styled like Scootaloo’s hair, and had a flag with a wing and lightning bolt in it. Bow had replaced the face paint and now had one half of his face orange while the other half was purple, and had a foam finger on that read “SCTALO #1” on it. Rainbow Dash groaned again, but at least this time she wouldn’t be the target of their overzealous cheering, it would be fun to see her little admirer get embarrassed by her parents a little.

Once the group a little further away, Twilight tapped Sunset on the shoulder. “Um, Sunset?”

“What’s up, Twi?”

Twilight looked hesitant as she tightened the grip on her backpack, but in the end sighed and shook her head. “I just needed to talk to you, but later and alone.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow in concern. “Twilight, whatever it is we can talk about it, the girls won’t mind if we’re not there.”

“I know, but I’d rather not in this public area, and because it’s, um, Rider related,” said Twilight.

Sunset got the hint and nodded.

“Besides, I really want to cheer on Scootaloo, she looked kind of nervous earlier before we left her.”

“Trust me, I don’t think she will be for much longer.”

***____________________***

At the junior division track, they were using mountain bikes instead of full octane motocross bikes, liability insurance and all that, but it didn’t hinder the younger contestants from giving it their all. As expected, when they arrived, Scootaloo was going to be next after Rumble got through with his tricks. The orange girl was practically hyperventilating, performing in front of her friends was one thing, but doing her tricks in front of hundreds of people and before cameras?

“Scootaloo ya got this, yer like the best at bike tricks,” said Apple Bloom.

There was a cheer coming from the crowd as Rumble performed a daredevil trick.

“Okay, so Rumble’s good, but you’re good too, probably better!” Sweetie Belle added.

Scootaloo looked back at the crowd and at Rumble’s performance, she gripped the handle bars of her bike tight, feeling fear and doubt grip her mind and heart. “Maybe I should just drop out…try again some other time.”

“You don’t try now, Squirt, some other time wont’ ever come,” said Rainbow Dash.

Scootaloo looked behind her, watching as Rainbow’s parents, and Rainbow Dash herself came walking towards her. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom nodded to each other and stepped away, knowing that if there was anyone who could give Scootaloo her confidence back, it would be her. Rainbow crouched down a little to bring herself to eye level with Scootaloo.

“Hey, I get it, you’re nervous, you don’t want to beef it out there in front of people, that’s fine. But you can’t let it get to you, are you going to fall and face plant? Maybe. But no matter what, we’re going to be cheering you the whole way,” said Rainbow.

Windy and Bow stood on either side of Rainbow Dash. Bow got down on one knee and patted Scootaloo’s helmet. “Ya don’t have to be afraid to mess up, small one, from what we hear, you’re a pretty cool little daredevil, like our Dashie.”

Rainbow inwardly groaned, but smiled outwardly.

Windy placed her hand on Scootaloo’s shoulder and smiled confidently at her. “You can do this Scootaloo, we’ll be cheering for you the whole time, and even your friends will be too!”

Scootaloo felt her heart swell with pride and happiness hearing Rainbow Dash and her parents give her words of encouragement. The daredevil in Scootaloo was roused from slumber, and her confidence was emboldened from the support, the announcer had signaled the end of Rumble’s run and was now announcing Scootaloo’s turn. She have a quick salute to her friends and idol and went to take her position. The others filed into the sidelines and watched as Scootaloo tightened her helmet and mounted her bike.

The green light was given and Scootaloo went into her routine, attacking the mounds and grabbing large portions of airtime as she performed her aerial tricks, and some that made Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle grip onto the guardrail hard enough to bend the metal. The whole time, while the whole crowd and her friends were cheering, none cheered louder – or more bombastically – as Rainbow Dash, Bow Hothoof, and Windy Whistles. They practically put everyone else to shame. And as it turned out, was just what the daredevil girl needed to push herself through the event.

At the end of her run, Scootaloo returned to the starting position by doing one flip before landing and skidding to a stop. The judge’s panel showed nines, and one perfect ten. The Rainbow Dash and her parents whooped it up louder than before, despite the crowd doing the same, you could clearly distinguish them among the others. Scootaloo rushed down back to her friends, where she was met with a bone crushing embrace from both of her friends, pats on the back from Applejack and Sunset, and congrats from Fluttershy and Rarity. Pinkie Pie somehow set off a confetti cannon, but it was well received. Rainbow Dash went the extra mile and hoisted the girl onto her shoulders while they chanted “Scootaloo! Scootaloo! Scootaloo!”

Unfortunately the celebration didn’t last long, an explosion took place further at the back of the event, followed by the sound of a loud engine roaring out into the air. Sunset recognized this sound immediately, the racing Dopant was back. Sunset glanced to Twilight, an unspoken conversation had gone on between them as they knew what needed to be done.

“Everyone let’s move, now!” Bow stated.

Everyone did move, but in the chaos, Sunset slipped away, finding a spot that was out of the way and out of sight long enough to do what she needed.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

A field of turquoise light appeared around Sunset and in flash she was in the form of Kamen Rider Unicorn. The superheroine teleported towards the commotion, flashing in and out until she appeared atop of light post and looked down, spotting the red racer Dopant chasing after someone on the track.

“You think you’re fast?! C’mon, go faster or I’m gonna get you!”

“L-LEAVE ME ALONE!” The rider screamed in terror.

Sunset narrowed her gaze under her helmet, she pulled out the Cyclone Memory and quickly inserted into the left hip port.

< CYCLONE! >

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A gust of emerald wind surrounded Sunset, transforming her into Mystic Cyclone form. Unicorn jumped off the post and used the emerald winds to fly towards the rider in danger, her scarf straightened out, becoming gliding wings as she angled herself towards the rider. The rider looked to his right and gasped in fear, but it was quickly replaced with relief upon recognizing Unicorn.

“Take my hand!” Unicorn ordered.

The rider reached out and took Unicorn’s hand, and in an instant both of them were teleported away, leaving only the bike to continue until it hit a dirt mound and sailed into the distance, crashing into a kiosk. Further away, Unicorn reappeared and dropped off the rider, and headed back to combat the red racer Dopant. Unicorn hovered over the area, watching as the Dopant shifted into humanoid mode and glared up at her.

“Heh, Unicorn, still sore that I beat you in our race?”

“You blew out the tires of a semi and nearly caused a huge wreck that could’ve killed a lot of people!”

The red racer Dopant chuckled and shook its head. “An obstacle, you would’ve caught up if you had just left it alone. Street races have no rules Uny, it’s just the road and the racers, everything else is just an obstacle to dodge, use, or smash through!”

“Tch, I’m not listening to this! I’m putting an end to this before you hurt anyone else!” Unicorn declared.

The masked rider flew down towards the red racer Dopant, who chuckled and zoomed to the left, appearing as a red streak. Sunset pulled up and looked back, growling at her miss. Unicorn’s horn glowed as she summoned the emerald wind and condensed the air particles into dense spheres. The red racer Dopant widened its stance and prepared to move. Sunset then pointed her right hand at the Dopant, curling in her last three fingers and leaving her index finger pointed out and her thumb up, mimicking a gun.

“Air Bullets!”

Several of the spheres shot off, creating small, thunder like explosions as they flew towards the Dopant. This time, Unicorn was able to watch as the Dopant raced around without transforming, appearing as a red streak that dodged all her Air Bullets. Unicorn then issued a full barrage over the area, but even then, it as if the Dopant could see where each one was going to hit and easily dodged them with its incredible speed. The red racer Dopant stopped for a moment and taunted Unicorn to come and attack.

Unicorn dove in and began her assault, all the while a mechanical bird kept watch over the battle zone.

***____________________***

All the contestants and spectators were evacuated and the police had created a line to keep anyone else from entering. While this was going on, Twilight was keeping a close eye on the battle through her cellphone. Her friends were helpful in making sure no one saw her deploy Hawk, and once the mecha-bird was in the air, it immediately fed a video stream right to Twilight’s phone. The fight was going poorly as far as they could see, the red racer Dopant was faster than Sunset even in Mystic Cyclone form. Applejack, Pinkie, Rarity, and Fluttershy kept watch to make sure no one was looking, while Twilight and Rainbow Dash were watching the action.

“Sunset’s in trouble, this new Dopant is faster than anything we’ve faced up till now, and all her Memories aren’t the right type to deal with this,” said Twilight as she watched.

“Dammit, Sunset, she’s open on the left!” Rainbow whispered harshly.

Twilight glanced to Rainbow. “Wait, you can see the Dopant’s movements?”

“Kind of…I’m catching every other second of its moves, but yeah. Why?” Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight, who was now giving her a determined look for some reason. “Um…Twi, why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because I’m about to do something that Sunset will either hate me for or think I’m crazy…er.” Twilight reached into her backpack and pulled out the Nasca Memory. The bespectacled girl then shoved the Memory into Rainbow Dash’s hands. “Take it.”

Rainbow Dash gingerly took the Nasca Memory, not really sure where this was going. It then began to click when she saw Twilight pull another object out. It was a buckle, not unlike Sunset’s Uni-Driver. It had an N design similar to the Nasca Memory symbol, but at the center was bolt with a button that allowed it turn. The N was colored azure on one end and vermillion on the other, and both ends had a spot for the Memory to be inserted. A left hip port was also installed on it, making it clear that this belt could also perform Mimetic Drives. Twilight took this buckle and presented to Rainbow Dash, the others had glanced at the goings on and wanted to comment, but seeing as they were acting as a wall to hide their actions, they couldn’t.

“Twi…are you…does this mean…?”

“Remember, you have to say ‘henshin’ after you press the button on the Nasca Memory, insert it into the blue side, and then press down. Got it?” Twilight asked in a serious tone.

Rainbow Dash understood and carefully took the buckle. “I won’t let you guys down.”

The rainbow haired girl found an opening in the crowd and ran for it, weaving through several people and ducking behind an unwatched back way into the track.

Please let this be the right decision.

***____________________***

< METAL! >

{< METAL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

\\ ARMOR UP! //

Sunset put up her guard, she had tried to attack and counter attack the red racer Dopant, but ended up failing. She wasn’t a match for the Dopant’s speed, and the power behind its attacks. Now Sunset was stuck playing defense as the Dopant attacked her from all sides, landing blow after blow against her armored up body.

“You think you can wear me out by going all defense?!” The Dopant mocked. “Even metal is susceptible to extreme speeds, an object traveling fast enough can even pierce titanium!”

The red racer Dopant sped far into the distance, red and orange energy blazed around its body. Unicorn braced herself, knowing she wouldn’t be fast enough to counter attack, but if she were able to catch the Dopant during the attack, if she could survive it, she may have a chance.

The Dopant’s visor glowed bright blue as all the energy shunted towards its feet, catapulting it forward and causing a trail of fire to appear in its wake. Unicorn’s eyes widened as she watched the red racer Dopant cross several yards in the blink of an eye, and was now directly in front of her. The Dopant struck Unicorn in the abdomen, sending with it all the kinetic force, and energy that the Dopant built up, and sending it straight through Unicorn. The power of the blow created a shockwave that sent a dust cloud into the air behind the masked rider, cracks appeared on the armor and then, in less than a few seconds, shattered like fragile glass and sent Unicorn flying with sparks shooting off her body.

The heroine landed some feet away, her Iron Heart form deactivated and left her in her default form. Unicorn groaned as she clutched at her stomach, feeling pain all over as if a giant fist hit her entire body. She tried to get up, but saw that her armor sparked a little. Crap…if I take another blow, I’ll revert back to normal…!

The red racer Dopant dusted itself off and began walking slowly towards Unicorn.

Under the cover of the kiosks, Rainbow Dash was watching this and gritting her teeth in anger, but at same time she was nervous. She saw how strong this Dopant was, and now Sunset was on the ground. Sunset had a knack for the hero bit, she had fighting skills and know-how, but what did Rainbow Dash have? She was athletic, strong, hardheaded, and…And I never leave my friends hanging!

Rainbow Dash placed the buckle at her waist, as soon as she did the belt shot out and looped around her waist. Taking a deep breath, Rainbow Dash brought up the Nasca Memory and pressed the button.

< NASCA! >

Rainbow Dash narrowed her gaze, and spoke with conviction, “Henshin!” She placed the Gaia Memory into the blue slot and pressed down.

> NASCA! <

A field of blue light encompassed Rainbow Dash, at first she was freaking out, but after a second, she steeled her nerves and allowed the process to finish. The field of azure and yellow light flashed with the symbol of the Nasca Memory and burst apart. What stood now, was a new warrior, a new Kamen Rider. Her armor was blue like the sky, her right and left forearm bracers bared the markings of the Bird Nazca Line, and the pauldrons on her shoulders had black wings imprinted onto them. On the helmet, the eyes of were in the shape of wings, and bright orangey yellow, with a single horn that pointed backwards. On its back were two cloths that were orange at the bottom and faded to blue as it went up.

Rainbow Dash looked upon herself, feeling the power of the Nasca Memory flowing through her. She clenched her fists, this moment feeling so surreal that she couldn’t believe that she was moving the armored hands before her. But they were her hands, this was her power, and now she had to fight, she had help her friend. The Kamen Rider’s body glowed bright blue, and in the next moment, shimmering, fiery electric wings of orange and yellow light appeared out of her back. Rainbow Dash could feel their power, lifting her up off the ground and making her feel as if she can be…faster.

In a blink of the eye, Rainbow Dash took off, the world becoming a slow motion blur to her as she rose higher, she willed herself to stop her ascension and paused in the air. She looked down below and watched as the red racer Dopant was about to close the distance on Sunset and deliver the final blow, but she was not letting that happen.

Rainbow Dash angled herself downward, appearing as an azure blur in the sky. An unnerving sound filled the air, similar to that of when a mortar shell was about to land. The red racer Dopant glanced about until it looked up and quickly backed away, narrowly escaping getting struck down by Rainbow Dash as she landed with a great thud against the ground. She rose from her one knee stance, her wings disappearing into particles of light.

“What…What in the world?!”

“Don’t worry, Unicorn, I got your back!”

“Who the hell are you?! And since when are there two of you?!” The Dopant asked.

The new Kamen Rider chuckled. “Listen up, Unicorn’s got a new partner! Delivering justice at sonic speeds! I’m Kamen Rider Nasca!”

H: High Speed Attack / Nasca Takes Flight!

View Online

Sunset stared in utter shock at what she was seeing, at first, she thought it was over when the red racer Dopant had hit her with that powerful attack, and how she was now just one blow away from changing back. Then, out of the blue, another Kamen Rider comes crashing down to the ground and sounds suspiciously like Rainbow Dash, calling herself Kamen Rider Nasca. Which should be impossible as Sunset remembered giving the Nasca Memory to Twilight before the start of competition for safe keeping. And yet, here stood Kamen Rider Nasca.

The red racer Dopant made an annoyed grunt. “Wow, you really needed backup to beat me? Not all you’re cracked up to be huh Uny?”

“Lay off, asking help from a friend doesn’t make you weak, it makes you smart for knowing when you need help,” said Nasca.

“Hmm, kind of like…you!”

The red racer Dopant dashed towards Nasca, but before the blow could land, Nasca’s wings flared and the blue Kamen Rider dashed towards the Dopant. Nasca lashed out with her own fist and both punches met at the center, causing as shockwave from the sudden stop of the two opposing forces. Despite the Dopant’s lack of eyes or a mouth, Nasca could tell the Dopant was surprised by the speed. For Nasca, it was time to put all those Kung Fu and action movie fight scenes she had watched to use.

Nasca broke off and came in with a roundhouse kick from the left, the Dopant was hit in the side, making it grunt from the speed and force of the blow. But it wasn’t out yet, the red racer Dopant regained its footing and delivered a haymaker right to Nasca’s right cheek, making her stumble back. Nasca grunted and retaliated with flurry of punches to the Dopant’s stomach, chest, and face, pushing the monster back.

On the outside of this fight, it was happening like a blur to Unicorn. She could see them moving, but their movements were so fast that she was catching every fifth or sixth strike, and some more when they stopped for a brief second.

The two speedsters broke off again, both appearing scuffed up from their battle. The red racer Dopant glowed and metamorphed into her bike form. The monster bike roared as it rushed towards Nasca, who was about to move until she remembered that Unicorn was in the Dopant’s path. Nasca brought her forearms in front of her, and made her shimmering wings fold in to act as a shield. The Dopant popped a wheelie and came down with the front tire, spinning it out and causing sparks to fly off from the point of contact. Nasca dug her heels into the dirt, grunting from the force being exerted onto her, but she gritted her teeth, she couldn’t let the Dopant get past her.

The fiery electric wings of Nasca glowed brighter and generated a force wave that pushed the Dopant back, making it have to drive off and come around to gain stability. Nasca needed to end his quick, but was not sure how. Just then, the black wing emblems on her shoulder pauldrons glowed and shot out before her, coming together to form a sword. The sword was gun metal gray, the guard was in the shape of the Nazca Bird wing, and the blade was crescent shaped and dual edged.

The red racer Dopant revved up its engine and zoomed for Nasca. The blue Kamen Rider took up the sword, and dashed for the Dopant. Both were just mere inches from each other and about to have a head on collision, however, at the last second, Nasca pulled to the right and slashed the Dopant, causing sparks to fly from its body. The damage was enough to make the Dopant flip up and over over Unicorn and revert back to its humanoid form, rolling on the ground until hit a dirt mound.

Nasca came to a stop and looked back, spotting the Dopant holding its side. She dashed towards Unicorn and put herself between Unicorn and the Dopant, pointing her sword in the monster’s direction. The Dopant rose up, grunting from the blow she received. “This isn’t over, Unicorn! That goes double for you Nasca!”

The red racer Dopant took off, leaving both Riders alone. Nasca’s sword disappeared into light particles, and the new Rider let out a long sigh. “Oh jeez, I…Oh man…That was intense! I didn’t think I could pull all that off but just…damn! I did it!” Nasca turned around and offered Unicorn her hand. “C’mon Sunset, those cops will be here soon.”

Sunset grunted as she rose up and looked upon Nasca. “It really is you, Rainbow Dash?”

“Yep.”

“Huh…” Unicorn glanced towards the entrance. “Let’s go then. You have some explaining to do.”

Rainbow Dash gulped.

***____________________***

Later that day, it was announced that the races would continue despite the attack by the monster. Some of the competitors had dropped out, leaving those who chose to remain to move up in the ranking, some saw it as a cop out others took it as a challenge to prove that they were worthy of their new ranking. Meanwhile, the girls regrouped back at Sunset’s loft, which Rarity was loving, and Rainbow Dash found herself a bit jealous that Sunset could live on her own.

“Let’s begin Twi,” said Sunset.

Twilight nodded and stood up from the couch, in less than a second, her mind was taken to that of the Infinite Library.

*~*~*

“Okay, what’s the first word?” Twilight asked.

--- Motorcycle. ---

“Lookup: Motorcycle.”

Dozens of bookshelves scattered into the infinite white space, leaving a few shelves behind.

--- Next word, red. ---

“Lookup: Red.”

The shelves disappeared and relieved themselves of a few books, about fifty in total.

“Need a little more,” said Twilight.

--- Try super speed! --- Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Ow! Rainbow Dash, I’m in a trance, I’m not deaf!”

--- Heh, heh…sorry Twi. ---

“Lookup: Super Speed.”

The books dwindled in number until only one remained. Twilight took hold of it and the book transformed. The cover was made of a red metallic metal, with exhaust ports coming off the sides like a motorcycle. Twilight then opened the book and the information flowed into her mind.

“It’s called the Accel Memory, its attributes are endurance, speed, and power. It has the ability to transform into a motorcycle, and in that form the Dopant’s at its strongest and……huh.”

--- What’s wrong Twilight? --- Sunset asked.

Twilight could see something inside the book, images of another Kamen Rider, his appearance was similar to the Dopant, but as armor. He carried a long, and apparently heavy sword as he struck down one Dopant after the other. The Rider transformed back and a name stuck out that Twilight whispered, “Ryu Terui…” Twilight decided to keep that information for now, until they dealt with the current problem.

*~*~*

When Twilight came out of her dive into the Library, Sunset helped her back to the couch. Once she had, the fiery haired girl walked back to the chair opposite from the couch and sat down, and gave Twilight an inquisitive stare.

Twilight sat across from the coffee table, looking like she just got called into the principal’s office. “So, you made another Driver, and gave it to Rainbow Dash, without even telling me?!”

“T-To be fair, I was actually planning on telling you later…but then the Dopant attacked and I was…I…”

“She had to make a judgement call Sunset,” said Rainbow Dash. “If she hadn’t given me the Memory and Driver, you’d be…you know!”

Sunset rubbed the temples of her head as she tried to calm herself. “I appreciate that, believe me I do.”

“So what’s the problem?!” Rainbow asked as she stood at the other end of the coffee table.

“My problem is this is dangerous, you got lucky with that Dopant! It was caught off guard. Now it knows about you and won’t be easy to beat next time. This is dangerous, and if there’s anyone here who should be putting their life on the line it’s me!” Sunset stated.

Rainbow Dash looked at Sunset incredulously. “Why should you be the only one to risk their life?! This my city too, and my friends and family! Now that I have the power to fight and protect them, I will!”

“No.” Sunset said sternly. “I’m forbidding you from becoming Nasca again, the belt and the Gaia Memory are staying with me, until I say otherwise.”

Twilight could feel the tension in the air between them, the girls looked like they wanted to say something too, but it felt like there was a hair trigger on this situation that would take but a small tap to set something off. “Um…Sunset…maybe we should take a minute a-and analyze the pros and cons of this. Having another Kamen Rider would be very beneficial to our fight against the Dopants, and if we had Rainbow Dash as Nasca during Glitter Glam’s infiltration, we probably would’ve ended the situation before it escalated. Also, it would’ve helped during the fight with Gilda as the Violence Dopant.”

“Cons, she doesn’t have any fighting experience, so she’s likely to hurt herself or others.” Sunset added.

Rainbow Dash shook her head at that. “What?! And you do?!”

Sunset stood up from her chair and stood in front of Rainbow Dash. “When I came to this world, I only had my brains and brawn, no magic whatsoever. So I refined my knowledge of science in this world, and honed my strength by learning how to fight, mix martial arts, anything I could scrap together and create my own fighting style! Even before that, self-defense was something that I learned back in Equestria, not just magical means but also physical should my magic ever fail me! So I have a foundation to work with! I won’t deny you’re athletic and have good reflexes, but you have a lot to learn before you can get back out there!”

Rainbow Dash growled and stepped back, assuming a fighting stance. “Then show me!”

Sunset shook her head. “I’m not doing this.”

“Fine!”

Rainbow Dash threw a punch, which Sunset Shimmer quickly caught in her left hand. The rainbow haired girl continued to push her fist forward, making her arm and Sunset’s shake from exerting their strength.

“We really doing this, Dash?” Sunset asked.

“Do you see me laughing?” Rainbow asked.

Rainbow broke off her punch and came in swinging again, Sunset blocked the punch with little effort, but Rainbow didn’t stop, throwing one punch after the other, leaning in to rush her, but then getting sidestepped before she could land any blows.

“Rainbow, Sunset, stop this now!” Rarity shouted.

“Oh my, oh my, oh my, oh my,” repeated Fluttershy as she hid behind her hair.

“Rainbow…Sunset, y-you shouldn’t be fighting!” Pinkie stated, looking quite distressed at seeing her two best friends going at it.

Rainbow Dash came in throwing a kick, but Sunset caught it, gritting her teeth as she took the brunt of the blow. She then reached out and took Rainbow by the collar of her shirt, “TWILIGHT, MOVE!”

Twilight did indeed move away from the couch as Sunset threw Rainbow Dash at it, but Sunset didn’t stop. She rushed to the couch and quickly pulled Rainbow’s right arm back with her right, and forced Rainbow’s head down with her left hand. The rainbow haired girl struggled against her, grunting and growling as she tried to get up, but each time she tried Sunset would jerk her arm back just enough to make it hurt but not to cause injury.

“This is what I mean, you’re not ready to fight a Dopant, especially if they’re a complete psycho,” said Sunset.

“I beat that red Dopant thing today!”

“Like I said, it wasn’t expecting you, but it won’t make that mistake again! If you think you’re ready then get out of this hold!”

Rainbow Dash tried, but each try only earned her more pain from the position her arm was in. After about a minute of struggling, the rainbow haired girl calmed down and relaxed her body. Sunset released her and sat back down in her chair. Rainbow Dash rubbed her shoulder as the others went to her, but Rainbow waved them away, not wanting their help.

“Go and get ready for the race tomorrow, I have a feeling that that Dopant will come back,” said Sunset.

“You still going to hang onto my Memory and Driver?” Rainbow asked.

“No,” Sunset glanced to Twilight. “Twilight will keep them with her. I’m keeping an eye on you in the meantime.”

“Whatever.”

Rainbow Dash got up and started walking out of Sunset’s loft, with Fluttershy following behind her as she was her ride. Once they were out, Rarity turned to Sunset. “Really, Sunset Shimmer, was that needed at all?! Rainbow Dash wants to help you, that’s all!”

“Look, it’s bad enough that all of us here have to deal with the magic I introduced into this world when I brought the Element of Magic here, and the dangers that that has created! I put the students, and you guys, in danger just from doing that!” Sunset pinched the bridge of her nose as she released a long breath of frustration. “I can’t control the Equestrian Magic and the spontaneous effects it has here, but I can at least do this to keep one of my friends out of harm’s way.”

“Sunset –!”

“Just let it be, Rares. Twilight, c’mon, Ah’ll drive ya back home,” said Applejack.

“Oh…Um…” Twilight glanced to Sunset, unsure if she should leave. Sunset showed a gentle smile and nodded to her. “Okay, I guess. Goodnight Sunset.”

“Goodnight, all of you.”

Pinkie was the last to close the door behind them, she glanced over her shoulder and said, “Maybe you should talk to Princess Twilight.” She then closed the door, leaving Sunset to ponder that suggestion.

The fiery haired girl walked over to her dresser and pulled out the journal, she then picked up a pin began writing out what had happened today. It did not take long before the pony princess wrote back.

I’m sorry that happened, but it sounds like Rainbow Dash’s entry helped. She’s always liked being a hero, at least the Rainbow Dash here in Equestria does. She’d be happy to hear that her counterpart is actually a superhero.

Sunset clinched her jaw as she wrote back. Actually, I took the belt and device from her.

Oh…Did she do something wrong with it?

No…No…It’s just…I don’t want her to do this. She shouldn’t be risking her life like that, I’m more magically inclined and combat inclined as well to fight the Dopants. I can’t just let one of my friends get themselves hurt because of something I did! I have to do this myself.

There was a long pause before Princess Twilight wrote back. Oh my, you sound just like me!

Sunset quirked an eyebrow at that. H-How so?

When Celestia and Luna were abducted and the sky was stuck in a half day and half night state, and when the Plunder Vines sprang up around Ponyville, I felt that it was my duty as a Princess to take on the responsibility of protecting everypony, but when I began the search, and the danger got worse, my friends told me that I needed to head back and that they would continue on without me.

That doesn’t like them, wrote Sunset.

They knew that if something happened to me then things would become worse, at that time Cadance and I would’ve been the only two Princesses in Equestria, and I understand why they wanted me to turn back, because Equestria still needed its leaders. But in the end, I decided to forge ahead, and almost got hurt in the process.

I guess what I’m saying, Sunset, it is important to know when the danger is great, but it’s also important to take help when it’s offered. Friends stand by each other, and help each other, no matter how bad things get.

Sunset paused in her response as she contemplated her words. Thanks, Twilight. I’ll think on this.

A smiley face appeared on the page and next to it that read: You’re welcome, and don’t be a stranger, come and see your home again. I know Princess Celestia would like to talk to you again.

I wouldn’t mind seeing home again, but Princess Celestia…I may need some time for that.

Okay, well take care, and if you need help from this side, don’t hesitate to ask.

Will do.

***____________________***

The next day arrived quickly, the turnout was surprisingly large considering the attack from yesterday. There was an increase in police presence, with some of the officers sporting an SCU logo on their body armor and uniforms, identifying themselves as the Special Crimes Unit of the CCPD. Shining Amor was there, heading the operations and making sure everything was running as smoothly as possible.

The calmness wasn’t only due to the police presence, now that it had been revealed that there were now two Kamen Riders in Canterlot City, the people felt doubly protected and so felt that they could move about with caution, but with a sense that help would come.

As expected, some of the contestants dropped out because they feared another attack, but just as many were left to continue the competition. As a result of the drop outs, many who stayed were bumped up in the rankings, those were dead last suddenly got to within the final twenty, and some who were once in fifth place found themselves in third. Of course the pressure was on for them, those who were bumped up felt now they had to show that they were worthy of their new ranking in the competition and give it their all and more.

When Sunset arrived, she found Applejack helping Rainbow Dash get her bike down from her pickup. Sunset motioned as to go to her, but stopped, remembering her actions of last night. Looking back she wished she had done it differently other than overpowering her like she did, but nonetheless, it had to be done. She couldn’t risk putting her friends in the line of fire, getting caught and rescuing them was one thing, but intentionally letting them go into danger like that was not something she ever wanted.

“You look like someone kicked your dog.”

Sunset snapped out of her thoughts and glanced to her left, spotting Lightning Dust approaching her. The former Equestrian chuckled. “Well, I feel like someone did.”

“What’s up then?” Lightning asked.

Sunset glanced to Rainbow Dash, Lightning Dust followed her gaze and nodded. “Ah, girlfriend trouble? You two have a fight over who’s top and who’s bottom?”

“WHAT?! NO!” Sunset stated with a blush. “We’re just friends!”

Lightning Dust laughed loudly and patted Sunset on the back. “Chill Sunset Shimmer, just a joke.”

Sunset rolled her eyes but went back to sighing. “We had a fight after the whole thing with that monster. She almost got hurt and I was worried about her coming back and race again.”

“Yet you’re both here,” said Lightning Dust.

“I’m here to make sure she doesn’t get hurt, otherwise I’d make her stay away,” said Sunset.

Lightning patted Sunset on her shoulder arm and grinned. “I get it, Sunny, you’re trying to lessen the competition huh?”

“What?”

“No I get it, really. I can tell, you got a killer instinct inside you that wants to be the best no matter what, second place, your best effort, is never good enough. We need to push ourselves and bodies to the limit and beyond, whatever it takes to the get to the top.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow, she recognized that kind of talk. It was very similar to how she used to speak back before her reformation. “Believe me Lightning, it’s not worth it.”

Lightning looked at Sunset confusion. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Sure, you may get somewhere higher than where you previously were, you may even destroy every good perception of yourself that other people may have had. But what’s it really worth to get what you want? Severing your bonds, burning bridges, all you are is lonely, and with nothing to comfort you other than yourself.” Sunset glanced to Lightning Dust and saw that her eyes were wide with…shock? Confusion? It was hard for her to read. “Lightning, you okay?”

Lightning Dust shook her head and gritted her teeth. “Spoken like someone who lost it all. Me? I can’t afford to be nothing but the best, having friends will only slow me down, and speed is my life. See you on the track, Shimmer.”

The mint green girl pushed passed Sunset, but in that moment of contact, Sunset felt something, a spark of hostile energy that felt familiar. Sunset continued to watch Lightning Dust walk away until she disappeared into the crowd, not noticing that Twilight was approaching her, “Sunset are you alright?”

“Yeah…Twilight.”

“Yes?”

“You have the Nasca Memory and N-Driver, right?”

Twilight opened her backpack and displayed the objects to Sunset. “Of course, is something wrong?”

Sunset glanced back towards the crowd, clenching her jaw and fists she asked Twilight, “Do you really believe that Rainbow Dash is ready to be a Kamen Rider? To take on this kind of danger? Honestly?”

Twilight zipped her backpack up and looked Sunset in the eyes. “Honestly, I don’t like you fighting as Unicorn. I hate knowing you put yourself in danger to fight monsters that have every intention of killing you! Despite what I feel……I know that you are the only one who can fight them. Because if you didn’t, my brother would be dead, Countess Coloratura would still be with that horrible agent, Glitter would’ve gotten you expelled or put in jail, Sugarcoat’s father would be in a coma and countless others thanks to Gladmane, and Sunny Flare might’ve become fully corrupted from the Queen Memory! And then there’s the countless other people you could save in the future! So…… do I wish this was someone else’s fight? Yes! But I know this happened for a reason, I have the Infinite Library, and you can become a Rider.”

“If I can help lessen the danger a little, with Hawk, Dillo, or even a new addition to your powers, I’ll do it! If I could, I would fight with you! But I…I can’t…I’m just not like that. So, as strange as it sounds, when Rainbow pressed the button on the Nasca Memory, that moment when I was in a trance, I saw her, as a Rider, Kamen Rider Nasca.”

Sunset’s eyes widened, surprised by this revelation. “Y-You did?! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

Twilight rubbed her shoulder as she looked at the ground. “Because I was reluctant as well…! I just got some wonderful friends that I care about! One of them saved me from madness and from destroying two worlds, and is now fighting dangerous people to keep everyone safe! And now I get a vision of a new Kamen Rider Driver belt build, I know who it’s meant for! I’ll have two friends fighting and putting themselves in danger! I just…this is all my fault…If I didn’t have this knowledge then none of this would be happening to you and Rainbow Dash…”

Sunset felt a stabbing pain in her heart, she never noticed how much Twilight was suffering because of all this. The burden of her knowledge brought both joy and sorrow to Twilight, she could make these fantastical devices to help Sunset fight the Dopants, but each time she made them knowing that her friend was going into battle and if she made even one mistake in her design, it was Twilight who would have to live with the guilt that it was a flaw that she overlooked that cost her the life of her friends. The fiery haired girl reached for Twilight and brought the genius into a hug, surprising Twilight and making her release a squeak from the action.

“I’m sorry, Twilight, I’ve been able to fight like I have because I trust you and the things you create. But I never took into account how much you worry for me when I do fight, I’m sorry,” said Sunset.

Twilight felt a fluttering in her heart, and decided to indulge in this moment and lean her head against Sunset’s shoulder. “You’re just you, I can’t stop you because that heroic part of you is what I admire and like about you, and which is why I understand why you don’t want to let Rainbow Dash fight, but…”

Sunset separated from Twilight a little and looked her in the eye, she then turned her gaze to Rainbow Dash who spared her a passing glance before heading towards the track. “Twilight, listen to me carefully…”

***____________________***

The racers assembled at the track, Indigo Zap had returned, not wanting to pass up the chance to have her rematch with the two CHS girls. Lightning Dust was there as well, with Sunset keeping a cautious eye on her. The fiery haired girl turned to Rainbow Dash and cleared her throat, gaining her attention. “Dash…I’m sorry for how I acted last night…that…that was uncalled for and…”

“And?” Rainbow asked.

“Just remember that I can make stupid mistakes, especially when it’s to protect my friends.”

“Sunset…what’re you –?”

[RACERS ON YOUR MARKS!]

Their conversation was cut short when the announcer came on. A symphony of motocross bike engines went off, with the riders ready to tear down the track and win it all. The lights above them were red and shifted to a flashing yellow, the racers tightened their grips and gritted their teeth, waiting for that flash of emerald to signal their start.

At last the light turned green and all twenty racers shot out of the gate. Sunset, Indigo, Rainbow, and Lightning had attacked the course, taking the lead and somehow getting further ahead of all the other racers. This wasn’t a race of twenty contestants, no, this was a race of four as the girls battled for the first place spot.

Lightning was gaining on Sunset, with a determined gleam in her eye as she passed Rainbow Dash. The rainbow haired girl narrowed her gaze and sped up, using a dirt mound to make a sharp turn and overtake Lightning Dust. The blonde girl growled in frustration as Rainbow got ahead of her, her mind quickly trying to think of a way to get ahead of her.

Indigo and Sunset were neck and neck, barely giving an inch to one or the other. The first lap ended with Sunset and Indigo crossing first, Rainbow second, and Lightning third. Another lap was done, and Lightning was catching up, but she still couldn’t get around Rainbow Dash. By the ninth lap the signs were showing that it was going to be either Sunset or Indigo who would come in first. Lightning Dust would not allow that, she had go further, push harder.

Lightning Dust saw a dirt mound coming up and got an idea. With a wicked grin she went full throttle towards the mound, Rainbow, Sunset, and Indigo had passed it, but Lightning went up it, using the incline to ascend into the air. The speed at which she jumped carried her far as she got closer and closer to Rainbow Dash’s position. However, it was becoming apparent that at the rate she was going, Lightning Dust would land on top of Rainbow Dash.

The rainbow haired girl briefly glanced towards the crowd and saw the jumbo-tron screen that showed Lightning Dust about to land on her. Rainbow looked up just in time to hit the brakes as she turned the bike to the side. Lightning Dust landed ahead of Rainbow Dash, but at the cost of Rainbow being thrown from her bike and rolling on the ground. Dazed Rainbow looked up just in time see her bike come straight for her, but thankfully managed to duck out of the way in time. The other racers in the back stopped when they saw the stunt, but Sunset and Indigo went on oblivious to the incident.

When they spotted Lightning Dust on their tails, they looked back and saw Rainbow on the ground. Sunset hit the brakes to her bike and did a one-hundred and eighty degree turn towards Rainbow Dash. Lightning looked back and smirked, shaking her head in disappointment. “Geez, she gave up first place to go back for her? What a loser, looks like it’s you and me Zap!”

Just then, Indigo Zap hit her brakes and quickly turned around and drove in Sunset’s direction. Sunset got to Rainbow first dismounting her bike quickly and sliding to the ground beside her friend. “Rainbow are you okay?!”

Rainbow Dash coughed. “Yeah, just got the wind knocked out of me, I don’t think anything’s broken.”

Sunset turned to the incoming noise, showing Indigo Zap pulling up to them and dismounting to come to her aid. “Indigo, you came back?”

“I remembered the Games, Rainbow Dash went back for you when those plant monsters almost ate you, and I left you and Sugarcoat back there without even stopping to help her. Crystal Prep ain’t about that anymore, and neither am I.” Indigo reached out to Rainbow Dash. “C’mon, let’s get you off the track.”

Carefully, both Sunset and Indigo Zap hefted Rainbow Dash up, despite her protests that she could walk on her own. Lightning Dust crossed the finish line in first place, and yet there were no cheers, there was no gratification in this win, growling, Lightning Dust turned her bike around and headed straight for the three. Lightning Dust stopped before them and dismounted her bike, letting it fall unceremoniously to the ground.

“Why did you two turn back?!” Lightning asked.

“Seriously, dude? You pulled that crazy stunt and almost hurt our friend,” said Indigo Zap.

“She’s fine, we have EMTs here for that reason! You didn’t have to turn back when the race was still on! And besides that, so what?! The mounds are fair game, it’s not my fault she wasn’t paying attention!” Lightning argued.

“You could’ve angled away from me! There was plenty of open space for you to land and not in my general direction!” Rainbow shot back.

Lightning Dust growled as she went to pick up her bike. “Get back on you two, we’re finishing this race! Out of this sorry collection, you three are the only ones I consider competition! And a win like this isn’t worth it unless I beat you to the finish line!”

“Forget it, Lightning, you crossed, you won. I’m going to help my friend, some things are more important than winning,” said Sunset.

Lightning eyes narrowed, memories flashed before her eyes as her anger boiled over. “Nothing…Nothing, is more important than winning! Otherwise…you’re nothing!” Lightning Dust reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a red device. “And no one is faster than me!”

< ACCEL! >

The racer pressed the Accel Memory into her neck, fusing into her body and transforming her completely into the Accel Dopant. The Dopant glared at the trio and pointed at them as her visor shined. “Guess we’ll make this a Death Race!”

The crowd screamed bloody murder as they were evacuated from stands, several of the SCU cops came in, fully armored and wielding high-powered weaponry. Shining Armor led the group and announced over his blow-horn, “ATTENTION, GET DOWN ON THE GROUND NOW OR WE WILL BE FORCED TO OPEN FIRE, THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNING!”

The Accel Dopant turned towards the battalion of police officers and chuckled mockingly. “If you think you can hit me, then pull the trigger! But even if you do, it won’t make a difference!”

One of the officers, carrying a grenade launcher, aimed high and fired canisters into the air. The canisters landed around the Dopant, exploding and releasing a large smoke screen. Sunset glanced towards the cops and noticed Shining Armor giving her the signal to get away.

“C’mon!” Sunset whispered harshly.

All three girls managed to get off the track and headed towards the exit, at that moment though, the Accel Dopant created a super speed whirlwind to blow away the smoke and the canisters, crossing her arms in front of her chest and shaking her head. “Is that it? I was expecting more.”

And you’ll get more, Shining Armor thought. “FIRE!”

The officers opened fire on the Accel Dopant, shotguns and automatic rifles went off one after the other as bullets were sent flying in Lightning Dust’s direction. The Accel Dopant didn’t even bat an eye as a red aura flared up around its body and everything began to slow down immensely, the bullets looked as if they were moving at a snail’s pace. Lightning even managed to pluck one out of the air and examine it with fascination. Alas, Lightning Dust’s fascination was short lived as she dashed across the track and appeared before the muzzles of the guns. Focusing the speed energy into her hands, Lightning Dust began slicing the muzzles off the rifles, and at the same time, disarming each and every officer in that area.

After at least a few seconds, the Accel Dopant returned to the same spot she stood before. The bullets laid on the ground, along with all of the police officers pistols and ammo clips. The SCU officers saw their rifles ruined, dropping them and now even more defenseless than before.

“And I wasn’t even trying. Now, when you blink again, you won’t be opening your eyes!”

< JOKER! >

{< JOKER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Lightning Dust heard that familiar sound and was about to move, but before she could, Unicorn appeared and delivered an energized punch to the Dopant’s face, sending her flying across the track until she dug her heels into the dirt, stopping herself. When she looked back, she beheld Kamen Rider Unicorn in her Ace High form.

“Heh, Uny, you’re back for your beating?!” Lightning mocked.

“No, I’m here to stop you.” Unicorn entered a fighting stance, and prepared for Lightning’s attack.

“Jeez, didn’t you learn from last time? You’re not fast enough to stop me!”

Lightning Dust dashed across the track, covering yards in just mere seconds. Unicorn’s horn glowed, and as the Accel Dopant’s fist neared her, she vanished, letting her hit nothing but air. In the next second, Unicorn reappeared a few inches to the right and delivered a roundhouse kick to Lightning’s side, making sparks shoot out from the impact point.

“W-What the hell?!”

Unicorn teleported again, but then reappeared behind Lightning. The Dopant noticed this and swung her arm in a wide cutting arc, but once again Unicorn disappeared. Lightning expected her to reappear somewhere else, but Unicorn reappeared in the same spot. Unicorn quickly hit the left hip port and began her attack.

\ HAT TRICK! COUNT IT! /

Unicorn’s fists and feet blazed with violet energy that wisped like flames. Unicorn struck the Accel Dopant in the chest, causing sparks to fly.

\ 1! /

Unicorn teleported again, reappearing behind Lightningand punched the middle of her back.

\ 2! /

Unicorn began teleporting all around, confusing Lightning as to where she would appear next. “The problem with your speed is that you’re still limited by your vision, it’s all about reaction time! I tried to fight you with flight and defense, and that didn’t work! I understand that I needed to go full offense!”

It was more than that, as a unicorn pony, Sunset’s teleportation was thought based. She was always a fast thinker, and it translated into her teleportation. And with Lightning being pure visual, she couldn’t use her speed to predict where Sunset would go because she was too distracted by the teleportation and trying to wait and see where Unicorn would appear. Plus, psyching her out by reappearing and disappearing was a bonus. Unicorn reappeared in front of Lightning and delivered a kick to the same spot she struck earlier.

\ 3! /

The energy doubled and exploded, sending the Accel Dopant flying backwards and bouncing off two dirt mounds before hitting the ground again.

\ TILT! /

***____________________***

Out in the safe zone, Rainbow Dash was being treated by the EMTs, but after assessing that she was alright they moved on to others who were having panic attacks or the officers who were exiting the battle zone. The girls watched all this, but Rainbow Dash was clenching her fists, it was apparent to her friends that she wanted to go out there and help, but after what Sunset Shimmer said to her, she was hesitating, doubting herself.

Twilight stepped forward and placed her hand over Rainbow’s clenched fist. “Rainbow, why do you want to be a Kamen Rider?”

Rainbow looked to her friend, noticing her serious expression. “What are you talking about?”

“Tell me, why do you want to fight as a Kamen Rider? You know that you’ll be facing dangers like that Dopant, and possibly worse since you and Sunset will be right on the front lines, even knowing that, do you still want to be Kamen Rider?”

Rainbow thought on that, did she want to be a Kamen Rider because she just wanted to be a hero, or, was it really because it was something she wanted to do? Yes, Sunset had a point, she was not as adept at combat as Sunset was, Rainbow was athletic and strong, but she lacked the finer combat skills. Still, the Nasca Memory chose her, and she wanted to fight, not for some thrill, not because of the fame of being a hero, but because she didn’t want to see her friend fighting alone. The others couldn’t fight because they did not have Drivers or Gaia Memories, but now Rainbow had both, and could help Sunset.

“I do, I want to become a Kamen Rider, I want to help Sunset and protect everyone!” Rainbow stated.

Twilight released Rainbow’s hand and opened her backpack presenting the Nasca Memory and N-Driver to her.

“Are ya sure about that, Twi? Sunset was really clear she didn’t want Rainbow usin’ that,” said Applejack.

“I’m sure, because Sunset gave me a message. She said ‘I’m sure the Dopant will show up again, and when it does, I know I’ll need help. And if Rainbow’s willing to learn, I’ll teach her what she needs to know and we’ll be the best Kamen Riders around’.”

Rainbow Dash’s eyes watered a little, she quickly rubbed them and took the Memory and belt, dashing away to go and transform. Pinkie was giddy as she bounced around and said in a whisper, “Team up, team up!”

***____________________***

Unicorn stood fast, panting from putting so much power into teleportation. The Joker Memory gave her a power boost to perform so many teleports, but each time it was running her down, and Lightning Dust was able to see this.

“Looks like you can’t use that trick forever, you’re almost on empty,” said Lightning.

“I don’t have to, I just needed to by enough time for her to make a decision,” said Unicorn.

Before the Accel Dopant could ask what that meant, a blue blur came rushing from behind Lightning Dust. The Dopant turned her head at the last second to look back but only just in time to receive a high speed, disrespectful kick to the face. The attack made the Accel Dopant fly in Unicorn’s direction, but thanks to the enhanced reflexes granted to her by the Joker Memory, she was able to side step the incoming Dopant as she flew into the stands. Unicorn watched as Kamen Rider Nasca came floating towards her, landing and now she stood awkwardly before Unicorn, rubbing the back of her helmet.

“Look…Sunset, I…”

“Stop, Dash, just stop. I was out of line…I shouldn’t have acted the way I did last night,” said Sunset.

Nasca shook her head. “No I get it, you were trying to look out for me and I appreciate that. So, partners?”

Rainbow held out her fist, and Sunset fist bumped her back in return. “Hope you’re ready for a lot of training, partner.”

The Accel Dopant wrenched itself free from the debris and cursed as she rushed back to the track and glared at the two Kamen Riders. “I was wondering when you’d show up again!”

Nasca chuckled and stood proudly as she glared down the Accel Dopant. “You mess with my friend, you can bet I’ll be around! Delivering justice at sonic speeds! Kamen Rider Nasca!” The fiery electric wings flared from Nasca’s back as she struck a pose. “C’mon, do a pose,” she whispered.

Sunset rolled her eyes, but decided to humor her new partner. “Why not…The Magic of Friendship unleashed! Kamen Rider Unicorn!” The moment Sunset struck her pose, an aura field burst off from both herself and Rainbow Dash, creating an explosion behind them.

If Lightning Dust’s form had eyes, they’d be twitching in agitation at what she was seeing, and shortly after she growled in annoyance. “That’s it, I’m turning you guys into road kill!”

Nasca stepped forward and hit the button at the center of the buckle. The Nasca Memory released and the N flipped to the orange side, allowing Rainbow Dash to place the Memory into the new slot.

\_/ NASCA! VERMILLION MODE! \_/

Suddenly, the blue coloring of Nasca’s armor shifted, becoming an orange, vermillion color. The wings on her back were energized, shimmering with an even greater brilliance.

“You got this?” Unicorn asked.

“I got it,” said Nasca.

Unicorn nodded and crossed her arms, this was Rainbow’s first real battle as a Kamen Rider, and now it was time for her to spread her wings. Nasca got into a runner’s stance and shot off faster than Unicorn could see. The Accel Dopant rushed at the same blinding speed towards Nasca, and in less than a nanosecond, the area was filled concussive, thundering booms. Unicorn couldn’t catch every movement, but she could tell their high speed battle was going fierce.

Nasca threw a kick to the Accel Dopant’s head, but was blocked. However, Nasca used that same momentum to perform a spinning back kick to the Dopant’s chest, pushing her back. The Accel Dopant focused her energy into her fists and began striking out with a flurry of punches, each one a literal blur as they moved at super speed. Nasca’s Vermillion Mode granted her not just speed but enhanced reflexes, allowing her to see where the punches were going to land. During one sequence when Lightning Dust cocked back for another punch, Rainbow saw an opening and fired off a jab, straight, and hook punch to Lightning’s gut.

The Dopant skidded backwards from the force of the rapid strikes, holding her midsection from the slight pain. Nasca had readied to go in again, but suddenly, the button at the center of the N began to blink. Oh crap, there’s a time limit!

The orange side released the Nasca Memory and switched back to the blue side, Rainbow took up her Gaia Memory and stared down Lightning Dust. “Having a drive to win is not wrong, but it is wrong when you endanger your life and the lives of those around you.”

“Shut up! I have to be the best, to be number one no matter what! All my life, I’ve had to prove it, and I won’t stop proving!” The Accel Dopant transformed into her motorcycle form and charged up its remaining energy for a final attack.

“Alright then, have it your way! Time to go into overdrive!”

Nasca slipped the Gaia Memory into her right hip port and hit the button.

>} NASCA! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The fiery electric wings of Nasca unfurled, and Rainbow performed a vertical takeoff, shooting straight up into the air. She began to angle herself back gaining both speed and distance as she repositioned herself in Lightning Dust’s direction. The Accel Dopant revved up its engine and zoomed for a dirt mound, using it as a platform to launch herself into the air and aimed directly for Nasca.

“SONIC RAINBUSTER!”

Kamen Rider Nasca flipped around and stuck her right foot forward for a flying kick. A Mach Cone formed in front of her, and in a split second, a thunderous sonic boom roared through the sky, wrapping her in a field of sparkling rainbow light, with the wings expanding and acting as jet engines to increase her speed. Both opponents met in the sky and a great explosion sounded, Sunset clenched her fists when the dust cloud covered the point of collision as seconds past and no sign was seen of either Rainbow Dash or Lightning Dust.

Then, Sunset caught movement as a shimmering light came bursting through the dust cloud and flew towards her. With a relieved sigh Sunset walked towards her friend, who was slowly floating down to the ground with Lightning Dust in her arms and completely knocked out. “Good work, Nasca.”

“Heh, thanks, Unicorn,” said Rainbow.

“So were you able to get the Accel Memory?”

Nasca’s body language shifted, her head looked back and forth as if looking for something, and Unicorn bgan to panic.

“Oh no, don’t tell me –!”

Suddenly, from the dust cloud, a red sphere came floating out. The sphere shot towards them and appeared before Nasca. The Kamen Rider gently put Lightning Dust on the ground and held out her hand. The sphere landed on her hand and released the Accel Memory. Rainbow Dash chuckled as she rubbed the back of her helmet nervously. “Here it is…”

“Yeah, just, be more careful about that next time. Let’s go.”

The sound of two bikes echoed over the silence, Sunset’s bike was already transformed into its Rider form, but Rainbow Dash’s motocross bike had transformed as well. The front of the bike had the shape of a falcon’s head, colored blue with tribal Nazca lines running along the body, with the tail end sporting two wing fins in the shape of Nasca’s wings.

“Sweet! New ride!”

***____________________***

Case Report: Accel Dopant

The culprit of the motocross attack was found out to be Lightning Dust. According to what information I was able to find, Lightning Dust was the daughter of the famous racer, Wind Rider. He was disqualified from ever competing in professional and competitive racing due to his numerous counts of cheating by sabotage or by using illegal enhancements to his racing car.

Needless to say this disgrace translated into the raising of his daughter, Lightning Dust. Apparently he had drilled a mentality into her mind if she wasn’t the first and best in any competition, then she was less than nothing. From what I was able to research, Lightning Dust was an accomplished sports player, basketball, baseball, soccer, and racing. But she had a bad habit of pushing herself to the edge and beyond, often resulting in injury to herself or those around her.

The Accel Memory granted her the power go beyond her limits, but it also made her drive to win even greater. In the end, Lightning Dust was taken in by the SCU and for now is being held in a secure location until they can determine what they can do with her. There really aren’t any laws geared towards people who obtain power, and since it’s very likely the Accel Memory appeared to her, like Sunset’s and Rainbow Dash’s, they can’t exactly track down anything.

But for all of that, some good came out of it. Rainbow Dash has now taken an active role in fighting the Dopants. Now that she has a Gaia Memory, she is able to fight alongside Sunset as Kamen Rider Nasca. I know that with Rainbow’s help, we can end this Dopant threat faster.

Twilight finished her report on the Accel Dopant and switched gears to take in data. The girls had gathered on the outskirts of the city in as remote an area as they could find. Today, Sunset was going to train Rainbow Dash in the finer points of Kamen Rider combat, and Twilight could tell that both girls were excited about having a sparring match. Sunset walked off to one area and Rainbow Dash the other, both wearing their Driver belts.

“Ready to do this, Dash?” Sunset asked.

“Been ready,” said Rainbow Dash.

< UNICORN! >

< NASCA! >

“HENSHIN!”

I: Initiation / Nasca's First Case

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Canterlot City was enjoying a nice, bright sunny day…until the T-Rex made of junk debris came stomping through. The giant prehistoric predator roared mightily as it swung its tail, smashing buildings and throwing cars about. The tyrant lizard opened its mouth and was ready to let loose a beam of violet light straight downtown and at city hall. However, before the beast could fire, three bolts of turquoise light came flying straight for the beast’s face. Each one exploded, making the lizard cancel its attack and looked to see who was foolish enough to come and attack it.

Coming full throttle down the street was Kamen Rider Unicorn, her right hand glowed with magical power as she fired another volley of magical blasts. Her attacks only struck the head, which seemed to be the only organic part of the creature’s body. The tyrant lizard roared and charged straight for Unicorn, but the masked rider teleported at the last second, disappearing and making the beast skid to a stop.

Unicorn appeared some ways down from where the T-Rex was, and headed right back for it. Using her magical energy, Unicorn began riding on the sides of skyscrapers, looking down at the T-Rex. She then pulled out the Fang Memory.

< FANG! >

Unicorn jumped off her bike and began to freefall down towards the T-Rex, and while in midair, quickly inserted the Fang Memory.

{< FANG! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A bright blue light engulfed Unicorn, transforming her into Fang Edge form.

\ ARM FANG! /

Unicorn energized her Fang blades and slashed forward, creating a glowing X that cut right into the T-Rex’s debris body. However, once she closed in she fell into the hole she created, and the debris body quickly closed the hole. The T-Rex turned its head around and gave a toothy grin as it concentrated, using the debris and junk to crush Unicorn from the inside. The tyrant lizard was greeted to an unhappy surprise when a glowing blade of blue light slashed through its body from the inside out. Another blade was loosed, and another, and another, and another. The T-Rex Dopant was completely helpless as Unicorn slashed at the behemoth from the inside out, taking away large chunks of its concrete and steel ridden body.

The T-Rex Dopant whimpered, and with its little arm it raised a sign that said “Uh-Oh”.

In the next minute, the Dopant’s debris body exploded, making it crumble apart until the only thing left was the T-Rex Dopant’s head, which sprouted two arms and legs before landing, and rolling on the street. In the dust of the falling debris, Unicorn’s eyes and horn glowed as she got into a ready stance.

>} FANG! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn jumped out of the dust cloud and appeared overhead, her Leg Fangs were out and glowing bright. She then kicked in the Dopant’s direction, releasing them and letting the Fangs fly. The Fangs became large blue crescents as they flew at the Dopant from the right and left.

“DOUBLE CUTTING CRESCENTS!”

The two half-moon Fangs struck the Dopant at the left and right sides of the T-Rex’s head, and exploded in a shower of fiery fury. Before Unicorn hit the ground, she caught the Fangs with her legs as they returned to their original positions. On the ground was a man, and next to him, a broken Gaia Memory.

***________________________***

Sunset sped through the city streets after the battle, teleporting several times until she reached CHS. She then made one more teleport jump and ended up in the girl’s restroom. Sunset opened the stall and looked at herself in the mirror. There were bags under her eyes, and she looked very fatigued from the battle, and Sunset was feeling a little on the dizzy side, but she shook her head and splashed water on her face, it wouldn’t do her good to look this tired and doze off in the middle of class.

After psyching herself up, Sunset held her head high, exited the restroom, and prepared to face the rest of the school day. Until the bell rang and school was let out for the rest of the day. Sunset checked her watch and noticed that it was already time for school to end, the fiery haired girl found a wall and thumbed her head against it, groaning in both aggravation that she had literally been fighting the Dopant all afternoon, and because she hurried back for nothing.

“Getting enough sleep, Ms. Shimmer?”

Sunset glanced to her left and quickly stood at attention at the sight of Ms. Harshwhinny. “Oh – um – yes! I guess classes today were a little extra tiring, I’m just fine.”

The older woman scanned the young girl, she then shook her head and motioned for Sunset to follow her. Sunset Shimmer groaned, she was not in the mood for a lecture, especially one from Ms. Harshwhinny, she had just gotten through fighting a dino Dopant, and had to uncover a smuggling ring that was connected to it. Now she was about to get chewed out for missing class.

Ms. Harshwhinny brought Sunset into an empty classroom and allowed her to enter first. Once inside, Ms. Harshwhinny closed the door and sat in a desk next to Sunset Shimmer. “So, I think we need to address the elephant in the room.”

“Which is?” Sunset asked.

“That you’re Kamen Rider Unicorn.”

Sunset sat straight up, her mind and senses now completely awake at hearing her revelation. “Uh…Ms. Harhwhinny, that’s a bold accusation. I mean, I know my friends and I have done some crazy magic related things, but me a superhero? I’m flattered but –”

Ms. Harshwhinny rolled her eyes. “Please don’t insult my intelligence Miss Shimmer, during Glitter Glam’s stunt, I saw that little armadillo robot, and not very long after that incident, I saw the news video of Unicorn defeating that puppet monster with a robot armadillo.”

Sunset face palmed herself, she completely forgot about that detail.

“And I also happened to sneak a peek when you asked me to turn around, ‘birth mark’ really, I can’t imagine you showing your friend something that personal if it’s in an ‘embarrassing place’. But in either case I saw you pull out a strange little device that was colored similarly to Unicorn. Considering all that’s happened recently it’s not hard to put two and two together,” said Ms. Harshwhinny.

Sunset face desked herself, it was over, honestly, she was surprised she got away with it as long as she had without making anyone suspicious, but now that Ms. Harshwhinny knew, she was more than likely going to have Shining Armor of the SCU come and arrest her, she was after all a vigilante wielding a dangerous power. “So, how long until the police get here?”

“I didn’t call them, Sunset.”

Sunset sat back up and looked at Ms. Harswhinny in confusion. “Really? I mean, yeah for me, but why haven’t you? If you know I’m Unicorn shouldn’t you be – I don’t know – turning me in and trying to make me stop?”

Ms. Harshwhinny loosened her ascot and sighed heavily. “I tried to deny and even dismiss the strange things that happen here in the school, but after having been turned into you, and witnessing the heroic deeds you performed over the last few months, I would be a fool to not see the benefit of your being Unicorn. If the only reason you were doing this was for a thrill then I’d have some words for you, but after seeing you in that cage with me, and how you continuously risk your life to fight these horrid creatures, it’s…well…it’s high time I wake up to the new reality.”

Sunset smiled at her teacher, and at one time adversary. “Well…thanks, Ms. Harswhinny. I promise I’m trying to have this not affect my studies!”

“Oh please Miss Shimmer, you’re so far ahead you and Miss Sparkle practically attend for the sheer fun of it at this point.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she blushed, as it was true, both she and Twilight were way ahead, and practically the smartest people in the school. “So…was there something else?”

“Yes, you look ragged, I caught you dozing off during class a few times, but considering what you’re doing I’m not surprised. I can only imagine how your parents feel,” said Ms. Harshwhinny.

Sunset lowered her head. “Well…I live alone, no parents, so I pretty much have the freedom to do this Kamen Rider thing, plus I never had any to begin with.”

Ms. Harshwhinny covered her mouth and cursed inwardly. “Oh, I’m sorry Miss Shimmer, I…I’m sorry.”

“It’s no big deal, I actually had someone who acted like a mother to me a long time ago, in another world and life.”

“Knowing you, you mean that literally.”

“Yep.”

“Well that doesn’t change the facts. You’re tired, you need to rest.” Ms. Harshwhinny ran her hand through her hair before she sighed and said, “I could possibly work with Principal Celestia to allow you a leave of absence for at least a week. Preferably I’d rather you not do any superheroing during that time.”

“Not so easy when I live in a city that could pop out a monster-of-the-week any day now,” said Sunset. “But…I think I might know someplace close by but still far enough away for me to relax, let me look into it and I’ll get back to you.”

Ms. Harshwhinny nodded and began to leave.

“By the way, what would you have done if it was actually a birthmark and not my device?” Sunset asked with a grin.

“I would’ve apologized, I’m not a pervert.”

“Really? Sure you just didn’t want to sneak a peek at my –?”

“MISS SHIMMER!”

***________________________***

“YOU’RE LEAVING CANTERLOT CITY?!” Twilight shouted.

The girls all had looks of shock on their faces, and Sunset was very glad at this moment that they were all meeting in the music room, although she was certain that was loud enough to pierce the soundproof walls.

“W-Why are you leaving?! Was it something we did, something we didn’t do?!” Pinkie Pie rushed Sunset and grabbed her by the jacket. “SPILL IT SUN SHIM!”

Applejack walked over and pried Pinkie Pie off Sunset. “For Pete’s sake Pinkie let Sunset tell us, Ah’m sure she’s got an explanation.” The farm girl glanced to Sunset with a worried expression. “Ya are goin’ to tell us why, at least, right?”

“Yes, settle down guys.” Sunset sat on the piano chair and looked at each of her friends. “I just need a little vacation, I guess I’m getting a little run down and I think it’s starting to show.”

Rarity cleared her throat. “Well…maybe just a tad. Although, now that we have a new Kamen Rider, I would think the burden would be evenly spilt. And Rainbow Dash where were you when she was out fighting that dinosaur monster?!”

“In Algebra, sitting right next to you,” said Rainbow Dash in a deadpan tone.

Rarity blushed.

“But she’s right, I wish I could’ve gone and helped…You gotta teach me how to sneak away like you do.”

“Years of practice and knowing all the nooks and crannies of the school. But anyway, I won’t be going far, in fact I decided on where I could go that’s far enough away to let me relax, but still close enough for me to hurry back in case of an emergency,” said Sunset.

“Where’s that?” Fluttershy asked.

“Equestria.”

A round of “duhs” came from five of the six girls. Of course, Equestria was the perfect place for her to go, after all it was Sunset’s home, and what better place to relax than back home and in the form she was most comfortable with. And thanks to the portal, Sunset could come to their world fast if the need was great. However, out of the group, one girl seemed a bit hesitant to this idea.

“You’re going to cross the dimensional plain and head to alternate world?” Twilight asked.

“My world Twi, remember, I’m originally a pony and as far as I’m concerned, this world is the alternate world. You saw a glimpse of it when you…ahem…you know.”

Twilight thought about that and as much as she disliked remembering her time as Midnight Sparkle, she did remember seeing the alternate world that had ponies in it. “Huh…sorry, I forget sometimes that you’re from another world.”

“No problem,” said Sunset.

Rarity walked up next to Sunset and patted her on the shoulder. “Well if you ask me I think a vacation is long overdue for you Darling, you’ve been doing a lot to keep everyone safe as Unicorn, and just as much before that. So why not take some time off, I’d say it’s well deserved.”

“Yeah, and in the meantime, I’ll keep the city safe! It’s about time I started to do more, you’ve had a few months doing all the heavy lifting, let Nasca take over for at least a week,” said Rainbow Dash.

Sunset knew that going would be good for her, but she still worried that there would be a Dopant attack. “You sure you got this? You just started as a Kamen Rider and what if –?”

Rainbow Dash came up and bonked Sunset on the head, making her stop midsentence. “Relax, I got this. Like I said, you’ve done a lot to protect everyone, it’s about time I started to too. I can handle at least a week.”

Sunset smirked. “Guess I’ll message Princess Twilight, I’ll leave the journal behind so you guys can contact me if there’s an emergency.”

“A-Are you sure? I mean, the other me is a Princess and I’d assume she’s busy,” said Twilight.

“Nah, her castle got tons of room, the only other ones living there are her student, and her assistant Spike. But Spike’s a dragon, instead of a dog,” said Sunset.

“Yeah, still don’t understand how that works.”

“Neither does he.”

***________________________***

And so the promised day arrived, it was Sunday morning and the girls had gathered in front of the Wondercolt Statue. Sunset had a couple of saddle bags with her, not much was in them. Rarity noticed her lack of baggage and had to ask, “Darling, is that really all you’re taking to Equestria? You didn’t pack any nightwear or anything else?”

“Just my toothbrush and some toothpaste. But remember, back there, clothing is optional, and more or less to make a statement of that pony’s individuality. But otherwise, the majority go around without, like me.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled. “So it’s a society of nudists, sounds like fun.”

“You do realize that when I’m a pony I have fur, right?” Sunset asked in a deadpan tone.

“Still makes you wonder,” said Rainbow.

“I’ll be sure to pass that along to your pony counterpart when I see her.” Sunset reached into her saddle bag and pulled out the journal. She then handed it to Twilight who gingerly took the journal into her grasp. “Remember, if you guys need me just write a message in the journal and I’ll come straight here. Or if you just want to see how I’m doing, that’s cool too.”

Pinkie Pie appeared next to Sunset and patted her on the head. “Aww, don’t worry your pretty little head, Sunset, you just go there and distressify yourself, and say hi to the other me!”

“Will do.”

Suddenly, the statue began to ripple like water, followed by a small shimmer of light signaling the way was open. Sunset released a breath she didn’t she was holding, she felt nervous for some reason, but it didn’t make sense why. She was going back to her home world, it was just for a vacation and it wasn’t like there would be armed guards waiting to take her away. Princess Twilight had made it clear that Princess Celestia hadn’t harbored ill will towards her or was looking to lock her away in a dungeon, or banish her to the moon.

“Here it goes, see you girls in a week.”

“Sunset!” Twilight spoke out. Sunset turned around and in that same moment, found Twilight giving her a hug. The action made Sunset blush noticeably. “Please…just be careful over there. I mean I know it’s your home, but that doesn’t mean you can be careless.”

Sunset smiled and gently separated herself from Twilight and rested her hands on Twilight’s shoulders. “I’ll be fine, Twilight, and thanks.”

The fiery haired girl turned and walked straight ahead, reaching out with her hand first. The portal rippled like water, and as her hand sunk in, light began to shine. Taking one last breath, Sunset made the plunge and went all in.

***_________\\\N///_________***

Three days had passed since Sunset Shimmer’s departure to Equestria for her week vacation, and so far nothing had happened. Sunset had left Rainbow Dash in charge of any Dopant related incidents, a job that the newly minted Kamen Rider Nasca was more than happy to do. In a way, although Dash would never admit it, she was a bit nervous about handling a Dopant case on her own, but with Twilight’s help she didn’t have to worry much, all she had do was bust up the Dopant when it showed up. If it showed up.

Currently the girls were in class, with Rainbow listening to another lecture from Ms. Harshwhinny, and spotting Twilight at the head of the row taking notes. Her gaze turned towards the window for a moment, although having nothing happen was a good thing, in a way, Rainbow wanted to test her grit as a Kamen Rider. Defeating Lightning Dust and obtaining the Accel Memory was a great start though.

By the time lunch time came around, Rainbow Dash was slumping in her seat with her chin resting against the table. “I’m so bored.”

“Whatever do you mean, Darling? Aren’t you busy enough with the sports teams?” Rarity asked.

“I mean, since Sunset left I was hoping I could spread my wings as Nasca and really take on some superhero responsibility.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses and looked to Rainbow. “Rainbow Dash I understand you want to show what you can do, but as far as I’m concerned, a day, a week, even a month without a Dopant attack is great.”

“Indeed,” Rarity chimed in, “It’s stressful enough not knowing when those attacks will come, much less getting caught in the crossfire of one.”

“‘Sides, Dash, ya can do with some more trainin’, didn’t ya say ya haven’t used that new Memory that ya got?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow knew what she was talking about, during their last training session, Rainbow Dash initiated a Mimetic Drive with the Accel Memory, and it turned out that the power of the Accel Memory was stronger than she was ready for. “Yeah, I guess.”

Suddenly, Twilight’s phone went off. She took out the cellular device and opened it up to see that there were news reports of a Dopant attack. The girls huddled around Twilight and Applejack glanced to Rainbow. “You just had to jinx it, didn’t ya?”

“Okay, probably not the best thing, but I got this!”

“Rainbow wai –!”

Before anyone could offer protest, Rainbow Dash was already out of the cafeteria. The tomboy continued down the hall until she found the nearest exit. Once outside, she held out her hand and the N-Driver immediately materialized, Rainbow placed the buckle against her waist and let the straps shoot out and connect. Rainbow reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out the Nasca Memory.

< NASCA! >

“Henshin!”

> NASCA! <

A field of blue light appeared around Rainbow Dash, releasing sparks of electricity that materialized armor upon her body, transforming her into Kamen Rider Nasca. The masked rider took a runner’s stance, and immediately her fiery, electric wings sprouted from her back. With a cocky grin, Rainbow Dash sprinted and in the next second shot into the sky, heading right for downtown Canterlot City.

***_________\\\N///_________***

Nasca made it to the city in record time, down below she could see the mayhem that was being created by the Dopant attack, and it only infuriated the hero. Further ahead she could see several police officers of the SCU already taking positions and firing on the Dopants. Some were using some new equipment that she hadn’t seen before. One of officers, who Rainbow Dash recognized as Shining Armor, was toting a kind of rifle gun. It was colored white, with a magazine loaded into it that had glowing blue lines on it. The barrel had three oscillating rings that whirred as it came to life, spinning around as the energy funneled through the barrel.

The Kamen Rider looked ahead to see what he was aiming the weapon at and that’s when she saw not one, but two Dopants. One looked like a black widow spider, with the lower half spider and the upper half humanoid. She had an hourglass on her abdomen, that had small lines as if denote that it was cracked, the hourglass itself was a dull shade of gray-blue. Along the abdomen were blue colored nodes that ran up the abdomen, along the sides of her spine and diverged until they hit two larger nodes on arachnid’s shoulders.

The arachnid’s arms were slender, with long clawed fingers. Her head was smooth and round, with four sharp, green eyes that gleamed with menacing power.

To the left of the spider Dopant was a Dopant that resembled a bat, and stood a head taller than the spider Dopant. It had mauve colored fur, with tribal-like patterns done in a dull purple color. Its arms were long and skinny, it had three talons, each one colored a deep violet, and during the times the Dopant flexed its wings, Rainbow could see the grayish-white membrane of the wings. The Dopant’s head had two big ears that twitched as the slightest sounds, and amethyst eyes that gave off an eerie glow.

Shining Armor took aim with the new weapon, and fired a bolt of energy that sailed towards the spider Dopant. The nimble arachnid dodged the blast by jumping up and latching onto the side of a building, at the same time the Bat Dopant did a vertical takeoff that put in the air about twenty feet, and having the energy bolt strike the ground where they were last. Shining Armor, however, did not falter as he quickly readied the second shot and fired it at the hovering Bat Dopant, the creature didn’t have time to react to Shining’s quick draw as the bolt sailed and struck the center of the creature’s chest, and making sparks fly from the Dopant, throwing it back down to the ground.

The Spider Dopant opened its mouth, which were two mandibles with rows of sharp teeth. From the center of the mouth the Spider Dopant fired a string of webbing at a nearby mailbox and ripped it from the sidewalk, she then cut off the strand with her claws and swung the mailbox towards the SCU officers. Shining Armor quickly fired a shot at the incoming object and made it explode in midair.

In that short time, the Bat Dopant opened its mouth and released a supersonic sound wave that rang out for yards. Suddenly, the armored trucks, police cruisers, and even some abandoned civilian vehicles all came to life, their engines roaring and the headlights having changed to a violet color. The Bat Dopant released another supersonic screech and the cars attacked.

Some of the cars sped forward and tried run over the police, some managed to get away in time, but others were sent flying into the air. The officers began to open fire, striking the engines and causing them to explode in order to stop them. Meanwhile, the Spider Dopant shot out webbing that wrapped around other officers, in a matter of seconds the insides of the web cocoon began to glow and then someone yelled, “GET DOWN!”

The officers that were cocooned had been turned into bombs, exploding and tossing up debris and throwing even more officers into buildings or into the air.

Nasca couldn’t stand this any longer and dove down. The Spider Dopant spotted Shining Armor and fired a strand of webbing at him, but at the last second, Nasca appeared and summoned her sword. She slashed at the webbing at super speed, dicing it up into little harmless threads.

Shining Armor looked at the blue Kamen Rider. “What the heck?!”

“Get your guys out of here, they’re too dangerous! I’ll handle them!” Nasca stated.

Shining Armor got up and readied his rifle again. “With all due respect, you’re a vigilante wielding dangerous powers and weapons, I can technically arrest you and Unicorn!” Shining Armor looked about. “Where is she anyway?”

Rainbow thought fast. “S-She’s on a secret mission out of town, and I’m watching things while she’s gone! A-Anyway, vigilante or not I’m here to help you same as her! The only way to beat those Dopants is with power like mine. Now seriously get your guys back before you lose them!”

Shining Armor glared at Nasca, but reluctantly, he conceded to her. “Everyone, fallback! Fallback now!”

The officers laid down suppressive fire as they retreated to a safe distance. But the Bat Dopant wasn’t about to allow them to leave that easily. The creature opened its mouth and prepared to release another supersonic screech to control the vehicles. But Nasca sped towards the Dopant and slashed at its torso once, twice, thrice in a split second. Sparks flew from the creature and sent it flying backwards into the side of the building.

The Spider Dopant began spitting webbing at Nasca, but the speedster masked rider was faster than the web. Nasca flew to the right and made a beeline for the Spider Dopant. She charged the blade of her sword and slashed forward, sending a crescent wave of blue that that struck the building and made it explode. The result made the Spider Dopant leap off the building to avoid getting caught in the shower of debris, but put it right in Nasca’s reach.

The blue Rider attacked with a flurry of slashes that appeared as streaks of blue light, and from every strike sparks flew off from the Dopant’s body. The Spider Dopant flopped onto the ground, rolling until she hit a car. Nasca hovered over them and sized them up. Huh, guess they’re not as tough as they look. I’ll end this with one shot!

Nasca moved her Gaia Memory from the buckle and into the right hip port.

>} NASCA! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The fiery electric wings of the Nasca released a powerful aura field, Nasca used her blade and traced a circle, gathering that aura energy and wrapping her blade with it. Once she completed the circle, Nasca took the sword into both hands as the eyes of her helmet glowed bright.

“Sky Fury!”

Nasca slashed horizontally, creating a giant, orange-yellow crescent that roared towards both Dopants. The targets were horror struck as they saw the attack coming towards them, and Nasca grinned under helmet in triumph. However, her grin faded as two orbs of energy came sailing out of nowhere and struck the crescent. Their dual power was enough to cause the crescent to explode prematurely before reaching its targets, sparing the two Dopants.

“What the hell, who did that?!” Nasca asked.

“Huh, Unicorn didn’t come so she sent her sidekick?” The owner of the voice appeared as a creature hovering over the battlefield. The new Dopant had a visor over her eyes, with a turned up, black collar that was at least a foot high. She had long slender legs and arms, her fingers were bony and were claw tipped. The front was exposed in a V pattern, allowing a small portion of her neck, collar, chest, and naval to be seen, which was a fuchsia color. Her outfit was comprised of dark violet and black gloves and high heel boots. “That’s weak.”

Nasca looked up at the new Dopant and scowled from beneath her helmet. “I’m not anyone’s ‘sidekick’! Unicorn and I are partners! And who the heck are you?!”

The new Dopant smiled smugly. “I’m the one who’s going to help beat you into the ground.”

The flying Dopant held out her hands and pointed them towards Nasca. Orbs of energy, colored, red, violet, and orange began to spring up around Nasca, with a snap of her fingers, the orbs exploded in a powerful display of destruction, making the air thunder from the rapid succession. Before Nasca could recover, another orb sprouted out of nowhere and exploded again, turning Nasca into a pin ball bouncing back and forth in the air.

When the explosions stopped, Nasca saw a window to activate Vermillion Mode, but before she could make the switch, the Spider Dopant shout out some webbing from her wrists and wrapped up Nasca’s legs. The Spider Dopant pulled and swung the Kamen Rider right into the side of a building. Both Nasca and a pile of rubble came crashing down onto the sidewalk in a heap, Nasca punched upwards and slashed at the debris to clear her way, but as if to add insult to injury, an armored car came roaring towards Nasca and rammed into her. The flying Dopant fired two energy orbs that struck vehicle and exploded it into fiery fury.

The flying Dopant grinned, knowing that they had finished one Rider off.

\_/ NASCA! VERMILLION MODE! \_/

Suddenly a flash vermillion light went off from the flames, followed by a whirlwind as something flew from the flames. In less than a second the flying Dopant was struck seven times, in the following second, the Bat Dopant was hit five times, and in the next half second, the Spider Dopant was also struck five times. On the street, Kamen Rider Nasca reappeared in her Vermillion Mode, huffing as her sword gleamed from the glow of the flames and her wings. Upon flicking the blade once, the delay in the damage to the Dopants was lifted, and all three had sparks flying from their bodies as the blows of Nasca’s blade took effect.

All three fell to the ground, damaged and huffing as well, but not out. Nasca felt pain all over her body, but still maintained an aggressive stance. The three Dopant’s looked to each other and the flying Dopant raised her hands and fired multiple energy orbs at the ground before Nasca, exploding and sending a cloud of debris into the air.

Nasca knew she needed to go after them, but after that assault, she was not in any condition to do so. Reluctantly, Nasca flew off, headed back to CHS.

***_________\\\N///_________***

Luckily for Rainbow Dash, somehow, no one asked questions as to why she was not there for Miss Harshwhinny’s class, in fact the teacher didn’t seem to bat an eye to it. But that did not save Rainbow Dash from a verbal accosting from Twilight and the others, mostly of it came from Twilight, the others just watching as she went on.

“That was incredibly reckless, stupid, and-and-and – UGH! I can’t even find the words right now!” Twilight exclaimed.

“You seemed to be doing well there for the last two minutes.” Rainbow mumbled under her breath.

“Taking on two Dopants is risky enough, but now there’s three of them! We’ve never had a situation where two Dopants appeared…we…we should call Sunset,” said Twilight as she reached into her bag to take the journal out.

Rainbow Dash saw this and rushed to Twilight stopping her, wincing from the aches and pains from the battle as she did so. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold up Twi. We can at least do some leg work before we have to call her. She’s only been gone three days and I doubt she’s had little time to unwind, do you really want to cut her vacation short like that?”

Twilight winced. No she did not want to end Sunset’s vacation back home, if anyone in their group needed some time away it was Sunset Shimmer and she was entitled to that after all she has done to protect everyone. However, the threat they were facing was real, especially if these were T2 Gaia Memories. Rainbow Dash did have a point as well, they needed to run down leads as to who the Dopants might be.

“In the meantime, Rainbow, Ah think you should head home and rest up,” said Applejack.

Rainbow Dash smirked. “What are you talking about? I’m good to go, let’s do some detective work!”

Pinkie Pie appeared behind Rainbow Dash and poked her in the ribs gently. But that gentle poke was enough to make the sports girl release a painful “yeowch” upon contact. “Oh yeah, you definitely need to go rest if that hurt.”

“It didn’t hurt, you just surprised me!” Rainbow shot back.

Fluttershy walked up to her friend, in full view of Rainbow Dash, and poked her in the stomach. The reaction was immediate as Rainbow Dash released another painful wail and jumped back away from the one causing the pain.

Rarity shook her head. “It’s official, you’re hurt if even dear Fluttershy’s gentle touch hurts you.”

Rainbow Dash groaned loudly. “Look I’m fine, Sunset Shimmer takes hits like that all the time and she manages to get back up and is fine later.”

Twilight growled in frustration and stated, “You and Sunset are completely different, she can heal faster and you can’t – EEP!” Twilight quickly slapped her hands over her mouth.

Five pairs of eyes all stared at Twilight with confusion, and Twilight herself felt a deep surge of regret and self-loathing at how she just blurted out a secret that not even Sunset herself had revealed to her friends yet.

“Twilight, what do you mean that ‘she can heal faster’?” Fluttershy asked.

The brainiac of their group tried to figure out something, anything to make it sound as if she didn’t out the secret. Maybe she could blame it on the Gaia Memory? It’s possible, the Memories have unique properties and the Unicorn Memory has displayed being able to bestow powers outside of transformation. Then again that could ruin whatever Sunset had planned for when she eventually did tell them.

“L-Look, just forget I said anything, and just keep your ears open and eyes wide for anything out of the ordinary, okay? Okay! Bye!”

Before anyone could rebut, Twilight was out the door and headed to the front of the school to be picked up by her mother. On the drive, Twilight continued to berate herself for blurting out that information, and thought about how to tell Sunset. Unfortunately, it may be awhile before they came back to that with the most recent Dopant attacks.

***_________\\\N///_________***

Pinkie Pie didn’t know exactly how to “pound the pavement” for clues about the Dopants. The news was talking about them a lot and how Rainbow Dash – or rather Kamen Rider Nasca – managed to repel the attackers, but were still on the loose. But she couldn’t think too well with an empty stomach, so she managed to wrangle her big sister Maud to bring her to the local diner. It had a cute 70s vibe to it, with the checkerboard tile floor, jukebox, and the back end of an olds mobile stuck in the wall. Both Maud and Pinkie sat the counter, with Maud having taken a cursory glance of the menu and had already picked out what she wanted.

When she glanced to her little sister, Maud noticed that she was taking longer to decide than normal, and she was unusually quiet. “Cupcake for your thoughts?”

The word “cupcake” seemed to snap Pinkie Pie out of whatever self-induced trance she was in and smiled at Maud. “Oh, it’s nothing really, I guess the monster attack kind of soured the day a little. And I guess my friends and I may have learned something about a friend that was probably a secret that she didn’t want tell yet. So…that.”

Maud hummed in contemplation. “This secret about one of your friends, is it bad?”

Pinkie thought about it for a moment. “Well…not really, it’s more surprising I guess, but in a good way!”

Maud nodded. “Then that just leaves the monsters, but that Unicorn hero and that winged one seem to have it handled. Although, I didn’t see Unicorn around.”

Pinkie Pie blinked. “Oh…Um, yeah, that’s weird, guess she’s doing something top secret.”

Maud shrugged. “Oddly enough, I haven’t seen Sunset Shimmer around lately, either. Strange that Unicorn is gone, and just so happens that Sunset Shimmer is too. One would think that Sunset Shimmer is Kamen Rider Unicorn.”

Pinkie Pie’s left eye twitched as a nervous smile spread across her face, the party girl slapped Maud on the arm and forced a laugh. “Oh Maud you’re such a joker! ‘Sunset Shimmer is Kamen Rider Unicorn’, that’s classic Maud alright! Ha, aha, such a kidder!”

Maud turned towards Pinkie and stared her in the eyes. “Am I kidding?”

The younger Pie sibling began to sweat, the burning gaze of her big sister’s eyes bore down into her soul, and, if she was not mistaken, for a brief moment, the Neighponese calligraphy symbol of “DEATH” appeared behind her.

“I am kidding, Pinkie. Gotcha.” Maud stated as she went to flag down the waitress.

The pink haired girl released a sigh of relief. Pinkie Pie took a look around the restaurant and noticed a girl watching them. She had a bubblegum pink complexion, with goldenrod colored eyes, and long, spiky, bright blonde hair. She wore white jean shorts, and a purple t-shirt that had a six pointed star with rays coming out of it. Pinkie Pie told Maud what she wanted and excused herself for a moment. The other girl must’ve noticed her stare, and tried to play it off like she was looking around casually. But Pinkie Pie casually walked up the girl and smiled at her.

“Hi, my name’s Pinkie Pie, what’s yours?”

The other girl smiled at Pinkie and answered, “Sunshine, Sunshine Smiles. And, um, sorry for staring at you two earlier.”

Pinkie took a seat in the opposite side of the booth. “It’s alright, you don’t seem like a creeper. Unless you were checking out my big sister, in which case I could maybe put in a good word for you?”

Sunshine shook her head. “Oh no, no I’m not like that either! No offense if you are though!”

Pinkie Pie shrugged, for her, boy or girl, as long as she was happy with them, and them her, gender didn’t really matter. “None taken.”

“It’s just, you remind me of me and my sister. We’re like total opposites, but in a fun way! She’s kinda dark and moody, and I’m –”

“Bright and cheery?”

Sunshine smiled. “Exactly! We may have been opposites, but we loved each other.” The blonde girl pulled out her cellphone and showed a picture of her sister. She wore a black dress, with violet trim. Her hair was a midnight blue, with a grayish-blue complexion, and her eyes were the same goldenrod yellow color as Sunshine. “That’s her, Moonlight Raven. She looks grumpy but we’re total BFFs! Lately though…she’s been real distant. Like she doesn’t care anymore, and she vanishes at times of the days that really worries me.”

Pinkie Pie reached out her hand to Sunshine in a show of comfort and smiled at her. “Hey it’s alright, my other sister, Limestone, she’s like super grumpy and generally cranky all the live long day. But, despite all that, she’s loves me, Maud, and our other sister Marble, and she does get super protective of our shy Marble.”

Sunshine could feel Pinkie Pie’s kindness, but the worry over Raven made her smile droop a little. “I wish we could have that back. This one time I ‘investigated’ her room, trying to find anything I could to see what would make her act the way she was or anything.”

“Did you?” Pinkie asked.

“Well, nothing out of the ordinary. There was this weird looking flash drive had hidden under her bed, it had an ‘S’ on it and there was a button on the side. I…uh-hmm…I kind of that it may have been a stash of something naughty, which I can’t really judge, I mean we all have something in the closet. But she caught me in her room with the USB and she had this look of panic and anger that I’ve never seen before.”

Pinkie Pie’s eyes widened at that mention of a strange flash drive. “Um…sorry Sunshine, but did you just say something about a weird flash drive? Did it look kind of metallicy and had these ridges on the sides?”

Sunshine’s eyes widened at the description. “That’s exactly it! When she saw me with it she rushed into the room and grabbed my wrist, she did it pretty hard and it kind of hurt, but after I let it go she let my wrist go and yelled at me to get out of her room. Do you know something about it?”

Pinkie Pie bit her lip, she wanted to say “yes”, she wanted to tell Sunshine Smiles what her sister had was a Gaia Memory, and that it was dangerous. Pinkie wanted to tell her that it would be alright because she knew Kamen Rider Unicorn and Nasca and that they could help. However there’s a secret that needed to be kept, so, all Pinkie Pie could do was say, “Don’t worry, it’ll work out for you and your sister, I have a good feeling about these kind of things!”

I gotta tell Twilight and Rainbow Dash!

***_________\\\N///_________***

Rarity was busy sorting out her various cloths and sewing tools. The fashsionista couldn’t help but think about Twilight’s comment about Sunset being different, “healing faster” was the word she used. Rarity didn’t understand, they all knew Sunset Shimmer was from another world, Equestria, and that she was once a pony. But Sunset didn’t look that much different from them. Both on a personal and professional level, Rarity was very aware that she wasn’t that much different from the rest of them, physically speaking.

“Oh, this is going to nag at me all night,” said Rarity.

Just then her computer chimed, Rarity walked over and saw that there was a video call waiting. When she saw the caller name she smiled and opened the line. The screen opened to view a girl with a yellow-gold complexion, baby blue eyes, and faded purple hair. “Lily Lace, Darling, it’s been ages since you called!”

[Rarity it’s good to see you too! But…I kinda wish it was under better circumstances, I need some advice, girl,] said Lily Lace with a valley girl accent.

Rarity pulled up her chair and sat down. “Of course, whatever is wrong?”

[You remember my roommate, Inky Rose?]

Rarity probed her memory, remembering a tall girl who had her hair into braided pigtails, and had dark purple hair, with a lavender colored streak in it. She had a dull gray complexion, and had opal colored eyes. “Yes, I do, she was quite…the interesting character.”

Lily chuckled. [I know she’s an acquired taste, but she’s a good friend……Well, she was or kinda still is…it’s confusing.]

“Lily, dear, is something the matter with Rose?” Rarity asked.

[It’s just that Inky can get, like, into her – as much as she hates the term – ‘goth moments’ where she’s either writing some kind of poetry or channeling it into making a new outfit. But lately, it’s like she’ been having a ‘goth moment’ for a while now.]

“Oh dear,” Rarity tried to think of an explanation as to why her friend may be acting strangely. “Has Rose done or said anything strange-er lately?”

Lily’s expression changed as she scrunched her face in contemplation. [She did come home with a weird flash drive thing, it had these ridges like ribs, and had a funky looking B in the center. I almost touched the thing and Rose almost slapped my hand away from it.]

Rarity’s mind immediately knew what Lily was talking about just by the description. Oh no, Rose has one of those Gaia Memories! The fashionista composed herself and spoke carefully to Lily, “Darling, I must ask that you leave Rose be for now, she may have gotten ahold of something that’s not quite good. So for now just give her space and give me a call if something changes.”

Lily looked at Rarity with concern. [Rarity, should I be afraid? Do you know something?]

“It might be nothing, but better safe than sorry.”

[Alright, I’ll trust you on this Rarity. I gotta go before Rose gets in, later girl.]

“Later.” Rarity ended the call and sighed heavily. “Well then, best message Twilight about this.”

***_________\\\N///_________***

Twilight couldn’t believe it, not but a few hours after school let out the other day did they stumble upon the identities of both the Spider Dopant and the Bat Dopant. Was it luck, or was the universe actually pulling for them? Either way Twilight was not going to question how or why, the fact of the matter was that now they knew two of the three Dopants who attacked downtown and now knew who to keep tabs on. During their free period, the girls met up in the music room and began their discussion with Twilight having brought a tablet to aid in visuals.

“Okay, so from what Pinkie Pie and Rarity have told me, Moonlight Raven, the sister of one Sunshine Smiles. She goes to Rock Hoof High School, and is in possession of the Spider Memory. I found that this Gaia Memory gives its user spider agility, senses, and strength, at the same time, its webbing is incredibly strong. However, its most deadly attribute comes from being cocooned and turning any organic being caught inside into a bomb.”

Rainbow shivered upon hearing that, recalling when the Spider Dopant wrapped up some officers and said officers later exploded.

“Inky Rose, who goes to the Canterlot Art School, is in possession of the Bat Memory. Similar to the Spider Memory, her strength, speed, and senses are heightened, but its greatest weapon is its supersonic shriek, it releases a kind of energy that scrambles any vehicle electronics and slaves them to the Dopant’s command, turning practically any motorized vehicle into a weapon.”

Rarity and Fluttershy seemed particularly afraid of the Bat Dopant, a slight fear of having their cars come to life with them inside. Rainbow Dash stood up and confidently stated, “Okay, now that we know who they are, let’s go out there and break those Gaia Memories.”

“No.” Twilight stated.

Rainbow gave Twilight an incredulous look. “What? Why not?! We know who they are now, it’ll be easy!”

Twilight shook her head. “We still don’t know the identity of the third Dopant, the one that appeared and provided back up for the other two. For all we know she’s watching them, and waiting for Kamen Rider to make a move.”

“So? If I go Vermillion Mode out of the gate, I’ll be too fast for them to even do anything! I’ll snatch up her Gaia Memory before she has a chance to push the button.” Rainbow boasted.

The studious girl slapped her forehead in frustration. “And I told you that Vermillion Mode can’t be used after the initial transformation. It needs at least ninety seconds to charge up, and afterwards that’s how long you have before it disengages. Sunset wouldn’t blindly initiate an assault she’d still insist on recon!”

Rainbow Dash sighed and glanced at the floor. “Well sorry I’m not Sunset Shimmer! Forget it, I need some air.”

Rainbow Dash stormed out of the music room and down the hall, leaving Twilight and the girls to watch. The studious girl began to feel a pang of guilt in her heart. Was she comparing Rainbow to Sunset too much? And then it also hit her, she just had a fight with one of the girls who helped her transition into this new school, someone who wanted to be her friend.

“Oh no…what have I done?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“It’s alright Twilight, she’s just a little…over-eager is all, Rainbow has never been one to sit on her hands for too long and not do something.” Rarity explained.

“I can vouch for that, Dashie’s always been action and planning second,” said Fluttershy.

Despite their explanations, it did nothing to sate Twilight’s anxiety. She had just alienated one of her friends, and now she was afraid of losing her friendship, a genuine friend like all of them. The girls could see Twilight was still worried about what she had said to Rainbow Dash. It wasn’t hard to understand, Twilight had never knew real friendship, definitely not from Crystal Prep which practically isolated her. Now that she had friends, and realized how much she liked having them, she was afraid of losing them.

“I…I should go and apologize, I –!”

“You need to simmer down Twi, Rainbow’s just bein’ a bit hotheaded right now. Yer right to wait and see fer now. Ah’ll talk to Rainbow Dash later, okay?” Applejack interjected.

Twilight reluctantly shook her head.

***_________\\\N///_________***

[Look Rainbow just give Twilight a break, she does have a point. Waitin’ and seein’ is best right now.]

“Applejack, we know where they are, we know who they are. This is our best chance to win a fight before having to Rider Up. I’m not letting the same thing happen to someone else like it happened to Gilda,” said Rainbow Dash with conviction.

There was an annoyed grunt on the other end of the phone. [By the way, where the heck did ya storm off to? I can’t find ya anywhere here and it’s almost time for school to let out.]

“Yeah…I’m kinda sorta…”

*RIIIIIIINNNGGG!*

[That sounded like a bell, but it’s not time for the last bell yet?] There was thirty seconds of silence before Applejack spoke again. [Oh for the love of – tell me ya ain’t over at Rock Hoof right now?]

“Okay I won’t tell you, so later,” said Rainbow Dash in a cheery voice.

The sports girl ended the call and turned the gaze towards the school. Rock Hoof High School wasn’t as impressively big as CHS or CPA, but it was decent. It was one of the older schools in the city, founded by a Norhay migrant and named it after his favorite legendary figure. The name’s stuck ever since. The students filed out of the school, many of them grouping together into their own cliques and circle of friends as they talked and made plans.

Rainbow kept a sharp eye out for Moonlight Raven, and thankfully she wasn’t hard to find. Her sister, Sunshine Smiles, contrasted greatly against her, allowing her to pick them out of the crowd. It seemed as if Sunshine was talking to Moonlight, but even though Sunshine’s expression was all smiles, Moonlight remained stoic, reminding Rainbow Dash of Pinkie Pie’s big sister, Maud.

The rainbow haired girl reached into her backpack and pulled out a baseball cap, tucking as much of her hair as she could into it. After doing so, Rainbow walked parallel to them as best she could, trying to stay close enough to spring into action, but not too close as to make it noticeable she was tailing them. Rainbow continued to follow them until dusk settled, and she wondered how late they would stay out since it was still a school night. She had sent a text to her parents stating she was going to be home late as she was staying over with one of her friends. Rainbow never specified who, but she knew her friends would cover for her if they called.

“Okay, you need to leave now,” said Moonlight.

“But, Moon, we need head back. Mom and Dad are kinda getting a little worried about you getting home late, and I am too,” said Sunshine.

Moonlight sighed in annoyance. “I appreciate the worry, but I’m fine. Trust me.”

Sunshine watched as her sister began to walk off, but Sunshine stamped her foot and ran until she got in front of Moonlight. “No you’re not! You’re not fine! You’ve been moody-er than usual, you’re coming home late, and you snap at me, you never do that.”

Moonlight growled. “I’m just going through some things right now Sun, I’ll figure them out.”

“But I’m your sister, your family, you can tell me and I’ll help you! That’s how it’s always been since we were little,” said Sunshine sniffling.

“We’re older now Sunshine, and sometimes you gotta stand on your own, and do what you have to do,” said Moonlight.

Sunshine looked at her sister curiously. “Sis…is someone making you do something you don’t want to do? Is…Is it some boy or…a girl – because I’m totally not judging if you like girls or anything! In fact, I think it’s cute, and kind of hot, but I don’t mean you’re hot! I mean – eww – totally wrong to think of my Sis like that! I just meant it in general, and –!”

“SUNSHINE, WILL YOU PLEASE SHUT UP!” Moonlight yelled. “Just go home and stop with the word vomit! Like NOW!”

Sunshine was taken aback by the harshness of her sister’s words. The blonde haired girl went silent and slowly walked away, the faint sound of her sniffles echoing as she left. Moonlight watched as her sister continued to walk on, and all the while sighing heavily, and sadly.

Rainbow frowned at seeing the two sisters fight, she took on Scootaloo as a surrogate little sister, and couldn’t imagine herself being that harsh with her. The tomboy believed that enough was enough and began moving closer to Moonlight. The night fell on the city now, and Moonlight Raven had covered a fair bit of ground, getting closer to less a populated area where there were mostly empty lots and old businesses that hadn’t been demolished. It was now or never.

“Hey,” said Rainbow.

Moonlight spun around with a frightened look on her face. “Who are you, what do you want?!”

Rainbow put up her hands and removed her baseball cap. “Hey, hey, chill out I’m not going to hurt you, I just want to talk.”

Moonlight looked Rainbow Dash up and down with suspicion. “What do you want to talk to me about, I don’t even know you.”

“No you don’t, but my friend is friends with your sister back there, and she was worried. I thought I could help,” said Rainbow.

Moonlight looked down at the black pants pocket and scowled. “There’s nothing you can do to help me, it’s none of your business anyway. So just leave me alone.”

“That Gaia Memory is bad news!” Rainbow blurted.

Moonlight Raven froze in her tracks, looking back at Rainbow Dash with horror and shock. Her hands trembled, her mind racing a million miles an hour as Moonlight tried to figure out how this girl knew about her Gaia Memory. “W-W-What are you talking about, Gaia what now?”

Rainbow growled in frustration, in a preemptive move she quickly rushed towards Moonlight, dug into her left pocket and pulled out the Spider Memory. “This thing is dangerous, but I think you know that already, don’t you?”

Moonlight glanced about as her eyes widened with panic. “W-W-Who told you about that?! Was it Sunshine?! Please tell me it wasn’t her?!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. “No…she has no idea. Forget how I know about it, all you need to know is that the more you use it the more it messes with your head and will turn you into a monster, it almost happened to one of my friends! I won’t let you mess yourself – or your relationship with your family – up!”

Moonlight rushed towards Rainbow Dash, grabbing her by her jacket. “You don’t understand, I have to use it or she’ll –!”

“Moonlight, Moonlight, I can’t believe you lost it that easily.”

Rainbow Dash froze, she recognized that voice, the voice of the third Dopant that attacked her. Before she could react, a hand grabbed ahold of Rainbow’s left wrist and clenched at it hard enough to make her yelp and release the Spider Memory. In the next second, Rainbow was tossed like a rag doll and struck the side of an abandoned convince store. The Dopant raised her right hand and fired an orb of power at the same time, it sailed through the air until it struck Rainbow’s midsection and exploded. The explosion was less fiery and more buffeting force, causing Rainbow Dash to fall to the ground in a heap, her clothes showing rips and tears and small trickles of blood.

Moonlight Raven stared in horror at the swift attack that the Dopant unleashed. The Dopant looked down and picked up the Spider Memory with her left hand and “tsked” at Moonlight as she turned towards her. “Moony, Moony, I thought I told you and Rose to keep a lid on these little gems. Why’d you go and blab?”

“I-I-I didn’t she just guessed! She said one of her friends had a Memory too!” Moonlight argued.

“She also said she was here because of your sister. Tell me, do I really need to pay your sister a visit? Do I really need to put in the effort to remind you what I am capable of with this Taboo Memory?” A sphere of power formed in her right hand, releasing small flares of pent up energy.

“No, no please don’t! Leave her alone! I’ll do what you say, just don’t hurt her!” Moonlight pleaded.

The Taboo Dopant chuckled. “Good girl, now here,” she tossed the Spider Memory back to Moonlight, who fumbled with it before finally grasping it. “Use your spider silk and blow her up. Or else.”

Moonlight looked to the Taboo Dopant, and then to Rainbow Dash. She didn’t want to hurt Rainbow Dash, she was only trying to help. However, if she didn’t do this, Taboo would attack her sister. With great reluctance, Moonlight Raven rolled up the sleeve of her gray shirt, revealing the connector tattoo.

< SPIDER! >

Moonlight pressed the Gaia Memory’s connector against the tattoo and the transformation immediately took place, changing Moonlight Raven into the Spider Dopant. The Dopant clicked its mandibles as it approached Rainbow Dash, she raised her right hand and pointed her spinner at the girl at her feet. The claw of the Dopant trembled, she didn’t want another innocent life on her conscience and yet if she didn’t, Sunshine would suffer her weakness.

“I’m sorry…”

“Not as sorry as you’re going to be.”

The Taboo and Spider Dopants glanced in the direction of the voice that came from the road, watching as a girl in a dark purple hoody, and navy blue jeans walked towards them.

“Who the hell are you?” The Taboo Dopant asked.

The girl stopped in the middle of the road, keeping her head down so as to have her face obscured by the shadows. “Someone who’s property you stole, and upon which I plan on collecting, either intact or in pieces. This can be easy or hard depending on your choice ladies.”

The Taboo Dopant scoffed and fired an orb of power straight at the girl. The unknown girl jumped to the left with great reflexes and speed, the resulting explosion briefly illuminated the shadows and granted a glimpse of her face. A lilac complexion, amethyst colored eyes, and mauve colored hair, with two streaks of light purple and ocean blue going through it. The girl rolled on the street and recovered just as quickly as she stood up.

“Good, the hard way’s more fun!”

Starlight placed her left hand behind her back and materialized a driver, placing it over her waist as the belt released and looped around to secure it to her waist. The buckle was that of two black equal sign bars with a slot sticking out from the right side. Starlight took out her T2 Gaia Memory from her jacket pocket and pressed the button.

< EQUAL! >

“Henshin!” Starlight slid the Equal Memory into the slot, and pushed down on the equal bars.

> EQUAL! <

A field of silvery-gray light released around Starlight, striking her body and generating armor. In less than a second, the armor was formed and the field collapsed. Her armor was the same silver-gray, light-blue crystal orbs lined her body, two on the shoulder pauldrons, two more on either forearm, two on the shins, three on her chest. The tips of her fingers were clawed and coated in the same diamond-like material as the orbs. The eyes of her helmet were the same color, but angled to give her a fierce visage. Two crystal bars rose from the middle of her forehead like a horn, humming with power. On either side of her belt were “>” shaped attachments, what they did and could do, was a mystery to the Dopants.

“Y-You’re a Kamen Rider, but you’re not Nasca or Unicorn!” The Taboo Dopant stated.

“You’re right, and I’m not as nice as them either. Call me…Kamen Rider Equal. And I’m here to even the score.”

I: Initiation / Ignite! Nasca Full Throttle!

View Online

Starlight Glimmer glared at her subordinates. Party Favor, Night Glider, Sugar Belle, and Double Diamond all stood in a row as the leader of PhoenEXE breathed steadily as a vein bulged at her neck. “Let me see if I understand this. Not one, not two, but three Gaia Memories went missing from production, and on top of all that, one of them was a gold type?!”

Double Diamond stepped forward from the group. “I apologize Starlight, this shouldn’t have happened at all…I’ll personally retrieve the Memory from the thief myself, seeing the mayhem they have already created.”

Starlight slammed her fist against the desk, making the others jump. “The point of handing out our manufactured Gaia Memories to lowlife scum, and those of the morally corrupted, is because they won’t go blabbing about how they got them, and since the Memories shatter when subjected to extreme energies like other Gaia Memories, there’s no evidence. The T2 Gaia Memories are wild cards that we have to snatch up when we can, but in the meantime we must mitigate the damage their users cause. So when I hear that some random people stole three Gaia Memories, and are not under our surveillance, it makes me VERY ANGRY!”

“I’ll go out immediately and track them down!” Double Diamond stated.

Starlight pointed at the white haired boy. “YOU are going to stay here and beef up the security on the GM production site, none are to leave this facility until further notice! As for the thieves…I’ll handle them myself.”

The four each went wide eyed, Starlight Glimmer had not personally gotten involved with such matters in order to protect her identity and to keep running the PhoenEXE Corporation, but now she has deemed this incident needed her personal attention.

“Heh, heh, boss lady’s finally gettin’ her hands dirty,” said Night Glider.

Starlight turned her steely glare to the midnight blue girl. “Trust me when I say, you don’t want me doing this often. And lest you forget Night Glider, I was once slumming as well, much like you were.” Starlight turned her back and looked out the window towards the city. “Leave me.”

Her four lieutenants walked out of the room, and left Starlight to ponder her next move.

And here I thought I’d only have to reveal myself when I had to face Unicorn. Guess fate likes to throw little speed bumps in my path. But that will not deter me. I know what I must do.

***____________EXE____________***

Kamen Rider Equal’s eyes glowed as she stared down both the Taboo and Spider Dopants. She could feel the fear from them, and rightly so, she was not a hero like Unicorn or her sidekick Nasca, no, she was a woman on a mission, and anyone in her way was to be crushed. The Taboo Dopant wasted little time and fired off three spheres of power towards Equal.

Equal took one of the arrows from her left hip and slid it onto the buckle.

| LESS THAN: < |

The crystals parts of Equal’s suit shined with a bright blue color, and as soon as the spheres got near her, they went from the size of medicine balls to becoming the size of marbles by the time they hit. When they did make contact, it was as if a small firecracker went off.

“GET HER!” Taboo ordered.

The Spider Dopant turned its attention to Equal and opened her mouth to fire a stream of spider silk to wrap around her. However, when the webbing reached her, the same thing happened, only the webbing became stringy as if becoming unraveled until it became nothing.

“Yeah, you’re not going to hurt me that easily. My Less Than creates a dampening field of energy, that saps the destructive power of anything that comes near me. So explosions, beam attacks, kinetic energy, and even that spider silk, are rendered useless.” Equal stated. “Now then…!”

Kamen Rider Equal dashed towards the Taboo Dopant, striking her right in the chest. Sparks flew off her and made the Dopant skid on her heels backwards, Taboo dropped to one knee as she clutched at her chest from the impact of Equal’s attack. But Taboo would not get time to recover as Equal was already in pursuit, taking a swipe at the Dopant with her crystal claw tipped fingers. Her swipe struck Taboo’s right cheek and once again sent the Dopant flying like a rag doll.

The Taboo Dopant finally regained her senses and shot straight up into the air, hovering out of Equal’s reach. She formed several spheres of power around herself and fired them off in quick succession. The Spider Dopant’s eyes widened and as she jumped out of the way of the barrage. Equal didn’t even move, ready to receive the attack, however, her gaze fell upon the rainbow haired girl still unconscious on the ground.

With a sigh, Equal dashed towards the girl and stood beside her as the barrage made contact. Explosions went off all around them, but within the Less Than field, the flames and force of the explosions were completely nullified. Equal looked down at the girl and scowled. Be grateful, you’re alive because you saw who that Spider Dopant was before transforming. If you’re the kind of person to meddle in others affairs, then it won’t be long until they come after you again.

Equal placed her hands before her, her right hand over her left. Starlight swiped at the air and in an instant, the light and energy gathered and formed a long staff. The shaft was colored dark violet, with a white rounded weight at the butt of the staff. At the top was a two-pronged spear, at the center that connected the prongs and spear was a Maximum Drive module keeping the spear blades and shaft connected. Once the barrage ended, Equal removed the Less Than arrow and placed it back on her left hip holster, and quickly replaced it with the one on her right hip.

| GREATER THAN: > |

Power surged through Equal, changing her crystals to a bright crimson color. The staff took the power of her super charge and concentrated it at the center of the prongs. Equal twirled her staff around and thrusted it forward, firing a beam of intense red light straight at the Taboo Dopant. By sheer luck Taboo managed to dodge it, but not without sparks flying off of her from the just the power aura. The damage made Taboo drop out of the sky and onto the ground, making her get up on her hands and knees as she struggled to stay conscious.

“You understand right? The difference in our power is too great. If you beg for mercy now, I might consider letting you live,” said Equal.

Taboo glared up at the dark rider. “I thought you Kamen Riders were about saving people, I’m a just a normal person inside this monster!”

“I know, because I’m the one who made those Gaia Memories. And if there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s to be stolen from.” Starlight pointed her staff at the Dopant as it charged up for another shot. “I planned on taking the Memory back, but in this case I may just need to destroy it and you. Unfortunately it’ll mean time to create a new one, those gold types are difficult to make.”

“SCREW YOU!” Taboo shouted.

Under both of her hands, Taboo had created two orbs of power and detonated them right then and there. Dirt and gravel shot up into the air, creating a thick dust cloud that obscured Equal’s vision. A spider web strand was shot out from the top of one of the roofs, latching around Taboo’s waist and hoisting her out of the dust cloud she created. Once far enough, Taboo cut the line and began flying off with the Spider Dopant following close behind.

Equal waved her staff, creating gust of wind that blew away the dust cloud, only to growl in anger that the Dopants escaped. Starlight turned her attention back to the rainbow haired girl as she walked towards her again, she then knelt down and placed her hand Rainbow’s head. The eyes of her helmet shined as she was made aware of Rainbow’s injuries.

“Great, internal injuries, that attack did more damage than it looked like on the outside.” Equal glanced about and sighed dejectedly. “You don’t know this yet, but you owe me.”

Equal removed the Greater Than sign and placed it back on the right hip holster. Starlight took out her T2 Equal Memory and placed it into the module on her staff.

>} EQUAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Starlight pointed the Sameness Staff at Rainbow Dash, releasing ocean blue light energy. “Return.”

The light shined over Rainbow Dash, making her groan in pain before releasing a soothing sigh. The power of Return healed her internal injuries, returning them back to what they were once before her injury. Starlight ended her Maximum Drive and found Rainbow Dash breathing normally.

“Better get you to a hospital.”

***________\\\N///________***

Rainbow slowly opened her eyes, hearing the annoying, yet familiar, beep of a heart monitor. The kind of thing you’d find in a…

“Hospital…” Rainbow’s eyes fully opened, showing her that she was not in her room, but actually in a hospital room. “Wh-What the heck, why am I –?!”

“Easy there, don’t overexcite yourself.”

Rainbow turned to her left and saw a girl sitting down and covered in a blanket. When she stood, the girl revealed that she had a business suit on, a gray jacket, with a light-blue blouse underneath, and a matching pencil skirt.

“Who are you?” Rainbow asked.

“My name’s Starlight Glimmer, I’m the one who found you,” said Starlight.

Rainbow carefully sat up and looked at herself. “Where did you find me?”

“I had my driver take me to a less developed part of town to look into new building locations, and when I saw you knocked out next to an abandoned building. I had my driver get us to the hospital and well, here we are,” said Starlight.

“And you stayed here the whole time?” Rainbow asked.

“I thought it was better than you waking up alone, gods know I’d find it disheartening.”

Rainbow Dash smiled at the girl. “Thanks, my name’s Rainbow Dash. Did uh…did you happen to see what happened to me?”

Starlight shook her head. “Sorry, no, whatever happened to you happened before I got there.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. Good, that means Moonlight got away.

“Rainbow Dash, what were you doing there? The doctors were asking me, but I had no idea. So if you’re in some kind of trouble I like to know,” said Starlight.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. “Um, not for nothing, but you look too young to be a cop or a lawyer. How old are you?”

“Sixteen going on seventeen, and the owner of the biggest corporation here in Canterlot City.”

“What, Rich Industries?”

“Pfft, please, Rich Industries?” Starlight laughed heartedly at that. “They wish they banked as much as I do. Nope, I am the President and CEO of PhoenEXE Corp.”

Rainbow Dash’s mind stopped there for a second. PhoenEXE Corp. was the same company that sponsored the motocross competition, and fixed the school after the earthquake. This had to be a prank, or the girl was delusional, there was no way a girl as young as her could be the head of a multi-billion dollar corporation. A knock came at the door and a doctor entered, he had light amber colored skin, sandy brown hair, and light-blue eyes. He wore a lab coat, and had a stethoscope hanging around his neck.

“Oh Miss Dash you’re up, I was wondering if I could – Miss Glimmer?!” The Doctor exclaimed.

“Hello Doctor Horse,” said Starlight.

“Oh, my apologies, I had no idea you were here!” Doctor Horse glanced at the couch and saw the blanket. “Have you been here all night?”

“Yeah, didn’t want my new friend here waking up alone in a hospital.”

“We could’ve brought something else or made room so that you can be more comfortable,” said Doctor Horse.

“No it’s fine, I fall asleep at my desk sometimes so this was actually more comfortable. How is she doing?”

Doctor Horse brought his chart and looked over the info. “Well we couldn’t find anything wrong, no internal injuries, no external, and blood work came back clean for anything and everything.”

“Geez, did you test me for anything and everything?” Rainbow asked.

“They do when I’m footing the bill.” Starlight stated with a wink.

Rainbow blushed a little.

“Well to be sure I’ll keep you over for a few more hours and run a couple of more tests, after that you’re free to go home. Is there anyone we can call to pick you up? Family? Friends?”

Rainbow Dash realized it, today was a school day, and she had been gone all night and day. Her parents were going to freak out, the girls were most likely freaking out. “Uh…yeah…I’ll actually call parents, they’re probably freaking right now.”

“Very well, I’ll have the front desk send them up straight away once they arrive, if you’ll excuse me. Miss Dash, Miss Glimmer.”

When Doctor Horse left the room, Starlight glanced to Rainbow. “You want me to stay to help explain? I don’t mind.”

“I hate to impose more than I have already, especially on your wallet, but…?”

“No problem.”

***________\\\N///________***

A couple of hours past and Rainbow Dash found herself in the thick of both tears and angry words from her parents. They were glad she was alright, even though they knew how awesome their daughter was, they still worried about her, especially when she was gone all night. Thankfully, Starlight Glimmer was able to help smooth things over. Of course Bow and Windy freaked, as PhoenEXE Corp. was also responsible for setting up the temporary housing they were in until their house was repaired.

Needless to say that Rainbow Dash the ride home was done mostly in silence. All the while Rainbow Dash was thinking, hard. Twilight was right, she had rushed in without a solid plan, the plan she had was barely even half baked. Confront Moonlight Raven, convince her the Gaia Memory was bad, and if lucky smash it before she could use it. No transforming, and one less Dopant. Needless to say it did not go that way, just as Twilight thought, the third Dopant had been nearby and nearly killed her in the process before she even had the chance to transform.

There was also the look on her parent’s faces. There was less anger and more worry in their eyes, Rainbow Dash had never been out all night like she had been, and it was distressing, she could only imagine how worried they were. In her pursuit to be a good Kamen Rider, she almost ended up not being one anymore. Twilight wasn’t the one comparing me to Sunset…I was.

When they arrived home, Rainbow Dash took a seat in the living room, followed close behind her was father and mother. They sat across from Rainbow Dash in the opposite chair, glancing once between each other before turning their attention back to their daughter.

“Rainbow…can you tell us why you were on the other side of town?” Windy asked.

“It’s…complicated…” Rainbow responded.

“I hope it’s not, because you really worried your mother and I. We called your friends but they didn’t know where you were. I know you’re a tough girl, Dash, the best around. But that doesn’t mean your invincible,” said Bow.

Learned that the hard way last night, Dad, Rainbow thought. “I know you’re worried, but trust me when I say it wasn’t because of anything bad that I was there…Okay scratch that, it was something bad, but I was there to try and stop it.”

Now Windy and Bow looked more worried.

“Dash why didn’t you just call the police?!” Windy asked.

“Because the police can’t handle what’s happening, only –!” Rainbow stopped herself. She was about to say that only she and Sunset could handle it, but that would reveal the secret of Kamen Rider Unicorn.

“Only what, Rainbow?” Bow asked.

“It’s…also complicated…”

Bow rose from the sofa and sat down next to his daughter, sighing heavily. “Rainbow Dash, we love you, and we’ll always be proud of you and cheer you on no matter what. But we’re also here for you, you can talk to us.”

Windy stood as well and took a seat on the armrest on Rainbow’s left. “We promise to hear you out, so you don’t have to be afraid, honey.”

Rainbow Dash felt their words eat up her insides, she had to do it, she wasn’t Sunset, and if there was anyone who deserved to know what she was doing it was her parents. Rainbow Dash stood from the couch and walked until she was in the archway and away from the furniture. “The reason I was out late last night was because I was trying to stop those monsters, the creatures that attacked the city yesterday. The monsters are actually people who have gotten ahold of weird devices that give them power and turn them into those monsters. One of them is a girl and I tried to convince her to give up the thing, but I got blindsided by another one and was KOed.”

Bow and Windy looked to each other and then back to Rainbow.

“Rainbow, please, you don’t have to make up a wild story like that,” said Windy.

“I figured you might say that.”

Rainbow Dash turned around and summoned her N-Driver, appearing in her hand in a brief flash of light that surprised both Bow and Windy. The tomboy quickly placed it at her waist which made the strap release and loop around her. From her jacket, Rainbow took out the yellow Nasca Memory and pressed the button.

< NASCA! >

“Henshin.”

Rainbow slipped the Memory into the driver.

> NASCA! <

A field of blue light appeared around Rainbow Dash, coating her in armor and changing her into Kamen Rider Nasca right before her parents’ eyes. Windy fell over onto the couch, her mouth agape and eyes wide, matching that of her husband’s. Nasca moved closer and shrugged.

“So…yeah, I’m Kamen Rider Nasca.”

Bow’s mind was able to kick back into gear enough to ask, “You mean…you were the one who fought that red monster at the motocross competition?”

“Yep.”

“And you were the one fighting those three monsters the day before?” Windy asked.

“Guilty.”

Rainbow braced herself, she read enough comics to know that when parents find out their kids are moonlighting as superheroes behind their backs, it led to one outcome. The parents forbade the hero to continue doing the dangerous work, and made them give up their powers, at least until something really bad happened and then they would go back to it.

“This…This…THIS IS AMAZING!” Bow and Windy exclaimed at the same time.

Rainbow’s mind came to a screeching halt. “Um…I…what?”

“Our Rainbow Dash, a real live superhero!” Bow stated.

“Oh-Oh, honey, go get the camera, I want the picture of when we first discovered this! Darn, I wish Scootaloo was here, she could have taken our picture,” said Windy.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t understand what was happening. “So…wait…you’re not mad? You’re not going to tell me to give up the belt?”

Bow and Windy looked at Rainbow Dash as if she grew a second head.

“Why would we do that, dear?” Windy asked.

“I mean…it’s cool that you’re cool with it, I guess. But aren’t you, like, worried about me getting hurt? I did just fight a monster and ended up in hospital, but that was mostly my fault.”

“How’s that?” Bow asked.

Rainbow Dash disengaged her Rider form and returned to normal. “Because…Okay, don’t tell anyone this, but Kamen Rider Unicorn is out on an important mission far away, and asked me to look after the city in the meantime. I wanted to be like her, and I thought that meant confronting the bad guy and not showing any fear. But…I had my butt handed to me because I looked before I leaped. Now…Now I’m wondering if getting this power was a fluke.”

Bow stood up and walked towards his daughter, he then planted both hands on either side of Rainbow Dash’s shoulders and looked her in the eye. “If there’s anything you’re mother and I know, is that when it comes to you, there’s no such thing as a ‘fluke’. That power came to you because it knows what we’ve always known.”

Windy stood beside her husband and took Rainbow’s left hand into both of hers. “That our Dashie is the best there is, that you’re going to do great things, and that you have what it takes to be the most awesome you, you can be!”

Rainbow’s eyes teared up, for years she’d found her parent’s overzealous support of her endeavors to be taxing and embarrassing, but now, she understood. It’s because of that support she was able to do all the things she could do without fear of failing, because she knew no matter what, her parents would always cheer for her. Rainbow moved forward and hugged her father, Bow opened his arms and let Windy come in for a family hug.

“I’m still grounded for not telling you guys I was out, right?” Rainbow asked.

“Oh so grounded,” said Windy.

“Fair enough.”

***________\\\N///________***

Rainbow Dash wasn’t done, once school had let out for CHS, she called up the girls and had them come over to her house. Once there, Rainbow Dash announced that she had told her parents that she was Kamen Rider Nasca. Of course this was met with a round of gasps and a very freaked out Twilight, but after telling them that they were cool with it and would keep her secret, and allow her to continue as Nasca, they felt better about the situation.

Rainbow then addressed the other elephant in the room. “I’m sorry, Twi. I messed up, I know you weren’t comparing me to Sunset, but I was, and I tried to go above and beyond but in the end I was almost killed by the Dopants. Can you forgive me?”

Twilight sniffled a little and took hold of Rainbow’s hands. “No, I’m sorry, I was being too overly critical and cautious of your actions. I get the same way with Sunset, but let’s just say there’s some extra information I know that helps me to deal with that fear. Something that I’m sure she’ll tell you all in her own time. However, I’m glad you’re okay.”

Pinkie Pie giggled and clapped her hands at the reconciliation between her friends. However, Rainbow Dash’s face grew serious as she let on another piece of news. “Also, we need to rethink how the trio’s dynamic works.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asked.

“I wasn’t KOed completely when I hit the ground. Before I blacked out, I heard the Taboo Dopant threaten to hurt Sunshine Smiles if Moonlight didn’t cooperate. I think the Taboo Dopant is threatening someone both girls care about, for Moonlight Raven it’s her sister, and for Inky Rose…”

Rarity sat up straight in realization. “Lily Lace!”

“So those two are as much the victims here, this changes everything. We need to figure out who the Taboo Dopant is first, by finding the link between Inky Rose and Moonlight Raven. Both of them must know the Taboo Dopant from before they got the Gaia Memories.” Twilight deduced. “It’s time for an interview. We need to talk straight to Lily Lace and Sunshine Smiles.”

“We can arrange that,” said Pinkie Pie and Rarity at the same time.

***________\\\N///________***

Inky Rose checked her phone, she was given an address and ordered to meet at the old steel mills. As Inky Rose continued to walk through the abandoned path, the wind echoed through the empty warehouses. Normally these kind of places would fuel Inky’s mind, already she could think of a dozen or so outfit concepts based on the musty and rusty steel buildings. However, her creative spirit was put in check, she was not here for inspiration, she was summoned, and if she didn’t heed it someone she cared about would be hurt.

It wasn’t long before Rose spotted the other person shackled to this misery. Her name was Moonlight Raven, she was quite the cute girl, outside of these circumstances they could even be friends. But right now they were just two unfortunate souls at the whim of a madwoman. Their phones brought them to a large mill, machinery of old, cauldrons, molds, conveyer belts, all rusted over from years of neglect, from an era of industrialization that had grown beyond just steel.The echoing of mice as they skittered about the floors and rafters of the warehouse, and the groan of old machinery only added to the creepiness of the location.

“Well, well, well, about time you two got here.”

Rose and Raven turned to their left and watched as a girl appeared from the shadows, and in her left hand she held the golden Taboo Memory. She was about half as tall as Inky Rose, with black shoes and black lace stockings. Her dress consisted of a lacey black skirt with whimsical patterns, a bodice that was tied in the front with laces, and straps to fasten it, leaving everything from her arms, shoulders, neck, and collar bone, and a small amount of cleavage exposed. Her hair was long, reaching down her back, and colored grass green. The girl’s skin was silky smooth, and a pale orange like that of Applejack. Her eyes were a swamp green color, and around her neck was a choker with a clover.

“Sorry we’re late Clover,” said Moonlight. “I had to shake off my sister.”

“I had to convince Lily I was going out for a bit,” said Inky.

Clover hummed in contemplation. “Y’know, those two girls are sounding like a bit of a nuisance to keep around. I mean if they’re going to cut into our play time then I might just have to take care of them now.”

Inky Rose and Moonlight Raven’s eyes widened with fear.

“Why are you doing this to us?!” Moonlight asked.

Clover walked up to Moonlight and in one swift motion slapped the girl hard enough to send her to ground. Inky Rose quickly dropped to the ground as well, helping Moonlight back up.

“What other reason do I need other than that it’s fun?” Clover asked with a grin that would give the Mane-iac a fright. “It’s great to release the shackles of your inhibitions and morality! To just act without consequence, especially when you have power like this.”

“And that’s why you made us attack the city, and hurt those people?!” Inky shouted.

“Yes, you can’t fight me.” Clover clenched the Memory in her left hand and suddenly her eyes shined. “You obey me.”

Moonlight and Inky’s eyes were hit with the glow of Clover’s eyes, they could feel their wills eroding as the power of the Taboo Memory brought out their worst tendencies. All the while, Clover chuckled.

“Level two of Taboo, suppressing the part of a person’s brain that deals with pesky morality, but with an added bonus of bringing you under my command. I wish you didn’t have to make me use this twice now, but it’s fine now, right?” Clover asked.

“Yes Clover, let’s go blow some people up!” Moonlight shouted.

“Or maybe I can give Lily that ‘happy ending’ I’ve always wanted to give her, in more than one sense of the word,” said Inky as she licked her chops.

“Excellent,” said Clover with excitement. “Now let’s go cause some mayhem!”

***________\\\N///________***

Rainbow Dash cut class again, but this time with the help of her parents. They were able to excuse Rainbow Dash on the grounds of being ill, and thanks to her recent hospital visit that wasn’t entirely untrue. But after talking to Lily Lace and Sunshine Smiles, they were able to piece together who the culprit was. Moonlight Raven liked to write poetry, and would go to open mic readings. Sunshine would go with her and support her from the crowd, but during her last reading there was a girl who was talking to Moonlight, and that that was on or about the day everything changed.

Lily Lace was able to confirm the same thing, a girl with grass green hair was there at Inky Rose’s open fashion show. At Canterlot Arts School they were allowed to show off their works to the public in an impromptu fashion show, and it was there that Lily saw some younger girl talking to Inky and just like Moonlight, Inky began to act differently from there.

Not soon after getting this information did another Dopant attack occur, but now Rainbow Dash was armed with the knowledge that Rose and Raven were not doing this of their own free will, and from what Twilight learned of the Taboo Memory, breaking the spell would be hard and something told her Vermillion Mode would not going cut it this time. Rainbow revved her bike and took out her Nasca Memory.

< NASCA! >

“HENSHIN!”

> NASCA <

A field of blue energy appeared over Rainbow Dash and her bike, transforming her into Kamen Rider Nasca, along with her. Nasca continued to speed into the city, watching as people ran screaming away from the danger, but parted when they saw Nasca, granting her a way to get to the Dopant’s causing the mayhem. Once she arrived Nasca dismounted her bike, and walked towards the three Dopants wrecking the city. The Spider, Bat, and Taboo Dopant’s all turned to Nasca, with the Taboo Dopant smiling wickedly at her.

“Look who’s back for another beating, and no Unicorn or that other Rider bitch,” said Taboo.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that last part, but shook her head, she needed to stay focused. “It’s over, Clover. You two, you don’t have to do what she says anymore! Let me help you and I can take her down, the ones you care about will be safe!”

The Taboo Dopant brought her hand up to her mouth and laughed in a haughty manner. “So you figured out who I am. Heh, had to happen eventually, but it doesn’t matter, they’re mine now and you can’t save them!”

Not like I am now, no. But…

Nasca took out the red Accel Memory, the Gaia Memory she obtained from defeating Lightning Dust. The Memory she had a hard time controlling during her training with Sunset. Against all three, of these Dopants, its power was needed, and when lives are on the line.

“I go all in!”

< ACCEL! >

Rainbow Dash placed the Gaia Memory into the left hip port and pressed the button.

{< ACCEL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The symbol of the Accel Memory appeared behind Nasca, and in mere seconds its energy wrapped around the speedster. Rainbow Dash could feel it, the raw power of the Accel Memory was strong, almost overwhelming. It was power and speed combined into one, and Rainbow Dash could barely hold onto it.

“What’s the matter, can’t you handle it?”

Rainbow opened her eyes and within the sphere of power a man stood before her. His back was turned, wearing red leather pants, and a leather jacket with an upside down flaming spade sewn on the back. The man slightly turned his head, only enough for his mouth to be visible.

“Accel chose you, so shake off that weakness and go!”

Rainbow grinned beneath her helmet and released a roar as she used her own willpower to tame the power of Accel. The red power soon obeyed her and infused itself into her armor. After a couple of more seconds, the sphere of power shattered and revealed Kamen Rider Nasca’s first Mimetic Drive form.

Nasca’s chest plates had transformed, her stomach region had silver ridges like that of a car grill, going up it was red armor plates with flame wings etched into it. Her shoulder pauldrons had also become red armor, further extending the flame wing decoration on them as well. A line of silver armor ran down both arms, overlaid atop red armor, with the underside a deep navy blue. The line of sliver armor was also on her legs, starting from hips all the way down to her outer thighs, and once it reached the side of her calves three tailpipe vents protruded from them. Another layer of red armor covered half of her legs, and navy blue armor for the inner thighs, knees, and calves.

A silver crest ran down the middle of Nasca’s helmet and up to the top of her head where it curved into a crescent, and both eyes were a bright blue, her helmet now changed to red. Upon her back was an apparatus that had a tire fixed to two spokes that laid on her back. The helmet’s eyes shined and Nasca brought both fists together, knocking them against each other and creating a mini shockwave.

“Nasca Full Throttle!”

Nasca’s bike revved up and sped towards her on its own, the motorized vehicle did donuts around her before stopping in front of her. The bike glowed with red light, transforming itself yet again. Its size condensed with each passing second, when the light shattered the weapon was complete. The cross guard appeared as two side view mirrors, with the center of the guard displaying a speedometer. The blade was chrome colored, five feet long, and at the center of the blade were two wheels. The hilt appeared to be made of the handle bars, the hilt was a foot and a half long, with the last six inches having a grip as if to rev an engine.

Nasca took the sword in hand, feeling that it was light as a feather. But when she brought the tip to rest against the asphalt, it nearly cracked the street.

“Still thinking about fighting me?” Nasca asked.

“GET HER NOW!!!” Taboo ordered.

The Bat Dopant took flight and released its supersonic screech over the area. All the cars kicked on, their headlights donning the color of the Bat Dopant’s energy. Two pickup trucks with deer-killer bumpers drove towards Nasca, their engines roaring as the approached the masked rider. Nasca, however, did not flinch.

The Kamen Rider took hold of her sword and waited until the last minute. With a burst of speed, Nasca stepped to the side and slashed the left side of the truck, taking out both tires and peeling it open like a cheap can of tuna. Once she was done, the truck came to a halt. The second one seemed like it was going to hit its mark, but Nasca brought up her sword and slashed straight down the middle, cleaving the second truck in two as both halves fell to the sides and exploded.

“Let’s rev it up!”

Nasca placed her right hand on the lower part of the hilt and turned to twice, making the speedometer arrow fly up.

>>> SPEED OF HEAT! <<<

The tires in the middle of the sword began spinning at rapid speeds, and soon the chrome blade started to turn an angry orange-red color as intense heat radiated off of it. The Bat Dopant screeched and dove for the Kamen Rider in an attempt to take her down her with her own strength. That was a mistake.

Nasca swung her blade around and thrusted it forward, unleashing a blazing heat ray that struck the Bat Dopant with incredible force. The resulting explosion sent the flying rat right into a building, slamming with great force and knocking her out completely.

The Spider Dopant tried to go for a sneak attack, spinning a translucent webbing all around Nasca while she was busy with the Bat Dopant. After the attack, the Spider Dopant wrangled the webs together and began surrounding Nasca in them. Nasca noticed this and began revving up her sword again.

>>> SPEED OF SOUND! <<<

Once the webs had completely engulfed her prey, the Spider Dopant readied herself to set off the explosion. At the last second, a flurry of slashes, appearing as streaks of chrome colored light, slashed through the webs and turned them into little strands of nothing. The Spider Dopant fired three web streams from her wrists and mouth, but Nasca’s Speed of Sound had granted her increased speed, enough to see the streams coming and dodge them as a dust trail was all that was left.

Nasca ran up the side of the building and dragging her sword behind her. Several flashes of lights went off around the Spider Dopant, and before she knew it, a shower of sparks flew from the Dopant, and the Spider Dopant was knocked out, heading straight to the ground and smashing against the pavement. Nasca returned to the street now staring up at a very perturbed Clover.

“Last chance, Clover, give up the Taboo Memory!” Nasca warned as she pointed her sword at her.

The Taboo Dopant’s body glowed like a raging inferno as her aura flared up. “Fine then, if that’s how you want to play it, hero, I’ll just destroy this entire area and level every building in a five block radius!”

Several orbs of power appeared all over the area, like snowflakes frozen in midair. Nasca knew it was time to finish this witch. Nasca removed the Accel Memory from the left hip port and inserted into the right hip port.

>} ACCEL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Rainbow’s entire body glowed as she morphed. The back apparatus moved forward and over her head, becoming a front wheel, Nasca’s legs came to together as a wheel of pure fiery energy appeared, along with the tailpipes elongating, and lastly, the sword positioned itself right up over Nasca’s head, becoming a makeshift javelin. The morphed Nasca’s tires screeched as the tailpipes bellowed flames, and Nasca was off. The fiery-electric wings of Nasca unfurled and soon her bike form was airborne and heading straight for The Taboo Dopant.

“OVERDRIVE EXTREME!”

The Nasca bike form was completely surrounded in blazing red energy as the sword focused the energy into a blade at the front of the bike form. Taboo tried to lob several of the orbs of power at the hero, but all just exploded against her intense aura, not even coming close to damaging her. Taboo could only watch as the fast coming Kamen Rider slammed straight into her, creating a giant explosion of power that obscured both Nasca and the Taboo Dopant.

From the explosion, Nasca appeared in bike form, coming to a screeching halt once she landed back on the asphalt. The Taboo Dopant fell to the ground as well in a heap, her body sparking as she tried to hold onto the Dopant form for as long as possible. The Spider and Bat Dopants finally regained consciousness and saw that that Clover was on the ground. Both walked over to her and watched as Nasca transformed back into her humanoid form and walked towards them.

“Help me…get me out of here!” Clover ordered.

The Bat and Spider glared down at Taboo, and raised their hands in preparation to strike the final blow.

“Don’t.” Nasca stated.

Both Dopant’s looked at Nasca in shock.

“Why?! If we don’t she’ll just hurt the people we care about!” Spider shouted.

“She’s right, she’s too dangerous to let off the hook!” Bat added.

“Yeah, which is why she’s going to be in jail, look at her.” Both Dopants looked down and saw as the Taboo form of Clover was fading quickly. “She’ll be exposed as the attacker, but you two will be just as bad as her if you go through with that.”

Bat looked at her claws as tears ran down her eyes. “She made us hurt people, how can we live ourselves?!”

“Hey, you got people who can help you, and you have us Kamen Riders around.” Nasca walked up to both Dopants and placed her hands on their shoulders. “You guys are stronger than this crazy bitch down here.”

“HEY!” Clover shouted.

Spider and Bat, or rather Raven and Rose, looked to each other and nodded. Nasca unfurled her wings and gave a mighty flap, creating a dust cloud around them. Raven and Rose renounced their Gaia Memories and handed them to Nasca.

“Go!” Nasca ordered.

Both girls hurriedly ran away into a building and slipped through the alleyways of the city. Another flap of Nasca’s wings blew away the dust cloud. Nasca looked down at Clover as she still trying to cling onto her Taboo form, all the while laughing.

“What’s so funny?”

“Heh…you think they’ll get off scot free?! I’ll tell the cops who they are, they won’t be so forgiving to someone who killed cops!” Clover threatened.

Nasca watched as the SCU was closing in on them and smirked. “See, the thing is, I held back just enough to make you change back slow. Twilight gave me an idea of how much power to use. So in about a couple of seconds the SCU is going watch you change back and watch me crush these Gaia Memories, and without any hard evidence, it’s going to be your word against there’s. Good luck with that.”

Just as Rainbow said, the SCU arrived, all armed with their advanced weaponry pointed at the Taboo Dopant. Shining Armor led the team and watched as the Taboo Dopant’s body finally evaporated and as the Gaia Memory rose out of her body and fell to the ground. When Shining Armor bent down to pick it up, but the Memory shattered into pieces.

Shining Armored looked at Nasca Full Throttle and asked, “Where are the other two?”

“This girl was using that device to control her partners, and made them use devices like those. They’re just as much victims as everyone here.” Nasca opened her hand and revealed the Bat and Spider Memories. “They’ve given up their devices, all they want is to be normal again.”

“We’ll be taking those as evidence, they can be key to verifying who they were,” said Shining Armor.

Rainbow furrowed her brow. “They’re innocent, they didn’t want to fight! After you’ve seen what these things can do, you can’t rule out mind control!”

“I can’t rule out anything, we need to know how they got them and let’s not forget the lives lost and destruction from a couple of days ago,” said Shining Armor. “Now please hand them over.”

Rainbow Dash knew better, if she handed them over they’d more than likely be able to pull enough evidence from them to take in Inky Rose and Moonlight Raven. With a smirk, Nasca tossed them into air, she then revved up her sword twice.

>>> SPEED OF HEAT! <<<

The winged Rider took them and tossed them into the air, where she slashed through both of them in one swing, shattering them to pieces. The flames from Speed of Heat scorched the remnants to where only the S and B of the Memories were left. Shining Armor looked up at Nasca with an annoyed glare.

“What? You never said how you wanted them, besides their too dangerous to leave as is. Don’t want someone accidently turning into a spider or bat monster now,” said Nasca.

“That’s obstruction of justice!” Shining Armor accused.

Nasca turned her back and unfurled her wings. “No, that’s making sure innocent people aren’t punished for something they had no control over.”

Nasca took off into the air and flew off into the sky and out of sight. All the while, on a nearby rooftop, having watched the entire spectacle from down below, Kamen Rider Equal chuckled. “Humph, well at least she’s not completely incompetent. Now then…” Equal turned her gaze back down to Clover who was getting arrested by the police. “To tie up loose ends.”

***________\\\N///________***

Case Report: Taboo, Spider, Bat Dopants

I won’t lie, this case had me more worried than usual. Maybe because Sunset was gone, or the fact that there were three Dopants, or because Rainbow was still new to being a Kamen Rider. I guess after watching Sunset Shimmer fight I forget that despite her origins, and her prowess, she’s not a veteran of supernatural combat. I was comparing Rainbow Dash too much to Sunset, and it was my folly not to take that into account.

However, despite the stumbling, we managed to close the case. We were able to help clear up some things between Sunshine Smiles and her sister, Moonlight Raven. It was quite tearful to watch as Moonlight confessed about why she was acting the way she was and what she had done, but Sunshine didn’t seem to care, all she cared about was that her sister was back and that it was over. The same could be said of Inky Rose and Lily Lace, who in a surprising twist, Rose confessed more than what she did when she was being blackmailed by Clover. Apparently she was harboring a crush on Lily, a crush that Lily reciprocated and added “Well it’s about time you said something”.

I am a little concerned about what Rainbow Dash did to the Bat and Spider Memories after my brother wanted Rainbow to hand them over. However, I know that despite Clover being the culprit behind it all, no doubt Rose and Raven would be taken in for what they did as Dopants, even though they were being controlled. I have to agree with Rainbow Dash in her judgement, but I hate to think Shining Armor wouldn’t consider them innocent. Somehow I feel that this will only strain our relations with the police force despite the public’s approval of Unicorn and Nasca’s efforts. Nonetheless, we have to continue fighting to keep Canterlot City and the people safe, even it means the police not liking them too much.

So far Clover has not given any information as to how she obtained three Gaia Memories, but I have a feeling that that secret won’t remain one forever.

I’m actually quite proud of how Rainbow Dash handled this case, given our rocky start, I believe she’s on the right path to becoming a great Kamen Rider.

Twilight finished her report, glancing about her friends as they all waited around the Wondercolt statue. It was now Sunday, the last day of Sunset’s time in Equestria and her return back to their world. Many of them still had a few worries. Did Sunset miss home so much that she might decide to stay? Did she get thrown into a dungeon by Equestria’s Celestia? Did Sunset marry Princess Twilight? That last one may or may not have been on the mind of a certain bespectacled girl.

After a moment, the slab of marble rippled like water and gave a faint glow. The girls rose up and stood back to allow room for reentry. The portal began to ripple more and more until Sunset exited, skidding to a halt from the jettisoning effect of the portal. The fiery haired girl held her head as she tried to stop the world from spinning. Once she had, Sunset brought her focus on her six friends, all with bright smiles.

“Hey girls,” said Sunset.

“SUNSET!” They shouted.

Pinkie Pie was the first to break off from the group and tackle-hug Sunset straight to the ground. The former unicorn didn’t seem to mind though as she was dragged back up by the same girl and resumed the hug. The others eventually joined in for a big group hug. Sunset sighed in content, she loved Equestria, but she missed her friends a lot, and this hug made her remember just how much she cared for them all, and them her.

“Darling you look wonderful, I trust you had a good time back home,” said Rarity.

“Or did you have a good time with Princess Twilight?” Rainbow asked, her innuendo not at all subtle.

At this Twilight gulped, but Sunset just shook her head as she smiled. “Some things don’t change even when you cross into a parallel world.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. “Wait what?”

“Your pony double asked me the same thing. She also wanted you to come to Equestria sometime, wanted to ‘get to know herself’ better,” said Sunset with a coy grin.

Rainbow Dash visibly blushed as she caught onto the double meaning. “S-S-She really did ask that, right?!”

Sunset shrugged and let Rainbow Dash stew on that for a bit. “So, anything happen while I was away?”

“We’ll just fill ya in on way to yer place,” said Applejack.

“Oookay,” said Sunset.

As the girls began their walk Twilight walked next to Sunset and gently bumped her shoulder against Sunset’s. “I’m really glad you’re back home – well not home-home – but back here, with us I mean.”

“I’m glad too Twi, and to answer the question from earlier, no, I did not do anything of the sort with Princess Twilight,” said Sunset.

Twilight blushed a little and fiddled with a strand of her hair, but gave a small smile, one that Sunset found adorkable.

“So, um, what did you do in Equestria?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well…that’s a story…” Sunset glanced down into her satchel, and within it was a Gaia Memory, not Unicorn, no, this one had an “S” with a shimmering, almost holographic effect. The S was like a sun, with rays coming out of it. “…quite the story.”

< SHINING! >

J: Journalistic Instinct / Who are the Kamen Riders?

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It was now May, and for most students it was nearly the time of summer vacation. Oh how Namby Pamby missed those days. Back when all she had to worry about was the next pop quiz, test, and standardized testing, and hanging out with her friends in the Canterlot High Chronicle, the school newspaper. Now though, as an intern for Canterlot City News Network, her dream of becoming a hard hitting journalist had hit a bit of a road block. Which was why she was drowning her sorrows in a burger, fries, and a shake.

“Ms. Cheerilee, what am I going to do…?” Namby asked.

To her right sat her old teacher, Cheerilee, the mulberry woman chuckled at her old student. “Namby, we’re not student and teacher anymore, you can call me Cheerilee.”

“Sorry, force of habit.”

“And technically I wasn’t your teacher, at the time I was a Student Teacher,” Cheerilee corrected.

Namby shrugged. “True, but you were still a great teacher nonetheless.”

“Thank you, but back to your dilemma.”

“Oh, right…” Namby took a sip of her shake before continuing. “I’m stuck in intern limbo right now, I thought when I got selected by CCNN I would be able to show them what I got…but it’s mostly grunt work, and getting other reporters or anchors their coffee…”

Cheerilee patted Namby’s back. “Well, Namby – and I know this sounds bad – but most places are like that with their interns, at least this one’s paying.”

Namby thought about that for a moment and nodded. “Yeah, that’s a plus.”

Cheerilee perked up when she remembered something, “Oh, I did see you in that news helicopter reporting on that monster attack a few weeks ago.”

“Yeah, and I thought that was my big break, but it turns out that all their senior reporters were covering the attack on the ground, and they needed someone to cover the air. But I did the best I could and everybody said that they thought I handled myself better than they thought out there. And still I’m back to what I was doing before that,” said Namby as she let her forehead smack against the countertop.

Cheerilee felt bad for Namby, she remembered her being one of CHS’ best reporters, and her story columns were always interesting, and especially on a tough day, reading a heartfelt column made the day seem a little less stressful. Cheerilee could also empathize with Namby, her time as a student teacher wasn’t always fun either, but in the end she managed to get to where she wanted to be. Although, reporting was a bit cutthroat, and Namby was a nice girl. “Maybe you should show them you have the right stuff.”

Namby raised her head and looked at Cheerilee quizzically. “What do you mean?”

“Take some initiative and go after a story that’s interesting, something that none of the other reporters have managed to do! I mean, if nothing else, showing that you have that kind of drive should get them to see your skills,” Cheerilee suggested.

Namby liked this idea, she liked it a lot actually. Yes, that was the perfect way for her to move up in the ranks and have the higher-ups see that she can be just as great a reporter as other senior members, if nothing else it could get her more than a foot in the door. But the question remained though, what could she write on that would impress her editors? Namby always had a knack for fluff pieces, and she did like reporting on not just important news, but the good things in the community. What she needed was something that was a combination of both, but what?

{Today on CCNN, we at the network have decided to ask this question: what do the people of Canterlot City think of the ‘Kamen Riders’. For months now the city has seen a series of strange monster attacks and happenings, and the one to stop these rampages has been a armor clad, masked hero who calls herself Unicorn.}

{Many of the city’s citizens show a divided line when it comes to the masked hero, with 63% showing that they feel safer with Unicorn – and more recently, the addition of newest hero, Nasca. Still, that leaves a good 32% that feel that Kamen Rider Unicorn is either the cause of the monster attacks or if not the reason why the monsters are attacking. That leaves a good 5% who are still undecided as to how they feel towards both Nasca and Unicorn. CCNN decided to hit the streets and get the public’s opinion on the matter.}

{I think they’re alright, I mean, the police can’t handle those monsters! I was caught in that mess with the giant T-Rex thing started attacking, it tossed those police cars like they were rag dolls. I saw Unicorn coming in on her bike, drove up the side of a building – freakin’ building – and came down and tore that thing apart from the inside out! If she didn’t stop it, who knows what!}

{I just don’t think either of them are good for this city. If they’re really here to help us, why do they need to keep hiding their faces? I can understand their outfits are armor, but the police do the same and at the end of the day we see who’s under the helmet.}

{Those two girls have a lot of power to take down those monsters, sure. But who’s to say they won’t just turn around and do the same to us? Police can’t stop the monsters, and if those two decide to turn on us? No one can stop them! Don’t mistake a conqueror for a defender.}

Cheerilee and Namby watched the news report, Namby was feeling a little disheartened by the way the people were talking about Kamen Rider Unicorn and Nasca, considering the number of times they saved the city, and that popstar Countess Coloratura, you’d think they’d have more pleasant things to say about them. But they did have a slight point, why did they keep their identities secret? Could it be true that they’re secretly behind the monster attacks or possibly the cause? Why do they need to hide their faces? Is it to protect themselves or someone they care about?

Then it hit her, like a lightning bolt straight out of the sky, Namby sat up straight, her eyes wide with realization. “Cheerilee, I know what I’m going to do!”

Cheerilee smiled nervously, seeing the one-eighty her former student pulled. “Oh, that’s great! What is it?”

“I’m going to find out who Kamen Rider Unicorn and Kamen Rider Nasca are!”

***____________________***

A couple of days later, Namby began her investigation. Problem was, where to start? Kamen Rider Unicorn appeared out of nowhere, just as suddenly as the monsters appeared so did she, like a counter force. Perhaps that’s what she was, a natural counter force to the monsters? Whatever the case may be, Unicorn seemed to possess some kind of magical power, she had recently adopted the catchphrase “The Magic of Friendship unleashed” and, according to Cheerilee, her old alma mater had seen a recent spike in strange happenings before the appearance of Unicorn.

So with Cheerilee’s help, Namby was able to swing a visit back to CHS. She arrived early that morning, parking her car in the visitor’s section. Once she emerged, nostalgia hit her like a ton of bricks, so many memories were made on this campus, some good and some bad, but none of which she’d trade away for anything. After all, it helped shape her into the woman she was today. With a renewed resolve, Namby walked along the quad, her eyes fell upon the pedestal that once featured the Wondercolts horse statue.

Namby quirked her head to the side, curious as to why the statue was gone. Maybe they’re getting a new one? The reporter shrugged, but then her eyes were drawn to something else, the people around the pedestal. Seven girls, all of whom were hanging around the statue. They each had a unique air about them, and Namby could easily place them into certain groups. The rainbow haired girl definitely looked like she was into sports, another girl with a Stetson hat must have been from further out in the countryside. Sitting on the ground was a girl with long pink hair, she was smiling and joining in their conversation, but something about her screamed shy. Another girl had a stylish air about her, her hair was fabulously done, making Namby believe her to be a fashionista of sorts.

Another had curly pink hair, and Namby believed that one’s name was Pinkie Pie, if she remembered correctly from what Cheerilee had told her about her students. The last two seemed a bit…peculiar, and yet interesting. One was a girl with black rimmed glasses, wearing a pink sweater-vest, blue blouse, and a violet skirt with a six-pointed pink star. The other girl had fiery hair and wore a black leather jacket, she had this aura of toughness, almost like a commanding presence. Now that she thought about it, Cheerilee described a girl that looked like that that had at one point been the cause of most of her stress at CHS a few months back.

“Sunset Shimmer…” Namby whispered.

Considering the way Cheerilee described her, she didn’t seem hostile, in fact, her smile said otherwise. She looked genuinely happy, it was almost heartwarming to see as she hanged out with her friends. Namby shook her head, she couldn’t get distracted. Namby was on a mission. The former alumni of the school walked along until she reached the faculty office, and from there was presented with a visitor’s pass from the reception desk, but was also asked to see Principal Celestia before continuing.

Namby Pamby gladly went into the office, finding the rather tall woman standing at her desk as she went over some documents. Principal Celestia looked up from her paperwork and said, “Ah, Ms. Pamby, please take a seat.” Once Namby had seated herself, Celestia did the same. “I was told by Ms. Cheerilee that you wish to conduct some interviews at CHS.”

“Yes ma’am, I do, it’s for a story I’m writing, and I’d like to get some eye witness accounts,” said Namby.

“Perchance, may I inquire what your article is about?” Celestia asked.

“Well, Principal Celestia, it’s about Kamen Rider Unicorn.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at the mention of the armor-clad hero. “I see, well, we did have an incident here a while back where Unicorn stepped in and managed to stop the chaos before it got out of hand. But she appears whenever a monster does, she surely hasn’t frequented this campus.”

Namby nodded. “That’s true, and I do plan on talking to some of the students, and faculty in regards to that incident. But since we are on the subject, Principal Celestia, I’d like to know your opinion on Kamen Rider Unicorn and Nasca. It can be off the record if you wish.”

Celestia shook her head. “No, I believe I’d like it to be on the record. As far as what I think of them, what they do is dangerous, sure they wield dangerous power. But no one seems to realize that that kind of power can be a burden, they have taken it upon themselves to protect total strangers for nothing. They seek no glory, they haven’t profited from such, and they go in fighting knowing that they could die. Actions speak louder than words at times, and I can’t see fault in two individuals who risk their lives for us.”

Namby Pamby shook her head in awe. “Wow…I didn’t realize you saw them like that. Being an educator and all, no offense.”

“None taken, but that’s how I see it anyway. Now, onto your interviews. I’ve requisitioned an empty music room, it has soundproofed walls so you and those you interview will have some privacy. However, I will have one teacher standing outside at all times,” Celestia warned.

“That’s fair, I wouldn’t expect you to just let a stranger interview your staff and students without someone watching. But you don’t have to worry about that with me, once a Wondercolt, always a Wondercolt,” said Namby with a bit of spunk.

Celestia chuckled. “Very well, who would like to interview first so that I may inform them?”

“There are two actually.”

***____________________***

The first to be interviewed was Ms. Harshwhinny, Namby was able to gather some information from Cheerilee regarding this teacher. She was a bit strict, and unwavering. Ms. Harshwhinny had a bit of a reputation for being a bit hard, but often fair to her students, and was also known for standing up to the school’s former Queen Bee and bully, Sunset Shimmer. Namby sat in a chair across from Ms. Harshwhinny, keeping a good couple of feet between them. But even with that width of space, Namby could sense an aura of strength from this woman, physically she was about the same as Namby, it was more of authority and intimidation. There was a stool in the middle of them, with a little recorder that was turned on.

“First off, I’d like to thank you, Ms. Harshwhinny, for agreeing to this interview,” said Namby.

“It’s no trouble at all.”

“Now, Ms. Harswhinny, recently, Kamen Rider Unicorn and Kamen Rider Nasca have been fighting against these mysterious monsters for some time now, but I think some people are forgetting that these monsters are in fact people. So, tell me about your encounter with one of these monsters?” Namby asked. “But only if you’re comfortable, I imagine it was a tough time for you,” she added.

Ms. Harswhinny sighed. “It’s alright, I’ve recently learned it’s better to accept the fantastical, in whatever shape or form it takes. The encounter I had was with a former student, she was…ahem…wronged by another student of mine some semesters back. For reasons of privacy I will refrain from using her name. I watched as this former student used a strange device to transform herself into a monster, one that could change the way others and objects looked.”

Namby wrote some notes on her digital pad with fascination. “This device you’re talking about, could you describe it?”

“Not entirely no, I was held hostage in the boiler room, and the lighting in there is quite poor. It was big enough to hold in her hand, and when she pressed it against her skin it transformed her in the monsters we’re familiar with. Her plan was to frame my other student, Sunset Shimmer, for assaulting me by changing herself into me. Miss Shimmer and I were held captive there for some time until Unicorn sent one of her little robot-animal-things to free us, upon which we managed to get the truth from the former CHS student, and in the end Unicorn freed her from its influence,” said Ms. Harshwhinny with a little bit of pride in her voice.

Namby tapped her stylus against her pad as she thought about what Ms. Harshwhinny said. “So, besides that incident, Kamen Rider Unicorn has not appeared at this school at all?”

“Not at all, I would think I’d know if someone in our school was running around in a green suit of armor.” Ms. Harshwhinny purposefully misidentified the color of the armor.

“Okay, so then, do you believe that Unicorn’s appearance may correlate to the recent rumors of CHS having strange phenomenon occur on campus?” Namby asked.

At this Ms. Harswhinny flinched. “Pardon?”

“I have heard rumors that Canterlot High has experienced strange – some would call – magical happenings in the last year and a half, some reports go back to the date of the Fall Formal held at CHS, and also about seeing a ‘rainbow in the night sky’.”

Ms. Harshwhinny kept as straight a face as possible. While the faculty, to some degree, have accepted the magic happenings, with Ms. Harshwhinny leaning towards accepting, not much of what has happened at CHS has gone beyond the school. Most believed that it was just a fad thing that was happening at their school, a way to make the students more interested in school. Although, realistically, Ms. Harshwhinny wondered how long that would last with the appearance of the monsters and Unicorn, more than likely it was a matter of time before someone was able to try and connect the two.

“Oh yes, well, some of our students went a little overboard with the special effects for the Princess of the Fall Formal event, and created a laser rainbow light show, it was quite the feat,” said Ms. Harswhinny.

Namby raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh, and there was another reported incident at the amphitheater, witnesses reported seeing monster seahorses flying in the sky, and a giant horse with wings and a horn, made of light, shooting down a rainbow beam, I believe that was during the Battle of the Bands competition. Which, strangely enough, was changed from the original name ‘Musical Showcase’.”

“It was a last-minute decision, and as I’ve stated, our students are very savvy when it comes to stage work, we have one girl here who’s a one woman party planner.”

“And then there was the Friendship Games, there was reporting from a Principal Abacus Cinch – sorry – former Principal, that ‘magic’ was used to help CHS win the games, and that there was a ‘Fallen Angel’ creature tearing apart reality.”

Damn that woman, Harshwhinny thought. “My dear, Abacus Cinch was a woman too preoccupied with the reputation of her school, and pushing her students too far. Yes, academics are important, but social interaction and growth, building bonds, are just as important. I believe many of the students at Crystal Prep would agree the school is a much better place without her, especially since one of their students transferred here because of such treatment.”

“I see…” Namby noticed how Harshwhinny turned that around. She couldn’t help feeling that the teacher was hiding something, but Namby couldn’t straight call her out on it, not without proof. For now, she had gotten a lot information, now it was time to try her hand with her next subject. “Thank you, Ms. Harshwhinny, I think you’ve answered all my questions, but I do have one last one. What do you think about the Kamen Riders?”

At this, Ms. Harshwinny took a moment to ponder her answer. “At first, I thought she was a menace, she looked like a young girl, and I believed there were people more adequately trained to deal with those creatures. However, after seeing with my own two eyes how dangerous they are, I…I have come to realize how courageous and selfless she is to take such responsibility, both of them.”

That put a smile on Namby’s face, despite the serious air about this woman before her, she was capable of seeing the good that the Riders were doing.

***____________________***

Sunset Shimmer sat before Namby Pamby, she was told that this was for an interview about Kamen Rider Unicorn. At first Sunset was a little afraid that she may have been exposed, but when she heard it was just a public reaction piece to Unicorn and Nasca’s appearance, Sunset relaxed a little more. Still, in her mind, she didn’t know how to play it. Should she act like it wasn’t a big deal? Condemn herself? Be enthusiastic about the Riders? It was hard to figure out when the person Namby was talking about was setting right across from the reporter.

“So, Sunset Shimmer, I’ve heard a lot about you,” said Namby.

“O-Oh, you have?” Sunset asked. “Probably nothing good…”

“Well, to be fair, some of the things I have heard weren’t exactly…let’s say ‘pretty’.”

Sunset sighed. “No need to sugarcoat it, I was a horrible person.”

“Emphasis on was. I heard nothing but good things about you, and how you seem to inspire the other students to be better as well,” said Namby.

Sunset chuckled nervously as she looked down at her boots, a pink tint to her cheeks. “T-Thank you.”

“Any-who, I’d like to talk about what happened here at the school, Ms. Harshwhinny stated that the monster was a former student of the school, and was out for revenge on you. Could you, if possible, elaborate on that?” Namby asked.

A sad sigh passed through Sunset’s lips as she recalled that event. “It was during the time when I was in a dark place, I humiliated her, and made her drop out of the running for the Fall Formal Princess. She moved away, but kept in touch with the goings on at CHS, she heard how I was ‘dethroned’ and was angry that everyone had become accepting of me again, and looking up to me in a way. She wanted to bring me down, and she used that mysterious device to change into that monster. It was a good thing that Kamen Rider Unicorn was there, otherwise I’d be in jail for crimes I didn’t commit, and Ms. Harshwhinny would have to live with the guilt that someone used her face to frame me.”

“You don’t seem to harbor any ill will towards this girl who tried to frame you, I have to say that that’s a noble thing. Most people wouldn’t forgive someone who tried to frame them like that,” said Namby.

It was here that Sunset’s expression became serious. “This all started because I was vindictive and full of pride and hate, what good was there to hate her for something that I pushed her into because of my actions long ago? Forgiveness is a lot easier than hate.”

Namby was actually blown away, this girl was all of sixteen, and yet she had the wisdom of someone much older. She could way the other students of the school look up to her. “Now, Miss Shimmer, prior to the arrival of Unicorn and Nasca, there were rumors of strange magical happenings around CHS. And, coincidentally, it all seems to coincide with your arrival to CHS almost two years ago. Personally speaking, CHS is a wonderful school, but I don’t recall anything like the wild rumors I’ve been hearing happening during my time here.”

Sunset sat up straight. “Oh, well, you know, strange things are happening nowadays. We’ve just embraced the ma – ahem – the strangeness! You know, it makes things a lot more interesting when you’re open minded and accepting of phenomenon that are outside the norm!”

Namby raised an eyebrow at that. “Perhaps…”

Suddenly, thunder roared, which was something considering they heard it in a sound proof room. Ms. Harswhinny opened the door and shouted, “THERE’S A MONSTER ATTACK IN THE CITY, AGAIN!”

Sunset and Namby’s eyes widened upon hearing that. They exited the room and watched as several students were already tuning into their smartphones to watch the news feed. Namby did the same, switching her ExPad to the news stations and found out that the lightning monster had returned. Sunset cursed under her breath upon seeing the creature.

That sneaky son of a – he would appear again while I’m stuck here!

Sunset and Rainbow had gone out to combat the Lightning Dopant some time ago, but were unable to fully subdue him. He had gone into hiding for a couple of weeks now, but now he was back. Sunset wanted to go, but with Namby Pamby here, the reporter was sure to get suspicious if she suddenly left and then Unicorn appeared. Thankfully, that wasn’t going to be an issue, as the news cameras shifted to show Nasca flying in.

Thank you, Rainbow Dash, Sunset thought.

The battle lasted all of three minutes, but it felt like three hours to all watching. Once again, the slippery Dopant escaped into the electrical system. The camera showed Nasca stomping her foot on the ground and shouting at the Dopant that he was a coward. With her work done, Nasca flared her wings and flew off out of sight. Sunset was relieved that Rainbow made it through the battle, but the look on Namby’s face made it appear as if the gears were turning in the young woman’s mind.

“Strange, Unicorn didn’t appear,” she observed.

“Well…maybe she was preoccupied with something else?” Sunset suggested.

“Huh…now that I think about it, Unicorn and Nasca sound young, and their stature does seem in keeping with a high school girl…That’s it! I knew it, the Kamen Riders are high schoolers!” Namby exclaimed.

Ms. Harshwhinny’s eyes widened and she tried to run interference. “Now Ms. Pamby, we can’t know for sure.”

“No think about it, Nasca flew out because she’s fast, she could be to the battle and back to whatever school she attends in no time! Unicorn’s fast, but not as fast as Nasca is since she can’t fly, plus, if one of them can’t get away, the other can cover! It’s perfect! They’re high schoolers!”

Sunset and Harshwhinny were now starting to get a bit worried now.

“I gotta go, I-I-I need to work on this theory, I’ll be in touch!”

Namby moved faster than the wind out of the hall and to the Principal’s office, leaving Sunset and Harshwhinny to sigh, both teacher and student moved swiftly amongst the crowd to a back door that was devoid of anyone. At that moment, a flash of blue light went off outside the door and coming in was Rainbow Dash.

“Seriously, it’s so awesome how you know and are helping us now,” said Rainbow.

“Thank you, Miss Dash, but we may have another problem,” said Harswhinny.

“What does she mean?”

Sunset rubbed her temples gently as she spoke, “That Namby Pamby lady may have made the connection that Unicorn and Nasca are high school girls.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “So? There are a lot of high schools in and out of the city, and a lot of high school girls. Not like she can narrow it down.”

At this, Ms. Harshwhinny interjected, “Which would not be a problem if she had not already been digging into the magical happenings around the school. It will not take her long to focus her search on this school.”

Rainbow Dash paled when Ms. Harshwhinny said this. Having a teacher and her parents know about her secret was one thing, having the entire city know was a different story. On top of that, if the Lightning Dopant knew her identity, he could attack her parents, and let’s not forget the SCU wanting to bring in both Riders since they were vigilantes, and last Rainbow checked, vigilantism was technically against the law. The sports girl slumped against the wall and rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

“Oh crap we are so screwed,” said Rainbow.

“Look, let’s say she does narrow it to CHS, she’d still need to figure out who among all the girls in this school fit to be the Riders,” said Sunset.

“Miss Shimmer, considering how ‘popular’ you seven girls are, and the changes you have inadvertently instigated, I would think she’d narrow her search to you seven, and Miss Pamby strikes me as a perceptive woman,” said Ms. Harshwhinny.

Sunset groaned and the let out a frustrated sigh. “For now, one problem at a time. Secret identities aside, we need to stop that Dopant and figure out what his next move is before he does any more damage.”

***____________________***

Namby was back at her apartment, after collecting several bits of info that she could regarding CHS and CPA. She lived a modest apartment, it was quite spacious without being too over her budget. There was a living room, a bed room with a quest room, a single bathroom, and a kitchen with a bar. After placing her groceries, she had bought on the way back into her refrigerator and cupboards, Namby took her research material into her guest room, which she converted into an office.

She combed through several articles of both schools, starting with her alma mater. She noticed the trend of the school’s moral shifting, where once different social clicks isolated themselves from the other groups, now they seemed to mix and socialize outside of their circles. On a personal level she found this paradigm shift to be very good, but at the same time, it seemed a bit suspicious.

The same thing seemed to have at occurred at CPA. Crystal Prep Academy was known for its excellence and high academic, and athletic courses, pushing students to be the best of the best. More recently, after the Friendship Games, the school was undergoing a change from within the student body, and working its way up through the faculty. Which somehow resulted in Principal Abacus Cinch to resign and the former Dean Mi Amore Cadenza to take the role of principal.

Namby looked over the photos of the games, showing the two teams that were selected to compete, and then ones showing the final six. Surprisingly, it was those very same six girls who she saw at the marble statue, minus the girl with glasses. “Or maybe not…” Namby noticed that the seventh member of the group was with Crystal Prep, “…must be the girl Cheerilee said had transferred from CPA. Supposedly very intelligent.”

Despite her combing through the articles in the school newspapers and photos, and not much was mentioned or shown about anything out of the ordinary. Still, Namby couldn’t deny that there was something different about the school, just stepping foot onto the campus filled you with a kind of energy and harmonious feeling that wasn’t there when she first attended. Not to say CHS was bad, it was always there, but it appeared to have been amplified.

Namby had littered her wall with different monster attacks, starting with the first one, where a white raptor attacked downtown. Following that another attack came in the form of a dragon-like creature, who appeared to be a juvenile who attacked a police officer, a member of the newly created Special Crimes Unit, Officer Shining Armor, who was also related to the same young bespectacled girl from the Friendship Games.

“Twilight Sparkle…” Namby whispered.

Namby followed her gut, searching through more pictures and articles that she could pull up from what she had or could find online. There were some shots of the concert Countess Coloratura had, and in one, Namby could make out the faintest hint of Twilight’s distinct hair color during the concert backstage, but alongside her was the girl known as Sunset Shimmer. Namby kept tracing back more and more as she approached the time of the motocross competition. A glance of the roster showed that two girls from CHS were competing, a Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer. And in some pictures of that event, that same group of girls was there.

“Oddly enough, that was also the day Kamen Rider Nasca first appeared.”

Unicorn had been strangely absent for a whole week not too long ago, and Nasca took over monster patrol. Oddly enough, Cheerilee mentioned that Sunset Shimmer was gone that whole time, which was a bit odd as the bad girl hadn’t missed a day of school, perfect attendance. Namby’s mind was starting to put some of the pieces together, she could see it, the girls, the absences, it pointed to those seven being at the heart of this whole thing. Possibly even more than that.

Namby put up a picture of Sunset, Twilight, and Rainbow. Hanging below each of them was a picture of Kamen Riders Unicorn and Nasca. She wasn’t sure, which was which, but there was a strong possibility that it was one of these three. “If it is Twilight Sparkle, it could cause a scandal for the CCPD,” Namby gasped, “or, maybe they do know?!”

It would be quite the scandal, if the police did know of Kamen Rider Unicorn or Nasca’s identity but were keeping it secret and pretending to treat them as vigilantes to throw off suspicion, it would be a big cover up. Especially if one of their officers was enlisting the aid of a teenage girl, a brilliant girl, but still too young to join any kind of law enforcement.

“That would be a big story, but it’s just a theory,” Namby wrote on a sticky note and placed it next to Twilight’s picture that read “possible ties to police cover up”. “Now where do you two fit into this?”

The pink haired woman sat in her desk chair, letting it roll backwards until it hit the wall. Namby stared at her haphazardly connected Web of Conspiracy, she could feel it, she was close to figuring out who the Kamen Riders were, and one step closer to finding out why they are fighting the monsters. The unanswered questions of the public, kept ringing in her head. Are they responsible for the monsters? Are they dangerous to the public? Can they be trusted? Why do they keep their identities hidden from the public?

“If I’m going to be taken seriously as a reporter, then I have be willing to go the extra mile, and beyond. I’ll find those answers, and I think I have an idea how.”

***____________________***

“There’s a reporter…and she’s looking into Unicorn and Nasca…Oh my gosh, I-I should’ve seen this coming! I should’ve taken counter measures, hacked the internet, something!” Twilight panicked as she paced her room.

Rainbow Dash and Sunset had arrived at Twilight’s house that night, it was a Friday night and most of the girls were out doing their things with their families, so they decided to have a Team Kamen Rider meeting at Twilight’s to bring her up to speed with what happened. Needless to say, she reacted as they both expected.

“Wait, you can hack the internet?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Probably best not to know the answer to that question,” said Sunset, not sure if she wanted to know the answer herself. “Calm down, Twilight, she only interviewed me and Ms. Harshwhinny, it’ll take her a while to figure out anything, besides, we’ve been careful up ‘til now.”

Twilight stopped and looked at her two friends. “Yes, we have, but no one was actively trying to discern your identities! The police have been too busy dealing with the Dopant attacks, and preparing for others to worry about investigating you!”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at that. “How do you know they’re not?”

Twilight’s cheeks tinted pink. “I…I may have hacked my brother’s computer files…” Twilight groaned as she crouched to the floor. “Oooh, I’m the worst LSBFF, I hacked his computer – I’m going to hell!”

Sunset and Rainbow rolled their eyes. The former unicorn sat up and knelt before Twilight, rubbing her back as she spoke, “No you’re not Twilight, one day we’ll be able to tell him, and by then it’ll be when we’re done with being Kamen Riders and the Dopant’s are all beaten. But you’re not a bad little sister, at all.”

“Yeah,” Rainbow added, “it’s not like you hacked his computer to find his porn stash or mess with it or anything.”

Twilight’s left eye twitched. “M-M-My brother would not have anything like that on his computer!”

Rainbow raised her hands up. “Hey, just saying, all guys have one, it’s no big deal. Even I have one.”

“Yes, but we all know you’re a pervert at heart, so it’s no surprise to us,” said Sunset.

“Hello pot, I’m kettle.” Rainbow shot back with a grin.

“Touché.” Sunset went back to Twilight, deciding to get off the subject as it was clearly creeping her out that she could’ve found something like that. “So, what can we do to stop this Lightning Dopant?”

Twilight stood up and walked to her computer, she brought up multiple files and footage taken by their mech-animal, Hawk. “Whoever he is, he’s smart. He knows how to wield the electrical energy precisely.”

A video played on the screen, showing their first encounter with the Lightning Dopant on the day that Sunset returned from her vacation. Sunset fired a mana sphere at the Dopant, but the energy monster’s electrical field skewed the trajectory and made the ball curve around the Dopant, hitting a lamppost and exploding upon impact. The Dopant had a smug look on his face, and Unicorn knew she wasn’t going to do that again, for risk of the Dopant using her attacks to hurt civilians.

Nasca summoned her sword, and dashed straight for the Dopant. That same electrical field rose up and caught the blade of Nasca’s sword. And in less than a second, she was thrown back, skidding on her heels against the pavement. Rainbow Dash’s brow furrowed as she remembered that fight. “Yeah, I remember that, it felt like I was being pushed back or something.”

“Most likely, his power is manipulating the electromagnetic field, creating a repelling force with the opposite charge of you and your sword. Same for Sunset’s sphere, even though it’s magic, it’s still comprised of light and energy, and with the right tweaking of the field, me managed to curve the shot around himself.” Twilight bit her lower lip as she thought. “Honestly I’d applaud this person’s application of electrical energy manipulation if they weren’t trying to hurt people.”

“And that’s not the half of it, the Dopant can turn into lightning and shoot through the power cables and anything that runs on electricity to escape. Which also means he could be anywhere in the city,” said Sunset with a frustrated growl.

It was here that Twilight had a bemused look upon her face. “And that is his downfall. I…ahem…peeked at Canterlot City’s electrical grid –”

“Hacked,” coughed Rainbow.

Twilight sighed, “Fine, hacked, I hacked the grid. Anyway, I noticed some unusual spikes in energy before his attacks, and when he retreated, well, take a look.” Twilight pressed a few buttons on her keyboard and immediately the city’s electrical grid map overlaid with a map of the city. The video played in sync with the grid, and when the Lightning Dopant retreated, the energy spikes began to appear, following a path along multiple lines until it eventually stopped, settled for a moment and then disappeared.

“No way, you can track him?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “Awesome!”

“Twilight, this is great, now when he tries to run, we can follow him and take him by surprise!” Sunset added as she hugged Twilight from behind.

The bespectacled girl blushed from the close contact of her friend, especially when she caught a whiff of Sunset’s hair, which had a pleasant floral fragrance about it that made Twilight feel all tingly inside. But the moment did not last as Sunset slowly released her hug and brought Twilight back to reality. Mourning the loss of that pleasant feeling, Twilight went back to work on the computer.

“E-Exactly what I was thinking, I’ve already setup a tracer program to alert me to unusual spikes in electrical energy, factoring out large businesses that normally draw a lot of power. I’ve also downloaded it into Hawk, so once he tries to run, Hawk will track his location from the sky and I’ll track it from my computer.”

“Hey, Twi, what’s this under your bed, it’s pretty big?” Rainbow asked as she pulled up the bed skirt and saw something underneath.

“Oh, I had another idea for a new Mechanized Animal, I normally work on it in the shed, but I needed my computer here to complete the more complicated software,” said Twilight.

“You are sleeping, right, Twilight?” Sunset asked in concern.

“Yes, I am, don’t worry.”

Rainbow stretched and then laid back on Twilight’s bed. “Well, since we’re here. Why don’t we just make this a little slumber party with the three of us?”

Twilight’s eyes twinkled at the idea, but then looked to Sunset, and then to her dresser. “Oh…well…I don’t know if my spare pajamas will fit you. I know they’ll fit Sunset, but…”

“Eh, no problem, just give me a baggy shirt and I’ll just kick off my shorts.”

“Crude as ever,” said Sunset with a smirk.

“Yeah, but you guys love me for it.”

Debatable, Sunset and Twilight thought at the same time.

***____________________***

Most of the night was spent with Twilight working on the newest mech-animal, and occasionally breaking to play one of her numerous video games that she had sorted in a cabinet. Rainbow had asked why she hadn’t played any of the games? To which Twilight’s answer was, “I wasn’t really into most of the games, and since most them required you to co-op or do online play, I really didn’t feel the need to do any of that, but back then I was in CPA and more focused on my studies.”

Rainbow and Sunset understood, so they tore the Brainiac away from the new machine and made her play a first-person-shooter with Rainbow Dash. To their surprise, Twilight was popping Rainbow’s avatar like a trained sharp shooter, one match after the other. Sunset had stared with wide eyed amazement, while Rainbow Dash had this frustrated and panicked look on her face as she tried to find the reset button on Twilight’s console.

After agreeing that nothing about that game would ever leave the room, the girls went to sleep. The next morning, Sunset and Twilight were still asleep, Spike was sleeping in his nice little doggy basket. Rainbow got up, still groggy and half asleep as she got up from the air mattress she was sharing with Sunset and walked off towards Twilight’s door. When she opened the door, she was greeted with the sight of Shining Armor, in full uniform, pausing midstride as he saw Rainbow Dash. It took a few moments before Rainbow’s mind finally got into full gear and realized the situation as she looked at Shining Armor and then back down at what she was wearing. Which was in a baggy t-shirt, which wasn’t as baggy as she’d liked, since it didn’t go all the way past her waist.

“Ha, ha, heh…Morning?” Rainbow dared to say.

“M-Morning,” replied Shining Armor as his eyes turned to an interesting spot on the ceiling.

“So…um…”

“I…I need to go to work…” Shining Armor stated.

“Yeah, you, uh, y-you do that,” said Rainbow Dash with a nervous grin.

Shining Armor kept his eyes up as he walked foward, only bringing his eyes down once he reached the stairs and disappeared down them. Rainbow Dash closed the door, her face a little red from having been seen like that. Despite what she may say, being caught in that state of affairs was still embarrassing. However, when she turned around, Rainbow noticed Sunset and Twilight had awakened. Sunset was propped up on her right elbow, with her chin resting in the palm of her hand as an impish grin spread across her lips. Further up, Twilight was staring with a twitching left eye, and mouth agape, unable to find the words to describe that embarrassing moment.

“How much of that did you see?” Rainbow asked.

Twilight grabbed her pillow and placed it over her face as a muffled scream emanated from it.

“In a nutshell, we heard the door open, and watched as you stood there in your skivvies as Twi’s big bro passed by, and of course that awkward pause between you two,” said Sunset.

Rainbow Dash slumped against the door and slid down until her rear hit the floor. “Ugh, that was embarrassing as hell!”

“This coming from the self-proclaimed pervert?”

“It’s different when I’m being like that on purpose! I wasn’t planning on flashing Twi’s brother!”

Sunset could help herself and began laughing, finding Rainbow embarrassed, blushing face priceless, and Twilight’s reaction as equally amusing. The two girls looked at Sunset from their respective positions and stated in unison, “IT’S NOT FUNNY!”

“Oh yes, yes it is!” Sunset managed to say before falling back into her laughing fit.

Twilight responded by throwing her pillow at Sunset, and Rainbow looked about ready to go over and wrestle Sunset into submission until she stopped. However, the laughing passed and Sunset apologized, and after agreeing to never speak of that again, the three girls got dressed. Sunset and Rainbow were planning on heading back to their homes to get a shower and fresh clothes on. Twilight’s parents had invited the two girls to stay and have breakfast, but they politely declined. Once outside, Sunset and Rainbow mounted their bikes and prepared to leave, but a beeping noise from Twilight’s phone halted them from leaving.

Taking out the cellular device, Twilight saw that it was a Dopant alert, and it was back in the city. Both Sunset and Rainbow Dash’s expressions grew serious as they realized who it was.

“Looks like lightning-butt is back,” said Rainbow Dash.

“I’ll go and get the tracker ready, just in case!” Twilight stated as she bound for her house.

“Let’s ride!” Sunset ordered.

Both girls turned on their bikes and revved their motors. Rainbow and Sunset peeled off down the street, leaving skid marks and smoke in their wake. The two teenage girls weaved through traffic and took a shortcut down an alleyway as they both summoned their Drivers and took out their Gaia Memories.

< UNICORN! >

< NASCA! >

“HENSHIN!”

> UNICORN! <

> NASCA! <

Two fields of energy, turquoise and blue, surrounded the two girls, transforming Sunset and Rainbow into Kamen Riders Unicorn and Nasca. Their bikes were also transformed into their Rider states, receiving a power and speed boost that rocketed the two Riders out of the alleyway and towards downtown Canterlot.

Down town, several SCU officers fired from their newly acquired pulse rifle weapons, thanks to the generous donation from PhoenEXE Corp’s weapons research. The fully armed SCU continued to barrage the creature of pure lightning energy, but even with their weapons, the energy bolts were simply redirected elsewhere, either back at them or at the buildings around him.

“This is pathetic, bring out Unicorn and Nasca, I want a real fight!” the Dopant shouted.

Suddenly, the sounds of two motorbikes cut through the gunfire. Unicorn and Nasca’s bikes zoomed over the heads of the officers and over their barricades and landed in the no-man’s-land that was created by the police and Dopant. Both female Riders dismounted their bikes and strode up to the Lightning Dopant. The Dopant cracked his knuckles, which sounded like muffled thunder.

“This time, we’re not holding back,” said Unicorn to Nasca.

“Wait, you’re going to use that new Memory, here?” Nasca asked with surprise.

“Let’s just hope it still works.”

Unicorn took out the golden Shining Memory and pressed the button on its side.

< SHINING! >

{< SHINING! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A pillar of golden light shot up around Unicorn, the armor shifted colors to gold, with turquoise runic markings on her arms, legs, and around her chest. Feathery wing fins came out the sides of her helmet, the eyes having changed from aquamarine to turquoise along with her horn, and from her shoulders two long shimmering cloths flowed out. When the light faded, everyone gazed in awe at the new form Kamen Rider Unicorn, her body gleamed in the light of the morning sun, making even the police put down their weapons.

“Unicorn: Shining Day.”

“Whoa…” Nasca managed to say as she looked upon her partner.

The Lightning Dopant felt something, fear? Intimidation? Panic? Whatever it was, there was power, a great power coming from Kamen Rider Unicorn that made even his energy based body sweat bullets. “A costume change, big deal!”

“You guys never learn, do you? The costume doesn’t just change…” Unicorn dashed towards the Lightning Dopant, and in the blink of an eye had bridged the gap between them. “…it’s our power, too!”

The Lightning Dopant, out of sheer panic, raised his electro shield just as Unicorn threw a right hook at him. Her fist blazed with golden light as it crashed into the shield, the result of which made the Dopant fly backwards in the air, sailing a few yards per second. Eventually, the Dopant managed to correct himself, stopping in midair and landing on the ground. However, his respite would not last as Unicorn was hot on his tail. The Lightning Dopant fired a barrage of thunder bolts at the Kamen Rider, but Unicorn dodged them all with grace and ease.

Whoa, I mean, it’s not as over powered as it was when I was in Equestria, but still damn powerful! Sunset thought as she pressed the button on the left hip port once.

\ HONEST! /

Orange light enveloped Unicorn’s right fist, she then jumped into the air and came back down, slamming her fist into the ground as she shouted, “Avalanche Rush!”

The ground erupted with several earthen glaives jutted out of the ground and sped towards the Dopant. The energy being panicked and flew back in retreat as he fired more lightning at the spikes that rushed towards him. Some of the bolts managed to destroy the spikes, but more just grew back and continued after him. Finally, the Dopant decided to fly into the air where they could not reach, and where he knew he’d have the high ground.

\\\\\ LOYAL! /////

The Dopant looked up and saw as Unicorn hovered over him, her arms crossed as the cloths shimmered brightly, coating her body in a sparkling aura that levitated her. Unicorn held out her right hand and formed a blade of red light over her whole forearm.

“Grand Gladius!”

Unicorn flew straight for the Dopant at high speed, too fast for the Dopant to counter as Unicorn slashed him across the chest, and another time at his back. In no time the Dopant was lost in a blur of gold and red light that caused sparks to fly off his body from every point. When the flurry of slashing ended, the Dopant fell to the ground, groaning and panting as he realized that he was seriously outmatched.

“Alright, it ends now!”

Unicorn took the Shining Memory from her left hip port and placed into the right.

>} SHINING! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The golden Kamen Rider took a stance in midair, charging her arm blade with the power of the Maximum Drive. The power built more and more, until suddenly…it stopped.

“Wait, wha –!”

Unicorn’s body shined bright with light, and in the next moment, her Shining Day form was gone, leaving the Kamen Rider in the air. Unicorn yelled as she began to plummet, but thinking quickly, she placed the Cyclone Memory into the left hip port.

< CYCLONE! >

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

In less than a couple of seconds, Unicorn had changed into Mystic Cyclone form, allowing her to regain her flight capability. Unicorn focused her energy and steered away from the Dopant as she landed a few feet away from him. Her heart was thumping in her chest, Unicorn had no idea what had just happened. Just then, Nasca came flying in, landing next to her partner.

“Unicorn, what the heck happened?!”

“I don’t know, but let’s finish this before –!”

“See ya, suckers!”

With that, the Lightning Dopant changed into pure electrical power and shot into a lamppost and into the electrical grid it was connected to. Both Riders growled in frustration after all that, they almost had him, and now he was gone again.

“I think we better get going,” said Nasca.

“Yeah, but we don’t know where he went –”

“No, I mean, we really need to get going! ‘Cause you kinda wrecked the street…”

Unicorn turned around and her eyes went wide, the attack she had done earlier caused more damage than she had thought. The ground had been upheaved in a bad way, the street and sidewalk had been completely trashed, she did more damage than the Dopant did. Unicorn shook her head in dismay, not believing her eyes.

“I…I have to fix this!” Unicorn took out the Cyclone Memory and pressed the button on the Shining Memory. However, no words were uttered from the device. “What the…?”

“We need go now, Unicorn!” Nasca exclaimed.

Unicorn didn’t want to leave the area in this state, damage done by the Dopant’s were one thing, but this her doing. “Alright…”

Their bikes zoomed around the cop cars and stopped before their Riders. Unicorn and Nasca mounted their bikes and took off down the road. They split up to make it harder for the police to chase them down, and with their abilities, they’d be able to lose them in the next minute. Unicorn teleported a few times, circling around until she reappeared in an alleyway a little behind the yellow line. Sunset walked her bike out of the alley and into the street, putting on the kick-stand as she walked to the edge of the alleyway and saw the destruction, at least the portion she had a hand in.

I underestimated how powerful the Shining Memory was in this world…I was fighting like I was back in Equestria. Thinking as if the damage would be quickly repaired with a few spells! I have to be more careful, at least when I’m in the city. Sunset glanced down at her pants pocket feeling the Memory in question rest there. And we need to find out why you just suddenly stopped like that.

***____________________***

Later that night, Sunset took a hot shower, letting the fatigue of the day wash away, and at the same time, contemplated what had happened. She remembered when she fought Kaizer Hell and used the Shining Memory for the first time. Sunset had so much power, it felt as if she was a demigod. On her own she empowered the other Kamen Riders, saved the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and defeated the evillest creature she’d had ever faced. Although, here, the power seemed limited, finite. Compared to Equestria, it seemed infinite. But even that finite amount was powerful, and she ended up creating a lot of damage from that one attack.

Sunset banged her fist against the wall of her shower, cursing herself for her hotheaded move. She wanted to beat the Dopant so bad she used her most powerful weapon without first testing it in this world. The most shocking thing, other than the destructive power, was how she switched back to default form while initiating a Maximum Drive attack. Sunset shut off the shower and wrapped a towel around her body and hair, making her way to her couch as she began to think.

There is one theory, but I’ll have to use it once more to verify it. First things first, once I’m done here, I’ll head back out and fix the damage I did. I don’t want people being afraid even more that I can so easily destroy the city.

The news report she saw on her and Rainbow showed that a majority of the city was on their side, while there were also some who thought of them as dangerous. After the stunt I pulled, Sunset thought, I wouldn’t blame them.

With renewed vigor, Sunset hurried drying herself off so that she could go and fix the damage, but the ringing of her doorbell interrupted that process. Sunset looked towards her door, she picked up her cellphone and checked her text messages. There were none, and there were no missed calls. The only other person who would come by would be, maybe, Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, or even Ms. Harshwhinny. But even then, she figured that one of them would call first. The doorbell rang again, making Sunset get a little edgy, visitors at this late hour on a Saturday night was not always a good thing. Especially, Sunset learned, for teenage girls living on their own.

If that is a creep, he’s about to be in for a world of hurt. Sunset grabbed her robe, and also materialized her Uni-Driver and took out her Unicorn Memory. She carefully put it under her pillow and pressed the button.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin…”

Sunset placed the Memory into the slot, but did not press down on it to activate the transformation. Instead she placed it at her waist, under the robe and over the towel wrapping her body, and let the straps loop around. Once secured, Sunset tied up her robe, and walked towards the door, ready to activate the transformation at a moment’s notice. Once she arrived at the front door, she stood to the side and asked, “Who is it?”

“Oh, um, sorry to drop in like this. It’s Namby Pamby, from the Canterlot City News Network, we spoke yesterday.”

The fiery haired girl looked through the peephole and confirmed that it was indeed Namby Pamby. She was curious as to why she had come to Sunset’s loft, or how she found her at all. Until Sunset remembered she was reporter and slapped her forehead. Still the cautious one, Sunset decided to let her in, but kept the Driver active just in case. Sunset unlatched the safety locks and opened the door to see a nervous Namby Pamby, she was dressed in her informal clothing. A pair of jeans, and a nice blue-green blouse that complemented her skin tone.

“I’m sorry for coming over at this time, but there were some follow up questions that I needed to ask you and they really couldn’t wait,” said Namby.

“Sure, um, do you mind if I change first? Unless you want to interview me in my bathrobe?” Sunset asked with an impish smirk.

Namby blushed and shook her head. “Oh, I am so sorry! I – Oh my – I really should’ve called or asked for your phone number! I am so stupid…”

Sunset chuckled at Namby’s nervousness. “It’s alright, I’ll just grab some clothes and head to the bathroom to change.”

Sunset locked the door behind Namby and went and did just that. She deactivated her Driver and pulled out the Unicorn Memory, keeping it in her pocket just in case. After changing into some sweat pants and sweater hoodie, Sunset walked out and kept the towel she was using to dry her hair. She saw Namby sitting in her lazyboy chair, looking around the room curiously until she spotted Sunset and flashed a nervous smile. Something was off about this woman, and it was making Sunset get that edgy feeling again.

Once Sunset sat down, she sighed and looked directly at Namby. “So, you said you had so more questions. I don’t know what else I can give you, but I’ll try my best to answer.”

Namby nodded. “Well, if it’s alright, I’d like to be straight with you, Sunset Shimmer.”

“Okay, shoot.”

Namby took a deep breath and calmed her nerves as looked the teenage girl straight in the eye. “Sunset Shimmer, you are Kamen Rider Unicorn.”

Sunset’s blood went ice cold, the only thing stopping her eyes from going wide was her sheer willpower and the competent part of her brain screaming “DON’T REACT, DON’T REACT!” Sunset quickly chuckled at the accusation. “Me? Unicorn? I mean, I know I have the ‘bad girl’ motif working for me…and truth be told I was one, but I am definitely not a superhero.”

“Sunset, I’ve tracked a number of strange occurrences that have happened at your school, and are mostly revolving around you and your friends. I have to say, it’s possibly one the best kept secrets of the city. A hero living under our noses,” said Namby.

Sunset could tell that Namby wasn’t going to stop this train of thought, so Sunset decided to derail it. “Look, Namby, while I appreciate all that Unicorn has done, she’s wanted by the police for being a vigilante. And the fact that you’re coming in here accusing me of being Unicorn, you’re essentially calling me a criminal.”

Although not coming off as angry, Sunset managed to put enough emotion into it that she sounded upset, but not outright angry. Hopefully the consequence of accusing a teenage girl of being a vigilante would make her yield, unfortunately, Namby still seemed steadfast.

“I figured you wouldn’t admit it so easily…but…” Namby took out her cellphone. She tapped on the screen a few times and swiped it once. “Look.”

Namby turned the phone to face Sunset, and Sunset’s face went pale.

J: Journalistic Instinct / Why they fight

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It was a bright and sunny Saturday morning, and Namby was ready to do something crazy. After persuading her boss – and by persuade, I mean calling the poor man nonstop – Namby was able to get a ride-along set up with a member of the SCU. He was described by his captain as the first out the door and last to leave the crime scene, he was a good shot, and had never once been complained on by a citizen, handling all cases with diligence, and extending all due curtesy to all citizens. And luckily enough, he was also the target of one of the monsters a while back.

Namby sat at on a bench at CCPD, watching the various officers walk around and converse, either talking about a case or the goings on in their lives. Thankfully they had her sat her down in a special visitor’s area, and the people in handcuffs were taken to another sitting area. It didn’t take long before the officer in question came out to meet him, his uniform was a little different from the others, same blue coloring, but with special light blue stripes on the sleeves of the uniform, along with a patch that had the letters “SCU” on it. Now that Namby saw this difference, she was able to pick up on a few officers who had the same additions on their uniforms.

“Hello, my name’s Shining Armor, and you must be the reporter for the ride-along. Ms. Pamby, right?” he asked.

“Yes, but you can call me Namby, I’m not any older than you,” said Namby.

Shining Armor shrugged, “Fair enough.” He then showed Namby to the command center of the SCU operations. Many men and women were walking and talking, some on computers, and others looking at the recent case involving the lightning monster that had attacked the city twice now. “It’s been kind of crazy in here for the past couple of weeks.”

“No kidding,” said Namby shock from seeing the buzzing beehive of activity.

“All this was donated curtesy of PhoenEXE Corp. They’ve really been helpful with making sure that the police force has the necessary equipment to help protect Canterlot City,” said Shining Armor.

Namby raised an eyebrow at that. The long, clear, whiteboard-like contraptions that were running calculations and forensics info regarding the last case, as well as the top of the line laptops and ExPads that the officers were carrying around with them. Namby was particularly amazed how one of the officers asked for a file that another was working on from one of the boards, shrunk it down, typed in something, and then swiped it on the screen. Not but a moment later did it appear on the other…holo-board?…Namby wasn’t really sure what to call them.

“Wow, I mean, I knew PhoenEXE Corp. was funding the police with better equipment, but I didn’t know it was all of this,” said Namby in awe.

“Yeah, they’ve also been working on anti-monster weaponry, and better body armor for all of us when we’re out in the field,” said Shining Armor. “We’ll head to my office right quick, got to close out some things before we head out.”

Namby was lead to Shining Armor’s office, and it was just as high-tech as it was in the main room. His computer and laptop were hooked together, he quickly typed on one and then the other to shut them down. Namby looked around and saw the same holo-boards in his office, but instead of just the one monster, it had pictures of several ones that have popped up over the past few months.

There was the picture of the white raptor, the dragon monster that had a mug shot with the name “Garble” under it, an artist description of another monster with a weird bulbous head, and below that the picture of a girl named “Glitter Glam”. The one after that was another artist rendition that looked like a gaudy gold pot, and below that was the name “Gladmane”. Next to that one was another of a creature with wires coming from its hands, and a face and name that read “Svengallop”.

Namby remembered that little event when Coloratura was in town.

There were three others that showed a creature made of concrete and metal, a spider, and a bat, and below that were three blank silhouettes with the word “unknown” in them. The only other one with a face was one of a creature that had energy spheres in both hands, and the name of the person below that was “Clover”. The latest addition was the lightning monster, and this was one too was unknown.

Namby turned around and saw the other wall where a holo-board hung, and saw that it had images of Kamen Riders Unicorn and Nasca. Images of them combatting each of the creatures on the other board, or at least what was captured. There were also scribbled theories on there, the possible beginnings of a web of conspiracy like her own. For an instant, Namby thought she wanted to divulge her theory to the officer, but she couldn’t, not yet, not until there was some evidence to it.

As she wandered around, her eyes rested on a shelf filled with personal knickknacks, as well as some commendations. She could tell that he had a bit of a nerdy side to him, there were some “Alien Alicorns vs. Space Pirates” collector’s cups, an action figure or two, and some robot figurines from “Atlantic Edge: Arising”. Above all that, on the top shelf, were two pictures, one showed a beautiful woman with a three-tone colored hair, and a fuchsia complexion, a possible girlfriend. The other was of the officer’s family. His mother and father, himself, and…… “Um, Officer Armor, who’s this girl with you in this picture?”

“Huh? Oh yeah, that’s my little sister, Twilight. She’s pretty much a genius, she was going to CPA, my old school, but she transferred to another one,” said Shining Armor.

“Canterlot High School?” Namby asked.

Shining Armor looked back at her in slight surprise. “Um… yeah…How did you know?”

“Oh, I went to CHS on Friday to catch up with some old teacher friends and to do my story on reactions to the Kamen Riders, I saw her hanging out with a group of girls outside, they seemed nice,” said Namby.

Shining Armor blushed for some reason at the mention of said friends. “Oh…um…yeah, they’re a…they’re nice.”

The intern reporter didn’t know how to interpret that response, so just left it alone. “You seem to be doing a lot of research on the Kamen Riders, I’ve been hearing rumors that the CCPD is actually looking into a warrant for the arrest of the Kamen Riders, but can you really blame them for doing what they’re doing?”

Shining Armor finished logging out of his computers and turned his attention to Namby. “They’re two girls with dangerous powers, unsupervised, and doing who knows what else with that power when they’re not fighting the monsters. Plus, why would they need to take it upon themselves to fight the monsters? However, they obtained their weapons and powers, they should have turned themselves over to the police. It’s the duty of the police to put our lives on the line, not two civilians.”

“I see what you’re saying, and I’m just playing devil’s advocate here, but could it also be said that maybe they are the only ones who can use the power of those weapons? I mean, some of the things they do are in the realm of supernatural or extraordinary.”

Shining Armor sighed and motioned for Namby to follow. “If, and that’s a big if, that is the case. Then it’s even more reason to come to the proper authorities, there may’ve been a way for us to help them, or mitigate the danger they face in the battles if it’s true that only they can use them. Either way, there’s better options then taking the law into your own hands.”

Suddenly, a siren went off in the SCU command center, making all the officers stop for a moment before rushing out. Namby looked to Shining Armor with confusion. “What’s going on?!”

“That’s the alarm for a monster attack! The lightning monster is back,” said Shining Armor.

“So where do I ride?” Namby asked.

Shining Armor stopped midstride and looked back at Namby. “Oh no, no civilians, this is serious!”

Namby stared down Shining Armor. “And I’m a serious journalist, if there’s news, I need to report it! My boss did authorize a ride-along, and technically, if you got the call while we were in your squad car, we’d be rushing there right now!” The pink haired woman could still see a bit of hesitation in the officer’s eyes. “Look, if it’ll make you feel better, when we get there, you can point to someplace and I’ll stay there until it is over!”

The SCU officer sighed heavily as he slapped his forehead. “I’m going to regret this…You do exactly as I say, if it gets too dangerous, you leave! Got it?!”

Namby saluted the officer. “Yes, sir!”

***________________***

True to her word, Namby stayed in the place that Shining Armor had told her to. Unfortunately, that was behind the yellow police line, and far away from the action. However, she did catch a glimpse of when Unicorn and Nasca came riding in and jumped over the crowd of civilians and officers, and right into the thick of the battle. Although she was shocked when a brilliant golden light shined, and she heard Unicorn’s voice shout, “Unicorn: Shining Day!”

A new transformation! Namby thought. Unicorn and Nasca only ever do that when they change, and I haven’t heard of that one before! I have to –!

Namby’s thoughts were stopped when a thunderous “BOOM” came out, followed by several heads turning as they watched something fly down the other street. The intern reporter decided to throw caution to the wind and slip away, running around the crowd as fast as she could, and weaving through some alleyways that connected to the other street. Just as Namby got there the ground began to rumble and shake, making her hold onto the wall for stability.

At that moment, several earthen spikes jutted out from the ground as they chased after the lightning monster, the rumbling soon stopped and Namby dared to peek around the corner, watching as Unicorn, now glowing gold, was completely overwhelming the monster, but once she reached the sky and prepared to finish him, something happened. Her form changed back to its normal turquoise, and from the way she acted, Unicorn wasn’t expecting that. Unfortunately, it was enough of a distraction to allow the monster to escape.

Namby watched as Unicorn looked upon the jutting earth spikes, and for some reason, Namby felt a sense of guilt coming from the hero. Not long after that, Namby watched as their motorcycles appeared, and the pair rode off and away. Namby sighed, that was the closest she’d probably ever get to Unicorn, but hopefully her time would come soon. But it wasn’t long before she heard something, like a buzzing, jingling sound, and then there was the sound of a motorbike.

The intern’s eyes went wide as she realized that it might be one of the Kamen Riders, she quickly looked around for a place to hide, there was a door to an empty building to her right and Namby quickly juggled the doorknob to see if it would open. By the good grace all that was holy, she was able to open it and quickly hid. Namby took out her cellphone and began recording, leaving a crack just big enough for her to watch as Kamen Rider Unicorn appeared in the alley.

The heroine took something out of her belt buckle, and then Namby watched with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as the armor slowly fell off of Unicorn and disappeared. Revealing a girl with fiery hair, and turquoise colored eyes, wearing a leather jacket.

Sunset…Shimmer, I was right! I mean, I-I thought that it was one of those three, but to actually see it…! Oh wow, that means that…That means that Twilight Sparkle or Rainbow Dash are Kamen Rider Nasca!

Namby continued to record Sunset as she walked to the edge of the alley, looking forlorn at the damage that she had caused, and then she stared at a glimmering golden device in her right hand.

***________________***

Namby had just finished her tail of how she discovered Sunset’s secret, making the teenager fall back on her couch. It was one thing when Ms. Harshwhinny found out, and then Rainbow confessing her Kamen Rider secret to her parents, at least both trusted their daughter enough to keep her identity a secret. But this woman? This was a reporter, someone who chased and lived for stories like this; all this time protecting her identity, being careful, and now here it is, the big reveal to the whole city of Canterlot.

Investigations will be done, it’ll be found out that Sunset isn’t from Canterlot City or anywhere, the truth about Equestria will be found out, and she’ll have run back home, leave her friends, and destroy the portal before any military or Area 51 scientist could come and experiment on her or the citizens of Equestria. Every worst-case scenario was playing in Sunset’s head, the only thing keeping her from going into full panic mode was the fact that Namby was still sitting there.

Okay…Okay, think, Sunset Shimmer, think! We have to get that cellphone and erase it, but if she’s smart she’s no doubt copied it before coming here. I’ll have to get Twilight on that. Okay, so I could rush her, she may be older but I’m pretty certain I’m stronger than her. Yeah, overpower her, take her phone, smash it, and call Twilight to hack her files! Oh wait…can she do that? I mean, I know she did that thing with the IP addresses with the animal shelter, and hacked her brothers polices files, but that’s only because he was around…she never said if she had limits.

Sunset looked down at herself.

Second option: seduce her? Bank that she swings that way and……and…UGH! No, no way! I’m not that desperate!

Sunset looked back at Namby, who was still sitting quietly and calmly in her seat and just looking at Sunset.

Calm down Sunset. She came here for a reason. If all she wanted to do was expose you, you’d be seeing this on the morning news. Namby came to you and showed you she has this evidence, which means she wants something else. Most likely, Nasca’s identity, but that also means I have a bargaining chip.

The fiery haired girl crossed her arms and stared down Namby with a serious expression. “Okay, so you learned I’m Kamen Rider Unicorn. I can only assume you want something from me.”

Namby smiled gently and nodded her head. “Very astute, Sunset Shimmer. Yes, there is something I want from you.” Namby took out her ExPad. “I want to know your story.”

Sunset blinked. “What?”

“I want to know why a teenage girl would put herself in danger, time and again, against monsters that could kill her. Why that teenage girl feels the need to keep such a dangerous device to herself to fight said monsters, and really, why you believe that the burden should fall to you and Nasca?” Namby asked. “People fear what they don’t understand, and while some rally behind your actions, there are others who still don’t trust you or your intentions. But if you could shed some light on that subject…”

Sunset had to take a minute and absorb that. She wasn’t going to blackmail her, she just wanted to know why she does what she does? “Namby…do you intend to show people that footage?”

Namby looked up at Sunset and sighed. “At first, I the answer was ‘yes’. But, I didn’t feel it fair to you if I didn’t understand your reasons as to why you fight. So, please, tell me.”

The former unicorn thought hard, her options were limited, but maybe just enough info would be good to placate the reporter. “Well, I guess it’s better than you using it to blackmail me into doing something X rated.”

Namby’s face went red. “I would never –!”

“Kidding, just kidding.” Sunset joked as she gave a little chuckle. “We’ll start with the reasons. I fight because this power found me, and because if I don’t, people I care about will be hurt.”

Sunset talked with Namby for about two hours, carefully disclosing enough info to keep the reporter happy, but not enough to divulge her true origins or the help her friends. Telling the story of the Pillar of Light, and how the Gaia Memory flew to her, and how she came about the Driver – omitting how the device was created. Her first attempt using the Memory without the Driver, and how she learned to transform with it. She gave a broad review of certain events involving the Dopants, filling in the gaps that the news didn’t have originally. Particularly in regard to Gladmane. Sunset made sure to keep Nasca’s identity secret, Rainbow Dash may be her partner, but if she could take the heat all on herself and spare Rainbow, then the damage could be minimized a little. Sunset looked to her clock and stood up.

“I need to go out, I promised to fix the damage in the street once I rested a bit,” said Sunset.

“Can I come?” Namby asked. Sunset looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. “The people of this city would like to see that their hero isn’t just someone who turns tail and runs when she makes a mess, but does take responsibility for it.”

Sunset sighed. “Fine.”

Namby, with all the enthusiasm and giddiness of a little kid, followed Sunset out her door. “We can take my care,” Namby suggested, “it’ll be a lot easier for you and less suspicious.”

Sunset let out a groan. “Why not.”

The car ride was done mostly in silence, Sunset, despite divulging the info she did, still felt uneasy about someone else knowing her secret outside her current circle of trust. If worse came to worse, she could trust Rainbow’s parents with her secret seeing as how they’re doing the same for their daughter. Ms. Harswhinny is doing it out of respect for what she was doing to save lives, and how Sunset had become a better person. But this woman, Namby, she was a reporter, she didn’t know Sunset or her friends and therefore had no real reason to keep her secret if asked.

The overpowering idea is still valid…Sunset shook that thought out of her head, such thoughts were reminiscent of her old self. The bully, the she-demon, the prideful, even in this situation, using the tactics of her old ways would make her no better than the criminal Dopants she and Rainbow battled. Best to just face the music when it comes…

Before Sunset knew it, they had arrived at the scene of the afternoon’s battle. Namby pulled over and allowed both of them to disembark. Carefully they walked around through the alleyway where Namby had taken the footage, and walked onto the street. It was a moonless night, the way lit by the few street lights that were active, and the light of their cellphones. But even with that limited lighting, the spiky, jutting pillars gave the area a horror movie-esque feel.

“You’re filming this, aren’t you?” Sunset asked, already knowing the answer.

Namby chuckled nervously. “Y-Yeah.”

The former bully sighed and took out her Driver. Sunset placed it against her waist, letting the straps shoot out and connect around her waist.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin.”

> UNICORN! <

In a field of turquoise electrical energy, Sunset was clad in her Kamen Rider Unicorn armor. She then took out the Shining Memory and looked to Namby. “When I put this in, mark the time.”

Namby nodded.

< SHIINING! >

{< SHINING! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A golden light flashed before Namby, although it blinded her, she made sure to keep the phone pointed at Unicorn. When the light faded, Sunset was once again in her Shining Day form. With little time to waste, Sunset hit the left hip port button three times.

\\\ GENEROUS! ///

Unicorn’s horn shined with a whitish light, at the same time, she pointed her right hand towards the towering spikes and spoke aloud, “Art of Mending!”

That sparkling white light flowed from Unicorn’s hand and washed over the jutting rocks, and in less than a few seconds, the damage was being undone. Namby kept recording, watching in awe as the broken road returned back to what it once was, the street lamps, which were knocked over and broken, were now standing upright and shining their light once again. The repairs continued until the last bit of rock was returned to the ground, and before them was undamaged road, as if nothing had happened.

“That…That was amazing…!” Namby stated.

“Thanks, so what time did you mark it?” Unicorn asked.

“Oh, um, ten-thirty,” said Namby.

“Okay…” Unicorn looked at her right hand for a moment before her compound eyes returned to Namby. “I know you’re probably chomping at the bit to get this story out, but can you wait until I’ve talked with Nasca. I’d rather she’d know about this from me than a news report.”

Namby nodded her head. “I’ll come by your loft again, seven ‘o clock sound good, we can discuss it more then.”

“Alright.”

With that, Unicorn teleported Namby and herself to her car, and then teleported away, leaving Namby to think long into the night about what she just learned.

***________________***

The next morning, Sunset called an emergency meeting with her friends. Thankfully they were able to meet up at Sunset’s place, and once they had all arrived Sunset began.

“Okay, so, I may have discovered why my Shining Day form fizzled out.”

Twilight sat up straight and took out her notepad. “You conducted an experiment, without me?!”

“Sorry, it was kind of spur of the moment, it was when I went out to fix the damage.” With Twilight seemingly placated, Sunset went back to her discovery. “First off: the Shining Memory has a time limit, and I think that that is in direct correlation to the amount of magical power here as opposed to Equestria.”

Sunset saw the confused looks and continued. “You see, when I was in Equestria, my Unicorn Memory felt more powerful, and the Shining Memory is a piece of the hidden Miracle Magic of Equestria. So, when I came back, the Memory’s power was halved, because magic permeated the air and land back in my world, here, it’s faint, but still present.”

Twilight scribbled all this down with gusto, while the girls worked this out in their mind. “So, that means that you can only use it for a time limit, what would be that time limit?” Rarity asked.

“Two minutes.”

The girls all gawked at Sunset and shouted in unison, “TWO MINUTES?!”

Rainbow shook her head indignantly. “That’s bull, that’s probably the most powerful Gaia Memory in our arsenal, and it only lasts, like, ten seconds longer than my Vermillion Mode?!”

Sunset raised her index finger. “Yes, but, I tried some of my attacks with that in mind, and luckily, none of my attacks or special attacks drain its energy. So I have to just manage my time, but good news is it does recharge itself.”

“Well, that’s good, at least,” said Fluttershy. “How long does it take?”

“One hour.”

Rainbow Dash smacked her forehead.

“Yeah, I know. Using the Shining Memory has to be only for extreme cases and only as a way to end the fight quickly.” Sunset sighed, she didn’t like it either, but it was better than it being out of commission for a whole day.

Twilight tapped on her notepad and hummed. “Well, in essence, it does make sense. All that power, there has to be a counter balance to it. Just like your magic when it – EEP!” the former Crystal Prepper closed her mouth.

Sunset walked over to the nerd girl and patted her shoulder. “It’s alright Twilight, they should know now.”

“Know what?” Applejack asked with curiosity.

Twilight removed her hands from her mouth. “When Gilda was the Violence Dopant and Sunset got hurt, she told me that since she was a unicorn in Equestria, the magic that she had was converted into her body. Allowing her body to heal at a faster rate than we do, nothing to the point of re-growing a limb, but with enough time she can regenerate from some bad wounds. It’s also transferred to her bones, giving them a bitter tensile strength to withstand impacts, and into her muscles for strength.”

“Nothing like yours, Applejack, but if I worked at it, I’d probably be as strong or stronger,” said Sunset.

“Ooooh, so that’s why you wouldn’t let Fluttershy take you to a hospital! You weren’t scared of doctors, you could just heal on your own!” Pinkie squealed with giddiness. “Now all you need is an adamantium graft onto your bones!”

The girls knew better than to ask what that was about, although it did make a lot of sense to them now, about some things. Why Sunset was never out sick, despite the times when there were some bad bugs going around. How she seemed to pick herself up after some particularly nasty falls. There was also that one time she cut her finger in Home Economics when baking, and how it seemed to stop bleeding after less than a minute. Although Sunset would play it off as a shallow cut, during those times, Pinkie was there, and she knew what a deep cut and a shallow cut looked like. And that cut was not shallow on that day.

“So, that’s why you were also freaking out about me getting hurt as a Kamen Rider, because you knew you could come back from some nasty injuries, and I couldn’t as fast as you,” said Rainbow Dash.

Sunset lowered her gaze. “Yeah…I was fine with myself getting injured, I’ll heal fast, but you…”

Rainbow placed her hand on her back. “Hey, don’t sweat it, I know you weren’t trying to be a glory hog or anything.” Sunset smiled at that. “So, what was the other big news?”

Sunset’s eyes widened. “Oh…um…That reporter with CCNN that was at our school on Friday, she found out I’m Kamen Rider Unicorn.”

The silence was so intense, so heavy, it was like an oppressive force. Even the most miniscule of sounds could be heard, like the ticking of Sunset’s alarm clock, the traffic outside, the tweeting of the birds, and that annoying fly buzzing around near the kitchen. It was then that Twilight’s hold on her pencil was released and said pencil tumbled down until it hit the ground, echoing louder than it probably should. Then came the concussive shouting of all six of her friends at once.

“WHAT THE ACTUAL WHAT?!!!!”

***________________***

The Man in a Trench Coat and bowler hat kept to the shadows of the alleys, he needed this plan to work out, and he needed it to go off without a hitch. His colleagues were counting on him, and he was counting on the fool he gave the Gaia Memory too. It was the last one he was able to get out of PhoenEXE Corp., besides the Bat, Spider, and Taboo. That Clover girl had paid good money for them; the girl was straight up sociopath, but they weren’t in the business of selling to morally sound people, no money there.

The Gaia Memories were powerful, although they could not replicate the technology, they could however steal from the company that was making them in secret. It was a nice set up, the biggest corporation in the city, besides Rich Industries, was not only making the Memories that turned people into monsters, but also were supplying the police with weapons to stop them. Knowing full well that only someone like the Kamen Riders can really defeat them.

The man knew what he needed inside, he saw what was there, powerful Memories, like the Taboo, but there was also one was stronger than the others. A couple more of those and not even the Riders would be able to stop them. And then they’d use PhoenEXE’s own weapons against them, and take whatever it was that helped them to make the Gaia Memories.

That guy from Griffonstone, Gaston, he was a simple guy, out for money, like all the people from that town. It wasn’t hard to convince him to do as he told him, promising him more money and possibly other Gaia Memories. Speaking of which, Gaston arrived right on time. The man was in his early twenties, light-brown skin, sandy brown hair, and amber colored eyes. He wore a pilot’s jacket, leather, with some white ruffle around the collar.

“I got your message, is it time?” Gaston asked.

“Yes, it is, the fights were trial runs, now is the time to finish the job.”

Gaston rubbed the back of his head nervously. “I don’t know, that Unicorn, she used some power thing that was crazy! She almost had me!”

“But it didn’t look like she could maintain it long, and that’s your advantage. If she uses it again, just hide in the electrical wiring and come out when she changes back, simple.” The man noticed Gaston’s nervousness. “Look, you want your money, right? Want to get you and that family of yours out of that squalor of a town?”

Gaston thought about his two sisters, Giselle and Natalya. They had dreams of going to the Olympic Games, they were the fastest runners at their school. He was the big brother, he needed to provide for them, by any means necessary. Gaston reached into his jacket pocket and took out the Gaia Memory with a skeleton design, and an L in the shape of a lightning bolt. He rolled up his sleeve to reveal the connector tattoo and pressed the button on the side of the device.

< LIGHTNING! >

“Get to work, Gaston.”

“Yes, sir!”

Gaston pressed the end of the Memory into the tattoo, the Memory melded into his arm as his whole body transformed into pure lightning energy, with white armor forming around his arms, legs, and chest. The Lighting Dopant shot into a nearby lightbulb and zoomed through the wiring and shot out of a lamppost right in the middle of the street. Cars swerved out of the way in order to avoid hitting the Dopant, and the ones that were unlucky enough to not move in time were tossed out of the way with the Dopant’s electromagnetic shielding. Gaston raised his hand up into the air, generating massive amounts of electrical energy, condensing it into a sphere of crackling power.

The Dopant took that power and slammed into the ground, sending out a wave of energy that knocked out all power within a twenty-mile radius. Lights went out, cars stalled, and buildings went completely dark. It was here that the Man in the Trench Coat saw his opening as he casually strolled towards the PhoenEXE Corp. headquarters building, and smiled.

One of the cars that stalled out had a woman with pink hair and mint green skin, and she was staring at the Lightning Dopant.

***________________***

Unicorn and Nasca sped towards the city, after getting an alert via Twilight that the Dopant had returned, both girls headed out as fast as they could. After some weaving through traffic, the Kamen Riders were upon the police line and were about to jump it when an all too familiar police officer held out his arms in a stopping motion. The Riders hit the brakes to their bikes, tires squealing as they came to a full stop right before Shining Armor.

“Look, Officer, this really isn’t the best time to try and pull some jurisdiction or vigilantism is bad crap, we need to stop that guy!” Nasca stated.

“As much as I’d like to give you both the third degree about both of those, we have a hostage situation and you being here could make it worse,” said Shining Armor.

Unicorn dismounted her bike. “Wait, the Dopant’s taken someone hostage?! Who?!”

“A reporter. Look, just stay low and –!”

“Where are Unicorn and Nasca?!”

“Dammit…” Shining cursed.

“Bring them out now, or I’ll fry this girl from the inside out?!”

Shining Armor glanced to the two Riders and motioned for them to come with him. The police parted the crowd as he led Unicorn and Nasca through the crowd and under the police line. Once on the other side, several SCU officers glanced at the Riders, some murmuring that they were actually following one of them instead of just jumping in to attack. Shining Armor pointed his finger at the ground and said, “Stay here.”

Unicorn and Nasca watched as he walked over to another officer, a man with light brown skin, and purple hair. Unicorn believed he heard him say his name was “Spearhead.”

“We’re working to get them, but it may take time,” said Spearhead.

“Those two should be here by now! No way they’d miss a chance to fight! So, either get them here faster or she’ll fry! You got one minute!” Gaston warned.

Spearhead turned to Shining Armor with worry. “Dude, I don’t think we can talk him down! He’s holding all the cards right now, and personally, I’m not for watching some innocent woman get electrocuted on national TV! Where are they?!”

Shining Armor motioned with his head. “They’re behind me, on the other side of the assault truck.”

“Then what the hell are you waiting for?! Bring them out?!”

“We don’t have any guarantee that he’ll let her go! And what if those two attack him anyway?! They could just be out to destroy the monsters! He’s gotten away from him at least three times now, maybe they’re not in the mood to care about a hostage,” said Shining Armor.

“Don’t know why you’d think that, we always put others’ safety before our own,” said Unicorn.

Spearhead and Shining Armor turned around and saw Unicorn wave at them with her back leaned up against the assault vehicle, her horn just barely visible.

“What are you saying?” Shining Armor asked.

“He wants us, he’ll get us, no tricks,” said Unicorn.

“We’re not going to let someone get hurt because of us,” Nasca added.

Spearhead looked to Shining Armor. “We really don’t have any other options here…”

Shining Armor glanced over his shoulder and then back towards the assault vehicle where the two Riders were hiding behind. “If you step out of line and that hostage gets hurt –!”

“Trust us, if for no other time, then this one time, trust us,” said Nasca.

Spearhead and Shining nodded. Spearhead turned around and announced over his megaphone, “Okay, we have the Kamen Riders, they’re coming out to you now!”

The officers moved out of the way, allowing Unicorn and Nasca to walk towards the Lightning Dopant. Sunset and Rainbow had to stifle a gasp when they saw that the hostage was in fact Namby Pamby. Both girls gritted their teeth at the situation, more so for the cowardly actions of the Dopant. Once both Riders were at least ten feet away, the Lightning Dopant raised his right hand and shouted, “THAT’S CLOSE ENOUGH.”

“Alright, we’re here, so let the hostage go!” Unicorn demanded.

Gaston thought about that for a moment, “Hmmm, no. Because as long as I have her, you two won’t attack me. So, you’re just going to stand there, and let me attack you, and then maybe I’ll let her go once you both are on the ground and unconscious!”

Nasca growled and entered an attack stance, preparing to enter into Vermillion Mode, but Unicorn raised her hand to halt her actions. “I can make it, I’m way faster if I switch modes!”

“In the time it’ll take you to switch the Memory into the other slot, and change, Namby will be killed. Just brace…”

Nasca stood up straight, showing her non-aggression. Unicorn did the same as both Riders tightened their fists in preparation for what was to come.

The Lightning Dopant raised his right hand and fired two bolts of lightning that struck Unicorn and Nasca in their chest, causing sparks to explode from the point of impact. The attack sent both Riders flying backwards, rolling on the street before stopping a couple of feet from where they stood. Unicorn and Nasca coughed as they rose back to their feet and walked back to where they once stood. The Lightning Dopant chuckled and fired another bolt of lightning, this time making the bolt spread out into multiple bolts that rained down on the Riders.

Multiple explosions went off around them, until one large one sent the Riders flying in opposite directions from each other. Nasca struck against a parked car, leaving a body sized dent, while Unicorn flew into a lamppost, bending it inward as she hit the ground. The crowd watched as both girls were thrown about by the Dopant’s attacks, wincing and shutting their eyes whenever another bolt hit them, or were thrown into the side of a vehicle or building.

The many of the SCU officers were getting agitated from watching this, and even Shining Armor was having a hard time watching this public flogging as his fists tightened up so much he thought the bone of his knuckles would break the skin.

“Dude, we cannot let this continue! Vigilantes or not, they’re still just civilians under those outfits,” said Spearhead.

“I know, I know! But we can’t do anything while that hostage is still there!” Shining Armor growled.

Namby watched all this from her front row seat next to the Dopant. He had her wrapped up in a chain made of lightning energy that was connected to his hand, and ready to fry her at any time he wished. She couldn’t watch this, knowing that they were just teenage girls under the masks, girls who were too young to have their lives ended by this monster in this fashion. That’s when Namby, gathering all the courage she could muster, shouted at Unicorn and Nasca, “FORGET ABOUT ME! UNICORN, NASCA, JUST KICK THIS GUY’S BUTT! YOU CAN’T DIE, NOT FOR ME!”

After another barrage of lightning, it looked like the Riders were going to stay down for good, making everyone hold their breaths in fear. However, that fear was lifted when Unicorn and Nasca rose up to a kneeling stance, panting from the damage they had taken as they turned their compound eyes towards Gaston and Namby.

“We won’t let anyone get hurt,” said Unicorn.

“And we ain’t dyin’,” said Nasca.

“In fact…we’re about to win.”

Suddenly, the sound of a dog barking echoed in the distance, and before anyone realized it, a mechanical canine rushed through the crowd on the opposite side of the road. The mech-animal was blue in color, with yellow eyes, and white whimsical stripes painted onto it. The dog bot raised it’s tail as it jumped into the air, performed a somersault, and came down with that same tail, energized it, and sliced through the chain of lightning that held Namby. The sudden severing and appearance of the dog bot made the Dopant jump back in surprise.

With that opening, Unicorn’s horn glowed as she focused her magic on Namby and made her vanish. “OFFICER, HEADS UP,” Unicorn warned as Namby appeared in a flash of turquoise light above Shining Armor, who thankfully caught her in his arms.

“Our turn,” Nasca took out the Accel Memory. “Time to shake things up!”

< ACCEL! >

{< ACCEL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Nasca’s body was engulfed in fiery red energy, until she emerged from the flaming energy as Nasca Full Throttle. The winged Rider held out her right hand, and immediately after the revving of a motorcycle engine could be heard. Nasca’s bike jumped over the crowd of civilians and officers, as it approached her, the bike began to transform, shifting its parts around until it reformed into its Engine Blade mode. Nasca spun around, catching the sword in midair with her right hand and letting the tip hit the street, causing a small fissure.

“I’m not sticking around for this!” Gaston uttered as he shifted into lightning form and dove into a lamppost. For a brief moment, there was nothing, but then the Lightning Dopant reemerged from that same post. “What’s going?! Why can’t I go anywhere?!”

“All circuits are busy, lightning bug, please stick around for your butt whupping!” Nasca joked as she revved the hilt.

>>>> SPEED OF SOUND! <<<<

Nasca sped towards the Lightning Dopant, striking him several times in the chest before jumping up, and delivering a kick to the monster’s head to send him into the side of a building.

The dog bot walked up to Unicorn as she petted the mech-animal on the head. “You can blame this little guy, he planted special stakes in a fifty-foot radius of where we’re standing. From there, we just closed off the circuits that that allowed you to retreat. Nowhere to run, no nowhere to hide, so it’s time to restore harmony!”

< SHINING! >

{< SHINING! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Unicorn’s body was enveloped in golden light, until she was once again in her Shining Day form. Now armed with the knowledge of her tests from the night before, this battle would be over, quick. “R0V3R, en garde!”

The dog bot’s eyes glowed bright yellow, R0V3R barked three times and jumped into the air. The head of the dog bot detached, and from the bottom formed a hilt, the tail blade detached and flew around to connect to the head of R0V3R forming a sword weapon. R0V3R’s body separated, with one half forming over Unicorn’s left shoulder pauldron and the other half attaching to her left forearm.

The Lightning Dopant watched this, all transpire, growled, and fired a large thunder bolt straight for Unicorn. The golden warrior brought up her left arm. Two jewels embedded on both halves of armor pieces began to glow, and before her a shield of cerulean light formed, and blocked the incoming electrical blast with ease. The Lightning Dopant stopped his attack, realizing that the attack was not working.

Unicorn took pressed a trigger on the hilt and made the dog bot’s mouth open, revealing a drive slot. She quickly took the Shining Memory out and placed it into the slot. Pressing the trigger again, the dog’s mouth closed shut and its eyes glowed even brighter as a golden light lapped off the blade of the sword.

>} SHINING! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Nasca revved up her Engine Blade until the needle crossed into the red zone, and placed the Accel Memory into the right hip port.

>>>> SPEED OF HEAT <<<<

>} ACCEL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Nasca’s blade roared with flames as she twirled around sped towards the Dopant, and at the same time, Unicorn dashed forwards, bringing her blade into attack position. The Lightning Dopant, Gaston, glanced to his right and left, unable to escape as both Riders closed in.

“BLAZING CRESECNT!” Unicorn and Nasca shouted in unison.

Both masked heroes struck at the midsection of the Lightning Dopant, appearing the opposite side of where the other was. A white lunar crescent formed around the Dopant, along with intense flames that resulted in a powerful explosion. From that explosion, Gaston was hurled forward and onto the street, with the remnants of the Lightning Memory scattered next to him.

Unicorn pressed the trigger and ejected the Memory, and not too soon after that, she dispelled the Shining Day form, and allowed R0V3R to combine back into dog form. Nasca dispelled her Full Throttle form, and let her sword change back into a bike. Both Riders walked up to each other and bumped their forearms in victory, which inadvertently caused the crowd to cheer loudly for their victory, causing both Riders to blush under their helmets. The police quickly ran towards them, but stopped and surrounded Gaston, and cuffed the man as they carefully raised him up and took him away.

Spearhead and Shining Armor walked up to the pair of heroes, with Spearhead nodding to them. “Gotta say, that was a ballsy move you pulled back there, you guys set a trap for him, and the whole time he was beating you up was to just to buy time.”

“Pretty much, yeah,” said Unicorn.

“That could’ve ended badly, what would have happened if it didn’t work?” Shining Armor asked.

Nasca leaned on Unicorn and pointed a thumb at Unicorn. “Trust me, with my partner, she’s at least one or two steps ahead. There was a plan B, and a C if it came to it.”

Shining Armor glanced between the two heroes, sighed and pointed them. “You get a free pass today because your stunt worked, and you saved the hostage. But next time, watch out. Now go before I change my mind.”

The only thing keeping Shining Armor from getting a verbal accosting was the fact that he didn’t know who was really under the masks, and the fact that he was Twilight’s big brother. With an affirmative nod given, Shining Armor walked off to go and help with the crime scene. Spearhead added, “Although I can’t officially thank you guys for that, unofficially, thanks for the help.”

Sunset and Rainbow smiled under their helmets. With a wave of her hand, Unicorn’s bike arrived next to her and both mounted their vehicles, Unicorn glanced over towards the police where Namby mouthed “Thank you”. Feeling happy for their victory, the Kamen Riders revved their bikes and took off, the crowd parted for them as they were cheered on until they could no longer be seen.

***________________***

Case Report: Lightning Dopant

This case was a difficult one, not because the opponent was tough, but actually quite smart. From what I was able to learn from my brother’s…ahem… “borrowed files”, the Lightning Dopant was a man named Gaston. He lived in the adjacent town of Griffonstone, and unsurprising he obtained the Lightning Memory as a means to get money. According to the files, his motives were for his younger sisters, to grant them the best that he believed they deserved.

In a way, I can understand where he was coming from. All he wanted to do was help his little sisters achieve their dreams and have better lives, and, even though Shining Armor is a police officer, I don’t doubt he wouldn’t do everything he could to help me achieve my dreams in one way or another. Now, though, Gaston’s siblings have to worry about their brother, and his impending trial.

We need to find out who is distributing these Gaia Memories, they’re like a drug, and if the temptation was not there, Gaston would not have taken it. Same as Gilda. Thankfully, we managed to learn the limits of Sunset’s new Shining Memory, and as powerful as it is, it’s not all powerful. But, I have a feeling that in the days to come, Sunset’s going to need more power than just what the Shining Memory alone can provide. Perhaps I can help with that…

Twilight finished up her report as the girls huddled in Sunset’s loft, she turned the TV on to CCNN, and the girls, sans Rainbow and Sunset, were sweating bullets about the report that Namby Pamby was going to do on them. Would she reveal Sunset’s identity, or wouldn’t she? The girls liked to believe that saving the woman’s life would at least constitute some leeway in how Sunset’s secret identity would be revealed.

After some tense few seconds, the news anchors gave the reins over to the very woman they were worried about who was setting in a chair off to their collective right. Namby held herself with confidence and a bright smile as she looked towards the camera and to the audience, and at the same time, a picture of Kamen Riders Unicorn and Nasca appeared over her right shoulder.

{Good evening Canterlot City. In our expose of our city’s vigilante heroes, we’ve talked a lot about how you the people, feel about the Kamen Riders. Some of you praise their deeds and selfless acts, while others condemn them and fear them because of their power. So, I went in depth, trying to figure out the women behind the masks, and…}

The girls tensed up, here it was. The secrets of CHS and Kamen Rider were going to be exposed.

{…sadly I did not find anything. Many promising leads, but nothing panned out. Our masked heroes are hard people to track down. But then I asked myself, “Why would they hide their identities?” With this question in mind I changed my perspective and reason for searching for them. Because the truth is, we don’t know their motives, other than their actions. Yes, actions do speak louder than words, but it helps to have some context. And I got that context, as I, Namby Pamby, managed to get an exclusive interview with our city’s heroes.}

The screen shifted to Namby and a cameraman who were ascending the stairs of some random building. When they opened the door, no one was there, but in a flash of turquoise light, Unicorn appeared. From the sky, flying on fiery-electric wings, was Nasca, landing right next to her partner.

“Wuh, wait, you two did an interview?!” Rarity asked.

“Namby still wanted to get our side of the story, but also said she’d respect our secret identities,” said Sunset.

“But we didn’t want to leave her hanging, so instead did an interview with her as Kamen Riders,” added Rainbow as she lounged in the couch.

{First off, thank you both for meeting with me,} said Namby. {Now, Unicorn, Nasca, a lot of people want to know, why you fight and why you feel the need to keep your identities secret?}

Unicorn was handed the microphone and spoke, {I’ll answer the second to start. Nasca and I keep our identities secret because we don’t want to see our loved ones hurt. We have the ability to fight back the threats that may came after us, but the people we love don’t. So, while the armor we wear is meant to protect us, it’s also to protect friends and family, because it’s better if we take the hits that would come to them if our secret was found out.} Unicorn handed the microphone to Nasca, who took up the next half.

{That’s why we fight, these powers, they came to us for a reason, and we’ll use them to keep people safe. We’re NOT doing this to rag on the police or anything, if anything, we’re fighting to make sure they can go back home to the people they love. Because at the end of the day, we’re just normal girls, girls you hang out with, shop with, play games with, we didn’t ask this responsibility, but we’ll shoulder it.}

The interview cut from there and showed Namby at the anchor desk again. {While the Kamen Riders try to mitigate damage done by these creatures, that also means they try to mitigate damage that they in turn cause during those fights. And let’s be honest, fighting monsters is not without some collateral property damage. But they do at least try to fix what they in turn destroy in excess, as seen here, during last week’s attack when Kamen Rider Unicorn upheaved the street, I captured this footage.}

The next video showed as Sunset, as Unicorn Shining Day, fixed the street with ease.

{Some of you may not trust them, I would also like you all to remember the old saying as I mentioned before, “Actions speak louder than words.” The Kamen Riders saved my life, allowing the monster who took me hostage to subject them to pain and torturous attacks, and at the end of it all, saved my life. As powerful and as strong as they are, they could’ve just attacked without worrying anything for me, but they didn’t. That is why I will always consider these two my heroes, and why this city is lucky to have them.}

The girls erupted into cheers as Rarity, Pinkie, AJ, Fluttershy, and Twilight entered into a group hug with Sunset and Rainbow Dash, elated that Namby Pamby hadn’t exposed Sunset’s secret, and even better, managed to boost her public image for the positive. At that moment, Sunset’s cellphone rang, and the caller ID showed “Namby P”. Sunset managed to untangle herself from the group hug, rose from her seat, and walked towards her kitchen to talk. “We saw your story, it was amazing! And, thank you, for not telling everyone who we are.”

{It’s the least I can do, but one day, when you two decide to finally reveal yourselves, I expect an exclusive.}

“You’ll be right on my speed dial,” said Sunset.

{Also, I may be able to help you out, so don’t hesitate to call if you guys need a journalist’s assistance with digging something up.}

Sunset thought about that. “Well…I don’t want you putting yourself in harm’s way.”

{I’m a reporter, it comes with the territory, kind of like what you do. Well, I better get back, thank you, Sunset Shimmer.}

“You’re welcome, Namby.”

***________________***

“Gaston lost to the Kamen Riders, I can’t believe he lost with that type of Gaia Memory,” said Trench Coat Woman 1.

“It doesn’t matter, he served his purpose, plus, do you really want to pay him all that money for his brat siblings?” Trench Coat Woman 2 asked.

“Regardless, his actions helped us obtain some valuable Gaia Memories, courtesy of PhoenEXE Corp.”

The Man in the Trench Coat took out a suitcase, and in that suitcase, were three Gaia Memories. One of which was a gold colored Memory. It had bone design similar to a T1 Gaia Memory, but this one had wings coming out of the top, and a Q that looked like a bird.

“These two other gold Gaia Memories, they were in the same place as the Taboo, but this must be a good one, it was marked ‘dangerous’,” said the Man in the Trench Coat.

“So why not keep it for ourselves?!” Trench Coat Woman 1 asked.

“From what I gathered, it takes a special kind of ‘personality’ to use this. Thankfully, I have a very…rich…client already set up.”

K: Key to her Heart / I want to tell her

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Sunset Shimmer was once a prideful girl, back in Equestria, she was chosen as Princess Celestia’s personal protégé, and for all intents and purposes, a mother to the young filly. As she grew up, Sunset excelled in her magic studies, surpassing many at Princess Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. But, the young mare became arrogant in her skill and power, and believed herself worthy of Ascension, the sacred rite that would allow Sunset Shimmer to become an alicorn. However, Celestia saw the arrogance, the pride, and the anger inside Sunset, despite all she tried to do to instill the virtues of friendship in her.

Flash forward to when she crossed the dimensional divide to Earth, and it only got worse. Sunset’s disconnection from her magic forced her to become more cunning, smarter, and stronger than those around her. She found it surprisingly easy to manipulate the students and teachers of CHS, a little misinformation here, a bit of gossip there, and soon the whole school was divided, and with the power of technology, she was able to keep her activities anonymous the majority of the time.

Yes, without that night at the Fall Formal, Sunset Shimmer would no doubt have become a tyrant capable of the worse deeds imaginable. “And that’s why, I can’t…”

Rarity, Rainbow, and Applejack all gave Sunset Shimmer a deadpan expression as they listened to their friend go on about her past sins. Apparently, Sunset Shimmer had finally decided to come out of the closet and tell her friends, at least these three, that she in fact had a crush on the newest member of their group, Twilight Sparkle. To which she received a round of “Duhs!” from the three girls in front of her, apparently her secret crush was not as secret as she thought.

Now, though, Sunset was working up the nerve to confess to the nerdy girl, but needed a little confidence boost, which led to the other reason why she called Rarity, AJ, and Rainbow, and then it led into Sunset listing all the reasons why she should be the last person to date Twilight Sparkle.

“Seriously?” Rainbow deadpanned.

“Sunset, Darling, we all know that side of you, and as we’ve said numerous times in the past, we have forgiven you. But, really, the fact that Twilight hasn’t seen that part of you, and only what she’s heard through word of mouth, means that you don’t have to worry about that affecting any relationship you could have with her now,” said Rarity.

“Twilight’s already seen ya at yer worst – sorry to bring it back up – at the Friendship Games after the motocross event, and she’s seen ya at yer best. If that was somethin’ that put her off about ya, then Ah doubt she’d trust ya as much as she does,” said Applejack.

Sunset rubbed her arm as she paced about. “She hasn’t seen me at my worst though! Back then, when I first came here up until the Fall Formal! That was my worst!”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Look, we all know that you were a crappy person back then. That’s not you now, and this Sunset Shimmer, right now, is the person she knows. And something tells me she’s likely carrying a torch for you too.”

Those words, they sounded just like what Twilight had said to her about knowing the Sunset of now, but Sunset’s self-doubt wouldn’t let it go. “Still…”

“Sunset, this ain’t gonna do ya no good, just wonderin’ if yer good or not good for Twi. We know ya are, she knows yer a good person, back then, not so much. However, Ah think Twi would be happy to see ya havin’ an interest in her, all ya got to do is tell ‘er ya care about her.”

Rarity stood up and wagged her finger before the farm girl. “Oh please, Applejack, first thing’s first. We have to know if Twilight Sparkle does in fact like Sunset Shimmer that way. Goodness knows confessing your feelings for someone is a nerve wracking enough without adding in the awkwardness of finding out your crush does not ‘swing that way’ as it were.”

Rainbow nodded. “Yeah, not to mention embarrassing.”

“Thank you, Dash,” said Sunset through gritted teeth.

“Ya see, Sunset, we can be yer wingmen – er – winggirls? Whatever, we’ll find out for ya,” said Applejack.

“Then let operation SunLight commence!” Rarity exclaimed as she struck a dramatic pose.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that word. “Uh, ‘sunlight’?”

“Big ‘S’, big L, it’s your couple name!” Rarity explained.

“I swear to Celestia, that does not get uttered anywhere outside of my house!”

***______________***

It was one week before the end of school and summer vacation would start, no school, just three months of doing nothing. Twilight dreaded that. When she was at CPA, the school remained open, and had several activities going on even during Summer Vacation. But when the genius girl looked up what CHS would be doing, there was nothing, well, other than what the clubs for outdoors or sports were doing for camps, it wasn’t anything to her liking. Of course Twilight knew that the Dopant attacks wouldn’t just stop for Summer Vacation. So there would be plenty to keep her busy and her brain working.

“Hey Twi!”

“GAH!” Twilight gasped as she jumped a bit. “Rainbow Dash, don’t sneak up on me like that!”

Rainbow blinked and then chuckled. “‘Sneak up’? I was walking right towards you.”

Twilight’s cheeks turned pink from embarrassment. “Oh…sorry.”

“No big, but I did want to talk to you, got a sec?”

Twilight nodded and walked alongside Rainbow Dash at a leisurely pace. “What did you want to talk about? Did you need help with one of the finals?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” said Rainbow Dash as she shook her head. “You remember when I said I was bi, right?”

Twilight gave a tentative nod, not sure where this was going.

“Cool, so are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Bi, Twi, are you bi?” Rainbow asked.

It took all of a second for Twilight’s mind to jump back to their conversation a couple of months ago, regarding whether or not there something with herself and Sunset Shimmer, and the revelation that Rainbow Dash would in fact date Twilight if presented the chance. “R-R-Rainbow Dash, I-I-I thought you were just hypothesizing about dating me!”

Rainbow stopped in her tracks. “Whoa, whoa, first off, yes I meant what I said about you being cute and would date you, but that’s not what is about, I swear! I just want to know.”

Still skeptical, Twilight looked down at her shoes before glancing to Rainbow Dash and asking, “Why?”

“Well, because, I know how frustrating it can be, trying to figure out which way you swing. I mean, hell, I found my heart racing whenever I saw a cute guy, but when I saw a cute girl and got the same reaction, it was a bit terrifying and confusing.” Rainbow explained.

Without much of a word, both girls continued walking down the hallway, a moment of silence past before Twilight spoke up. “Do you think I am?”

“I can’t tell ya if you are, Twi, it’s what you feel,” said Rainbow.

“Why…Why are you asking me, anyway?”

“Because I know what it’s like to feel confused about that part of you. I know you’re new to the whole friendship thing, I just wanted to make sure that you’re not, like, repressing yourself or something,” said Rainbow Dash with honest concern.

Twilight hugged the books in her arms a little tighter. “Well…I, I have been wondering myself, especially in regards to someone.”

Rainbow Dash perked up. “O-Oh, so it’s a…girl?” she dared to ask.

“Yes,” said Twilight in a hushed tone. “I just don’t –”

*RIIIIING!*

“Oh no, that’s the bell for my Chemistry Class, I have to go Rainbow! Bye!” Twilight stated as she rushed to her next class.

Rainbow Dash growled in frustration and glared at the bell that ended their conversation. “You – UGH – you couldn’t have waited ten more seconds?!” When no answer came back from the inanimate object, Rainbow sighed and walked off to her free period. “Guess it’s not a total loss, she likes girls, but she also said she likes someone.”

The sports girl was hoping that it was Sunset, but then again, CHS was not short of eligible bachelorettes, herself included. Rainbow stopped in her tracks as a realization struck her. Oh crap, please don’t tell me that it’s me…! Please be Sunset, I really don’t want to be that girl.

***______________***

Twilight couldn’t get the conversation she had with Rainbow Dash out of her mind. The subject of her sexuality never crossed her mind entirely, but then again, CPA never really provided an atmosphere for one to beg such a question, and truthfully, Twilight was too focused on her studies to the exclusion of pretty much everything else besides her family, Spike, and old babysitter, Cadance. Now, though, here in CHS, she was able to explore friendship and all it had to offer. Twilight was also discovering that it came with other things, like self-exploration.

Admittedly, Twilight had never thought of which way her affections for which gender flowed. At first she believed herself to be heterosexual, and CPA did have a lot of handsome boys, but they never really saw her, more like they saw through her. Then Twilight believed she was homosexual, and unfortunately it was the same result as the boys, plenty of pretty girls, but none actually saw her unless they were trying to move her out of their way or wanted something from her.

CHS was vastly different, while studies were important, the school also encouraged social interaction and building of relationships, for the faculty they would prefer platonic over romantic, but nevertheless, romantic relationships were inevitable. Twilight didn’t know what to think at this point, her mind told her one thing, but the feelings she had inside said something else.

“Sunset Shimmer,” she whispered to herself.

The bell rang again, signaling the students to move onto their next class, which was math class. At this point it was just for fun, Twilight was so far ahead that she could’ve easily tested out of Mr. Cranky’s class, but it never hurt to practice the basics. But the period also allowed her to think on other problems, like the one she was having now. Logically, her mind was telling her that the sensation of warmth and comfort she got from Sunset, was because of the fiery haired girl saving her during the Friendship Games. A type of hero worship that would eventually fade away once she was given enough time.

But’s it’s been months now, and none of my other friends make me feel that way…only her, Twilight reasoned.

Twilight needed answers, she needed someone who had at least some experience in this particular field. She thought about speaking to Lyra and Bonbon, but she didn’t know them well enough yet to speculate whether or not they were a couple, and Twilight was not ready to commit a faux pau like that. So, after some searching, she managed to track down Rarity in the Young Fashion Designers club room.

“Um, Rarity, could we talk?” Twilight asked.

“Well certainly, Twilight, come in. Everybody else has gone, so it’s just the two of us,” said Rarity as she brought up a chair for Twilight to sit in. “So, what can I help you with?”

Twilight began to play with a strand of her hair, something that Rarity knew was tell sign that Twilight was nervous. “Um…well…I wanted to know…I mean…I wanted some, romantic advice.”

Rarity’s eyes widened and practically sparkled upon hearing the request. “Oh Darling, I thought you’d never ask!” The fashionista leaned in and gave an almost predatory smile. “So, who’s the lucky guy?”

Twilight fidgeted.

Rarity raised an eyebrow. “Or…the lucky girl?”

Twilight nodded.

“Twilight there’s no need to be embarrassed, I am dating Sunny Flare after all,” said Rarity with reassurance. “Whatever questions you have on that subject I have no qualms with answering.”

Rarity reached out and gave Twilight’s right hand a squeeze, reassuring her that she meant what she said. Twilight released a shaky sigh and said, “Okay, I-I do like a girl, but, I don’t know if it’s for the right reasons or not.”

The violet haired girl had a pretty good idea of who it was. Looks like Operation SunLight is already in motion. “Whatever do you mean, Twilight?”

Twilight glanced about the room, making doubly sure that no one was in the immediate area. “If I tell you, will keep it a secret, I don’t want her to know until I’m sure of myself.”

Rarity nodded.

“It’s…Sunset Shimmer.”

Rarity had to stop herself from letting out a squeal of delight from hearing this confession. This was going to work, now that she knows that Twilight and Sunset have the same feelings for each other, the odds of getting them together just got better. “Oh, Twilight, dear, you have no idea how happy I am to hear that!”

“W-W-What do you mean?!” Twilight asked, blushing bright red.

“Darling, honestly, you two would make the perfect couple in my mind. Besides that, you two work well with each other, not just as friends, but intellectually, too. And you complement each other so well, Sunset’s strong, passionate, intelligent, and outgoing. Twilight, you’re reserved, kind, also intelligent, and little shy. The two of you have also – and I apologize in advance – turned into demonic beings and know what it’s like to carry that burden of your past actions. Which also means you both can help each other heal,” Rarity explained.

Twilight looked down at her hands. “But, that’s also the problem. I don’t know if this is just hero worship or if I’ll be a burden to her. I’m still working through that Friendship Games crisis, I don’t want to have to keep dragging Sunset down because I’m too weak to move on.”

Rarity brought up her right fist bopped Twilight on the head, giving her stern look in the process. “Now, Twilight, please never say you are ‘weak’ around me again. You’ve created the instrument which allows Sunset and Rainbow Dash to fight the Dopants, you’ve created three different mechanical animals, and figured out how many more Gaia Memories we have to collect. Plus the information that you can access has helped many times in the past with each of their fights, you are not weak. I promise you, you will never be a burden to Sunset Shimmer should you decide to pursue her.”

Tears began to well up in Twilight’s eyes as she sniffled and smiled. “Thank you, Rarity, I’ve never had anyone say that about me.”

“Twilight, everything I’ve said is what we all believe about you, and I don’t doubt that Sunset believes those same things, if not more so than all of us.”

“But, how can I ask her? I mean…what if…what if she’s not into girls?! I don’t want to assume and just tell her how I feel! What if she gets offended that I asked or assumed she was like that?! I could ruin everything we have right now! I mean she did date Flash Sentry, so she could be heterosexual or maybe bisexual, but the fact is she did date a boy and – OW!”

Rarity bopped Twilight on the head again, stopping her panic induced rant. “I’m sorry, Darling, but you were rambling. Anyway, yes, she did date Flash Sentry, and to quote our dear friend ‘I was only dating him to make myself more popular’. Bear in mind that was the old Sunset Shimmer, before her turn heel as it were. But I assure you, Sunset would not think less, hate, or end your friendship with her if you told her. Sometimes such confessions can actually bring you closer together.”

Twilight reached out with her other hand and held both of Rarity’s hands firmly as if to steel her nerves, drawing in a calming breath as she made up her mind. “Rarity, I want to tell Sunset how I feel.”

***______________***

Elsewhere in Canterlot City, a crime was occurring, a young man was on the run. His short purple hair was drenched with sweat, as even more beads formed on his purple skin. The young man had a black bandanna around his mouth to try and obscure his profile, along with a dark green hoodie, and after running and dodging police cars for a good five minutes, he realized how stupid it was to wear that, a ski mask would have been better, a ski mask and shades.

The young man stopped in an alleyway, panting and resting to catch his breath. A burlap sack was held tight in his right hand, a sack he slowly opened to check its contents. Inside were several small diamonds, enough to make the bag itself weigh a good deal on the heavy side.

“With this, I’ll show her that I’m the best for her,” he said.

“FREEEZE!”

The young man turned his head down the alley and watched as two officers came running down towards him, guns drawn. The young man stumbled backwards in surprise, falling on his rear and crawling backwards until he hit the trash bin. His heart rate skyrocketed, he let his guard down for a moment and now he was going to jail, he would never get to tell the girl he liked how he felt, or give her the diamonds.

As the officers approached, something began to glow at the other end of the alley. A blue colored light shot forth from the gutter and whizzed all the way until it was in front of the young man. The light blinded the two officers, but it did not blind the young man. The young man looked upon the device in his hand, at its smooth blue surface, and at the center was the letter K, which was in the shape of a key. The young man felt energy coursing through him, something was compelling him, this device was telling him, “Press the button”.

< KEY! >

The young man placed the blue connector against his neck, and the Gaia Memory entered his body. In a flash of light, the young man was floating off the ground, and transformed into a monstrous creature. His body was bronze colored, with gray chains wrapped around his forearms and around his legs below the knee. Each one had a padlock on it, and at the center of his chest was a large padlock, with chains connected to it to form an X pattern. The Dopant had a round mead, like a ball bearing, and etched around the front was a crack that looked like a crooked smile. Its eyes were two keys with rounded handles, and the long ends protruding to the right and left with two sets of “teeth” on them, and the eyes themselves were a deep navy blue that glowed. Around the waist of the Dopant was another chain, but hanging off of them were more keys that jingled as he touched down on the ground.

When the light faded, both officers were now standing before the Key Dopant. The officers drew their weapons, but the Dopant raised his right hand. The right index finger of the Key Dopant changed into key with two oddly shaped teeth on them. “Lock!”

The Key Dopant turned its hand to the side as if turning the key, and immediately after chins of black and blue light appeared around the guns of the officers. The chains wrapped and around their weapons and disappeared in the next second. The officers didn’t know what the Dopant had just done, but with little else to defend themselves, they pulled the trigger of their guns. Or rather, they would have if the triggers weren’t stuck. The officers tried again and again to pull the triggers of their guns, but the weapons would not budge. The Dopant looked to his hand as the key index finger returned to normal.

“Oh now, this is what I’m talking about!” The Key Dopant turned his attention back to the officers, pointing two fingers at the officers as they turned into keys. “Lockdown!”

Suddenly, black and blue chains appeared around both officers, wrapping over their entire bodies in crisscross fashion. The officers let out a stifled gasp before the chains disappeared and both fell to the ground. The Key Dopant looked about, seeing a security door. With his right hand, he pointed his key index finger and inserted it into the door. With a turn, the door unlocked, and he entered, slipping away without a trace.

***______________***

Twilight was nervous as heck as she paced her room. Hawk, Dillo, and even R0V3R were watching with confusion as their creator kept muttering nonsense things. All three mech-animals glanced to Spike, being the only other animal who has been with their creator before they were made; gave him inquisitive looks and hoping he could shed some light on her strange behavior. Spike picked up on the confused looks and said, “It’s fine, well, not really, but she’s okay.”

“Oh maybe this was a bad idea! What am I going to do if Sunset gets angry about my confession! What if I shatter our friendship so much she doesn’t feel comfortable being anywhere near me?! What if –?!”

“TWILIGHT!” Spike shouted, making his owner stop her rambling. “Seriously, relax, you’re just going to go and hang out with Sunset.”

“It’s not just ‘hanging out’ Spike! I’m going on a date with Sunset! Well…she doesn’t exactly know it’s a date, but I do! I plan on telling her how I feel at the end of it all, so I can’t relax!” Twilight explained.

Spike took a moment to understand that word, “date”, it wasn’t a concept he was familiar with, but he had heard it spoken among Twilight’s friend and the other humans. “Wait, are you trying to make Sunset your…mate?”

Twilight’s face went bright red at the meaning of that word, and all the implications that were associated with it. At first, she wanted to yell at Spike for suggesting that she wanted to do…that…with Sunset, not that it wasn’t an unpleasant thought, but it was something that was too early to consider. Plus, she had to remember, despite Spike’s increased intelligence, he still didn’t have a grasp on human courtship rituals. “Yes, and no. I…I’m going on this date-not-date with Sunset to tell her how I feel, and if she’ll want to be with me, as…ahem…girlfriends – or mates if that’s easier to understand.”

Spike rubbed his paw against his chin as he thought about that. “So why don’t you just tell now when she comes, and then go out on that date thing. I mean, when guy dog likes a girl, the girl dog typically –”

“Stop!” Twilight quickly uttered. “I am well aware of the mating rituals for dogs when I researched all about them in order to prove to Mom and Dad that I could take care of you.” And the last thing Twilight needed to start imagining Sunset as a dog and performing said rituals before Twilight. “I just don’t know if she’ll feel the same way, what you’re describing is between a male and female, I’m just afraid Sunset won’t like it that I have romantic feelings for her.”

Spike jumped onto Twilight’s bed and gave his owner a sympathetic look. “Hey, I won’t pretend to understand all these human mating rituals, but even though Sunset is a girl, I don’t see why she wouldn’t want to be your mate. You both like being around each other, she even came over to help take care of you when you were sick! She even saved you from being that…you know.”

Twilight smiled at Spike as she walked over and gave her puppy a hug. Dillo shuffled over to Twilight and nuzzled her leg, R0V3R did the same and even Hawk got in on the fun as he landed on her shoulder, all of them trying to encourage Twilight. “Thank you, Spike, thanks all of you. I feel a little better.”

“Any time. So, um, Twilight, I have a question.”

“Mmm-hmm?”

“How do human females mate? I mean I figured it’s the same concept with human males with human females, but two human females is…how does that work?” Spike asked innocently.

Twilight’s face was blushing red enough for the infrared sensors on the three mech-animals to see.

***______________***

Shining Armor was busy going over some of his reports on his secure laptop, processing that whole Rich Family case was a nightmare and a half. Especially when the judge just so blatantly allowed Unicorn to interfere with a court of law. What was he thinking?! How did he even get that job?! Letting a vigilante present evidence, he should’ve thrown her out for contempt of court! If Spoiled Rich hadn’t blown her top and become that monster, that case would’ve ended in a mistrial, thought Shining Armor.

Then again, he surmised, it was thanks to Unicorn’s interference that a little girl wasn’t about to go to an abusive mother and have a miserable life. Shining wanted to tear his hair out at how this whole thing was conflicting, and then there was Open Skies’ death. The one who gave Spoiled Rich the device that turned her into a flying super monster was dead, and Spoiled Rich is practically committed to insane asylum.

“This is a nightmare,” said Shining Armor.

“What’s a nightmare, Big Brother?”

Shining Armor turned around and saw Twilight standing behind him, and dressed a bit differently. She still had her hair up in a ponytail, but she wearing a blue blouse, with navy blue stripes, her skirt was purple to match the streak in her hair, but had pockets and had one large pink star, with dozens of faded purple stars. “Ah, just that Spoiled Rich thing, and something else. Nice outfit Twily, going somewhere?”

Twilight played with her bangs nervously. “Yeah…I am actually. On a date…”

Shining smiled and turned back to his computer. “That’s nice, Twily.” It took Shining Armor a moment to register is his little sister’s words, and in that moment, Shining Armor had taken a sip of his coffee and upon that realization, spit it out. “Y-You’re going out on a date?! With who?!”

“Uh –!”

*Ding-Dong!*

Shining Armor got up and kept his eye on his little sister the whole time he walked towards the door. If this was the boy who had come to take Twilight out, he was going to have a few words with him. When Shining Armor opened the door, he looked straight ahead but found that the one at the door was an inch shorter than him. When he tilted his head down a bit, he saw Sunset Shimmer standing there.

She too was dressed differently. Sunset wore a leather jacket vest, with gold spikes coming out of the lapels. Beneath that was an orange blouse that exposed much of her shoulders and collar, and had a sun symbol at the center. Wrapped around her waist was a leather belt that was decorated in metal studs. Sunset wore a purple skirt, and boots that were also decorated in metal studs, some of different colors.

“Um…Hi, Shining Armor – er – Officer Armor!” Sunset corrected.

Shining Armor shook his head. “Um, what – No – I mean, you don’t have to call me that when I’m at home, Sunset.”

“Sorry, but is Twilight ready?” Sunset asked.

Shining Armor looked back behind him and called out. “Uh, Twi, Sunset Shimmer’s here.”

Twilight zipped right next to Shining Armor. “Thank you, Shiny, but we should be going! Let’s go Sunset!”

In less than a second, Sunset found herself being flipped around and pushed towards her bike with a confused look on her face the whole time. Shining Armor looked from his sister, to Sunset Shimmer, and back to Twilight. His mind was trying to piece things together, and after a second to think it through, it clicked. “SHE’S GOING ON A DATE WITH SUNSET SHIMMER?!”

Shining Armor quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Cadance’s phone number. After a couple of seconds, Cadance answered the phone. {Hey Shiny, what’s going on?}

“Did you know my sister was going on a date?!”

{Of course I did, why?}

“Wait, how did you know?!”

{Because she called me a couple of days ago to get some advice. Why are you freaking out?}

“Because I think the person she’s dating, is Sunset Shimmer!”

{……Shiny, I’m really going to need you clarify what part of that upsets you. The fact that your little sister is dating a girl? Or that that girl is Sunset Shimmer? Bear in mind one of these has a more severe outcome to depending on your answer.}

Shining Armor scoffed. “Cadance, I’m no homophobe! So yes, it’s because it’s Sunset!”

{Again, why?}

“Look, after that whole thing at Twilight’s school when that monster showed up and was framing that girl. I did some digging on her to find out why the school figured that she would be capable of hurting a teacher. I found some stuff that wasn’t pretty, she was practically ruling that school with an iron fist, and she even got voted ‘Biggest Meanie’ in CHS’ yearbook!”

There was a groan on the other end of the line. {Shining, that was probably a joke.}

“They never had the category before, but so many votes came in because of what she was doing, they made an exception! And you’re okay with someone like that around Twily?!”

{Look, not all of us have the most stellar of pasts. Sunset’s no exception, but from what I’ve seen during the Friendship Games, and even more recently when she and Twilight came to CPA for a little bit, I could tell that that girl was –} Cadance stopped when she heard something akin to a running engine in the background. {Are you driving right now?}

Indeed, in the time during their conversation, Shining Armor had bolted for his car, grabbing his wallet and keys, and sidearm, and quickly jetted after the girls. “Car speakerphone, I’m not holding it and talking on it, that’s dangerous!”

{Shining Francis Armor, you’re seriously following them?!}

“Look, if Sunset doesn’t try anything with Twilight, then I’ll admit that I was wrong and I’ll take you to the most expensive restaurant in the city!” Shining offered.

{If you’re wrong, you’re going to have to put a ring on my finger if you ever want any “stress relief”.}

“Noted.”

***______________***

Sunset didn’t know what to expect today. Rarity had told her to invite Twilight to hang out for the afternoon on Saturday, but only Twilight. Somehow, Sunset felt that this was all a part of Rarity’s “Operation SunLight” plan. Still, she didn’t mind having some one-on-one time with Twilight, they haven’t really hung out just the two of them in a while. Most of their activities were as a group, which wasn’t bad, but sometimes Sunset wanted to have the cute egghead to herself.

Both girls headed to the mall, standard procedure for the girls. However, it felt a little different with just the two of them, more intimate. Sunset glanced around and her eye fell on the swimsuit shop. “Hey, Summer Vacation’s almost here, why don’t we pick out some new swimsuits for when we hit the pool or beach?”

Twilight blushed a little at the idea. “I don’t know…”

“C’mon, it’ll fun,” pleaded Sunset.

With a sigh, Twilight relented and allowed Sunset to whisk her away into the shop. Both girls went through a menagerie of different swimsuits, Sunset had started first with a one piece suit that was in three different colors, the middle was purple, from there a stripe of yellow, and from there it was orange. Twilight found herself struggling to keep her eyes eye level with Sunset’s, noticing how high the suit rode up to expose more of Sunset’s thighs, legs, and stomach, and the low V cut on the suit presented a good amount of cleavage.

“What do you think? Too risqué? Be honest I don’t want to get written up or something,” said Sunset.

Twilight gulped. “W-Well…it’s certainly different from other one pieces I own. Doesn’t it ride a little high, ahem, down there?”

“Eh, not really.” Sunset took stock of Twilight’s reaction, she smiled wickedly. “Say Twi, how does this look from behind?”

Sunset turned around and Twilight felt as if she was about to have one of those cliché anime nosebleeds. “I-I-I think we should put that in a ‘maybe’ pile!”

After that, Sunset put on string bikini, the amount of fabric that covered the important parts looked as if the bare minimum was used in making this one. Twilight felt her heart race, but again she had suggested the “maybe” pile. Sunset felt like that was enough teasing and decided to pick a couple of bikinis that were cute and a bit on the sexy side without having it look like she was practically naked. Sunset had bought the safe ones, and both of the ones that made Twilight blush in secret.

Afterwards it was Twilight’s turn, after putting her friend through that show, she decided to have pity on her and helped Twilight pick a couple of swimsuits that were more on the cute side. One was a bikini that was striped blue and navy blue, and another was a dark violet one piece. Although they weren’t as risqué as Sunset’s purchases, she couldn’t help but blush at the sight of Twilight in those suits.

A little while later, both girls visited the indoor aquarium. Sunset and Twilight walked through a tunnel that was completely see through, sides, bottom, and top. Despite knowing that the glass that the tunnel was made of was the same as deep sea submersibles, and would need something close to a fifty caliber bullet in order to break, it was still a little unnerving to walk into a tunnel surrounded by water, and also housed a mako shark that was swimming around.

“Here, take my hand,” said Sunset.

Twilight looked at Sunset’s hand carefully grasped it. Sunset led Twilight into the tunnel, and after a few seconds of standing in the middle, Twilight was able to cast aside her nervousness in favor of the wonderful blue environment. The different colored coral and large amount of sand that comprised the bottom of the enormous tank they were in was beautiful. The rainbow of fish that swam about and caught the artificial sunlight just right to create a dazzling array of colors, and of course the smaller creatures like the seahorses and crabs that scuttled about. However, Twilight did get a little frightened with the shadow of the shark swam overhead and blotted out the light for a brief couple of seconds.

Sunset felt Twilight move closer to her, to the point where the bespectacled girl had wrapped her arm around Sunset’s for protection. The fiery haired girl’s heart raced from the closeness, but instead she squeezed Twilight’s hand reassuringly until the predator moved out of the light and allowed the light to once again shine down.

After a bit of walking and window shopping, Sunset and Twilight headed to the food court and picked out some food before heading to their table. None of them were the wiser as a certain, blue haired, white complexioned, big brother was eyeing them from across the way. Totally not creepy at all, just a concerned older brother looking out for his younger sister.

The two of them ate in silence for a moment, but wearing goofy smiles as they tried to avoid eye contact. Sunset didn’t know why she couldn’t look Twilight in the eye right now, she was able to back at the stores and aquarium, and all the other times before now. For Twilight, it was the same thing, she had hung out with Sunset plenty of times in a group, when working on Kamen Rider stuff, and that time when Sunset was injured and stayed at her house.

Why is this so different, both girls thought.

“Sorry if this is a little boring, Twi, usually with the others it’s a bit livelier,” said Sunset.

Twilight shook her head vigorously as if to dispel that notion. “No, no, it’s not boring at all! I-I’m having fun, honest! Actually…it’s nice just getting to spend time with you, you know, without any Dopant chaos going on.”

Sunset blushed a little. “Thanks, I feel the same way actually.”

Twilight took a sip of her drink as she steeled herself. C’mon Sparkle, just girl up and tell her! This is possibly the best chance you’ll have at telling her without anyone to interrupt, and she’s less likely to make a scene in public if she’s…weirded out…UGH! No, none of that! Like Rarity said: Confidence!

“Um, Sunset Shimmer,” said Twilight. “There was another reason why I wanted to hang out with you.”

Sunset gave Twilight her undivided attention.

Gods darn it why are her eyes so beautiful?! “Ahem, I know we haven’t been friends that long. But, I felt a stronger connection to you than our friends – not to say I don’t like them, no, no, I love them all! A-And it’s not because you saved me from becoming a monster, it’s part of it, but only a small part! I…I…Oh my…” Twilight turned her gaze downwards at her hands, she was starting to stumble over her words, and panic was starting to build as she thought herself to be looking like a fool in front of her crush.

Just then, Sunset’s hand reached out touched Twilight’s, bringing the learned girl out of her swirling thoughts of self-doubt. “Twilight, it’s okay. Just speak your mind.”

The purple girl took in a deep breath to calm her nerves, and with Sunset’s hand atop hers, she looked her crush in her eyes again. “Sunset, I want you to know that I li–”

“AAAAAAAAHHHH!!!”

Sunset and Twilight whipped their heads towards the screams. In the distance, they saw a Dopant, with a bunch of keys and locks on it, tear through several stores as people began to run for their lives.

“Sunset!” Twilight exclaimed, making Sunset look at her. “Go! Now!”

Sunset looked back, hesitating to leave Twilight alone.

“I’ll be fine, just go and stop that Dopant!” Twilight insisted.

With that reassurance, Sunset ran with the crowd, and spotted an emergency exit. With all the commotion going on, there was no doubt people were heading for emergency exits all around the mall, one more wasn’t going to raise any eyebrows. Sunset materialized the Uni-Driver and placed it at her waist, she quickly took out the Unicorn Memory and pressed the button.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

The electrical field of energy surrounded Sunset Shimmer, and before it could disperse, a bright flash of turquoise light went off and Sunset vanished.

***______________***

“Lockdown!” the Key Dopant shouted.

All five of its fingers on its right hand had turned into keys, and each of them had targeted five people. In no time, black and blue chains appeared on five people, making them seize up and fall to the ground. The Key Dopant did the same with his left, taking down ten people at a time. When the Key Dopant had another ten people in his sights, he stopped when a flash of turquoise light entered his vision, followed by an energy sphere striking his chest and sending the monster to fall on his rear.

From the flash of light, Kamen Rider Unicorn appeared, her aquamarine eyes flashed with power as she stared down the Dopant. But, the longer she looked at this monster, the more she could feel it. This Dopant had a T2 Gaia Memory. Question is, did he stumble onto it, or was it given to him like Gilda?

“Figures you’d show up!”

“Sorry, but you kind of interrupted my day off, and I was here with a friend. So…” Unicorn entered a fighting stance. “I’m just going to make this beat down extra bad for it.”

The Key Dopant got up and charged for Unicorn. The Kamen Rider came in, blocking the Dopant’s right hook with her left arm, but the Dopant came in with the left for an uppercut. Unicorn ducked back just in time for the punch to sail past her helmet; with that brief gap of time, Unicorn jumped back and delivered a roundhouse kick to the Dopant’s exposed left side, making sparks fly from the impact. The Key Dopant stumbled backwards, but nevertheless charged forward again.

He’s attacking wildly, I don’t even think he’s learned how to use all of that Memory’s powers.

Sunset took out the Joker Memory and readied to press the button.

“Lock!” The Key Dopant ordered, pointing his index finger at the Joker Memory.

Black and blue chains appeared around the Gaia Memory, wrapping it up, and then disappearing. When Unicorn pressed the button, no announcement was given. Unicorn looked at the Memory and pressed the button several times, but no sound came out of it. “What the heck just happened?!”

“Heh, I’ve watched your fights on the news! I know you get stronger whenever use one of those stick things, same as mine! I can lock things up, I made it so guns can’t fire at me, and now it looks like I can make the devices not work, too!” The Key Dopant announced with glee.

Unicorn’s brow furrowed, this guy could lock up all her Gaia Memories if she wasn’t careful. “Guess you’ll just have to settle for Unicorn classic!” Unicorn teleported away, and reappeared behind the Dopant, striking him upside the head with a kick.

The Dopant flew into a store display window, tumbling about until he finally got his bearings. The Key Dopant felt some garments stuck to his key horns and took them off, only to squeak in embarrassment at what he took off. Apparently he had been knocked into a female underwear store, and now had several different colors and styles of panties strewn about his body.

“Wow, a pervert monster, that’s creepy,” said Unicorn.

The Key Dopant growled with anger, the locks on his legs began to glow and from his belt two keys flew out and entered into the locks. The locks released and the chains were loosed, a bright glow fell over the legs of the Key Dopant, and in an instant, he rocketed towards Unicorn at super speed. Unicorn barely had time to put up her guard before the Dopant rushed in and tackled her with his shoulder, smashing her into a wall. The Key Dopant backed off and the locks reset onto his legs. The lock on his right arm glowed and another key flew to that lock. When the chains released, the Key Dopant’s right arm glowed.

Unicorn quickly formed a barrier around herself, but when the Key Dopant delivered his haymaker, the resulting impact sent a shockwave that threw Unicorn back a few feet. Unicorn flipped in the air a few times, and skidded to a halt. She quickly charged in to reengage the Key Dopant, first attacking with a straight punch, hitting him the face, followed by three hooks to the right side, and following up with a palm-heel strike to the Key Dopant’s chest. Sparks flew from the final blow, and made the Key Dopant stumble backwards.

This time! Unicorn thought as she pulled out the Metal Memory.

“LOCK!”

The chains formed around the Metal Memory, locking its use from Unicorn.

Two more keys flew into both arms locks, releasing the chains the bound them, and another pair flew down to his legs, releasing his speed. With both speed and power, the Key Dopant sped towards Unicorn and hit her with straight punch to her face, and a double fist strike to her chest. Sparks and a shockwave were produced from the dual attack, sending Unicorn flying until she impacted against the floor, hard. The Key Dopant rushed over to his enemy and stamped on her back, pinning Unicorn to the floor.

The Key Dopant could feel the other Gaia Memories that Unicorn had, with a wicked chuckle, the monster pointed his hand towards Unicorn and immediately all the Memories that hadn’t been locked appeared. Cyclone, Fang, and Shining. “LOCK!”

Black and blue chains appeared around the remaining Gaia Memories, sealed from use. With his right leg still unlocked, the Key Dopant went into a rapid fire stomp, like a piston on overdrive he drove his foot into Unicorn’s back repeatedly. Unicorn cried out in pain as she felt her spine about to break. But just then, the Dopant’s body was hit three times, making the monster stop and look up.

Shining Armor was standing there, gun in hand as he stared down the barrel of his weapon and right at the Dopant. “My name is Officer Armor of the CCPD, get down or I’ll put you down! First and last warning, monster!” Shining continued firing, but the bullets

The Key Dopant chuckled at the display. “He’s joking.” The Key Dopant then looked down at a barely conscious Unicorn. “He’s joking, right?”

Shining Armor smirked, he quickly released the clip that was in his gun, and replaced it with one that had a blue stripe on it. Once reloaded, Shining Armor began to fire, but this time, the bullets that flew out appeared as blue shooting stars. The Key Dopant didn’t even bother to dodge them, drunk on his power, and believing himself invincible. That is, until the shots hit him, and caused sparks to fly off that actually hurt a bit. Shining Armor fired until his clip was empty, quickly reloading and continuing his barrage. The rounds themselves were like mini-warheads that exploded upon impact, generating an explosion that was enough to make the Dopant back off of Unicorn. However, in terms of actual damage, it was better used in a fire team rather than a single gunman. At best, Shining Armor knew he was like a fire ant biting at a ticked off anteater.

The Dopant had had enough of this and pointed his finger at the gun. “Lock!” Blue and black chains appeared around Shining Armor’s gun, sealing the gun from ever firing. With that distraction, the Key Dopant raised all five fingers of his right hand and pointed them at Shining Armor. “I hate cops. Full Lockdown!”

A wave of energy in the form of black and blue chains shot out from the Dopant’s fingers, coiling like snakes as they winded through the air and were to strike Shining Armor. However, at the last second, Shining Armor found himself pushed out of the way of the oncoming attack, and rolled about the floor until he hit a bench and stopped. When he looked back, Shining Armor stared with wide eyes filled with shock and horror.

Twilight was bound in the ethereal chains, her eyes were the size of saucer plates as her pupils were reduced to pinpricks. Her voice was strained, her body locked up as she was suspended in the air. The chains of black and blue wrapped around Twilight’s body, and in a flash disappeared. When they were gone, Twilight fell to the ground, motionless.

“TWILIGHT!!!!” Shining Armor yelled at the top his lungs.

Hearing the name of her friend, Unicorn turned her head to where she heard the name was shouted from. Her eyes grew wider and wider as time slowed down, the beating of her heart became unusually loud as Sunset looked upon the body of her friend, the girl she saved, the girl has helped her as Kamen Rider Unicorn, the girl whom she had a crush on, was now being held in the arms of her big brother, still and motionless.

“You…You…!” Unicorn’s horn began to shine, flaring with like a wildfire as the pain of her injuries was glossed over by fury and power. “HOW DARE YOU!”

An explosion of mana sent the Key Dopant flying against a column. The monster managed to regain his senses in time to see Kamen Rider Unicorn, glaring at him. Her aura was like an inferno, the crystal horn shined even brighter in unison with her compound eyes. The Key Dopant used another key to unlock his right arm, his left arm, and lastly his chest, allowing his full power to come forth. Sunset quickly placed the Unicorn Memory into the right hip port and hit the button.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“Grand Buster…!”

Unicorn coated her right arm in the wildfire of mana she generated and entered into an attack stance. The Key Dopant readied to charge, but at the last second, Unicorn teleported, and reappeared right in front of the Key Dopant. The monster quickly threw a right punch at the same time Unicorn’s attack was thrown. Both punches collided with each other, creating as massive explosion that hurled the Dopant to the other side of the mall. Unicorn dug her right fist into the floor, using it as an anchor to stop herself from flying off the same way. The Kamen Rider used her telekinetic magic to dispel the dust cloud, and growled with anger that the Dopant had gotten away.

“Twily, c’mon open your eyes!”

Twilight, Unicorn thought as she rushed towards the brother cradling his motionless sister. “Let me help!”

“Go away, I’ve already called for an ambulance!” Shining Armor ordered.

“IS she breathing at lease?!” Thankfully, he nodded. “Then seconds count!”

Unicorn placed both hands on Shining Armor’s shoulders, her horn glowed brightly as she focused as much power as she could muster, and in a flash of light, all three of them were gone. Not but ten seconds later, in Canterlot General Hospital, Unicorn appeared in the lobby, with Shining Armor still cradling Twilight. The officer had to blink the spots out of his eyes, feeling as if he just got hit with a camera flash. Unicorn looked to the nurse sitting at the desk.

“She needs medical attention, NOW!” Unicorn ordered before teleporting away a second time.

Unicorn had to rapid teleport a few times before landing right in the middle of Rainbow Dash’s room. Rainbow Dash yelped a girlish yelp as Sunset, in full armor, plopped onto her bed, bouncing Rainbow out her bed and onto the floor.

“Ow, what the hell Sunset?!” Rainbow yelled.

“Twilight…hurt…at hospital…new Dopant,” said Sunset in a tired voice.

“WHAT?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Rainbow, you okay up there, sweetie?” Windy Whistles asked.

Rainbow’s eyes widened when she heard the footsteps of her mother ascending the stairs. CRAP! Rainbow Dash quickly turned Sunset’s heavily armored body until she was on her back. She quickly put her hands on the Unicorn Memory and tried to dislodge it, but the stubborn device didn’t seem to want to leave. After pulling at the Gaia Memory, Rainbow was able to dislodge it, allowing the armor to disappear from sight. Rainbow heard knocking at her door, thinking quickly, she pulled off the Uni-Driver and placed both items under her pillow. Unfortunately, such an act made Rainbow Dash have to reach across Sunset’s unconscious body, practically laying atop her as she hid the items.

Just then, Windy Whistles opened the door, and spotted her daughter. Laying on top of Sunset Shimmer, in a tank top, with short-shorts on. Rainbow Dash froze, her eyes wide and her face blush red at how this may look to her mother. “Um…Mom…I-I can explain!”

Windy looked to her daughter and to Sunset who was now aware of what was going on. “Oh Dashie, you know perfectly well that you don’t have to hide something like this from us. You’re father and I have made it clear that we support you, whether you like a boy or another girl. But, um, please at least put a sock on the door handle, that’s how you knew there was, ahem, things going on in that room and people wanted privacy back when I was in college. You’re lucky that your father isn’t home right now – oh boy – that would’ve been more awkward for you.”

“Mooooom!” Rainbow Dash groaned.

“Oh, right, sorry! You probably want to, yeah.” Windy reached across to the dresser on her left, and pulled out one of Rainbow’s socks and placed on the doorknob. She then gave a thumbs up and closed the door.

Rainbow Dash slapped her forehead, her face feeling like it was on fire right now.

“Rainbow Dash.” The girl in question looked down at Sunset. “As much as I like being straddled by you in your veg out clothes…COULD YOU PLEASE GET OFF OF ME?!”

K: Key to her Heart / For the one she cares for

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After filling in Rainbow Dash on what had happened at the mall, Sunset and Rainbow were able to send an emergency call out to their friends, and after clearing up the misunderstanding, Windy gave both girls a lift to the hospital. Once there, they waited in the lobby for the girls to arrive, and in the meantime they were given a front row seat to the plethora of people who were brought in on stretchers in the same condition as what Sunset saw Twilight in. The fiery haired girl sat in the chair next to Rainbow, her foot tapping repeatedly and impatiently as every part of her body and mind screamed at her to run to Twilight and see her.

If it wasn’t for Rainbow and Windy, she’d have stormed away by now to look for her. Thankfully, the rest of the girls arrived and Windy Whistles went to ask the receptionist where Twilight Sparkle was, Sunset growled when she heard that old cliché about “Only family members at this time” line that she gave.

Buck that! Sunset thought as she readied to give the receptionist her two bits.

As if by divine intervention, Twilight Velvet and Night Light came rushing into the lobby. They quickly spotted Twilight’s friends and practically sprinted to them. “Sunset Shimmer? How’s Twilight, have you seen her?!” Velvet asked.

“They won’t let us in, family only,” said Sunset with a hint of venom.

Night strode up to the desk and asked, “Where is my daughter, Twilight Sparkle?! Her brother said she was here!”

“Yes sir, third floor, room 302,” said the receptionist.

Velvet and Night were about to move when they saw the group hadn’t budged from their spot. Night Light looked to them and said, “As far as I’m concerned, you all are family, and I think our little Twily would like to have you all with her.”

With smiles upon their faces, the group rode the elevator up to the third floor and were pointed to the ICU. Several people were brought in, the victims of the Key Dopant. They were brought to the room where Twilight was, but found Shining Armor sitting in a chair outside the room, hunched over, his hands held together in a prayer position as he pressed his forehead to them.

“Shiny!” Velvet cried.

Shining Armor raised his head and shot to his feet as he saw his parents and Twilight’s friends approach. Velvet hugged her eldest child fiercely, and looking him up and down to see if there were any injuries to him.

“I’m fine Mom, but…”

“How’s your sister?” Night Light asked.

“They’re running some tests on her right now, they asked me to step out,” said Shining Armor. It was then that his gaze fell on Sunset Shimmer and his eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?”

Sunset Shimmer could feel the anger in his words and it made her take a cautious step back. “Me? Why wouldn’t I be here?”

“Because you abandoned her, that’s why!” Shining Armor barked. “You two left the house to go to the mall, I had a bad feeling about that and followed you two!”

“Shining Francis Armor!” Velvet exclaimed, aghast at her son’s actions.

“I’m glad I did though, when the attack happened, you just up and left Twilight! You ran away and didn’t even take her with you! Too busy saving your own skin!”

Sunset balled up her fists and glared at Shining Armor. “That’s not why I ran!”

Shining Armor took a step forward. “Really? Then tell me, what did you have to do that was so damn important that you left your ‘friend’ alone?! If I hadn’t been there –!”

Sunset took another step forward, practically in Shining Armor’s face now. Despite their height difference, Sunset showed that she didn’t care, it wasn’t height, but the aura of intimidation. “Yeah, if you hadn’t been, Twilight would be fine!”

“What was that?!”

“You heard me, Francis, I heard some cop tried to go one-on-one with that monster, shooting at it. If you had just focused on getting her out of there instead of acting like a dumb,” Sunset poked Shining Armor in the chest, “macho,” and again, “MAN OF THE LAW! Twilight would be at home talking about how close a call that was! But noooo, you just had to prove that you could take on a monster, when you knew damn well that Unicorn or Nasca would be by to stop that thing!”

Shining Armor gritted his teeth as he looked down at Sunset. “You realize you just technically assaulted an officer, right?”

“ENOUGH!” Windy shouted. “Look at you two, you’re seriously fighting over who’s at fault here?!” Windy looked to Sunset, “Your friend,” and then to Shining Armor, “your sister, is in the other room, she doesn’t need this kind of drama going on, so please, both you, cool down!”

Sunset and Shining felt their rage simmer down as Windy’s words took root. They stepped away from each other, with Shining Armor returning to his seat and giving a long sigh. Sunset backed off as well, with Fluttershy rubbing Sunset’s back soothingly to calm her down. After a couple of minutes of silence, the doctor emerged from Twilight’s room.

“Sir, how is she?” Night Light asked.

“I wish I had a definitive answer, but right now I don’t know. Her brain activity shows as if she’s in a coma-like state, but I’m more afraid of what will happen in a few hours,” he said.

“What exactly do you mean, what will happen to my daughter in a few hours?” Velvet asked.

The doctor looked like he didn’t want to worry them anymore than they already were. But as a medical professional, he had a duty to present them with the best and worst case scenarios. “She isn’t the first one, just a couple of days ago we had two cops from CCPD come with similar symptoms. They’ve been in the same state ever since, but slowly, some of their functions are shutting down. It is slow, and we’ve been doing all we can to keep them from slipping, if they stay in that state any longer they might…”

Velvet looked like the strength in her legs was going to go out, but thankfully Night Light and Shining Armor were able to keep her standing. “Can we go see her?” Shining asked.

“Surely, but only three at a time, I don’t want to overwhelm her with too much stimuli all at once.”

Twilight’s family went in first, leaving the others outside. A loud thumb caught the attention of the girls, when they looked towards the noise, they saw Sunset had punched a wall hard enough that there were small cracks on the surface, an action that caused her knuckles to bleed. Fluttershy gasped and quickly grabbed some gauze that were on a nearby table and rushed to her friend. But when she neared Sunset she snapped her arm away from Fluttershy.

“I don’t need that, this’ll heal in a few seconds! You know that now!” Sunset snapped. Fluttershy backed away, seeing the embers of anger in her friend’s eyes. Sunset realized who she had gotten angry at and immediately regretted it. “I-I’m sorry, Shy, I didn’t mean to snap at you…”

Fluttershy stepped forward again and placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders. “It’s alright, Sunny, I know you’re angry about what happened to Twilight, but we’ll find a way to save her.”

Windy tapped her daughter’s shoulder and motioned with her head to an empty room. When both were in the room, Windy asked, “Has Unicorn contacted you?”

Rainbow Dash had to stop herself from glancing over her shoulder, she may have told her parents she was Nasca, but she wasn’t about to spill Sunset’s identity unless absolutely necessary. “Yeah, she told about the monster, she’s the one who got Twilight and her brother here to the hospital.”

“Thank gods for her doing that. Do you…do you need to go and see her? I mean, I can tell you want to catch the person who did this to your friend?” Windy asked.

Rainbow wanted nothing more than to chase down and beat the tar out of the guy who did that to Twilight. But Rainbow knew better, more than likely the Dopant was lying low after a fight like that, if he was smart. “No, she told to be on standby, she got roughed up a bit from the battle and needs to rest up. For now, I’ll just stick around here.”

Windy breathed a sigh of relief. “Rainbow Dash, just know that we meant what we said about being proud and supporting you as being a Kamen Rider, but just know that that doesn’t mean we still don’t worry about you. It’s still a little hard to just let you go out and fight monsters that could…”

Rainbow moved forward and gave her mother a hug, she understood. After what happened with Twilight, the roles could easily be reversed, she could be in the hospital bed, and bawling her eyes out like Mrs. Velvet was no doubt doing right now.

***______________***

By the next morning, Sunset and Rainbow hit the ground running. Since Twilight was out, they could not access the Infinite Library, and therefore had no info on the Dopant they were fighting. But just as bad, Twilight’s technical expertise would make it harder for them to track down this Dopant. Thankfully, they had another kind of help. Sunset put in a call to Namby Pamby, who jumped at the chance to assist with a case like this. And so the girls found themselves back that the scene of the crime, with Sunset glaring at the battle ruined portion of the mall, replaying the battle over and over again, trying to figure out how she could’ve ended it quicker.

“There’s no point in beating yourself up, Sunset,” said Rainbow Dash. “Careful as you were, that Dopant was trickier than you expected.”

“Yeah,” said Sunset with disdain.

“Still can’t use your other Memories?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, my Unicorn Memory didn’t get hit, but Cyclone, Joker, Metal, Fang, and even the Shining Memory are locked up. I haven’t been able to activate them. I’ll just have to rely on the Unicorn Memory, and the mech-animals for assistance when we fight again.”

“Well, I still have Accel, but that’s not all the Gaia Memories, there’s still one more,” said Rainbow.

Sunset’s brow furrowed, she knew which Memory Rainbow Dash spoke of. The Queen Memory, the very one she saved Sunny Flare from some months ago. The one Gaia Memory that she hadn’t used since obtaining it. “No, I won’t go back to that!”

“Back to what?”

Rainbow and Sunset turned around and saw Namby walking up towards them.

“Nothing, thanks for coming,” said Sunset.

“I’m sorry about Twilight, we’ll figure out who the Dopant is and save everybody who he hurt,” said Namby with a determination.

All three headed off to the taped off area, luckily the majority of the security cameras were busted from the fighting, so no one would be able to point out that they were here. Sunset took Namby to the place where the Dopant started his rampage. Namby crouched down as she stared at the spot, and then took in the area a bit more.

“This isn’t where it started, rather, this is the middle,” said Namby.

“Come again?” Sunset asked.

“That’s what she – OOMP!” Rainbow was about to a rather bad joke, and sensing this, Sunset quickly elbowed her friend in the gut. “Not cool.”

Namby waved her hands to emphasis the area. “Look at this place, it’s trashed from here to the food court, but back here,” Namby pointed to the other end, “there’s no damage at all. I think something led up to this attack, and it starts down there.”

Sunset and Rainbow followed Namby as they crossed the police tape to the other end of the mall. Remarkably, nothing was damaged on this side, the Dopant focused is rampage on the other side were Twilight and Sunset were. As the got further away from the actual crime scene, the girls took stock of the security cameras in this area.

“Why would you think that?” Rainbow asked.

“There’s always a story behind everything, always a ‘why’. We just need to figure out the ‘why’ and then we’ll figure out the ‘who’,” said Namby as she opened her ExPad. “Read this.”

Sunset looked at the articles she brought up on the pad. “Robbery at local jewelry store, a string of robberies? Namby, where are you going with this?”

“You said the monster had locks and keys around it. The first article happened about two days ago, someone crudely broke into a story by smashing his way in through the window, and taking some diamonds. Soon after that, there more robberies for gemstones, money, and expensive designer clothing. Funny thing is, the thief got in without any alarms going off, as if he had key do the place.”

Rainbow put her hands as if to stop this train. “Whoa, whoa, so you’re saying that this Dopant is some two-bit thief?!”

Namby put up her right index finger. “It makes more sense. Think about it, why would the, uh, ‘Dopant’, who has been stealthily stealing expensive things, all of a sudden just rampage in the middle of a mall where everyone could see him and had the big risk of his face being seen?”

“Hold on, jewels, gems, money, and clothes…If he was just stealing this stuff for himself, the jewels, gems, and money would make since. You could sell the first two for more of the third, the clothes are the oddball here,” said Sunset as the gears in her head began to turn.

“So then he’s stealing this stuff for someone other than himself!” Rainbow reasoned.

“Exactly,” Namby confirmed. “I’m also willing to bet that something didn’t go right here today, the buyer probably wanted more or something that caused the Dopant to become emotionally unstable, and drunk on the power of his device, transformed and vented his frustrations on everyone around him.”

The notion that Twilight was in the hospital because someone was throwing a hissy fit only infuriated the former unicorn mare even more. “I’m going to wring this person’s neck when I find ‘em.”

“It’s a good theory, mind you, that’s all it is for now, but it’s the only one I can figure out that makes any kind of sense in this scenario. So, to find the Dopant, we have to find the buyer of the goods,” said Namby.

“Damn, I think I’m starting to get a on crush you Namby,” said Rainbow as she flashed the older woman a flirty smile.

“Yeah, I don’t want to go to jail for that. I’ll go to jail to protect a source, or to stand up for what I believe in. Dating jailbait, no ma’am!” Namby stated as she formed an X with her arms.

“Keep it in your pants, Dash! This isn’t the time to joke around! We’re on a deadline here, emphasis on DEAD! Which is what will happen to Twilight if you keeping wise cracking!” Sunset shouted.

“Hey, hey, calm down, I am taking this seriously! Look, we have a good idea of what to do, now we just need to figure out who the Dopant was seeing here when the attack happened,” said Rainbow.

Easier said than done, there were many people at the mall. The Dopant could have spoken to any number of them, a fact that Sunset understood. Twilight…just hang on.

***______________***

Sunny Flare was with Rarity that Sunday, the new couple were currently in Canterlot City park when Rarity informed her girlfriend of what happened to Twilight. Upon hearing this news, Sunny had a worried look on her face.

“Oh my gosh, Rarity, why didn’t you tell me?! I could’ve called the girls, they’d want to see her!” Sunny Flare stated.

Rarity placed her hands over Sunny’s to keep her from outright bolting to the hospital. “Love, unfortunately, they’re only allowing family at this time. The only reason we could see her at all was because Mr. Light and Mrs. Velvet were there to allow us in. If you were to go now they would most likely turn you away.”

Sunny Flare slumped into her girlfriend, resting her head against Rarity’s shoulder. “I can’t believe that happened her…gods, when I think back to what I did when I had one those devices, when I turned into the Queen…I could’ve done something like…”

“No, because even at your worst, you were still you inside, and that’s the only reason why you were still able to stay you in the end. Don’t ever forget that.” Rarity punctuated her point by drawing Sunny Flare in and giving her a light kiss onto her lips. “Because I won’t let you.”

“What did I do to have be you with me?” Sunny Flare asked.

“Oh, had a few of your fellow Crystal Preppers take me hostage, and then confessed your feelings.” Rarity recounted.

“Oh…yeah,” said Sunny Flare blushing. “Not exactly the best romantic start, was it…?”

“I told you to leave me alone!”

Rarity and Sunny turned their heads towards the sound, spotting a girl with a light-gray complexion, crimson red hair, and matching colored eyes. She wore a pewter blouse and a black pencil skirt, and was currently having a bit of a tiff with a young man, possibly her boyfriend. He was a wearing a dark green hoody and khaki pants, his hair was dark purple hair, with a light purple skin tone, and sea-green eyes.

“Cayenne, please just listen to me! I can give you everything!” he stated.

“After what you did?! I don’t want that, I never asked for those, I just…what made you think that you needed to steal for me, Sly?!” Cayenne asked.

Sunny Flare looked uneasy, “Um, Rarity, maybe we should call the police, it looks like it might get bad.” Sunny noticed something in the boy’s right hand, something blue, something that had the letter K on it. Sunny Flare’s eyes went wide and she began to shake.

“Sunny, Love, you’re shaking like a leaf, I’ll call the police right now –!”

“No, he…he has one of those devices like I did!” Sunny uttered in a harsh whisper.

Rarity’s eyes fell on the boy’s right hand, and indeed there was a Gaia Memory clutched in his hand, the K letter just barely visible. He’s the Key Dopant, he’s the one who hurt Twilight and all those people! I have to call Sunset and Rainbow Dash, oh dear, that woman, if this goes on any longer he might change!

“Sunny Flare, I see it too.” Rarity dug into her purse and gave Sunny her cellphone. “Take this, pretend that you’re posting something on MyStable, but I want you to text Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash what’s happening.”

Sunny took her girlfriend’s cellphone. “R-Rarity, I don’t think that’s safe!”

“It won’t be if I don’t diffuse this situation somehow, please, my love, just send the message.”

Rarity walked over towards Cayenne and Sly, the fashsionista steeled her nerves the best she could and called upon the actress within. “Cayenne, Darling!”

Sly and Cayenne looked towards Rarity, with the former putting his right hand into his pocket. “Who the heck are–?”

“Oh, so this is the Sly you told me about, my he’s handsome.” Rarity held out her right hand. “My name’s Charity, I’m Cayenne’s younger cousin. Twice, removed.” Rarity glanced up to the young woman. “Cayenne, I thought we had agreed to have some family spa time, so I could introduce you to my girlfriend. Remember?”

Cayenne looked to the teenage girl next to her, and then to Sly. It took her but a moment to understand what she was playing at. “Oh, Charity, I’m sorry I…ahem, was preoccupied and it slipped my mind.” Cayenne turned to Sly. “Um, Sly, let’s talk later, okay?”

Whatever fury was building in Sly seemed to quell enough for him to think rationally. “Okay, later then.”

Sly walked off, his right hand still in his pocket and no doubt clutching at the Key Memory. Rarity led Cayenne over to where Sunny Flare was and all three girls headed towards the parking lot. Once they were sure that Sly was not following, Cayenne released a sigh of relief.

“Thank you, I was in a tight spot there. So, what’s your real name?” Cayenne asked.

“Rarity, and it’s no trouble at all. However, I must ask, is he your boyfriend?” Rarity asked.

The young woman sighed heavily. “I was hoping he would ask me, but…It’s gotten complicated – and thanks for pulling me out of that but I need to go.”

Cayenne walked away and towards her car, leaving Rarity and Sunny dismayed at the reaction. “Sunny, Dear, did you send the message?”

“I did, Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer said that would look into it. Rarity, you’re not going to do something dangerous again, are you?” Sunny asked.

Rarity wrapped arm around Sunny’s slender waist and placed the other on her shoulder. “Sunny, I hate to say this, but considering my friends and I’s connection to magic, some danger is expected now and again. But…this time around, it’s not me you should be worried for.”

***______________***

In the time that the message was received, Sunset had forwarded the info over to Namby who began digging into the couple Cayenne and Sly. It was Monday now, officially Summer Vacation, and Twilight was still in her comatose state. Sunset wanted so badly to go up to the room where she was, to hold her hand and tell her that she’d make the Dopant pay for what it did. But with the special circumstances of her condition, along with the other people affected, the hospital was only allowing family in.

Sunset just hung out in the lobby of the emergency room, it was as close to Twilight as she was going to get. She would spot Mrs. Velvet and Mr. Night Light walking by and they would come over to give the former bad girl a hug and give her an update Twilight’s status.

“She’s not doing too well, Sunset. They had to put her on oxygen because her breathing is slowing and…and…she’s not getting enough just by breathing.”

Velvet’s words echoed in Sunset’s mind, Twilight was getting worse, and if they didn’t defeat the Dopant soon, all the Dopant’s victims would die. Sunset would see Shining Armor coming in, wearing his uniform as he went up, stayed for about half an hour, and then left, and each time he would glare at Sunset. A glare that Sunset was happy to shoot back at him.

Like he has any right to be angry at me! If it wasn’t for him trying to shoot that Dopant, Twilight would’ve been outside! Where was that brotherly instinct then?! His first priority should’ve been to take her outside, his own family! Sunset ranted in her mind.

Her fury died out a few seconds later as she turned some of that guilt on herself. Not like I’m any better…I should have retreated when he locked up my first Memory and got Twilight and that idiot out of there. But I pushed on…He caught me off guard, it won’t happen the second time.

Even as Sunset thought that, she knew her options were limited. The mech-animals weren’t a good choice, the Key Dopant could lock them up like he did Shining Armor’s gun. There were only two choices, either take down the Dopant with a coordinated attack with Nasca…or…resort to the Queen Memory.

Sunset took out her cellphone and texted Namby. [Have you managed to find out where this guy is living?]

A couple of seconds later, Namby replied. [I’m getting close, but, Sunset, what are you going to do?]

[What else? I’m going to blitz him in his own home and take the Memory from him.]

[You realize you’ll be wanted for assault and breaking and entering afterwards right? Sunset, if you take the Memory while he’s still like that, the police won’t be able to do anything. It’ll be his word against yours!]

[Last I checked, a judge in a court of law seemed to agree my words had weight.]

[You kind of got lucky on that one, with the evidence you had, and the fact that Spoiled Milk transformed in the middle of the courtroom. Right now, we need to hang on. When I find out more, I’ll pass it along to CCPD as an anonymous tip, and they’ll go after him. If he changes, then you’ll be there to take him down.]

Sunset growled as she wrote the next message. [Twilight doesn’t have time for this! Her breathing’s getting shallow, I don’t want to think what another day would mean for her!]

The fiery haired girl sat up and put her phone in her jean pocket. I need some air.

Sunset walked out of the lobby and stood at the sidewalk. It was now three in the afternoon, and the sun had made a considerable journey across the sky since the last time Sunset looked outside. As she stood there, thinking about what needed to be done, Sunset spotted a girl standing outside with her. The young woman had crimson red hair, and matching eyes, and was staring at the hospital with a look that echoed both sadness and guilt.

“Wait a minute…” Sunset moved closer to the woman. “Cayenne?”

Cayenne was snapped out of her trance and turned her gaze to Sunset. “Um, y-yes that’s my name. Do I know you?”

“No, but you met a friend of mine yesterday, she helped you in the park.”

Cayenne searched her memory and remembered the teenage girl and her girlfriend. “Oh yeah, Rarity and Sunny Flare. Wow, small city huh?”

“Yeah…” Sunset muttered. “Is there someone you wanted to see here?”

“Not exactly…” Cayenne rubbed her arm. “Did you ever get into a situation, where you know what the right thing to do is, but you’re afraid of what will happen to the person you’re trying to help?”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “Depends, is the person the problem?”

“Yeah…they’re doing something bad, all because of some stupid idea in their head, and…you just don’t know what to do…”

Sunset turned to face Cayenne and stared her down. “This person you’re talking about, he’s the reason why the people in there are still comatose.” Cayenne flinched. “He’s the reason my friend is slowly dying, and you’re just going to stand there and debate whether or not you should turn him in?!”

Cayenne looked at Sunset with shock. “H-How do you know he’s –?!”

“Listen to me!” Sunset interrupted as she stalked towards Cayenne. “If you know something, you need to spill it, because I will not watch my friend die! Can you live with yourself if that happened?! Tens of people, and maybe more, are going to die because you can’t muster up the courage?!”

Sunset had walked all the way until she was right in Cayenne’s face, she wanted her to see the fury in her eyes, and even the tears. Cayenne lowered her gaze as she sniffled. “I never wanted any of this…Sly…he’s always had a crush on me, even when we were in high school. When we got into college I thought maybe he would feel more open to asking me out, but…he somehow got into his mind that he wasn’t good enough for me…”

“What?” Sunset asked.

“I hung out with a lot of – what you’d call – the ‘cool crowd’. But I always hung out with him, I never showed that I was above him or anyone! Yet, even after leaving high school, he thinks I’m too good for him, and that he needs to give me everything I deserve! I heard about the robberies, but it wasn’t until later when we were at the mall did he tell me what he had done, and how he did it! I never expected he’d do that to all those people…”

Cayenne felt her legs go numb as she slowly fell to her knees, crying as she accounted the story of how the events of two days ago went down, leading to now. Sunset understood now, Sly was just trying to impress the girl he liked, but the Gaia Memory was skewing his perception, not unlike Sunny Flare and Gilda. As much as Sunset wanted to yell at this woman that it was all her fault, she crouched down and patted her on the back gently.

“I get it, you never wanted any of this. But right now, you have a choice. You can either tell the police where he is now or you can just wallow in guilt and silence, and have the deaths of all those people on your head for the rest of your life.” Sunset placed a hand under Cayenne’s chin to tilt her head up to look Sunset in the eyes. “Where is he, Cayenne?”

With a sniffle, Cayenne said, “He’s…He lives on 862 Palomino Boulevard, apartment 5A.”

“Thanks, now make the call.”

While Cayenne did that, Sunset took out her phone with her right hand and prepared to text message the girls, but paused. No, this was a fight for her alone. Sunset helped Cayenne into the ER and left on her bike, she sped through the city as the sun began to fall and her namesake was overtaking the sky. Sunset had made it all the way to Twilight’s house, she ran up to the door and gently knocked on the door.

After a minute, Twilight Velvet answered the door, her eyes puffy from crying. “Oh, Sunset, I thought you were still at the hospital. I was going to call you to see if you wanted something to eat since we were heading up there.”

“It’s alright, Mrs. Velvet, I need to head home. I’m no good to anyone if I keel over from exhaustion. Um…do you mind…do you mind if I stay with you guys for a bit? I really don’t want to be alone at my place…” Sunset asked. It wasn’t a total lie, being alone with her thoughts and worrying about Twilight wasn’t helping her sleep.

“Of course, dear, you’re always welcome in this house. We’re going to go ahead and head to the hospital, please make yourself at home. There’s some leftovers in the fridge.”

Sunset entered the cozy abode, and saw Night Light getting ready himself. After Velvet went and talked to him, the older man nodded in agreement with his wife. “We’ll be back later, and if Shining Armor comes home and gives you a hard time, just call us, we’ll set him straight.”

“Thank you, sir,” said Sunset.

Once both adults had left the house, and their car already on the road. Sunset made her way to Twilight’s bed room. Her scent was abundant, the smell of lavender. On the bed, Spike was sleeping on Twilight’s bed, curled up as he made whimpering noises. Hawk, Dillo, and R0V3R perked up upon seeing Sunset, movement which alerted Spike to Sunset’s presence.

“Twilight?” Spike asked.

“Sorry…just me,” said Sunset.

“Oh…” Spike turned around and looked up at Sunset. “How is she?”

Sunset tensed up, her first thought was not good, but then again, that wouldn’t be an issue for long. “She’s hanging in there.”

“I wish I could go see her.”

Sunset sat next to Spike and petted him on the head. “I feel the same way, they won’t let you in because you’re a dog, and I can’t go in because I’m not family.”

“That’s some messed up rules,” Spike commented.

“Agreed. Spike, I need your help. Do you remember the pink Gaia Memory that I gave Twilight for safe keeping?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, I do, why?”

“I need it.”

Spike looked at Sunset quizzically. Twilight had told him that she was given the Memory because Sunset didn’t want to be tempted into using it, and she also said that the only time she’d ever consider giving it back was if there was no other choice. “Are going to fight the monster that did that to her?”

“Yeah.”

“And there’s no other option.”

“No.”

Spike scratched the back of his head before sighing and jumping off Twilight’s bed. He walked over to his doggy bed and pulled at a hidden pouch underneath the bedding. Spike locked his teeth in on something and when turned around, in his jaws was the Queen Memory. Sunset walked up and sat on her knees as she carefully took the Queen Memory into her hands.

“Please, save Twilight,” Spike begged.

“Don’t worry, I will.”

***______________***

Shining Armor and his SCU Combat Team were currently in a high-speed chase. When they went to confront Sly, thanks to an anonymous tip, the thief bailed as soon he heard their sirens. Some cars stayed back to secure his apartment while the rest pursued. Eventually, they cornered him in the industrial district, zero civilians, and plenty of combat space. Shining Armor loaded up with the new pulse rifles that fired the special blue rounds, hand guns, and the rifle that managed to put one monster on its rear once before.

Spearhead was helping the operation, but when he saw his friend coming out looking like the Terminator he had to say something. “Whoa, whoa, dude, I know we’re after a monster, but that’s a lot of hardware!”

“I’m going to beat that thing and save my sister!” Shining Armor stated.

“Yeah, no, you’re not going out there like this! I can see it your eyes, bro, you’re not a cop right now, you’re a brother looking for payback,” said Spearhead.

“Don’t be ridiculous! I’m not –!”

Suddenly, the wall of the warehouse off to their right exploded in a shower of concrete and rebar that had the officers ducking behind their cars to avoid getting hit. The dust cloud that accompanied the explosion shrouded the area and made it hard for them to see. However, not for a certain someone. One officer after another began to fall to the ground as the chains of the Key Dopant wrapped around them, locking them up just like those in the hospital.

Shining grabbed Spearhead and dragged him down the ground to avoid getting hit, both men blinked as the dust began to irritate their eyes, but despite the stinging in his eyes, Shining Armor was able to make out a silhouette in the dust, a being that he recognized all too well. Without hesitation, Shining Armor took up the pulse rifle and fired a volley at the Dopant. The results were immediate as the mini-warheads exploded against their target, cutting through the dust cloud and revealing the Key Dopant.

“Spearhead, get the hell out of here, call for backup and medical!” Shining Armor ordered. “C’mon, I’m the one you’re fighting now!”

Shining Armor stood up and continued to fire as he ran in the opposite direction of his fellow officers. The Key Dopant obliged and pursued Shining Armor, he tried to aim his key fingers at the man, but Shining Armor wasn’t stupid, he remembered that trick, which was why whenever he saw the Dopant’s hands raise he quickly blasted them to make sure they would stay down.

This infuriated the Key Dopant, but he was not about to let one cop beat him. Concentrating, he made two keys fly from his belt and fly towards the locks on his legs. Shining Armor saw this, slung his pulse rifle, and took out the power rifle he had on his back. Looking above, he planted his feet and fired one shot up into the side of the dilapidated building. The shot impacted against its side, just as the keys unlocked the chains around his legs, and released his speed.

At the same time, when the beam shot hit, it exploded and sent a shower of mortar and concrete fall to the ground. By the time the Dopant reached Shining Armor’s position, he was pelted with chunks of debris in a landslide. Shining Armor threw his two rifles ahead of him, and quickly rolled out of the way. Quickly recovering, Shining Armor got on one knee and pulled out two sidearms, pointing both guns at where the Key Dopant had been buried.

Shining Armor panted hard, but his adrenaline was pumping so hard that fatigue and pain were barely even an afterthought. “You’ll fix what you did to Twily, those innocent people, and my friends! You messed with the wrong cop’s family, Sly!”

Suddenly, the debris burst apart, making Shining Armor have to duck down to avoid getting hit. The Key Dopant’s arms were unlocked, allowing him to use his boosted strength to bust free from the trap. “I don’t care about some stupid cop’s family, all I want is for her to notice me! To understand all I want is for her to see me as more than a friend! And for that, I’ll give her everything! No one will stand in the way of that! LOCK!”

The Key Dopant released multiple blasts from his key fingers, hitting each one of Shining Armor’s weapons and locking them up. Shining realized this and threw them away as he stared down the Dopant with a defiant look in his eyes. “If you think you’re man enough, then bring it!”

Before the Dopant could attack, several spheres of turquoise light rained down on the Dopant’s position, knocking him back, two more spheres fired off and struck him in the face, making the Dopant spin in the air before landing on his back with a hard thud. A flash of turquoise light went off, and from it appeared Kamen Rider Unicorn.

Shining Armor shook his head in disbelief at what he saw, but quickly turned his anger on the vigilante. “This is police business!”

Unicorn glanced over her shoulder, her horn and compound eye glowing with such intense power that it made even Shining Armor take a step back. “The longer this goes on, the less time your sister and those people have! For them, and your cop brothers-in-arms, either you let me do this, or they die! Do you understand?!”

Shining Armor clenched his fists and was prepared to argue with Unicorn, but then the image of Twilight with an oxygen mask stopped any words from exiting his mouth. The tension in his fists released and looked away from Unicorn. Sunset took that as a sign that she understood and set her sights on the Key Dopant. The Key Dopant was currently picking himself up as he rubbed his face, the stinging sensation of the spheres hurt his eyes, but eventually he was able to see.

“I’m going to make you regret–!” Unicorn fired another shot straight for his face, which hit him in eyes and made him howl with pain. “STOP DOING THAT!”

This is for you, Twilight! Sunset took out the pink Gaia Memory and pressed the button.

< QUEEN! >

{< QUEEN! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Pink light took the form of a Q behind Unicorn, and in no time that same light wrapped around her, empowering the heroine. When the light faded, a new form of Unicorn had emerged. Her shoulder pink pauldrons were rounded, with a golden band running around it. Her forearms were covered in pink armor, there was a slight curve to the armor like a shark’s fin, but on the fin was the embroidery of a phoenix with a ruby gemstone for an eye.

On Unicorn’s legs there was pink armor which covered from the knee cap down, the armor had the colorings of gold wings with cascading feathers. The armor ran up the outside of her thigh armor, connecting to a ring that was set just a bit above where the Driver rested. From this ring a long train flowed down all the way to just hovering off the ground. On this train was a picture of a phoenix with golden flames on it, the material itself looked as if it were spun from the finest silk.

The chest armor was part pink and turquoise, with the center tracing out the shape of a heart. Her helmet had changed as well, now colored completely pink, with sapphire blue compound eyes. Around her head was a golden crown, with two spikes poking up from the sides, and two from the back. The crown connected with the horn metal casing, and curved it upwards to match the height of the other spikes.

“Unicorn: Empress!”

The Key Dopant rose to his feet and beheld the newly transformed Unicorn, he cursed under his breath at how he hadn’t been able to stop her, but it wasn’t of any matter. Defeating Unicorn would prove to the one he loved that he was great, that he was worth her love. But before he could move, Unicorn thrust out her right hand and created a barrier around herself, made from pink and turquoise light. Unicorn then pressed the button on her left hip port.

\ PAWNS! /

Suddenly, at least eight, humanoid, pink light constructs appeared before Unicorn. Each one was faceless, but they were all lightly armored, brandishing shields and swords.

“Advance and attack!” Unicorn ordered.

All eight of the Pawns charged forward, Pawn One came in with a horizontal slash, hitting the Key Dopant in the abdomen, and from there Pawn Two and Three brought down their swords, hitting him on both shoulders and then raking back their blades to cause a series of sparks to fly off as the Dopant backed away. But in that retreat, Pawns Four and Five dashed forward for a double shield bash into the Dopant’s back, sending him straight to the ground.

Pawns Six, Seven, and Eight jumped into the air, and dove back down, blades first, to deliver a decisive blow. But the Key Dopant quickly rolled out of the way as all three hit the ground and shattered upon impact, the Key Dopant got up and unlocked his arms and charged the Pawns. Five and Four brought up their shields to block, but they weren’t any match for the power of Sly’s blows as he shattered them both in one hit.

Pawns Three, Two, and One began slashing with their swords, but the Key Dopant caught Two and Three by the throat, and drove his right foot forward into One, shattering him to pieces. The Key Dopant clenched his fists around the constructs’ throats and shattered them as well.

“Not so tough,” said Sly.

“Spoken like someone who’s never played chess. The pawns are always the first to go, but they’re also good for setting up for win,” said Unicorn as she pressed the button twice.

\\ KNIGHTS! //

Two constructs formed before Unicorn, both wearing more elegantly designed armor, and brandishing claymore swords, and stood roughly six feet tall. Unicorn then struck the side button three times.

\\\ BISHOPS ///

Two female constructs appeared on either side of Unicorn, they were dressed in mages robes, and carrying a staff. Once they appeared, Unicorn hit the button four times.

\\\\ ROOKS! ////

Two eight-foot-tall behemoths rose up before Unicorn, both carrying shields that were just as tall as they were. The shields bore the crest of the Queen and Unicorn Memories, and from the thud that the burly behemoths made with each step, were quite heavy.

“Knight Two, advance and attack, Knight One rear guard!” Knight One entered a defensive stance while Knight Two dashed for the Key Dopant. “Rook One and Two, iron wall defense!” The two Rooks moved forward and planted their shields down on the ground, and from them formed a barrier that covered a ten-foot radius, and was at least twenty feet high. “Bishop One provide support! Bishop Two, on standby.”

The Key Dopant’s unlocked arms returned to locked as Knight Two practically flew across the battlefield and slashed at the Dopant. Sly narrowly escaped, but now knowing how fragile, they were, was less scared of the constructs. With that in mind, the Key Dopant lashed out and struck the construct in the chest, making it skid backwards.

Cracks started to form on the constructs body, but immediately after, a glowing light surrounded the construct, and its body was healed. “What the hell?!”

“I’m guessing you’ve never played any RPGs either? Healers in the back, tanks in the front, and attackers on the frontline. In other words, my Bishop will keep healing my Knight repeatedly, you won’t be able to shatter him that easily, or get to me that easily either.”

“Tricky little bi–!”

Before Sly could finish that sentence, Knight Two dashed in and slapped the side of his face with the blunt side of his sword, sending the Dopant bouncing on the ground like a pebble skipping water, before landing against an abandoned dumpster.

“Yeah, I’d watch your mouth around my Knights, they’re not too fond of people bad mouthing me when their around,” said Unicorn and playful tone.

The Key Dopant tore himself out of the dumpster and pointed his key finger at the Knight. “LOCKDOWN!”

Black and blue chains wrapped around the Knight and froze him in his tracks, the Knight was trying to resist the power of the Dopant, struggling with every fiber of its being. Knight One glanced behind him, and Unicorn nodded, and sprinted towards the Dopant. He ran alongside the walls of the buildings, swiftly bounding from one to the next. Unfortunately, Sly saw One at the last second and fired another Lockdown. The attack caught the construct and made him fall to the ground as he too struggled against the binding power of the Dopant.

“So, this is your plan, to have your toys fight me while you stay safe behind a shield?!” Sly asked.

“No.” Unicorn teleported behind the Key Dopant and fired a cannon ball sized sphere of pink and turquoise mana, which exploded and made Sly roll across the ground. “Because how can a queen’s subjects follow someone who doesn’t take the same risks as they do on the battlefield!” Unicorn hit the button on the left hip six times.

\\\\\\ RALLY! //////

The Rooks, Bishops, and Knights appeared next to Unicorn, and then she took the Queen Memory and placed it into her right hip port.

>} QUEEN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The Bishops fired two streams of mana straight for the Key Dopant. The hit resulted an explosion that sent the Dopant into the air, from there the Knights jumped to intercept the Dopant in midair. Once in range they struck with both swords, making sparks fly and throwing the Dopant back to terra firma. Sly had had enough and released all the locks on his body, making him glow bright as his power was at its max.

Dashing forward, the Key Dopant cocked back its right fist to deliver a power punch. But the two Rooks placed their shields together, forming a wall of defense as a shockwave erupted from the impact, making the Dopant stagger back from the force of the wave.

At last, all six constructs broke down into particles of light, particles which reformed into an energy javelin in Unicorn’s right hand. “Time to restore harmony…Wrath of the Queen!”

Unicorn dashed forward, gliding over the ground as she thrust the javelin forward and struck the Key Dopant at the center of his chest, the Dopant yelled as he was pushed back further and further, trying to resist the power that was overwhelming him. With one final push and a fierce battle cry, Unicorn pinned the Dopant against the wall of another building.

Cracks started to form on the wall in the shape of the Unicorn symbol and from there, a massive explosion went off. In the light of the flames, only Unicorn could be seen with her glowing javelin and blue eyes. When the flames died down, the Key Memory jettisoned itself from him and flew over into the open, and Sly was left standing, but collapsed to his hands and knees soon after.

“You didn’t have to do all of that to impress her.”

A defeated Sly looked up at Unicorn. “W-What did you say?”

“I know about the girl you’re wanting to impress, and the only thing you needed to do was just be yourself. If that’s not good enough for someone, then they’re not worth your time. But that’s all she wanted from you, just to be yourself,” said Unicorn.

Tears began to well up in the young man’s eyes as he wept at his own stupidity, Sunset felt nothing but anger for this idiot when she fought him, but now, seeing him like this and knowing the consequences that would befall him, she only felt pity. Sunset sensed movement from her right, and watched as Shining Armor walked towards them, a pair of handcuffs in hand. Once he stopped he looked between Sly and Unicorn.

“You going to arrest me or him?” Unicorn asked.

“Even if I tried you’d just snap the cuffs of like they were a cheap plastic toy.” Shining Armor proceeded to cuff Sly. “Will…uh…my sister and the others be alright?”

“Once the Memory’s be separated from the person it bonded with, its effects are cancelled. So, book this guy and hurry up to that sister of yours, meanwhile, I’m going to take that dangerous thing and hide it somewhere,” said Unicorn.

“Oh no, that’s going into evidence! After seeing what he can do with it, I definitely don’t want you having it,” said Shining Armor.

“You don’t have the capability to keep them safe, there better off with me and Nasca!”

“And I say, it’s safer in the hands of the police force than some masked vigilante!”

“Might I offer a compromise?” Unicorn, Shining Armor, and Sly all turned towards the new voice. Standing over the Key Memory was another Kamen Rider, one that Sunset and Shining Armor had never seen before. Clad in silver-gray armor, with orbs embedded at different parts of the armor, and a Driver buckle that looked like an equal sign, the new Rider took up the Gaia Memory and admired it in her clawed hand. “I’ll take the Memory, and you two can have the scum. Fair and even trade.”

Unicorn took a defensive stance and asked, “Who are you?!”

“My name is Kamen Rider Equal, and I’m here to even the score.” Equal took one of the arrow points on her hips and placed it at the center of her belt.

| GREATER THAN: > |

Blue orbs shifted to crimson red as Equal gathered energy into her left hand. Unicorn quickly raised a shield around them as Equal fired that sphere. The power of the attack was incredible, it was really making Unicorn have to grit her teeth and focus as to keep the shield from falling. The sphere grew brighter and brighter as the energy the comprised it reached critical mass.

“OH CRAP!”

A giant explosion went off and brought down the entire building behind Unicorn, the area was shrouded and large plume of dust that spread throughout the entire area. Kamen Rider Equal merely chuckled, she knew that wouldn’t be enough to end Unicorn, that wasn’t the point though. The point was to make sure she knew not to get too confident, and it served another purpose as well.

“I think it’s time to shake things up a bit.”

***______________***

It was now Tuesday and everything was right with the world. Twilight and the other victims of the Dopant attack had recovered, but were asked to remain in the hospital a couple of more days just to make sure that they were alright. The young man known as Sly was processed and now awaiting trial, a broken-hearted Cayenne had turned to the comfort of her more sensible friends to help with the heartache.

Sunset had a lot of explaining to do, as to why she didn’t call Rainbow Dash so that they could double team Sly, and then there was the appearance of Kamen Rider Equal. Which led Sunset to call her partner again to apologize for not bringing her in to fight.

[I get it, the girl you like-like was hurt and you wanted payback. I still can’t believe you used the Queen Memory.}

“You and me both,” said Sunset.

{I’m surprised you were able to control it, after all the times you said it reminded you too much of your old self, I thought you might destroy him.}

Sunset tensed. “For a moment, I was really wanting to. But, all I could think about was Twilight, and wanting to save her. I guess, it helped me to focus on what was important and not go overboard.”

Rainbow Dash chuckled over the phone. {Man I knew you had it bad for Twilight. So don’t waste any time and tell her how you feel before another Dopant shows up and ruins your chance.}

“Ugh, that’s not even funny. But…that is good advice, I’ll talk to you later Dash.” Sunset hung up the phone and rode the elevator up to the third floor.

Thankfully, now all visitors were welcome. Sunset made her way to Twilight’s room and opened the door, only to see Twilight and Shining Armor talking. Sunset tensed for a moment, before she heard her name.

“Sunset!” Twilight called out. “Come in! Um, Shiny, do you mind giving me and Sunset some privacy?”

Shining Armor hesitated for a moment, but then relented, patting his sister on the head before leaving. Sunset sat down in the seat her big brother was in and scooted closer to Twilight. “I’m glad you’re alright, Twilight.”

“Same here, and, I’m sorry I wasn’t able to help with this latest attack,” said Twilight.

Sunset lightly bopped Twilight on the head. “You dork, you were comatose. Not much you could’ve done. I was really scared for you, you know? And…angry. I…”

Twilight put her hands over Sunset’s and looked into her teary eyes. “I was too, but I knew you would save me, just like you saved me before. Seems like that’s all I tend to do, make you worry.”

“I worry about everyone, you’re no different…Well…that’s a lie,” Sunset admitted. “This time, I worried that I’d never get to tell you…”

Twilight blushed, “T-Tell me what?”

Sunset blushed as well, she needed to tell her. Princess Twilight had confidence in her, and given the events of recent days, another chance may not come along. Mustering all the resolve she could, Sunset prepared to bare her heart. “Twilight…I…I like you, as more than just a friend, I really like you, Twilight Sparkle! I don’t want you to have to think you’re obligated to say yes, I mean, I’m kind of a mess, and I haven’t always been the nicest person or pony in the past – scratch that, I wasn’t! But in any case I just wanted to tell you before something else crazy happens…uh…Twilight?”

Twilight’s eyes were watering, as if she were on the verge of crying. Sunset began to panic, she knew this wasn’t a good idea, she still didn’t know if Twilight was into other girls, and after everything that has happened, telling her how she felt was probably the last thing Twilight needed on her plate. But, Sunset’s panic began to wane as a smile crossed Twilight’s lips.

“You have no idea how happy I am to hear you say that! I…I wanted to you the same thing!” Twilight exclaimed. “That day at the mall, I was planning on telling you, but…you know. I know you said you like-like me, but if you’re sure you wouldn’t mind being with someone like me…”

Sunset took her left hand and placed it against Twilight’s cheek. “I don’t mind at all.” There was a bit of tension in the air as Sunset watched Twilight fidget. “I’m sure you think I’m going to kiss you, right?”

“Um…” Twilight gulped. “I think the occasion calls for it.”

“The occasion? Yes. But, I’m not going to if you’re not ready, Twilight.”

Twilight’s heart fluttered at hearing how considerate Sunset was. “Well, in lieu of that, would you mind if we…um…snuggled a bit?”

Sunset smiled as she stood up, Twilight moved over a little and allowed Sunset to lie back on the on the pillow. Twilight rested her head against Sunset’s shoulder as she moved closer to her first girlfriend. This feeling of closeness, this warmth, it was everything they imagined it would be.

“So, what happens next?” Twilight asked.

“First, you get out of this hospital. We’ll plan a proper date later on, and I’m sure you want to tell your parents about this.” Sunset suggested.

“Oh, I never considered…I love my parents, and I know they’re kind hearted, but I’ve never really discussed my gender preference in regards to romantic relationships,” said Twilight. “However, I think I can convince them with enough data. It shouldn’t be too hard, they already like you.”

“I can’t wait.

***________EXE________***

Double Diamond was currently standing in the elevator, hearing the pop music that was coming out of the speakers and watching the display show his descent. This was the executive elevator, which was only to be used by the ranking officials of the company, that included himself, Night Glider, Sugar Belle, and Party Favor, and of course Starlight Glimmer. Once the elevator neared the ground floor, Double Diamond pressed his hand against the biometric scanner. A holographic keypad appeared before him and he quickly typed in the secret code. Once inputted, the elevator stopped and then shifted position, and continued its descent.

The numbers on the display showed that the building was far deeper than what it looked like outside as one floor after another continued came and went. Once the elevator stopped, it opened to reveal a vast underground research facility. Many people were working around veins of emerald rock which all led to a large stalagmite of the same emerald rock jutting from the floor. Many computers and wires were hooked up to the rock as data was collected from it, and from there it was fed into their systems and into the next section.

Double Diamond observed all this from a catwalk high above, but it was nothing he hadn’t seen many times already. Following the path, he passed through sliding door that had “S2” painted on it. In the next sector it was pure white, the catwalk on this side was encased in a shatter proof glass, keeping the inside free from contamination. Below was the assembly line, where the scientists worked to create new Gaia Memories from the energy that the emerald rock produced.

The white haired boy eventually moved into Sector 3, where the Gaia Memories were stored. There were quite a few since the last time he had visited, some were recreations of the ones that were previously destroyed by Unicorn and Nasca, but some others were new. In this vast room there was a special vault where the golden Gaia Memories were kept, the strongest type of T1 Memories, but in comparison to the ones he, his colleagues, and Starlight had, they were nothing. But this wasn’t where he was going, no, Double Diamond had a special place for this new addition, Sector Ω.

It was a sector that only the five could enter, no one else could get in. It had a biometric scanner that had the genetic info of all five of them stored inside, but more importantly, it could detect the trace energies of the specific Gaia Memory they each used. The vault itself was made of a newly created metal by PhoenEXE Corp. that was ten times stronger than titanium, and lighter than tin foil. On top of that, behind the doors was a force field that could withstand even Sugar Belle’s fire blasts from her Heat Dopant form, and therefore, practically making it the securest place in the building itself.

Thank gods that thief didn’t locate this place, if Starlight was angry before with the loss of the T1s…I don’t even want to imagine what she’d do if the T2s went missing.

Double Diamond stood before the last door, with a giant omega symbol painted on it. A scanner at the top of the door released a beam that passed over Double Diamond three times, the light on the scanner went green and the doors were unlocked. Inside this room stood twenty-six pedestals. Each one was labeled with a letter of the alphabet, all arranged in a circle. Under the “P” was the Puppeteer Memory, under “V” was the Violence Memory, and now, as Double Diamond stood before the “K” pedestal, home to the Key Memory. Once placed on the pedestal, a dome of energy was raised, keeping the Memory secure.

This place would house their Gaia Memories, should any one of them decide to go rogue or as a form of punishment by Starlight. As Double Diamond was about to walk out, he noticed something off. The “T” pedestal was vacant, panic started to overcome Double Diamond, he knew for a fact that that space was not empty.

“Computer, bring up logs!” Double Diamond ordered.

A holographic screen showed up before him, and upon it was a list of everyone who had entered and exited the vault. Considering that there were only five people allowed inside, the entries were few. The last entry before Double Diamond showed…Starlight Glimmer.

Curious, Double Diamond headed back the way he came and entered Sector 2. He looked down at the many workers and spotted a familiar lilac skinned girl. Double Diamond tapped on the glass and a view screen opened, with a pinch of his fingers he magnified the image to show Starlight working on something. The Gaia Memory in question was on her work table, but along with it, there appeared to be at least four, possibly five more Memory devices. However, the additional Memories weren’t the issue here, no, it was the other device that she was piecing together.

“Is that…a Driver?”

L: Law and Order / Time for Trigger

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Shining Armor was a prominent member of the Canterlot City Police Department. He was diligent, hardworking, had a good sense of justice, a nerd at heart, and an all-around good guy. He rose quickly in the ranks from a snot nosed candidate, to a full-fledged officer, and now as a field commander and investigator in the CCPD’s Special Crimes Unit. So far, he had been involved in a number of cases that had monsters in them, Shining Armor felt like his life was becoming something out of a Power Ponies comic book.

Unfortunately, real life was not like the comic books. There were consequences to actions, and people get hurt, there were no do overs like some miraculous healing light. Most recently, the fighting hit close to home. Shining Armor was currently sitting in his office, typing away at his keyboard. He paused for a moment to glance over at the picture of his little sister, Twilight Sparkle. The image of that happy, bespectacled, genius girl was replaced by a girl was in a comatose state with an oxygen mask and on the verge of death.

When he confronted the monster that did that to her, it became apparent that he wasn’t nowhere near strong enough, even with the specialized weapons from PhoenEXE Corp. In the end it was Kamen Rider Unicorn, the vigilante, who stopped the monster. Shining, while not completely ungrateful, hated that he had to entrust his sister’s life to someone who hid their identity and was up to gods know what.

“If only…”

“Armor!”

Shining Armor rose from his seat and saw his captain walk in. He was a burly man, with a tan complexion, gray hair and a short beard. His blue eyes were piercing, as if staring through your soul, and his face was grizzled, the showings of a man had seen much in his time. Shining Armor quickly saluted and said, “Captain Broadside! What can I do for you?!”

“PhoenEXE Corp. wants you at their main office downtown, they’re waiting for you as we speak. So, hop to it and head down there!” Broadside ordered.

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at that. “Um, Sir, why are they asking for me specifically?”

Broadside shrugged. “Apparently, they have some new monster busting equipment, and they asked for you – by name no less – to come and pick it up. They wouldn’t give me any more info than that.”

Shining Armor still felt this was a bit weird. “No offense, Sir, but why would they go through all that just to have me specifically pick up equipment, instead of our normal convoy?”

“Look, Armor, I don’t know, I wish I did. But PhoenEXE Corp’s been funding us with the equipment for the SCU, so if they ask you to jump, you ask how high! Understood?” Broadside asked.

“Yes, Sir!”

With that established, Shining Armor left in his squad car for PhoenEXE Corp. It took him all of thirty minutes to reach the headquarters of their largest backer in the SCU. The giant building which almost towered over the other skyscrapers, was an elegant combination of steel and glass architecture, it almost resembled a castle. Shining Armor parked his squad car in the underground garage and proceeded inside. He walked up to the reception desk and before he could ask the receptionist anything he was intercepted by a teenage girl.

“Officer Shining Armor of the CCPD?” she asked.

Shining took a moment to look the girl up and down. She couldn’t be but maybe a year older than Twilight or at least the same age. The teenager had a pink complexion, with dark, curly, raspberry colored hair, and cerise eyes. “Um, yes, that’s me.”

“Nice to meet you, my name is Sugar Belle. Ms. Glimmer is expecting you, please follow me,” said Sugar Belle sweetly.

Shining Armor followed Sugar Belle to the executive elevator, she pressed her palm against a rectangular flat surface and immediately a light shined over it. The elevator opened and Sugar Belle motioned for him to enter. Once he did, Sugar Belle joined him and the two began their ascent.

“So, you look a little young to be working here, shouldn’t you be at school?” Shining Armor asked.

“Oh, well, Ms. Glimmer prefers to be around others that are closer to her age group, and whom she can trust. Besides, I owe a lot to Ms. Glimmer, and I’m learning more working here than in a school. So kind of like being home schooled,” said Sugar Belle.

“Uh-huh…Wait, ‘closer to her age group’? How old is she?!” Shining Armor asked.

“Oh, she’s about–”

*Ding!*

“We’re here.” The doors opened and revealed a couple of large, ornate wooden doors. On either side of the doors were reception desks, each one manned by two advanced robots that were typing away at their keyboards. Both Shining Armor and Sugar Belle disembarked the elevator and Sugar Belle said, “Shining Armor here to see Ms. Glimmer.” The robots nodded and the doors opened. “This is where I leave you, I have some other business to take care of, good luck!”

Shining Armor took a calming breath and walked on. Inside the office space were four chairs situated around a glass table, a red carpet led the way towards a wooden, mahogany desk, and behind that was a window wall that offered a perfect view of Canterlot City. From his position, Shining Armor could see a woman standing before the window, arms held behind her back as she admired the view.

“Ms. Glimmer…?” Shining Armor asked.

“Come here Officer Armor, and look outside,” said Starlight.

Shining Armor walked up to where Starlight Glimmer was standing, and peered down at the city below. From their height the cars and people looked like ants. Shining Armor glanced over to Starlight, she was wearing a violet business suit, with a matching skirt, and of course, she looked just a tad older than Sugar Belle, if had to guess, seventeen.

“It’s a great view, isn’t it?” Starlight asked.

“Um, yes, it is. I’m sorry to ask, but are you really the boss of this entire company or am I getting punked?” Shining Armor asked.

Starlight giggled at his question. “Don’t be sorry, Officer Armor. It’s a legitimate question, I’d be more worried if didn’t ask. But yes, I am president and CEO of the PhoenEXE Corporation, and my name is Starlight Glimmer.” Starlight held out her hand and Shining Armor shook it. “Now then, do you know why I asked you to look at the city from here?”

“No.”

“Because I love this city, I love the people in it, it’s my home, and the people are like my family. And I dislike it when something comes and tries to disrupt the harmony of the city I love. From up here, I witnessed many of the battles that have plagued our city since the arrival of the monsters. Which is why I made it a point to have my technicians work on anti-monster weaponry to arm the CCPD. To ensure that you and others can return home to their families. Sadly, it seems our inventions to don’t seem to be putting much of a dent on them, and for that I apologize,” said Starlight with a downcast look.

Shining Armor shook his head vigorously. “No ma’am, it’s been very helpful! I mean, it’s better than what we were using before, at least with the armor and weapons you provided, we stand a better chance of not getting killed.”

Starlight smiled at Shining. “I appreciate your kind words, but I think you and I know that the only one who’s been able to effectively defeat the monsters thus far are the Kamen Riders.” Starlight saw a scowl form on Shining Armor’s face. “You don’t seem to have a high opinion of them, do you?”

Shining Armor stood at attention. “With all due respect ma’am, no I do not. They’re vigilantes, they’re unsupervised, and do as they please. They assume no responsibility for their actions if something goes wrong, and who knows how many laws they break when they are not out fighting the monsters.”

Starlight hummed in contemplation. “You say that, but then I think back to that report where the Kamen Riders made a public announcement as to why they fight without revealing their identities, and then there was that judge who allowed Unicorn to speak at a trail.”

“Again, ma’am, I don’t believe that. Soldiers and police officers like myself constantly show our faces when we do our jobs, it’s to show the people that they can trust who’s wearing the uniform, and not have to wonder who and why. As for that judge…I can’t really comment on his actions ma’am,” said Shining Armor.

Starlight nodded and sat in her chair. “And it’s precisely for that reason why I think this city deserves a Kamen Rider who’s not afraid to show the face beneath the mask.” Starlight pressed a few buttons on her key pad. A panel opened on the top of her desk and from the inner confines of that desk arose a suitcase. It had a T symbol in the shape of a gun.

“What do you mean by that, Ms. Glimmer?” Shining Armor asked.

“My scientists, on the day the Emerald Pillar shined in the sky, found this lodged in the side of the building.” Starlight opened a drawer and took out a blue Gaia Memory with the same symbol on it. “I believe you may recognize this as a similar device as to what the Kamen Riders and monsters use to transform.”

Shining Armor’s eyes widened at the sight of the device, he never thought he’d get another chance to see one this close since Nasca shattered two of them in front him.

“It’s with this device we were able to extrapolate weapons that could effectively counter the monsters you’ve encountered. However, we’ve come to the realization, that only a Kamen Rider can beat these monsters. So, we studied Unicorn and Nasca carefully during their battles thus far, and with a little ingenuity, we made this.” Starlight unclasped the suitcase and revealed within it a belt buckle. It was in the shape of a gun, with the part of the slide missing to allow the Gaia Memory to be inserted. Next to the buckle were six other Gaia Memories, each with a smooth and sleek design.

Shining Armor looked at the contents of the suitcase and then back up to Starlight. “Are you…is this really the same kind of device as what the Kamen Riders use?”

“Maybe not an exact recreation, we had to do a lot of guess work here and there, but it will allow you to transform like they do, into a Kamen Rider, and all with this device will it work.” Starlight held the T Memory out towards Shining Armor. “Its name is Trigger.”

Shining Armor looked between the buckle and the device, after a minute of contemplation, Shining Armor gently pushed the Gaia Memory away. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I deserve to use this. There are other officers in the SCU, veterans, they’d be better suited to use this than me.”

Starlight waved her finger in the air dismissively. “No, I looked into you Officer Armor. During your cadet training you were and apparently still are, the best marksmen in the CCPD. You’re hand to hand combat prowess is excellent, and you have some high commendations from both your captain and fellow officers. But beyond that, you have a kind heart, and besides, the people deserve a Rider who doesn’t need to hide their face, you said so yourself.”

Shining Armor looked back down at the buckle, his face scrunched in contemplation. “Do you think I deserve this?”

Starlight tapped her chin with the Gaia Memory and said, “And it’s that hesitation that let’s me know you do. A person who has felt powerless, shall respect that power once obtained. You’ve fought a monster, and known what it’s like to feel helpless before their power. Plus, I know of your little sister was hospitalized during the attack, and I know you never want to see that happen to her or anyone else again. You’ll be a Kamen Rider of the people.” Starlight walked around her desk and stood before Shining Armor. “The choice is ultimately yours.”

Shining Armor looked between the Driver in the suitcase and the Gaia Memory in Starlight’s hand. His mind raced with all the incidents, all the attacks, all the crimes that were committed by the monsters and how he was helpless to fight back, at best he was a nuisance, to the monsters he might as well been a fly buzzing around them waiting to be squashed. The only thing they really feared, that could defeat the monsters, was the power of a Kamen Rider.

***________}T{________***

3 DAYS LATER

“Twilight, will you relax, it’s going to be alright,” said Sunset.

Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle were currently walking from the Tasty Treat, it was lunch time and Sunset and Twilight decided to grab something to eat. They were currently on a date, just the two of them. The discussion of that day was how Twilight was going to announce to her parents that she was in a romantic relationship with a girl. Of course, there was no end to Twilight coming up with multiple scenarios as to how badly this could go.

“What if they disown me?!” Twilight asked.

“You can shack up with me, I don’t mind sharing my bed,” said Sunset with a hint of sultry look in her eyes.

“What would I do for school if they cut me off, I won’t be able to buy components for the you-know-whats, or school supplies!”

“I’ll get a part time job, and if necessary, you can to, there is a computer store in the mall that’s looking for tech help.” She saw that Twilight was still nervous. “Or, hey, I could always work late nights at the street corner?”

Twilight stopped in her tracks and looked at Sunset with wide eyes. “What?! No, nonononono, NO! You will NOT do something like that for me!”

Sunset chuckled at the reaction. “I’m kidding Twilight, I wouldn’t do that. Although, I’m not opposed to a bit of roleplay when we reach that stage in our relationship.”

Twilight’s face went red as a tomato as some less than pure thoughts entered her head. “And you call Rainbow Dash a perv.”

“Yeah, well,” Sunset reached out and put her right arm over Twilight’s shoulders, bringing her close, “I’m your pervert.”

Twilight smiled a goofy smile. “I know, it’s just, you’re my first real romantic partner, my girlfriend, and I want my parents to like you.”

“They already do Twi, you just need to believe in them. It may be a bit awkward, but considering that it’s me, they may be more okay with it than you think,” said Sunset.

“Thanks,” said Twilight as she looked into her girlfriend’s turquoise eyes.

Suddenly, numerous explosions went off as the sound of something whistling through the air caught both girls’ attention. Way in the distance, Sunset and Twilight spotted a Dopant. Its body was a sea-green color, with a yellow pearl at its waist. Around the lower half of its legs and forearms it transitioned into a black color. Its right hand was a normal five-digit hand, but its left was two long claws. Its head was large, with big, round black eyes, a mouth full of sharp, pointed fang pincers, and coming from its head were feelers. Lastly this Dopant had a pale tan colored shell on its back.

“What in the world is that Dopant?!” Sunset asked.

“I don’t know, but I can’t do a Look Up here! Sunset you need to take care of that thing before it causes more damage!” Twilight stated.

Sunset looked about ready to bolt, but paused as the memories of the mall entered her mind, about the last time she left to fight a Dopant and Twilight ended up getting hurt. “I will, but not before you’re far away from here.”

At that moment, both girls heard the sound of a motorcycle buzzing through the streets of the city. Sunset sighed in relief, believing that it was Rainbow Dash as Nasca coming to fight the Dopant, however, that was not the case. Sunset and Twilight saw the bike that was coming as it whizzed by them and towards the Dopant. When the bike stopped, they saw that the rider was Shining Armor.

His uniform was different though, instead of the normal uniform, he wore navy blue pants and shirt, on the sides of the pants was a light-blue stripe that ran up the length of his pant leg. Upon his feet were black combat boots with a steel toed tip. He wore a jacket that had the Trigger symbol on one side of the arm and his badge shield on the other. On the back of the jacket it read “SCU” with the image of the CCPD badge behind it. His bike was colored cobalt blue and white, with flashing red and blue lights on the sides.

The Dopant tilted his head at the new arrival and asked, “Who the hell are you?”

Shining Armor stared down the Dopant and stated, “I’m Officer Shining Armor of the Canterlot City Police Department. This is your first and last warning, remove the device from your body and lay down on the ground, or I’ll be forced to make you go down!”

The Dopant hummed in contemplation. “Hmm, let me answer that in the following way.” The Dopant released several sharp fangs that flew out of its mouth like a machine gun.

Shining Armor quickly dodged them, rolling out to the side and quickly standing up. “I was hoping you’d choose the hard way.” Shining Armor reached behind his back, and to his hand he materialized the T-Driver, much to the shock of Sunset and Twilight. He placed the Driver at his waist, letting the belt loop around and connect to the buckle. In Shining’s left hand he held the blue Trigger Memory and pressed the button.

< TRIGGER! >

“Henshin!”

> TRIGGER! <

Shining Armor placed the Memory into the slot, activating the transformation. A blue electrical field appeared around Shining Armor, releasing sparks that hit his body and materialized his armor. Within a couple of seconds, the field disappeared and a new Kamen Rider was born.

The helmet had a T in the middle, with the tip of both top ends pointed out, which looked like antenna. The eyes were yellow and compound, the antenna fell on the eyes to give them a half circle slanted look. The shoulder pauldrons were large, slanting, half oval shapes, and on both was the imprinted symbol of the Trigger Memory. The chest plate had a shield on it, with a six-pointed star at the center, etched out in white, and below that a defined six-pack abs. The arms were covered in sleek blue armor, with white highlights around the wrists and joint segments.

On the left hip of the belt were six other Gaia Memories, each with the same stream line design as the T2 Trigger. On the right thigh was a holster, and in that holster, was a blaster weapon at the ready to be drawn. The leg armor had the same blue and white design, with the feet being square tipped instead of round, and at the back of the calf armor, there seemed to be a piston like device attached.

Sunset looked to Twilight, the egghead shook her head vehemently and said, “I did NOT make him a Driver! I swear on my life!”

“Then…who…how…?”

Kamen Rider Trigger took out the Chrome Magnum blaster from its holster, and stared down the Dopant with his compound eyes. “The name’s Kamen Rider Trigger. Now…” Trigger raised his left hand and pointed it like a gun at the Dopant. “…count up your crimes!”

The Dopant launched more fangs at Trigger, but Trigger was faster on the draw as he pointed the Chrome Magnum. The blaster itself was hefty, with a chrome colored slide and square drum beneath the barrel. The trigger guard was blue, and the trigger itself was black. The grip of the blaster was the same blue color, matching the guard and armor.

Trigger fired the Chrome Magnum in quick succession. The blue bolts that were released hit each fang, exploding it in midair one after the other. The Dopant stopped his attack, but Trigger didn’t as he continued to fire, hitting the Dopant again and again as sparks flew from his body. As Trigger fired, he closed the distance and came in with the left hook to the Dopant’s gut.

The Dopant reeled from the blow, but raised his left claw arm and swiped at Trigger. The Kamen Rider stepped back and allowed the swipe to miss, on the counterattack, Trigger thrust his gun forward, putting it at point blank range of the Dopant’s chest and fired one shot, sending the Dopant flying until he hit a parked car. The Dopant growled in frustration as he tore himself out of the vehicle and began to glow, transforming into a giant anomalocaris that hovered in the air.

Trigger reached for one of the Gaia Memories in his left hip holster and pushed the button.

< GATLING! >

Trigger pushed the underside of the drum and a slot dropped down with a space for at least three different Memories. He quickly placed the Gatling Memory into the slot and pushed it into the Chrome Magnum.

|^| GATLING! ARMED! |^|

The Chrome Magnum glowed bright blue as the blaster merged with Trigger’s right forearm. When the glow faded, Trigger’s right forearm had changed into a Gatling gun, with six chrome colored barrels connected to a boxy contraption where his hand and forearm was. The giant Dopant began flying around, trying to get into a good attack position, but did not take into account how much space he had and ended up flailing about.

Trigger took this moment to lift his heavy right arm and fire the Gatling Chrome Magnum, unleashing beam bullet hell on the giant Dopant. Multiple explosions ignited across the Dopant’s body as one shot landed after the other, smothering the Anomalocaris Dopant. After a minute of continuous fire, the giant Dopant exploded and fell to the ground in its default humanoid form.

Trigger ended the Gatling Arms and returned the blaster to normal. After ejecting the Gatling Memory, he took out the Trigger Memory, and said, “Time to restore Order.”

The blue Kamen Rider slid back a hatch at the bottom of the grip, and slid the Gaia Memory into it as if loading a clip.

>} TRIGGER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The Chrome Magnum’s barrel began to shine bright with stored up power as a sphere of condensed particle energy formed at the mouth of the blaster.

“Chrome Buster!”

Trigger fired, unleashing a column sized beam of blue light that roared towards the Anomalocaris Dopant. The prehistoric Dopant fired more of its fangs at the beam, but the beam was too powerful to stop as it washed over him and caused a powerful explosion the ripped through the area. From the dust, a man appeared and fell to ground in a heap, the Anomalocaris Memory rose from his body and dropped onto the street. Afterwards the device shattered into pieces.

Twilight ran towards her brother, she couldn’t believe it, she didn’t understand. There were only two Drivers, well two that Twilight created, so how could her big brother be using a Driver? When Twilight got close, she stopped when Kamen Rider Trigger holstered his blaster and looked at Twilight. The bespectacled girl took a tentative step forward, not sure what to make of this turn of events.

“Sh-Shiny?” Twilight asked cautiously.

“It’s me Twily, don’t be afraid.” Shining Armor took out the Trigger Memory from the Chrome Magnum, and immediately after the armor disappeared. “See?”

***________}T{________***

{Who is Canterlot City’s newest hero, Kamen Rider Trigger?I’m Namby Pamby, and today we’ve got an exclusive interview with the man behind the mask.}

An emergency meeting was called with the girls later that night, they had all gathered at Sunset’s loft and watched the news report after Twilight and Sunset filled them in on what had happened today. Of course, the girls asked if Twilight had made another Driver for her brother, and as before she vehemently denied making one. The screen shifted and now Namby was sitting in a plush chair, with a glass table in the middle. Across from her sat Shining Armor, garbed in his uniform that was used for ceremonies.

{So, Officer Armor, first off I’d like to thank you for this interview today. Second, and most importantly, how long have you been a Kamen Rider?}

{Honestly Ms. Pamby, at least three days now, most of that was training. The CCPD had planned an announcement at the end of the week. But when the attack happened, Captain Broadside decided that I should intercept it right away,} said Shining Armor.

{So, I see you don’t have any qualms with transforming in public, are you not afraid that criminals will start to come after you and your family? If we take into account what Unicorn and Nasca have stated that they keep their identities secret to protect their loved ones from being attacked, would that not stand to reason, Officer Armor, that your family and loved ones would be targeted to get to you?} Namby asked with a bit of scrutiny.

Shining Armor leaned forward onto his knees and said, {Ms. Pamby, police officers risk their lives every day. We don’t wear masks when we’re out in the streets helping people, I know this may be a bit of a hard thing for some people to imagine, but we go home with that fear in the back of our minds. Whatever criminal we take down, gang members, killers, terrorists, we have to go home with the fear that they’ll find some way to get out and hurt us, because they’ve seen our faces.}

Shining Armor paused. {This is not something new to me, nor is it to those I care about. We go in knowing this could happen, which is why some officers prefer to be alone or make a family. Either way, I stand by my decision. Besides, I think the people of Canterlot City need a hero they can see.}

Namby nodded her head, the girls could tell she probably agreed with part of that, but wasn’t so sure if having people know who was under the mask was the best thing. {Well, I’m sure the public would like to know something equally important. Now that you too are a Kamen Rider, will you start working with Unicorn and Nasca against the monster threat?}

It was here that the girls tensed.

Shining took a moment as he pondered that question. {All I can say at this time, is that I will continue to defend the city. If Unicorn and Nasca do in fact share that same goal, then we’ll see.}

{You heard it here folks, Canterlot City now has three Kamen Riders, Unicorn, Nasca, and Trigger, but what do you think of this development? Send us your thoughts to CCNN’s MyStable page as we continue our coverage.}

Twilight shot up from her seat on the couch and began pacing the floor. “This…This can’t be happening, this isn’t happening! My brother cannot be a Kamen Rider!”

“Unfortunately, Darling, that seems to be the case…” Rarity pointed out.

Twilight ran her hands through her hair, threatening to pull it out. “I don’t understand this! I-I’m the only one who can make the Drivers!”

“Well…Not necessarily,” said Sunset. “I fought another Kamen Rider, Equal, remember? She had a Driver, and she was strong. But I also had a bad vibe from her, she may also be working with the Dopants who have been collecting the T2 Memories.”

Rainbow Dash sighed. “So, what, Shining Armor got his Driver from the bad guys then?”

“They haven’t said where he got the Driver of Memory from, but it must be the same person who gave this Equal girl hers. Or…” Fluttershy gulped. “Or maybe Equal made hers and Shining Armor’s.”

Twilight turned to Fluttershy with a scowl. “My brother would not accept such a thing from someone like that!”

Fluttershy let out an “EEP!” and hid behind Applejack. “Simmer down, Twi, Fluttershy didn’t mean nothin’ by it. None of us think yer brother would just willingly take a Gaia Memory and a Driver from a shifty gal like that Equal. Especially since she attacked him and Sunset.”

The genius girl performed her calming exercise, placing her hand against her chest as she breathed in, and extending it forward as she breathed out. In and out, in and out. After a minute, Twilight looked to Fluttershy with remorse, “I’m sorry, Fluttershy, I didn’t mean to yell at you…”

Fluttershy moved from behind Applejack and gave a comforting smile. “I understand, if it was Zephyr I’d probably be freaking out too.”

“Same here,” said Applejack.

“Personally, and no disrespect Sunset, but maybe we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Rainbow Dash stood up from her seat and addressed the girls. “Now we have three Riders, and even though Shining Armor’s not crazy about Unicorn and Nasca, at least we can trust the fact that he’ll fight Dopants and keep the city safe.”

Despite the craziness of the situation, Rainbow Dash did make a point that they had to agree with. Three Riders meant that Dopant attacks would be much easier to handle, and probably less collateral damage. The former, Sunset believed, was possible, but the latter not so much considering the magnitude of their attack power. Still, this didn’t set well with Sunset, it was too convenient to have a new Rider, and on top of that, Shining Armor wasn’t entirely enthusiastic about Unicorn or Nasca to begin with.

“We’ll have to get a fresh crack at this tomorrow, this is a lot to process. I’ll drive you home Twi,” said Sunset.

“Sure you guys don’t want us to leave so you two can make out first?” Pinkie asked.

Sunset and Twilight’s faces lit up red, it was no secret now that they were a couple, and of course that left them open to the teasing jabs of her their friends. Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash being the ones who would start the jabs, Rarity would just gush from time to time. About the only ones they didn’t have to worry about was Applejack and Fluttershy.

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight exclaimed.

***________}T{________***

Sunset pulled up to Twilight’s driveway and allowed her girlfriend to dismount. Once she had, Twilight turned to Sunset and asked, “Why don’t you come in and stay for a bit?”

“Tempting, are you asking me to sleep over? Because, I didn’t bring any pajamas, or a sleeping bag. But I guess I could always sleep in my underwear, and share your bed. That alright with you, Twi?” Sunset asked with a sultry gaze.

Twilight’s face was red enough that it was practically glowing in the dark. “S-Sunset that is not what I was suggesting, I-I-I’m not even sure I’m mentally prepared – ow!” Twilight rubbed her forehead as she looked at Sunset’s smirking face.

“Twilight, I’m joking. I meant what I said, we won’t do anything you’re not ready for,” said Sunset with a kind smile.

Twilight smiled back and felt a warmth in her heart, even now she still couldn’t believe she was going out with Sunset Shimmer, a girl who could probably have anybody in CHS, chose her and had feelings for her. Twilight felt an overwhelming urge to kiss her girlfriend and even began to silently lean forward to plant one on Sunset’s cheek. However, the moment was ruined when the sound of another motorcycle approached their house.

Both girls watched as Shining Armor came up the driveway, parking next to where Sunset was. He pulled off his helmet and shook his head to fix his helmet hair. Once he finished he dismounted and said, “Hey, Twily.” His gaze then fell on Sunset, and his elated expression became a grimace. “Sunset Shimmer.”

“Hello, Francis,” said Sunset with a bit of sass. “Nice bike.”

Twilight looked between her brother and girlfriend, she had heard about the fight between them when she was in the hospital, and apparently neither one had forgiven the other entirely. Although Twilight was back to normal and the Dopant defeated, it didn’t negate the fact that Twilight got hurt. It was a bit troubling, Twilight loved her big brother, but she also loved Sunset, and seeing the two people she loved having such animosity towards each other was saddening to her.

“Thanks, guess you guys saw the news report then,” said Shining Armor.

“We did, you looked great big brother,” said Twilight.

“Yeah, great. Of course, you painted a big red target on this place, but otherwise great,” said Sunset.

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at that. “Excuse me?”

“Sunset,” Twilight urged.

“I mean, hey, if you don’t have a problem putting your family in danger by announcing you’re a Kamen Rider, and pretty much saying, ‘I live here, any monster is free to walk up and ring the doorbell, or blow up my house, or kidnap my sister, father, or mother’. Then I don’t have a problem with it,” said Sunset snidely.

Shining Armor’s brow furrowed. “Don’t see why that bothers you, whenever danger shows up, you’ll just save your own skin.”

Sunset gritted her teeth, she wanted to lay into Shining Armor how wrong he was about that, but how could she? How could she tell him that the only reason why she left Twilight was because Twilight herself told her to go and transform to fight the Dopant? Her inner bad girl so badly wanted to one up Shining Armor and show him that he was the idiot in this argument as he should have focused on getting Twilight out of danger first, and not engage the Dopant.

Unfortunately, all Sunset could do was release a frustrated snort, a habit she hadn’t quite stopped from back when she was a pony, but at this time, it was better than cussing out Twilight’s brother right in front of her. “I’ll see you, Twilight, be safe okay? Call me if you need me.”

“I will,” said Twilight.

Sunset started her bike up and pulled out of the driveway, she gave one last wave to Twilight and then left. Twilight looked to her brother with a bit of anger, but she let it go for now, she understood both sides, and really, she couldn’t fault her brother for doing what he did back at the mall. In retrospect, if he hadn’t attacked the Dopant, Sunset may not have been able to counter the way she did.

Both siblings entered the house, finding that their parents were working late at their respective jobs and left them alone. Twilight heard the scampering of paws and held out her arms for Spike to jump into them, the pup licked her face enthusiastically, making Twilight giggle.

“Okay, okay, I missed you too, Spike,” said Twilight.

Shining Armor headed to the kitchen and brought out some sodas, he handed one to Twilight and both siblings retired to the living room. They sat in silence for a good while as they drank from their cans, after a minute or so, Twilight sighed and asked, “So, you really are a Kamen Rider, huh? Three days of you doing a ‘Special Project’ at work, and in fact, you were training to become a Rider.”

“Yeah, sorry you had to see it like that earlier. I wanted to at least give you a hint, but the department wanted this as confidential as possible. Like I said, the reveal was going to be for this Friday, but when the monster attacked, the Captain and Commissioners said that it was best for me to make my debut now,” said Shining Armor.

“So…what does this entail for you then? Are you still an officer, or are you a detective?” Twilight asked.

Shining Armor rubbed the back of his head. “I’m kind of a weird combo of both. I can investigate any crimes that have a connection to the monsters or the other two Kamen Riders, I have full tactical authority when monsters are involved. I can still do my beat when or if I feel like it, but other times they want me on standby in case another attack happens.”

“Huh, so I guess you’ll have some more freedom than normal officers do. Shining, how did you get that device and that belt?” Twilight asked.

“Honestly, Sis, I can’t tell you. It’s top secret. I know you what to probably take it apart and see how it works and all, but this isn’t like my laptop or phone.”

Twilight rolled her eyes. “I take apart your cellphone one time to see how it all worked, and I never live it down. At least I put it back together, and allowed you get free data on it for as long as you have that phone number.”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s illegal…” Shining Armor shifted his eyes about. “But I consider it a happy accident, you know I’m not as savvy with tech as you.”

Twilight rolled her eyes again, but blushed at the compliment. “Shiny, if you encountered Unicorn and Nasca, would you fight them? Would you try and take them in because they’re vigilantes? And tell me the truth, not just ‘whatever you have to say in front of a camera’ version of the truth.”

Shining took another swig from his can and then sloshed the contents around as she thought upon his words. “Honestly, Twily, from the law’s standpoint, they have to be brought in. It’s clearly written that vigilantism is against the law. I know they glorify it in comics – hey – I’m a fan of them too. But in real life, we can’t just entrust two masked people with dangerous powers to fight against monsters and not be held accountable for their actions.”

Twilight grimaced a little at that. “But accountable for what? Unicorn and Nasca have only fought the monsters, sure, there is some minimum to moderate damage done to the area, but they’ve made sure that no one else is harmed when they fight. Not to mention, you yourself caused some amount of property damage when you fought the monster.”

Shining Armor pointed at Twilight and nodded. “True, and I’m not denying that. But what’s to stop them from, one day, thinking ‘Hey, no one knows who we are, let’s just cut loose!’ it’s that potential danger that has the police force on edge, today’s heroes can be tomorrow’s villains. Of course, now that I have Kamen Rider powers, I can serve as both a protector and a check for them. I’m sure if they came in, and gave themselves, up, the DA could probably work out a deal where they can serve community service as Kamen Riders, but supervised by the CCPD.”

Twilight didn’t like that option, especially for Sunset. The girl that she cared about had been keeping under the radar, through her intellect and wit she had managed to forge her legal paperwork, along with some help from Principal Celestia. But if Sunset was arrested, they’d dig up all her information, and find out she doesn’t exist anywhere.

“I just hope you know what you’re doing…”

***________}T{________***

Shining Armor woke up that morning, stretching out and cracking the kinks out of his neck. He glanced over to the Trigger Memory he had kept in the drawer of his nightstand, it was still a surreal thing. He was a Kamen Rider, a superhero. He now had the power to protect the people of the city against the monsters that threatened them. A sense of pride welled up inside of him, a new-found vigor that came from no longer having to work on the sidelines while Unicorn and Nasca ran rampant.

The blue haired man got out of bed, washed up, and dressed in his new uniform. At first he wasn’t sure if it was actually a good thing to be dressed like he was, but considering they needed to distinguish him with his new rank and position, it wasn’t so bad. Shining Armor was starting to like the look.

He headed downstairs to find his mother and father already at the table, a fresh batch of pancakes was on the table, he walked over to the fridge and poured himself a fresh glass of orange juice and sat at the table. Shining Armor caught a glimpse at the newspaper on his tablet, with the headline “A Police Officer and Kamen Rider”. There was a faint blush on his cheeks when he read the headline, however, his mother and father didn’t seem as enthusiastic as he was.

“Something you’d like to tell us, son?” Night Light asked.

“Yeah…sorry, I wanted to tell you guys in advance. The scheduled press release was for Friday, but the attack happened and I was ordered to mobilize. I was planning on telling you all on that Thursday night to prepare you, but like I said, all that craziness happened,” said Shining Armor.

“I still can’t believe that you’re like Unicorn and Nasca,” said Velvet.

“No, not like them,” Shining corrected. “They’re vigilantes, I’m a police officer. People don’t have to wonder who I am under that mask, I’m me.”

Velvet sighed. “Well, I always knew law enforcement was dangerous work, and I made my peace with it a long time ago, but…this. This is a different beast.”

Shining Armor stood up from his chair and went around to hug his mother. “Mom, I’ll be fine, if anything, this just ensures I’ll be even safer.”

Night Light sighed as well, but allowed himself a proud, fatherly smile. “So long as you’re careful, to the best that you can be given what you’ll be doing.”

“I will.” As Shining Armor headed back to his seat, he noticed the empty seat. “Hey, where’s Twily at? Is she sleeping in?”

“No, I believe she’s seeing her friend, Sunset Shimmer,” said Velvet.

Shining Armor frowned at the mention of that girl’s name. “I don’t think Twily should be hanging around her too much, just my opinion.”

“Duly noted, and just because you and Sunset had a spat at the hospital, don’t let this taint your view of her,” said Night Light. “That young lady has been nothing if not kind and caring to your sister, how many people would just come over at the drop of a hat to help take of a sick friend? Sorry, again, about that dear. The work was daunting that day.”

Velvet waved off the concern. “Don’t worry Night, it was actually not that bad when Sunset was here. And I do agree with your father, out of that group of wonderful friends, Sunset’s probably Twilight’s best friend.”

Shining Armor shoveled a pancake into his mouth, ate it, and took a sip of orange juice. “You don’t think that they could be…I don’t know, more than just friends?”

“What do you mean by that, Shiny?” Velvet asked.

“Well…” Suddenly, Shining Armor’s phone began to ring, giving off its new emergency call. “Oh crap, there’s a monster attack! I gotta, go love ya guys!”

Shining didn’t waste a second as she dashed out of the house, mounted his spike and tore down the street, leaving only a smoke trail in his wake.

***________}T{________***

Shining Armor connected this phone to the wireless headset in his helmet and said, “This is Officer Shining Armor, go ahead!”

{Armor, we need you downtown, quick, we got two monsters attacking right now! I suggest you change now, these guys are…just be ready to fight! We also have a VIP in the middle of a crossfire!} Captain Broadside stated.

“Who?”

{The President of PhoenEXE Corp!}

Shining Armor’s eyes widened with urgency. “Shining Armor out!” The new Rider quickly summoned his T-Driver and placed it at his waist. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he pulled out the Trigger Memory.

< TRIGGER! >

“Henshin!”

> TRIGGER! <

Once inserted, Shining Armor’s body was surrounded in the blue electrical field, transforming him into Kamen Rider Trigger. As if sensing the transformation, the bike entered a supped-up power state and rocketed forward, leaving every other vehicle in the dust. The city was fast approaching, making Shining Armor slow down. However, once he reached the target area, he stopped immediately, making his tires screech in protest. Once stopped he dismounted and beheld the scene in front of him.

Several people, civilian and police alike, were on the ground, screaming and gripping at their heads. Some were running away with the look of sheer terror on their faces. Trigger pulled out the Chrome Magnum and made his way further in, Trigger spotted the Dopants. Both were women from the looks of them. The one on the right had its whole upper body colored black, with traces of gold to define the details in the ridges, the lower half had a violet skirt that was embroidered with terrifying monsters, all done in gold.

The monster’s hands had golden, metal claws at the tip of each finger, and at the elbows was a golden blade that curved upwards. The creature’s head had a mouth plate that was gold, and a mask over its eyes that was white. Upon its head was a kind of headdress, bright blue in color, and connected to that headdress was a cape that was black and gold, and flowed all the way down to about the ankles.

The second monster was strange. The lower half was white, with short legs that were colored brown and released a steady jet stream of energy that allowed it hover over the ground. The creature’s arms were long, and hollow looking. They were white from the shoulder and then transitioned into brown towards the wrists. The head of the Dopant was oval shaped, with squinting eyes and an ornate gold crown atop its head. The Dopant’s body was littered with different swirls and designs, making it look like a doll made of clay.

Shining Armor looked around, and saw a black limacine that was pinned between two vehicles, effectively blocking any way for the doors to be opened. Trigger ran for the limo, making it in just under a few seconds. “Hello, is anybody in there?!”

“Yes, I’m here!”

“Ms. Glimmer, hang on! Move away from the window!” After waiting five seconds, Trigger smashed the window and cleared it of the glass. Inside he saw a shaking Starlight Glimmer, as if she were a cornered mouse. “Ms. Glimmer, give me your hand!”

“No…No! I can’t go out there, I-I don’t want to die! I’m going to die here!” Starlight shouted in a terror.

“Listen to me! You made this Driver, you gave me this device! You gave me the power to become a Kamen Rider to protect people, and I will protect you too! Now take my hand!” Trigger stated.

Starlight brought her breathing under control and took Trigger’s hand. Carefully, he managed to slip Starlight out of the window and into his arms. Unfortunately, the two Dopants saw this and immediately turned their gaze onto them.

“There she is!” the headdress Dopant shouted. “Don’t let her escape!”

The clay Dopant raised its right arm, and in the hollow of its arm, energy began to build up. It was then Trigger understood, its arms weren’t just arms, they were cannons. Holding onto Starlight tight, Trigger jumped high into the air just a fiery sphere was shot and struck the back half of the limo, blowing it up.

Trigger landed a few feet away, and cursed when he realized he couldn’t get to the driver. Starlight however, shook her head. “M-My driver fled the moment the car stopped, I was the only one in there.”

After breathing a sigh of relief, Trigger put her down and said, “Go find some officers and tell them to put you under their protection, per my orders. Go!”

Starlight nodded and headed away from Trigger and the Dopants. The clay Dopant rose up and began to give chase, but Trigger fired five shots, hitting the Dopant and dropping it to the ground. The Dopant quickly recovered and pointed both arms at him, firing multiple spheres at the Rider. Trigger jumped and dodge the blasts, ducking behind abandoned cars and letting the spheres explode against them. Trigger jumped into the air and fired multiple shots at the Dopant, raining down energy shot after energy shot at the floating clay cannon. The Dopant raised its arms to try and defend, but was still being pushed back by the constant barrage. Shining Armor took out the Gatling Memory and placed it into the Chrome Magnum.

|^| GATLING! ARMED! |^|

Shining Armor’s right arm morphed as the Chrome Mangum entered its Gatling gun mode. The handle popped as Trigger unleashed a barrage of energy bullets down on the clay looking Dopant, forcing it back until it smashed against a car. Once he landed, Trigger turned his sights onto the other Dopant, who hadn’t moved since the fight began. The Dopant with the headdress raised its arms and below its feet a swirling pool of violet and black energy formed, with a wave of its hands, the pool rose up and spewed towards Trigger.

Trigger watched as the dark energy came towards him, but thinking quickly, he jumped out of the way. The stream that hit the spot he was at had burned a hole into the asphalt; Trigger made a mental note to not have that stuff touch him if he could help it. Looks like long range is going to be best, good thing that’s my specialty!

Once Trigger landed, he opened fire on the Dopant. But the headdress Dopant waved its right hand, commanding the dark energy ooze to rise up and act as a shield against the hailstorm of energy bullets. Trigger began running in a circle, continuing his fire and trying to discover a weak point in this Dopant’s defense, but so far, he was not having any luck.

“Then I guess we’ll just have to bust through it!”

Trigger disengaged his Gatling Arms and switched out the Gatling Memory for a new one, this time with a C on it in the shape of two old timey cannons, and pressed the button.

< CANNON! >

|^| CANNON! ARMED! |^|

Once inserted into the Chrome Magnum, Trigger’s right arm morphed until it was a long cannon barrel. The barrel itself had a three chrome rings painted at the tip, and at the center it read in white letters “TCA-02”. Trigger’s right arm wasn’t the only thing that morphed. The right shoulder pauldron changed as well, becoming boxy, with a view screen that popped out and displayed a targeting sight. Numbers were being ran as an energy gauge showed the cannon powering up.

A blue glow shined from the mouth of the cannon, and in the next moment, the cannon fired off a huge ball of condensed energy the size of a wrecking ball. The headdress Dopant saw this, and quickly willed the dark energy ooze to flow around itself, creating as dense a wall as possible. When the ball hit, a powerful explosion roared through the city, shattering car windows and setting of several car alarms for miles.

The explosion managed to blow a hole in the ooze, and Trigger took this chance to fire once again. But at the last second, the clay Dopant jetted in front of the other Dopant, and took the blast head on. The resulting explosion shattered the Dopant, tossing its scattered pieces all around Trigger.

“What…What have I done?!” Trigger asked in shock.

“Looks like you blasted apart my partner, but don’t worry.” As the headdress Dopant spoke, the pieces began to float a few inches off the ground and recollect behind Trigger. “She always pulls herself back together.”

Before Trigger to react, he was blasted from behind by the clay Dopant, now reformed. The headdress Dopant released the dark energy ooze and closed in on Trigger. She delivered a hook punch to Trigger’s left side, causing sparks to fly from his armor, the Dopant drew back with her left fist and straight punched him in the chest, causing more sparks to fly off.

As Trigger stumbled back, the clay Dopant fired two more shots, hitting him the back again. Trigger was about to fall forward, but used the cannon barrel to catch himself and remain standing. He was now between a rock and a hard place, one Dopant behind him, and another in front of him.

\_/ NASCA! VERMILLION MODE! \_/

A vermillion blur sped around the two Dopants, causing sparks to fly off their bodies form the numerous strikes they were being dealt in that short period of time. Trigger didn’t understand, but in the next second, he was enveloped in a field of turquoise light, and in a flash he was transported away from the Dopants. When he reappeared, Trigger was now standing right next to Kamen Rider Unicorn.

“Unicorn?”

“You’re the new Kamen Rider cop I’ve heard about. You did pretty well back there, but two on one can be daunting. Let’s make it three on two,” said Unicorn.

Trigger stood up as his Cannon Arms returned back to normal, he looked down at the shorter heroine then looked back to see that Nasca had disengaged from the Dopants, returning to a safe distance as her Vermillion Mode wore off. “For now, we have a common enemy.”

Unicorn sighed heavily, but decided to take that as a “yes” for the time being. All three Riders stood side by side. Unicorn and Trigger unleashed a volley of energy blasts at both Dopants. The headdress Dopant created the dark energy ooze to form a barrier while the clay Dopant fired its cannon arms at the Riders.

Nasca unleashed her wings and took flight, she dive bombed towards the Dopants, but the headdress Dopant made the ooze rise up to attack her. Nasca quickly pulled back, but was about to be hit with the ooze. A barrage of blue energy bullets exploded against the ooze, causing it to break apart and allowed Nasca to fly away. However, the clay Dopant fired its cannon arms up a Nasca, the spheres of power blew up in midair as soon as they even reached Nasca.

Unicorn teleported away, and reappeared next to the clay Dopant. She spun around and struck the clay Dopant in the side with a roundhouse kick, making it fall backwards. Unicorn was about to deliver another blow, but the headdress Dopant made a stream of dark energy ooze fly towards her. Unicorn formed a barrier round herself, bracing as the stream pushed her back. She was surprised by how strong these Dopants were. They certainly weren’t T2 users, but they were almost as powerful as one.

While the headdress Dopant continued its attack on Unicorn, Nasca swooped in and struck the headdress Dopant in the back with her sword. The blow was strong enough to make the Dopant lose its concentration on its attack, and allowed Unicorn to teleport out of there.

Trigger came running up, firing multiple shots at the headdress Dopant to keep it suppressed. The Dopant growled in anger from the barrage and flung out its arms wildly, causing some of its dark energy ooze to fly off and hit Trigger on his left arm. The ooze set off a series of sparks, and made the blue Kamen Rider wince in pain from the burning sensation.

“Alright, I’ve had enough of this,” said Trigger.

“Same here,” Naca agreed.

“Ditto! Hawk archer mode!”

From above the battlefield, the mech-animal Hawk descended from the sky. Unicorn jumped up just as Hawk completed its transformation into its bow and arrow mode. All three Riders quickly put their Gaia Memories into their Max Drive ports and hit their buttons all at the same time.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

>} TRIGGER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

>} NASCA! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Nasca’s sword blade glowed, Trigger’s Chrome Magnum shined, and Unicorn’s bow radiated, all three ready to unleash total devastation on the Dopants.

“This isn’t good!” the clay Dopant uttered.

“We’re gone, NOW!” the headdress Dopant stated as she wrapped the dark energy ooze around the both them.

“Sagitta Magica!”

“Chrome Buster!”

“Sky Fury!”

A beam of bright blue light shot off from Trigger, a cerulean crescent was sent sailing from Nasca, and Unicorn loosed an arrow of magical energy. All three attacks converged on that one spot, creating a powerful explosion that shrouded the Dopant’s in multicolored flames. All three Kamen Riders kept on guard as they waited for the flames do die down, and after a minute, the flames did die out and reveal that nothing was there.

Nasca flew down and looked over the spot where the Dopants had been. “They got away.”

“They’ll be back, they were stronger than I thought.” Unicorn glanced over to Trigger. “I don’t suggest engaging them again until we figure out what they can do.”

“That clay one can fire energy blasts like a cannon, can hover, and apparently reform itself if shattered. That other one…it has some dark ooze stuff, but other than that, I got nothing,” said Trigger.

“Don’t sweat it, by the time we fight them again, we’ll know exactly what we’re dealing with,” said Nasca.

Trigger glanced to Nasca. “Really, you care to share how you can do that?”

Unicorn stepped in and said, “Trade secret, Trigger. Gotta ride!” Unicorn grabbed ahold of Nasca and instantly teleported the both of them far away.

Trigger deactivated his transformation and sighed heavily as he awaited for the rest of the force to arrive.

***________}T{________***

The two Dopant’s reappeared some ways away from the fighting. Both released their powers, and revealed their true forms. One was a woman, with a pale-yellow complexion, and had long blue hair, and teal colored eyes. The second had a pink complexion and had short, violet hair.

“Clear Skies, that was close!” the blue haired woman stated.

“Don’t start with me Sunflower, I know! We almost had her?!” Clear Skies fumed.

Sunflower, dressed in a pair of blue jeans, and a halter top, sat down against the side of a building as she sighed. “Are we really going after PhoenEXE just to avenge Open Skies? I know it he was your cousin and all, but revenge seems like too little.”

“Revenge is only part of it. That girl had Open Skies killed! We’ll take her, and ransom her for the information on the Gaia Memories.” Clear Skies looked at the Gaia Memory in her hand, which had a T on it. “The Terror Memory will allow me to instill enough maddening fear into her that she’ll spill her guts to make me stop. And your Claydoll will ensure that our backs are covered.”

Sunflower looked up at Clear Skies. “I still say we storm the place. With your Terror Field no one would be able to come within a hundred yards of us!”

Clear Skies reached down and grabbed Sunflower by her collar and hoisted her up as she glared into her eyes. “We don’t just need the Gaia Memories, we need to find out how they’re making them, so that we can make our own after selling off what they have! We’ll not only expose PhoenEXE Corp., and eliminate our competition, but we’ll also control a new criminal organization. These Memories may be powerful, but I’m sure there are stronger ones they’re hiding.”

“L-Like that dragon-bird thing that Unicorn took out weeks ago? N-No thanks, I don’t want one like that”! Sunflower stated.

“Open Skies was smart enough to let that one be used by someone who was unstable, it made for good advertising.” Clear Skies pressed Sunflower against the wall as a predatory grin appeared on her lips. “We’ll be the wealthiest, and most powerful pair of crime bosses in this city. First Canterlot, Fillydelphia, Las Pegasus, Manehattan, and then the world!”

Sunflower’s expression morphed to one of desire and giddiness. “I like the sound of that.”

“Damn right you do. Now, let’s figure out our next move.”

L: Law and Order / Retribution

View Online

After the attack, Shining Armor and Captain Broadside reconvened at PhoenEXE Corp. The newly minted Kamen Rider was astonished to see that Starlight Glimmer’s assistants really were all the same age or close to her age. The taller of the group, with white hair and a white complexion, Double Diamond if he read the name tag right. He seemed a lot more together, he wore a thin smile that was oddly disturbing to Shining Armor for some reason.

“Are you okay, Ms. Glimmer?” Sugar Belle asked as she brought a cup of tea to the shivering Starlight.

“I’ll be fine, really. I’m just a little shaken up is all.” Starlight’s eyes moved to Shining Armor. “I’m glad to see that my decision to make you a Kamen Rider was the right choice You seem to have adapted well to the Trigger Memory and the T-Driver.”

“Thank you, ma’am. However, I am concerned that those monsters seemed to be after you, specifically,” said Shining Armor. “Do you have any enemies that might want you out of the picture?”

Starlight took a sip of her tea and breathed a calming sigh. “Well, it’s not like a lot of people like the idea of a teenage CEO in charge of a major corporation, especially those who have built up their industries over a period of time. PhoenEXE is fairly young, but we’ve been rising fast in the business world, as well as our contracts. About the only one I could think of would be Rich Industries, however, considering the event with Mr. Filthy’s wife, I doubt he’d do anything to put himself in danger of losing his daughter again.”

“Possible as that may be, we’ll look into Rich Industries anyway to cover our bases. Anyone else you could think of?” Captain Broadside asked?

Starlight shook her head. “I’m not naïve enough to think that I got here without stepping on anyone’s toes, I’m sure I ticked off some people here and there along the way. I just don’t think it would be bad enough to make them use monsters against me.”

Shining’s face became one of determination. “Don’t worry, we’ll figure out what they’re after.”

“Thank you, officers. I must ask you to please leave to give Ms. Glimmer some time to rest,” said Double Diamond.

Both Shining Armor and Broadside nodded and exited the room. After a couple of minutes to make sure that they had left, Starlight began to tighten her grip around the tea cup, the cup began to creak until it shattered in Starlight’s grasp. Night Glider, Sugar Belle, Party Favor, and Double Diamond took a cautious step back. A vein popped out on Starlight’s neck as she slammed her fists against the table.

“Double Diamond,” said Starlight in an even tone. “I thought you said you took care of the security problem, and the person who distributed the Gaia Memories…SO WHY IS IT THAT I GOT ATTACKED BY TWO GOLD TYPE DOPANTS!!!?”

Double Diamond composed himself as he spoke. “Y-Yes, I did Starlight. I killed Open Skies, but it appears he had accomplices…Forgive me, I-I assumed he was working alone!”

“Damn, you haven’t seen you pissed off this bad in a long time,” said Night Glider.

An action the navy-blue girl regretted as Starlight rushed out of her chair and grabbed the girl by her collar and hoisted her up. “I am beyond ‘pissed’ right now! There isn’t a word in the English Dictionary that can adequately describe my feelings! So please, Night Glider, please choose your words carefully when speaking to me!”

Night Glider nodded vigorously. Taking that as affirmation, Starlight released her. Sugar Belle went over to check on Night Glider, but she swatted the would-be baker away. Her pride was hurt more than her physical body.

“We can assume that they’re going to try and kill me again,” said Starlight. “Any suggestions?”

“Starlight, ma’am, why don’t we just all attack them? I mean, the four of us alone should be enough to take them down,” said Party Favor.

“It would look too suspicious if four Dopants came to defend Starlight against two other Dopants. We can’t have the police or Kamen Riders knowing that the Gaia Memories are made by us,” said Double Diamond.

“I could always wait for them to come and transform, but that field that Dopant created…I doubt I’d be able to think clearly enough to transform,” said Starlight with an annoyed look.

“Which means we’re going to have to rely on the other Kamen Riders,” said Night Glider.

“For now,” said Starlight, “at least until I can find an opening.” Starlight raised her right fist and clenched it. “Those fools actually thought they could instill that kind of fear into me and not think that there would not be any consequences? I need to teach them the error of their ways.”

***______________***

Sunset and Rainbow Dash had gone to Twilight’s house right after the battle. The genius girl thanked her friends for helping out her brother during the fight, but of course they didn’t need to be thanked. While Sunset still found him to be a bit of plot hole, he was still Twilight’s big brother and now a Kamen Rider. Not like she just couldn’t not help him.

“Alright, ready for a Look Up?” Sunset asked.

Twilight nodded. She stood at the center of her room and closed her eyes as she entered her meditative state.

*~*~*

“Okay, so where should we start?” Twilight asked.

--- Try fear, --- said Sunset.

“Look up: Fear.” Several bookshelves disappeared into the white void, leaving a hefty amount of shelves behind. “It’s too vague, there are mostly things about phobias, nightmares, and other things that cause fear.”

--- How about headdress? --- Sunset asked.

“Look up: headdress.” Many more bookshelves disappeared, and this time released single books from their shelves. But still, there were many, more than a hundred. “That was good, but we need something else.”

--- What about dark pool? Y’know, because of that oozy stuff that appeared around it, --- said Rainbow Dash.

“Let’s cross our fingers on this one. Look up: dark pool.”

The books began to filter at rapid speeds, until only one remained. Twilight jumped in glee as the book shined. The book was black and gold, with creepy lettering like that of some online creepypasta story. “Got it…oh…It’s the Terror Memory. Its power creates an absolute Terror Field, and in this field, it can induce mind numbing fear into anyone caught in it. It’s also corrosive, able to burn whatever gets caught in it by the wielder’s command, as well as act as teleportation through umbrakinesis.”

--- Uba what now? --- Rainbow asked.

--- It means the Dopant can teleport through shadows, or in this case, the shadowy energy that it creates with that Terror Field. --- Sunset answered.

“And something else called a ‘Terror Dragon’…Let’s hope we don’t see that. Okay, next one.”

After a few easy keywords, Twilight was able to pull up the next tome. This one shined and took on an earthen theme, with brown colors and tribal-like markings. Twilight opened the book and read aloud. “It’s the Claydoll Memory, it can utilize gravity to hover and as offensive energy blasts, but probably its most powerful trait is its ability to regenerate. Once hit with a powerful attack, it can shatter, and those pieces can reform back to normal.”

--- So, a tank and a caster, great. The Terror Dopant we might be able to beat…semi-easily, but that Claydoll will be something else, --- said Rainbow Dash.

--- Guess I’ll have to use the Shining Memory for that one, hopefully I can figure out a way around its regeneration, --- said Sunset.

*~*~*

Twilight exited the Infinite Library and sighed. “Unfortunately, we don’t know what they’re objective is.”

Rainbow grinned. “Well we don’t, but someone else does.”

It didn’t take a genius to understand what Rainbow Dash was talking about. Twilight knew it, but she still did not like it, she had to hack her brother’s police files, again. Although, Twilight was mulling an idea around, and now that she had both Rainbow and Sunset in the room, now would be as good a time as any.

“On that note, I do have a question for you two…” Twilight announced timidly.

“Twilight you don’t have to act so shy about it, just speak your mind,” said Sunset.

Twilight took in a deep breath and sighed. “I was wondering if we should consider……telling Shining Armor what we’re doing?”

Rainbow bolted to her feet and prepared to say something, only for Sunset to quickly place her hand on Rainbow’s shoulder and gently guided her back down to the bed to sit. “Go on, Twilight.”

“With Shiny as a Kamen Rider, our chances of protecting the city and collecting the other T2 Memories will increase, but neither Shining Armor nor the police force know what the Gaia Memories are fully capable of. With my ability of the Infinite Library, we can coordinate with the police force to mount attacks against the Dopant’s, and you two wouldn’t have to worry so much about coordinating with my brother during a fight since you’ll have the same intel. So……what do you think?” Twilight asked, awaiting a furious yell from both her friend and girlfriend.

Rainbow looked to Sunset, even though she knew the two were dating, there was no way Sunset would agree with a plan like that. The police were clear in that they viewed them as vigilantes, which they were, and seemed bent on taking them in if given the chance. Now with Shining Armor as a Rider, the chances of that happening were higher, but Rainbow was betting on the monsters taking top priority for Trigger.

After a moment to think, Sunset spoke, “I agree with part of that idea.”

“What?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“It would make fighting Dopants easier if we coordinated with Shining Armor as Trigger. But first, we’d have to see if he’d be willing to show a little trust to us as Unicorn and Nasca. To be honest, Twilight, telling him now the way things are, he’s more likely to arrest Rainbow and I rather than work with us,” said Sunset.

Twilight’s mind flashed back to the conversation she had with her brother, Sunset was right, Shining Armor would most likely take in Rainbow and Sunset. “I figured as much…At least you’re open to see if he can trust you at all.”

Rainbow shrugged. “If, and that’s a big IF, he’s willing to show us a little trust as Riders, then…we’ll see.”

At least it isn’t a no, Twilight thought.

The girls heard the sputtering of a motorcycle, and new immediately that Shining Armor had arrived. Twilight headed downstairs with Sunset, Rainbow, and Spike bringing up the rear. However, Rainbow paused put her hand on Sunset’s shoulder to stop her. Rainbow waved on for Spike to go ahead.

“What’s up?” Sunset asked.

“I just want to make sure you’re okay, I mean, you and Twilight,” said Rainbow.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “As far I know we are…why? Did Twilight say something?”

“No, no, just…I mean, with Shining Armor as a Kamen Rider and all…” Rainbow trailed off, not quite sure how to phrase her words.

Sunset smiled as she realized her friend’s concern. “We’re alright Dashie, don’t worry. Although it’s true I still have a bit of an urge to at least gut punch him for not getting Twilight away from the Key Dopant…I do believe he’d never do anything to harm her intentionally. Which makes this all the more awkward and frustrating, he just makes it so hard – and the fact that he thinks I abandoned her makes me angry! If for nothing else than to make him stop thinking that, I would tell him I was Unicorn! But I’ll just have to endure it, or maybe he’ll wise up.”

Rainbow Dash had a bit of a frown on her face. “It makes you think about freshman year again, right? How the old you acted. Sunset, you’re not that girl anymore, you never will be. Not with us around, and definitely not with Twilight by you.”

Sunset’s smile widened as she felt a warmth in her heart. “I can’t believe I used to think having friends was meaningless. You’re right, thanks, Rainbow.”

Rainbow rubbed the back of her head as she blushed a little. “Jeez, don’t get all sappy on me! I’m just trying to help a friend!”

“You’re such a Tsundere,” said Sunset.

“I am not a Tsundere! Jeez, you’re going to make me regret ever teaching you about anime,” said Rainbow.

Both girls got downstairs where they saw the Sparkle family embrace the eldest child, thankful that he was okay after the battle. Sunset admitted, she was relieved to see he wasn’t injured from the battle, despite her annoyance towards him, she would never wish harm on him, he was Twilight’s BBBFF. Rainbow Dash was the first to make her way down to the group and gave Shining Armor light punch on the arm.

“Good work out there, glad you’re okay,” said Rainbow.

“Thanks,” said Shining Armor with a smile. A smile that lasted all of ten seconds as his gaze drifted to the stairwell and saw Sunset Shimmer leaning against the wall. “Sunset Shimmer.”

The girl in question sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay, too.”

Rainbow could feel the tension between the two of them, it was thick enough to cut with her Engine Blade. “Okay, so I’m going to head back! My folks will probably have dinner ready, so…yeah, bye!”

The rainbow haired girl zipped passed Shining Armor, revved her bike, and left. Shining and Sunset regarded each other for a moment, Velvet coughed to break the tension. “Well, if you don’t mind, Sunset, would you like to stay for dinner then?”

“Eh, I don’t know, I have a left-over pizza that’s calling to me,” said Sunset.

Twilight placed her hands on her hips and gave her an indignant look. “Oh no, you have to eat a proper meal once in a while, not just junk food. You’re staying for dinner, and that’s that.”

“But–” Sunset began.

“No ‘buts’,” Twilight interrupted.

In the end, Sunset relented, making both parents chuckle at how their little girl put her foot down with Sunset. The whole time, Shining Armor watched how they acted. He knew from Cadance that Twilight had feelings for this girl, but at the same time, Shining Armor wasn’t sure about her. With what he learned about her from the teachers during that incident, and his own research, this girl was a definition of a Queen Bee Bad Girl. Yet, it seems like she had done a total one-eighty, becoming a girl that everybody looked up to. It just didn’t seem plausible, and then he learns that Twilight has a crush on her, and now the two are possibly dating or are already a couple? This was making his big brother instincts flare up.

Shining Armor just didn’t get it, what was it that Twilight saw in this girl? Was it the bad boy/girl effect here? Twilight was never into making friends at Crystal Prep, and from what she had told him, she was too focused on her work, and the other Crystal Preppers didn’t really treat her that well. Now at CHS, she was surrounded by friends, could it be that she was confusing these feelings of friendship for love and Sunset was just playing along? Whatever the case may be, Shining Armor was going to protect his sister.

Before they knew it, the sun was setting and dinner was served at the Sparkle house. Night Light sat at the head of the table, with Shining Armor and his mother, Velvet, sitting off to the right side of table, while Sunset and Twilight sat on the left. They exchanged pleasantries here and there, talked about each other’s day – minus the monster battle – and overall just enjoyed the company and meal.

“So, Sunset,” Shining began, “Senior year is coming up for you guys. I know what Twilight’s going to do, but, what’s your end goal?”

Sunset paused mid-bite of her food. She so wanted to shoot him a dirty look, but restrained herself, hiding behind a smile. “Well, I’ve have been giving it some thought lately. I have high marks in every subject, especially science and math.”

“That’s true, Sunset even beat me in a game of chess.” Twilight gave her girlfriend a competitive glare. “I’m still trying to get a rematch.”

“First rule of battle: knowing when to pick your battles. The problem before was you underestimated me, and fell into my trap at the last second, just as I planned,” said Sunset with a smug grin.

Shining Armor’s mind played out that sentence, his imagination showing a crying Twilight, on the ground, while Sunset Shimmer laughed manically and mockingly at the beaten girl as lightning and thunder went off in the background. Okay, that was too over the top.

Twilight bumped Sunset’s shoulder. “One would then say you’re afraid you’ll lose to me in a rematch then?”

Sunset smirked, and decided to go back to Shining’s question. “So, I don’t really know just yet. I figured I’d just go to college and find out more there, maybe become a researcher or a teacher?”

“That sounds wonderful, maybe you can go to the same college as Twilight. Canterlot University? They have the best programs for arts and sciences,” said Velvet.

Sunset looked to Twilight, and she could see the giddiness begin to bubble within her, and she had to admit, the idea of going to college together was really nice. They could develop their relationship even more by then. Provided that the Dopant problem is ended before then, they could go into the science business together.

“Mom, don’t put ideas in her head, I’m sure Sunset Shimmer has other plans, probably,” said Shining Armor.

The happy thought bubble was punctured by that sentence, but just as Sunset was about to say something, she stopped. Something felt off, she could feel her magic reacting, reaching out like an invisible sonar wave. The wave reached out beyond the table, beyond the four people and dog in this house. The wave went outside, and made her aware of something, or rather someone, standing there and looking at the house.

Normally that would not seem like anything to worry about, but in this case, that same magic sonar wave made her aware of a device in this person’s hands that radiated a familiar energy. When Sunset saw this person raise that device, and push it against her arm, Sunset sat up from her seat so fast she made the chair fall back.

“Sunset?” Twilight asked with worry.

“EVERYBODY GET DOWN!” Sunset ordered.

Sunset quickly pulled Twilight out of her seat and took her down to the floor just as an explosion went off at the front of the house. Wood and glass were thrown about as furniture was sent airborne and collided against the walls. Night Light and Velvet hit the deck along with Sunset and Twilight, but Shining Armor stood up, and summoned his T-Driver. Shining took out the Trigger Memory and pressed the button.

< TRIGGER! >

“HENSHIN!”

> TRIGGER! <

The azure blue electrical field surrounded Shining Armor, transforming him into Kamen Rider Trigger. Once the transformation was complete, Shining took out the Chrome Magnum and looked to his family as he said, “Stay down!”

Shining Armor ran out through the new entrance that was blown into his home, and pointed his blaster at the assailant who dared to attack his family. To his surprise, the one who attacked his home was the Claydoll Dopant from earlier today. The Dopant hovered in place as its arms were still pointed in the direction of Shining Armor and the house. Several people were exiting their homes after hearing the explosion, but stopped upon seeing the Dopant and Kamen Rider in a standoff.

Crap…there are too many people here to go into a full-on battle…Which is most likely why this thing decided to attack now¸ Shining Armor thought.

“What’s the matter officer? Afraid to shoot? Afraid you’ll miss?” The Claydoll Dopant mocked.

To answer the question, Trigger raised his blaster and fired three shots in quick succession. All three bolts, struck the Dopant dead center, making sparks explode from each impact. Trigger dashed forward, firing two more shots before closing in on the Claydoll Dopant, as he did, Trigger opened the bottom of the Chrome Magnum and pulled another Gaia Memory.

< KNIFE! >

|^| KNIFE! ARMED! |^|

The Chrome Mangum began to glow as its entire form shifted, no longer a blaster, but a bladed weapon. The barrel had become a seven-inch-long, chrome colored blade, with a blue, boxy guard, and black hilt. The Dopant tried to move back to put some distance between them, but Trigger managed to get in close and began fighting the Dopant. Trigger held the blade in a reverse-grip, slashing at the Dopant’s midsection and causing sparks to fly, he flipped it around and began slashing again, moving the dagger as if it were a paint brush upon a canvas.

The Claydoll Dopant focused its gravity energy into its leg thrusters and shot off into the air, it began to descend at a slow rate, but used this time to fire multiple shots at Trigger. The Kamen Rider readied to deflect with the Chrome Dagger, but realized that deflection now would make the orbs of gravity energy strike against the houses nearby. With gritted teeth, Shining Armor took a defensive stance and allowed the gravity shots to hit him.

Explosions went off around him, as Shining Armor braced against the damage. Once the Claydoll Dopant landed, she pointed her left arm at Trigger, and kept another one trained on his home. The Dopant glanced to her right and saw that Trigger’s family was trying to exit their damaged home, but stopped when they saw the glowing arm cannon trained on them.

“Well I won’t say this was completely easy, but it went as planned,” said the Claydoll.

At the entrance to the house, Sunset could see how bad this situation was. Shining Armor was going to get blasted repeatedly, so long as they were there being held hostage. If only she could transform and fight, but leaving now would look really bad, and there wasn’t any way for her to make an excuse to leave, especially not with the Claydoll Dopant pointing a cannon at them.

“Leave them out of this!” Trigger ordered.

“You’re not really in any position to give orders, officer. Perhaps you need a reminder.” The Claydoll Dopant glanced to each of the four people across from her until her eyes rested on Twilight. “Looks like the nerd gets the first shot!”

Twilight’s eyes widened with fear, while Sunset’s narrowed with fury. The sphere fired from the cannon arm of the Claydoll Dopant. A few seconds before the sphere hit, Sunset grabbed Twilight and threw her to the side, Sunset closed her eyes and then gritted her teeth. This is going to hurt…

The sphere of graviton energy struck Sunset Shimmer, the fiery haired screamed in pain as she and the sphere flew into the back of the house, slamming against a shed. Sunset felt like all the bones in her body had been broken, but thankfully the sphere didn’t explode. Her body hurt all over, even her eyeballs, and to top it all off she was buried under a lot of wood, metal, and an assortment of lawn care products and power tools.

Well, Shimmer, good job. You managed to get away from everybody so you can transform…Problem now is… I’m buried and in a lot of pain right now…

While Sunset tried to figure out a way out of this, she began to hear something clearing the debris. After a few seconds, Sunset managed to see all three mech-animals and Spike taking away pieces of the debris as quickly as they could. Once they had cleared enough debris away, Spike quickly went to Sunset and asked, “Are you alright?!”

“Not so much no, but that’s for another day.” Sunset tried to get up, but thought against it for now. “This is going hurt.” Sunset called on her Uni-Driver, groaning in pain as she managed to put it on her waist. Once that was done, she pulled out both the Unicorn and Shining Memories.

< UNICORN! >

< SHINING! >

“Hen…shin!”

> UNICORN! <

> SHINING! <

A bright flash of gold and turquoise light enveloped Sunset, making Spike and the mech-animals back away to watch the transformation. The flash of light was then snuffed out, and Sunset Shimmer disappeared.

***______________***

Twilight stared at the direction that Sunset was blasted, her parents also had the same expression on their faces as well. Trigger was shocked, having watched Sunset get blasted away like that, and saving Twilight in the process. The azure blue Kamen Rider took a step forward, but the Claydoll wasn’t having any of that.

“One more step, officer, and I’ll for sure hit that nerd girl!” she warned.

Velvet and Night Light moved towards their daughter and held her close, both to protect her and to prevent her from running after where Sunset went. Twilight’s eyes began to shed tears as quiet sobs were let out, she couldn’t do anything to stop this, she just froze and Sunset saved her.

Just then, a flash of golden light appeared before the Claydoll Dopant, and in the next moment, she felt a strong kick to her gut and was sent flying down the street. Trigger looked to who it was and saw Unicorn Shining Day. Twilight and her parents glanced at the golden Rider, with Twilight’s expression changing to one of relief at seeing Sunset okay.

“I don’t have time to deal with you properly, so let’s make this quick!” Unicorn stated as she hit the button on her side once.

\ HONEST! /

Orange energy coated both of Unicorn’s fists, with a flash of turquoise light, Unicorn teleported right behind the Claydoll Dopant. The Dopant was still flying, but Unicorn had appeared in the intercept path and thrust both fists out, making contact with the Claydoll Dopant’s back.

“Bunker Buster!”

A shockwave of power blasted through the Dopant, making cracks appear all around its body until it completely shattered apart into pieces. Unicorn quickly hit the left hip port button six times.

\\\\\\ MAGIC! //////

A purple aura appeared around Unicorn’s horn, combined with her turquoise aura. With a telekinetic spell, she gathered all the pieces of the Dopant, keeping them from coming back together. With a flick of her wrist, all the pieces disappeared in a flash of light. The battle was over.

Trigger ran up to Unicorn as she walked towards the Sparkle family, and Trigger asked, “What did you do?!”

“That Dopant is called the Claydoll. It’s special power, among other things, is regeneration. I haven’t come up with a proper plan, so I just gathered all the pieces and threw her into the outskirts of the city, far, far into the outskirts.” Unicorn knew she had to make the most of her time as Shining Day as she walked up to the house. “Mister and Misses Sparkle, and Twilight, right?” Twilight nodded, playing along. “Move into the street please.”
Unicorn struck button three times.

\\\ GENEROUS! ///

“Art of Mending!”

A white glow of energy passed over the entire area, and before everyone’s eyes it was as if time was being reversed as all the damage done by the Claydoll Dopant was instantly fixed, the pieces falling back into place like a puzzle. After a minute of the mending spell, Unicorn ceased and the Shining Memory power ended, returning her to default form.

Trigger walked up to the young Kamen Rider, rubbing the back of his helmet. “Um…thanks for helping us out, me and family.”

“Now do you understand why we keep our faces hidden?” Unicorn asked. “Because things like this happen, because you are a target.”

Trigger went silent as he hung his head.

Unicorn sighed. “But no matter what your stance on me and Nasca is, we won’t let anything happen to your family.”

With those words, Unicorn teleported away. She then reappeared back behind the house, the shed was still in disarray, Sunset made sure to keep it like that for her alibi. Sunset quickly used her telekinetic magic to move the debris up, she laid back down in the relative position she was in before and placed the debris on herself as carefully as possible, once that was done, Sunset changed back, leaving enough wiggle room to take out the Unicorn Memory and slip it into her pocket.

The Shining Memory seemed to have accelerated her healing factor, because now she didn’t feel that much pain compared to when she first was under the debris. Now Sunset just needed to wait until she was found. Thankfully, Sunset did not have to wait long as the barks of Spike made her aware that everybody was approaching.

Trigger carefully took off the debris one piece at a time. After a minute of digging, Sunset was able to see all the worried – semi-worried in Twilight’s case – faces of the Sparkle family.

“Sunset, how do you feel?” Twilight asked with concern heavy in her voice.

“I feel as if I got ran over by a tank, getting pushed by a speeding locomotive, carrying cars full of anvils…other than that, I don’t think anything’s broken,” said Sunset.

Trigger released his transformation, returning to his normal form. Shining Armor checked Sunset over to see if there were any signs of her bleeding from a puncture wound of any kind. When he was sure he couldn’t see anything bleeding, and from the numerous complaints from Sunset that she was fine, Shining Armor sighed in relief.

“That was the craziest thing, I have ever seen anyone do, ever! You could’ve been killed! You’re damn lucky that that thing didn’t blow up in your face when you got hit! Or worse, have gotten hurt from the nails or tools in the shed!” Shining Armor calmed down a little and his features softened. “And with that said…thank you, for saving Twily.”

Sunset gave a small smile to the older brother, and with some help, they managed to get Sunset over to the ambulance that was awaiting them, along with several other cop cars. Once the group reached the other officers and ambulance, Spearhead ran up to Shining Armor and whispered something to him. His eyes widened with surprise as he gave a loud “WHAT?!”

Shining Armor pushed past the mob of officers and quickly mounted his bike, taking off in the direction of downtown Canterlot.

Twilight and Sunset glanced to each other, a single though passed throughT their minds at the same time. This can’t be good.

***______________***

Meanwhile, at PhoenEXE Corp. Clear Skies had waltzed into the building, she glanced about the area, feeling good that the security was felled so easily. The armed guards were lying all about the floor, convulsing or curled up into a fetial position as they mumbled something, consumed by the power of her Terror Field. She continued to walk about, figuring out where she needed to go. Unfortunately, Open Skies didn’t tell them about where exactly he found the Gaia Memories, which was why they needed Starlight Glimmer, only she knew where the Gaia Memories were. Well, her and possibly another.

< ICEAGE! >

< HEAT! >

Clear Skies stopped walking and watched as a fiery orange light flashed behind her, and a blue light flashed ahead of her. The Heat and Iceage Dopants emerged, both staring down the Terror Dopant.

“I wondered when the attack dogs would be let loose,” said Clear Skies.

“You tried to kill Starlight Glimmer, that we can’t allow,” said Double Diamond.

“Why are you after her?” Sugar Belle asked.

The Terror Dopant laughed at that question. “Oh, you know why! Mostly because I want to kill him!” Clear Skies pointed towards the Iceage Dopant. “And because I want to know how this company is making these Gaia Memories, honestly, all this power is wasted being used by a bunch of kids.”

“You don’t know what Starlight wants to accomplish, but I’ll tell you one thing! It’s definitely better than whatever criminally stupid plan that you want to do!” The Heat Dopant stated.

Terror growled and unleashed the Terror Field, making both Dopants jump back and away. Luckily, they weren’t limited to close combat. Heat and Iceage thrust their hands forward and fired beams of orange-red flames and cryo energy. Terror raised a shield of the dark energy ooze, protecting herself from the dual attack. She struggled a bit, she could tell that these two were stronger somehow, making her wonder if they too had gold type Gaia Memories.

Terror wrapped herself in the dark ooze and shot up into the ceiling, piercing through several floors before stopping at the tenth floor. Heat rocketed up the hole by igniting her feet, while Iceage created a pillar of ice to rise up behind Heat. Both Dopants were on the same floor, but soon realized that Terror had laid a trap. The Terror Field was surrounding them, and Iceage quickly created another pillar of ice to keep from touching the fear inducing substance.

Heat managed to keep airborne, and with this advantage began to unleash a torrent of flames on the dark energy ooze, trying to burn it away. While this seemed to work, it did not deter the ooze from still trying to get to them, with some of it rising up and creating hydra monster heads that snapped at the T2 Dopants. Iceage created buffeting blizzard winds to keep the Terror Hydra Heads from getting close to them.

Terror was busy looking through offices, even from a distance she was keeping the Terror Field up and working. Clear Skies’ plan was so far working, while Sunflower kept the new Kamen Rider busy by attacking his home, and hopefully that would draw the attention of the other two Riders, it would allow Clear Skies to poke around the inside of the building. However, she knew she couldn’t stay long. Despite her fending off both guard Dopants, she didn’t want to risk getting overwhelmed if there were more, not without Sunflower providing backup.

Clear Skies growled with frustration and summoned more of her Terror Field to punch another hole through many more floors. This time she decided to go to the very top, if anything there should be a clue in the boss’ office. Terror busted through the marble floor and saw two robot secretaries. The robots’ eyes shined red as their arms morphed into machine guns, but Clear Skies released her Terror Field and created a barrier around herself, and with that same field, she reached out to both of the robots and crushed them like cheap tin cans.

Terror landed on the floor and kicked open the doors, as she entered, she noticed someone sitting in the desk.

< BIRD! >

A flash of red light went off, and the chair spun around to reveal the Bird Dopant. She stood up and began flexing her harpy wings and cracking her neck free of its kinks. “Finally, you got up her, I was starting to think they took you out and forgot to tell me! A-holes probably would leave me here all night, but you’re here, so let’s have some fun!”

Terror growled again and launched the Terror Filed, but Night Glider flew up. The high ceiling provided her with a good amount of space to fly, as well as to attack. Night Glider flapped her wings forward, letting several quills loose. Those quills energized until they became a shower of blue lasers that cascaded over the Terror Dopant. Terror managed to create another shield, but not much else as the Bird Dopant kept bombarding her with several more energy quills. Unfortunately, this divided her attention as she felt her hold on the other Terror Field slip, and no doubt the other two Dopants would be coming for her soon.

“What’s the matter?! Why are just playing defense?! If you don’t do something, my teammates will be here soon!”

And right on cue, the elevator dinged and Heat and Iceage exited. Terror looked behind her, and saw that she was now outnumbered.

“You’re better off surrendering, I’ll make your end quick and painless,” said Double Diamond.

Terror looked between the Dopant attacking her, and the two about to attack. There was only one option left to her now.

***________________***

Trigger was peeling down the road at super speed on his bike. The PhoenEXE Corp. building was coming into view, but as Trigger got closer, he noticed a strange glow coming from the top floor. Suddenly, an explosion went off, sending chunks of mortar glass, and rebar flying from the fifty-story-tall building. Trigger came to a halt as he witnessed a beast come plowing through the hole it created.

Its body was a deep, royal blue, with patches of a rusty red color long its wings, claws, and tail. The monster had silver eyes that gleamed in the lights of the city, and a wide mouth full of razor sharp teeth. Upon the back of this creature, Trigger could spot the Terror Dopant from before. The Terror Dragon began to flee, heading down the opposite street.

“Oh no, you’re not getting away twice!” Trigger stated as he took out the Chrome Magnum and a new Gaia Memory.

< SNIPER! >

|^| SNIPER! ARMED! |^|

The blaster glowed and changed as it elongated, when the light faded, Trigger’s right arm had become a long barrel sniper rifle. The barrel was chrome colored, with a square shaped muzzle; the shoulder pauldron had a long magazine loaded, and from the middle of the forearm was a scope that rotated to allow Trigger to aim. Trigger dismounted his bike and took a stance. The pile stakes on the back of his calves pointed out and fired, anchoring him to the asphalt.

The scope zoomed in on the Terror Dragon, locking onto one of its wings. The muzzle glowed as energy built up, and in the next second, a bolt was fired. The force generated made Trigger skid back a few inches, but thanks to the pile stakes, he was kept from being thrown onto his back.

The blue plasma bolt sailed through the night sky, whizzing by so fast that by the time the Terror Dopant realized a shot was fired, it was too late. The blot struck the Terror Dragon in the right wing, making it roar in pain as it began to descend rapidly down to the street. Shining Armor mounted his bike after deactivating the Sniper Arms and sped towards the downed dragon.

Upon arrival, the Terror Dragon lashed out with its tail. Trigger immediately jumped off of his bike as the whip-like tail slashed through the bike. The Kamen Rider of the Law landed on his feet and pulled out his blaster, firing several bolts at the monstrosity. The creature roared at Trigger and swiped with its claws; Trigger narrowly dodged each attack, ducking at the last second as the claws gouged the street and then the parked cars.

All the while, the Terror Dopant stood there, its headdress having turned completely black, and now looking around as if expecting another attack. Thankfully, at least for the Terror Dopant, a familiar figure jetted towards her. When the figure got close, it was revealed to be the Claydoll Dopant.

“Sorry, I’m late!” Claydoll stated.

“What took you so long?! I thought you would’ve had this guy’s family hostage!” Terror asked.

“I did, but Unicorn showed up, shattered me, and then made me disappear to the outskirts of the city! I had to gather all my pieces together! But now that I’m here, let’s take him down!”

Claydoll wasted no time in firing a volley of graviton spheres at Trigger. Now with the added trouble of dodging the spheres, Trigger was unable to dodge the incoming swipe of the Terror Dragon. The giant claw threw him into the side of a building, but before he could hit the ground, the Dragon raised its claw and pressed on Trigger, pinning him to the wall.

“At least we’ll have one less Kamen Rider to deal with!” Terror stated.

“Fat chance of that happening!”

Soaring down from the sky, Kamen Rider Nasca descended with her Nasca Blade, cutting the Terror Dragon’s arm and making it release Trigger as it stumbled backward. The roar of a motorcycle echoed down the street as Kamen Rider Unicorn rode in, already transformed into Unicorn Empress. Unicorn dismounted her bike and pressed the Mimetic Drive port twice.

\\ KNIGHTS! //

The pink construct Knights appeared before her, and with a wave of Unicorn’s hand, charged forward for the assault. The Terror Dragon backed up as the construct Knights began slashing at the beast, herding it back and away from Trigger. Nasca landed next to Trigger and helped him up as Unicorn walked over to him.

“You still breathing?” Nasca.

“Yes, but I’m still trying to determine if it’s worth it after that,” said Trigger.

“You’ll live, for now, let’s focus on taking these two down!” Unicorn stated.

\ PAWNS! /

\\\\ ROOKS! ////

Eight armor clad soldiers appeared behind the two Dopants, along with two large shield bearers blocking the path. The Terror Dopant, Terror Dragon, and Claydoll glanced about, seeing that they were now completely surrounded. Terror growled at this development as her fists tightened. She then glanced to Claydoll and said, “Time for Plan B.”

“Guess we really don’t have any other choice do we, Clear?”[/b]

The Terror Dragon began to glow, changing into pure energy and zipping into Terror’s headdress, making it regain its blue color. Terror raised her right hand up slowly, making the Kamen Riders tense and ready to attack. “We’re willing to surrender, but we want to make a deal!”

All three Riders glanced to each other in confusion.

“What makes you think we’ll make a deal with you guys?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Excuse me, she wasn’t talking to you. She was talking to the only Rider with a badge! We have information as to where the Gaia Memories are being produced, and who is making them!” Claydoll stated.

Trigger looked at them, his eyes narrowing behind his helm. “You know who’s making them, and yet you have them. How do we know you two aren’t the ones making them?”

Terror stepped forward. “Because I was just attacked by the goon squad of the ones who are, and they were using those fancy looking Memories like you Riders, except theirs turned them into monsters like us!”

Unicorn glanced to Trigger. “She may be right, Nasca and I have deduced that someone is in fact manufacturing these devices. If they’re telling the truth, we could end this now.”

Trigger took a moment to think about this, and after a minute he said, “Power down, and get on the ground with your hands behind your head. I’ll take this info to the DA and we’ll see what – if any – deal you can get.”

“Sorry, but there will be no deals made.” All five heard this voice, turning towards one of the adjacent buildings as they saw the evil Kamen Rider Equal standing at the edge of the rooftop. “You two stole my precious Memories, I can’t abide that. And since it was my property that was stolen, I believe their punishment is left up to me!”

Equal jumped into the air, did a backflip, and landed with perfect grace on the road. All parties present went into defensive stances, prepared to do battle with Equal. Equal regarded both factions with the same attention that one gave to a fly, something to be squashed. The dark Rider moved one of the arrow marks into her buckle, activating her power.

| LESS THAN: < |

The crystal orbs and facets of Equal’s armor began to shine, radiating a blue glow as a field as created. Claydoll fired its graviton spheres, but when the spheres reached the field, they began to shrink at a rapid pace until they were the size of marbles, and fizzled out by the time they reached the actual armor.

“My Reduction Field lessens any and all damage dealt to me, either physical or energy based. But it also has another effect…” Equal dashed towards the Dopants, and in one swift motion, caught Claydoll by the throat and threw her into the side of a building, and followed up by pinning her there. “It also reduces the effectiveness of any abilities you may possess, in other words, your regeneration.”

Claydoll’s face couldn’t make the expression, but Sunflower on the inside was starting to panic. Terror unleashed a tidal wave of dark energy ooze at Equal as she shouted, “LET HER GO!” Equal didn’t move as the tidal wave approached, but the Terror Field didn’t touch her, as if it was being completely erased.

Equal glanced over her shoulder, her compound eyes glowing. “I haven’t forgotten about you, but first…” Equal pressed the arrow sign once.

| NULLIFY! |

Equal took her claw tipped left hand and shoved it through Claydoll, the Dopant gasped as a blue light shined over its body, and in the next second she went limp. Equal removed her claw hand, taking out a green orb and crushed it. “No more regeneration for you.”

The dark Rider picked up Claydoll by the throat and tossed her like a rag doll at Terror. Terror dispelled her field and quickly caught her partner, asking repeatedly if she was alright. Equal removed the Less Than arrow and replaced it with the arrow from her left side and then pressing on it once.

| GREATER THAN: < |

| INTENSIFY! |

Equal took out the Equal Memory and placed into her right hip port and pressed the button on the side.

>} EQUAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The blue crystals shined red as both of Equal’s feet glowed with intense power. The dark Rider dashed forward at blinding speed, closing the gap between them.

“Great Equalizer!”

Equal struck Terror in the gut with her right foot, creating as shockwave of crimson energy, along with a stream of that same energy shooting out through her back. Claydoll rose to attack, but Equal’s other foot found its home in the other Dopant’s gut, creating the same shock wave and stream of energy. Sparks were released from their bodies as micro explosions went off all over them, and from the point of impact, a long stream of sparks flew out as is if they were bleeding.

Both Dopants fell to their knees and then fell backwards, when their bodies hit the ground, two explosions went off, silhouetting Kamen Rider Equal in the burning flames as her eyes glowed red. On the ground, Clear Skies and Sunflower laid there motionless, the Terror and Claydoll Memories rose from their bodies and upon hitting the pavement, shattered like fragile glass.

Equal looked upon both them, but noticed as that they were breathing, if not just barely. The dark Rider clicked her tongue at this revelation. “Jeez, you two are stubborn insects aren’t you. No matter, I’ll finish it.”

As Equal raised her right hand, several blue bolts hit her in the back, causing her to stumble forward one step. Equal looked over her shoulder and saw that Trigger was ready to fire.

< ACCEL! >

< JOKER! >

{< ACCEL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

{< JOKER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Nasca was ablaze with red fire, and from it she emerged as Nasca Full Throttle, and from the violet light surrounding Unicorn, she had changed into Unicorn Ace High. Nasca’s bike charged in, transforming into its Engine Blade form and flying into Nasca’s right hand as all three Kamen Riders prepared to face Equal.

“You’re not seriously going to fight me, are you?” Equal asked.

“Depends, are you going to give up?” Nasca asked.

“What do you think?”

“There’s your answer!”

Nasca charged ahead, swinging down with her Engine Blade. Equal summoned her Staff of Sameness and with it blocked Nasca’s attack, the interception caused a powerful shockwave that kicked up dust and pebbles that flew off in every direction. Nasca revved up the blade, driving the needle into the red zone.

>>>> SPEED OF HEAT! <<<<

The sword blade ignited with burning flames, making Equal push Nasca back. The air resonated with the powerful clangs of their weapons, flame embers and sparks flew from each blocked blow, with Equal keeping a wide berth between them thanks to the length of her weapon. However, Unicorn teleported behind her and struck out with a flying roundhouse kick. Equal raised her right forearm, blocking the kick before it could make contact with her head.

At the same time, Nasca swung her Engine Blade. Equal saw this and countered with her staff. She was being pressed from the left and right by the two Riders, and that left her wide open. Trigger inserted the Trigger Memory into the Chrome Magnum, charging it up.

>} TRIGGER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“CHROME BUSTER!”

A column sized beam of light roared straight towards them. Nasca and Unicorn broke off and prepared to attack.

>} ACCEL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

>} JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Nasca’s Engine Blade blazed up as she shot a burning stream of plasma flames at Equal. Unicorn raised her hands up over her head, putting them together into a prayer position. When she separated them, dozens of energy orbs appeared and took the form of a playing card. With a whisk of her hands, the cards flew around Unicorn and zoomed straight for Equal.

“Inferno Streak!”

“Mad Shuffle!”

Equal struck the butt of her Staff of Sameness against the ground, creating a crimson barrier that surrounded her just as the three attacks converged on her. Nasca, Trigger, and Unicorn kept the stream of attacks going, not stopping until they broke through Equal’s barrier and stopped her. The dark Rider glanced about, and grunted as she saw that this was not boding well for her. With another strike against the pavement from her staff, the sphere grew until it was the size of a sport SUV. The sphere then exploded, cancelling out all three Riders’ attacks at the same time.

When the dust finally settled, they realized that Equal had disappeared. Forgoing their pursuit, all three rushed to the side of the two downed women. Trigger disengaged his armor, returning to normal as he knelt down and checked to see if they were breathing, then put two fingers to their carotid artery and felt a faint pulse.

“They’re alive, but barely.” Shining Armor looked up to Unicorn. “Can you do that thing you did to get us to a hospital like last time?!”

“Yeah, it’ll be easier now with my current form,” said Unicorn. “Nasca, do you mind heading back for now?”

“No problem, I’ll scout the area to make sure that Equal’s gone,” said Nasca.

“Be careful.”

Unicorn placed her hand on Shining Armor’s back, at the same time, Shining Armor placed one hand on Sunflower’s hand and another on Clear Skies’ hand. Unicorn’s horn lit up with dual turquoise and violet light, and in flash, all four of them had teleported away. Nasca entered her bike form and began patrolling the area. Not knowing that Equal had returned to her perch up in PhoenEXE Corp. as she looked down at the city.

The dark Rider turned around and spotted her lieutenants, still in Dopant form as they nodded to her.

***________________***

Case Report: Terror & Claydoll Dopant

As much as I want to call this a win, it really isn’t. The Terror and Claydoll Dopants, now known as Clear Skies and Sunflower, are currently in the hospital in the ICU. The injuries they received from Equal were bad and had put them into a coma……It scares me, honestly.

This Kamen Rider Equal, she’s ruthless. If she’s really behind the creation of the T1s and chasing down the T2s, then chances are she’s working with the Dopants who are collecting them, it may not be too far of a stretch to say that she may be the one leading them.

When I think about how much damage they sustained, and can’t help but worry more for Sunset and Rainbow Dash, if Equal turned that power and ruthlessness onto them…

Getting off topic…It was later verified that Open Skies was a peddler of the Gaia Memories, and possibly the one who gave Spoiled Rich her Gaia Memory. Now that I think about it, he may’ve been connected to Clover’s Taboo Memory as well. Open Skies and Clear Skies are actually related, cousins in fact, but beyond that there isn’t much other information.

The PhoenEXE Corp. building was attacked at the same time my family was, Shining Armor said that the police were being funded by a corporation, after today, I’m starting to believe that PhoenEXE is the one responsible for creating Shining Armor’s Driver, and if that’s the case, it would make sense that the Dopants attacked them, trying to cripple the company that’s assisting the suppression of their Dopant creation business.

Well, all of this is speculation, so long Clear Skies and Sunflower remain in their comatose states, we’ll never know their true motives.

On a lighter note, I think Shiny may be opening up to Sunset more, and hopefully he’ll begin to trust her. As far as Unicorn…that’s still iffy.

Twilight shut her computer, locking the case files in a securely encrypted folder in her computer, nothing short of another genius like herself could hack her files. At that moment, Sunset walked into her room, carrying a couple of soda drinks. Sunset sat on the edge of the bed next to Twilight, and after taking a sip of her soda, Twilight punched Sunset in the arm.

“Ow! I said I was sorry,” said Sunset.

“I’m still mad at you for taking such a risk! Even with your healing factor, you had no idea that that blast would’ve exploded in your face, or burned you into nothing! I know I said that Claydoll used gravitons, but for all I knew they were superheated!” Twilight scolded.

Sunset lightly rubbed the spot where her girlfriend hit her, and showed an apologetic smile. “I know it was reckless, but, Twilight, I don’t ever want to see you hurt again….” A frown appeared in place of her smile. “When I saw you in that hospital bed, and when they had you on oxygen…I just never want to see that happen to you, not again.”

Twilight glanced over to her girlfriend, a look of understanding spread across her face. “I understand, I never want to be in that position again. But, Sunset, that doesn’t mean I want to see you in that state, either. I know you’re tougher and stronger than most, and that you can heal faster, but you don’t need to take a bullet for me if it’s possible to avoid it for both us.”

Sunset put down her drink and brought Twilight into a one-armed hug. “I get it, but you have to admit, it did provide me with a way to transform and help out Shining Armor. Soooo we can chalk it up to mad tactical genius?”

Twilight smirked and rolled her eyes. “Fine, but the next time that happens, I expect better than you just putting yourself in the line of fire, Ms. Mad Tactical Genius.”

“Well, I may require some ‘incentive’ to make that happen,” said Sunset.

Twilight blushed, she had an idea what Sunset meant by “incentive”. Both girls gazed into each other’s eyes as they slowly moved towards each other, eyes drooping, guided only by their instincts as they leaned in to kiss each other.

“Hey, Twily, I was wondering if you wanted to go and…check…out…” Shining Armor’s mind trailed off as he walked in on his little sister and Sunset Shimmer paused, their lips mere inches from touching each other. “I KNEW IT!”

Sunset and Twilight’s faces became beat red, and immediately Twilight shot to her feet and glared at her big brother. “SHINING FRANCIS ARMOR! I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO KNOCK BEFORE ENTERING!”

M: My other self / Welcome to Earth

View Online

Starlight Glimmer tip hoofed through the castle, checking around every corner as she made her way closer and closer to the library. Twilight and the rest of the group had gone on out for a friendship emergency mission, and left Starlight alone in the castle, well not totally alone, Spike was still here. Trixie was out of town as well, performing one of her magic shows in another town for a couple of days, and Maud was off spelunking in the mountains.

As things stood, Starlight was utterly bored, she had practiced all her magic spells for the last couple of days. Well, all the ones that wouldn’t result in major property damage anyway, and even went over past friendship lessons learned. It was times like this she missed Sunset Shimmer, they got along great.

Starlight made it to the entrance of the library, doing an about face as she closed the doors, making sure that nopony had seen her. She walked over to the portal and worked the overcomplicated piece of machinery, contemplating if she should message Sunset first before going through the portal? Technically she wanted to surprise her, but considering the form she might take once on the other side, Starlight believed messaging her friend would be better.

“What are you doing, Starlight?”

The lilac mare practically jumped out of her fur, whirling around with wide eyes. Sitting in the chair was Spike, a pile of comic books stacked on his right side and one held in his claws, his gaze fell on Starlight as he arched his brow waiting for an answer.

“Oh, uh, Spike! I-I didn’t see you there! H-How long have you been here?” Starlight asked nervously.

“I came to read my comics. Usually I do that in my room, but I thought I’d change up my reading venue. So, to answer your question, pretty much for the last two hours or so. But I think the better question is: what are you going to do with that portal machine?”

Starlight rubbed the back of her head, she was practically busted, and Spike obviously saw her sneaky way of entering the room and headed straight for the portal. Damn focused tunnel vision. “Okay, you caught me, I was going to go visit the other world, where Sunset lives.”

Spike put down the comic and walked towards Starlight. “Does Sunset Shimmer know you’re coming to see her?”

“No…I was going to surprise her,” said Starlight.

“Starlight that’s dangerous! First off: you’ve never been to that world, it completely changes your body, it took Twilight a while to figure out how to walk and use her claws – er – hands,” said Spike. “And second: you don’t exactly know where she lives.”

“Well, do you?” Starlight asked.

“Actually, no, I only know where that world’s Pinkie Pie and Applejack live.”

Starlight waved off Spike’s concern. “Then what’s the problem? Sunset Shimmer’s lived there for years, and she looks like she got a handle on the ‘hands’ thing. She’s smart and determined, just like me.”

“So is Twilight, and she still writes with her mouth when she’s over there.”

“Well what do you expect? Sunset said they have no horns, so some sloppy mouthwriting is understandable,” said Starlight.

Spike face palmed himself, Starlight was in for a rude awakening when she got there. “At least send a message with the journal.”

“You know you can come with me, you don’t have to stay here all alone,” said Starlight, feeling a little bad about excluding Spike from a trip to the other dimension.

“Thanks, but somepony’s gotta stay behind and watch the portal. Can’t have the thing on all day, no telling who might stumble through, and then that’s a headache and a half that I don’t want from Twilight,” said Spike.

Starlight relented to the young drake, wrapping the journal in her aura and bringing it down from its perch atop the machine. She placed on the table at the center of the room and took up a quill as she wrote.

Dear Sunset Shimmer

It’s me Starlight! Hey, I know this is kind of last minute, but…is it possible for me to come over and hang out in your world?

I honestly have nothing to do here, and I am sooooo, bored! I don’t know how busy you are, but please tell I can come over. I promise to do exactly as you say while I’m there.

I’ll be waiting for your response

Starlight put down the quill pen and stared at the adjacent blank page, waiting for Sunset to respond to her. Spike looked from Starlight and back to the journal, and asked, “What are you going to do if she doesn’t respond? She may not even be in the city for all we know.”

Starlight’s ears folded against her head. She hadn’t really considered that. Sunset could have gone out of town to some beach somewhere, or to another city like Manehattan or Las Pegasus for a vacation. Ugh, but it might still be okay, she thought, Sunset may have left the journal with one of her world’s counterparts, like Twilight, Rarity, Fluttershy, or Applejack.

Thankfully, Starlight’s prayers were answered when the tome glowed and words appeared on the blank page in response.

Hey Starlight.

So, you want a vaca in another dimension, you sure about that? I totally don’t have a problem with it, but it may not be all that exciting for you over here.

Starlight took the quill in her magic and responded.

Are you kidding? That whole world is going to be exciting to me! And it honestly won’t be for too long.

Does Princess Twilight know you’re coming over?

……Not exactly, she’s away. On a friendship emergency. All the girls are.

Fine, but when you’re over here, you stick by me. Okay?

Like tree sap! Thank you!

I’ll be at the statue in ten minutes, if I’m not there just sit down in front of the statue and don’t go anywhere.

Starlight hopped around like a giddy schoolfilly, she was going to go to another dimension, and see new things, and be in a completely alien body. That’s when her giddiness ceased as she remembered something important. “Oh, horse feathers, I won’t have my horn, and no magic.”

“Yep, Twilight learned that the hard way, and I figure Sunset Shimmer did too.” Spike watched as Starlight began pulling books from the shelves, her eyes roving over each volume as she saw her scrunching her face in contemplation. “What are you doing?”

“You’ll see~”

***______________________***

Sunset Shimmer arrived back at the quad in front of CHS. It was strange seeing the school completely vacant of cars; the stillness of a place devoid of any activity. Sunset had an arrived a little earlier than she expected and had about five minutes before the portal opened.

Five minutes came and went, and when Sunset checked her phone she realized she had been waiting ten minutes herself. A worried expression came over Sunset as she reached into her bag to send a message through her journal, but then the marble surface of the statue began to ripple. Sunset quickly put her journal away and waited near the entrance.

Soon a figure stumbled forward out of the portal, Sunset reached out to grab her, but the forward stumbling was so quick that it managed to knock her onto her back, with her visitor on top of her. Sunset groaned as she looked up, watching the girl before her prop herself up on hands. The girl before her had a lilac complexion, with violet eyes, and purple hair with a sky-blue streak running through it. Despite the transformation, Sunset could recognize this girl anywhere.

“Starlight Glimmer,” said Sunset.

Starlight shook her head, her mind still a bit off kilter from her first time passing through the portal. Once she looked down, she saw the familiar fiery hair and aquamarine eyes. “Sunset Shimmer?”

“Eyep.”

“Wow, you really do look different here!” Starlight maneuvered her new appendages around and felt a strange, warm, squishy sensation coming from her newly changed hoof. Starlight looked down and found that her hoof – well hand – was squeezing something on Sunset’s chest. “What is this?”

Sunset’s eye twitched as she held back the urge to swat Starlight’s hand away. “Depends, you mean the thing that’s replaced your hoof, or what you’re currently groping right now?”

“Both actually.”

“To answer your first question, that is your hand, the wiggly things are called ‘fingers’. And what you’re squeezing right now is my breast – more colloquially known in Equestria, as my teat!” Sunset informed with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

Starlight’s face turned red as she quickly released her hold and stood up quickly, only to find herself off balance due to her new center of gravity. Sunset sprang to her feet as well, catching the mare turned human before she could fall and hit her head. Carefully, Sunset helped Starlight adjust to her new standing position, allowing Starlight to get her footing. The new arrival stared at her hands, flexing the fingers and wiggling them. Sunset noticed a look of both curiosity and slight disgust at looking at the dangly things, a look that she herself had when first entering this world and realizing her hooves were gone.

Sunset took a moment to exam Starlight’s appearance. A pink beanie with white stars, a leather vest, ripped gray jean pants, seagreen shirt, and a wrist watch, an accessory that Sunset felt annoyed that the portal gave Starlight a handy device while all she got was a leather jacket, boots, a blouse, and a skirt. While Sunset was reminiscing, she failed to notice that Starlight was now groping her own, ahem, assets.

The fiery haired girl finally did notice and blurted out, “What are you doing?!”

“Wow, you weren’t kidding, they really are on my chest now……Sunset, did I get pregnant on the way here?” Starlight asked.

“What?! No! Why are you asking me that?!” Sunset face was become redder by the second.

“Because they’re a bigger, and normally they don’t get this big unless a mare’s preparing to nurse a foal.”

Sunset quickly grabbed Starlight by the wrists and gently removed her hands from her chest, taking a cautious look around to make sure that nobody was around. Thank Celestia it’s summer vacation. “Look, Starlight, that’s how big they are on a human female here…some bigger than others…but that doesn’t mean you’re pregnant. It’s just natural.”

Starlight looked to her own chest, and then back to Sunset’s. “Wow, human bodies are weird. By the way, where did these clothes come from? I wasn’t wearing any when I left through the portal.”

“Yeah, there’s a number of things I need to catch you up on, for now, just play it cool. C’mon, I’ll drive you to my place,” said Sunset.

“Playing it cool, no sweat.”

As Sunset began to walk, she glanced to her right and watched as Starlight began walking on her hands and feet…like a pony. Sunset quickly stopped, and helped Starlight stand up straight. “Why don’t you hold onto my hand while we walk, until you’re comfortable on two feet.”

“Ugh, human bodies are so weird,” said Starlight.

“Tell me about it.” As they walked, Sunset noticed something else on Starlight. There was a string around her neck, and something outlined underneath her shirt. “Starlight, are you wearing a necklace?”

“Oh, um, that’s better told when we’re in private.”

***______________________***

Sunset wasn’t going to lie, she got a bit of a sadistic kick from hearing Starlight shriek in terror from riding her motorcycle. By the time they reached her loft, Starlight was holding onto Sunset so tight, she thought she’d have to carry the poor girl inside. Thankfully she managed to pry her off and lead Starlight inside.

Starlight stared wide eyed at the appliances and décor of Sunset’s home. The string of lights that lined the railing up to her bed. The stove, oven, and even the refrigerator looked vastly different from Equestria, but she wasn’t sure the box thing with the two long holes was, or the box that had numbers on the side were. Starlight’s curious eyes quickly found Sunset’s TV, along with a Blu-ray player, two objects she had no clue about, but was fascinated by all the same.

Sunset chuckled a bit, Starlight was like a child seeing the world for the first time, well, this world anyway. “Go ahead and kick off your shoes, my home is your home, Starlight.”

Starlight sat on the couch, and began the task of trying to remove the shoes on her hooves – er – feet. “Thanks again, for letting me come over. I know it’s last minute and you’re probably busy with school or something.”

Sunset sat across from Starlight in the empty seat. “It’s really no big deal. School’s out for Summer Vacation anyway, and I figured if you wanted to, you could come with me to hang out with the girls.”

Starlight finally managed to get her shoes off, and began wiggling her toes. “This is going to take some getting used to.”

“So, you were going to tell me about what’s hanging around your neck.”

“Oh!” Starlight reached under her shirt and pulled out an amulet stone, sky-blue in color. “I remembered you telling me that you can’t use magic here – well, your normal unicorn magic – so I infused this little guy with some of my magical power. Theoretically, I should be able to cast spells with it just by concentrating.”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed at the stone in her friend’s hands, feeling a bit worried that more Equestrian magic had just been brought through the portal. “And…it’s contained, well contained, right?”

Starlight blue a raspberry. “Of course, it’s contained. I enchanted this thing so that nothing short of a magical friendship laser beam will be able to shatter it.” The mare turned human saw the look Sunset was giving her. “Which it won’t ever come to that! I promise!”

Sunset was still cautious, but decided to let it slide. “So long as you’re careful with how you use it, it’s fine. Just remember, your magic may be affected differently here than in Equestria. It may even be weaker since there’s not that much here, other than what I brought back with me when I stole Twilight’s crown.”

Starlight put her hands to her hips and puffed out her chest proudly. “Well there’s no worry about that, because when I say I put some of my magic into it, I really mean all of it, along with a self-regenerating energy matrix, which will allow it to constantly replenish itself so that I don’t have to worry about it running out. And as an added bonus, I enchanted it so that only I can call on the magic inside of it.”

Sunset sighed heavily. “Do not take it off no matter what, you bathe with it and you sleep with it, I don’t want to have to worry about your potential counterpart stumbling across it and becoming a super, magically empowered, monster.”

“Got it, keep on at all times!” Starlight gave a little salute as she said that. “By the way, why are we wearing clothes, I wasn’t wearing any on the way here?”

“Eh, social norms, and differences in how humans have no fur to protect them from the elements, so clothes were developed, and then became the norm and any kind of nudity outside of being intimate with your special somepony or bathing, is considered deviant.”

Starlight blinked. “Wow, you did your research.”

“Gotta know the culture if want to blend in.”

“So…” Starlight played with the collar of her shirt, a bit annoyed. “Is it okay if I get rid of them here? It’s not a problem if we’re in your home, right?”

“Nope, what’s done is one’s private residence doesn’t count. Heck, some humans go around all day in nothing but their underwear when they’re home alone and just relaxing,” said Sunset.

“And you don’t why?” Starlight asked.

Sunset shrugged. “Guess I lived her long enough that I just got used to wearing them, but it’s not a big deal to me, if you want to, go ahead.”

“Oh, thank Celestia, these things were starting to feel stuffy!” Starlight exclaimed.

*knock*

Sunset glanced to her door. “Huh, who could that be?”

The fiery haired girl walked over to her door and looked through the peep hole, seeing her girlfriend, Twilight Sparkle, standing there with a happy smile on her face. Sunset unlocked the door and embraced her girlfriend without question. “Hey, Twilight.”

“Hey, Sunset! I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Science Centre tomorrow, I got tickets for when their new display of a new rocket system that EarthAero was going to launch in the coming year!” Twilight stated with glee.

“That sounds cool, and sure I’ll go. How did you get here? Did the girls drive you?” Sunset asked.

“Nope, Shiny dropped me off on his way into work,” said Twilight.

Huh, guess he trusts me a bit more. Surprised he’d leave me alone with Twi, you’d think he’d afraid I’d take away her purity or something.

“He uh…he also said, ‘Sunset Shimmer, don’t do anything to my little sister that she doesn’t want, I know where you live.’”

And there’s the big brother threat I was looking for, Sunset thought. “Jeez, does he think I’m going to throw you onto my bed or something?”

Twilight’s face blushed as the implications of that thought ran through her head. “Ahem, w-well, I don’t think he thinks that specifically…okay, maybe he does. But he just doesn’t know you like I do, give him time.”

“Sure, anyway, did you want to come in and stay a while? Or I could drive you back if you want?” Sunset asked.

Twilight played with a lock of her hair as she said, “I wouldn’t mind that, staying over I mean!”

Sunset chuckled and stepped aside, only to regret her action as she remembered they weren’t alone, and last she checked, Starlight was undressing herself.

“AAAAH! SUNSET SHIMMER, WHO’S THIS NAKED GIRL IN YOUR HOUSE?!”

“GYAH! TWILIGHT, I CAN EXPLAIN WHY I’M HERE!”

***_________EXE_________***

“Starlight you’re amazing!”

“No I’m not.”

“Are you kidding? You’re super smart, you’re fast, and can beat up most of the other boys in our class! You’re the best friend I ever had!”

“Y-You’re my best friend, too, Sunburst!”

Starlight suddenly found herself in a void of darkness, the only light shined down on her like a stage spotlight, illuminating only a three-foot radius around her. Voices began to whisper to her, so many voices, all praising her intellect and physical strength, all of them praising her over and over again.

But laced with those praises were also jealous words.

“She thinks she’s so much better than all of us.”

“No, I don’t!”

“I heard she bribes the teachers to get good grades, she’s rich enough, why not?

“I didn’t do that at all, I’m just like that, I’m just that smart!”

“She’s crazy athletic, even beat out Swift Heart! Who needs a track team when Starlight’s the only one anyone needs for a team?”

“No, stop, please!” Starlight fell to knees, putting her hands to ears to stop the voices, but no matter what she did, they wouldn’t be silenced. “I never thought about myself like that, I’m not better than anyone!”

“Then why did you let me die…?”

Starlight’s eyes widened as another spotlight shined ahead of her, showing her a scene that would never leave her mind, combined with a green explosion. The explosion filled the void and engulfed Starlight Glimmer.

~~~

Starlight awoke with a start, laying in the bed within her modest sized mansion. She wiped the sweat from her brow as her chest heaved, her heart still racing from the nightmare she had had. Starlight got up out of her bed and walked out of her bed room. She descended the stairs and saw the kitchen light already on, when she entered, much to her dislike, Night Glider was sitting at the kitchen table, snacking on some of Sugar Belle’s freshly made cookies.

The tomboy was dressed in boxers and a tank top, having a devil may care attitude about her. Starlight didn’t pay her much mind, she just wanted a glass of water. Sometimes she wondered if it was really the best thing to bring all of them under her own roof, gods know she lived in a big enough house to shelter three families of four. However, out of the four of them, having one insufferable housemate was easily preferable to living in an empty house.

“You look like crap,” said Night Glider.

Starlight rolled her eyes at the comment as she placed her glass against the frig dispenser. “Thank you for that observation.”

To which Night Glider added, “And kinda hot, too.”

That comment made Starlight almost spill her water as she looked back at the girl, asking, “Didn’t you just say I ‘look like crap’?”

“I did, but doesn’t mean you don’t still look hot. I mean, you come down in that open bathrobe with a nightie on that’s practically showing off your cleavage. If I so wasn’t sure you’d totally throw me out the window, I’d probably follow you to your room.”

“Thank you, it’s nice to know one of my housemates is mentally stripping me and contemplating performing lewd acts in my bedroom with me,” said Starlight with a deadpan tone.

Night Glider shrugged, “Hey, take it how you like, it’s close to a compliment from me anyway.” The tomboy went back to eating another cookie before glancing back at her leader as she swirled the water in her glass, barely having taken a sip. “What’s wrong?”

“And you care, why?” Starlight asked.

“Jeez, I may act like a bitch, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. What’s wrong?” Night Glider asked again.

Starlight considered the option, still looking at the glass full of cold water. With a heavy sigh, she said, “I had a nightmare.”

“Must’ve been really bad if it woke you up this late.”

“I dreamed about a friend, my dearest, best friend…” Starlight placed the glass on the counter as she spoke. “He’s never been far from my mind, he’s the whole reason for this plan I have enacted, as well as others like him. But why is it now that I am having such nightmares about him?”

Night Glider turned her body to face Starlight as she thought. “I ain’t no shrink, but it may be that you’re having second thoughts about this whole thing. That or you’re getting too stressed about all this.”

“I assure you, I haven’t had any second thoughts about my plan……However, you may have a point about the stress, with the break ins, and this recent attack on the building and myself, it has been hectic as of late,” said Starlight.

“Well why don’t you take a day off or something? You are the boss after all,” said Night Glider.

Starlight drummed her fingers against the countertop, she had to admit, a day to just relax did sound like fun. She hadn’t had any real time to herself since her plan began, everything was proceeding as scheduled, the Gaia Memories were in production, and no recent T2s had surfaced since the Key Memory. Double Diamond could be counted on to take care of most of the things at the office; no one dared question him. After a minute she finally took the glass, drank it, and placed it in the sink.

“Why not, a little day off may be what I need. Thank you, Night,” said Starlight.

“Eh, if you really want to thank me, I could come up and make sure you don’t have any more nightmares for the rest of the night?” Night Glider added a wiggle of her brow as she made that suggestion.

Starlight face palmed herself as she made her way to the exit. “We were having a nice moment, and you ruined it.”

“I still didn’t hear a ‘no’.”

“Let’s put it this way, my door will remain unlocked. Should you wish to, enter at your own peril, just so long as you ask yourself ‘Is it worth it?’” Starlight made sure to give a shake of her hips as she left the kitchen.

Night Glider began to feel her face heat up, she was trying to get Starlight to blush, but wound up blushing instead. She went back to eating the cookies, and then stopped as her foot tapped repeatedly against the floor, and her gaze shifted from the plate back to the door. After about a minute, Night Glider slammed her hand against the table and said, “Ah screw it, I regret nothing!”

The tomboy put the cookies back in their original place and chased after Starlight.

***______________________***

Yesterday was awkward. Sunset Shimmer had to spend a whole hour explaining to Twilight that Starlight Glimmer wasn’t some stripper, or that she was cheating on Twilight with Starlight. After explaining that Starlight was in fact from Equestria, and about the social norms differences between both worlds, Twilight had calmed down and had pushed thoughts of a cheating Sunset out of her mind.

Now, at the Science Centre, Sunset, Starlight, and Twilight were walking around, seeing the exhibits. Twilight for her part kept apologizing every chance she got.

“I told you, Twilight, it’s fine. Just a simple misunderstanding,” said Sunset.

“I-I know, but I should’ve trusted you more than to just automatically jump to the ‘you’re cheating on me’ thought process,” said Twilight.

“It’s probably healthy that you did, not sure how I would’ve taken it if you were just alright with me having a strange, nude girl in my house.”

“Hey!” Starlight complained as she gave a snort, but that was quickly forgotten when she saw a model of the lunar lander. “Ooh, what’s that?!”

Sunset watched as Starlight zipped straight for the exhibit, fighting her urge to jump onto it and examine it. “See what I mean?”

Twilight chuckled. “I guess you’re right, sometimes I doubt myself is all.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow as she asked, “Why would you doubt yourself?”

“Well…” Twilight hung her head a little. “…I sometimes can’t believe that, someone as amazing as you is my girlfriend. As best friends, it makes sense to me. But considering how outgoing you are, how passionate, and fierce you are, I’d expect you to be with someone like Rainbow Dash.”

Sunset frowned a little and put her arm around Twilight’s waist to bring her close, earning her a little squeak of surprise from Twilight. “Listen, don’t say stuff like that. I care about you, not because you’re athletic, or outgoing. I like being with you, I like having you close, and kissing you too. We’re both people who like to push the envelope when it comes to science and magic, and as much as we dislike it, we both became raging she-demons.”

The fiery haired girl used her other hand to bring Twilight’s gaze to meet hers. “Plus, it helps that you’re so adorkable.”

Twilight blushed and whined, “Please don’t call me ‘adorkable’.”

“Can’t deny what’s true.”

“Ooh, is ponysaurus! It looks so life like!” Starlight exclaimed.

Sunset and Twilight glanced towards Starlight and saw that she was approaching a giant animatronic T-Rex and as soon as she got close, the mechanical dino released a semi-loud, [RAWWWWR!] Starlight jumped in fear and scrambled towards Sunset and Twilight, hiding behind the two girls as if she was a little filly wanting protection under her mother’s legs.

“It’s alive, you have a live ponysaurus rex in this world?! That’s dangerous!”

“It’s not alive, it’s actually just one big machine designed to look like and sound like a dinosaur. But we can only speculate how exactly these creatures looked based on computer programs, artists representations, the structure of their bones, and cave paintings during some of these eras when they were alive,” said Twilight.

Starlight blinked and then turned to Sunset for translation.

“No, they’re all extinct just like in Equestria, no live ones around here.” Sunset then added in a low whisper, “If you don’t count the T-Rex Dopant I fought a few months ago.”

After dispelling the fear from Starlight that the machine recreation would not in fact eat anyone, they continued to explore the other exhibits before the main show. Further back there was stage, with the curtains drawn and the logo EarthAero plastered on it, thankfully they managed to snag an extra ticket for Starlight, granting them front row seats to the main presentation.

On the way in, Sunset noticed a woman standing at the wall in the back. She had a cyan complexion, with dark blue hair and a green streak going through it. The woman appeared to be in her mid to late forties, roughly. Her clothes were grungy looking, as if she hadn’t really bothered to care what she had on, as evidenced by some of the rips and tears, and what Sunset could identify as oil stains. But the most striking feature of this woman was her red colored irises.

The woman herself wore a perma-scowl, and appeared as if she was hungover. The woman caught Sunset staring and quickly shot her a glare, Sunset averted her eyes quickly and continued walking, but as the three of them made their way down the aisle, a young girl whizzed past them. All three turned around to see who it was.

The girl was wearing a schoolgirl uniform, but it was kind of fancy, possibly from a good private school. She wore a gray skirt, with a dark blazer, a white button shirt underneath, and red bow around the color. The girl, who looked all of fourteen, had a yellow complexion, her hair was a combination of deep blue and emerald green, her face was sprinkled with some freckles, but just like the woman Sunset saw earlier, this girl too sported the same striking red eyes. A daughter perhaps?

The three continued, finding their seats, but curiosity got the better of Sunset as she glanced over her shoulder to the young girl and older woman. The young girl had a bright chipper smile on her face, as if she was full of positive energy, it was a stark contrast to the woman she was talking to, presumably her mother. After a minute of what looked like a one-sided conversation, the presumed mother walked out of the doors with the young girl following her.

Sunset didn’t know why, but she had a feeling something was wrong. Starlight noticed this and asked, “Are you okay, Sunset?”

The girl and question snapped her head back to her friend. “Oh, what? Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Sorry I’m being a fifth wheel here, I know Twilight was hoping to spend time with you,” said Starlight.

Sunset bumped her friend’s shoulder with her own and smiled. “It’s alright, Twilight doesn’t mind, we’ve learned to enjoy any outing together, even with others. Considering how big our group of friends is, it’s kind of a must. So, don’t worry.”

The lights in the auditorium dimmed as a tall man walked onto the stage. He was wearing a khaki colored suit, with a black tie. His hair was three toned of red, orange, and yellow, with a scruffy three o’ clock shadow, and intelligent gray eyes. The man had some freckles on his face that reminded Sunset of the girl from earlier. The man pressed a button on the side of his earpiece and turned on the microphone connected to it.

“Hello everyone, and welcome to the EarthAero Expo! I am the president, Jet Stream, and I’d like to say it is a pleasure to be here in Canterlot City! Now, space exploration has been a dream of mine since I was a boy, until I realized I didn’t have the constitution to be an astronaut. Honestly, I couldn’t even handle a merry-go-round when I was little.”

The audience gave a chuckle at the embarrassing story.

“But it was then that I realized that I was more fascinated with the building of the rockets, all the hard work, the calculations, the creativity, all of it combining into one to give humans the ability to shoot for the stars. So, I set on path to get there, and EarthAero was born! Of course, I won’t take all the credit, heck, I do some hands-on work in the shops, but it takes a team to make these columns of alloys and fire to reach into space.”

Jet Stream pressed a button on his wrist, and immediately the entire auditorium was filled with a holographic display of space, more specifically the solar system. Sunset, Twilight, and Starlight gazed at the display, and for Starlight this was real exciting, she couldn’t believe humans had mapped out their stars so far as to know the exact positions of the planets, and recreate them through these machines. Starlight gave a playful swipe at a passing comet that was nearby her, only for her hand to pass through it.

“So much explored, and yet we still haven’t scratched the surface of this wide, wide cosmos of ours,” said Jet Stream. “But soon, we hope to soar further than just our moon! Ladies and gentlemen, may I present to you, EA’s newest shuttle. The Arion!”

As the curtains unfolded, an explosion went off that tore down the curtains and nearly knocked Jet Stream off the stage. Most of the people in the crowd rushed to the back of the auditorium, waiting with baited breath as the one responsible for the explosion stepped forward.

It was a Dopant, with sharply pointed airplane wings coming out of its back, and rocket back attached to the center of the Dopant’s back. Its body was covered in sleek emerald metal alloy, it’s hands were claw tipped, and the lower half of its legs were two thruster engines. The Dopant’s head had a V shaped visor, with glowing red eyes shining from behind it. The Dopant’s wings opened, from the silos several mini-rockets were released, each one exploding against the display behind it.

Twilight and Starlight looked to Sunset, and Sunset to them. No words needed to be said, but assistance was needed. Starlight concentrated, feeling the magic of her amulet flow through her body, without her horn, she had to use her left hand as a focus for where the spell should go. In less than a second, Sunset was teleported away.

Sunset reappeared somewhere in the lobby, she knew it wouldn’t be long before Shining Armor would arrive, and she needed to get a handle on things to mitigate the damage until they could double team the Dopant. Sunset saw that the people were running away, and used this as her chance to look for places to hide and transform. She made a b-line for the girl’s restroom. Once inside, Sunset went towards the largest stall, and summoned her Uni-Driver.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

A turquoise field of electricity formed around her, and in the next second, Sunset was transformed into Kamen Rider Unicorn. With a flash of her horn, Sunset disappeared to fight the Dopant.

***______________________***

“I’ll make you pay! For all of it, for everything I deserved!” The Dopant exclaimed.

Jet Stream tried to crawl away from the monster, but he was moved to the edge of the stage, with nowhere to go. “Please, don’t! I have a daughter!”

Mentioning his daughter only seemed to make the monster growl with increased anger as it unleashed another salvo of rockets, hitting the walls and ceiling. Chunks of concrete, steel, and plaster began to rain down on the stage and surrounding area.

Starlight saw this and covertly used her magic to levitate all the pieces of debris, making them freeze in midair. Twilight saw what Starlight was doing, panicking that someone might see her, thankfully she was saved from being spotted as Kamen Rider Unicorn teleported in and delivered a flying kick to the Dopant’s chest, sending it falling back a few feet. Unicorn spotted Starlight and nodded to her. Starlight released her hold and Unicorn took over, using her magic to condense the debris and moved it all to an unoccupied part of the stage.

“You know, it’s rude to interrupt people in the middle of their presentations.” Unicorn entered a fighting stance. “Why don’t we take this outside where you can’t hurt anyone?”

“No, only him!”

The Dopant released several more mini-rockets, all of which were aimed at Jet Stream. Unicorn created a barrier around them, letting the rockets explode against its surface. The power that was generated from these rockets, and from this Dopant, Sunset could sense it. This Dopant was in possession of a T2 Gaia Memory. Not good, who knows what else it can do! I need to take this fight outside, I don’t know how many more rocket explosions this place can take!

The Dopant ignited its leg thrusters and began to hover above the stage; the rocket pack ignited next and sent the Dopant flying towards Unicorn’s barrier. Unicorn reinforced her barrier as the Dopant struck the shield with a powerful punch, and continued driving it into Unicorn’s shield. Unicorn gritted her teeth as she tried to keep the barrier up, but then she saw the wing salvos reload and then launch another round of rockets into the air. The rockets angled themselves to fall right on Unicorn’s shield. Thinking quickly, Unicorn’s horn let up, and teleported Jet Stream to the exit just as the rockets exploded.

Smoke was kicked up from the explosion, making the red eyed Dopant glare at the spot. The Dopant knew of Unicorn, and knew that an attack like that would not easily fell her. Unfortunately for the Dopant, it was right.

< CYCLONE! >

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The smoke cloud around Unicorn dispersed, and from it appeared Unicorn in her Mystic Cyclone form. “Let’s take this outside!”

Unicorn jetted forward, tackling the Dopant and taking her upwards through the roof and into the open sky. Now outside the science museum, Unicorn could freely fight the Dopant. The Dopant raised both hands and brought them down into a sledgehammer strike on Unicorn’s back. The blow made Unicorn release the Dopant and go into a slight tailspin, but Unicorn was able to correct herself quickly and rise back up to meet her.

More salvos opened on the Dopant’s forearms and shoulder pauldrons, launching at least thirty rockets at Unicorn. But just as she was in the domain of the Dopant, the Dopant was in hers as well. Unicorn swiped her hand through the air, and the emerald winds blustered and blew, creating turbulent air that made the incoming rockets veer off course and hit the other rockets, causing a chain explosion that wiped them all out.

The V shaped visor began to glow as if analyzing the explosion. The Dopant took off and began firing several more rockets, an aerial dogfight occurred, with Unicorn firing condensed air spheres at the rockets themselves and intercepting them. After a few seconds, the Dopant ceased its attack, its salvos glowed and fired another thirty rockets.

“I think we established that I control the wind, your rockets aren’t getting through!” Unicorn stated as she swiped her hand through the air, creating another emerald whirlwind gust.

However, unlike last time, the rockets were not veering off course, in fact, they were still on course. Unicorn fired condensed air spheres at the rockets, but instead of exploding, they simply pierced through them and continued undeterred. Unicorn saw that the fins on the missiles were glowing as they hit the air, as if…Oh crap!

Unicorn created a barrier of magic and emerald wind, just in time for the missiles hit it. The Kamen Rider exited the smoke cloud created from the explosions, now rethinking her tactics. “Whoever that is, they analyzed my attacks, and reworked the rockets to ignore the wind sheer…” Unicorn contemplated using the Shining Memory, but thought against it. “No, I should only use that if necessary, and if Equal shows up again, I’ll need its power. Gotta figure something else out…”

“If we’re done, there’s someone down there that I have to make sorry!” The Dopant yelled.

“I’m not going to let you hurt anyone! That device you’re using is giving you great power, but it’s also messing with your head! If you don’t get a grip on yourself, you’ll do something you’ll regret for the rest of your life!” Unicorn explained.

The Dopant glared at Unicorn, her eyes glowing as if somehow that statement just made her even angrier. Unicorn glanced down below, and spotted something that made her grin. “Alright, guess we’ll bring you down the hard way!”

A bolt of blue light whizzed by the Dopant, grazing her left forearm. The Dopant shrieked in pain and in surprise from the sudden attack. Down below, Kamen Rider Trigger had equipped his Sniper Arms and was currently taking aim at the flying Dopant.

“Target off by five degrees, resetting.” The reticle on Trigger’s scope sights was running calculations as the crosshairs aligned, and in a matter of seconds the red crosshairs turned green. “Targeted, and firing!”

Another sniper shot was fired, and this time, it hit its mark. The blue bolt struck the Dopant in the chest, causing sparks to fly upon impact. Two more shots were fired, both hitting the wings of the Dopant, effectively cutting off its salvo attack.

Unicorn took advantage of the Dopant’s staggered state, placing the Cyclone Memory into the Max Drive port.

>} CYCLONE! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn gained some altitude and willed the emerald winds to spin around her, creating a tornado. Once at the center, Unicorn dove down, feet first and made the tornado follow her. Both soles of Unicorn’s boot glowed bright green as the tip of the funnel was set ablaze. The Dopant didn’t have time to react as Unicorn drove both feet into its abdomen, creating a powerful shockwave.

“Tornado Touchdown!”

Both Unicorn and the Dopant descended back to the ground at a rapid rate of speed. Each second that passed was another foot closer to the ground. The Dopant fired all its salvos at the same time, the rockets exploded, causing Unicorn to go the rest of the way without the Dopant, but the damage had been done, the Dopant was falling and crashed back into the Centre.

Unicorn righted herself and looked towards where the Dopant entered, she saw Trigger entering as well and moved to intercept. After a quick flight and teleportation, she appeared next to Trigger, the law Kamen Rider almost shot her in surprise.

“Could you not do that without warning me first?!” Trigger asked.

“Wouldn’t be much of a teleportation if I telegraphed where I was appearing. And, is that an invitation to work together?”

“Don’t push it, the monster fell this way!”

Ironically, it seemed the Dopant crash landed and bounced its way into the space exhibit. Unicorn summoned an air sphere and mana sphere, while Trigger had his blaster at the ready. Both Riders entered the exhibit carefully looking around for any signs of the Dopant. They followed the trail of destruction up until it hit the clay sculpture of the moon.

“Well it was definitely here,” said Trigger.

“Problem is, where are is it?”

Suddenly, a flash of light went around the lunar lander. Trigger and Unicorn moved for that area, and prepared to attack, until they saw a girl coming out from behind the set. Unicorn released her hold on the spheres, and Trigger cautiously lowered the Chrome Buster. The girl couldn’t have been more than fourteen years old, and she was wearing a schoolgirl uniform.

Wait, it’s that girl from earlier, thought Sunset.

The girl in question had dust covering her clothes, hair, and face. Unicorn disengaged her Mystic Cyclone form, and slowly approached the girl, getting down on one knee to bring herself closer to her level of height. “What’s your name?”

“Apogee,” the girl spoke.

Trigger put away his blaster. “Did you get separated from your parents? I can help you find them, but we need to get you out of here, it’s not safe. There’s a monster on the loose and we need to stop it.”

The girl’s face twisted into a grimace, Unicorn noticed that Apogee was holding something in her hands, what exactly she couldn’t make out, but Apogee was gripping it tightly.

“T-Then…you found the monster.” Apogee opened her hands and revealed a green colored Gaia Memory with the letter R on it. “I’m that monster.”

***_________EXE_________***

Starlight was a bit panicked at this point, and nervous. When Twilight and Starlight ran out after Sunset appeared in her Kamen Rider form, there was a large crowd still outside the auditorium, all scrambling to get outside. In the sea of people, Starlight got separated from Twilight, she tried calling out to her, but it was no use over the screams of the panicked people. By the time she reached outside, Starlight had found herself on the other side of the building.

The former unicorn mare wasn’t one to be worried, normally she was a lot calmer and collected in stressful situations, normally. But now having been separated from Twilight, and with Sunset battling it out with a monster, she had no one to ask for help. Starlight thought to use her magic to teleport herself, but she was not yet familiar with the city to perform that spell, and feared ending up stuck inside a wall, or worse.

“Great work, Starlight, you went and got yourself lost…”

“I thought I was seeing things earlier, but it appears that I wasn’t.”

Starlight turned around and saw a figure walking towards her. She held out her hand, preparing a defensive and offensive spell, to the figure, it just looked as if she was making a gesture for the figure to stop. “Don’t come any closer! Who are you?!”

The figure stepped into the light and what Starlight saw, made her jaw drop.

***____________________***

Sunset didn’t feel right, not at all. After leaving the young girl, Apogee, with Shining Armor, she teleported away and returned outside, watching the rest unfold before her. Kamen Rider Trigger, along with five other cops of the SCU, were escorting Apogee out of the building, with Trigger carrying an evidence bag with the R Gaia Memory. Sunset still wasn’t a hundred percent sure she should let that Memory rest in an evidence locker at a police precinct, but it wasn’t like she could just up and take it either. Not when Apogee so easily handed it over and proclaimed herself to be the Dopant who attacked the stage.

No, nothing about this feels right at all…

“Apogee!” Sunset heard the girl’s name being called out, recognizing it as Jet Stream’s. The man had pushed his way passed a few people and other officers to get to where the escort was, only to be stopped by two other SCU officers. “Move, please, that’s my daughter! And why is she in handcuffs?!”

Trigger separated from the escort and walked up to Jet Stream. “Sir, right now your daughter is being taken in for questioning.”

Jet Stream stared at the armored police officer, flabbergasted. “’Questioning’? Why in the blue hell would you need to question my daughter?!”

“Your daughter was in possession of this.” Trigger held up the evidence baggy that contained the Gaia Memory. “This is a device that allows people to transform into monsters, and it was given to us by your daughter, at the scene of the crime.”

Jet Stream shook his head. “Are you kidding me?! She could’ve picked that off the ground for all you know!”

“Sir, I can tell you from experience that these things don’t have an age limit. Anyone can become a monster just by using this thing. She even confessed to us that it was her. Now, is it possible she took this off the floor and is being threatened by the real perp? I don’t know. But, what I do know is that we need to question her. As a minor, per law, we need you there for questioning.”

Jet Stream narrowed his eyes in anger, but intimidation didn’t work so well when the person you’re trying to intimidate is a few inches taller than you, and covered head to toe in high-tech, super armor. “…Okay.”

Sunset continued watching as Jet Stream entered another squad car, and Apogee was loaded into the back of another. The sirens wailed and the cars took off, with Shining Armor mounting his bike and following close behind with the Gaia Memory stored in its secure compartment.

“Guess that’s the one that got away, still…”

“SUNSET!”

The fiery haired girl turned around and spotted Twilight running towards her, the bespectacled girl hunched over, catching her breath as she was running around looking for Sunset.

“Oh jeez, Twilight, I’m so sorry! I should’ve texted you or called when I was done, sorry…” Sunset waited for her girlfriend to catch her breath, but noticed something alarming. “Uh…T-Twilight…Where’s Starlight Glimmer?”

Twilight sucked wind as she spoke, “She’s – Gone! I-I’ve been…Looking for her…for the last ten minutes, and nothing! I’m sorry, we got separated in the crowd when we were evacuating and then…!”

Sunset inhaled slowly and exhaled slowly, calming herself. “I-It’s fine, it’s fine, I-I mean we just have a newly arrived Equestrian roaming around a city that she’s never been to, in a body she’s just barely getting used to! S-She couldn’t have gotten far…right?”

***__________EXE__________***

There were definitely some things that Starlight Glimmer hadn’t figured on encountering on her day off. First of which, she decided to head to the Science Centre and see the new rocket design from EarthAero, not how many would imagine spending their day, but some nerd habits die hard. Plus, Starlight wasn’t in the mood for anything fancy or expensive, something simple and fun was good.

Encountering a Dopant destroying the stage, that was a major surprise. But not just any Dopant, Starlight could sense it, this Dopant was in possession of a T2 Gaia Memory. For a moment, Starlight had considered finding a place to transform and take out this Dopant to get the Memory, but that train of thought was interrupted when she spotted the second thing she wasn’t expecting. Herself.

Yes, sitting in the next aisle over, was herself, albeit a slightly younger version, but still herself. The world seemed to come to a grinding halt as Starlight tried to process this information, the fact that her double was setting across the aisle from her, and was for some reason hanging out the younger sister of Officer Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle if she remembered correctly.

The strangest part of this whole thing was when she saw her double clutch at some jewel around her neck, and suddenly, all the debris that the Dopant blasted free was frozen in midair. It was only a few seconds later that Kamen Rider Unicorn appeared, and a nod was shared between them before Unicorn took over and levitated the debris away from everyone.

Once Unicorn was on stage, everyone took this as their chance to flee. Starlight’s need to obtain the T2 Memory was overrode by intrigue about this doppelganger. It took some time, but Starlight was able to track her double, she seemed lost and scared, and some part of Starlight told her that this wasn’t an act, that it was genuine confusion and fear. Taking pity on her double, and because she needed some answers, Starlight convinced her double to come with her.

It was almost scary how easy it was that the double trusted her. Was it because they looked alike, or because this double was that trusting of others? Well, she wasn’t wrong, Starlight had no intention of harming…well…herself. Unless otherwise forced to in self-defense, but mainly, she was curious about the double, and the strange power she had.

Starlight had driven herself today, and found it strange how her double was reacting to the motor vehicle, it was as if she was a kid experiencing her first car ride, ever. A reaction that made Starlight chuckle, her double acted like a child seeing things for the first time, it was quite amusing in an endearing way. Yet another curious thing to look into.

Starlight drove up to her house, a mansion was surrounded by a wrought iron gate, with a keypad entry. The driveway was circle type, with a large fountain at the center of it. Starlight pulled off to the side towards where the garage was. Thankfully it was still early in the day that her housemates would still be at the office and would not bother them, Starlight really was not in the mood to explain why she suddenly had a twin sister, nor did she have time to deal with the drama that would ensue from it.

“Wow, you, uh, you must be rich!” the double stated.

Starlight chuckled. “Yes, I am, I kind of run a big business here in the city. By the way, how shall we set this up? I think it’ll start to get confusing if we have to call each other Starlight back and forth.”

The double placed her hand against her chin, her fingers curled in, with her chin against the back of her hand. “Got it, you can be just Starlight, and me, Glimmer.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “You sure? I mean, I’m fine with that, but I’m surprised you don’t want to take the first name.”

Glimmer shrugged. “Eh, it’s your world, I’m a guest here, so I figured it’s best to let the native born take the first name.”

“Your world”, “native born”?

Starlight led the double into her foyer, a place for talking. There was a fireplace at the head of the room, a large window with drapes to allow light in, and the fireplace itself was surrounded by two shelves filled with books that filled up half the space. At the center were two couches with a glass table between them, and an expensive oriental rug below them. Starlight had the double sit in the couch across from her as she took her own seat.

Glimmer sat in the couch across from Starlight, her eyes wide as she took in everything she was seeing, it was almost sensory overload. This did not go unnoticed by Starlight. “Like what you see?”

“It’s definitely different than what I’m used to,” said Glimmer.

Starlight leaned forward, propping her arms on her legs as she looked at Glimmer. “Okay, so let’s get down to brass tacks. I know for a fact that I am not a twin. I’ve seen my birth records. So, the long-lost twin bit won’t fly here. I also know of that old saying about everybody having a double of themselves out there in the world, but this is too literal to be a coincidence of genetics. If you are indeed me, you won’t insult my intelligence.”

Glimmer had to hand it to herself, she was very astute about these things. “Alright, just keep an open mind though.” Glimmer took a deep breath and then spoke, “I’m actually not from this world, I’m from a world called Equestria, a sort of parallel world to this one. Where ponies are the main inhabitants of the world, alongside others. The main differences I would say between our worlds, would be the level of technology you have. Our magical knowledge and application of it are quite advanced, but our technology – and I’m being generous – is coming along, but not quite this level yet. There also doubles of the people here, of course some circumstances and ages are different there.”

Starlight sat back in the couch, raising an eyebrow at that information. “Seriously?”

“I swear it’s the truth, how else do you think it’s possible for you to be talking to yourself?” Glimmer asked.

Starlight leaned forward, resting her forearms on her thighs as she eyed her doppelganger. “You’ll forgive me if that’s a bit hard to swallow, you’re speaking about alternate worlds, the multiverse theory. I’ve seen – and done – a few strange things in my life, but I’ve never heard of a world filled with magically advanced, intelligent, talking equines. Tell me then, are you the head of a multimillion dollar corporation?”

Glimmer rubbed the back of her head as she blushed pink. “Eh, heh, heh…Not quite, I am the student of one of my world’s royal rulers, the Princess of Friendship. That’s only after I messed up a lot of things and became a bit of an evil, dictator bitch.”

That grabbed Starlight’s attention. “‘Dictator’? Me? How?”

Glimmer fidgeted in her seat, part of her becoming a better mare was learning to accept that she was once a horrible pony, and recounting the tail of her dark path was necessary to make sure she never strayed too far from the light. “You see, in my world, everypony has what’s called a ‘cutie mark’. It appears on our flanks, and it symbolizes our special talents, our identity, and destiny. A friend of mine got his before me, and because of it I never saw him again, he moved away from me because of his special talent. It was then I began to hate cutie marks and what they did, so I set on a path to conform others into believing in equality, at the cost of their individualism and special talents.”

Starlight nodded, and quite interested in her method. “How exactly did you manage that? I find it hard to believe you could so easily strip someone of their uniqueness.”

“Yeah, I had to lie to the town that I controlled, I made them believe a piece of drift wood had the magical power, even called it the Staff of Sameness.” Glimmer watched as Starlight’s jaw dropped. “Uh, you okay?”

Starlight shook her head. “No, no, I’m fine, please continue.”

“Well…the reality was that the staff had no power, like I said, I lied to them, I hid the fact that it was my own magical power that took away their marks and locked them away. You see, taking a pony’s cutie mark is essentially stripping them of what makes them, them. When you’re young you’re a blank flank, your magic and talent is there, just undiscovered, basically you’re a block of marble waiting to be sculpted, a lump of clay to be modeled by your own hooves. But what I did, pretty much set them back to zero.”

Starlight couldn’t help but be impressed by how even a, supposed, pony version of herself could pull off something like that. “Oh, you never said, but who was the friend that set you off on this journey?”

Glimmer face palmed herself. “Duh, how could I forget him. His name is Sunburst.”

All the color faded from Starlight’s face, her heart nearly stopping at hearing that name. “You said…Sunburst, right?? You mean, he’s there, in that world of yours?!”

Glimmer was taken slightly aback by the question. “Yes, just like – I assume – his double is here as well, right?”

Tears began to fall from Starlight’ eyes as a sad smile formed. “He’s alive there, right? He’s happy and healthy?”

Glimmer felt a great weight on her heart as she was putting the pieces together. “Starlight…is…is your Sunburst…?” she couldn’t finish the question.

Starlight simply nodded.

Glimmer gasped in horror, she never thought that this world’s version of her foalhood friend would be dead. The pony turned human stood up from her seat and walked over to sit with her double, Starlight leaned into Glimmer as the two of them shared a cry. Even though Glimmer knew that her Sunburst was alive and well, it didn’t make the pain of his being gone in this world any better.

“To answer your question,” said Glimmer, “Sunburst is doing very well and is very happy. He’s assisting one of Equestria’s Royal families in the raising and teaching of her in the art of magic. And just being a good ‘Uncle’ Sunburst.”

Starlight chuckled a little as the thought of her childhood friend being anyone’s uncle, especially with how awkward and book crazy he could be. It took a few minutes, but eventually both Starlights were able to calm themselves. “I’m happy to hear that at least there’s a version of my friend who found happiness.”

“Well, maybe one day I could bring you to my world and you could see him, of course I’d have to get permission from Princess Twilight and………OH HOLY HORSE APPLES! SUNSET!”

M: My other self / Forgive

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Sunset never paced, but in this situation, it seemed appropriate. Twilight watched as her girlfriend went from one end of her loft to the other, muttering under her breath and no doubt worrying about Starlight Glimmer’s fate.

“This is my fault…if I had kept a better grip on her, or if we just stayed in one place together, she wouldn’t be lost!” Twilight stated.

Sunset stopped and glanced to Twilight. “Stop that, there was nothing else you could’ve done in that mob scene. We just need to find her.”

“I’ve already texted the girls, they’re out helping us look, but Rainbow Dash said she was coming over for some reason, said it was something she needed to tell us in person,” said Twilight.

No sooner did Twilight say that did the two of them hear the sounds of Rainbow Dash’s bike pulling up to Sunset’s loft. The fiery haired girl went to her door, confirmed who it was, and opened the door. Rainbow Dash entered, pulling off her helmet and putting it on an empty chair.

“So, what was so urgent that you needed to tell us in private?” Sunset asked.

Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head, which was already an indicator to Sunset that their prismatic friend may have just messed up somewhere. “Yeah…you remember when I told you about the fight with the three Dopants and when I used Accel for the first time?”

“Yeah…” Sunset answered.

“Well, when I was in the hospital after I tried to confront them, I was taken there by this girl. She was rich and was the president of PhoenEXE Corp……her name was Starlight Glimmer,” said Rainbow Dash.

It was quite the sight to witness both Twilight and Sunset’s right eyes twitch. Sunset took a deep breath as she slowly stalked towards Rainbow Dash. “So, not only do we have a lost pony-human wandering around a big city, but said pony-human has a double who’s the president and CEO of probably the biggest company in this city! W-Why didn’t you tell us this before?! I would’ve told Starlight to stay in Equestria!”

The stalking made Rainbow Dash back up until she hit the couch, but then she kept crawling until she hit the other side. “W-Well how was I supposed to know that your world’s Starlight was going to come and visit?! Princess Twilight barely comes and visits! And besides, we’ve still never found another you here!”

Sunset slapped her face and dragged her hand down. “Like I’ve said, I’ve only searched this city! I don’t know if there is another me here, she may be in another city or country for all I know!” Sunset took another deep breath. “Okay, so, this makes it a little easier to find her.”

“How?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Because now all we have to do is find a photo of Starlight Glimmer, the CEO of PhoenEXE, and send it to the girls. We only gave a description of her, but with a photo they’ll have face to go with it!” Twilight beamed.

The Brainiac of their group went to work searching the net on her phone for a picture of PhoenEXE Corps’ CEO, which were very few indeed. Eventually she was able to find a candid shot of Starlight Glimmer and sent it to the others with the message “She looks like this, she has a double here too!”

“Let’s hope we find her soon, or else someone might mistake her for the owner of a multimillion dollar company,” said Twilight.

Sunset bit at her thumbnail, if she wasn’t worried already, she was now. This world’s Starlight was rich and powerful, and if someone figured that out, they may ransom Equestria’s Starlight to try and get to that money. Then, there was also the other thing weighing on her mind, the fate of the young girl named Apogee.

“Twilight, there’s something I need to look into, I’m taking Hawk. Keep me updated if you find anything out,” said Sunset.

Twilight and Rainbow watched as Sunset left the loft with the laptop Hawk.

***____________________***

Apogee sat in the living room, feeling miserable. But what do you expect considering the circumstances. The police questioned her for hours, and her father was defending her the best he could, but each time Apogee shot down his defense giving them details of how she attacked and fought Unicorn, and how she obtained the Gaia Memory device.

Her father was currently calling their lawyer to come and defend his daughter, she could hear him through the closed door of his bedroom. The moment they got home he immediately went in there and began working on a way to help Apogee, but deep down she knew that this was bad.

Just then, Apogee heard a rapping sound coming from the balcony. When she turned, Apogee expected to see birds, but instead she nearly jumped when she saw Kamen Rider Unicorn standing outside. The fourteen-year-old almost gasped out loud but quickly placed her hands over her mouth. Unicorn gestured for Apogee to come over, to which the young teen girl glanced back towards her father’s room and quickly left to the balcony.

Once outside, Apogee looked up to the armor-clad hero. She was a jumble of emotions. Apogee was excited because she had seen all the footage of Unicorn fighting monsters and thought she was the coolest thing ever, and fear because she had just told her and Trigger that she was the monster who attacked the Science Centre.

Unicorn got down on one knee like she did before, trying to appear as nonthreatening as she could. “I’m not here to hurt you, Apogee.”

“Then…why are you here?”

“Call it a hunch. I’ve fought against a lot of monsters, and most of the time they’re bad people. And sometimes, they’re just people who got roped into doing something bad that they never wanted to do in the first place, or they were messed up in the head because they used a device like this,” said Unicorn as she brought out her Shining Memory.

“You use those things too?” Apogee asked.

“I use them to help people, and this handy device around my waist helps me use their power without changing into a monster. Apogee, you can tell me if something’s wrong, I can tell you’re not just some girl who likes destroying things, or hurting your dad.”

Apogee looked away from the hero, rubbing her arm and looking very guilty. “I can’t…tell you”

Unicorn quirked head to the side. “There’s a difference between can’t and won’t, Apogee. If you’re protecting someone, if they’re threatening you, you can tell me. Trigger, Nasca, and I can protect you, but only if you let us!”

Apogee shook her head. “It’s not like that! No one’s making me do this, I made Mom – EEP!” Apogee placed her hands over her mouth. “I-I-I mean…what I meant to say…oh crap…”

Unicorn sat down on the balcony, prompting Apogee to do the same. “Look, Trigger is the only real officer of the law between the three of us. Nasca and I are normal girls under these masks and armor. We can understand somethings that he might not, plus, you know the other advantage of being a vigilante is?”

Apogee shook her head.

“I can do things that some cops can’t, like see both sides and find out a solution. So, it’s okay to talk to me.” Unicorn was met with silence as Apogee fiddled with the hem of her skirt. The super heroine sighed. “Alright, if you want me to, I’ll leave right now and never bother you again. But if you want, I’ll stay and I promise to listen.”

Nothing was said for a minute, Unicorn made like she was about to leave until, “You really will listen? Right?” Unicorn nodded to the young teen. “You’re right, I didn’t become the monster, my Mom did. Her name’s Delta Vee. She’s a really smart woman, she builds rockets like my Daddy does in Las Pegasus, but……”

“But what, Apogee?”

“She can be a slob, she’s angry a lot around Daddy, and sometimes I don’t think she really likes me all that much. But, I still love her, she’s my Mom! I keep trying to figure out why they hate each other so much, but each time they say, ‘You’ll understand when your older’ or ‘It’s grownup stuff’! Ugh, it’s annoying when they say that! I even invited Mom to come to the expo because I knew she’d want to see the rocket ship design, because Daddy told me that it’s something that they both worked together on a long time ago!”

“Of course, when it started, and Daddy started to talk she stormed out…”

~~~

Delta Vee walked out of the auditorium, with Apogee close behind her. Apogee ran fast and cut her mother off before she could get any further.

“Move,” she said.

“No! You two have been fighting like cats and dogs for as long as I can remember! You two always say that I’ll understand when I’m older, well, I’m older, I’m four-freakin’-teen!” Apogee argued.

Delta sighed heavily. “No, you’re an emotional girl in her early teens! Not an adult by any means, you barely have any life experience to speak about! Just…ugh…just please, Apogee, stop.”

Delta moved Apogee out of the way as she walked past her, her face became red as she whirled around and shouted at her, “WHAT DID I EVER DO TO MAKE YOU HATE ME?!”

The older woman stopped in her tracks. Apogee didn’t mean it to sound like that, but she was frustrated, her mother always treated her with a combination of anger and love, but the way she loved her was as if she was an annoying neighbor kid coming to hang out, someone to be indulged until their parents eventually showed up and they went home. Apogee couldn’t understand that, Delta was her mother, her father said so, she had even seen pictures of Delta pregnant with her, and that same woman holding the little freckled girl when she was a baby.

Delta turned around, her gaze was downcast as she hugged herself. Apogee felt as if she may’ve hurt her mother’s feelings, but she stood her ground, Delta, her mother, had to know how she felt. When Delta reached to Apogee, she looked down at her with sad red eyes, taking one hand to brush her daughter’s hair.

“Mom…?”

“It’s not fair…It’s all not fair…!”

Just then, a flash of green light went off from around the airplane exhibits. That green light zipped out and appeared before Delta, Apogee jumped back, not sure what to make of it. Apogee watched as her mother grasped the device inside the light, and then pressed the connector to her chest. The device melted into her body, making her glow bright until she had fully transformed into the monster. There was barely any time to say anything before she blasted off through the roof.

~~~

“So…your mother was the Dopant that attacked the stage, and your father. What else happened after the fight we had?”

“I was trying to find a way out, but the exits were crowded so I tried to find another way through the space exhibit, but then that’s when I saw her fall through…”

~~~

Apogee watched as her mother, the monster, skidded into the exhibit, smashing against the clay moon and cracking it. Dust flew from the mock lunar surface, coating even Apogee in it. She hid behind the lunar lander, but then looked around and called out, “MOM!”

The monster looked up and said, “Apo…gee?”

“Over here!”

Her mother crawled her way towards where Apogee was hiding. In a few seconds the transformation ended, and the device fell onto the floor. Apogee carefully put her hands on her mother, who was panting from both exhaustion and strain from being struck by Unicorn and Trigger’s attacks.

“Are you…are you alright?” Apogee asked.

“I…I…I think so…oh gods what did I do?!” Delta looked up at Apogee with tears in her eyes. “Jet Stream?! Is he alright?!”

“Y-Yeah, Unicorn saved Daddy…Mom, you don’t remember anything?”

Delta placed a hand against her head as she tried to think. “It’s all a big blur, I rememberputting that thing against my chest, the rush of power, and then these flashes of Jet Stream, explosions, and now!”

‘She doesn’t remember the attack…’ Apogee thought.

Just then she heard and saw Kamen Riders Unicorn and Trigger entering the exhibit area, obviously looking for the monster that they were fighting. Apogee looked down at her stunned mother, but it didn’t take long for her to see the Riders. Thinking quickly, Apogee grabbed the device and walked out into the open to the Riders, and confessed that she was the monster.

~~~

“Apogee…”

The girl IN question had walked to the railing and looked out into the city. “Mom never meant to do that…how can you blame someone for something that they didn’t even know that they were doing?”

Unicorn stood beside Apogee as she sighed. “I understand that you wanted to protect your mother, but, Apogee, you understand what this means for you right? They may not go easy on you because your young, those devices are dangerous and can cause a lot of damage, and hurt a lot of people. They may either put you in juvie, or worse, in jail.”

“I won’t let Mom go jail for a mistake, for something she can’t even remember doing…”

Unicorn shook her head and began to light up her horn. “Let me say this, Apogee. I admire what you’re doing. But, you shouldn’t have to carry this kind of burden. But we’ll see if we can make things work out.”

With that Unicorn teleported in a flash of light. Unicorn reappeared some ways away on a rooftop, gazing up at the hotel balcony she was just at. She knew she needed to make this right, but how?

***____________________***

Delta Vee sat in her motel room, glancing at a six pack of some random alcoholic drink she bought earlier. She wanted to drink it, so badly. But no matter what reasoning she tried, it didn’t help. Drinking the guilt away was not going to help, and she knew that. Delta got up and paced the room, trying desperately to figure something out, and that was the other reason why she didn’t want to drink, she needed to be sober, all her neurons needed to be on full alert for how hard she was thinking.

It was then that Delta Vee saw a flash of turquoise light go off in her room. The older woman had to stifle a girly shriek as she jumped back, her fears weren’t lessened when Delta noticed that it was Kamen Rider Unicorn in her room.

“You’re a hard woman to find, but thankfully not that hard,” said Unicorn.

“W-What do you want?! You know this breaking and entering, and last I checked you’re not the one who’s a cop!” Delta stated.

“Technically, I didn’t ‘break’ anything, and I didn’t ‘enter’. I just appeared.”

Delta rolled her eyes. “Fine, then what do you want?”

Unicorn stood a little firmer, making Delta flinch. “I want to know why you let your daughter take the fall for what you did?”

Delta’s eyes widened with fear. “H-How do you know that?!”

“Because I talked to her, and she told me. Out of respect for her, I won’t take you to Trigger. But, I want to know, why haven’t you come to confess yet?” Unicorn asked in a stern voice.

Delta sighed heavily as she sat in the fold out chair next to the fold out table. “It’s not easy…I don’t remember what I did! I remember flashes, emotions, sounds, but other than that it was one big blur! When I heard…Apogee…call out to me, I regained whatever sense I had and from there I was able to change back. By the time I realized what she had done, you and that other Rider had taken her away!”

“Look, my word may not do much, but I do have experience with these incidents. I can explain to Trigger what happened, because it sounds to me as if the Gaia Memory responded to your emotions, and fed on them. Putting you into a kind of berserker state. You didn’t actually hurt anyone, aside from some property damage, but other than that no one was killed,” said Unicorn.

The Kamen Rider was met with silence.

Sunset furrowed her brow beneath her helmet and slammed her hand on the foldout table. “Do you really not care that your daughter could go to juvie or jail?!”

“I don’t know, alright?! I never even wanted her in the first place!” Delta shouted.

Unicorn was taken aback by that statement. “What do you mean?”

“The man I tried to kill…Jet Stream. We were college friends, and friends turned into boyfriend and girlfriend. We shared the same dream and goals, we even thought about that rocket he was so proud and about to display today! But then…it all went down the crapper. One night, one night of reckless passion…and I was pregnant. At first, I was happy about it, I loved Jet Stream. But then I realized how much it bogged me down, I was behind in my projects and research, and before I knew it, he had presented our idea as his and took all the glory and credit!”

Delta stood up and, quite impressively, got in Unicorn’s face. “He played me, he got me pregnant in some sick and twisted method to capitalize on all MY hard work! And yet, he has the gull to ask me to be a mother to a daughter that I never asked for, or wanted?! You tell me, hero, who’s the real monster here?!”

Unicorn felt a twinge of anger in her and a rising need to slap this woman while in her powered-up form, but the look of Apogee’s happy face and her love for this woman is what suppressed that urge. “You’re telling me that you don’t feel an ounce of love for your own daughter, your own flesh and blood?” Unicorn rushed forward and took Delta by the collar of her tank top. “She’s throwing away her future for you! Because she loves you! And you’re telling me that you don’t love her because you never wanted her?!”

“I never said I was parent of the year…she’s better off not being around me!”

Unicorn’s horn glowed, along with her Gaia Memory. In that moment, she could feel something, a feeling of comforting warmth, it was love. There was also the feeling of thorns and constructing vines, this was guilt. A fiery torch of anger. All of these emotions, all of them flowed into Sunset, but along with them came memories.

Sunset could see these memories, like watching a movie screen framed in turquoise flames. The memories of happiness and love between two people, the love of an expecting mother, and the bitterness of a dream supposedly crushed. And yet, in all the memories that Sunset saw that involved Apogee, there was conflicting feelings of apathy and love for her daughter. But…

Unicorn released Delta, the woman looked a bit shocked with widened eyes. Maybe she saw the memories too? Unicorn sighed and took a few steps back, preparing to teleport herself.

“Wait, what are you going to do?!” Delta asked.

“Nothing, because your daughter loves you that much. But the real question is…what are you going to do?”

With that said, Unicorn teleported in a flash of turquoise light, appearing some ways away from the motel where Delta Vee was staying. This situation wasn’t resolved, and she really didn’t want to see an innocent girl go to jail, but what else could she do?

***____________________***

That morning, at the police station, Delta learned from her ex that they were coming back for another round of questioning, and that their lawyer would be video conferencing in. Delta scoffed at that, considering how much she was getting paid, the least the bloodsucker could do was get her butt on an overnight plane and come here like Delta did.

Delta released a long sigh and walked up to the station, she knew when Jet Stream and Apogee would be there, and decided to be there earlier than them. Was this a stupid idea? Probably, but – and she hated to admit it – Unicorn was right. As much conflicting feelings as she had about her daughter, Delta couldn’t just let Apogee mess up her life for a drunk like herself. Jet Stream may have messed up her life, but Delta would not be the one to do that to Apogee, especially at her young age.

The bewildered woman walked up the steps, wishing to gods that she was drunk to do this, but if she was they wouldn’t believe a word she’d say. Once in the station, Delta Vee walked up to the officer manning the front desk. “Hey, who’s leading that investigation with that monster attack yesterday?”

“Why do you wish to know ma’am?” the officer asked.

“Because you got the wrong person,” said Delta. “I’m the one who changed into that rocket monster and attacked the Expo.”

The officer looked up at the woman, at first startled by her striking red eyes, but then quickly took up his phone and paged someone in the back. A policeman with a blue jacket and differently styled uniform came from the back and to the front.

“I’m Officer Shining Armor of the Special Crimes Unit. I was told you are the one behind the attack,” said Shining Armor.

“Yes, my daughter is trying to do the whole ‘save mommy’ thing. She took the memory stick thing after it fell out of me and ran up to the Kamen Riders telling them she did it,” said Delta.

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow, that information had not been released yet.

Delta raised her hands up to Shining Armor. “So, cuff me already, you got your perp!”

“Ma’am, I understand that you want to protect your daughter, but right now the investigation is still open. I’ll take your statement and we’ll look into it as the investigation continues ma’am,” said Shining Armor.

Delta growled in anger, “Look, I’m confessing to blowing up the part of the Science Centre, and almost killing my ex! What more do you need?! Dust that thing I used for finger prints, mine will be on there!”

“Ma’am, you need to calm down,” said Shining Armor.

“NO! I won’t let her future get ruined!”

Suddenly, officers in the back began shouting “DUCK!”. Shining Armor hit the deck, just as a green glowing object flew passed him and struck Delta Vee in the chest. The woman’s eyes went wide as a green glow shined from them. In less than a few seconds, Delta’s body had transformed into the Dopant from the attack yesterday. The mecha monster growled as it swiped its arm, smashing through the front desk and sending the officer behind it flying into his coworkers.

Shining Armor jumped back and summoned his T-Driver, and then pulled the Trigger Memory.

< TRIGGER! >

“Henshin!”

> TRIGGER! <

An azure electrical field formed around Shining Armor, transforming him into Kamen Rider Trigger. Trigger dashed forward, punching the Dopant right in the face, making it stumble back. He then followed up with a spinning roundhouse kick to the Dopant’s gut, hitting it straight through the doors and out into the street.

Trigger ran outside, with his Chrome Buster at the ready. The Dopant had already taken to the skies, glaring down at Trigger, and firing a barrage of rockets at him. Trigger ran, firing multiple shots at the rockets as they tried to hit him. The law enforcement Kamen Rider managed to shoot down a few, but was not able to get them all as some managed to hit in front, behind, and around him. Trigger was thrown from the explosion, hitting into the side of a car.

Pulling himself out of the body sized dent he created, Trigger opened the compartment of his Chrome Buster and pulled from his hip holster another of his Arms Memories.

< DUAL! >

|^| DUAL! ARMED! |^|

Trigger placed both hands on the Chrome Buster, as pulled he left hand away a copy of the Chrome Buster appeared in Trigger’s left hand. The Dopant fired several more rockets, but Shining Armor fired both Busters at the same time, blasting the rocket barrage with a hailstorm of blue plasma bolts. Explosions went off in midair, each resonating with a booming force.

The sound of tires squealing drew Trigger’s attention, turning his head, Trigger saw that a black sedan car stopped behind him. Inside, Trigger could see that it was Jet Stream and his daughter, Apogee. The young girl exited the car, much to the protest of her father. Trigger had to keep his attention on the Dopant, preparing to shoot down the monster or more of its rockets should it launch them.

Apogee stood in the no-mans-land between Trigger and the Dopant and shouted, “MOM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Jet Stream got out of the car and looked at the monster with shock. “Delta…?”

“WHY DID YOU USE IT AGAIN?! HOW DID YOU, HE TOOK AWAY!” Apogee yelled while pointing at Shining Armor.

“She came to the station and confessed that it was her who attacked the expo. She got angry and suddenly that device flew straight at her, and transformed her,” said Trigger.

“She doesn’t remember what she did the first time, and I don’t think she knows what’s happening now!” Apogee stated.

The Dopant’s eyes shifted from Apogee and then to Jet Stream, its eyes glowed red as it growled and began flying towards Jet Stream. Trigger fired a barrage, cutting off the Dopant’s advancement.

“GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!” Trigger ordered.

Jet Stream ran to Apogee, grabbed her, and hurried her back to the car. The Dopant released fifty rockets in total. Trigger shot down as many as he could, but the rockets that got away exploded on the road, creating pitfalls that made it impossible for Jet Stream to back up his car. The only way out was forward, but Trigger knew that Delta wasn’t going to allow that.

Suddenly, the Dopant flew up and angled herself back to come barreling straight for Trigger. She released more rockets, and afterwards, released a burst of speed that put the Dopant ahead of her rocket attacks. The Dopant zoomed passed Trigger, as he was left to deal with her rocket barrage wake. While Trigger was blasting at the rockets, the Dopant hovered over the car. Delta used her sharp claws to peel back the roof of the car like a can opener, revealing her ex-husband and daughter.

“You…!” Delta growled.

“Delta!” Jet Stream shouted.

“Mom don’t!” Apogee yelled.

Suddenly, the Dopant was struck from behind by a vermillion blur. That same blur struck the Dopant again and again, sending sparks flying from her body and making her back away from the car, taking to the skies. When she was far enough away, the blur stopped on the hood of the car, revealing Kamen Rider Nasca in Vermillion Mode. The sound of a motorcycle echoed as Kamen Rider Unicorn jumped her bike over the pitfall that the Dopant had created, coming to a screeching halt beside the car.

Unicorn glanced to Apogee and asked, “What happened?!”

“The other guy there said my Mom came to the police station and confessed about what happened yesterday! Why would she do that?!” Apogee asked.

“Wait, she did what?!” Jet Stream asked.

“Uh, Unicorn, it looks like she’s about to come around again!” Nasca warned.

Delta’s red eyes glowed as her salvos prepared to unleash a hell storm upon them. Unicorn looked up, but began to feel a kind of energy begin to rise from the Unicorn Memory, she looked to Jet Stream and Apogee, and then to Dopant Delta. She realized what needed to be done.

“Nasca, fall back, I have a crazy idea,” said Unicorn.

Nasca nodded and flew away, leaving only Unicorn between the Dopant and the family of two now standing outside the car. Delta growled loudly and dive bombed straight for Unicorn. Unicorn’s horn and Gaia Memory glowed as she channeled the magic within herself and within the Memory. Her body began to glow a bright, sparkling turquoise, and at the same time a mini-transformation occurred.

On the sides of Unicorn’s helmet, two protrusions flashed into existence that resembled that of pony ears, and behind her, an ethereal pony tail made of turquoise magical energy formed. Nasca’s eyes widened, she knew what this was. Unicorn, Sunset Shimmer, had just ponied up while in Kamen Rider form.

Delta had gotten much closer, and was almost in reaching distance of Unicorn, but at the last second, the eyes of Unicorn shined as she thrusted both arms out, creating a field of light that covered a two-meter radius and was one meter in height. Inside this sphere of light and magic, masks were stripped away, lies faded into nothingness, and all that was left was pure emotion and memory.

Jet Stream, Apogee, and even Delta could feel the other’s emotions. Memories flowed of happier times, of a young couple, in love, and looking towards the future. Pain was there as well, pain of betrayal, and of neglect. Anger was there, felt by all three, one from wanting to understand the reason for that anger, and from the adults, anger from the situations that the other put themselves in. But what was strong in the all the memories, even the painful ones, was love.

Delta floated down from the air and landed on the asphalt, she fell to her knees, slumping forward as whimpers could be heard coming from her. Apogee slowly walked towards Delta, unafraid of her Dopant form. She knelt beside her mother, and gave her hug, making Delta give a small gasp of surprise. Delta looked on as Jet Stream walked towards her, and knelt on one knee. He reached out with one hand and cupped her cheek.

“Please come, come back,” said Apogee.

“I…I…”

“I’m sorry…” Jet Stream choked. “I knew you were hurting, and I thought bringing our dream to life would make you happy, instead it only made you more bitter. I don’t want this to be what we are anymore, you deserve to be with me in EarthAero, and you deserve to be with us in our home.”

Unicorn nodded and released the field, revealing the scene before them. Even without seeing his expression, Unicorn could tell from Trigger’s body language that he was a bit confused as to why the two supposed victims of this case were now hugging the monster that attacked them. Unicorn just raised her hand and shook her head, a small gesture to say that “Everything was okay.”

“Touching, very touching.” Everyone looked up at the adjacent building and saw Kamen Rider Equal standing atop it. “But I’ll be taking that T2 Memory now.”

Delta looked up and saw the fourth Kamen Rider, she looked around and saw that the other three had just went on guard, taking aggressive stances. In her Dopant form, Delta’s instincts were telling her that the fourth Rider was not one of the good guys. The Dopant rose up and put Jet Stream and Apogee behind her saying, “You won’t hurt them!”

Dopant Delta shot off and aimed herself directly for Equal. Trigger, Unicorn, and Nasca shouted for her to stop, but Delta was in full maternal instinct mode, the only thought on her mind was to eliminate the threat to her family. Equal merely chuckled and moved the arrow from her right hip to the center buckle.

| LESS THAN: < |

Equal’s Reduction Field expanded, just as Delta fired her rocket salvos. The rockets zoomed straight towards Equal, but the moment they entered the field, the rockets fizzled out and exploded like little firecrackers. Equal jumped off the roof, and replaced the arrow with another.

| GREATER THAN: > |

The crystal facets of Equal’s armor changed to red, and the dark Rider jetted forward. She flipped around and drove her right foot into Dopant Delta’s chest, driving all the way until they struck the ground, hard, and sent up a plume of dust and debris upon impact. Equal kept her red flamed foot pressed against the Dopant’s chest, causing sparks to fly with each grinding of her heel.

“Persistent, aren’t we?” Equal raised her right hand, gathering crimson energy to it. “But this will end that stubbornness!”

Before Equal could deliver her final blow, Unicorn teleported in and punched Equal in the face, sending the evil Rider flying for a few seconds before correcting herself and landing on her feet. Nasca and Trigger stood on either side of Unicorn, ready to fight her, but Unicorn raised her hand as if to stop them.

“No, she’s mine,” said Unicorn as she walked towards Equal.

“You’re either really cocky or really stupid to think you can take me on one-on-one. I just proved to you that I can take all three of you on, easily,” said Equal.

“Yeah, that’s true, but can you handle me at my strongest?!” Unicorn stated as she brandished the Shining Memory.

< SHINING! >

{< SHINING! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A golden pillar of light erupted from Unicorn’s body, her armor turned gold, her eyes turquoise, and two long shimmering clothes flowed in the wake of her power. Unicorn had entered her strongest form, Shining Day. What was interesting about the transformation, was that even in this form, the pony ears and tail still remained, although the tail was now shifting between turquoise and golden light like an aurora.

“Ah, yes, I’ve seen a bit of that form. But let’s see if it’s as strong as all the hype says it is,” said Equal as she changed the arrows.

| LESS THAN: < |

Unicorn struck the Mimetic Drive port once.

\ HONEST! /

The golden Rider’s fists and arms glowed with orange light as she took her stance. In less than a second, Unicorn dashed towards Equal covering the gap in distance in the blink of an eye. Unicorn turned once in midair, and thrust her right fist forward. The Reduction Field was already working to lessen the power of the attack, making Equal smirk under her helmet. However, that smirk was slowly fading as she realized that the attack was still pushing through, and that the power was still the same.

“What?!”

Unicorn released a war cry, her eyes and horn shining as she thrusted through and punched Equal right in the chest. Sparks flew from her armor as the evil Rider was shot forward and was embedded into the grill of Jet Stream’s car.

Equal shook her head, dazed from the attack, and looked up with shock in eyes. Unicorn had just struck her, and did damage to her while the Reduction Field was up. It wasn’t possible, nothing could pierce her ultimate defense. “DAMN YOU, UNICORN!”

| GREATER THAN: > |

\\ LAUGH! //

Unicorn’s body was wrapped in a pink aura as she ran to intercept a now crimson glowing Equal. The evil Rider struck with her right fist, but the moment she made contact, Unicorn’s body exploded into confetti. The confetti itself glowed and then exploded, showering Equal in mini-explosions that damaged her armor. Equal growled, spotting Unicorn dashing from behind. The dark Rider threw a punch, but as if she saw it coming, Unicorn weaved around the punch, and got to her side. Unicorn’s right hand sparkled with little orbs of light, upon which she used them in a palm-heel strike to Equal’s right side. The result was a multi-explosion that made Equal back away.

Equal grunted in pain, and growled with fury at how Unicorn’s power was somehow stronger than hers, it made no sense. The power of the Equal Memory should give her reign over the other T2 Gaia Memories, why was it not doing the same for this one? “That’s it, this ends now!”

“Couldn’t agree more, time to restore harmony!”

>} SHINING! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

>} EQUAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn and Equal jumped into the air, spun once, and extended their right legs forward into a flying Rider Kick.

“GREAT EQUALIZER!”

“DAWN BREAKER!”

Unicorn’s right foot created a spiral unicorn horn and fiery wings, while Equal’s right foot was ablaze with crimson and silvery energy. Both Riders met in the middle, their attacks crashed into each other, making the ground below rumble and shake, indeed even the air vibrated from the intensity of these two Riders of good and evil. Gold and silver lightning sparked around them, as Unicorn and Equal tried to beat out the other and drive their attack forward.

The power of their Rider Kicks created as buildup of power between them. It grew brighter and brighter, until it could not withstand anymore and the power burst in a powerful explosion that made Unicorn fly back to where she started, thankfully she was able to correct herself at the last second and skidded to a halt before her allies. Equal was able to do the same, albeit with a bit of stumble and a lot of panting, she had sustained a lot of backlash damage from the explosion, but it seemed as if Unicorn wasn’t as affected as she was.

“Dammit, took too much damage!” Equal hissed. “I underestimated how powerful that Memory is…”

Unicorn readied to attack again, but Equal struck the ground before her with a power punch, creating a dust cloud that masked her escape. Unicorn wanted to give chase, but she knew her time limit was just about up with Shining Day, so she disengaged the form and let the rogue Rider go for now. So long as Sunset knew that Shining Day was more than Equal could handle, they had an edge over her. A flash of green light went off, and Unicorn turned to see that the R Memory had fallen from Delta Vee.

Nasca and Unicorn stood on either side of Trigger, at the same time, the family of three looked up at him as well.

“So, what happens now?” Unicorn asked.

Apogee held onto her mother’s arm tightly, while Jet Stream put himself between the Riders and his ex-wife.

“Considering the fact that the device practically plowed through several walls of the prescient and embedded itself in Ms. Vee here against her will, it’s obvious that thing’s got a mind of its own. I doubt anyone would act in their right state of mind once that thing was in them,” said Shining Armor.

“Do you mean…?” Apogee asked tentatively.

“Well, there are certain privileges when you’re a Kamen Rider police officer, and lead investigator concerning monster attacks.”

Nasca gave a light elbow nudge to Trigger. “Well look at you bein’ a softy.”

“I’m just going by the facts of the case.”

Suddenly the R Memory rose up, making everyone stand back, everyone except Nasca, who flared her wings and took the Gaia Memory into her hands. The Memory sparked and released green arcs of light, but Nasca kept her grip on the out of control Memory.

“Oh no, you’re not messin’ with anyone else today!” Nasca stated.

The Nasca Memory glowed and sent a surge of energy from the belt, up her body and through her arm. The surge merged with the wild R Memory and suddenly, the energies mingled and harmonized, and soon after the Memory settled down. Nasca opened her hand and saw that it was no longer sparking.

“Oookay, guess it likes Nasca. Hate to do this to you Trigger, but that thing’s too dangerous to be kept in an evidence locker and –”

“Just take the thing and go,” said Trigger.

Unicorn and Nasca glanced to each other and then back to Trigger.

“Go before I change my mind already!”

“No take backs, later!” Nasca flared her wings and zoomed into the air and far away from the battleground.

Unicorn walked up to Apogee and ruffled the young teen’s hair. “I told you everything would work out alright.”

Apogee smiled and said, “Thank you.”

Unicorn teleported away back to her bike. Once she mounted it, Unicorn drove down the road and teleported again out of sight.

***____________________***

Sometime later, Sunset and Rainbow Dash met up in one of the local parks, both sitting on a bench with their bikes parked, taking a breather from the battle earlier. Sunset’s pony up had ended shortly before she deactivated her Rider form, and so far, the newly acquired T2 Gaia Memory was behaving.

“I gotta know, how the heck did you pony up while you were transformed?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Sunset thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know…I mean, we discovered that we pony up when we play music, or when we show the truest parts of ourselves. For you, loyalty. Rarity, generosity. Applejack, honesty. Fluttershy, kindness, and Pinkie Pie is laughter. Each of them corresponds to an Element of Harmony.”

“Okay, so what’s your Element then? Is it magic?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset shook her head. “I don’t think so. During the Battle of the Bands, when we united against the Sirens, there were seven lights, the six for the elements, and then a seventh, mine. I’ve been tinkering with the idea that mine’s an element that’s not been invoked, or maybe one that I’ve just discovered, or developed, from being here.”

“Why wouldn’t you be the Element of Magic for this world? If Princess Twilight’s Element of Magic is for Equestria, maybe you’re Earth’s?” Rainbow suggested.

Sunset shook her head again. “No, because, when I felt the magic grow in me, and created that field. It wasn’t because I wanted power to stop them, I wanted to stop Delta from hurting her family, I wanted them to…forgive each other.”

Rainbow brought her friend into a half hug. “Hey, you did great. We reunited a family, snagged a new T2 Memory, and you royally kicked Equal’s ass! Not a bad day, so far.”

“Yeah, but still no luck finding Starlight Glimmer.” Sunset groaned as she rubbed her eyes with the heels of her palms. “Ugh, she’s been gone almost twenty-four hours, anything could have happened to her…!”

Rainbow Dash patted Sunset on the shoulder. “It’ll be okay, I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“Hmm, let’s see? She could be run over by a car, she could accidentally unleash a magic calamity, she could be kidnapped and be made to be someone’s depraved plaything! Let’s not also forget, she has no idea how things work here in human land, so Starlight might not understand a lot of customs and things that I’ve learned since I’ve been here for so long!” Sunset listed off.

Rainbow Dash blinked. “Yeah, that’s bad.”

Suddenly, Sunset’s phone rang. She quickly took it out and saw that it was Twilight calling. “Twi, what’s up?”

[Sunset, I’ve found out where Starlight Glimmer lives!]

***____________________***

Sunset hightailed it to the address Twilight had texted, although this wasn’t their Starlight Glimmer, there was a chance – miniscule mind you – that Earth’s Starlight Glimmer may have bumped into or possibly incurred some mishap from having an exact double of herself walking around.

The fiery haired girl approached the mansion, whistling at the impressive wrought iron gate which surrounded the property, and a marble white house that looked like it could fit a small village a few meters away. Of course, as she got closer to the gate, she saw that it was passcode only. Sunset looked around for an intercom system, surely a mansion property like this had one. Her eyes fell on such a device near a smaller entrance for individuals to enter.

Sunset parked her bike up against the fence and gingerly pressed on the intercom button. The intercom box itself had a view screen that lit up, showing the face of the owner of the house. Sunset had to stifle a gasp at seeing the slightly older Starlight Glimmer. “Um…Hello, Ms. Glimmer, you don’t know me, and this is going to sound really strange…but you wouldn’t happen –?”

“Wouldn’t have happened to bump into myself yesterday,” Starlight finished. “You must be Sunset Shimmer, correct?”

Sunset’s jaw dropped. “Um…y-yeah, I-I am, but how did you know that?”

“There’s someone here who said you’d be looking for her, thankfully you spared us an exhaustive search, I’ll buzz you in.”

The gate opened and Sunset mounted her bike again. She drove up the circle driveway where a fountain sat at the center. Sunset drove up close to the stairs of the house, and no sooner did she turn off her bike did Glimmer come running out and gave Sunset a hug. Sunset returned that hug, a sense of relief washing over her at the return of her friend.

“Jeez, you gave me a heart attack when Twilight said she lost you!” Sunset stated.

“I’m sorry, I tried to look for you, but with all the commotion, and your warning about how my magic may act funny on this side, I wasn’t sure what exactly to do!” Glimmer turned around a looked to Starlight. “That is until myself helped me out.”

Starlight walked down the stairs, keeping an inquisitive look about her as she made eye contact with Sunset Shimmer. “You seem to live an interesting life, Sunset Shimmer.”

Sunset rubbed the back her head. “Y-Yeah, kind of. Thank you, again, for keeping her safe. I didn’t know what I’d do if something happened to her.”

“Oh, it’s was no trouble. How often does one get to meet themselves from a parallel world? And Glimmer, if you can, I’d like to come to your world and see Sunburst,” said Starlight.

Sunset looked to Glimmer. “You told her that you’re a…pony?!”

Glimmer shrugged. “Well, yeah, I mean, why wouldn’t I? She has a right to know. And Starlight, regarding that request, you’ll have to ask Sunset here. She’s kind of the unofficial gatekeeper, and we’ll also have to run it by Princess Twilight, we can’t exactly have two of somepony walking around without an explanation.”

Starlight smiled and stepped down to meet Sunset, she then extended her hand and said, “Sunset Shimmer, you seem to be an interesting girl, I hope we can keep in touch and that you’ll give my request some thought.”

Sunset smiled and reached out to shake her hand. “Sure, that sounds –”

The moment that both women touched their hands to each other, something happened. Sunset was seeing and feeling things again, emotions of loss, anger, ambition, and…something else. Flashes of memory, an explosion, a headstone, an emerald rock pillar, and…a Driver.

Sunset released Starlight’s hand, her eyes wide as she looked upon the woman before her, and realized she had accidentally discovered something about this human version of her pony friend. Starlight and Glimmer looked at Sunset with confusion and some worry as she seemed to be staring into space.

“Um, Sunset, are you alright?” Glimmer asked.

“Uh, y-yeah, yes! I’m perfectly okay! A-And I will, give your request some thought I mean!” Sunset stated.

Starlight smiled. “Thank you, are you sure you’re alright? I can have a limo drive you home, and I can have someone take your bike to you. I know someone who’s a good driver.”

“No, thank you,” Sunset began petting the bike as if it were a pet, “no one handles my baby without me around.”

“Understood, be more careful Glimmer, and I hope to meet you again. And, try not to cause too much trouble with my face and body, I’m rich so people don’t rightfully care too much what I do, but just keep any craziness to the bare minimum.”

“No promises!” Glimmer teased. Sunset handed over her helmet to Glimmer, but stopped her. “You need that to protect your head on this loud, rattling thing. I got myself covered.”

Glimmer used her magic and crafted a copy of Sunset’s bike helmet. Sunset felt like scolding her for doing that, but the secret of being a pony was already out, so what point was there in doing so now? Sunset gave a wave to Starlight and the two native Equestrians left the property, with Glimmer performing a vice hug around Sunset’s midsection.

As they drove, Sunset wasn’t able to get what she saw and felt out of her mind. If she was right, if those memories were in fact Starlight’s memories, then it only meant one thing.

Starlight Glimmer…Earth’s Starlight…is Kamen Rider Equal.

***____________________***

Sunset plopped onto her couch, sighing as this was an exhausting day. Twilight and Rainbow Dash plopped in the other couch while Starlight sat next to Sunset. Sunset looked to the coffee table in the middle of the room as the T2 Gaia Memory rested there, she then turned her gaze to Twilight and asked, “Were you able to find out anything on it?”

“Yes, ” said Twilight. “It’s the Rocket Memory. It boasts incredible power and speed, and is a bit volatile in nature. It was attracted to Ms. Delta Vee because of her emotional turmoil, it was the ‘perfect fuel’ for the Rocket Memory to bond with. Plus, adding in Ms. Vee’s scientific knowledge of how rockets work, it only made her connection stronger.”

“Huh, that explains how she was able the adapt the rockets she blasted me with so quickly to my Mystic Cyclone form,” said Sunset.

Starlight rubbed the back of her head feeling a bit bad. “Sorry, I just added to the stress of the whole situation. I guess coming here was a bad idea after all.”

Sunset glanced to Starlight, smiled, and then punched her playfully on the arm. “Nah, it all worked out…” The images of this world’s Starlight ran through her mind for a brief moment. “It all worked out.”

“Anyway,” said Twilight as she reached for the Rocket Memory, “we can add one more T2 that Equal doesn’t –”

< ROCKET! >

When Twilight touched the Rocket Memory, green light flashed in the room. A surge of energy was sent through Twilight’s arm and straight into her mind. Images appeared in her mind, that of a new device, and a new Rider – no, a familiar Rider. Before the images faded, one word echoed in her mind, “Boost”. Twilight released the Gaia Memory, letting it fall on the table. Twilight looked around the room at the worried faces of her friends.

“I-I’m fine,” said Twilight in shaky voice.

Sunset got up from her seat and rushed over to Twilight, “A-Are you sure?”

“Yes, just…just a bit of informational overload.”

Starlight stood up, clutching her amulet. “If you need, I do know a couple of healing spells.”

“Really, I’m fine.” Twilight assured.

“Good, because, whatever happened, did more than frazzle your head,” said Rainbow Dash as she pointed to her hair.

Twilight felt her head, and sure enough most of her hair was sticking up, and frizzled. Almost as if her hair had been rubbed with half a dozen balloons. Twilight groaned at the involuntary change in her hairstyle, but perked up when she said, “It was similar to when I touched the Nasca Memory, I saw something, something new to build!”

The genius girl stood up from the couch, packed up her things, and rushed to the door. “Rainbow Dash, take me back home! I need to work on this ASAP!”

Rainbow Dash blinked, and then turned to Sunset. She nudged her head in Twilight’s direction, and hurried after her. Sunset heard the sound of Rainbow Dash’s bike and soon it faded off into the distance.

“Sorry, again, about everything. I know your Kamen Rider stuff keeps you busy, too. I shouldn’t have just come here on a whim, and become a burden,” said Starlight.

Sunset smiled at her friend and gave her a hug. “You’re not a burden. Like I said, everything worked out, we reunited a family and kept a new Memory away from Equal. And most importantly, you’re safe, I call this day a win. I am wondering though, how long until you think Princess Twilight finds out you’re here and not there?”

Starlight waved off her concern. “Oh, that shouldn’t happen for a while, Twilight and the girls have been gone for a couple of days now, they’re probably still in the middle of their big adven –!”

*knock*

Both girls looked at the door with confusion. Sunset walked to the door and saw that Rarity was standing outside of the door, curious, Sunset opened the door and said, “Hey Rarity, did you need something?”

“Um, actually, Darling, it’s not so much me who needs something, but rather someone else,” she said.

Rarity stepped to the side and revealed Twilight Sparkle, however, she was dressed differently. She was wearing a blue blouse with a pink bow around the collar, and a violet skirt with a pink, six-pointed star on it. She also wasn’t wearing any glass – Ooooh crap.

“Hi, Sunset, I’m sorry to drop in on you like this out of the blue, but is Starlight here?” Princess Twilight asked.

Sunset turned her head, and at the same time, Twilight glanced over Sunset’s shoulder. Both girls saw Starlight, trying, in some vain attempt, to hide behind the couch. Starlight chuckled nervously as she peeked her up and waved awkwardly to her mentor. “Heeeeey, Twilight…fancy seeing you here…?”

“STARLIGHT ASTREA GLIMMER!”

“Oh boy…”

***___________EXE___________***

Starlight was fuming, her housemates could tell that much. Her mind replayed the fight between herself and Unicorn over and over again, but each time, her mind knew that none of the T2s should be able to outmatch the power of the Equal Memory, especially the Reduction Field. And yet, Unicorn’s golden form was able to pierce through her ultimate defense and strike her. She was even a match for her when using the Rise Raze. Starlight tapped her foot against the floor repeatedly, and in an agitated manner.

That Shining Memory, it shouldn’t be one of the T2s – IT ISN’T ONE! I’ve seen her use it, and it appeared to be strong, but I never thought that strong…Piercing through the field and matching my boosted strength…Had I not retreated, she would’ve defeated me.

Starlight understood, she could not reengage Unicorn, not without an effective countermeasure to her Shining Day form. For now, she would have to gather information, and work on something that could beat that form. Starlight decided to calm herself, letting the thoughts of today’s defeat leave her as she thought about her double, Glimmer.

She found her doppelganger cute, despite her young age, it seemed that this version of herself had some more life experience, while still maintaining her curious nature. “Huh, I never did ask how old she was. Oh well, a question for another day.”

Yes, a question for another day, and something to look forward to. Somehow, the knowledge of knowing her deceased best friend was alive in another world made Starlight smile. She tried to imagine what he’d look like, from Glimmer’s description of their tribes, he was a unicorn, same as her apparently. Starlight could see that as being the tribe he’d be born into, but was still having trouble seeing him in her mind as a pony with a horn.

There was a knock from her left side, Starlight glanced in that direction and saw Night Glider standing in the archway. “You look happy, Boss. Y’know, despite the fact that Unicorn kicked your ass.”

Starlight rolled her eyes, at this point she had just come to accept that Night Glider was just crass and that it often mixed into her attempts at being kind and concerned. “That last part aside, yes, I am. For some reasons that are both complicated and exciting.”

“Ah man, you met someone else better than me?” Night Glider asked. “‘Cause I wasn’t being all that serious a couple of nights ago.”

Starlight sighed. “Not in that manner, but I did meet someone. Someone I wish to speak to more.”

Night Glider smirked and then shrugged. “Well, so long as you got to unwind, then that’s all that matters. Oh, and I just wanted to let you know, we rolled out a new Gaia Memory into the street, got through delivering it just a few hours ago.”

“What type was it?” Starlight asked.

“Gold, but this time we did it intentionally. And don’t worry, Double D’s got the precautions in place should that user go off the deep end.” Night Glider stretched and yawned. “Well, I’m gonna hit the hay, I’m going take a day off myself tomorrow.”

“Hold it!” Starlight uttered in her authoritarian voice. Night Glider stopped in her tracks, she watched as Starlight walked towards her, making the tomboy gulp. Once she was within a foot of her, Starlight reached out, grabbed a fistful of Night Glider’s shirt and brought her closer. Her scary visage then morphed into one of sultry playfulness. “You’re going to have to earn that day off, Glider.”

N: Nobody's Perfect / The Choices We Make

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Sunset laid in her bed, tossing a bet back and forth. She hadn’t divulged the info to Starlight about what she saw, knowing that her counterpart was evil and knowing herself to have changed from that path, would probably be too much to take in. Sunset also decided to keep this from the girls until she could confirm it, especially since this new ability had appeared.

Is the Unicorn Memory evolving like our magic?

During the Friendship Games, Sunset learned that their magic appeared when they showed the truest part of themselves, in other words, their elements. Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, and Laughter, Magic…well, for a little while, Sunset believed she represented the sixth Element of Magic. But with the appearance of Earth’s Twilight Sparkle, and her exposure to magic, Sunset felt that that wasn’t her Element. In actuality, it probably never was.

But the rainbow that formed when they defeated the Sirens, there was a seventh ray of light, a Seventh Element. Could that be her Element of Harmony? It’s not as if she had ponyed up like the others, she still needed her guitar for that, at least, until the fight with the Rocket Dopant. “Ugh, so confusing!”

After Princess Twilight had come by and scolded Starlight for recklessly bringing a magical amulet into Sunset’s world, and about just going on whim to a parallel world. Princess Twilight told Starlight she could stay for a few days, so long as Sunset was okay with it, and she was.

Sunset had Princess Twilight stay the night, not wanting to have her go all the way back to the school, and because she was tired from the day’s adventure. That proved to be an awkward situation for herself. Once Starlight informed Twilight that she was free to walk around Sunset’s home in the buff, the Princess of Friendship did not hesitate in the slightest. Sunset found it hard to look at Princess Twilight that day, even though her girlfriend and the princess were different, seeing the nude form of her girlfriend was…

Hot, Sunset thought. Now that I think about it, I’m not entirely sure that Princess Twilight was joking about becoming my mistress…Two Twilights…

Sunset Shimmer then slapped her herself in the face.

Stupid sexy Twilights!

With Sunset still thinking, she looked over to her right and saw Starlight sleeping contently, with the blanket covering most of her neck down, and below that was a clothes-less Starlight. In some ways Sunset regretted letting her walk around her home with no clothes on, and sleeping in said bed with none. While ponies were naturally nude, and sleeping in the same bed had about the same connotations of a brother and sister sharing the bed, it was only when attraction was felt did it feel awkward.

But thanks to being a human for some years, and adopting most of their customs and norms, Sunset was starting to feel flustered with Starlight sleeping like that. Don’t make it weird, Sunset! Don’t make it weird!

Sunset got out of the bed and went downstairs, taking the Unicorn Memory with her. She sat in her couch and looked at the device, which was both the cause and solution to their Dopant problem. Sunset thought more about how Earth’s Starlight was connected, if she was indeed Equal, then did that mean she was the one responsible for the creation of the T1 Memories? Was the whole company of PhoenEXE in on the creation of the Memories? Was…Was Shining Armor in on it?

The fiery haired girl shook her head. “No, no, Shining Armor can’t be in on it. Most likely, they want a Rider they can semi-control…and if PhoenEXE announces that they’re the ones responsible for creating Trigger, if anyone afterwards comes out and says that the company is also responsible for creating the Dopants, then they can dispute it with their funding of the police.”

Sunset had to admit, it was good, a plan worthy of the old Equestrian Starlight Glimmer. And that’s the problem, this one was acting like the Starlight Glimmer of Equestria was. Maybe there was a chance to stop this before it got worse? If Starlight, her Starlight, could convince this one to stop what she was doing, then the Dopant threat would end. Well, aside from the T2s but that was a different matter.

Celestia knows, if the human version of herself was on a similar dark path, Sunset would’ve done anything to stop that from happening. Because no one deserves to go through all that pain and anger, and isolation. Having friends was a wonderful thing, and having a girlfriend was even better. Speaking of which.

Sunset took out her cellphone, she thought against it at first, but decided to take a chance. The phone rang a couple of times before Twilight answered. [Hi, Sunset!]

“Wow, you sound chipper for someone I’m calling in the middle of the night,” said Sunset.

[It could be because I’m working on something amazing! That Rocket Memory opened new information in the Infinite Library, and it’s like I’m possessed! I think I know how to make you and Rainbow Dash stronger! If I’m right, you won’t have to worry about a timeout with your Shining Memory!]

Sunset’s eyes widened, she didn’t know what to say to that. Oh wait, yes she did. “How long have you been working on this?”

[Um…what do you mean?]

“I mean how much sleep have you been getting?”

[………]

“Go to sleep, Twi.”

[B-B-But I’m so close to a breakthrough and –!]

“Go. To. Sleep.” Sunset put emphasis on each word. She loved Twilight, very much so, but her egghead of a girlfriend would no doubt work herself into exhaustion. It may be Summer Vacation, but that was no excuse to run herself ragged.

There as a long sigh on the other end of the phone before Twilight said, [Alright, I’ll go to bed. Sunset, thank you, for thinking about my wellbeing like this.]

Sunset smiled and blushed a little. “I always do, and flattery isn’t going to get you a time extension.”

[Worth a shot. But I do mean it! Well, good night.]

Sunset ended the call and smiled, being with Twilight made her feel warm inside, and she hoped they would stay like this for as long as they could, until…well…that may be thinking too far into the future.

***___________\\\N///___________***

A couple of weeks had passed and things have been…semi-quiet. A string of robberies had been taking place in Canterlot City, but what had been making authorities weary was how the robberies were occurring. The robbers appeared to be a bunch of young adults, either in their late teens to early twenties. They wore black sweats, gloves, ski masks, and hoodies, except for one that wore hard hockey mask with a griffon painted on the front. There were eye witness reports that one of them turned into a monster, a Dopant, in some of the robberies, but never saw an actual transformation.

Rainbow Dash headed out that morning to drive around the city. Both Sunset and Rainbow had been debating whether or not to get involved, the last bank robbers they stopped had a Gaia Memory, but that one was outright attacking cops, these robbers were in and out quick. Cops handle cop things, and Kamen Riders handle Kamen Rider things, that’s how they worked. Trigger, Shining Armor, was a different case, but essentially, Sunset and Rainbow try not to get involved with police work unless it involves Dopants. Or if it got too out of control and a Rider was needed.

Still, Rainbow thought they should check it out and went out to do just that. She had Twilight draw up a map of the banks that were hit so far, and some possible ones based on the level of security and amount of money they would be holding at that time. It was almost scary how good Twilight was at that.

It was almost noon, and so far, Rainbow Dash hadn’t heard or seen anything suspicious, yet. She stopped by a hotdog stand to grab something to eat, while she ate, Rainbow’s phone went off.

“S’up, Sunset?” Rainbow asked.

[Just checking in. Everything alright so far?]

“Boring and quiet, maybe they got enough and skipped town?”

[For some, enough is never enough. I doubt they’re gone, with their streak so far, they’re probably overconfident that they can get away from anything, and can get all the money they want. While that’s not necessarily a good thing, it can make them sloppy and mess up. You tend to lose your edge if you start to think it’ll be easy……And I feel as if I’m speaking from personal experience.]

“Hey, don’t start that again. We’re not doing this whole ‘I was a horrible person and’ blah, blah, blah. You’re not that girl anymore.”

There was some chuckling on the other end of the line before Sunset spoke, [Thanks, Dash. And sorry I can’t help out, I have a suspicion about something that needed looking into.]

“Must be pretty big if you’re sitting out a Dopant stake out,” said Rainbow.

[Well…]

Rainbow Dash looked across the street to Haywood’s Bank, and watched as six people in black outfits filed out of it, with a seventh in a mask exiting behind them. “Sunset, gotta hang up, bad guys showed up!”

[Wait, what –?!]

Rainbow Dash hung up the phone and dialed the police, informing them of what was happening. The prismatic girl got on her bike and found a secluded alleyway to transform in. Once she had, Rainbow summoned the N-Driver and the Nasca Memory.

< NASCA! >

“Henshin!”

> NASCA! <

A blue electrical field formed around Rainbow Dash, transforming her into the speedster hero, Kamen Rider Nasca. Nasca flared her fiery electric wings and took off for the bank.

***___________\\\N///___________***

The robbers had handguns, shotguns, and automatic rifles, the seventh member, presumably the leader, had a black leather jacket with white feathers around the collar. Black jeans, combat boots, and leather gloves. The leader of the group glanced about, seeing the many terrified faces of the patrons and bank tellers. Most of them were on the ground, with the exception of the bank tellers who were being held at gun point with their hands in the air.

What passed as a security guard in the bank had already been subdued. The guard, a man in his thirties, glanced about as if trying to figure a way to stop the robbers or call for help, one of the robbers walked up to him and shouted, “What’re you lookin’ at?! Thinkin’ about bein’ a hero or somethin’?!”

The robber placed the shotgun right on the guard’s head and cocked it once, making everyone gasp.

“You wanna know what heroes get? They get dead!”

Before the robber could pull the trigger, the leader swiftly punched out the subordinate, sending her to the floor.

“Are you stupid or something?! We’re here for the money, hostages are hostages, they’re worth more alive!” The leader scolded, her voice gravely and rough through the mask. “Now get off your ass, watch them, and don’t shoot them unless they make for the door or something!”The leader moved to the center of the room. “Understand this! We are in control right now, so long as you do what we say, you’ll all go home alive! Okay?!” She was met with silence. “Okay.”

The leader and one other robber took the bank manager to the back of the bank where a huge vault was locked. “Y-You won’t be able t-t-to open it!” he stammered, “When the silent alarm is activated, t-the vault shuts for seventy-two hours and can’t be opened until then,” the manager stammered.

“Yeah, let me worry about that,” said the leader. “Take him back with the others.”

The other robber did so, pushing the man along. Once alone, the leader unzipped her jacket, and pulled out a golden Gaia Memory with a letter U on it. This has to be done…

Just before the leader could activate the Memory, the sound of glass shattering, along with some screams could be heard coming from the lobby. The leader rushed towards the edge of the open door, and cursed under her breath as she saw Kamen Rider Nasca standing there. Her subordinates had already been disarmed and were groaning on the floor.

“…No choice now…”

< UTOPIA! >

The leader rolled up her right sleeve and pressed the Gaia Memory into her arm. The device shined and zipped into her arm, her entire body glowed with golden light as she released a primal roar.

In the lobby, Nasca glanced towards the open vault door, but before she could make a move, the door was blasted apart. A cloud of dust wafted through the air, but was quickly dispelled with a wave of the Utopia Dopant’s hand. This creature looked female, its forearms had golden gauntlets, each tipped with three, long, large talons, and all five fingers were claw tipped as well. Her legs were covered in the same golden armor, with unprotected parts colored white with silver lines. Her chest plate was also gold, with a wing design sculpted into it, and a ruby at the center.

Utopia’s shoulders had large pauldrons on it, with amethyst jewels embedded in them. On her back were large, metallic wings, the front of the “feathers” were red, but on the back of the wings, it was colored gold. The Dopant’s head had a helmet on it the resembled that of a griffon, with a protruding beak, gleaming read eyes, and feathery frills on either side of its head. Its mouth plate was white, with thin silver sculpted lips.

Something about this Dopant made Nasca edgy, it exuded domineering power. It was different from the Terror Memory, that one instilled fear, this was one was intimidation. “The power to wreak havoc, and you settle for bank robberies? Jeez, you criminal types think small.”

“Probably not very hero-like to give pointers to the criminal with powers,” said Utopia.

Nasca flinched at hearing that voice. It was distorted thanks to the transformation, and no one would recognize it if they didn’t know, but Nasca recognized that voice. And she didn’t like that she did.

Sirens could be heard in the distance, making Utopia growl. “Get your asses up and out of here! I’ll deal with her!”

Utopia’s subordinates didn’t waste time and quickly gathered their weapons and ran out of the bank, and to their waiting getaway van. Before Nasca could even make a move, she was wrapped in a field of crimson energy, it froze her in place, seizing her muscles and preventing any kind of movement. Utopia’s right hand was glowing with that same energy, and before Nasca knew it, she was tossed out the window of the bank like a rag doll.

The winged Kamen Rider smashed through the glass and bounced on the street before smashing into the side of a building. Nasca groaned in both soreness and annoyance as she witnessed the robbers getting away. She broke free from the wall and unfurled her wings to give chase, but at last second, Utopia appeared before her again, blocking her way.

Nasca growled angrily as she summoned her Nasca Blade. The winged Rider slashed at Utopia, only to be blocked by her golden talons. Nasca drew back and slashed to the left, but was blocked yet again, she quickly disengaged and zipped around Utopia, using the three-hundred and sixty-degree environment to her advantage. Nasca flew in from behind to slash at her wing, but Utopia dropped just as Nasca was about to strike. Utopia looked up as Nasca looked down, in that moment, Utopia uppercut Nasca in her abdomen.

Utopia’s golden talon gauntlets grinded against Nasca’s armor, sending sparks flying from the impact. Nasca managed to roll off the attack, going into a fall and stopping once she flared her wings. She’s really strong, and fast…but I’m faster!

Nasca switched the N on her driver so that it now showed the orange half.

\_/ NASCA! VERMILLION MODE! \_/

The blue coloring of Nasca changed into a vermillion orange color. Nasca wasted no time and disappeared from sight, using the super speed boost from Vermillion Mode to overtake Utopia. The Kamen Rider zipped around in a barely visible blur, closing in on Utopia and preparing to deliver a flurry of blows. However, Utopia’s eyes shined and in a surprising feat of speed, blocked Nasca’s blade attack before it could hit her.

Nasca floated there in a stunned state, no Dopant had ever been able to match her speed in Vermillion Mode, it was the one thing that always caught them off guard. But Nasca was undeterred, she disengaged and tried again, Utopia, however was keeping pace. Both Dopant and Rider appeared as blurs in the sky, with thunderous concussive “BOOMs” echoing through the city from high above.

Unfortunately, time was up, and Nasca returned to normal form. Utopia took this opening and rushed Nasca, striking her from all directions at super speed, and causing sparks to fly from her armor. While she was disoriented, Utopia gathered her energy into a golden sphere of power and threw it at Nasca. The ball exploded upon contact and Nasca went into a nose dive. Utopia flew at Nasca, grabbing her by the throat and dragging her all the way down into the roof of another building, kicking up a cloud of dust from the impact.

Nasca struggled under the grip of the Dopant, her glowing red eyes gleamed down at her, and at that moment, she could only think to say, “Do it…!”

Utopia sighed and released Nasca. “Please don’t get in our way again.”

Nasca watched as Utopia took off into the air and flew away, leaving Nasca on the rooftop. Under her helmet, Nasca gritted her teeth and struck the roof with her fist. She hoped it wasn’t true, she really did, but Rainbow had to know.

***___________\\\N///___________***

After filling in Sunset and the girls on the attack, Rainbow Dash went to go and visit a friend. She pulled up to an apartment complex for wayward kids, it was a place that Rainbow’s parents had helped a certain friend of hers find. Rainbow, walked up to the door that had “16A” on the front. Rainbow raised her hand to knock, but she hesitated.

“Maybe I should’ve called first…?”

“Probably should’ve,” said a gravely, yet familiar, voice.

Rainbow looked over her shoulder and saw Gilda walking up to her. “What’s up G?”

Gilda walked up and fist bumped Rainbow Dash. “Not much, I……I was stopping by to pick something up.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “You get another part time job?”

“Yeah, boss is kind of a bitch, but…the pay’s good,” said Gilda. “C’mon in, we can talk for a little bit.”

Gilda opened the front door and Rainbow Dash walked in. It wasn’t the fanciest apartment, it had a small kitchen, a little living room, and a bedroom in the back. The couch was black leather, a bit worn, but still comfortable. Across from it sat a flat screen tv, a small one, but nice enough. Gilda came back from her bedroom and went into her fridge, taking a soda from it and tossing it to Rainbow.

“Glad to see you, been a while since we hung out at all,” said Gilda.

“Yeah, sorry, I’ve been busy with school, the sports teams I captain, but now that it’s summer, we can hang out a bit more, if you want?” Rainbow asked.

Gilda’s gaze faltered for a moment before she said, “That sounds great, Dash, but we’ll have to take raincheck on that. My new job’s got me on a short leash and hopefully it won’t be for much longer.”

“Huh, alright.Hey G, remember when you said you had a crush on me when we were at camp?” Rainbow asked.

Gilda had sprayed her can of soda out into the air as she took in a breath. “W-What the hell – what brought this up?!”

“Nothin’ just asking if you remember?”

Gilda’s face burned crimson as she released a frustrated sigh. “Okay, yes, I remember. It was a stupid little kid crush; can we please not talk about it?!”

“Huh, too bad, ‘cause I was willing to give it a shot,” said Rainbow Dash.

Gilda spat a second time. “SAY WHAT?! Uh…Dash, what are you doing?”

Rainbow Dash started to move closer to Gilda, making the tough girl back away until her back was pressed against the opposite end of the couch. Gilda felt her heart race, face heating up as she watched her best friend approach her with a predatory gleam in her eyes. Rainbow’s hands slowly reached out and began to feel up Gilda’s left thigh, surprisingly, Gilda didn’t make her stop, perhaps too frozen in shock that this was happening.

“What am I doing? I think the real question is G…” Rainbow’s hand brushed against something in Gilda’s pocket, a familiar shape that made Rainbow Dash move forward and enter Gilda’s pocket. “What are you doing with this?!”

Gilda snapped out of the trance she was in and realized that Rainbow had just palmed the one thing she was trying to hide from her. It was a Gaia Memory, gold in color, with a U in the shape of two people clasping hands. Rainbow Dash’s face was a mixture of betrayal, anger, sadness, and disappointment.

“D-D-Dash it’s not what you think!” Gilda pleaded.

“After what happened to you with that Violence Memory, you go and take one of these street Memories?! Again?! Gilda, you promised me you were turning over a new leaf!” Rainbow shouted with tears in her eyes. “I told my friends, I told them that they could trust you – I thought I could trust you!”

Gilda hugged herself, shaking. “Rainbow Dash, please listen, let me tell you why first! Because I was going straight, but someone’s making me use that thing, and I have no choice!”

Rainbow gave her friend a dubious look. “What do you mean, ‘no choice’?! We all have a choice G!”

“Not when someone else’s life is on the line!” Gilda stated.

Rainbow went lax at hearing that. “Wait…who’s life? Yours?”

Gilda shook her head. “No…it’d be easier if it was, but…no. I had a friend…back in Griffonstone, well, to be honest she’s more like a little sister than a friend…”

*~*~*

Gilda walked the streets of her hometown, Griffonstone. She kept the hood of her hoody up, where she was going, it was better to keep her face as low key as possible. Gilda had always been a loner, running away from Griffonstone was probably the best thing she had ever done. After her incident with the Violence Memory, Gilda stayed in Canterlot City at a wayward house for runaway teens. She got a part time job, it was mind numbing, but the pay was good. The biggest upside was that Gilda could spend time with Rainbow Dash again, and was able to get to know her friends a bit better.

Out of the seven, Gilda gravitated more towards Applejack, Sunset, and surprisingly, Pinkie Pie. Rarity was okay, in small doses, Twilight was nerdy, but she was a cute kind of nerdy. Fluttershy, well, Gilda felt like a total a-hole remembering how she yelled at the kind girl, and in the end Fluttershy forgave her. Once upon a time Gilda would’ve called her a doormat for being so forgiving, but she had come to appreciate Fluttershy’s kindness, even if she didn’t always know how to help, Fluttershy was there to at least try and help.

They were all good people, probably the best she’d ever met in her life. But, if she was honest, there was one other person in Griffonstone that wasn’t like everybody else, she was kind like Fluttershy, helpful, hyper as hell, and always smiling. Gilda kicked herself, she was practically her little sister.

Gilda knew these streets all too well as she made her way past some of the more dilapidated buildings. Griffonstone was once a nice place to live, communities actually gave a crap about each other, and the crime rate was almost zero. Under mayor Guldo, Griffonstone prospered and was on its way to becoming as big a city as its neighbor, Canterlot City.

However, corruption was soon found out at the highest level of the government, exposing Guldo and eventually ousting him from office. Since then, Griffonstone has had a string of bad or lesser corrupted mayors and officials, allowing the city to fall into despair and poverty. Many stay because they have no choice, and some are just looking for a chance to leave the city.

And then there are others who look to rule the streets of Griffonstone. Many street gangs appeared, selling and doing the usual cliché gang things. Selling drugs, robbing, starting turf wars, and some…other less notable activities. One of those gangs, probably in the top three worst, was the Talons. A gang that Gilda used to be affiliated with before obtaining the Violence Memory and separating from them completely, along with Griffonstone.

She had power, and no one could tell her what to do. But that was months ago, Gilda wasn’t sure if they knew she had the Violence Memory still, but she could use that to her advantage. Soon Gilda arrived at the Talons’ hideout, an abandoned warehouse that was supposed to be an auto parts shipper. Like most new businesses that didn’t have what it took, they rolled up out of town quick, leaving their trash behind.

Gilda walked up to the back of the building, already she spotted the lookouts, wearing bandannas or shirts that had three red claw marks on it, or just blatantly had it tattooed on their faces or arms. One the Talons members walked up to Gilda, a big burly guy. Gilda chuckled at the display of bravado. “What, am I supposed to be scared or somethin’?”

“It’s either that or ya got a serious death wish coming to see us,” he said.

“Look, either you get out of my way or I make you. Greta called me and told me to come here to this gods forsaken crap hole. So, unless you wanna explain to her why I’m late getting here, you’ll move your ass, NOW!”

The large Talons member flinched at the ferocity in Gilda’s voice, he then looked over his shoulder to another lookout who was on the phone. After a minute, the other lookout nodded an “okay”. The burly guard let Gilda pass as the rusty gate of their base screeched in open.

Gilda walked through the yard, spotting several Talons members who were either just talking, groping their lovers, or getting into fist fights for the hell of it. Gilda sneered at the sight of this place, happy she had left this life behind, and at the same time, angry at herself that she so selfishly did so without thinking it through. Gilda continued on until she was inside the main building. The inside was vastly different, part of the building had been setup as a chop shop, another part was where they kept most of their drugs stored, and another housed their more lethal weapons.

Most of the Talons members who were inside gave her suspicious looks, while others regarded her with a level of hate. Gilda stopped when she saw Greta looking down at her from the rafters above, eyeing Gilda with her mint green eyes, and sharp same colored eye shadow.

Her white hair stood out against the dark corners of the warehouse. Once she descended down to ground level, she was able to get a better look at her. She wore her trademark green scarf with a crescent moon pinned on it. She also had on ripped jean pants, and a sleeveless leather jacket. Greta sported tube top, allowing more of her olive colored skin to be seen. This was the leader of the Talons, and although she the same height and age as Gilda, she was more than fierce enough to make sure no one disobeyed her. Well, almost no one.

“Gilda, glad to see ya back,” said Greta.

“Can’t say the feeling’s mutual,” spat Gilda.

“Ah, don’t be like that. We’re old friends after all.” Greta moved closer to Gilda, and slowly removed the hood to reveal Gilda’s face. “You always had intense eyes. Oooh, gives me chills every time.”

Gilda gritted her teeth, and tightened her fists inside the hoody’s pockets. “Would you quit with the damn flirting, I didn’t come here because I wanted to…”

Greta narrowed her eyes and smiled a wicked smile, she then motioned for Gilda to follow her. Greta’s bodyguards followed close behind until they were at the back of the warehouse, the leader of the Talons told her guards to wait outside and to not come in unless otherwise told to do so. Once the door was closed, however, Gilda wasted no time in grabbing Greta and throwing her to the ground.

Gilda pounced on Greta, placing a knee right on her sternum, and at the same time, grabbing her throat. Gilda cocked back her left fist in preparation for a punch, and asked, “Where is she?”

“Ugh, G, I know you’re into rough play, but this is a kinkier than I was expecting,” said Greta.

“CUT THE BS! Where is Gabby?! If you’ve hurt or done anything to her I swear I’ll –!”

“Relax, Gilda, it does me no good to kill my bargaining chip before I get what I want. As for harming her, thankfully she’s be cooperative, so no harm has come, yet.” Greta watched as the fire in Gilda’s eyes still smoldered, but Greta knew she was in control, despite her current position. “Now, if you wanna mess around on the floor, I’m up for it. If not, then get the hell off me and we can talk.”

Gilda kept her fist cocked back, trembling with barely contained rage. In the end, Gilda relented and let Greta back up, who seemed a bit disappointed at the same time as relieved. “What do you want, Greta, I’m out, or did I not make that clear the last time I was here?!”

“Oh no, you were very clear. So clear, in fact, that I got a little something-something after you left.” Greta reached into her pocket and pulled out a T2 Gaia Memory, much to Gilda’s dismay. “Thought you’d recognize it, it’s called Zone. Gives me the power to teleport anyone or anything to where I want it.”

Gilda was now on edge, she didn’t have her Violence Memory anymore, but hopefully, Greta didn’t know that. “So, what? I have one of those too.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, it’s not good to tell a lie, Gilda. If you did have that device, you’d have transformed and rolled on in here wrecking everything and demanding to know where Gabriel is. So, let’s not play this game, I want something from you, and if you want to see that girl alive, then you’ll do as I say!” Greta threatened.

Gilda tensed up, she was right. “What do you want from me?! I don’t have that Memory thing anymore, I’m just me now! So…whatever you want to do, just to it to me! Don’t hurt Gabby…!”

Greta wagged her finger in the air as if to dismiss that thought. “Oh no, Gilda, I don’t want to do anything to you. Well, maybe a couple of things in private. No, I need you to use this.”

Gilda watched as Greta pulled out another Gaia Memory from her pants pocket, the Utopia Memory. “I bought this off a girl, cost a pretty penny too, but it was worth it to have two of these bad boys. Catch.”

Greta tossed the device to Gilda, quickly catching it and staring at Greta in disbelief.

“I want you to pay me back. I need money, money enough to get the Talons out of this rat hole of a city, and expand into Canterlot where the big game is. To do that we need to knock over a few banks, and I need someone who knows how to use one of these things, and has lived there a bit,” said Greta.

Gilda looked at the Utopia Memory and back at Greta. “What’s stopping me from using this thing right now and tearing this place apart to find her?”

“Oh plenty, for one thing, with Zone, I teleport her to a different spot every two or three hours. Safe places that only I know about, and only I can get to. You can use that thing to hurt me all you want, but I won’t tell you where she is. And because I’m only the one who takes her food and drink, and if I die, she dies starving and alone in an unknown place with only rats and maggots feasting on her corpse.”

Gilda looked at the Gaia Memory, she swore she would never use these again, not after what it almost did to her, and what she almost did to her best friend. Gilda had started to make a life Canterlot, with actual friends that she liked, other than Rainbow Dash. Doing this would ruin everything she built up back in Canterlot City, but if she didn’t, Gabby would die and it would be Gilda’s fault, the one genuinely good person in Griffonstone would die because of her, the one person whom she’d regarded as a little sister.

“Give me your arm, Gilda,” Greta ordered.

Gilda rolled up her left sleeve. Greta walked over to a desk drawer and took out a gun-like device. She approached Gilda and pressed one end against Gilda’s skin and pulled the trigger. Gilda yelp as she felt a pinch, and suddenly, a tattoo in the shape of circuit board appeared on her arm.

“Place the stick at the center, and you know the rest.”

Gilda pressed the button on the Memory.

< UTOPIA! >

*~*~*

Rainbow Dash stared at the floor with narrowed eyes and clenched fists, while Gilda was slumped over, arms resting on her thighs as she sighed heavily.

“That’s the whole story, Dash. If I don’t do this, Gabby’s dead…and I can’t let that happen!”

“G, why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve…you know…”

“Without knowing where Gabby is, there’s no point in having you or Sunset save her. No doubt she’s being kept somewhere where there’s no electricity, so Twilight can’t hack track her or anything,” said Gilda. “This is something I have to do, I’ve made sure that they haven’t hurt anyone during the robberies. I may be on a short leash, but I’m the one who turns into a monster, so they don’t question me.”

Rainbow Dash shot up from the couch and paced around growling. “This isn’t right! There’s gotta be something we can do?! Something we haven’t thought of?!”

Gilda stood up as well. “There’s no we in this, Rainbow. I should’ve taken Gabby with me when I left Griffonstone, but I was too wrapped up in my own crap to remember her! I won’t let her pay for my mistakes!”

“But the longer you use that thing, the more it’ll mess you up! It’s not like the ones I use, or the on you used before! It screws with your head worse than the last one you used!” Rainbow warned.

Gilda snorted and swiped the Utopia Memory from Rainbow’s hand. “I got a handle on it, so long I focus on what I’m doing, who my real friends are, I’ll be fine. I promise no innocent people are going to die, I’ll make sure of it. I gotta go, if I’m gone too long they’ll get suspicious. Don’t follow me, Dash.” Gilda reached into her other pocket and placed a key in Rainbow’s vacant hand. “It’s an extra key I meant to give you, in case you ever just wanna drop by and crash here, or just hang out. See ya later.”

Rainbow watched as Gilda walked out of the apartment and left Rainbow Dash standing there, feeling helpless, a feeling she did not like in the least.

***_________\\\\N////_________***

Later that day, Rainbow Dash called Sunset and Twilight, telling them they needed to have a team meeting right away. Once Rainbow Dash arrived at Sunset’s home, she gave them all the details about Gilda, Gabby, and the robberies. As expected, Sunset became furious at the situation, Starlight shared the same reaction, and Twilight had a sad expression on her face.

“We have to help her,” said Starlight.

“I know, but with that Greta girl moving her around, we won’t know where she’ll be!” Rainbow stated.

Twilight rubbed her chin as she thought about the situation. “Maybe can’t track Gabby, but we can track Greta.”

“How?” Sunset asked.

“Like Gilda told Rainbow, Greta is the only one who knows were Gabby is and is the one who teleports her around, and goes to give her food and drink. If that is the case, then we can track Greta by her cellphone,” said Twilight.

“There’s another way as well. Teleportation leaves behind energy, no matter how long it’s been,” said Starlight.

“Are you sure? This isn’t magic, it’s something else, Gaia Memory magic…power…whatever,” said Rainbow.

Starlight scratched at her head for a moment, but then shook her doubts away. “It shouldn’t be a problem, it’s still a type of distortion that can be tracked, I just need to feel out her energy and I can help narrow the search.”

Sunset nodded. “That part we can both do. If I drive around Griffonstone long enough we can find the energy signature, it’ll go by faster with both us, and I can protect Starlight from the Griffonstone thugs.”

Starlight blew a raspberry. “I don’t need protection, I have my magic.”

“Uh-huh, says the girl who still jumps at the sound of a car or my bike,” said Sunset.

Rainbow Dash was starting to feel confident about this, they had a plan, and hopefully soon they could get Gilda out of the mess she was dragged into. It was then that Twilight raised her hand, grabbing everyone’s attention.

“One small problem…for the cellphone tracking, I need to be within five meters of Greta to ping her cellphone.”

And then Rainbow face palmed. “Well there’s no way that’s happening. They’d eat you alive if you got anywhere near there Twi, no offense!” she added.

“None taken, but I do know how I can do it remotely. I can build a device that will scan all cell signals in the area, the closer to Greta the device is the better.”

“Yeah, that still requires us to get close to them,” said Starlight.

Sunset began to think about their options. “We can’t ask Gilda, Greta would naturally be suspicious about her. We need…”

“An inside girl,” said Rainbow.

***_________\\\\N////_________***

Greta kept a close eye on her subordinates as they counted the money from the previous heists. It gave Greta great satisfaction to see so much green, in such vast piles, and all the possibilities that would come with its use. The leader of the Talons glanced behind her and saw Gilda just leaning against the wall, looking just as peeved and sullen as always.

“Aw, don’t worry Gilda, I don’t blame you for the botched heist. Up till now we’ve been able to stay under the Kamen Rider radar, but luck like that eventually runs out. But it looks like you were able to handle Nasca pretty well, guess that Utopia was a good buy,” said Greta.

“How much more do I have to steal before you let Gabby go?” Gilda asked.

Greta tapped her chin as she pondered, “Well, had this one gone according to plan, I’d say today. But now we’ll need to knock over one or two more to break even.”

Gilda raised her head to look Greta in the eyes. “And after that, we call it debt paid and Gabby and I go free.”

Greta smirked. “I’m a girl of my word. You’ve delivered so far, so I will too. So long as you don’t go and snitch to the cops afterwards. The beauty with teleportation, you can pop up anywhere, and be in and out before you knew what hit you.”

“I won’t, all I want is for you to leave us alone,” said Gilda.

Greta nodded and went back to watching her underlings count the copious amounts of green. Just then, one of the Talons girls entered the counting room and shouted, “Boss, there’s someone outside!”

Greta turned around, the Zone Memory in hand. “A cop?”

“No, some chick rode in on her bike and said she wanted to talk to the person in charge.”

Gilda’s eye widened with horror. Oh please, gods, no…

Greta put the Zone Memory back in her pocket and motioned for Gilda to follow her. Every step filled Gilda with dread, she hoped, she prayed, silently begging every deity that existed in the past and present that the “chick” in question was not who she thought it was. After what seemed like the longest walk of Gilda’s life, she and Greta arrived at the front gate where the guards were at the ready. It was night time, and the bike’s light shined bright, obscuring the features of the girl who had called Greta out.

“You the girl in charge here?” the mystery girl asked.

“I am, what do you want?” Greta retorted.

“I want in, I heard the Talons are getting up in the world, and I wanted a piece of the action.”

Greta smirked. “Easy to say, when you’re shining a damn bright light in our faces. And not just anybody can be in the Talons.”

The bike shut off and the light with it. She wore a violet colored hat with the rim turned backwards, a navy-blue jacket, and violet colored sweat pants. She had a blue tank top on, and gold chain around her neck, as well as a gold lightning bolt earring, but what stood out was the girl’s rainbow-colored hair. Gilda had to use all of her willpower to keep from screaming her head off, and from lunging at the girl.

“Oh, you’ll want me, name’s RD.”

Gilda’s left eye twitched. I am going to kill you, Dash!

N: Nobody's Perfect / Wings of Freedom

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“This is not a good idea,” said Sunset.

Rainbow Dash looked herself over in Sunset’s mirror, having donned her “street gang” clothes. “What do you mean?”

“I mean this whole infiltration thing…and more so, you doing the infiltrating.” Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “I…I think I should be the one to do it.”

Twilight adjusted her glasses and cleared her throat as she said, “I kind of agree with Sunset, as much I dislike the idea of either of you two being in a street gang without proper protection, Sunset does have that…ahem…air about her.”

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. “What? I can pull off bad girl just as much as Sunset.”

Twilight glanced to Starlight and Sunset, and then back to Rainbow Dash. Every cell in her brain stated that she ought to just placate her friend and spare her ego, because if anyone in this room oozed bad girl vibe, it would be the two Equestrians in the room. For some reason that gave Twilight goosebumps thinking of them. Oh great, I do have a type…bad girls, I’m such a cliché…

“Earth to Twilight Sparkle, you there?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight shook her head, a blush on her face as she nervously chuckled. “Never mind. I will have R0V3R, Hawk, and Dillo on standby. If you get into trouble, flash a peace sign and they’ll move in.”

“A ‘peace sign’?” Sunset asked.

“It’s the only nonthreatening thing I can think of that won’t make them shoot her, and is easy enough to make if tied up or otherwise,” said Twilight.

Starlight, Sunset, and Rainbow thought that over for a moment before all uttering, “Good point.”

***____________\\\N///____________***

Rainbow stood before the leader of the Talons, her subordinates all on edge and ready to pounce should Rainbow Dash show any signs that she was tricking them. The relief she had was in the form of a large bird flying overhead, and the knowledge that two other mech-animals were lying in wait close by to rescue her should this go south. With that in mind, Rainbow stood confident and proud as she gave a cocky smile.

“You got a lot of balls coming here, I’ll give you that. Not just anyone can be in the Talons,” said Greta.

“I’m not ‘just anybody’, I can handle anything you dish out.” Rainbow glanced about the surroundings and cracked her knuckles. “So, who’s the toughest guy you got?”

“That would be her.” Gilda stepped forward, but Greta raised her hand and looked to the girl in question. “Use it, the Memory.”

Gilda narrowed her gaze at Greta. “Seriously?! I can take this punk without changing, that’s just overkill!”

“I don’t take on anyone who can’t live up to what they preach. RD says she can take anything we dish out, if she can’t, then we’ll just toss her into the garbage bin,” said Greta. “Now do it!”

Gilda walked until she was standing between Greta and Rainbow. The girl from Griffonstone pulled out the Utopia Memory and rolled up her sleeve.

< UTOPIA! >

Gilda pressed the Gaia Memory into her arm, and immediately her body transformed into that of the Utopia Dopant, creating a shockwave of force that threw almost everyone onto their rears, with the exception of Greta and Rainbow. Utopia took another step forward and flared her metallic wings, eyes glowing as she glared down at Rainbow Dash. Utopia reached out with her hand and grabbed a fist full of Rainbow’s shirt, bringing her close to her face.

“You shouldn’t have come here,” said Utopia.

“Heh, as if I’m passing up a chance at some green!” Rainbow stated.

Utopia growled and threw Rainbow Dash to the ground, she then raised her right fist and thrust forward. Rainbow rolled out of the way in time to miss the gold talons digging into the dirt, the prismatic girl then gave a swift kick to Utopia’s face and backed away. She knew that it wouldn’t hurt, annoy, yes, but not hurt.

Rainbow Dash hopped into her bike, revved the engine, and began doing donuts in the dirt. A dust cloud was kicked up, obscuring Rainbow from view. The bike and Rainbow suddenly broke off and headed back down the alleyway she came from.

“She’s runnin’!” yelled one of the guards.

Greta chuckled. “All bark, no bite.”

Utopia growled with anger that her target had fled, but at the same time, was relieved that she did. As Utopia turned her back, the sound of the bike had stopped, but then resumed. Only, instead of getting further away, the sounds were growing closer and closer at a rapid rate. Utopia turned around at the last second and found herself getting tire punched in the face, the speed of the bike, combined with the fast rotation of the tire caught Utopia off guard and sent the Dopant flying backward.

Rainbow Dash managed land the bike perfectly back to the ground and did one donut to stabilize herself before stopping. Greta and the rest of the Talons were shocked at the tactic the new girl had used, RD knew she was no match for the superior power of Utopia, so she used the bike as a weapon. Greta smiled in both excitement and intrigue. Utopia picked herself up, eyes glowing red as her right hand burned with golden energy. But before she could make a move, Greta raised her hand in a halting motion.

“I’ve seen enough, that was the most reckless, and awesome thing I’ve ever seen anyone do. That was gutsy, but I like that you weren’t afraid to take on a monster like her. Okay, you’re in, but on probation, if you step out of line…well, let’s just say we’ll find other uses for you.” Gilda powered down, taking out the Utopia Memory and putting it back in her pocket. Greta walked up to Gilda and clasped her on the shoulder. “Show the newbie around, and make sure she knows her place.”

Gilda glared at Rainbow Dash as she walked to her friend, the prismatic girl chuckled nervously under her gaze, but Gilda just sighed and told her to follow her. Gilda and Rainbow walked around the hideout, with Gilda pointing out different things about the Talons’ home base. Gilda led her into a private room, and locked the door. There was a sofa, a desk off to one side of the wall, no windows, and a minifridge. Before Rainbow could utter a word, Gilda tackled Rainbow to the couch.

“Hey what the hell are you do –!”

Gilda slapped Rainbow across the face, silencing her. “Shut up, newbie, and take what’s coming to you!” Gilda gripped Rainbow’s throat, and lowered her head until she was right by her ear. “You are such an idiot, you know that! And…sorry, they expect me to rough you up a little, so just scream and shout for a couple of minutes, and we’ll hit the wall, and then we can talk.”

Once Gilda and said that, Rainbow did as Gilda said. They threw one expletive after the other at each other, hit the wall with their bodies to make it sound like struggling, and at the end there was silence. Gilda and Rainbow sat on the couch, with Gilda holding her hands as she sighed in frustration. “Why did you come here, Dash? I told you I don’t need your help.”

“You’re wrong, G. You do need my help, friends don’t let friends do something dangerous like this, we help each other. You’re my friend, and always will be, I won’t let that bitch make you do this anymore,” said Rainbow. “We’ll save Gabby.”

“How? I don’t know where she is?! Greta teleports her to a different spot every time! Even if I knew one of them, I have no guarantee she’ll be at that particular spot, or if I’ll be there when she does!” Gilda stated.

“That’s why, we have friends who can help out.” Rainbow pulled out a small device from her pocket, it was circular in design, and looked like a small battery. “This something that Twilight made, if I can get near Greta long enough, Twilight can hack her phone and track her. Also, Sunset and Starlight are driving around Griffonstone to try and get a lock on the energy that Greta’s using to teleport Gabby around.”

Gilda raised an eyebrow. “They can do that?”

“Magic, G.”

“Right.” Gilda stared at the floor for a while, but then said, “Look, I appreciate what you’re doing, but you can’t. I’m close to getting Gabby back, one or two more of these heists and that’s it. Afterward you and Sunset can go hero and bust them up, hell, I’ll even help you! But, I can’t risk Gabby’s safety right now.”

“You won’t, I’m the one who’s going to be doing the undercover work, just treat me like you do any new guy!” Rainbow suggested.

Gilda shot her a sideways glance. “You really don’t want me to do that. If I did…well…ahem…” Gilda’s face got a little red. “J-Just no, alright! If anyone asks, I did things to you! So, when we leave this room, look violated.”

It was now Rainbow Dash’s turn to turn red. “Jeez, your gang is kinky.”

“Have you met Greta?” Gilda stood up, her right hand hovered over the pocket that contained the Utopia Memory. “All I have to do is knock over two more banks, at the most, and she’s safe. That’s all that matters right now.”

Rainbow stood up as well, and placed a reassuring hand on Gilda’s shoulder. “Hey, we’ll save her. But there’s one thing I need you to do.”

“What’s that?” Gilda asked.

“You gotta convince Greta to let me come with you on your next heist,” said Rainbow.

Gilda’s eyes widened. “WHAT! No – oh hell no! You don’t want to be in on that! Those crazies can wield a gun and do whatever, I have this Gaia Memory, but you?! Have you ever held a gun?!”

Rainbow’s eyes darted around the room as she said, “Well…No…but does a mechanical bird that transforms into laser shooting bow count?”

Gilda had to take a minute to let that sink in. “Okay, I mean a traditional gun, the kind that only shoot bullets?”

“Then, no.”

“Exactly! If you go, you may end up using it!” Gilda clenched her fist at that thought. “I don’t want you living with that kind of regret, nor do I want see you get shot by some cop or one of these psychos!”

“Then I can be the getaway driver!” Rainbow suggested.

“You ever driven a van, or even a car?” Gilda asked.

“Yeah,” said Rainbow in a matter-of-fact tone.

Gilda didn’t like this, not one bit. “I’ll think about it. For now, act the way I said, and I’ll tell Greta I sent you home. Come back early tomorrow.”

“Got it.”

***____________\\\N///____________***

The one good thing about having parents who know of your superhero side job, you don’t have to do much in the way of explaining why you looked roughed up. Seeing as being a Kamen Rider involved Rainbow Dash getting into fights, it wasn’t out of the question that she would walk away with a bruise or two.

The following day, Rainbow had headed out early in the morning to Griffonstone, with Sunset and Starlight hanging back a few yards. Once at the city limits, both diverged and headed on their individual missions. Rainbow drove down the dilapidated buildings and streets, passing by the numerous faces that looked like they were in a constant state of agitation and frustration.

No wonder Gilda wanted out of here, thought Rainbow.

Rainbow drove through the familiar alleyway and found herself at the back entrance of the old warehouse where the Talons had set up shop. The guards took one look at her and nodded, after which they opened the gate and let her pass. Rainbow parked her bike out of the way, and where it was easily accessible to her in case of emergencies. While glancing about, Rainbow spotted a guy eyeing her bike, she quickly reached out and grabbed the guy by the collar of his shirt, catching him off guard.

“If I even see one bolt, one part, missing from my bike, your ass is the first one I’m coming after! Got it!” Rainbow threatened.

The boy just nodded his head vigorously.

Rainbow let him go and continued on inside the warehouse, it was almost scary how good she was at that. Once inside, Rainbow immediately spotted Gilda, her friend had a strained smile on her face. Although her friend was happy to see her, Rainbow knew that Gilda wished she wasn’t. However, the faster they found Gabby, the sooner Gilda would be free and Rainbow could go Nasca.

“You sure about that techno doohickey that Twilight gave you?” Gilda.

“I’m sure she’s a genius, so yeah, I am,” said Rainbow.

A bewildered sigh escaped Gilda’s lips as she said, “I talked to Greta, she says you’re in for the next heist.”

“Sweet, how’d you do that?!”

“One of the girls on the team is too damn hotheaded, I just told Greta I needed someone who will take orders and not give me lip.” Gilda’s face went red. “I, um, also may have told her that I made sure you’d be obedient to me, especially after our ‘private meeting’.”

Rainbow face palmed herself, but it was necessary if Greta was to believe that Rainbow Dash wouldn’t disobey. Gilda led Rainbow Dash to the back room where Greta was, in the center of the room was a table with a map of Canterlot City, and a photo of a bank. Once Rainbow was at the table, Gilda made sure to have Rainbow as close to Greta as possible, which put the girl in question on Gilda’s left while Rainbow was on Gilda’s right.

The proximity should have been fine, hopefully.

“Alright, now that we’re all here, we have our next target.” Greta announced. “It’s Rockhoof City Bank.”

The other Talons members looked at their leader with surprise, even Gilda.

“Greta, that place is a fortress! Major armed security, cameras, heavy duty vault, and it’s also a block away from the CCPD!” Gilda stated.

“Yes, but I wouldn’t expect nothing less from a place that also acts as a gold repository.” Greta had a wicked grin on her face. “Time to go big or go home everyone, we pull this off, and the Talons will be the most well financed gang in both cities, we’ll be able to expand further than Canterlot! Fillydelphia, Whinnyapolis, Las Pegasus, Manehattan, and we’ll only grow bigger from there!”

“But…boss, if we’re hitting the gold, that’s stuff’s too heavy to put in a van! And with only us around that’ll take for freakin’ ever to move, even if we make the hostages carry it out,” said one of the boy members.

“He’s right, by the time you even get enough into the van, the cops will be all over the bank! Not to mention Kamen Rider Trigger,” said Rainbow.

Greta still maintained her wicked smile. “True, which is why I’m going with you. Using my Zone Memory will allow me to teleport a large amount of the gold without us having to lift a thing. Also…” Greta walked to the desk in her room and took out something, and brought it back to the table. Everyone jumped back when they recognized what it was. “This is going to be the last score we need, so once we get in, we leave a little present in the van, and I’ll teleport us all out. We’ll be in and out quick before Trigger or a negotiator show up.”

Gilda didn’t like this, yes it would mean she could free Gabby today, but at the same time this meant that Rainbow Dash and herself would be in the biggest danger. Greta wouldn’t hesitate to leave the newbie behind, and saving the senior members. “Greta, could I talk to you in private?”

Greta looked at Gilda, shrugged and followed Gilda outside of the room. “What’s up, G?”

“You’re planning on RD taking the fall, aren’t you?” Gilda asked.

“Wow, was I that transparent to them?” Greta asked genuinely curious.

“No, I just know you well enough to see what you’re planning. That’s why you let her on, so she can take the fall.”

Greta crossed her arms in front of her chest. “More than that, you’ll give her Utopia towards the end, and that way, she can rampage and lead them on a wild goose chase around the city while they battle it out. Meanwhile, we’ll be ready to move. There’s a second base of operations we have, we don’t use it much, and it’s mainly in case this one gets hit by a rival gang. But in this case, only the senior members know about it. So, even if she does get caught, and brings them back here, we’ll be long gone.”

Gilda had to grit her teeth and tighten her fists to keep from throttling Greta. The Utopia Memory in her pocket reacted to her spike in emotions and glowed. Greta saw this and gave Gilda a narrow-eyed glare.

“Careful, Gilda. You’re one heist away from seeing your ‘little sis’ Gabby. What’s worth more to you, some random girl, or Gabby?” Greta asked.

Gilda knew what the right answer should be, except that this wasn’t a random girl, it was her best friend, the first real friend she had ever made. If this plan went through, there was no way for Rainbow Dash to get out, she’d be left to take the blame, and her life would be over. Sacrificing the life of her friend for the life a girl whom she was supposed to look after. It was an impossible choice either way you sliced it. After a minute, Gilda calmed down and the glow from the Memory faded.

“Good girl.” Greta approached Gilda and gave her a hug. “I know I’ve been tough on you, but don’t worry, it’ll be over soon. I’m a girl of my word, after all.”

The rest of meeting was a blur to Gilda, she managed to get the important parts of the plan, and the kept in mind the secret part of the plan between her and Greta. Once the meeting was done, Greta ordered everyone to suit up and get ready. Rainbow Dash ran up to Gilda, having called her name several times and received no response. But, after the sixth time, Gilda was snapped out of her self-induced trance.

“Huh, w-what, what’s up?”

“You okay? You look like you were somewhere else,” said Rainbow.

“I just…I just don’t like this; a lot of things can go wrong.” Gilda glanced at Rainbow’s pocket. “So…were you close enough, did it work?”

Rainbow reached into her pocket and took out the small device. The small red light had now changed to green. “Score! It worked! Twi’s probably hacking Greta’s phone right now!”

“I just hope it’s in time before this gets too out of hand.”

***________________________***

Sunset and Starlight drove the streets of Griffonstone after separating from Rainbow. This was Sunset’s first time in Griffonstone, and it was as bad as she was told it was. She remembered the tales of the Griffonstone from Equestria, how they had a mighty and glorious kingdom, filled with pride and courage. Although she had never been to Griffonstone in Equestria, she hoped it wasn’t as bad as this.

“Starlight?”

“Yeah?”

“Is the Griffonstone in Equestria as bad as this?” Sunset asked.

Starlight looked around to take in the scenery and the people, evaluating the differences between Equestria and Earth. “Well, from what Pinkie and Rainbow described when they first got there, it was bad, but this is probably worse. Those two went on a friendship mission there, and the last time they heard from Gilda, things were kinda looking up.”

Sunset smiled at little at that revelation. Well, maybe there’s hope for this place then. “How’s it going with the trace?”

Starlight gripped her amulet and concentrated. The world faded away, becoming a void of complete darkness. Light began to shimmer in the darkness, faint, but it was there. An energy that was not magic, but not natural at the same time. Starlight reached out with her mind, opening her senses up more to find more the energy. Thankfully, the only other source of magical energy was standing next to her, and Sunset’s was unique and distinct enough that Starlight didn’t need to worry that it would hinder her search.

“I can sense a few places where weird energy has frequented the area, but I also sense some places further away,” said Starlight.

Sunset took out a map of Griffonstone and the outskirts. Placing it on her bike, Sunset guided Starlight’s other hand to rest on it. “This is a map of the city; can you mark the places that the energy spikes appear?”

“I think so, give me a second.”

A glow was emitted from Starlight’s hand, and soon the map was marked with seagreen nodes of light. Sunset took up the map as Starlight opened her eyes.

“We can cross out any places too close to the city proper. If I were her, I’d keep Gabby far from where anyone could accidentally come across, or where her voice could carry,” said Sunset.

“It would also need to be a place where it would be impossible for her escape, or rather, a place so unfamiliar that even if she bothered risking escape, she’d have no idea where to go, making her completely reliant on Greta for food and water,” said Starlight.

Both former Equestrians looked at each other and sighed heavily, realizing that they had to delve into their dark sides to figure out how Greta would think.

“Is it weird that I feel kind of wrong about how easy it is for me to think about this kind of stuff?” Starlight asked.

“I think it would be weirder if we didn’t,” said Sunset. “Guess you can chalk it up to how far we’ve come, from the mares we once were, to the mares we are now. Honestly, when I think about it, I think we’re better off now.”

Starlight smiled, she agreed wholeheartedly. Nearly conforming the world to a way of life that crushed any sense of individualism or creativity, taking away what made that pony who they are, was too extreme. And thusly, she was a hypocrite, as it was her own uniqueness, her own special talent in magic that allowed her to do what she had done. Now she has friends, a mentor who genuinely cares about her, and marefriend.

Suddenly, Sunset’s cellphone went off. “Twilight, what’s going on?”

[Rainbow Dash managed to get me into Greta’s cellphone! I’m currently tracking all her movements over the past seventy-two hours, and cross-referencing with the Griffonstone City area.]

“Great, we managed to narrow down some places where there were energy spikes.” Sunset took a picture of the map. “I’m sending it now.”

[Got it! I’m overlaying the images now………Okay, based on these marks, and cellphone activity, Greta’s frequented a few places in the last seventy-two hours.]

“Can you narrow it to today?” Sunset asked.

[Done, sending you the addresses now. Good luck you two!]

In no time, Sunset’s phone pinged and five different addresses popped up, each marked by recent activity. “Let’s move out –!” Sunset’s phone pinged again, and this time it was a message from Rainbow Dash. After reading it over, a grim expression befell Sunset’s face. “Crap…!”

“What’s wrong?” Starlight asked.

“We have to find Gabby, now! Get on!” Sunset ordered.

Starlight did as Sunset requested and mounted the bike. In less than a second, both girls were peeling down the road, heading to the first destination on the list.

Hang on Rainbow Dash! Celestia, please let us find her in time…

***____________\\\N///____________***

Rainbow Dash sat in the back of the van, with Gilda sitting beside her, and Greta across from her. In her hands she held a shotgun, Rainbow had to fight off the urge to tremble. Holding her sword, or even the other mech-animal weapons, wasn’t the same as holding this kind of weapon. This was something meant to take a life, and now she going to have to hold it to someone’s face and threaten their life.

“Let me guess, never held anything bigger than handgun, right?” Greta asked.

Rainbow looked up and nodded her head. “Y-Yeah, but it’s no problem.”

“Ya sure? Say somethin’ now, ‘cause if you can’t handle that then use something you can.” Greta took out one her handgun from her holsters and gave it to Rainbow. “Sling that other one over your shoulder, and use that for now, but I expect you to use the bigger gun when I tell you.”

“Got it,” said Rainbow.

Gilda stole brief glances at her friend, Rainbow didn’t know what Greta had in store for her. No idea what was on the line, the choice was still there, save Gabby or save Rainbow Dash. A girl who was like her little sister, or her childhood friend. Save the one good soul of Griffonstone, or save a hero who is a good soul.

“We’re almost there!” the driver spoke.

“Alright, boy and girls, get ready. I’m going to port us in there, take them by surprise. Gilda, the moment we’re in, you change and take out the guards. They’ll focus on us since we’ll be in our monster forms, and the rest of you round up the hostages,” said Greta.

Everyone nodded their affirmation.

Greta took out the gray T2 Gaia Memory, and pressed the button.

< ZONE! >

Greta lifted her shirt and pressed the blue connector against her stomach. The Gaia Memory melted into her body and suddenly her body shimmered, transforming into her Dopant form. Compared to other Dopants, this was distinctly different. It had no humanoid form, it was a single floating eye. The iris was gold in color, but slit like a dragon’s eye. On either side of the eye, was a crystal pyramid, as well as two more floating above and beneath it. The pyramids had groves etched into them, along which energy pulsated through.

The Zone Dopant’s eye shifted to Gilda. “Get yours ready, when I get us in there, you’re on.”

Gilda reached into her jacket pocket and took out the device.

< UTOPIA! >

“We’re here,” said the driver.

“Set the charge and get back here.” The driver did as Greta instructed, setting the timer on the IED. Once he’d done that, he filed into the back with the others. The Zone Dopant’s pyramids began to glow, and soon a large square opened beneath them. “Hang on, you might get a head rush.”

All nine of them disappeared once the square rose up and engulfed them. Inside the bank there were three floors, first was the ground level, which had the normal bank vault with money, tellers, and the bank customers. In the lobby were multiple guards, each fully armed. The upper floor had business offices, and the third was the basement level, there in which held the gold that they sought.

In the lobby, a white square opened in the middle, and from it emerged the Zone Dopant. Right behind her were the rest of the Talons, each pointing a gun in a different direction. Gilda exited last and quickly connected the Utopia Memory to her arm. Her body glowed and in no time, she had transformed into the Utopia Dopant. Screams of terror echoed in the lobby, along with the shouting of guards for the Talons to drop their weapons.

Zone wasted no time in dispatching the guards, opening portals underneath them and making them disappear. Seconds later there was some screaming as they were dumped outside from a high altitude. Thankfully, from what Rainbow could tell, it wasn’t high enough to kill them, but just enough that the landing would certainly break something.

Utopia flew up and began using her telekinetic abilities to rip the weapons away from the guards, and throwing them into the walls to render them unconscious. In a matter of seconds, Zone and Utopia had completely subdued the security detail, now leaving the people inside at the mercy of the Talons with guns and two Dopants. Two of the Talons rushed to the door and locked it, keeping guard. Two more started rounding up the hostages, and the last three, which included Rainbow Dash, had the tellers moved to a separate area from the rest of hostages.

Once rounded up, and secured, Zone began floating before the bank workers. “This can go easy or hard, how you decide determines whether you live to talk about this day to your grandchildren, or become a name on a memorial.”

The bank personnel all nodded their heads in understanding.

“Good, now, who has access to the basement level? I do mean where all the gold is kept. Come, come, raise your hand.” Zone saw that no hands were raised. “Either the person who does stands now or I will have my partner her incinerate you.”

Utopia brought her hands together and generated a sphere of burning, golden energy that only grew in size with each passing second. Rainbow Dash watched out of the corner of her eye, her body screaming at her to pull out the Nasca Memory and stop this. But doing so now would only endanger Gabby and the hostages, she could trust Gilda though. Gilda had promised no one would die.

After a few seconds, Utopia raised the orb of power over her head and prepared to bring it down. Suddenly, one of the managers shot up and shouted, “IT’S ME! I HAVE ACCESS TO THE BASEMENT LEVEL!”

Utopia quickly released the energy, letting the sphere fizzle out until it was nothing. Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief, thanking gods that that person spoke up. It didn’t take long before the sounds of police sirens echoed in the distance, a sound that was steadily and rapidly getting closer to them.

“Don’t worry, this is the part we planned for. Utopia, give them a show. New girl, come with me!” Zone ordered.

Rainbow hurried over to where Zone and Utopia were, she shared a glance with Utopia before Zone teleported her outside. Rainbow pointed her hand gun at the manager, and immediately the man led them to the elevator at the back. Zone’s form glowed until it returned to that of Greta. Rainbow saw that Greta kept the Zone Memory in her hand, ready for use at any moment.

“Let’s go then.”

After entering the basement, and sending the guards away via Greta’s teleport abilities, they arrived at the most secured vault in the building. Rainbow Dash had seen a lot of things, especially with the magical powers and now super powers of a Kamen Rider.

It was a ten-foot-tall, five feet wide, reinforced, steel door. On the right side of the wall was a keypad and a scanning device. Greta manhandled the manager, making him go towards the keypad and scanner, once there the manager entered a series of numbers and placed his other hand on the scanning device. After a few seconds there was a clicking and clunking sound coming from the vault. The large metal door rose up and slid off to the side, revealing cages filled with mounds of gold bricks, sparkling in the light shining down from the ceiling.

Rainbow’s jaw dropped, she’d never seen that much gold in all her life. Cartoons and movies, yes, but in real life, no way.

“I-I don’t know why you want to steal the gold like this? It would take more people than you’ve brought to move all of it,” said the manager.

“You let me worry about that.” Greta walked up behind the man and hit him with her other pistol in the back of the head. “Now we can move onto the real business.”

C’mon, Sunset, Starlight, make a miracle happen so we can end this!

“Drag him up to the elevator and come back down, I’ll need you to watch my back while I’m teleporting this stuff,” ordered Greta.

Rainbow did as she said, she could technically transform into Nasca now that the man was knocked out, but fighting in this cramped space would get him caught in the crossfire. Rainbow managed to drag the man back to the elevator, and went up with him. Once back up, she took a look around. There was no one around, thankfully the elevator was in a spot away from the main lobby, and away from the eyes of the other Talons members.

Rainbow brought the man into an adjacent room and began slapping at his face to make him wake up. It took a minute but the man finally came to, and immediately went stiff as he saw Rainbow with her guns.

“I-I did what you wanted, please don’t kill me,” he pleaded.

“Shh! I’m not going to hurt you, but those psychos will if you don’t keep quiet!” Rainbow peeked about to see if they were heard. There was no one. “Is there a back way out of here that doesn’t take you through the lobby?”

“Y-Yes, around the corner and down the hall.”

“Take it, and leave. Tell the cops that she’s planning on teleporting all that gold to somewhere in Griffonstone, there’s also a hostage over there, an innocent girl, she’s being held and making the other monster fight for her,” said Rainbow.

“W-Why are you telling me this?”

“Because I need you to find Kamen Rider Trigger and tell him what’s going on! If he busts in and starts fighting that other monster he’ll be fighting someone innocent, while the real monster down there gets away!”

The portly man gave Rainbow a suspicious look. “Why should I believe you?”

“Because if I was like them, I would’ve just shot you, now go!” The manager wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He nodded his agreement to her plan. Rainbow took one more look outside the room and waved to the man to move. “Oh, and make sure to tell the cops that the van is boobytrapped with a bomb! Don’t let anyone near it!”

Rainbow wasn’t sure if he heard her, but for now she was able to save one life. Now there were two others, plus twenty to thirty more that needed saving. Rainbow felt her cellphone vibrate, she quickly ducked into the same room she was in, once inside she turned on the screen, and then smiled.

***____________\\\N///____________***

Gilda was standing guard outside the building, watching the many cops surround the area, while onlookers recorded the whole thing with their cellphones. There was a surge of energy that flew off from her wings, making everybody stand back. Gilda had to remain still, and focused, the Utopia Memory was different from when she had the Violence Memory. It was…addicting, powerful, it had so much power that it was urging to use it on anything and everything around her.

For a moment, she contemplated going back down and wringing the truth of where Gabby was out of Greta. But she couldn’t, Greta was tougher than that, and more sadistic. Greta would rather die and let Gilda live with the guilt of knowing that Gabby would die because she couldn’t follow her commands, a twisted way of coming out on top even if Gilda killed her.

Rainbow Dash…I’m trusting you, you, and your friends…

Suddenly, a white square appeared underneath her and rose up. Gilda wasn’t surprised, she knew this was Greta summoning her back. In less than a second she was back inside, but this time she was in a different room. Gilda turned around and saw the vault door, and beyond that large mounds of gold, and Greta in her Zone Dopant form.

“Plan’s almost done, once we give the newbie your Memory, I’ll have her wreak havoc up top. While’s she’s doing that, I’ll teleport everyone down here and I’ll take the gold with us.”

“And then you’ll let Gabby go? That’s it, we’re done?” Gilda asked.

“I’ll be teleporting it to where she is, so that way you take her, and I’ll send you two far away so that you’ll never see us again,” said Greta.

Gilda clenched her fists, at this juncture there was no choice, she would have to sacrifice her friend. No, there just had to be another way, something that she hadn’t thought of?

Just then the elevator dinged and from it walked out Rainbow Dash, sporting a very smug grin.

“Ah, right on time, we have a new job for you, newbie, that I think you’ll like,” said Greta.

“Yeah, before that, Gilda, I think you need to check this out,” said Rainbow Dash.

Gilda glanced to Greta, the floating eyeball gave a nod. The Utopia Dopant walked over to Rainbow Dash, and from Rainbow’s pocket she showed her cellphone. On the screen was a picture of Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer, both smiling and throwing up peace signs. And between them, was a girl, Gabby. She had a warm gray complexion, with her hair tied back into wolf tail. Her teal eyes, despite having been held captive for so long, still held that bright, optimistic spark, and Gabby had a wide smile across her freckled face.

Gilda looked back at Rainbow Dash, her Utopia Dopant form didn’t allow her to make facial expressions, but Rainbow didn’t need to see the expression to know what Gilda was asking her. “She’s safe, they’re getting her out of that place now.”

Upon hearing that, Gilda whipped around and roared out with fury. A wave of golden energy rushed out of her body, sending Rainbow to fall flat on her rear, and buffeted the Zone Dopant a bit. “GILDA, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!”

“Gabby’s safe, which means your ass is grass, Greta!” Gilda declared as she rushed towards Zone.

Zone initiated a teleport at the last second, taking both Dopant’s out of the vault. Rainbow Dash looked around, waiting to see if they would reappear, but they did not. It took all of a minute for her to figure out that Greta may have taken them to where Gabby was. Rainbow Dash took a look around the room, noticing that Gilda’s energy burst had fried all the surveillance cameras.

“G’s gone berserk, and trashed all the cameras in here. Good, and bad, need to stop her.”

Rainbow threw the guns to the floor and summoned her N-Driver, and from her other pocket pulled out the Nasca Memory.

< NASCA! >

“HENSHIN!”

> NASCA! <

A blue electrical field formed around Rainbow, donning her in the armor of Kamen Rider Nasca. “Better take this to the next level!”

< ACCEL! >

{< ACCEL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Red flames engulfed Nasca, transforming her into Nasca Full Throttle. Nasca knelt down before the guns and summoned the heat of her body to melt the weapons into molten slag. Rainbow had seen enough cop shows to know that they’d be able to pull something off of the weapons, despite having worn gloves.

“First take care of the mess upstairs, and then go after them.”

***____________\\\N///____________***

Sunset and Starlight carefully walked Gabby out of the place she had been held captive. It was a factory at the edge of Griffonstone. Spires of metal and concrete, rusted or cracked from years of neglect, from a time when the city was booming, now a forgotten ruin. A perfect place to hide a kid. When the former unicorns found Gabby, she was locked in a room, with only a mattress, a small blanket, and a tray of food. It was a windowless room, so Gabby had no idea where she was until they had brought her outside.

“Thank you, both you, for saving me! B-But what about Gilda?” Gabby asked.

“Don’t worry, my friend should have gotten the message to her. With any luck, they’re plan should have fallen apart by now, and Greta’s probably getting her butt kicked,” said Sunset.

Suddenly, a square of white light opened in the sky, and from it two creatures fell out. One was Utopia, and the second was the Zone Dopant. Zone teleported again, narrowly missing a claw swipe from Utopia. Zone reappeared a few meters away, the left pyramid shifted and pointed its tip at Utopia. The pulsating grooves increased their frequency until the tip of the pyramid shined and fired a concentrated particle beam. The beam flew through the air and struck Utopia right in her back, sending her flying into one of the smoke stacks. The speed and force that Utopia was sent into the stack caused it to crack around and crumble.

Starlight quickly grabbed her amulet and summoned a barrier spell. The dome of seagreen energy took the brunt of the dust cloud that washed over the area from the collapse of the tower, along with several small pieces of debris that were flying at fast speeds due the gust that was kicked up from the fall.

Sunset didn’t need to guess who it was that was fighting, but with Gabby around she couldn’t transform into Unicorn.

Utopia burst free from the destroyed stack, her body glowing with golden light, and fiery energy as she formed a sphere of light and hurled it at Zone. The eyeball Dopant opened a large white square, big enough that it swallowed the sphere whole. Utopia flared her wings and shot straight for Zone, but before she could get within five meters of Zone, another white square opened, and from it flew Utopia’s earlier attack.

The sphere of power exploded on impact, sending Gilda into tailspin. Utopia landed against the ground, hard enough that it left an impact crater that was five feet wide. Zone hovered over the spot where she landed, her pyramids all pointed in that direction, and fired a barrage of particle beams down on Utopia, creating multiple explosions on impact.

“I’m going to make you regret turning on me like this, Gilda! Once I get that Memory back from you, I’m going to kill that little brat you care about so much!” Greta threatened.

Golden fire erupted from the crater, pushing the beam barrage back as it roared towards Zone. The eyeball Dopant quickly ported away, just as the column of fire reached her location. Utopia flew up and waited, knowing that she was nearby. Suddenly, a beam shot out at her, Utopia brought up her arms to block, the beam struck her, exploding on her armor and sending sparks flying.

Soon more portals opened and many more beams were fired off from them. Zone was firing her particle beams from within the space between dimensions. Utopia took notice of all the squares that were opening up, and began building up energy. A bubble of fiery golden light surrounded her, Utopia released a battle cry and fired beams of fiery light straight at the portals in a death blossom attack. The beams disappeared into the white space, and for a minute nothing happened.

After another minute had passed another portal opened, but this time an explosion roared out of the opening, and following from it, Zone. The eyeball Dopant staggered, its pyramids visibly damaged by Gilda’s earlier assault. Zone didn’t have time to react as Utopia closed the distance between them, her right gauntlet talons flared as three long energy claws appeared. Utopia gave one mighty swipe, and struck Zone. Sparks ignited from the Dopant’s crystals and even the eye itself. The force of the blow made Zone fly across the sky and into the prairie area outside of the factory.

The Zone Dopant released its form, with Greta lying on the ground beaten and bruised. The Zone Memory lied on the ground next to her, Greta saw it and feebly tried to reach for it, but Gilda came down on Greta’s wrist with her armor-clad foot, making Greta cry out in pain.

“No more teleporting, no hostage, and no options left for you!” Gilda growled.

“G-G, I-I give up, a-alright! I’ll go to the police, I-I’ll confess to the heists and kidnapping!” Greta pleaded.

Utopia’s red eyes glowed fiercely as she looked down at Greta. “You’re not going to jail! You don’t deserve to rot in a cell, you deserve to rot in the ground!”

Utopia grabbed Greta by her shirt collar and hoisted her up as she cocked back her right arm, preparing to deliver her fatal blow.

“NO! G! PLEASE, I’M SORRY! I’M BEGGING YA, MERCY!”

“Sorry…ALL OUT OF MERCY!”

Before Utopia could land the blow, she stopped. Something was moving in the distance, and coming towards them really fast. In a blur of red and blue, Utopia was swept away, leaving Greta to fall onto the ground in a heap.

Utopia was slammed against the side of a building, and held there by Nasca. “Gilda, what the hell do you think you’re doing?!”

“Making sure she never hurts anyone I care about again!”

“It’s over, I stopped the Talons back in Canterlot, and you beat the crap out of Greta! That’s it, we’ve won, let it go G!”Nasca stated.

Utopia’s eyes shined, and at the same time, her body blazed up. Nasca jumped back from the intense heat and power that Gilda was releasing.“We’ve won when she’s dead, and the Talons too! In fact, all of Griffonstone! This cesspool needs to be burned to the freakin’ ground!”

Crap in a hat, that T1’s messing with her head! “Gilda, you need to calm down, that street cheap Memory is messing your head! Concentrate, you’re better than this!”

“NO, I’M NOT!”

Utopia charged for Nasca with blinding speed. Before Nasca could even put up a defense, Utopia had struck her in the abdomen. A burst of golden energy erupted from behind Nasca, and sparks ignited all over her armor. The punch, as if by delayed reaction, sent Nasca skipping along the ground like a rock in a pond. She rolled around on the ground for a minute before finally coming to a stop.

Nasca coughed and wheezed, getting up on hands and knees, while using her right arm to clutch at her stomach. Her Full Throttle form dispelled, no longer able to remain intact from the intense amount of damage she took, but thankfully her default form was still active.

I’m not losing you, I didn’t lose you to that Violence Memory, I damn sure won’t lose you to this one! Rainbow glanced back at Utopia who was roaring into the sky as she released energy flares. But she’s way too strong…Ugh! If only I could use Sunset’s Shining Memory…!

Just then, Rainbow heard the screech of a hawk, but it sounded more mechanical. Rainbow looked up and watched as Hawk flew down and landed right before Nasca. The robot bird’s back opened and revealed two items. The first was the Rocket Memory, and the second was a rocket that had some tribal designs on it, and on the other side of the rocket was an open port.

“What the heck is this?” Nasca asked.

Hawk opened its mouth. [This is Nasca’s trump card! You’re strongest form!]

“Twilight?! Wait, my strongest form?!”

[Place the Booster into the Mimetic Drive port, and then insert the Rocket Memory, and hang on.]

Nasca didn’t question it, she trusted Twilight, and right now she needed the power to stop Gilda from making a grave mistake. Nasca took the Booster and placed it into the Mimetic Drive port.

/^\ BOOST! /^\

Nasca glanced at the Rocket Memory, and nodded her affirmation. “Let’s rocket!”

< ROCKET! >

{/^\} ROCKET BOOST! ULTIMATE DRIVE! {/^\}

Blue-green light shined from Nasca’s body as she was engulfed in a vortex of power. Utopia paused to watch the spectacle, feeling a building power that her instincts were screaming at her not to turn her back on. From the far side of the factory, Starlight, Sunset, and Gabby were able to exit, still in the full protection of Starlight’s barrier. Once to a relatively safe location, Starlight dropped the shield and panted from having to keep up her forcefield against such powerful forces. Sunset felt the surge of power and turned to see the tornado of swirling energy.

The tornado began to take a different form, that of two large feathered wings that sparkled and shimmered as if the very stars were captured in them. All that power was drawn in back to the center, taking on a humanoid shape, and in a flash of light, Nasca’s ultimate form was revealed.

Nasca’s chest was incased in green armor, with a sapphire blue jewel at the center. Her legs were covered in the same green armor, but on it were yellow-gold lines that formed the shape of a bird’s legs and talons. Nasca had gauntlets on both arms, with wing frills coming out from the top. The shoulder pauldrons were segmented, with green for the top segment, and blue for the last two. The helmet had sharp, angular frills on the sides, the visor was blue to match the jewel on the chest. Another jewel was at the helmet’s forehead, surrounded in a yellow-gold metal and rose up to form a single horn. Those same yellow-gold lines that formed the legs and talons on Nasca’s armor legs rose up along the chest, diverged at the jewel, rounded her back and joined at the forehead crest.

On Nasca’s back were folded wing-like thrusters, the yellow-gold lines outlined each fin, forming a perfect condor. Nasca felt so much more energy flowing through her body compared to using the Accel Memory, she felt as if she could fly around the world in ten seconds flat if she so wanted. But that was thought for another day.

“Nasca Star Chaser!”

Utopia’s eyes glowed as she flew across the ground at break neck speeds, closing the gap between herself and Nasca. The Dopant prepared to strike Nasca, but before she could cock back her fist, Nasca disappeared, leaving only sparkling blue-green dust from where she once was. Utopia ended up striking nothing but air as she came to a halt, digging her feet into the dirt to stop her forward momentum.

Utopia looked around, but could not find Nasca, but then she heard a crash and looked behind. There she saw Nasca, upside down, her rear in the air, stuck in the wall of a building. Utopia cocked her head in confusion, and Sunset face palmed herself.

“Okay, that was faster than I was expecting…jeez!” Nasca managed to get herself out of the undignified position she was in and stood back up. “Gotta be more careful, I’m way faster than I normally am, one more wrong step and I’ll end up in Manehattan.”

“Stop screwing around! Either fight me or get out of my way! But nothing’s stopping me from killing her and – Wait, where the hell is she?!” Utopia growled.

Nasca and Utopia looked around and saw Greta slinking off while the two of them were otherwise occupied. The leader of the Talons froze when she saw Utopia in front of her, and then Nasca standing behind her.

“Um…I just thought…you know…I’d get out of the warzone, heh, heh…”

“Set your ass right here, and don’t move!” Nasca and Utopia stated at the same time.

“OKAY!” Greta confirmed as she indeed sat down.

“Tch, now, where were we?!”

Both Utopia and Nasca disappeared, the air vibrated with the thunderous concussive force of their blows, kicking up the dust on the ground that allowed some to follow their movements, if not for a brief moment.

In the accelerated space, Utopia and Nasca were trading blows. Utopia came with at flying roundhouse kick, but Nasca dodged it and countered with her own spin kick to Utopia’s face. The Dopant spun for a few seconds, but soon recovered and began sending a flurry of punches at Nasca, each one appearing as a streak of golden light.

Nasca’s wing-thrusters opened up, fanning out and displaying all eight fins between them. From the gaps in the fins, energy gathered, and ignited. Blazing blue-green energy shot out, creating large light wings that sparkled and shined. Nasca’s visor glowed, and in that instant, her speed increased drastically. She weaved through Utopia’s punches so fast that she was leaving an afterimage in her wake. Nasca managed to get behind her and summoned forth a sphere of condensed energy.

Utopia managed to see the attack coming and whirled around, creating her golden energy talons and piercing through Nasca’s body. But upon doing so, Nasca’s body dispersed into particles of blue-green light, and then reappeared behind Utopia, striking her in the middle of her back. The energy ball exploded and sent Utopia flying as her back released sparks.

“Let’s finish this G,” said Nasca.

The golden yellow lines on Nasca’s body began to rise up off the armor, along with the crest horn on her helmet. The horn and lines formed the image of a condor, and then melded together until they were now a sword. The hilt was blue, with the pommel formed by talons, six in total to form a circle. The sword’s guard was in the shape of flared green wings, and connecting them was a blue jewel surrounded in gold metal. The blade was also golden, reaching a length of four feet.

Nasca took the Rocket Memory from the left port, and inserted it into the right hip port, pressing down on the button.

}/^\{ ROCKET! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }/^\{

The light wings shined brighter Nasca as she zoomed off after Utopia. Faster and faster she flew, her body becoming less physical and more ethereal. Utopia managed to get her bearings, after seeing the attack coming, Utopia gathered all the energy she could and fired in column sized beam of fiery golden light straight at Nasca.

By this time, Nasca’s entire body had become sparkling blue-green and white light. The beam attack approached, and Nasca pierced through it. The beam divided like a fork in the road as Nasca drew closer, Utopia poured more of her power into the attack, but it did nothing to impede the superhero from her target.

“Shooting Star Breaker!”

Nasca struck the center of Utopia’s chest, and in that instant, a column of that same sparkling light engulfed Utopia, and from it appeared Nasca, landing on the ground with her sword still gripped. The column of sparkling light shattered in to particles, and from it Utopia fell from the sky. Nasca’s wings flared once again as she sped towards her friend, catching her before she could hit the ground. Nasca laid her down, and after a few seconds she reverted back to her normal form. The Utopia Memory rose out of her body and shattered the moment it hit the ground.

“Gilda, you alright?” Rainbow asked.

“Ugh…I feel like I got ran over by a train, hauling a tank, and that’s before the freight ship landed on me…” Gilda responded.

“You’ll live.”

Gilda looked away from Nasca, shame present in her eyes. “I did it again…I let my anger and rage take control of me and went berserk…!”

“It’s not your fault,” said Rainbow. “These things mess with your head, these T1s are worse than the Violence Memory, they’re like a drug that feeds on your worst parts and brings them out. Considering you could’ve blown up at any time, you managed to keep control longer than most.”

Gilda struck the ground with her fist. “That doesn’t mean I didn’t feel that way…I wanted to hurt Greta, and yes, some part of me wants to see Griffonstone burn to the ground!”

Nasca sat down next to her friend and sighed. “Nobody’s perfect, Gilda. I’m not, Sunset isn’t, nobody. We just do the best we can, and you were doing the best you could considering the circumstances. Yes, you had those thoughts, but there’s a difference between acting on them, and thinking them. Right now, you have that power back.”

Nasca placed her sword in Gilda’s lap.

“You want to hurt Greta, then use my sword and do it. Or you can help take her down the right way, which is it?” Nasca asked.

Gilda looked at the sword, and the spot where Greta, surprisingly, was still sitting. Her gaze then fell on an approaching Gabby, Sunset, and Starlight. The choice was clear to Gilda. The girl from Griffonstone gave Nasca her sword back and smiled. “I’m not perfect, but I know I’m better than that trash over there. Besides, I can’t help Gabby if I’m in jail, right?”

“GILDA!” Gabby shouted.

Gilda turned back towards surrogate little sister, just in time for the young girl to tackle hug her to the ground, making Gilda release a big “Omph!” in the process.

“I was so worried about you! I mean, I was scared and all from being taken hostage by that crazy monster girl, but when she told me what you were doing to save me, I got really worried and – and – and I’m just glad your safe!”

Gilda could feel Gabby’s warm tears against her chest, the tough girl gave Gabby a light hug and said, “Gabby, I love ya, but I need you to let me go…because everything still hurts from that fight! Ow!”

***____________\\\N///____________***

Case Report: Utopia & Zone Dopant(s)

It seems the power of the Gaia Memories never lets anyone go. Gilda had started to make a new life for herself in Canterlot City, but was drawn back into the violence and turbulent life of a gang member, and not by choice.

Thankfully, they were able to get Greta to confess to being the mastermind behind the bank robberies. Unfortunately, that meant telling the police about Gilda’s role in the heists. With the aid of Gabriel’s testimony, they were able to keep Gilda out of jail and counted as cooperating under extreme duress.

Rainbow was able to bring Gilda out of the influence of the Utopia Memory via the power of her ultimate form, Nasca Star Chaser. Her power and performance was far greater than I could’ve imagined! The knowledge imparted to me via the Rocket Memory was just what I needed. And we were able to obtain another T2 Gaia Memory, one less that Equal won’t be able to get her hands on.

The CCPD was able to coordinate with the Griffonstone Police force, and together they raided the Talons, with Kamen Rider Trigger leading the charge. Thanks to that, all Talons gang members were taken into custody, along with all of their illegal paraphernalia.

Gilda was able to take guardianship of Gabby, and she was enrolled in CHS, so come next year, CHS will have one new hyper-energetic Wondercolt.

With the successful use of the Booster for Nasca’s final form, this bodes well for my newest creation for Sunset and her ultimate form as well.

Twilight finished typing the report and saved it, and stored away with the others. She glanced across the coffee table, seeing Sunset with a serious expression. Rainbow Dash sat next Twilight, both having been called here, and with Starlight Glimmer gone shopping with Rarity.

“Okay, Sunset, what’s the big deal that we had to wait until Starlight left?” Rainbow asked.

“I’ve been debating how best to tell you two, before I told Starlight, or the others. The day I went and got Starlight back, I told you I met her double, right?” Sunset saw both girls nod. “What I didn’t tell you, was that when I shook that Starlight’s hand, my Gaia Memory activated. I used that strange power that I used on Delta Vee. I could see her memories, and feel her feelings. And in those memories…I saw her.”

“‘Her’? Her who?” Twilight asked.

Sunset took a steady breath and said, “Equal. Starlight Glimmer of Earth, is Kamen Rider Equal.”

The world seemed to stop for that moment as Twilight and Rainbow took that information in. For Rainbow Dash, it hit her hard, the same girl who helped her when she was knocked out and paid her stay at the hospital, and never left her side. That same girl was the psycho they have been fighting, and caused so much trouble for them and others.

For Twilight, fear gripped her. PhoenEXE Corp. was responsible for funding the police Special Crimes Unit, and the creation of her brother’s Driver that allowed him to become Kamen Rider Trigger. The mastermind behind the Dopant and Gaia Memories, was Starlight’s Earth double.

“You haven’t told Starlight, have you?” Twilight asked.

“No.”

“W-Wait a minute, are we even sure that it’s actually her? I mean, she helped me out when I was hurt, and she helped our Starlight from getting abducted or worse! She can’t be Equal!” Rainbow stated.

Sunset sighed. “I know, and this new power hasn’t been too reliable since I just got it, I’m not sure how much of that was the truth. If I could touch her again, really focus, then maybe I could confirm it. I just don’t want our Starlight knowing about this, seeing as how far she’s come from the mare she used to be, and considering how well they got along, I don’t want to tell her…not until we’re sure.”

Silence prevailed within the room for a while, all three girls taking in the information as best they could. Sunset noticed the somewhat gloomy mood she cast upon the room and decided to lighten things up. “Well, that’s a project for later. Let’s go out and do something fun.”

Rainbow perked up and said, “I heard there’s a new game coming out soon, supposed to pretty cool.”

“When’s it coming out?” Sunset asked.

“Next week, and it’s called –!”

O: Operation Movie Magic / Quiet on Set

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Sunset didn’t expect a lot of things to happen in her life that happened. She became the apprentice to the proverbial sun goddess of Equestria, and then ran away like an impudent prideful child. She became the queen bee bully of Canterlot High School, earning her the title “Biggest Meanie” in the yearbook. Tried to overthrow her home world by stealing the Element of Magic from Princess Twilight and subsequently got beaten by it and her. Gained friends and helped to defeat the Dazzlings, aka the Sirens. Saved Earth’s Twilight from becoming a fallen angel, reality destroying monster. And more recently, became a Kamen Rider and fought a bunch of monsters.

Now, though, now was another unexpected thing. Starlight had left Sunset’s home to go, somewhere, she didn’t know where. But considering her Equestrian friend had the ability to wield her magic freely, Sunset wasn’t too worried. Weeks had passed since the Tirek’s Revenge incident, and the city had been pretty quiet. Sunset was thankful that the Dopant attacks had stopped, more than likely everybody needed a little down time after everything that happened.
Sunset was in the middle of pouring herself a bowl of cereal when she heard her door lock click open. She lazily glanced in the direction of the door and watched as Starlight walked through, although, she had to blink twice as she swore she saw double. Oh, wait, no I’m not…

“Starlight?”

Both girls looked at Sunset.

Sunset groaned. “Glimmer, not that I’m complaining or anything, but why did you bring your Earthly counterpart to my loft?”

Starlight, of Earth, stepped forward and said, “I had asked her to, because there is something I want to ask you Sunset Shimmer, and Glimmer says you’re the only one who can give me permission to do so.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that, she motioned for Starlight and Glimmer to take a seat as she walked over and sat down in her chair. She was already suspicious of the slightly older version of her Equestrian counterpart being Kamen Rider Equal, so she was cautious about where this could go. “Okay, so what is this thing that you need my permission for? Not for nothing, but you’re the head of the biggest company in the city, I don’t know what permission I can give you.”

Starlight took a deep breath to steady herself and then spoke, “Glimmer says you’re like her. A pony from a parallel dimension. Before you completely freak out, no I haven’t told anyone else about you or Glimmer, and from what I hear it’s kind of common knowledge around your school.”

To this Sunset gave a steady nod.

“Alright, my request, Sunset Shimmer, is that I would like to accompany my counterpart to your home world.”

Sunset was glad she wasn’t eating her cereal just yet, because right now she would’ve spat it all over the place. “Uh…I…Okay, I – uh – why?”
It was at this time Glimmer stepped in, “You remember Sunburst, right?”

“Of course.” How could I forget my potential little brother?

“Well…in this world…he’s, uh, the human Sunburst here is dead.”

Sunset’s eyes widened, she then turned to Starlight and saw the saddened look on her face. “Oh…Starlight, I’m…I’m sorry.”

Starlight sniffled a bit and waved her hand, “It’s alright, it happened a long time ago. When Glimmer told me Sunburst was alive in her home world, I was happy. I had asked Glimmer if I could come over and see him again, he was my best friend and there were things I wanted to say to him that I didn’t get to when he was alive. I know it wouldn’t be him exactly, but, I guess I need some closure. But, since you are, more or less, the gatekeeper, I was wondering if it would be alright to pop in and out, I don’t plan on staying, just visiting. I promise to abide by whatever restrictions or monitoring you want to place on me.”

Sunset ran her hand through her hair, this was some pretty heavy stuff. On the one hand she wanted to say yes to her request, but then, she wasn’t sure how good it would be to have someone so well connected as this world’s Starlight seeing a world of magic and sentient talking ponies. The last thing she needed – or her mother and Princess Twilight needed – was to have Equestria turn into a tourist attraction. That much high traffic through the portal can’t and probably wouldn’t be good. Plus, there was the potential that she was a villain. On the other hand, how many people had lost their loved ones here on this side, but were still alive on the other? How many of them wanted closure?

Of course, this wouldn’t be the same for everyone, there were, sometimes, universal constants. Like that of Applejack’s parent’s being deceased in both worlds, but there were contradictions, seen as Princess Celestia, ruler of all Equestria, was only a high school principal. Logically you would think she’d be the President or the mayor of the city. But who was Sunset to deny someone a chance to see a loved one again, to heal some scars in their heart and soul?

“Look, I’m like a gatekeeper, on this side, but the one who really keeps the gate, is the Princess who operates it on the other side. I have to speak with her on the matter, and if she says it’s okay, then I don’t see why not. But if she does, Glimmer, you have to be responsible for her and keep her safe at all times,” said Sunset with a serious tone.

Both Starlight’s beamed at hearing this news, although it wasn’t a definite, it was still better than nothing.

Starlight stood up and went to hug Sunset. “Thank you, Ms. Shimmer! You have no idea how much this means to me!”

“ACK – judging by the death grip of the hug you’re giving me, I’d say I have a very good idea!” Sunset managed to choke out.

Starlight released the girl with her face tinting pink a bit. “Let me do something for you all, you and your friends! Canterlot Studios is a subsidiary company that I bought, if you wish I could swing you all VIP passes to the movie they’re currently shooting!”

“I don’t know…”

“I heard they’re shooting the new Daring Do movie there.”

“………”

***________________________***

Thunder roared as lightning crackled in the sky above, wind blew through the large tropical trees as a lone figure walked through two idols carved into the shape of monkeys, bearing a basin of burning oil. The figure was cloaked, his hood kept up to hide their identity, soon the figure reached his destination, standing before a large, fiery volcano. The figure removed his hood and opened his cloak, revealing a man.

The man laughed evilly as he proclaimed into the night, as he held aloft a golden scepter with a ruby held in place at the top, “It is almost time. Once I have all three relics, no one will be able to stop me, and Marapore will fall! For I am Stalwart Stallion–!”

“Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!”

“Ugh, CUT!”

The thunder and lightning ceased, and the man looked off to the side where another man in a director’s chair labeled “Canter Zoom” was sitting, flanked by several cameras. He had khaki colored vest on, over light-green shirt. His hair and beard were green, with streaks of neon green in it, on his face he wore black rimmed glasses as his magenta colored eyes opened and closed n slight frustration. He glanced over to the person in question who interrupted the scene, who just happened to be Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow Dash looked a little sheepish as the director looked at her for the umpteenth time today, the rest of the girls were feeling a little embarrassed at their friend’s outburst during the different scenes, but it still didn’t deter Rainbow Dash from calling out something that was wrong.

“Sorry, but at this point in the story, Stalwart Stallion would be known as Mojo.” The girls looked at her with raised eyebrows. “What?! You think he wants Daring Do fans to call him out for making a mistake like that?!”

Canter Zoom sighed, despite the rainbow haired girl’s interruptions, she was a walking encyclopedia on all things Daring Do, and her suggestions and corrections were actually very helpful, she was essentially the next best thing to having A. K. Yearling herself on set.

Considering she spends all her time at home writing she is notoriously hard get ahold of, thought Canter Zoom as he gave a small sigh, a quick smile, and said over his megaphone, “Let’s go again. And this time say ‘Mojo’ instead of ‘Stalwart Stallion’, ‘kay? And…ACTION!”

After a bit of time had passed, and the scene finally shot, the girls were led by Canter Zoom as they walked through the studio. The girls were in complete awe at getting a backstage pass to see the making of the upcoming Daring Do movie, but more than that, they were fascinated by all the moving parts and people it took just to make the movie. The riggings, the camera positions, makeup and wardrobe, everything was so meticulous and coordinated, it was great.

The whole time, Rainbow Dash was acting like a giddy schoolkid seeing everything, more so because it was the set of the Daring Do movie. The only book series that didn’t involve heroes in spandex clothing, or who had spikey hair and shot energy beams from their hands. It was a secret until she saw Twilight reading the Daring Do books and found a kindred spirit in the brainy girl.

Sunset Shimmer as a fan of the series when she was in Equestria, but during that time the fanbase and popularity of the book was just picking up steam. In a way, Sunset Shimmer was Equestria’s hipster, she liked the books way before they became popular. Imagine her luck when she found the book was on this side of the portal, albeit with some big changes since the heroine was a human and not a pegasus mare. But that only made the dangers she got in and out of that much more exciting, relying more on wit, courage, knowledge, and skill to get out of danger. Not that the other Daring Do didn’t have all that, but the convenience of being able to fly out of danger did give the reader a bit of relief that she would come out okay.

“I can’t believe we’re really here!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“Thank you so much for letting us come, Mr. Zoom,” said Twilight.

“We promise we won’t get in the way,” Sunset then turned a steely gaze to Rainbow Dash, “again.”

Rainbow Dash laughed nervously as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

“Gotta tell you ladies, when Ms. Glimmer said she wanted to let some VIPs come around during shooting, I was a bit skeptical, but it looks like she knew what she was doing. Having a couple of Daring Do fans on set has helped keep the accuracy ratio high, and I’m sure fellow fans and Ms. Yearling herself will appreciate it for our little film,” said Canter.

Rainbow Dash chuckled at that, “Little? This is Daring Do we’re talking about! This movie is gonna be huge!”

Canter Zoom smiled at the teenager’s enthusiasm, it was because of fans and people like this that made making these movies worth the long hours, budget constraints, and occasional setbacks. As he was enjoying the moment, his PA walked up to Canter and said, “Uh, there’s a problem in wardrobe. They can’t find the costume Daring Do is supposed to wear in the nightclub scene.”

“And if we’re ever to finish this movie, it will be. Excuse, girls,” said Canter as he followed his PA.

Once Canter Zoom was gone, Twilight took out a pamphlet and said, “According to our visitor schedules, they won’t start shooting the next scene for a while, which means we have time to–”

“Get my picture taken with Chestnut Magnifico, the actress playing Daring Do!” Rarity exclaimed.

“And ask her to sign my petition to bring more bird feeders to Canterlot High!” Fluttershy added, causing the others to look at her in confusion. “Well, Chestnut Magnifico is an avid supporter of a foundation that helps build homes for animals in need.”

Twilight blinked. “Oh, okay. But I was thinking that we could–”

“Check out all the sets?” Sunset asked.

“I’d sure like to get a closer look at that volcano,” said Applejack.

Twilight sighed and the turned to Pinkie who was holding Spike her arms, “And I guess you two are…?”

“Going to find a cupcake fountain!” Pinkie stated.

“And a buffet along the way, hopefully,” said Spike.

“Guess we’re splitting up,” said Twilight.

Not but a few seconds later did all the girls but Rainbow Dash leave, the rainbow haired girl turned to her fellow Daring Do enthusiast and asked, “Wanna check out the props A. K. Yearling designed specifically for the movie?!”

“You read my mind!” Twilight agreed.

***________________________***

Rarity and Fluttershy walked through the lot where all the stars’ trailers were parked, both girls were giddy and excited about meeting the famous movie star and animal rights advocate, but the girls stopped when they noticed a rather large man wearing a black suit, red shirt, and black tie. He was bald, with a grayish complexion, and a five ‘o clock shadow. He wore black sunglasses that pretty much obscured the color of his eyes and made it hard to tell if he was looking right at them. He stood beside the trailer door to Chestnut Magnifico, with his arms crossed.

The girls cautiously walked up to the trailer where the burly man practically teleported, placing himself between Rarity and Fluttershy and the door to Chestnut’s trailer. “State your business.”

“Um, well, I was hoping to possibly get a photo with Ms. Magnifico,” said Rarity.

“A-A-And I was hoping she would sign my petition…sir,” said Fluttershy as she hid behind Rarity.

“Sorry, Ms. Magnifico does not wish to have visitors, she’s very busy,” said the guard.

“What do you mean you can’t find him?! Do you know how dangerous he is?! Ugh, it’s not enough I have to deal with these setbacks after setbacks, this movie is already behind schedule and if I have to I will shut this movie down myself! UGH!”

The bodyguard went to the door, but before he could open it, Chestnut Magnifico flung the door open, the door moved so fast that it caught the guard, well, off guard and slammed him against the side of the trailer, where he then slumped down onto the ground in a heap leaned up against the side of the trailer, making Rarity and Fluttershy wince at how much that might’ve hurt.

“Granite? Granite?!” Chestnut looked about and saw her bodyguard in a daze on the ground. “Granite, what happened to you?!”

The large man picked himself up rather quickly and straightened out his suit as he said, “Nothing, Ms. Magnifico, just a little dehydrated.”

Chestnut blinked. “Oh, well, please, keep some water nearby you.” Chestnut went back into her trailer and came back out with a bottled water. “You can’t protect me if you’re collapsed from heatstroke.”

Granite blushed a light shade of pink and wordlessly took the bottle water, nodding his appreciation before taking a swig.

The actress then turned to see Fluttershy and Rarity standing behind her, and then looked back at her bodyguard. “Um, who are they?”

“We…” Rarity began.

“They’re fans, the young lady with on the left wanted a picture. And the one on the right wanted to see if you would sign her petition to…um…what was it for?” Granite asked.

Fluttershy took a deep breath and said, “It’s, um, a petition to bring more bird feeders to my school for the local birds.”

Chestnut's slightly irritated visage melted away when she heard the requests. “Oh my gosh, that’s sounds lovely! I would love to sign it!”

Fluttershy gave the petition to Chestnut and turned around so that the actress could use her back as a flat surface to write on. Chestnut took out a stylized lavender pen and signed her name in her flashy style on the page. She then handed it back to Fluttershy who held it in her hands with a big happy grin on her face.

“And, hun, what’s your name?” Chestnut asked.

“Oh, me? Rarity, my name is Rarity!”

“Now that’s a beautiful name, if you don’t mind, how about a picture with all three of us?” Chestnut suggested.

Rarity had to keep herself from having a fangasm at that moment, managing to take out her cellphone and hand it to the starlet. Chestnut then passed it on to her bodyguard and took a few steps out to get all three of them in the shot. With a few directions, Rarity, Chestnut, and Fluttershy struck a pose and Granite took the picture.

“Thank you! Thank you, Ms. Magnifico!” Rarity nearly squealed.

“No trouble at all, now, Granite, let’s head inside and…ugh…see if this movie is anywhere on track,” said Chestnut.

Fluttershy and Rarity waved to the actress as she walked away but became a bit disturbed by the phone call that Chestnut had, especially when she said she’d “shut down the movie” and “he’s dangerous”.

“What do think she meant?” Fluttershy asked?

“I’m not sure, but whatever it is it warrants the need for a bodyguard,” said Rarity.

Little did the girls know, a figure was watching, and seething in anger as they disappeared behind another trailer.

***________________________***

Sunset and Applejack were wandering the set of the Daring Do movie. Taking in all the detail that was put into the making of the tropical setting, the attention to each little part was meticulous and no doubt painstakingly reproduced to be as accurate as possible.

“Shoot, this is amazin’! Wonder how long it took ‘em?” Applejack wondered.

“Several weeks I’d guess, but I’m probably underestimating. Most of this looks like a combo of green screen and live effects, which is cool, gives it a more real feel,” said Sunset Shimmer.

“Well they sure do go all out makin’ it look like the real deal, huh?”

Just then Applejack felt something crunch under her boot, she froze for a moment as a small bout of panic began to take shape as she feared she may’ve broken something important on the set. When she looked down, Applejack lifted her boot and was relieved to see it was a wrapper of some sort.

Sunset picked up the piece of trash and unwrapped it as she said, “Although, I don’t think the rainforest is known for its…Bon Mot peanut butter praline crunch bars. Huh, guess someone had the munchies while working.”

“Better pocket that, don’t want it ruinin’ the shot,” said Applejack.

Sunset did just that, if there was anything movie buffs were known for, it was for spotting minute details of a scene, and if that wasn’t caught in time, the movie websites and news would have a field day with it.

“So, while we’re alone, gotta ask, how’re things with you and Twilight?” Applejack asked.

“Things are great, AJ.” Sunset stopped and looked to the cowgirl with worry. “Why, did…did she say something to you?”

Applejack shook her head. “No, no, just wonderin’ is all. With all the hoopla that’s been happenin’ lately, reckon you two haven’t had a proper date yet.”

Sunset blushed as she rubbed the back of her head. It was true, with the recent Tirek Virus outbreak, and the Dopant attacks before that, and the possibility that Starlight Glimmer – of Earth – might be their nemesis, Kamen Rider Equal, it had left little time in the way of actual dating time between the two lovers. Summer Break was going to be over before they knew it, and Sunset knew that this was the best time to make their relationship stronger, and although it had been through the forge of battle and strife, it wasn’t the same as just hanging out together. Vegging out on Sunset’s couch and watching a movie, going to a movie together, or eating out at a restaurant.

“We haven’t even had a first kiss yet–!” Sunset immediately clapped a hand over her mouth after having let that piece of info slip out accidentally.

Applejack’s eyes widened with surprise. “Whoa, hold on now! Yer tellin’ me, that all this time, neither one of ya has kissed each other?!”

Sunset groaned in embarrassment at letting that info slip out, but it was out there, and better it be to Applejack. “It’s not that I don’t want to! Celestia knows I want to! I just don’t want to rush Twilight, she’s still getting used to dating me. I mean, up until a few months ago she didn’t even think she liked other girls. I don’t want to be the reason that she denies that part of herself by having a pushy girlfriend.”

“Trust me, Twilight doesn’t think yer pushy. And Ah think it’s right sweet of ya to take it slow like that. Twilight may not be as shy as Fluttershy, but she’s openin’ up more and more,” said Applejack.

“Thanks, AJ.”

***________________________***

Twilight and Rainbow Dash were giddy as, well, school girls, as they approached the set. There they saw the treasured props of the movie. Both girls zipped across the set in, practically, the blink of an eye and were now staring down at the case that held all three props. All three props were made of faux gold and each a different item, and had a different gemstone as its theme. The staff had an elongated U shape and at its center sat a large ruby orb. The sword was segmented with emerald, square shaped shards. A single emerald gem rested at the guard, while three emerald pieces made up the guard, fashioned to resemble leaves. The last was an arrow, with the arrowhead tipped with a sharpened amethyst.

“Wow! These are the three Altoriosa Relics!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“The staff!” Twilight stated.

“The sword!”

“Don’t forget the Arrow of Altoriosa!”

Twilight and Rainbow glanced to each other, and then turned around to see a girl standing behind them. She had blue-green hair that was tied into pigtails, with sharp purple rimmed glasses that rested on her nose as her blue eyes looked upon Rainbow and Twilight.

“You girls must be the VIPs, right?”

Both girls nodded nervously.

“Sorry if we weren’t supposed to step onto the set, we just…got carried away when we saw the relics,” said Twilight.

The girl chuckled and waved off the concern. “Don’t be, it’s always great to meet other Daring Do Fans. I’m Juniper Montage, Canter the director’s niece. What do think?”

“They’re awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed. “They look exactly like the ones described in the book!”

Juniper nodded as she approached the case containing the prop relics. “A. K. Yearling is very hands-on when it comes to the sets and props for the movie.”

Twilight and Rainbow glanced to each, with the former asking, “Have you met her?”

“Just once when she came to check out the relics. I did get her to sign a copy of the latest Daring Do book, though!” Juniper then released a high pitched squee of delight at recalling the memory. “I actually tried to convince my uncle to at least cast me for the part of Daring Do…but, he didn’t really go for it.”

There was a bit of bitterness in that last statement, which created a small amount of tension that Rainbow Dash felt the need to break. “So, what do you do around here?”

“Oh, I mostly bring my uncle coffee and help get everything ready for shooting. I’ve been on set for ALL the movies he’s shot here.” Juniper stretched her right hand out. “Pretty much know every inch of this place like the back of my hand. Oh! Have you guys seen the set for Caballeron’s secret lair yet?”

“No!” Rainbow and Twilight answered.

“They usually keep the door locked to the set, but I’ve got the keys that open just about every door in this place! C’mon!” Juniper urged.

“This is going to be awesome!”

***________________________***

Pinkie Pie and Spike were lounging in a couple of chairs, with a slew of candy bars littered around them. The pink party planner sighed as she brought out her brochure, “100 Things You Didn't Know About This Movie Studio: Insider’s Tour Guide”.

“Three lunch buffets, six different kinds of fondue, two rooms with nothing but candy, and still no cupcake fountain! Oh, well. At least we found those peanut butter praline crunch bars! They weren’t in my guidebook, but they sure were delicious!”

Spike munched down the rest of his and licked his chops. “I’ll say. You think they got any more?”

“Ahh!” Pinkie and Spike glanced in the direction the groan came from, there they spotted Canter Zoom and Chestnut Magnifico standing at the buffet table, with the latter looking none too pleased. “One more month, Chestnut! That's all we need! I’m doing everything I can to keep us on schedule! But with all the setbacks we’ve had, I don’t think we can do it! If you could just agree to stay on for one more month...!”

Chestnut turned on the director and glared at him. “This is unacceptable! I’m already taking a risk being in this city, the last thing I need to do is stay another month here!”

“Chestnut I know about your…circumstances, and I’m prepared to ensure your safety, but please, just one more month?” Canter begged.

The starlet growled in frustration, she reached for the buffet table to grab something, something that should’ve been there, something that was exclusively hers and no else’s. Chestnut looked down, eye beginning to twitch as she saw that the table was vacant of her favorite comfort food. “WHERE ARE MY PEANUT BUTTER PRALANE CRUNCH BARS?!”

Spike and Pinkie Pie winced as they looked at the incriminating evidence of the discarded candy bar wrappers strewn around them.

“Now would probably be a good time to resume the search for that cupcake fountain,” said Spike in an urgent whisper.

“Yep!” Pinkie agreed.

With that settled, both Pinkie and Spike hightailed it out of there.

***________________________***

The Rainbooms had returned to the volcano set, with everybody getting ready for another take. The whole time Rainbow Dash was still full of giddiness and excitement after retelling the girls about seeing the prop relics.

“You guys should’ve seen the relics. They were amazing!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Canter released a sigh and turned to around. “Ugh! Quiet on set, please!”

“Heh, heh…sorry.”

With that out of the way, Canter Zoom returned his attention to the set before him. “Aaaaaand, action!”

The special effects of the thunder and lightning went off as the artificial wind kicked up. The actor playing Mojo – aka Stalwart Stallion – approached the volcano. However, the volcano’s mouth began to rumble, causing even the set itself to shake. Everyone was being jostled by the suddenness of the quake, throwing them to the ground and rocking Canter in his chair.

“W-Wow, these are some r-r-really good special effects!” Pinkie exclaimed through the shaking.

“This i-i-isn’t part of t-t-the scene!” Canter corrected.

Suddenly, the volcano erupted, and a being stepped forth from it. The creature was cast in molten lava, it’s body covered with armor plates, and grooves that simulated lava that ran through the monster’s body. The head of the creature was dragon like, snarling and spewing flames with every breath it took. The creature’s claws were burning red hot, as the set itself was beginning to catch fire.

The actor playing Mojo released a scream of terror as he ran in the opposite direction. Several of the cast and crew did the same, mad dashing for the nearest exits. The molten monster glanced about from his perch as his glowing yellow eyes scanned over the area, as if it were searching for something, or rather, someone. The monster’s eyes finally landed on its target, that of Chestnut Magnifico and her bodyguard, Granite.

“Chestnut!” the monster roared. “Why haven’t you called me?! Why haven’t you come to me?!”

The actress’ eyes widened, even though the voice was distorted, she could clearly make out who the monster was. “Hazelwood?!”

Granite’s eyes widened. “That’s the guy you wanted me to protect you from?!”

The molten monster jumped down from the volcano, landing on the set with a great THUD that shook the whole area. With each footstep he took, the monster left an imprint of its foot, melted into the floor. “I told you we were meant to be together! I am your biggest fan! I know everything about you! But you spurned me!”

“You were stalking me! That’s not love! You don’t know me like that!” Chestnut shot back.

The monster snarled. “I do know you! And I’ll make you mine!”

“RUN MISS MAGNIFICO!” Granite ordered.

The actress did just that as the monster began dashing towards her, Granite tried to intercept, but the monster released a roar that created a burst of hot air to strike him, sending the valiant bodyguard flying into the buffet table.

Sunset and Rainbow glanced to each other, nodded, and slowly separated from the group. The rest of the girls took this as their cue and began diverting attention away from their friends by helping others to get out of the potential warzone. Both girls managed to find a little private area backstage, after a quick glance about, Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash summoned their Drivers.

“Man, I just wanted to see this movie be made, not have to fight a freakin’ Dopant!” Rainbow Dash whined.

“Same here, let’s make this beat down especially rough!” Sunset added.

< UNICORN! >

< NASCA! >

“Henshin!”
“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

> NASCA! <

Electrical fields of blue and turquoise formed around both girls, transforming them into Kamen Riders Unicorn and Nasca.

***________________________***

Chestnut managed to get outside the studio, she stopped for a moment to catch her breath. But that proved to be a mistake as the Dopant blasted a hole through the roof of the studio and jumped through it. The Dopant landed a couple of meters away from where Chestnut was, turning around slowly as to set its sights on the actress. Chestnut stumbled backwards until she fell on her rear, crawling backwards as the Dopant advanced on her.

“You will not deny me, Chestnut! You’ll see that we were meant to be together! You’ll be all mine! You’ll love me!” The Dopant exclaimed.

“HELP ME!” Chestnut begged.

Several orbs of turquoise light flew at the Dopant, exploding upon impact, followed up by a blue blur that slashed at the Dopant five times, causing sparks to fly from its body. The Dopant was thrown back from the dual attack, but when he managed to stand back up, he growled upon seeing Unicorn and Nasca now standing between him and the object of his affections.

“Dude, take a hint, the lady doesn’t want or like you,” said Nasca.

“Why don’t we do this nice and easy, you give up the Gaia Memory that changed you into that monster, and just turn yourself in without us having to beat you down,” said Unicorn.

The Dopant snarled again, making flames shoot out his nostrils. Without so much as a word, the Dopant charged for the armored heroes. Unicorn grabbed ahold of Chestnut and teleported away, leaving Nasca to fight the Dopant. The speedster Rider flared her fiery-electric wings and dashed towards him. The Dopant lashed out with a claw, while Nasca swung her sword. The blade and claws met in the middle, causing a clang of metal and sparks to fly from the impact. Again and again, the two traded blows, with Nasca pushing the attack, but then the Dopant would gain ground as he advanced.

The Dopant came down with his claw, making Nasca block with her sword, but unfortunately, it was a feint as the Dopant came in with a right hook claw swipe, hitting Nasca in the gut. She was sent skidding backwards on her heels, with sparks flying from her armor. The Dopant inhaled and released a bellowing flame blast that roared towards her.

Before it could reach her, Unicorn teleported back to her, throwing up a barrier of turquoise light that blocked the torrent of flames. The Dopant cut off the flames, but then it’s body began to glow, transforming into a metal monster. Its arms were sickles of sharpened steel, it’s legs were blades, which by all laws of physics should not have supported the Dopant’s weight. The Dopant’s head was oval shaped, with blue eyes that shined and metal pincers that chittered and clanged against each other.

“Ooookay, that’s new,” said Nasca.

The steel Dopant charged for the Riders, it’s speed having drastically increased. Unicorn reinforced the barrier, just in time for the Dopant to slash at it. The impact made Unicorn grunt, the strain wasn’t bad, however, when the Dopant began slashing at a rapid speed, literally cutting away at the barrier, it began to cause some strain for Unicorn. Nasca unfurled her wings and flew up, and over the barrier. She quickly took out her Nasca Memory and switched the N-Driver to the orange side and placed the Gaia Memory into the slot.

\_/ NASCA! VERMILLION MODE! \_/

The color scheme of Nasca’s armor changed to bright orange, and her wings flared with greater power. Within a second, the speedster Rider moved so fast she was an orange blur, appearing behind the Dopant and preparing to strike it down. However, the Dopant’s blade tail lashed out at the same time as Nasca brought down her sword, ending with both blades clashing against each other. With a frustrated growl, Nasca unleashed a flurry of slashes, but each one was countered by the Dopant’s tail, and at the same time, the Dopant was continuing to beat down on Unicorn’s shield.

“Okay, are we through playing nice?!” Unicorn asked.

“Definitely!” Nasca agreed.

Nasca broke off the attack and slammed her sword hard against the ground, at the same time, Unicorn summoned an orb of turquoise light and fired it below her. Both attacks created a cloud of dust and debris that hid them from view. The Dopant suddenly felt nothing as he slashed forward, he then made a wide slashing circle that was strong enough to cause a small whirlwind to push the dust away. Much to his chagrin, the Riders were no longer there, but had retreated a safe distance ahead of him, and were now holding new items in their hands.

< ROCKET! >

/^\ BOOST! /^\

< SHINING! >

{/^\} ROCKET BOOST! ULTIMATE DRIVE! {/^\}

{< SHINING! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Pillars of green and gold shot up into the air, and in the next moment, the pillars shattered, creating a cascade of shimmering feathers and golden particles that littered the area. Nasca had entered her final form, Star Chaser, and Unicorn was in her pseudo-final form, Shining Day.

“If I were you, I’d seriously consider surrendering now,” said Unicorn.

The Dopant looked hesitant, you’d have to be a complete moron to not know how powerful Unicorn and Nasca were in these forms after the Tirek Virus Incident. But Hazelwood’s goal was one that would not be denied, his passion, his resolve was strong enough to beat them, he knew it, he could feel it.

“BRING IT ON!” Hazelwood shouted.

Nasca face palmed herself. “This guy is nuts.”

“On three?”

“Yep.”

“One.”

The Dopant released a piercing screech and ran straight for the duo.

“Two.”

The Dopant was upon them and ready to cleave them in half.

“Three!”

\ HONESTY /

Unicorn and Nasca disappeared before the Dopant’s eyes, only to reappear behind him. The Dopant noticed too late as he turned his head just at the right moment to receive two superpowered fists to the face. The Dopant was sent sailing into the studio that he had exited earlier, crashing through several walls in the distance. The Kamen Riders flew towards the studio and entered the same hole the Dopant had smashed through. They followed the trail of destruction until it ended at an adjacent set of, judging by the discarded costumes, that of the Power Ponies.

The culprit in question was lying strewn on the mock street, groaning in pain, but strangely, not in Dopant form. This was confusing for both Riders, they had never seen someone change back after one punch from both of them, at least not without it being a Maximum Drive attack.

“Uh, Unicorn, did we get strong enough to cause a Memory Break without, y’know, using a Max Drive?” Nasca asked.

“I…I don’t know, there’s no sign of the Gaia Memory he was using,” said Unicorn as she glanced about the area.

“Chestnut…you’re…you’re mine…” Hazelwood groaned incoherently.

Unicorn and Nasca made noises of disgust at the words the man uttered in his unconscious state.

“I’ll take him outside, think you can fix up the place?”

“All over it.”

\\\ GENEROSITY! ///

Unicorn’s horn flared with a whiteish aura, with a wave of her hands, Unicorn began enacting her spell. “Art of Mending.”

Tendrils of white light moved through the destroyed studio and various sets. Broken materials were melded back together. The holes and burned areas from the Dopant attack were wiped clean and returned to their original pristine state as well as having the cameras that were once destroyed were now standing upright again and undamaged.

***________________________***

After about an hour and a half, the set was cleared to resume use. Shining Armor arrived along with the rest of the SCU to take in Hazelwood, with Chestnut providing information that she had been stalked recently by a rabid fan, and apparently that fan had gotten a hold of the monster creating item to try and take Chestnut for his own. Thankfully, the cameras were rolling when the attack happened, so the police confiscated the footage that did have the whole ordeal on them to show as proof.

The Rainbooms watched as Hazelwood was taken in and driven away with Shining Armor following close behind it. It seemed that the movie bizz didn’t stop for nothing, the show must go on, so once the police were done, the film crew and actors went back to their work. The Rainbooms went with them, still intent on watching the rest of the movie be made, but while they walked, Sunset and Rainbow were troubled.

“You couldn’t find any trace of that Gaia Memory that fella used?” Applejack asked.

“No, and that’s what’s weird. We hit him pretty hard, but neither of us used a Max Drive to overload the Gaia Memory he was using. If we had, there would’ve been pieces of it scattered next to him,” said Sunset.

“Could it be that, he just simply gave up?” Rarity asked.

“Probably, one punch from both of us in those forms, I would too. But that still leaves the question of where the Gaia Memory is then,” said Rainbow.

“You don’t think someone took it, do you?” Fluttershy pondered.

That would be bad, if someone saw him transform with the Gaia Memory, it wouldn’t be too long before the person who possibly took would use it too.

“I got a pretty good idea what those doohickeys smell like, I can search around the place where you beat that guy.” Spike offered.

“I’ll go with you, Spike. They might throw you out if you’re just on your own,” said Twilight.

“I’ll see if I can break away later too and give you a ha–”

“STOP RIGHT THERE, MISS!”

Sunset was interrupted as a voice made all the girls and Spike turn in the direction of where it came from. It was a tall, lanky man, his vest resembling that of Canter Zoom’s, so most likely a director. He had silver hair, and a pale purple complexion. His pants were jet black, and his shirt was a bright blue, with a pair of rose colored shades over his eyes. The man waltzed towards the Rainbooms, cutting through their ranks until he stopped before Sunset and Twilight.

“You!”

“Me?” Twilight squeaked.

“No, no, not you! I’m talking about the fiery haired, eyes blazing with passion, girl standing right beside you!”

Twilight looked to Sunset, Sunset comically glanced to her right and verified that there was no else there, which only meant that the man was addressing her. “M-Me?”

Without warning, and with near inhuman speed, the man lifted Sunset’s arm, inspected it, and then brought up a handful of her hair, also inspecting it. He then proceeded to exam her legs, back, front, and finally getting way up in her personal space by placing his hands on Sunset’s face as he stared intensely, as if he were trying to burn Sunset’s visage into his mind.

Twilight couldn’t watch this anymore and quickly pushed her way in between her girlfriend and the strange man. Sunset finally realized what happened and scowled at the man.

“What the hell?!” Sunset exclaimed. “Who are you and what were you doing?!”

“I knew it, it’s as plain as the nose on my face! I, Cine Max, have discovered Kamen Rider Unicorn!”

The girls all went wide eyed with shock, releasing gasps of surprise at how this odd man could have figured out their friend was Unicorn. Sunset, for her part was keeping a façade of calm and collected, but inside a pit had formed in her stomach, the world seemed to be spinning, and right now she was trying to decide whether to run or knock the man out before anyone else saw or heard what he was doing.

“S-Sir, that’s a pretty wild accusation you’re making there,” said Rarity, trying to hide the nervousness in her voice. “While Unicorn is a hero, the police have made it clear that she is a vigilante and would be arrested.”

Cine Max looked at Rarity quizzically for a moment, and then to the expressions of the rest of the girls, and finally put two and two together. “Oh! No, no, no, forgive me, I tend to get swept up in my muse. I meant that your friend here would be perfect to play the part of my movie about Kamen Rider Unicorn.”

Applejack shook her head as she tried to process that. “Hold up, yer makin’ a movie about Unicorn?”

“And why not?! She’s a dazzling hero, selflessly putting herself in danger to protect the people against vicious monsters alongside her sidekick Nasca,” said Cine Max in a bombastic tone.

Rainbow Dash’s eye twitched. “Heh, heh, I think I heard you wrong there buddy. But, did you say that Kamen Rider Nasca is Unicorn’s sidekick?”

Cine Max glanced to the rainbow haired girl as if she grew a second head. “Of course, what would call another hero who fights at the main hero’s side?”

“A partner,” said Rainbow in a flat tone.

“Hmmm, nope, not as catchy.”

Rainbow looked like she was about to go up and pop Cine Max in the chin, but Sunset quickly managed to calm her friend down. Once that was settled, Sunset turned around and asked, “Not that I’m not flattered by the offer, but, why me? I’m not an actress, I’ve never been in any movies, I don’t have any experience! The closest thing I’ve done to acting is being our band!”

“Why not you?! You have the attitude, and the natural swagger! Not to mention, I sense a dark past with a burning passion to right the wrongs of her past! Experience be damned, you gain experience by doing, and besides, I need nothing more than for you to be yourself! The rest comes with time!” Cine Max shouted boisterously.

Now it was Sunset’s turn to eye twitch. Who is this guy?!

Cine Max zoomed so close to Sunset that she jumped back. “So, please Miss, will you be Unicorn?!”

Sunset glanced nervously to her friends and then to Cine Max. She then glanced behind her to the studio that was shooting the Daring Do movie. And after that her decision was made. “Okay, I’ll do it.”

“WHAT?!” The Rainbooms and Spike gasped.

“Wonderful! We start at seven tomorrow! I’ll have security escort you in until we have a proper ID created for you!” Cine Max rushed off, leaving the girls there in stunned silence.

The girls turned their attention back to Sunset, but it was Pinkie Pie who first spoke, “Uh, Sunset, not that I’m not totally super excited that you’re going to become a movie star, but why did you agree to play, well, you in a movie about you?”

“I’m just doing this because our VIP passes expire tomorrow, and we’ll still need someone here to try and find that Gaia Memory. We haven’t found it, and I don’t want it falling into someone else’s unstable hands. If it’s a T1 we can destroy it, but if it’s a T2 then we definitely don’t need it to fall into Equal’s hands.”

There was logic in that, they couldn’t well have some random stranger, or the evil Kamen Rider take the Gaia Memory. With little more to do than just continue watching the making of the movie, the Rainbooms returned to Canter Zoom’s set and watched as the scene that they had been trying to finish was finally completed.

***________________________***

Sunset returned to her loft, where she found both Starlight’s in her house. “How’s the patient?”

Starlight was currently in the upper level where her bed was, which was occupied by the Equestrian Starlight Glimmer. Apparently, she had caught a cold, and while her magic was keeping it from getting worse, she still needed bed rest to keep it that way. Of course, this annoyed Glimmer to no end, so Sunset called Starlight to keep an eye on her, the Earth version of her friend was more than happy to.

“She’s doing better, aside from the constant attempts of trying to get up and leave,” said Starlight.

“I told you my healing spells are working, I can go-oh-ACHOO!”

“Yeah, no, you’re staying in bed.”

Sunset walked up the stairs to where the doppelgangers were and sat at the edge of the bed. “Sorry, I should’ve stayed and taken care of you.”

Glimmer shook her head. “No, I was the one who told you to go to that studio place! Don’t feel bad because of it, but, anyway, was it fun?”

Sunset made a pensive expression as she then divulged the incident at the Canterlot Studios. The whole time Sunset was keeping an eye on Starlight, trying to see if there was any change in her demeanor as she told the story, aside from a genuine look of concern, there was nothing out of the ordinary that tipped Sunset off that she was definitively Equal.

“It certainly sounds like you had fun,” said Starlight.

“I can’t believe you’re going to actually be in a movie, I wanna go!” Glimmer whined.

Sunset shook her head. “Nuh-uh, you’re butt’s staying in bed. Sorry, Starlight, do you mind watching her a bit longer?”

“No worries,” said Starlight with a wave of her head. “I’ll take care of her, it’s like have a kid sister.”

“You know I’m technically older than you,” said Glimmer in a deadpan tone.

“Not here you’re not. Sunset, want me to set you up with an agency? I know of a few good ones that can help out if you want to make this a permanent thing.”

Sunset shook her head at the offer and gave a nervous chuckle. “Thanks, but let’s just see how tomorrow goes. I don’t want to fall flat on my face and waste your time, and money.”

At that moment, Starlight’s cellphone began to go off. The CEO of PhonEXE Corp checked and saw that it was Double Diamond her assistant. “Oh shoot, do you mind if I take this outside, it must be urgent business for Double Diamond to call at this hour.”

Sunset nodded and Starlight proceeded to exit the loft. Once outside, Starlight tapped on the “answer” icon and said, “Double Diamond, does this call have anything to do with the attack at Canterlot Studios?”

There was an audible spluttering of surprise on the other end, followed shortly by a response, [H-How did you know, Miss Glimmer?]

“Because one of the girls I gave VIP passes to said there was an attack there involving a Dopant. You’re lucky that Unicorn and her little sidekick managed to defeat it. Who was it anyway?” Starlight asked.

[A nobody, Ma’am. His name was Hazelwood, an administrator of a large fan website about Chestnut Magnifico. A couple of years back the man tried to approach the actress and proclaim that he was in love with her, typical groupie stalker. Of course, his efforts grew more brazen to the point that the actress had to get a restraining order against him and hire security.]

“So, he reached out for a way to get closer to her and instead the Memory warped his already warped mind. Typical. Thankfully none of the girls were hurt, but next time be more thorough, I don’t need those girls getting hurt!” Starlight stated firmly. Strangely enough she really meant it, Starlight was starting to like the girls that her double hanged out with, especially that Sunset Shimmer.

[Yes, well, on top of that, there is another matter…]

“What?”

[We went back to the scene of the battle, but there were no traces of Gaia Memory fragmentation…The Memory did not shatter…]

Starlight paused for a moment, the world seeming to have ground to a halt as her right eye twitched, and the vein in her neck began to bulge. “Heh, heh, ha! Good one, Double Diamond, I thought you said that the Gaia Memory didn’t shatter. Which I know is impossible since it’s T1 model and is prone to shatter via a Memory Break. So, be serious now, what’s really going on?”

There was an audible gulp on the other end of the phone. [I am…Miss Glimmer…The Riders didn’t use their Max Drive attacks, from what our reports gather, they simply punched him in their strongest forms, and he was found already changed back…]

Starlight could afford a new cellphone, hell, she practically made the one in her hand right now. But that would entail having many of her favorite songs, documents, and game app data gone forever, and that was a headache she didn’t want to deal with, so instead she found a discarded soda can and crushed in under her foot, grinding hard enough in the ground that the tin made sparks against the concrete sidewalk.

“Listen to me, carefully, Double Diamond. Find the person who has that Gaia Memory and GET! IT! BACK!”

[Y-Y-Yes Miss Glimmer!]

Starlight took a deep breath, and in so doing a thought occurred to her. “On that note, which Gaia Memory was it exactly?"

O: Operation Movie Magic / That's a Wrap!

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The bell rang as students began moving through the halls and to their next classes, some stayed near their lockers and mingled with their friends before heading off, and others were just switching out books. However, today was no ordinary day as a young man stood before the hallway. He was a troubled kid, well, to be more precise, trouble had been thrust upon him. Constantly the object of the school’s resident bully’s wrath and having been used for his intelligence by other students for homework assignments and the like.

In his right hand he held a blue USB device with the letter “F” printed onto it. The young man’s finger hovered over the button of the USB, ready to press it. But before he could, a lone hand reached out and grabbed him firmly by the wrist, his head shot up and his gaze fell on the girl who had been, practically, the only friend he had in this school.

“S-Sunshine?”

“Don’t do this, you know what those things do to people, don’t become a monster,” said Sunshine.

“What else am I supposed to do, Sunshine?! And I told you not come here today! Why are you here?!”

“Because I’m not going to let my friend make a big mistake that will get him, and other people hurt, you’re better than this, and better than them!”

“Hey look everybody, it’s the nerd and Sunshine.”

Sunset (or rather Sunshine) and her friend turned around to see four kids sporting letterman jackets approaching them. The lead boy, who was pretty much the stereotypical jock pretty boy, walked up to the duo. He leered at the smaller boy, but then smiled suavely at Sunset.

“Sunshine, why don’t you ditch the loser, everybody knows you just hang out with him out of pity.”

Sunset let go of her friend and turned to face the boy. “Well, gee, Brick, maybe I enjoy the company of people who aren’t total jerks and self-absorbed and are just themselves. Ever thought of that?” Sunset asked in a snarky tone.

Brick laughed, and his cronies joined in as if on cue. When he stopped, so did they, making Sunset roll her eyes at how mindless they were.

“Look, Sunshine, that’s just a front. You’re popular, you’re smart, and a killer athlete. Hell, you used to hang out with us, why the high and mighty act all of a sudden?” Brick asked.

Sunset closed her eyes in a moment of self-reflection, she then turned a stern gaze to Brick and said, “Because I learned that there are more important things than being popular, things like, honesty, loyalty, kindness, generosity, and being able to laugh with genuine friends who won’t abandon you when times get tough. I learned I need real friends, not just some social ladder climbing stuck ups.”

“What’d you call me?” Brick asked.

“I didn’t stutter,” said Sunset as she leveled her gaze with Brick’s, “or do you need me to repeat that in words you can understand?”

“You little–¬!”

“Brick, wait!” the young man interrupted.

“Butt out you little nerd!” Brick threatened as he pushed the smaller teen away and into the lockers, knocking down several others in the process.

“Brick what the hell?!” Sunset shouted as she grabbed him by the jacket.

Brick instinctively swatted at the one who dared grab his prized jacket, and in so doing struck Sunset across the face, sending her falling into some students. The smaller teen watched this with wide eyes as his friend held her left cheek, while the other students helped her up and glared at Brick.

Rage consumed the smaller teen as he stood up and pressed the button on the USB.

* FANG! *

Sunset heard the activation of the device and tried to rush her friend, but it was too late. The smaller teen raised the device up and struck it against his wrist.

“Aaaaaaaaand…CUT! Beautiful! Got it in one!”

Sunset’s serious expression fell as she stood up, the boy playing Brick patted Sunset on the shoulder and said “Nice work” before moving on. The boy who had the fake Gaia Memory reached out and shook her hand before heading off the set. Sunset herself released a sigh of relief. They had rehearsed the scene a couple of times, but she was amazed that they got that scene down.

Cine Max stood up from his chair and walked towards Sunset as he said, “Marvelous Miss Shimmer, I could feel the intensity, and conviction from over there! You’re a natural talent!”
Sunset rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “T-Thanks, but I was so nervous I felt like I was going to mess up or forget a line.”

“Ha! Every actor has those fears, amateur and professional alike, the main thing to remember is just to make sure that your heart is in it, and you make that audience believe your words!” Cine Max stated. He then turned around and announced to the crew. “Alright everyone, we’re moving to the green screen next, and prepare for the transformation sequence! Sunset, get to props and then make up, we shoot in ten minutes!”

Sunset did as she was told, running to the props department and getting her fake Unicorn Memory. Sunset had to admit, for a prop, it felt very much like the real thing, even had the stylized unicorn “U” at the center. Sunset took out her own and indeed they were almost exact replicas. “They really put in a lot of detail work.”

After pocketing the fake device, Sunset hurried over to make up where she was given a bit of a touch up to make it look like she was bleeding from her mouth where the actor playing Brick had mock struck her. The whole thing took about five minutes, so Sunset decided to pop in on the Daring Do set.

There she spotted her friends standing near Canter Zoom where another scene was going on. Rarity turned around just in time to see Sunset waving at them, she was about to wave a “hi” back but then gasped when she saw the blood coming from the corner of her mouth, and the red mark on her left cheek.

“Good heavens, Sunset, what happened to you?!” Rarity asked.

The other girls turned around and also released gasps of horror at the sight of their friend’s appearance.

Applejack rushed up to Sunset and held her by the shoulders. “Who in tarnation hurt ya, Sunset?! Ah swear Ah’ll–!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down! This is makeup for the next scene! I’m not hurt!” Sunset assured.

Twilight got close to Sunset and asked worriedly, “Are…Are you sure?”

Pinkie Pie strode up to Sunset, took her pinkie finger, and lightly dabbed the spot where the fake blood was to not disturb it. She then took a few licks, much to the disgust of the others, and then smiled. “Yep, that’s corn syrup alright! She’s okay, unless your blood is supposed to taste like that?”

“No Pinkie, I guarantee my blood is just as bad tasting as anyone’s else’s. How’s it going by the way?” The girls all had a pensive look on their faces. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh, well, Ms. Magnifico seems to be having some trouble,” said Fluttershy.

“What kind of trouble?” Sunset asked.

The girls parted to allow Sunset an unobstructed view of the set. The scene that was setup was an Arabian bazaar, Chestnut was fitted into a beautiful dress, and her hair was now that of a realistic wig of jet black hair with charcoal gray streaks. This was the nightclub scene that she remembered Canter talking about yesterday, but for some reason Chestnut didn’t seem as confident as one would assume a professional actress to be. She was glancing about nervously, and trying to find her balance in her heels, every so often catching herself on a nearby table to stop herself from kissing the floor.

“Is she okay?”

“Ms. Magnifico said she wanted to continue the movie, even though I said she can take some time after her ordeal, but she refused and said, ‘the show must go on’,” said Canter Zoom.

Just then, Chestnut missed a step and ended up faceplanting, causing some of the other actors to come and help her up.

Canter sighed and announced over his megaphone, “Chestnut, why don’t you take a break and we’ll shoot the action scenes in the meantime. DeeDee you’re up!”

Chestnut gave a disappointed sigh and began to carefully walk off the set, another woman entered, and the girls couldn’t help but notice that she had a striking resemblance to the character of Daring Do.

“Whoa, who’s that?!” Rainbow asked.

“One of the conditions for the movie that Ms. Yearling made was that DeeDee would do all the stunts for Daring Do in this movie. At first, I was skeptical, but considering how close she looks to the real deal, I couldn’t pass that up. That would eliminate a whole lot of camera and editing work to keep her face from showing, not to mention the girl has real skills according to her resume.”

DeeDee approached Chestnut and patted her on the shoulder, giving her a confident smile as she said, “You’ll be alright, just take it easy Ms. Magnifico.”

“T-Thank you,” said Chestnut as she went on.

There was something about DeeDee that Sunset couldn’t put her finger on, but that was something left for another day. “So, have you been able to search the set?”

Spike nodded. “We did, I sniffed around and looked anywhere something small like that could be under, but I couldn’t find it. Sorry…”

Twilight bent down and brought her dog into her arms. “You did your best, Spike, it just wasn’t there. Which means, our worst-case scenario might be confirmed.”

“Someone else has the Gaia Memory, but who?” Pinkie asked.

“It must’ve been someone who was still in here durin’ the fight. That Hazelwood fella may’ve taken it out and passed out after that punch ya both gave him, and then someone else swopped in and nabbed it before you two got there,” said Applejack.

The girls looked around them, anyone one of the cast and crew could be the one now holding the Gaia Memory, it was a bit nerve wracking to think that the actors or film crew could at any time transform into a Dopant and go on a rampage for whatever reason. If this was a T1 then the side effects would make a stable mind unstable with prolonged use, and an already unstable mind would just become more warped.

“And I still couldn’t figure out what the Memory was, I did a Look Up last night, but there were too many choices as to which one it could be, the closest I came to the one we’re looking for were, ‘Gene’, ‘Doppelganger’, ‘Monster’, and ‘Dummy’,” said Twilight.

Sunset checked the time on the nearby stand and cursed. “I have to go back to set, we’ll meet up later and come up with something to find it.”

***________________________***

Chestnut went back to her trailer and closed the door, with a heavy sigh her body began to glow, and in the next moment a Gaia Memory rose from the top of her left hand. When the light faded, it was no longer Chestnut Magnifico, but Juniper Montage. The young teen girl grabbed the device, but quickly raised her hands up to catch the dress before it slid off her body. The dress had been made to fit the real Chestnut, and unfortunately, Juniper did not have the right…ahem…proportions to fill out the dress. A fact that slightly irritated Juniper.

“Dammit!” Juniper cursed as she turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. “You’re messing this up, Jun! You got your hands on a device that can change you into anyone or anything, this is your chance to be in the Daring Do movie!”

Juniper looked upon herself in the mirror, carefully striking a pose before haphazardly keeping the dress from falling and leaving her in nothing but her underwear.

“But it’s not you…it’s just you pretending to be Chestnut…” Juniper knew this to be true. She liked helping out on set, but all she really wanted to do was be in a movie, to act and be adored by people all over, and looked up to. But what she was doing, it wasn’t her, she was only coasting on the fame that the real Chestnut Magnifico created over her career. “So what! if I can prove that I’m just as good as her out there, then Uncle will realize that I can play any part just as good – if not better – than the older actors!”

Juniper looked at the Gaia Memory in her right hand, the device had a ribcage design, and at the center was a “D” made up of a sickle and a crosshatched shadow of the sickle beside it.

< DUMMY! >

Juniper pressed the Gaia Memory into her chest, and in the next moment her body morphed until it had taken on the form of Chestnut Magnifico again. Juniper struck a pose and admired herself in the mirror before giving a wink to herself and strolling out of the trailer.

***________________________***

Sunset was now in wardrobe again, she was being fitted for the fake armor of Kamen Rider Unicorn, all while Cine Max looked on with a bit of worry. “Sunset, I don’t know about this, maybe you should let the stuntwoman do this.”

The fiery haired girl was dressed in a loose, black tank top and black pants. She had seen the stuntwoman playing Unicorn, while she liked her combat skills, she was not really selling the Unicorn feel as she was. The movements felt stiff and not with enough flare and flow, so Sunset suggested that she’d don the costume and show how she would do it, or rather how Unicorn would.

“It’ll be fine,” said Sunset as the helmet was placed on her.

The next scene took place outside, where there were several pyrotechnic devices set up. Once everything was in place, Cine Max called for action.

Sunset stared intensely ahead of her, making the crew get chills. The fiery haired girl then went into a series of motions that were fluid and sharp, ending with Sunset striking a pose as she proclaimed, “The Magic of Friendship unleashed! Kamen Rider Unicorn!” At the moment the devices went off, creating a large explosion behind her, tinted with some green smoke, yet Sunset didn’t flinch in the slightest from the heat or sound. The costume’s eyes and horn glowed as she entered her final pose and said, “I will not let you continue your rampage, you heart is hurting, and I will heal it! It’s time to restore harmony!”

The entire cast and crew just stared at Sunset with gaping mouths and wide eyes. Sunset noticed this and nervously chuckled. “Uh, heh, heh, did…uh…did that work?”

The entire cast and crew just began applauding, which surprised Sunset. Cine Max jumped from his seat and shouted in excitement, “THAT WAS INCREDIBLE! Did you all feel that?! Because I did! That focus, that intensity, that showmanship! It was nothing short of BRILLIANT! Look at this!” Cine Max rolled up his sleeves and showed them his arms. “I have goosebumps people, tell me you didn’t get goosebumps!”

Everyone eagerly agreed, some admitting to getting chills.

Sunset was glad she was wearing the helmet, otherwise they would be seeing her blushing face.

“Sunset, my dear, you are a natural – nay – you were born for this role!” Cine Max proclaimed as he walked up to her. “I would like it very much if you would contract with us for more movies, do you have an agent – oh wait, you said you didn’t! We’ll find you one! You’re still in school yes?”

“Wait, what?! I mean, yes I am, next year will be my senior year, but –!”

“Even better! We’ll be done soon before the summer ends and once you graduate, you can come and do more!”

Sunset was stunned by the offer. “Wow…Uh…I-I need to think about it.”

“No problem, it’s almost lunch anyway, let’s get you out of that suit.”

It took a couple of minutes to remove the suit from Sunset, once she was out, the young teen walked into the lunch area and made herself a plate. Sunset had a knack for this, but obviously that’s because she was actually Kamen Rider Unicorn. But, maybe she did have a knack for acting. She certainly could play the innocent well meaning girl next door if she so chose, Sunset did have to adopt that persona a few times during her tyrannical reign of CHS. She fooled the teachers and Celestia, well for the most part, and back in Equestria, Princess Celestia did take her to see a lot of different plays. In fact, Celestia got her involved in a few acting classes as part of her curriculum. Although, Sunset believed that her adoptive mother was trying to be an actor vicariously through Sunset. It wouldn’t be such a stretch of the imagination for Sunset to take up a career in acting. Hell, before her plans for Dimensional Domination were dashed to pieces, Sunset had no other plans beyond high school.

“Well, aside from going to college – most likely whichever one Twilight’s going to – I really had no idea where to go from there,” said Sunset to herself.

Just then Sunset spotted a girl coming to sit at her table, she had blue-green hair tied into pigtails. Sunset watched as the girl sat down and let her head thump against the table. Sunset winced when she heard the sound, the girl hadn’t even tried to slow herself. After a second Sunset began to recognize her from Twilight and Rainbow Dash’s description.

“You’re Juniper Montage, right?” Sunset asked.

The girl raised her head slightly and looked at her with tired eyes. “Um, sorry, do I know you?”

“I’m Sunset Shimmer, I was invited as a VIP to the Daring Do set, you met my friends, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash,” said Sunset.

A lightbulb clicked on in Juniper’s head. “Oh, yes, I remember, you’re a Daring Do fan too?”

“Oh yeah! You alright there, you look a little beat.”

Juniper waved off the Sunset’s concern and chuckled lightly. “I’m fine, I help out around my Uncle’s set, and I’m a little out of it today.” Juniper noticed Sunset’s badge and tilted her head slightly. “That’s not the VIP badge that the other girls have, and you’re kinda dressed differently, more loose fitting.”

Sunset chuckled. “Oh yeah, this director, Cine Max, he apparently asked me to be the star for his Kamen Rider Unicorn movie.”

Juniper blinked. “Wow, I…I didn’t know you acted too!”

“No…not really,” said Sunset sheepishly. “I’ve never acted, but he said I was perfect for the role.”

The bespectacled girl adjusted her glasses as her brow furrowed a little. “Really, he offered you an acting position? You haven’t, like, studied at any schools for acting, not in any theater troupes, or taken acting lessons, or have stared in any commercials or such?”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head nervously. “N-Not entirely, I took a few lessons as part of my curriculum back in my old hometown, but nothing extensive. But now he’s offering to have me stay on as the main actress for Unicorn, and possibly more after I graduate. It’s kinda overwhelming to be honest.”

“‘Overwhelming’? Are you kidding?!” Juniper lashed out. “You were given a chance to work in a major movie, and you’re practically an amateur?!”

Sunset recoiled at the vitriol in Juniper’s voice. “Um…I…”

“I asked my Uncle – I don’t remember how many times – to cast me as Daring Do! I read all the books, I know all the lines by heart, I could do it if he just gave me a chance!” Juniper shouted. “But then Cine Max will just give the star role of his movie to some girl who literally just waltzed onto the studio?! That’s just, just…UGH!”

Sunset wasn’t sure what to do here, she really couldn’t blame the girl for her anger, if this was her passion then she could see how this would infuriate her. It was practically the same way Sunset herself felt when she learned about Princess Twilight being Celestia’s new protégé.

“Whoa, whoa, Juniper, I never said ‘yes’, and I’m not sure if that’s something I want to do as a career,” said Sunset in an attempt to assuage Juniper’s temper.

Juniper stood up from her seat and glared down at Sunset Shimmer. “Is that so?! So, you’re saying you’re soooo good, that you’re above this, huh?! Is that what you’re saying?!”

Sunset considered herself a calm person, most of the time, but Juniper was starting to chip away at that calm. “Look, Juniper, I understand how it feels when someone swoops in and takes something that you believe is yours, even though you may’ve wanted it more or felt that you were more deserving but trust me when I say that that kind of thinking only leads you down a dark path!” Sunset stood up as well and met Juniper’s glare. “I understand you’re angry, but you can believe me when I say that I’m not sure if this is the path I want to take in my life.”

Juniper growled as she slammed the table with her fist. “At least you were given the chance!” No sooner had she done that did something fall from her jacket pocket, clattering on the table between the two of them.

Sunset looked down and had to steel herself from reacting to seeing what had fallen onto the table. It was a Gaia Memory, with a ribcage design, and a stylized “D” on it. This explained a lot right now, the tiredness, the heightened aggression and agitation from Juniper, they were side effects of the T1 Gaia Memory. Sunset knew she had to snatch it now and smash it, but the moment she did that would just make Juniper lunge for her and try and take it away. Although she was fairly certain she was stronger than Juniper, it would be hard to explain why she needed to smash it and why Juniper had it.

Juniper looked down, eyes going wide as her hand shot towards the device, which forced Sunset to do the same. Juniper’s hand landed on the Gaia Memory first, but Sunset pressed her hand firmly atop Juniper, pinning her there and earning herself a glare from Juniper.

“What the hell are you doing, that’s my property?!” Juniper spat.

“No, it’s not,” said Sunset firmly. “I know what that is, Juniper. It’s dangerous, it turns you into a monster and messes with your head the more you use it.”

Juniper’s eyes widened with fear. “H-How do you know what it is?!”

“That’s not important, what is important is what will happen to you if you’re caught using that! The police will take you to prison, you’ll throw your whole future away, is that really what you want?! Because then you can kiss any hopes of acting goodbye!” Sunset scolded in a harsh whisper.

Juniper tried to lift her hand up, but Sunset Shimmer had a surprisingly strong grip. “What I do with it is my business! Not yours!”

“It will be my business if you endanger my friends, but…” Sunset released Juniper’s hand, allowing the other girl to pull back quickly and message her wrist. “You’re right, it’s your choice. I didn’t listen, and I learned the hard way how wrong I was and had to crawl up from the bottom to earn the respect of my friends and my peers the right way, not through fear or intimidation. But with respect and kindness. Whatever you’re using that for, it means nothing if it isn’t your own talent and skill.”

Juniper looked at Sunset critically, paranoia starting to seep into her mind. “S-So, are you going to tell my Uncle, or call the police?”

“I should, but I’d rather you did the right thing on your own, before the police or the Kamen Riders step in. See you later,” said Sunset as she began to walk away.

Once Sunset was far enough away that she was sure Juniper couldn’t see her, she took out her phone and sent a quick text to Twilight. {Twilight, Juniper Montage as the Gaia Memory, it’s a T1 type and had a D on it. Have Rainbow keep an eye on her, I think she’s been using it a lot.}

***________________________***

Juniper slumped against a wall, sliding down until her rear met the floor. Sunset Shimmer knew about her, knew she had the device which could transform her into a monster, well, to be fair, she hadn’t changed into a monster, only into Chestnut Magnifico. Juniper held the Dummy Memory in her hands and stared at it, contemplating Sunset’s words as she did so.
“Maybe she’s right, I mean, if I have to rely on some strange device to be a good actress, am I really any good at acting?” Juniper asked herself.

You are! It just means that you can play any role that you jump into! You can play Chestnut, you can play anyone!

“That’s true…I can…if I can fool everybody into thinking I am Chestnut by my acting skills, then the form I take is just a costume, I do have real skills!”

Sunset Shimmer is just jealous of my talent, she’s probably going to lord this over me, and blackmail me into doing whatever she wants, practically holding my fate in her hands…!

The image of Sunset Shimmer appeared in Juniper’s mind, but in her mind, she saw herself as a marionette doll, her strings being controlled by a maniacal Sunset who grinned with sinister delight at having her under her control. Juniper tightened her grip on the Gaia Memory, she wouldn’t let that happen, she wouldn’t be controlled by someone who couldn’t care less about something Juniper herself was passionate about.

“If she wants to pretend to be a hero, then let’s see how she does under pressure,” said Juniper.

< DUMMY! >

Juniper pressed the Dummy Memory into her arm and immediately her body began to glow, transforming her into Chestnut Magnifico. Juniper walked down the hallway she was in until she came to a door, after selecting the correct key, Juniper opened the door and smirked at the tied-up woman whose image she had stolen, Chestnut Magnifico.

“Hello, Chestnut,” said Juniper.

“Hazelwood, leave me alone!” Chestnut cried.

Juniper rolled her eyes. “I’m not that creepy fanboy! I took the device that turned him into a monster, he just never went further than just monsters.”

“What do you want?!”

“I want to be what you are, and I’ll prove it by acting as you! If I can manage to fool several people into making them think that I’m you, then it will only be a testament to my actual skills as a future actress!” Juniper proclaimed. “I just need you to stay down here a little bit longer while I take care of another nuisance.”

Juniper reached into her pocket and tossed a few candy bars in front of Chestnut.

“I saved you some, so don’t say I didn’t do anything kind for you,” said Juniper.

As Juniper turned to leave, Chestnut asked, “How long am I going to stay here?”

Juniper stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Depends on how well you can keep a secret, and if you’re willing to let someone else step into the limelight.”

With those parting words, Juniper walked out of the room and proceeded down the hallway. She continued until she exited into the main hall and cut across stealthily, confident that no one saw her. However, someone did see, or rather something. Rolled up next to where Juniper had exited, was a round case. This case began to wiggle around until it unrolled itself and revealed the mech-animal, Dillo. The robot armadillo hurried down the hall that Juniper exited, Dillo shuffled along the hallway, using his scanners to see where it was that Juniper had been. After about three minutes of shuffling about, Dillo found the door that held Chestnut. The mech-animal’s eyes lit up with excitement as it began to release a signal, broadcasting its location to its creator.

***________________________***

Sunset stood on the set, a look of deep thought and worry was evident on her face. Most of the cast and crew took it as Sunset focusing on her part, they had seen plenty of actors with different methods of concentration, and more often than not they don’t like to be disturbed. In respect of that, the crew stayed a respectable distance to allow her time to “get in the zone”. However, it wasn’t the scene that Sunset was focusing on, it was Juniper Montage. She knew that Juniper would eventually do something she would regret the more she used the Gaia Memory.

A text had arrived earlier from Twilight and she verified that the T1 was the Dummy Memory, which gave the power to transform its user into any monstrous or humanoid form they so choose. Which now correlated with the way Chestnut Magnifico was acting strangely around the Daring Do set according to what her friends told Sunset and from what she had witnessed with her own eyes. Now that only made Sunset wonder what Juniper did to the real Chestnut.

She doesn’t strike me as the kind of person to hurt Chestnut, if she did then she’d be stuck playing her for the rest of her life. And if you go by her logic, she wants to prove that she’s the best actress. So, the real Chestnut must be around here somewhere.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to worry about that, Twilight no doubt figured that would be the case and would have concocted a plan to find the real Chestnut. “All I can do now is just wait and be ready in case things go south.” Which, knowing my luck, it will happen soon.

Sunset stood on her mark, ready for the scene to take place. But then became vaguely aware of a presence. She watched as the monster for the scene was arriving, it was near perfect replica of the Fang Dopant, the very first Dopant she ever fought. The beast walked by her, and as it did, Sunset felt a strange sense of nostalgia, and not the good kind either. When the Fang Dopant breathed, she felt its breath. The costume itself looked a little too real.

Oh crap, thought Sunset.

“Okay, we’re in position! Begin in three, two…one! Action!” Cine Max shouted.

Sunset entered an aggressive stance, getting ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. “I know who you are, and you don’t have to do this!”

“Wrong, I have to, I can’t afford you telling anyone my secret,” said the Fang Dopant.

Cine Max looked to his PA and whispered. “That’s not in the script, right?”

His PA flipped through the pages and shook her head vigorously yet nervously. “No, it isn’t!”

“Hmm…I like it! Keep rolling and let’s see where this goes!”

“Believe me when I say you don’t want to go down this road, you’re still not too far gone to not come back!”

The Fang Dopant’s eyes burned red. “Trying to play the role of the heroine, trying to make me believe that you’re right and I’m wrong?! I know what my path is, and I’ll pursue it, even if it means going through you!”

Sunset’s eyes widened as she yelled, “EVERYBODY RUN!” The blades on the Dopant’s arms shined bright, Sunset ran towards Cine Max and tackled him out of the chair, “DUCK!”

Juniper released crescent blades of blue light that slashed at everything around her. Many of the cast and crew hit the deck, managing to avoid the slash beams of the Fang Dopant. The blue raptor glared at Sunset, and Sunset met its gaze knowing full well who it was targeting.

Sunset shot up and shouted, “HEY SCALY, COME AND GET ME!!!”

The Fang Dopant roared as it sprinted towards Sunset. The former unicorn mare ran in the opposite direction in a full sprint, leading Juniper away from the bystanders. Several blades of blue light were sent flying at Sunset, each one narrowly missing her. One sailed just past her left calf, clipping her a bit and making Sunset tumble onto the ground. She rolled for several seconds before coming to a stop outside the large doors to another studio warehouse.

Sunset coughed and groaned in pain, her left calf burned as she felt blood begin to seep from the wound, on top of the scrapes from the asphalt and bruising she got from the tumble. Despite this, Sunset managed to pick herself up and duck into the warehouse. The Fang Dopant saw the small blood trail and followed it inside.

The studio was a set done up to look like a tropical forest, quite perfect for a stalking super dino. The Fang Dopant sniffed the air and looked down, following the blood trail that Sunset was leaving. “You can’t hide from me, Sunset Shimmer! You may act brave and fearless, but right now you’re scared!”

“Yeah, I am,” Sunset’s voice echoed through the faux trees. “But not because of you, I’m afraid what this will do to you. And everybody you love.”

Juniper snorted through the flared nostrils of the Fang Dopant and added a snarl. “I won’t need your pity, not once you’re out of the picture!”

“And you’ll kill me to keep me silent, because after that you’ll be just a murderer.”

“The monster I play will be the murderer, I will still be innocent Juniper Montage!”

The Fang Dopant exited the forest and came to a clearing, where Sunset was standing and waiting. “Then you leave me with no choice, I know your secret, now it’s time for you to know mine!”

Sunset reached behind her back and summoned the Uni-Driver, she then placed it against her waist where the straps shot out and wrapped around her waist. Sunset reached into her pocket and pulled out the Unicorn Memory.

* UNICORN! *

“Henshin!”

Sunset inserted the Gaia Memory and pushed it down into the slot.

{ ERROR! }

The slot popped back up.

“Huh?”

Sunset pushed it back down.

{ ERROR! }

“WHY THE HELL IS THIS THING NOT WORKING?!” Sunset took out the Gaia Memory and inspected it, and then her blood ran cold. “…Oh eff me…it’s the freakin’ PROP?!”

Juniper blinked and then shook her head. “Well, that was heroic, but if you were just trying to show me up…THEN IT WAS A MISTAKE!”

Sunset chuckled nervously at the situation, realizing that when she took that tumble, her real Unicorn Memory must’ve been launched from her jacket, leaving her with only the prop and staring down a very ticked off Dopant. Juniper, as the Fang Dopant, lunged for Sunset Shimmer, ready to end her. But at the last second, someone swung down from the rafters and grabbed Sunset, getting her out of the way as the Fang Dopant barreled through several trees before coming to a stop.

Sunset rubbed her head from yet another rough tumble, she looked up and saw that it was DeeDee, the stuntwoman from the Daring Do set. “Miss DeeDee–!

“Just DeeDee,” she interjected.

“DeeDee, thanks for the save!” Sunset stated as she rose, only to return to the ground on one knee. “Damn it.”

DeeDee looked down at Sunset and saw the gash on her left calf. “You’re hurt.”

“It’ll be fine, I just need to rest up for a minute and–”

The sound of DeeDee ripping the hem off her shirt cut Sunset off, the stuntwoman motioned for Sunset to present her leg to her. Yielding to the older woman’s experience, she carefully lifted up her leg and allowed DeeDee to wrap it up as she tied it tight to apply pressure to it. “That’ll keep it from bleeding out.” DeeDee reached into pants pocket and tossed something to Sunset.

The former unicorn mare grabbed it in midair and gasped when she saw it was the real Unicorn Memory. “Wha – huh – what?!

“I saw that on the ground when you took a fall and led that monster in here. I figured you were trying to limit the number of casualties as well as witnesses to your stunt, right, Kamen Rider Unicorn?”

Sunset was at a loss for words right now, she didn’t know this woman, and now she knew it was her.

“I’d hurry up and do whatever it is you do to change, before that thing sniffs us out and attacks.” DeeDee saw the suspicious look on Sunset face and smiled. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

“How can I trust you? I don’t even know you,” said Sunset.

“Let’s just say that you’re not the only girl around here with secrets that keep the world from being plunged into an abyss,” said DeeDee cryptically.

Sunset took a moment to digest that, and then it struck her like a lightning bolt. “Y-You’re–!”

The roar of the Fang Dopant echoed in the studio as she released crescent slashes that began to tear up the set. Without another moment to lose, Sunset pressed the button on the device.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

A flash of turquoise light caught Juniper’s attention and she quickly ran towards its direction. However, upon arrival she was greeted by a swift kick to the face, sending her flying
backwards and landing on the ground in a heap. Juniper shook her head and looked back to see what had hit her. It was then she beheld the sight of Kamen Rider Unicorn.

“That’s better,” said Unicorn.

Juniper shook her head, but then she snarled as the reality dawned on her. “Sunset Shimmer, you’re Kamen Rider Unicorn, for real?!” Unicorn nodded. “Okay, that is so wrong and unfair! Of course, you’re perfect for the role, you’re playing yourself!”

“Trust me, I understand the irony of the whole situation. But, that still doesn’t negate the fact that what I said was true. You need to stop now before this gets too far out of hand!”

The Fang Dopant rose back and growled. “I can’t let you, my dream to become the best movie star, I won’t let it fade!”

Unicorn sighed as she took out her Fang Memory. “Then I guess I’ll have to beat some sense into you.”

< FANG! >

{< FANG! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The symbol of the Fang Memory appeared behind Unicorn, and the broke down as it merged with her armor, transforming her into Unicorn: Fang Edge. Sunset crouched low as she too gave a growl, allowing the more feral nature of the Fang Memory to unleash her wild side.

\ ARM FANG! /

Once the blades extended, Unicorn dashed towards Juniper. The copycat Dopant was unprepared for how fast Unicorn was as she came in slashed her in an X patter across her chest, causing sparks to fly from her body.

\\ LEG FANG! //

The blades on Unicorn’s arms disappeared and the ones on her legs elongated. Unicorn balanced her on her hands as she performed a windmill kick, hitting the Dopant several times with her leg blades before hitting it once more and forcing Juniper back.

Juniper grunted the several blows she received, panting as she said, “How?!”

Unicorn jumped up and landed on her feet, dismissing the Leg Fangs and deactivating her Fang Edge form. “I fought the first Fang Dopant, and he was a lot tougher than you. You’re only a copycat, and a not good one at that. Now I’m going to get a little more serious.”

< QUEEN! >

{< QUEEN! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The Q symbol appeared behind Sunset, and the wrapped her in its power. In the next moment, a shell of pink had formed around Unicorn and shattered, changing her into super form, Unicorn: Empress.

***________________________***

“What’s going on, there’s screaming and explosions going off?! Is Cine Max on another one of his explosion kicks?!” Canter Zoom asked.

As if to answer his question, something slammed through the wall of the studio and crashed into the set. Followed close behind whatever it was, was Unicorn, floating in with her two Knight constructs flanking her. “Everyone, stand back, we have a situation!”

Unicorn glanced in the direction that the trail of destruction had created and immediately pointed her finger in that direction. The Knight constructs zoomed for that spot and readied to attack their opponent, but amongst the rubble and debris, they could not find their opponent. Unicorn looked around and saw her friends, along with Canter, and rest of the cast and crew of the Daring Do movie.

Damn, she could be anyone in here, thought Unicorn. Wait a minute…

Unicorn’s compound eyes brought her to look at Chestnut Magnifico, who had appeared next to her friends as she walked from behind the set. Unicorn pointed her finger at Chestnut and the Knights immediately surrounded the movie star, causing everyone to gasp.

“What are you doing?!” Canter asked.

“That’s not the real Chestnut Magnifico, it’s an imposter! A monster that can take the form of other monsters, and other people,” said Unicorn.

“This…This is outrageous! Someone help me, she’s clearly lost her mind!” Chestnut wailed.

“No, she hasn’t!”

Everyone turned in the direction of the familiar voice. From a long corridor, emerged Kamen Rider Nasca, helping the real Chestnut Magnifico walk as Dillo shuffled alongside them. “Dillo here trailed the imposter, and found where she stashed the real Chestnut, she’s been playing everyone the whole time.”

Everyone backed away from the fake Chestnut, the fake screamed in rage as she pointed at Unicorn. “YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll free you from that thing’s influence! Dillo!”

The robot armadillo rolled up into a ball, spun, and the charged forward. Dillo bounced into the air where Unicorn caught him and pressed down on where the Max Drive slot was. She took out her Queen Memory, inserted into the slot, and slammed it down.

>} QUEEN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“Time to restore harmony!”

The fake Chestnut transformed into another monster from the past, that of the Utopia Dopant. However, the monster was all show, and Juniper didn’t know how to correctly use its power. Unicorn tossed Dillo into the air and followed after him, the robot animal spun faster and faster as it gathered energy and changed into a ball of bright pink light. Unicorn appeared behind Dillo, lacing her right hand with the same energy as she cocked back.

“Royal Spike!”

Unicorn slammed her palm against the ball, hitting like a volleyball and sending it careening for Juniper. The moment it struck, the speed and power carried the Dopant high into the air, sending her flying, the Utopia form vanished and then the real form of the Dummy Dopant was revealed, its power waning as the sphere continued to do damage to it. The sphere continued until they were outside, the sphere carried them both into the air, which then exploded in a plume of pink light and smoke that formed a sparkling Q.

Juniper found herself in free fall, the remnants of the Dummy Memory falling beside her as the wind roared in her ears. She felt that this was the end, but suddenly, the fall stopped, and she was aware of being in someone’s arms. Juniper opened her eyes and saw that it was Unicorn in her Mystic Cyclone form, Unicorn teleported and landed at a secluded part of the studio lot, and gently set Juniper down to lean against a wall. Sunset deactivated her transformation, and then sat across from Juniper.

There was silence for a long moment until Juniper said, “I messed up…bad.”

Sunset sighed, “Yeah, you did.”

“Are you…Are you going to take me jail?”

“I’m not a cop, Juniper. I’m just a girl who helps people and fights monsters. The thing you have going for your right now is that no knows it’s you, besides me. You can turn yourself in or you can move on from this and learn from it, and work to become a better person,” said Sunset.

Juniper looked at Sunset, truly looked at her. Although they were roughly the same age, she could see a wisdom in those turquoise eyes that betrayed her actual age. “Did you…do something like what I did before?”

Sunset nodded. “I used magic to get what I believed I deserved, but in the end, it turned me into a monster. It took someone else to show me the right way, the way to the light. And by extension, I was able to help someone I love and care for come back from a similar dark place. It’s the same for you.”

Juniper hugged her legs and began crying, Sunset scooted over and sat next to Juniper. She didn’t reach for her, she just sat there, hoping her presence would help. “I wanted so badly to become a star, an actress! I saw that that thing allowed that guy to change into and I…I wanted to use it to change who I was, to show that I could play a role as good as any actor…”

Sunset smiled a little. “And to your credit, you did manage to fool a few people.” It was then that Sunset had another thought. “Were you behind the setbacks on your Uncle’s set?”

“Yes…I moved things around, hid others, sabotaged a few pieces of equipment, whatever I could to make Chestnut quit so that Uncle Canter wouldn’t have any other choice but to give me a shot…” Juniper confessed.

“But, you know Daring Do is an older woman, and you’re a teenager.”

Juniper rolled her eyes. “In hindsight I concede to the fact that I’m younger, but it wasn’t just the age, it was the experience he questioned. I’ve seen dozens of his movies being made here, and watched many of the actors practice stunts, rehearse lines, and not to mention the practice I do at home on my own time…I just…just wanted a shot.”

Sunset patted Juniper Montage on the shoulder in a comforting fashion. “Trust me when I say, even if you think you deserve it, doesn’t mean you’re ready to receive it.”

“I’m sorry…I’m so sorry…for attacking you, for sabotaging the movie, and for locking Chestnut away, especially after that freak tried to do her.”

“Like I said, those things warp your mind. But you understand what you did was wrong, so we’ll chalk this up to a life lesson and move on. However,” Sunset gave Juniper a stern look, “if I find out you’re messing around like you did, I won’t be the only Kamen Rider you have to deal with. Understand?”

Juniper nodded her head in a very vigorous affirmative.
It was then that Sunset had an idea. “You know what, maybe you weren’t playing the right role…”

***________________________***

Case Report: Dummy Dopant

The last couple of days have been…hectic to say the least. Sunset and Rainbow defeated a Dopant who could metamorph into different Dopants, monsters, and even people. At first the user was a man called Hazelwood, but it was then picked by a girl Rainbow Dash and I had met earlier, Juniper Montage.

According to Sunset, she wanted to become an actress and felt as though she would never get her shot. I’m so sure that I approve of Sunset letting her go, she did kidnap Chestnut Magnifico, almost managed to kill her, and sabotaged the Daring Do movie.

But then again, I nearly destroyed reality and almost killed all my classmates and fought my girlfriend in a magical death battle. So…I shouldn’t be judging if Sunset believes she deserves a second chance.

But from what Sunset has told me, Juniper understands the error of her ways and promises to walk a path of good.

The girls were once again back at Canterlot Studios after a couple of days. Once inside they were able to see that Juniper was in the middle of shooting a scene with Cine Max. Somehow Sunset had managed to convince the eccentric director to cast Juniper Montage for the role of “Sunshine”, aka Kamen Rider Unicorn. So far it was a good fit, Juniper put her all into the role and it was surprising most of the cast.

“Sorry, Sparky, guess you won’t be dating a future movie star,” said Sunset with a smirk.

“Oh shoot, I was looking forward to riding around in limos and going to different movie shoot locations around the world. Oh well,” said Twilight with a shrug. She then gently hugged Sunset’s arm. “I’ll settle just for having non-movie star Sunset Shimmer as my girlfriend.”

“You two are cute together.”

Sunset and Twilight jumped at the sudden appearance of DeeDee.

“Oh, um, hi, DeeDee,” said Twilight.

“Relax, I’m not going to tell anyone that your girlfriend is a superhero vigilante.” DeeDee adjusted her pith helmet. “It’s not like I have any room to judge anyway.”

The stuntwoman reached into her bag she was carrying and pulled out a book, she then handed it to Twilight who gingerly accepted it. Both girls looked at the book and read its title, “Daring Do and the Tome of Lost Dreams”.

“W-Wait a minute…this is…this is the next Daring Do book that’s supposed to be released in the next three months! How did you get a copy?!” Sunset asked.

DeeDee face palmed herself. “Oh, I completely forgot.” The stuntwoman gently took back the book and opened it the first page. Taking out a pen from her satchel and wrote in the book. “Here you go.”

Twilight took back the book and opened the book again to see what was written. “‘To my two fans, and my favorite superhero. Your friend, A. K. Yearling and Daring Do’. This is…This is A. K. Yearling’s exact signature! But, t-t-that means y-y-y-you’re…!”

DeeDee put her right index finger to her lips and made a shush sound. “There are other mysteries in this world, I may need your help one day.”

Having said that, DeeDee walked away. Leaving Sunset and Twilight to wonder what she meant by that and stunned that not only did they just meet A. K. Yearling, but possibly…Daring Do.

“Uh, Sunset…”

“Yes, Twilight…?”

“I’m not sure what to make of this…”

“Good, neither do I.”

P: Phoenix Rising / The Sun Sets...

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Thunder and lightning crashed in the skies above, the waters raged as giant waves roared across the ocean, and the wind howled like an eldritch monster of old. Far off into the ocean, was a little island off the coast of the mainland that was besieged by constant storms and other strange phenomenon. But just as soon as it started, the storms and surge stopped, becoming a beautiful sunny day.

On the island was a young girl, her hair was a two toned, light blue and navy blue, her eyes were a dark magenta, while her complexion was sky-blue. She hugged her legs to her chest, sitting in the sand in her burgundy hoodie. Her eyes never left the ocean, but when she heard the faint sound of sand crunching, she turned her head to the right and watched as her sisters walked towards her.

One was wearing a purple hoodie, and had poofy, curly golden locks, skin a light shade of yellow, and also bared the same magenta colored eyes. The other was wearing an army green hoodie, her hair was done into twin tails, two toned of bright violet and ocean green. They were once denizens of Equestria, creatures known as Sirens that fed off of the negative energy of the ponies by manipulating them with their song. That was before they were banished to this world by Star Swirl and his five other companions.

Now, in the human world, they were forced to wander the world for hundreds of years, using the jewels that were once a part of their bodies, now turned necklaces, to cause strife and feed off of the negative energy. Where once before it was just to empower them further, but now it was a form of survival due to the very low amount of magical energy that existed on Earth.

A few months ago, they had discovered a way to regain their lost power but were soundly beaten by a group of girls called the Rainbooms. The incident stripped them of not only their longevity, but also their ability to use their voices to control people. They found out later that they could still sing beautifully, their attempt to do so after their jewels were destroyed was a result of them trying to focus their voice and energy through their shattered jewels to try and control people.

For the youngest Siren, Sonata Dusk, even though this was the worst, she was glad to still keep that much of her Siren heritage. A Siren’s voice was her pride, and to have it taken away…you were better off not living. Her eldest sister, Adagio Dazzle, and second eldest, Aria Blaze, couldn’t let that defeat go. Neither could Sonata, but she tried to at least look on the positive side of things, even though they bickered and insulted each other from time to time, they were all they had left, so having their family and voices was better than nothing, even if all they had right now was nothing.

Princess Twilight Sparkle had left CHS, and now Sunset Shimmer remained at the school, leaving her as the sole protector of all things magical. And from the tabs that they had been able to keep on CHS, many things had been happening. The Friendship Games incident that almost tore apart reality between here and Equestria, the Emerald Pillar, and then the appearance of Kamen Rider Unicorn and the monsters she was defeating. Then two more pop up in the form of Nasca and Equal, and the fourth, Trigger.

It was on the day that Emerald Pillar shot up into the sky, did Adagio and Aria receive two mighty gifts, Gaia Memories. They could feel the power oozing from them, powerful items that were not Equestrian or magic based, but something else altogether. From there, they watched as several others used similar devices to transform themselves into monsters to fight for either petty reasons or for something they believed was right.

The Siren Sisters were smarter than the rest, they decided to test out their Gaia Memories off at an island they had once inhabited a few decades ago. Thankfully it had still remained uninhabited, allowing them to practice with their powers in secret. Sonata was the only one of the three who didn’t receive a Gaia Memory, at first, she thought that that was unfair, but after watching Adagio and Aria use theirs, she was starting to think differently.

Adagio had this amused smile on her face as she flipped her large poofy curls. “I think we’re ready my dear sisters.”

“Finally!” Aria cried. “I’ve been waiting to get some revenge on those Raindorks!”

“And Sunset Shimmer,” Adagio’s jaw clenched at uttering her name. “If it weren’t for her, we would have beaten Princess Twilight and her teenybopper friends. It’s time for a comeback tour, girls.”

“Um, Dagi, do we really need to do this?” Sonata asked.

That question earned her a sharp look from the alpha Siren. “Pardon?”

“It’s just…we’re not immortal anymore, I mean, we technically weren’t to begin with, we were just able to live longer because of our magic and stave off any disease, but we’re mortal now. We have to be more careful…”

“And whose fault do you think that is?!” Aria asked. “Those stupid girls and Sunset Shimmer! That’s who!”

Adagio knelt before the youngest Siren and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Sona dear, I know you don’t have a Gaia Memory like we do, but you won’t have to battle them directly. I’m sure once we conquer the city, we’ll be able to find you a Memory that’s perfect.”

Sonata put on a weary smile. “Right…”

***________________________***

After all these weeks, all the Dopant battles, and world ending calamities. The Rainbooms were finally able to get to the crux of what Summer Vacation is all about…THE BEACH!

The seven girls had all arrived at the Arion Beach, which was at least an hour and a half drive outside the city. They had taken Fluttershy and Rarity’s car, with Applejack’s pickup carrying their various beach equipment, coolers, parasols, blankets, balls, and an assortment of other things. The girls had decided on this trip awhile back but weren’t sure if they were going to do it with all the Dopant activity. But with the last incident really being the Dummy Dopant, nothing else has really popped up, and plus, Shining Armor as Kamen Rider Trigger was still in the city to keep it safe in their absence.

Once they arrived, Rainbow Dash was the first one to jump out of Fluttershy’s car and shout out into the air, “OH YEAH! We’re finally hitting the beach!”

Rainbow was wearing a neon magenta baseball cap, and matching swim trunks with a black line running up the sides. She wore a black swim top that covered everything from above her navel, which sported three lightning bolt stripes of green, yellow, and red. Following behind her was Fluttershy, the normally shy and timid girl was wearing a wetsuit, black in color, with ocean blue waves on the sides that ran up the arms and the image of a pink fish printed on the chest. Rainbow had tried to talk her friend out of wearing the wetsuit, in favor of the two-piece bikini she was wearing underneath the suit, but Fluttershy was still to body conscious to have other people see her in such a swimsuit.

Don’t know why she’s so shy about that, she’s freakin’ hot, thought Rainbow Dash. “OW!”

Rainbow Dash received a quick slap upside the head, she turned around and saw that it was Rarity who dealt the blow. She was wearing a two-piece swimsuit, with a violet top that had a faux diamond at the center, and had crystal blue sarong, with crystals dangling off the hem. Her broad sunhat, gave Rarity an intimidating shadow effect over her face as she gave Rainbow Dash a scrutinizing look.

“What was that for?!” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I somehow felt that you were thinking some rather dirty thoughts about Fluttershy just now, and felt I had to curb that,” said Rarity.

“I think I made it pretty clear I bat for both teams, and what’s wrong with admiring the view?!” Rainbow took a moment to look Rarity up and down. “Actually, yours isn’t half bad either.”

Rarity blushed and flipped her hair. “Sorry, Rainbow, I am in a happy relationship with Sunny Flare, you missed your chance.”

Rainbow was taken by surprise by that comment and was left stunned as Rarity walked away towards the beach. Applejack walked up behind Rainbow, wearing a two-piece suit as well. It was blue colored, with a green stripe on both arms and a red apple at the center. The top covered her arms, and everything above her midriff, and had a matching bikini bottom. “Sugarcube, wanna pick yer jaw off the ground before ya swallow a crab?”

Rainbow shook her head as she huffed and blushed. “S-Shut up.”

Pinkie in the back of Applejack’s pick up, wearing a frilly one-piece that was pink and white, with a gold colored bow on the chest, getting some of their supplies out. Helping her was Sunset Shimmer, wearing a black two-piece bikini, with gold metal studs that circled the waist band of her bottoms, and the hem of her top, which was hooked and tied behind her neck. At the center was a gold sun, that was cut off as if it were mimicking a sunset.

Right behind her was Twilight, wearing a skirted one-piece. It was navy blue from about below Twilight’s bust, the rest up was striped blue and white, with a rosy-violet star at the center, and similarly colored buttons on the front. Spike jumped around excitedly, he had been told that they were going to spend some time at the beach, but with all the superhero stuff going on, she feared it would be cancelled, thankfully that wasn’t the case.

Applejack and Rainbow helped Pinkie and Sunset unload the truck. The group went down to the beach where Rarity and Fluttershy had found the perfect spot to set down all their things. The chairs were unfolded, the parasols set and opened, blankets laid out for sunbathing and otherwise just lounging around.

“I feel kind of bad that Starlight couldn’t come with us,” said Rarity.

“Yeah, but Princess Twilight needed help with magic thesis, and Starlight was the only other unicorn who’s as smart and powerful as she is. Well, you know, besides me,” said Sunset with chuckle.

Twilight raised an eyebrow at that and smirked at her girlfriend.

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” said Twilight.

Once everything was set up the girls went into their various activities, Applejack and Rainbow Dash headed out into the ocean on their surfboards, catching waves and performing some impressive surfer moves, even from Applejack. Fluttershy went out and mingled with the wildlife, heading down into the depths as she ran across all the different sea life, from turtles, to crabs, fish, and couple of friendly manta rays that let her hang onto them as they glided through the water.

Rarity was busy sunbathing, opening up her reflective panels and lying back as the bright sun bared down on her. Pinkie Pie and Spike were off playing fetch with his favorite ball, and after they were done with that they went and explored the rocky side of the beach to see if there was a cave with pirate treasure.

Twilight was busy fiddling with a drone, a Selfie-Drone to be exact. Once she was done, she let her new creation float around, and now began snapping photos of their friends in their different activities around the beach. Sunset shook her head at her girlfriend, only Twilight would think to bring work on a vacation. As punishment, Sunset reached into the cooler and pulled out a squirt gun.

Sunset took aim and shot, hitting her girlfriend right in the rear, causing Twilight let out an embarrassing “EEP!” sound as she leaped into the air and turned around. Sunset couldn’t help but laugh at Twilight’s expense, making the egghead puff out her cheeks in annoyance.

“That wasn’t funny!” Twilight stated.

“Oh yes, yes, it was! And I’m going to do it again!”

Twilight ran as Sunset began taking pot shots at her, dodging the shots with a surprising amount of flexibility and sharp movements. But not all that shots were missed, as Twilight was hit a few times that made her elicit another round of those – admittedly – cute sounds.

Sunset stopped for a moment and saw that Rarity was lounging around a little too much. She took aim with the squirt gun, aimed for exposed thigh, and fired. The reaction was immediate as Rarity screeched, throwing up her tanning panels and falling off the chair. She looked around and saw that Sunset was the culprit, laughing wholeheartedly.

Rarity narrowed her eyes and went into the cooler, grabbing another chilled squirt gun. “Oh, IT! IS! ON!”

“Uh-oh…”

Rarity began firing in rapid succession, making Sunset dodge and evade as if she were fighting a Dopant. Rarity advanced, continuing her attack, and forcing Sunset to retreat. Twilight ran to the cooler and found another chilled squirt gun. She joined Rarity’s side, both girls glance to each other with devious smirks.

“Oh crap…” Sunset moaned as she realized she may have taken it too far.

Rarity and Twilight bombarded the fiery haired girl with multiple icy shots. Sunset was so cold stricken that she dropped her own squirt gun and curled into a ball as the girls continued firing. After a minute, both girls stood over Sunset, smirking in victory.

“Do you wish to take the last shot, Twilight? I think it’s only fair since she is your girlfriend.” Rarity asked.

“You’re too kind, thank you, Rarity.” Sunset rolled onto her back and looked up at Twilight with the squirt gun aimed at her head. “Any last words, Sunny?”

“Yeah…backup.”

Twilight and Rarity released loud “EEPS!” as their backs suddenly got hit with icy cold water. Both girls turned around and saw Applejack and Rainbow Dash sporting their own water guns. Before anyone knew it, a Cold Water War had raged upon the beach. Afterwards, the girls decided to play beach volleyball, with Rainbow Dash and Rarity one side, and Pinkie and Fluttershy on the other.

Applejack had decided to sit this game out and enjoy lying back on the beach towel, Spike had decided to rest in Twilight’s lap as she watched the somewhat intense, and comical, game between her friends play out. As she watched, she spotted Sunset in the distance.

Sunset stood at the foot of the ocean, breathing in the salty air, feeling her body relax at the sensation. Months of fighting Dopants, saving Equestria from an organization of supervillains, and stopping a magical-digital virus, and fighting alongside veteran Kamen Riders, it was daunting and exhausting. But now, Sunset felt like she could truly just relax.

Twilight walked up beside Sunset and nudged her girlfriend with her shoulder. “Feeling okay, Sunset?”

“Better, I’m feeling relaxed, guess I really needed this.” Sunset took a moment to look over her girlfriend and smirked. “Gotta say, I wish you went with that one swimsuit I picked out a couple of months back, but this works too.”

Twilight’s face flushed at the thought of wearing that two-piece bikini. “I-I don’t think I have the right…proportions to fill it out…”

Sunset smiled and wrapped her arm around Twilight’s shoulders, bringing her in for a half hug. “Don’t do that, you have a great figure.”

“Compared to Rarity and Fluttershy…” Twilight stole a glance to the girls in question. Rarity was not shy about her body at all and was happy to let her swimsuit show off her curves. Fluttershy, while just wearing a wetsuit, it was hard not to see that she had a quite the hourglass figure, a natural beauty. “I’m just, plain…”

Sunset leaned down kissed Twilight’s forehead. “I definitely don’t think you’re ‘just plain’, you’re cute, and hot.”

“Sunset!” Twilight whined as she blushed hard.

“Just telling the truth.”

Both girls stood there for a moment, just watching the ocean ebb and flow, the girls saw this and were smiling, happy to see their two best friends happy together and content with just letting them be. However, it seemed that life had other plans.

“Oh, look at the happy couple.” Sunset’s body tensed, and Twilight could feel it in the way she was gripping her shoulder. The former Equestrian turned to her right and quickly put Twilight behind her as she watched the Sirens walk towards them. “I have to say, Sunset Shimmer, quite devious. You couldn’t bed the real deal, so you settle for making her Earthly double your little plaything, I approve.”

“Shut it, Adagio!” Sunset barked.

The girls heard the name and quickly turned to see what was going on, and all five of them gasped at seeing Adagio, Aria, and Sonata standing not but ten feet away. All of them rushed to Sunset’s side, and each with a look of seriousness and determination.

“Sunset…who are these girls?” Twilight asked.

“Remember that whole Battle of the Bands story I told you about when you came to CHS?” Sunset asked.

“Yes,” said Twilight.

“Those are the girls who turned it into a fiasco,” said Rainbow Dash.

Adagio gave a lilting chuckle. “Oh, I wouldn’t say it was a total fiasco, we were having loads of fun.”

“Up until Shimmer here turned it into a crap fest,” said Aria with venom.

Sunset stamped her foot in the sand and said, “What do you three want? We were enjoying our day at the beach, did you just come to ruin it!”

At this, Aria and Adagio’s faces broke into devious grins, while Sonata took a few steps back. The two girls reached into their pockets and produced two Gaia Memories. The one in Aria’s hand was blue in color, and had an image of two tidal waves chasing each other in a circle, or rather an O. The one in Adagio’s hand was silver colored, with sunrays, rain, a lightning bolt, and a tornado image, shaped to form a W. The Rainbooms took a step back, recognizing these Gaia Memories as T2 models.

“Of course, you recognize them, you two use the exact same ones. Kamen Rider Unicorn, Kamen Rider Nasca,” said Aria.

Sunset and Rainbow glanced to each and stood up straight. The rest of the girls backed further away, knowing exactly what was coming next. Thankfully for Rainbow and Sunset, they were far enough from the other beach goers that nobody would see them transform, however, that still meant that there were plenty of people on the boardwalk, on the beach, and in the water that would get caught in the crossfire.

“You two really want to do this?” Rainbow asked.

“What do you think, Pride Parade?” Aria shot back.

Sunset and Rainbow held out their hands, immediately, the Nasca and Unicorn Memories materialized into their hands. Both girls reached behind their backs and summoned their Drivers and placed them on their waists.

< UNICORN! >

< NASCA! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

> NASCA! <

Blue and turquoise electric fields formed around Sunset Shimmer and Rainbow Dash, transforming them into Kamen Riders Unicorn and Nasca. Adagio and Aria smirked as they pressed the buttons on their Gaia Memories.

< WEATHER! >

< OCEAN! >

Adagio and Aria placed the devices against their necks, allowing them to fuse with their bodies. Both girls glowed as the wind began to swirl around Adagio, and the ocean water spiraled around Aria. Within seconds, the tornado and waterspout dispersed, revealing the transformed state of the two Sirens.

Aria’s body had become as blue as the ocean itself, upon her back with wing like fins similar to that of the Flying Fish. Behind her was a tail, like that of a sea serpent, with navy blue spines running length of the five-foot tail. Her shoulder pauldrons were also fin shaped, sparkling with scales in the light of the sun, and colored a silvery-blue to match the fin wings. Around her chest was an armor-like bodice that had engravings of raging seas and coiling sea serpents. Around her waist was a belt that had the Ocean Memory symbol at the buckle and connected to it was a shimmering cloth that flowed down along the length of Aria’s legs, stopping just below her knee, allowing the front to be open as well as the back for her tail.

Her forearms had bracers that were also scale armored, and had red jewels at the center, matching the greaves on her shins. Her feet were three toed, purple talons, matching the five clawed fingers of her hands. Aria’s eyes were a deep violet, glowing with power, when she smiled, it showed razor sharp teeth that could easily rend flesh. Aria was able to keep her hair, but it was like tensile wires, that ran to the middle of her back.

Adagio’s transformation was different though. Her armor was closer to that of Roaman armor. Her chest covered in alabaster white armor, ne it was a gold picture of her monstrous Siren form’s head, along with fin wings appearing on either side of the head. The shoulders were protected by large pauldrons that bared her personal mark of a G clef with a diamond at its center. Her bracers and greaves were colored the same pristine alabaster white, with gold trim, and on each bracer, depicted in gold, was a different kind of weather phenomenon. On the right bracer was the image of a sunny day, on the left the image of a heavy rainstorm. On the right greave was a lightning storm, and on the left a tornado.

The places that the armor didn’t protect were covered in a black, scale-mail. Her head was protected by a Roaman-like helmet, with a plume crest that was the color of her hair. The helmet created a face plate around Adagio’s mouth, but her violet eyes shined in the shade of the visor. Upon her back was a red cape that flapped in the wind generated by her power. Adagio smirked from behind her helmet, relishing in the power she felt coursing through her, but more than that, was the fact that she was about to take her revenge on the girl who thwarted her plan.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for months,” said Adagio.

“And you’re going to wait many months more,” said Unicorn.

The Weather Dopant took off, dashing across the sand towards Unicorn. The magical Kamen Rider ran out to meet her, colliding with the lead Siren and then teleporting them in that same instant. Nasca summoned her sword, and the Ocean Dopant created a blade made of water. The two warrior women sprang into action, meeting each other in the middle as both their blades clashed, creating a shockwave of power that kicked up the sand around them.

“Guys, I don’t want to sound like we might lose, but you might want to head for the cars! Like, NOW!” Nasca ordered.

There was a look of hesitation in their eyes, they didn’t want to leave their friends alone, but they knew that if they stayed it would just work towards the Sirens’ advantage. Reluctantly, the girls began running towards their vehicles, but as they did, Pinkie Pie paused, her eyes focusing on Sonata Dusk. Something was wrong, and her Pinkie Sense could feel it, Sonata didn’t look like a villain happy to see a fight, she actually looked sad and worried.

“PINKIE PIE! HURRY UP!” Applejack ordered.

Pinkie sighed and ran on, her mind still pondering the sad look of Sonata.

Unicorn appeared in the skies above the beach, with the Weather Dopant in tow. Adagio channeled the elemental forces of the wind, creating an air sphere around her body and using it to force Unicorn off of her. The buffeting g-forces of the air sphere proved to be too much as Unicorn was tossed away. Now in freefall, Unicorn quickly took out another Gaia Memory.

< CYCLONE! >

{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Unicorn changed forms, becoming Mystic Cyclone. With the power of the wind, Unicorn was able to stop her descent and fly back up to meet Adagio in the skies.

“Oh yes, you have a Memory for just about every situation. But let me give you some advice, Sunny. I’d use your strongest Gaia Memory now, because none of the others you possess will come close to the power we have,” Adagio warned.

“Wow, your ego is really big, isn’t it? You seriously want to lose that quickly?” Unicorn quipped.

“Now whose ego is big? But fine, don’t believe me. You always struck me as a girl who learned by doing, so let me educate you!”

The wind around the Weather Dopant began to roar, Weather thrusted its right hand forward, commanding the wind to stream right to Unicorn. Unicorn released her own power, commanding the emerald winds around her to bluster and blow as she fired a stream of air right for Weather’s attack. The two streams smashed against each other, creating a thunderous “BOOM!” as the two air currents battled against each other.

Down below, Nasca was putting her speed to the test. Ocean was using the literal ocean as a weapon against her, making the water rise and strike her with dozens of water tentacles. One slammed down on Nasca’s position, but she managed to dodge to the left, however, another tentacle readied to sideswipe her. Nasca kicked the ground beneath her, granting her enough breathing room to fly over the tentacle, but just as she did, another came down from overhead and hit her, driving Nasca into the sand with a muted thud.

Ocean jumped into the air, flipped once, and then dove down, water blade first, on Nasca. The speedster Rider managed to regain her senses, just in time to miss Ocean’s impaling blow. Nasca tucked her feet in and hit the Siren with a donkey kick to the chest, causing a minor number of sparks to be released from the attack. Ocean merely brushed the spot where she was struck and chuckled mockingly.

“I know that’s not really all you got! Get serious!” Ocean demanded.

“Please, you couldn’t handle me if I did! You need a handicap,” said Nasca.

“Fine, but I don’t wanna hear you whining later when you’re on the other end of my blade crying about how you would’ve beaten me if you were in your strongest form!”

Ocean summoned the waters of the deep, making the rise up in the form of columns. With a flick of her wrist, the columns angled themselves and fired at Nasca. She narrowly escaped the first water blast, looking back to see that the water had practically dug a hole in the ground. Okay, maybe getting a little serious wouldn’t hurt. With that thought, Nasca took out her Accel Memory and activated it.

< ACCEL! >

{< ACCEL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

The A symbol of the Accel Memory appeared behind Nasca, it then broke down and surrounded her in sphere of blazing fire. When the flames died out, Nasca had entered her super form, Nasca Full Throttle. The empowered Rider held out her right hand, for a few seconds nothing happened, but then the distinct sound of a motorcycle approaching could be heard. In the next moment, Nasca’s motorcycle jumped over several cars and into the air, and as it did, the bike began to fold in on itself, reshaping until it landed in Nasca’s hand as the Engine Blade. Nasca took the sword into both hands and revved the throttle portion of the hilt.

<<<<< SPEED OF HEAT! >>>>>

The Engine Blade blades needle went into the red zone as the wheels began spin rapidly. In no time, the sword was engulfed in superhot flames. Ocean smirked, it wasn’t the form she as hoping that Nasca would take, but it at least meant that the fight would last a little longer. Ocean dispelled the water sword in her hand, and then channeled the water to wrap around her forearms. The water grew out and took the form of two, four-foot water blades, but the water itself was glowing with a blue light.

Nasca dashed across the sand, kicking up a trail of sand in her wake. Ocean sprinted to meet Nasca, and the two clashed blades once again. Despite the flames of Nasca’s sword, the water blades didn’t evaporate, in fact, the energy laced within the water allowed it to retain its form while battling against the heat of Nasca’s sword. Both women released battle cries as they slashed at each other, creating a ringing sound each time their blades made contact.

Up above, Unicorn was being chased by Weather as she hurled lightning bolts at the sky warrior. One bolt managed to intercept her, hitting Unicorn and causing her to seize up for a moment. But that moment was all Weather needed as she closed the distance and grabbed Unicorn by the throat. The Dopant forced the both of them into freefall keeping Unicorn at arm’s length as she drove them both down into the cliffside, creating an explosion of rock and dust to be thrown into the air.

After a few seconds, a heat ray shot out, hitting Unicorn and forcing her all the way through the rockface and on the other side where the beach was. The moment she hit, the sand around Unicorn instantly turned into glass. Unicorn groaned in pain as lifted herself from the glass crater and glared at the incoming Dopant.

They aren’t fighting like someone who just got their Gaia Memory, they’ve been training for this day, they know all the ins and outs of their powers, and we’re fighting blind…

< METAL! >

{< METAL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Unicorn quickly changed forms again, becoming Unicorn: Iron Heart.

\ ARMOR UP! /

Unicorn’s body glowed silver as she reinforced her body, just in time for Weather strike with an air pressure punch. The metalized Rider moved a few inches, but still stood her ground. Weather didn’t let up as she jumped back and began punching in Unicorn’s direction, causing air pressure blasts to bombard her opponent with each thrown punch.

“Very smart, Sunny! You switched to defense to buy you some time to figure out our powers, but here’s the thing…” Weather raised her right hand and pointed her index finger to the sky. Clouds began to form overhead as thunder roared and lightning crackled. “I won’t be giving any time to analyze the situation!”

Weather brought down her hand to point at Unicorn. From the clouds, several lightning bolts rained down on Unicorn’s position, all of which were drawn right to her metal form. Sparks flew off her body as the damage was multiplied by her conduction of the electricity. Weather then focused water into her right hand and wind into her left, bringing both hands together, she thrusted them in Unicorn’s direction, creating a blizzard blast that buffeted Unicorn. As the blizzard continued, ice began to form around her legs, arms, and body.

“Still think you can beat me without your strongest form?!”

The ice continued to creep around Unicorn, threatening to freeze her solid. However, blazing red flames roared towards her, washing over Unicorn and melting the ice completely. Nasca appeared next to Unicorn, looking in just as bad a shape as she was.

“Okay, I think we’re trouble here,” said Nasca.

“Agreed, and I hate to say it, but we need to retreat,” said Unicorn.

Nasca nodded and revved up her engine blade.

<<<<< SPEED OF SOUND! >>>>>

The speedster Rider ran around Unicorn, creating a sand tornado around them. Ocean growled in frustration and fired a high-pressured water blast at where Unicorn and Nasca were, but when the water blast hit, it passed right through. Weather commanded the winds and stopped the tornado, when the sand fell away, both Dopants saw that their opponents had left.

“UGH! What the hell! Those cowards!” Aria growled. “Let’s go after them, they can’t have gotten far!”

“No.”

Aria looked at her eldest sister with confusion. “‘No’?! Why?!”

Adagio sighed at the cluelessness of her little sister. “Because, now they’re going to regroup and try and figure out a way to fight us, and when they do, I guarantee you, Sunset will use that Shining Memory of hers. That’s when we’ll strike.” Adagio looked around, her heart racing when didn’t see someone. “Sonata…? Sonata?!”

Aria glanced about, worry starting to creep into her heart as she couldn’t spot the youngest Siren. “I don’t see her! We didn’t…did we?!”

Both Sirens quickly began searching through the debris of their battle, Aria even dove into the water to try and locate her, but after several minutes of searching, they could not find her.

***________________________***

The girls had finally made it back to Canterlot City, rendezvousing at Rainbow Dash’s house. Rainbow had left her spare house key in Fluttershy’s car, and the girls decided to meet up here since Rainbow’s parents would be away for a bit.

“Do you think they’ll be alright?” Spike asked as he exited Rarity’s car.

“I hope so, but…Those girls looked really confident.” Twilight looked to Rarity who was exiting the car. “And you said they’re from the same world as Sunset?”

Rarity nodded. “Yes, apparently they were monsters that preyed on the negative emotions of the ponies who lived there. But that was when they had their gemstones, we shattered them during the Battle of the Bands.”

“But that might not mean all their magic is gone,” said Applejack.

Twilight began to contemplate that, if they were Equestrian, then they’re magic may’ve done the same thing that Sunset’s did, some of it inverting into their bodies to grant them greater bone density and regenerative capabilities, along with heightened agility and reflexes. But Sunset also said that he allocation and distribution of the magic could also correlate to the tribe, Sunset is a unicorn, and those girls were monsters. Twilight couldn’t fathom what their magic would do to enhance them.

“Let’s just get inside, hopefully, Dashie and Sunny have stopped them by now,” said Fluttershy.

As Applejack reached to insert the key into the door, the handle jiggled and was opened. The girls were then greeted by the smiling face of Rainbow’s mom, Windy Whistles.

“Oh, hi girls! I didn’t expect you all back until later in the day.” Windy took a moment to look over the girls’ expressions. “Are you okay, you look a bit spooked.”

“Uh…well,” Applejack began.

Suddenly a flash of turquoise went off in the backyard of the house. The girls and Windy rushed towards the gate, flinging it open to see Nasca and Unicorn on the ground. After second, their bodies began to glow, and their armor disappeared, revealing both Sunset and Rainbow.

“Rainbow?!” Windy exclaimed.

“Sunset!” Twilight added.

Rainbow Dash was the first to come to, sitting up as body ached all over. Her body showed some bruising and she was bleeding from a few cuts, but otherwise it seemed as if she was alright. “Oh man, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to that teleportation thing – MOM?!”

Windy looked to her daughter, and then to Sunset Shimmer who was, not a moment ago, wearing the armor of Kamen Rider Unicorn. Rainbow Dash followed her gaze and realized that Sunset had changed back, and her mother had just saw everything.

“Um…I can explain,” said Rainbow.

Windy shook her head. “Later, Applejack, help get Sunset inside. Rarity, Fluttershy, tell Mr. Hothoof to clear the couch and help him get some blankets.”

The girls set to work on Windy’s orders. Applejack and Windy carefully picked up Sunset, carrying her into the house, Pinkie Pie gave Rainbow Dash a hand as well, despite the sport’s girls repeated insistence that she was alright. Once inside, they laid Sunset on the couch, and draped a blanket over her to keep her warm, considering she was still wearing her swimsuit.

“So, explanation time, now,” said Bow.

***________________________***

It took almost an hour, but eventually, the entire tale had been told. Windy and Bow sat there in stunned silence, they knew that their daughter had helped Unicorn in battling the monsters, and in the back of their heads they kind of suspected that Unicorn was Sunset Shimmer, the girl just oozed this dark hero vibe, but it was still a shocker to have it confirmed. On top of all that, they were also told of Sunset’s otherworldly origins, which helped in their explanation as to why they didn’t need to take her to a hospital.

“I know you’ve been keeping Rainbow Dash’s secret, but please, can you keep Sunset’s as well?” Twilight asked, unable to hide the begging tone in her voice.

Bow and Windy glanced to each other for a moment, having a silent conversation between them.

“For now, we’ll keep the secret, but if this starts to get out of hand…” Wind warned.

“I understand,” said Twilight.

Sunset finally came around, groaning from the exhaustion and pain of the battle. She was startled a bit by Rainbow Dash’s parents, but after a quick explanation, Sunset settled down, although still not very confident by their answer.

“So, what happened?” Applejack asked.

Rainbow Dash clicked her tongue in agitation. “We got our butts handed to us, that’s what happened.”

“As much as I hate to admit it, she’s right, Adagio and Aria were ready for us. They’ve been watching our battles, and training for the day when they could take their revenge. But I don’t get how they’re so much stronger now,” said Sunset.

“It’s because of our magic.” Everyone shot their gazes towards the door and saw Sonata Dusk standing in the doorway. “Sorry, the door was open.”

Rainbow Dash immediately shot to her feet, taking out the Nasca Memory and preparing to transform. Sonata quickly raised her hands into the air and shook her head.

“I don’t have a Gaia Memory! I didn’t come here to fight!”

“Yeah right, how the hell did you find us?!” Rainbow asked.

Sonata rubbed the back of her head nervously. “While the fight was going on, and you all were scrambling for your cars, I kind of jumped into the back of that truck outside and hitched a ride…I promise I’m not here to fight, I just want to talk.”

The girls still looked suspicious, and Rainbow wasn’t in too much of a trusting mood.

< NASCA! >

“WAIT!” Pinkie Pie shouted as she rushed to Sonata’s defense, placing herself between the blue Siren and Rainbow. “Let’s at least hear what she has to say guys!”

“Pinkie, she’s a Siren! You know, one of the three girls who almost tore apart the school and nearly took over the world?!” Rainbow stated.

Pinkie Pie shook her head and said, “I know, I know that! But, trust me, I can tell, she’s not here to fight us! Please!”

Sunset eyed Sonata critically, compared to the other two Sirens, Sonata seemed the least likely to be planning something, if she was following Adagio’s orders, it would’ve made better sense for Sonata to stay hidden and attack them when they’re guard was down instead of making herself known. And the fact that she didn’t possess a Gaia Memory was also something noteworthy. “Stand down, Rainbow.”

“What?!”

“Let’s just hear what she has to say. But if she makes a move…”

Sunset let that hang in the air, letting Sonata know that one wrong move would mean getting taken down by Rainbow Dash or the rest of the girls and the two adults in the room. Pinkie Pie led Sonata to the chair she had been sitting in, letting the youngest Siren sigh heavily as she sat down.

“The magic we used, the negative energy we fed on, hasn’t completely left us. At least, not Ari and Dagi. When you all destroyed our gemstones, we got scared. We weren’t immortal anymore, which meant we could die, although we can still heal fast, it wasn’t on the level that we once had. Dagi did everything she could to make sure that we wouldn’t live on the streets, we couldn’t hypnotize anyone to just give us a house or room, we had to pay for it. Which meant getting jobs, of course, that was hard considering we’ve been alive for hundreds of years and none of us have any records that we actually exist.”

The girls started to feel bad, they remembered how relieved everyone was when the Sirens were defeated, but none of them stopped to look in on them when the dust settled.

“Thankfully, Dagi thought ahead. She doesn’t like to lose, but that doesn’t mean she likes to be unprepared. Being immortal gives you a lot of time to learn some things, and Dagi learned how to use computers and forged some papers that made it look like we’ve been here awhile. So, we each got a different job, I got one at a restaurant cooking, I mean, we fed on negative energy, but I really liked cooking!” Sonata shook her head, realizing she was about to go off on another tangent. “Sorry, anyway, as the months went by, we slowly started to feel…better.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Wait, what do you mean by ‘better’?”

Sonata’s hand reached for her neck, right around where her gemstone used to rest. “I think…the gems were what made us the way we were, we’ve been feeding on negative emotion energy for so long, I think it just started to affect us. Because, in those first few months without them, I was starting to remember things from before we had them, when we were just sisters living in the sea. And I could definitely see a change in Dagi and Ari. Dagi was starting to be less…maniacal, and more like a motherly big sister. Ari still had her temper, but she was a lot more patient than she used to be, and actually listens.”

Applejack raised her hand. “Whoa now, hold up, so what yer sayin’ is, us destroyin’ yer gemstones was actually a…a good thing?”

Sonata nodded. “Yes, it was. Whatever you did to us kind of burned most of it away, otherwise I don’t think we’d have changed as fast…but, that all stopped when that green pillar of light shot into the air, and Dagi and Ari got their Weather and Ocean Memories. It was like, the moment they touched them, it reignited all the bad stuff that was leaving us, Dagi became like she was before, and the same for Ari.”

“Wait, they can do that? I thought you used them for good?” Bow asked.

Twilight decided to answer this question. “The Gaia Memories seem to be drawn to specific emotion, some are drawn to positive ones, like Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer’s, others are attracted to negative emotions, even ones that are deeply buried in one’s heart. The problem is, once used through direct skin contact, those emotions become amplified, to the point that they are warped versions of what the user wants, but still believes are there’s. The Drivers that Sunset, Rainbow, and my brother use filter out that side effect, allowing only the power of the Gaia Memory to connect to the user to original emotions it was drawn to.”

Sunset winced as she remembered her desperate act to save Twilight by merging with the Unicorn Memory the first time she used it. To this day she still feared what she would’ve done if Twilight hadn’t gotten through to her. Just then, Sonata stood up and then got on her knees, she then did her best version of an Equestrian bow, which made Sunset gasp.

“I know I don’t have any right to ask this from you, not after what we did at the Battle of the Bands… but I’m begging you, please save my sisters, otherwise…otherwise I’ll be alone in this world…and I don’t want my sisters to become monsters again!” Sonata began to cry as thought of seeing Adagio and Aria becoming even worse destructive creatures than they were before.

Pinkie knelt down beside Sonata and rubbed her back soothingly, the party planner looked to her friends, her eyes also pleading for them to help her. Rainbow Dash clenched her jaw, she hated what the Sirens did to the school, and almost taking over the world, but then again, Sunset Shimer was the same way, coming close to ruling the world and nearly destroying them. But as it turns out, not everyone is born evil, some just make bad decisions and are trapped in them until a lifeline is thrown, and the Sirens were on their way to becoming good, until the Gaia Memories got ahold of them. But Rainbow knew, the ultimate decision rested with Sunset.

The former Equestrian removed the blanket and stood before Sonata Dusk. Sunset knelt on one knee, and Sonata lowered her gaze, feeling afraid of Sunset’s gaze. Maybe this was a stupid idea, she thought, why would they want to help me? Especially Sunset Shimmer, after we mocked her, and almost turned her friends against her! Even I wouldn’t help me!

Sonata flinched when she felt Sunset place her hand on her head. The blue Siren dared to look up and found not a dejected or furious look, but one of compassion and determination. “Sonata, we’ll save them. I know what it’s like to be in a dark place, and what it feels like to be tempted to go back to what you once were, when it feels hard trying to do the right thing.” Sunset looked around, meeting the eyes of her friends, and her girlfriend. “If what you’re saying is true, then there’s good in there, and we can’t ignore that.”

Rainbow Dash sighed and gave a light chuckle. “Guess we’re saving the Sirens, not the weirdest thing we’ve done so far, so I’m down with that – uh – that is if it’s alright you, Mom, Dad.”

Throughout the conversation, the two adults had remained mostly silent. Trying to absorb all this information and how these young girls could process all this and handle it so well despite their young age.

“As much as we’d like to tell you that it’s dangerous and that you should let professionals handle it,” Bow began.

“It’s pretty obvious that you all have a better grasp of what’s going on than anyone in this city,” Windy finished.

Bow stood up and patted his daughter on the shoulder. “Plus, we know our Dashie and her friends are too awesome to be beaten.”

Rainbow Dash blushed and tried to pull a Fluttershy by hiding behind her bangs, but her hair wasn’t quite that long to do so. “Daaaaaaaad…”

The girls chuckled at their friend’s embarrassed expression but took the sentiment to heart.

“Sunset, we need to go to my house,” said Twilight.

“Why?” Sunset asked.

“Because I think it’s time to take your power to the next level.”

***________________________***

Applejack drove the two girls and Spike to Twilight’s house. Twilight’s parents were out working and so was Shining Armor, so the house was completely empty, which was good, because neither girl was in the mood to explain why they came back early from their beach trip, and why they were still in their swimsuits. After opening the door, Twilight and Spike led the way up the stairs and into Twilight’s room.

The resident genius of their group dug through her closet, until she stopped and pulled out a small box. Twilight carefully placed the box on her bed and looked to Sunset as she spoke, “When I touched the Rocket Memory, a whole new flood of knowledge entered my mind. It was that knowledge that allowed me to create the Boost Upgrader for Rainbow’s final form. But it wasn’t the only one that I saw I could make.”

Twilight opened the box and reached inside, carefully, she brought out what was inside. It was red and gold and shaped like a bird. The beak had a hooked curve to it, and the legs beneath it looked as if they were meant to attach to something. The back had a slot for a Gaia Memory to be inserted, but compared to Rainbow’s Booster Upgrader, it didn’t seem like it would fit on the Mimetic Drive slot.

“Twilight, this looks a bit different than how you designed Rainbow’s,” said Sunset.

“That’s because this one is meant to combine with your Driver. This Phoenix Ascender will allow you to tap into the full power of the Shining Memory. When you told me about how you were able to use the power of the Shining Memory in Equestria, it didn’t make sense why – if that was your strongest form – it was beholden to a time limit on this side. The explanation of their being limited amounts of magic on this side did explain it, to a degree. But when I obtained the new knowledge, I saw that maybe that wasn’t it. Maybe the Shining Memory couldn’t release its full potential, because the Driver couldn’t handle it the way it was now.”

Sunset tried to take in this new information. “So, wait, you’re saying that that form I take is some kind of…pseudo-final form?”

Twilight’s eyes lit up. “Exactly! And with this Phoenix Ascender, you can unleash its full power! The Sirens won’t be able to stand a chance against you! I only wish I was able to complete it sooner for your fight with Tirek…”

The fiery haired girl, closed the distance between them and kissed Twilight on the cheek, earning a blush from the nerdy girl. “It all worked out, no harm no foul. Plus, I think it speaks volumes to my being able to defeat Tirek in a half-baked final form.”

“Uh, guys, did it get darker or am I just going back to being color blind?” Spike asked.

Sunset and Twilight took a moment to check, and indeed, the room did seem darker, which didn’t make much sense since the window was open, and it was bright and sunny outside. Just then, they heard rapid footsteps from below, and Applejack burst through the front door.

“They’re here!”

***________________________***

Downtown Canterlot was surrounded by the SCU, all sporting their anti-monster equipment. Shining Armor stood at the front lines as the Weather and Ocean Dopants floated above city hall. One of the officers handed Shining Armor a megaphone, to which he delivered his ultimatum.

“This is Officer Shining Armor of the CCPD, Special Crimes Unit! This will be your first and last warning: surrender, now!”

Ocean and Weather gave each other a glance.

“Let me respond to that in the following way,” said Ocean.

The blue Dopant raised her right hand, water particles began to gather around it, becoming denser with each second. Ocean then brought her hand down in a slice, creating a high-speed water pressure blade that cut a line into the asphalt and through several police cars, just barely missing the police officers in the process.

“Of course, they choose the hard way,” said Shining Armor as he took out the Trigger Memory.

< TRIGGER! >

“Henshin!”

> TRIGGER! <

An azure electric field formed around Shining Armor, transforming him into Kamen Rider Trigger.

“I’m not like Unicorn and Nasca, so I don’t believe in taking it easy on the first fight!”

< SUPER! >

< WEAPONS! >

< ACTION! >

< TACTICS! >

|<^>| SUPER! WEAPONS! ACTION! TACTICS! S.W.A.T. ENGAGED! |<^>|

Trigger was surrounded in a field of blue energy, the siren sound continued to blare as the new system went to work. The chest armor was fitted with an armor plate the covered the front and back, with both sides of the chest having slots six in total, three on the left and three on the right. Trigger’s shoulder pauldrons were now square shaped, had reinforced glass as blue light shined from them. The forearms were wrapped in thicker armor, with the top also sporting the same blue, reinforced glass. The leg armor had armor plates wrapped around them, with the blue glass shown at the front of the shins. Trigger’s helmet had an armored helmet placed around it, with a microphone like device coming down and hooking to the front around where the mouth would be. On both sides of the helmet were antenna, and across the eyes was a blue visor. The armor plates were colored dark gray, navy blue, and silver. This was Trigger’s final form, Trigger SWAT.

The Chrome Magnum had changed as well, no longer was it a normal small blaster, it was now a blaster rifle. In the field of energy an attachment materialized, fitting over the Chrome Magnum and turning it into a rifle. On the side was a dial pad that went from one to six, on the side of those numbers was an “Enter” button, and below that was a button that read “Engage”. The rifle was about three feet length, with a tri-barrel, now called the Chrome Ultimatum.

Trigger opened fire with the rifle, all three barrels blasting away in a rotating fashion. Ocean created a barrier of dense water, while Weather called down lightning bolts from the sky. Trigger’s early warning systems blared, allowing the law enforcer Rider to dodge the bolts from above.

Weather sighed in annoyance. “He’s not even worth the time. Aria, you can play with him until our real opponents arrive.”

Ocean smirked at the offer and flew across the battlefield towards Trigger. The SWAT enhanced Rider pressed the 5 digit on the rifle.

/#\ KNIFE! /#\

A blue energy blade formed at the bottom of the Chrome Ultimatum’s barrel. Trigger began trading blows with Ocean, sparks flying as Ocean’s energized water blades struck against Trigger’s blade. The two struck again, both locking as their blades let out sparks from one pushing against the other.

“You’re so clueless is almost sad,” said Ocean.

“What are you talking about?” Trigger grunted.

“Telling everyone you’re a Kamen Rider, without really thinking through what people like me can do with that knowledge? I mean, we could’ve just skipped this and went straight to your house and blow it up! Or hunt down your family, these days, it isn’t hard to track someone down!”

“Is that what this is about?! Attack my family?!” Trigger pushed Ocean off and came in with a horizontal slash.

Ocean’s body suddenly transformed into water, allowing the blade to pass through her without any damage. The Dopant rushed towards Trigger, wrapping her body like a snake around him until he was unable to move, constricting him. “Please, you’re an afterthought, we could’ve killed that nerd girl and her girlfriend at the beach, but we had other business to get to first!”

That got Trigger’s attention. “The beach?! What did you do to Twily?!”

“They’re here,” said Weather.

The sound of motorcycles in the distance caught Trigger and Ocean’s attention. At that moment, two motorcycles jumped over the line of SCU police officers, landing on the other side as they skid to a stop. Ocean released Trigger, returning to a solid form at her sister’s side. Unicorn and Nasca stood beside Trigger as he stretched out his limbs from being tied up.

“Took you two long enough…Now, where’s our sister?” Weather demanded.

“We know you two took her! Tell us where she is and maybe we’ll consider just leaving the two you with broken arms and legs!” Ocean added.

“What the hell did you guys do?” Trigger asked.

“Nothing, and this is more complicated than you realize, best to just roll with it for now,” said Nasca.

Unicorn stepped forward and said, “We know the truth, Weather. She told us that you two weren’t always like this, that you were once regular girls. It’s not too late.”

Weather’s violet eyes blazed with anger. “Oh, so you think you know us, do you?! Allow me to show you how wrong you are!” Weather’s hands blazed with lightning as she fired a bolt straight at the Riders.

Unicorn formed her barrier but layering it over ten other barriers. The first one shattered, the second shattered after a few seconds, the third took a bit longer. Gradually, the layered barrier was diminishing the power of the lightning bolt, until it reached the final layer and was little more than a fleeting spark.

“Guess they’re choosing the hard way,” said Nasca.

“Could’ve told you that,” said Trigger.

“Alright, then…”

< QUEEN! >

< ROCKET! >

/^\ BOOST! /^\

{< QUEEN! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

{/^\} ROCKET BOOST! ULTIMATE DRIVE! {/^\}

The Q symbol of the Queen Memory appeared behind Unicorn, the energy of that symbol wrapped around her body, transforming Unicorn into her super form, Unicorn: Empress. At the same time, a pillar of blue-green light rose up from around Nasca, and in the next moment shattered into feathers of light of the same color. Nasca had entered her final form, Nasca: Star Chaser.

“Ocean, the jock and the cop are yours. The bad girl is mine,” said Weather.

“Oh c’mon! Why do I get the runts?! I want a piece of her too!” Ocean argued.

Weather reached out and grabbed Ocean by the neck, bringing close enough to look her in the eyes. “I know that little witch as Sona, there’s no way she’d willing go with them! If you fight her, you’ll just pummel her into the ground before she can answer one question! So, I will fight her, and you will keep those two from interfering! Are we clear?!”

“Crystal,” Ocean croaked.

Weather released Ocean, the latter shot a glare at the former, but for now focused on Trigger SWAT and Nasca Star Chaser. With a flash of turquoise and blue lightning, Unicorn and Weather disappeared, and no sooner had they disappeared did thunder roar in the skies above. Ocean took this as her cue as she transformed her body into water and rushed towards her opponents. Nasca summoned her Condor Sword and readied for Ocean. The water-based Dopant struck Nasca first, but Nasca opened her wings and dodged the attack, leaving a faint afterimage where she once stood. Undeterred, Ocean changed directions and moved towards Trigger.

Trigger unleashed a volley of laser bolts from his rifle, each one passing through Ocean’s body. Ocean cocked back her left hand and lashed it forward like a whip. Just before the appendage could reach Trigger, Nasca swooped in and moved Trigger out of the way, just in time for the elongated water arm to strike the side of a building, putting a five-foot-wide hole through it.

Nasca stopped, allowing Trigger to get his bearings. “Ugh, I don’t get how you can manage going that fast.”

“What can I say, I’m built for speed,” said Nasca with a cocky tone.

Ocean solidified herself and fired a high-pressure water blast at both of them. Nasca came down with her sword, parting the stream in half, but the strength behind it was more than she expected as she tightened her grip on the hilt and dug her heels into the asphalt.

“You might want to tell your guys to get out of here, this is going to be a messy fight,” Nasca warned.

“Unfortunately, you’re right.” Trigger placed his left hand over the comes device built into his helmet. “This is Officer Armor; all units fall back to a safe distance!”

The various SCU cop cars and armored vehicles all began retreating, putting as much distance between them and the battle. The sound of tires squealing as they backed up and drove away echoed around them, as the battlefield was clear save the Kamen Riders and Dopants.

Meanwhile, Unicorn and Weather were battling it out in the skies above Canterlot City. Unicorn had summoned all her pieces, the Rooks, Knights, Bishops, and Pawns. The Bishops hurled their own lightning and fire spells at Weather, but the elemental Dopant was ready to counter, creating dense air walls that would make the lightning from the Bishops angle away from her. As for the fireballs, Weather doused them with torrents of water.

The Knights, using the attack as a distraction, maneuvered around until they were behind Weather. The construct Knights raised their swords high in preparation to strike Weather down, but that didn’t happen as the sky let loose a lightning bolt that chained right through the two Knights and shattered them like fragile glass. All the Pawns raised their swords and attacked from multiple angles, but Weather was ready with a wind blast that was thinned out into a blade, cutting the constructs in the middle, and soon they too shattered.

Weather brought her hands together and fired a beam of pure heat energy. The two Rooks used their mighty shields to block the attack, but cracks were forming on their bodies with each passing second. Weather released a second burst, breaking apart the Rooks; the elemental Dopant conjured heat and lightning into her hands and fire them in a combined beam of electrifying, fiery fury. Unicorn and the Bishops combined their power and fired a triple beam attack, intercepting Weather’s blast.

Two beams dueled it out, one gaining and then other losing, the struggle going back and forth for several seconds with no clear winner. But that quickly changed, Weather’s eyes shined bright with violet light, and soon the beam doubled in size, overwhelming Unicorn’s attack and striking her and the Bishops, resulting in a loud explosion that threw Unicorn down towards the ground.

Before the heroine could hit, she teleported, shortening the distance between the fall and the ground. Upon reappearing she made a three-point landing, skidding to a halt as the asphalt was torn apart from the force of her stop. Unicorn looked up as Weather began to descend back to the ground, even though her mouth wasn’t visible, it wasn’t a stretch to know that the Dopant had a smirk of superiority.

Unicorn cancelled her Empress form, Adagio was too powerful, time and training had granted both her and Aria the ability to know the ins and outs of their Dopant powers, and, if Unicorn wasn’t mistaken, there were traces of dark magic rising within them. There’s only one way to go from here.

Unicorn took out her Shining Memory, and Weather chuckled conspiratorially, but then her chuckle ceased when Unicorn brought out another object, one that she hadn’t seen before. Unicorn folded the wings of the Phoenix Ascender, unlocking the insert port. With her right hand, Unicorn inserted the Shining Memory.

< SHINING! >

Adagio got on guard, not sure as to what would happen next. Unicorn connected the Ascender to the Driver, and soon the Driver and Ascender began to glow. Unicorn’s body was bathed in golden light, a rush of power flowing into her with each nanosecond. However, the aura faded, and the Shining Memory ejected itself from the device. Unicorn quickly caught it and looked at the Ascender with confusion.

“What the heck??? Why did it…?”

“What’s wrong, faulty equipment?” Weather teased.

Unicorn didn’t have time to figure this out, so resorted to the tried and true.

{< SHINING! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Unicorn’s body was once again bathed in golden light, transforming her into her pseudo-final form, Unicorn: Shining Day.

Weather cracked her knuckles and said, “Now we can get down to brass tacks.”

Unicorn teleported out of sight, and then reappeared in front of Weather. With her increased speed, Unicorn struck Weather in the chest, sending her flying as sparks flew from her body. Weather released an air burst to stabilize herself but was not given much time to recover as Unicorn had flown after her.

\\\\\ LOYALTY! /////

Unicorn created a saber of red energy as she got closer to Weather. The Dopant fired off several lightning bolts, but Unicorn batted them way with the blade of her weapon. Weather focused and created two swords, one of pure fiery heat and the other from lightning. When Unicorn slashed down, Weather’s blades intercepted, creating a shockwave that blew out many windows within the area.

Weather and Unicorn dueled, the sound of thunder sounding through the skies with each blade strike. Unicorn parried one attack, and knocked the heat sword out of Weather’s hand, and while she was stunned from that, Unicorn knocked the lightning sword away too. Now open, Unicorn readied for an overhead strike, but suddenly felt something wrap around her right leg.

Unicorn was pulled down at a rapid pace, her horn let up and flashed, teleporting her out of the grip before she could be thrown back down to the Earth. When she reappeared, Unicorn saw that it was Ocean, rather, Aria Blaze, who had dragged her away at the last second. “Where are Trigger and Nasca?!”

Ocean pointed with her thumb down below, where a giant bubble of water was sitting in the middle of the street. Inside the bubble was Nasca and Trigger, both desperately trying to get out of the bubble, but somehow were unable to do so. Unicorn flew past Ocean and prepared to free her allies, but two lightning bolts barred her at the last second. When Unicorn turned around, she saw Weather as she fired a heat ray.

Unicorn teleported away and struck the Mimetic Drive port.

\ HONESTY! /

When the heat ray arrived, Unicorn punched straight through it, flying up the beam to take down Weather. But Weather cut off her beam attack and allowed Ocean to hit her with energized water blast. The attack struck Unicorn in the side, throwing her off course and into a tail spin.

The fight when on like this for a bit, Ocean would attack, but when Unicorn was close to attacking her, Weather would intercept and allow Ocean, and vice versa when it came to Weather. After the fifth time, Unicorn stopped in midair, realizing what it was the two sisters were doing.

“You’re trying to stall me out!”

Weather and Ocean floated side by side and chuckled evilly.

“Wow, she just now figured it out?” Ocean mocked.

“Be nice, Aria. Yes, we are. We knew that that golden armor is your strongest form, but it also comes with one big major drawback, a time limit. The longer we fight you, the more our old magic returns thanks to the power of these Gaia Memories, unfortunately it’s not on par with your current power alone,” said Weather.

“But the two of us fighting in tandem, and making you switch targets, yeah, we’re more than a match for you. Plus, keeping those two on lock down helped, no way they were a match for our magic!”

“And neither, Sunny, are you!”

At that moment, both Weather and Ocean’s violet eyes blazed with greater power. The two of them gathered their energy, Weather generated lightning, while Ocean created energized water.

Dammit, I have to end this now, thought Unicorn as she placed the Shining Memory into the Max Drive port.

>} SHINING! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn flipped around and shot straight towards the two sisters, her right foot extended into a flying Rider Kick.

“DAWN BREAKER!”

The Siren Dopants fired their combined beam of electrical and oceanic might. The two attacks clashed in the sky, creating single point of light as the two attacks struggled against each other. Unicorn continued the attack, focusing all her energy on her attack to pierce through and end this fight. However, in her rush to defeat them, Sunset neglected the time limit.

{< DAY IS DONE! >}

In a flash, Unicorn’s golden form had vanished completely, returning her to her default form. The Siren Sisters saw this and acted, pushing more of their power into the attack, quadrupling the size of the beam attack. The beam washed over Unicorn like a tsunami, carrying her all the way back to the ground where she and the beam impacted in a large explosion.

The force of the blast managed to destabilize the bubble that contained Trigger and Nasca, allowing them to slash through it and escape. Both Riders rushed to the impact zone and paused when the saw Unicorn standing amongst the broken-up concrete and asphalt. For a moment, everything was fine, until Unicorn’s body released several sparks, before falling over onto her back, motionless.

“Hey…get up…” Nasca whispered. “C’mon, Unicorn, stop messin’ around and get up already…!”

There was still no movement.

“No way…she can’t…I mean, it’d take a lot more than that to take her down, right? Right?” Trigger asked.

There was stillness from Unicorn, nothing at all. Helicopters that managed to get close filmed the entire battle, everyone watching with eyes wide open in shock and horror at their TV, phone, and tablet screens. In the news copter, Namby Pampy, was stunned and speechless, she had seen Unicorn take down several monsters, and most recently, a giant centaur monster with the aid of another Kamen Rider, but these two monsters, they did what even that giant monster couldn’t do, and yet she was pained to admit what was before her eyes.

The camera man nudged Namby, bringing her out of her stunned state as she looked back at them, they too had the same expression, but it was clear that as difficult as it was, she needed to report it, she needed to say it.

“Ladies and gentlemen of Canterlot City, what you see is not an illusion…as much I pray to gods that it was…it is as you see…Kamen Rider Unicorn…the hero of Canterlot…the protector of the people…our young guardian……….has fallen…”

P: Phoenix Rising / Bright as Day

View Online

All the way in the city of Las Pegasus, a young girl was sitting her in home, which was a high-rise loft. Young Apogee was enjoying the day with her family, her father, Jet Stream and mother, Delta Vee, were starting to get along better ever since their incident back in Canterlot City, there were some bumps, but they were smoothed over with Apogee’s youthful wisdom, and occasional puppy dog eye pouts.

But, gradually, they were becoming like a family. Apogee would only use the word “like” as there were sometimes where her mother acted more like a big sister than a mother, which was totally cool with her, most of the time, since she did like to veg out on the couch with her daughter. They were still in the process of figuring out the living arrangements, she had been living in her junkyard for a long while now, and Delta Vee, wasn’t so sure she was ready to give up that independence just yet, and it wasn’t like her father was asking her to sleep in the same bed as him, there were plenty of rooms.

The fact of the matter is, they were talking, and her mother was coming by a lot more than she used to. It was all thanks to U–

[Ladies and gentlemen of Canterlot City, what you see is not an illusion…as much I pray to gods that it was…it is as you see…Kamen Rider Unicorn…the hero of Canterlot…the protector of the people…our young guardian……….has fallen…]

Those words snapped Apogee out of her inner thoughts and brought her attention to the TV, where both of her parents were staring stunned at the image. Apogee was moving towards the image, as if it was a trick, some sick joke. But it was true, the hero that helped her family, was lying in a crater, completely still, with the caption at the bottom reading “Kamen Rider Unicorn: A Hero Has Fallen”.

***________________________***

Away from the hustle and bustle of the big city, the Shadowbolts had decided to take a cruise vacation before the summer was completely over. Sugarcoat’s family yacht was pretty big, thankfully they were able to get all the money back her father had recklessly gambled away at Gladmane’s underground casino. The man had been doing all he could to make it up to her.

Sugarcoat still remembered when Gladmane told her that her father had tried use her as currency at one point, as much as she didn’t want to believe it, from what she saw of Gladmane, there wasn’t much doubt that it was possible. But, he had been trying to be a better father, and that’s what counted, and he was getting help for his gambling addiction.

Currently, Sugarcoat, Sunny Flare, Lemon Zest, and Sour Sweet were sunbathing on the deck, enjoying the crisp ocean air.

“Sugar, you’re the best,” said Lemon Zest.

“Sorry, Rarity couldn’t come with, Sunny Flare,” said Sour Sweet. “Bet you’re missing out on some good make out time.”

Sunny Flare rolled her eyes as she looked at her bipolar friend. “It’s not a problem, we’ve been dating a lot lately, and she said she didn’t want to miss this beach trip with her friends. Considering how close they are, I didn’t want to mess with that, and besides, they were planning that trip way before I came in.”

Lemon Zest sat up and sighed. “Jeez, first Sunny hooks up with the pretty girl at CHS, and now Twilight Sparkle hooks up with the most badass girl in CHS! Damn, maybe I should transfer to CHS and find me a girl.”

Sour Sweet lifted her shades and asked, “What about that girl we saw over there that had those headphones on all the time? Considering you never go anywhere without yours, you two should hit off.”

Sunny made an X with her arms. “Nope, that girl’s taken.”

Lemon turned to Sunny. “By who?!”

“Another girl at that school, her name’s…Octavia, Octavia Melody.”

Lemon Zest groaned as she fell back on her chair. “Oh c’mon, all I’m asking for is one girl!”

“You’ve never asked us,” said Sugarcoat.

Lemon Zest picked right up. “Wait what?”

“Stating a fact, you’ve never asked any of us out.”

“But we’re friends.”

“Which means we already have a pre-established relationship that was built on friendship first and not by physical attraction. Also, we have seen each other at our worst and best, so tolerance has been built as well as understanding.” Sugarcoat noted.

Lemon Zest raised an eyebrow. “Ooookay…So, uh, Sugar, do you wanna–?”

“No.”

Sour and Sunny winced.

“But you just said–?!”

“I said that you never asked, and I gave you the information as to why it couldn’t hurt to ask. I never said I wanted to. Don’t get me wrong, you are attractive, I just don’t like girls like that,” said Sugarcoat in a matter of fact tone.

Lemon Zest hung her head. “Bummer.” Her gaze then fell to Sour, “Hey, Sour!”

“GUYS GET IN HERE, QUICK!”

The girls hopped out of their chairs at the distressed sound of Indigo Zap’s voice. When they entered, they saw that Indigo was sitting on the couch stunned. The girls turned their gaze to the TV, they saw the image, and read the caption, “Kamen Rider Unicorn: A Hero Has Fallen”.

Sunny Flare and Sugarcoat couldn’t believe it, mostly because they had an idea about who was under that armor, and what this meant for a certain former Crystal Prepper.

***________________________***

Countess Coloratura, or rather, Rara, had finished another concert, her single “Restore Harmony”, was skyrocketing in the music charts after what happened to her in Canterlot City.

Many of her fans had stayed on with her, despite changing her look and singing style a bit, the majority of her fans stayed true, especially after Svengallop’s confession went out online and circled the web. There was no way the man would ever get a job working in the music industry, or anywhere else, and that’s if he ever got out of jail, which was not going to happen anytime in the near future.

Out of everything that happened in Canterlot, being able to reconnect with her childhood friend, Applejack, was the best thing. Although, her feelings of affection for her friend weren’t reciprocated, it was good to know that Applejack would still remain her friend. Realistically speaking, Rara was sure she’d continue to have a crush on her best friend, but maybe one day another girl would cross her path and she’d feel the same way.

“Or, AJ will suddenly turn gay for me and we’ll just settle down on her farm,” said Rara is a wishful thinking manner.

Suddenly, someone was knocking loudly at her dressing room door.

“Who is it?” Rara asked.

The door swung open and in came Sapphire Shores, and the look on her face was one of distress. “Honey, have you seen this?!”

Sapphire raised her smartphone up and showed Rara what was on it, when she read it, her hands went limp as her water bottle fell to the floor.

“No…”

***________________________***

Juniper chugged down a bottle of water, and wiped the sweat off her with a towel, having gotten through a particularly intense action scene that had her running around and dodging imaginary laser blasts.

Thanks to Sunset Shimmer, she was able to stay on as the new star of Cine Max’s Kamen Rider Unicorn movie. Juniper gave it her all during each scene, impressing Cine Max, and even her uncle Canter Zoom. Occasionally Juniper would call Sunset to inquire on how she would act during a scene, or more specifically, how Unicorn would act. With that direction, she was able to put all her talent to use.

DeeDee had come over to help with the stunt coordination, giving Juniper little tips and hints on how to move in such a costume, and how best to limit injuring herself.

Of course, all production stopped when the sky began to rage into an unnatural storm. The cast and crew of the movie all huddled around the TV and watched as the Kamen Riders did battle with two new monsters.

“Take notes everyone, we may need to refer to this later on in the production,” said Cine Max.

“This looks bad,” said Juniper.

DeeDee clenched her jaw as she slowly nodded in agreement.

Just then, everyone gasped when they saw the beam attack overpower Unicorn and throw her all the way back to the ground below. And all held their breath when they didn’t see Unicorn move at all. Then came the caption, “Kamen Rider Unicorn: A Hero Has Fallen”.

Sunset Shimmer…

***________________________***

Gilda groaned in her sleep, feeling the slight vibrations, and thunder in the sky. Rainstorms always made her sleepy and want to stay in, which thankfully it was the weekend, so her part time job was not on her mind at the moment. There was also the possibility that it was another monster attack, but with Rainbow and Sunset, and the cop Kamen Rider, Gilda could sleep soundly.

“Just another day in this crazy town,” Gilda mumbled as she turned on her side.

“GILDA!!!” Gabby’s voice cried out.

Gilda sprang out of the bed, going from drowsy to full alertness in less than a second. She ran into the living room, fear that remnants of her old gang were coming back for revenge, but that wasn’t so. Upon entering the living room, she saw that the door was locked, and that there was no one else in the room save for Gabby sitting on the couch hugging her pillow.

The older girl sighed as she approached her surrogate little sister. “Geez, Gabs, did you have another nightmare or something? I told ya I don’t mind you coming into my room if you need to.”

“It’s not that…look,” said Gabby as she pointed her finger at the TV.

Gilda turned around and saw the TV, and then with wide eyes she uttered, “WHAT THE F–???!!!”

***________________________***

Nasca looked on, still stunned. Sunset had fought a monster in her home world of Equestria, stopped Tirek from infecting the world, and together, they fought a giant bird Dopant with a god complex. But of all of their opponents, these two Sirens were the ones actually able to…to…There was a flinch, a very small twitch of the fingers, but Nasca saw, which meant that Sunset might still be alive.

“I think we should hit her again,” said Ocean.

“Agreed, we’ll just tear the city apart to find her, I want to be rid of this one once and for all,” said Weather.

The two Dopants gathered their power, preparing for another attack that would reduce Unicorn to nothing.

/#\ GATLING! /#\

Suddenly, the two Dopant’s were pelted with a barrage of laser bolts from the ground. Nasca turned around and saw that Trigger was behind it. “Trigger?!”

“Go! Get Unicorn out of here I’ll cover you!” Trigger shouted.

Nasca didn’t need to be told twice, nodding to the officer, she opened her wings and dashed across the battlefield. And in the next couple of seconds she was standing next to her friend. Carefully, she picked Unicorn up, holding her princess style. Nasca flared her wings again and zipped down the street, covering several miles in a minute, and getting clear of the battlefield.

Once Trigger was sure that Nasca was far away, he took out the Trigger Memory and inserted it into the port that popped open on the top of the Chrome Ultimatum, and then pressed all six buttons on the dial pad.

|<^>| 1-2-3-4-5-6, ENGAGE! |<^>|

}<^>{ TRIGGER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }<^>{

“MAGNA ENFORCER!”

Six oscillating rings of light appeared in front of the muzzle of the rifle. Trigger fired, and a beam passed through all six rings, transforming into a giant beam that lit up the sky and engulfed both Dopants, creating a massive explosion that obscured them from sight by a cloud of dust.

Trigger took his chance, calling on his bike as it rolled up next to him. Once on, Trigger retreated, peeling down the road and out of sight. When the dust cloud cleared, Ocean and Weather were shown to be enclosed in a barrier of water and wind. They dispelled their shield and sneered at the fact that the Kamen Riders were gone.

“Guess we got ‘em running scared,” said Aria.

“Indeed, but don’t let your guard down, we should make them all aware that we’re not through.” Adagio glanced about and spotted the CCNN news helicopter flying in the distance. “That’ll do.”

Weather flew towards the helicopter, making Namby and her crew flinch from seeing the Dopant so close. Adagio knocked on the door, in a strange polite manner as if being asked to be let in. Namby steeled her nerves, and much to the protest of her crew, opened the door. She expected a rush of wind, but there wasn’t any. Weather was controlling the air currents, and thusly how much of the rotor blades’ sound was being muted to allow them to speak.

“What do you want?” Namby asked.

“I would like to make a statement, do you mind?” Adagio asked as she held out her hand for the microphone.

Namby clenched her jaw and handed the mike over to the Dopant. “Keep the camera on her.”

“Greetings Canterlot City, and no doubt other viewers watching this from other cities. For reasons, I won’t give you my real name, but you can call me the name that I share with the power I wield, Weather. And that is my dear, short tempered, sister, Ocean. We came to settle the score with Unicorn, as well as a few of her conspirators, now they know who they are, and in respect for their privacy, I won’t out them. However, if you don’t want to see this city leveled by an F10 tornado, I request that all of you give yourselves up in the next twenty-four hours. We will also show you leniency if you also produce our youngest sister. And if you are hearing this, sister, and are not with them, please vacate the city as soon as possible.”

“Should the aforementioned conspirators, along with whatever’s left of Unicorn, and Nasca, we will spare the lives of the people of this city, and just simply rule over you. Again, that’s twenty-four hours, starting now. Same place, same time.”

***________________________***

A lot things happened, in a really short amount of time. First off, Rainbow Dash appeared back at her house, along the way Sunset’s transformation had ended, and showed the girl to be a bloody mess. Her head was bleeding, she was bruised all over, and Windy and Bow were fairly sure they could spot a few broken bones.

In order to keep people from getting suspicious, the two adults concocted a plan. They would rush Sunset to a hospital close to the action, that way she would be counted as a casualty of the battle, and no one would think twice about asking how she got hurt so bad. Rainbow rode in the car with them, and called up Ms. Harshwhinny, she was the only other adult that knew their secret and could help if something got hairy, plus, she looked so official looking, Rainbow doubted anyone would question her.

Rainbow’s next round of calls went out to the girls, but when it came to Twilight, she hesitated. Sunset Shimmer was more than just a friend to that girl, they were in love, they were girlfriends, to see something like that, and to see Sunset now…Rainbow remembered how Sunset was when Twilight got hurt, Sunset was a fighter, and expressed it thusly. But Twilight, friendship was new to her, and being in a relationship even more so, to have to see Sunset like this might devastate her.

Then again, it wasn’t like this could be avoided, not after that live report of the battle. In the end, Rainbow texted Twilight where they were going. “OH CRAP! Stop the car!”

Bow slammed the breaks and swerved until he was on the shoulder. “What?! What’s wrong, Dashie?!”

“We can’t go to a hospital…”

Windy turned around and looked at her daughter incredulously. “Rainbow Danger Dash, this is no time to kid around!”

“I’m not! Look, Sunset’s not from our world, remember?! The reason she never gets sick is because her magic heals her and keeps her healthy against viruses and junk, if we go to the hospital, they’ll draw blood and might find out that she’s not all human! Hell, if they dig further, they’ll show that she doesn’t exist in the system!” Rainbow explained.

Windy ran her hand through her hair, while Bow hit the steering wheel. In getting Sunset help, they would only be endangering her further, questions would be raised about how an undocumented minor was able to get by so long without anyone noticing, and technically this could go federal, since Sunset is the very definition of an illegal alien, she was from another dimension.

“What can we do? She needs medical help, now!” Windy stressed.

“It’s not like we know any back-alley doctors, honey,” said Bow grimly.

Just then, Rainbow’s head perked up. “No…No, we don’t. But I do know a rich billionaire!” Rainbow quickly punched in the phone number to Starlight Glimmer of Earth, a personal cell number that was given to the girls before the Canterlot Studios incident. “C’mon, pick up, pick up…YES!”

[Hello, Rainbow Dash?]

“Starlight, I need your help, well, Sunset needs your help! Like she might literally die in my arms right now kind of help!”

[Whoa, whoa, slow down! What happened to her?]

Rainbow Dash gave the story the family of three cooked up, as well as Rainbow giving her explanation as to why they couldn’t go to a hospital right now. After a minute of silence, Starlight replied.

[Listen carefully, go to Clover Advanced Medical Center. I’ll notify them that there is a VIP patient coming in, tell them she is my family and have them admit her. I’ll take care of everything regarding her information. Now hurry!]

“Got it, you’re a life saver! Change of plans!”

***________________________***

After sending out a mass text regarding the change in hospitals, Sunset was admitted to Clover Advanced Medical Center. It was a place fully funded by PhoenEXE, and also acted as their medical branch of the company. With Starlight Glimmer in charge, she managed to convince – or probably some other corporate way – to make the doctors keep all of the pertinent data that would be used to monitor her care, and everything to be destroyed, there would pretty much be no record of Sunset Shimmer being admitted by the time everything was said and done.

Not long after, everyone arrived, Applejack was holding Twilight, trying to be as steady a rock as she possibly could for her.

“How is she?” Rarity asked.

“They’re examining her now, too early to tell if she’ll need surgery,” said Starlight.

Rainbow Dash kicked the adjacent wall, angry at herself that she got trapped in that bubble and couldn’t help her friend when she needed her. The sports girl’s rose-colored eyes fell on Sonata Dusk, who was standing quietly in the back. Rainbow marched through her friends and was prepared to grab Sonata, but Pinkie Pie intercepted her friend and held her back.

“Let me go, Pinks!” Rainbow demanded through gritted teeth.

“No! It’s not Sonata’s fault! You heard her, they’re dark magic is making them act this way, they were turning good before those Memories got to them! Plus,” Pinkie looked Rainbow in the eyes, “if you keep this up, you’ll let Starlight in on Sunset being you-know-who!”

Rainbow’s anger quelled when she said that, there was still the danger that Starlight was Kamen Rider Equal, if she acted differently then she might attack Sunset while she was in this state. It was a risk worth taking though, they couldn’t take her to any other hospital, and with Starlight’s money and power, they could rest assured that Sunset would receive the best of the best medical care, and that all of this would be swept under the rug. The rest of the girls didn’t know what Twilight, Sunset, and Rainbow knew, they didn’t want to cast suspicion until they were sure, so Pinkie was only speaking as such to make sure no else knew the secret.

“Okay…Okay, I’m cool now,” said Rainbow Dash.

One of the doctors came out of the exam room, and everybody huddled around him.

“How is she, Doctor?” Harshwhinny asked.

“She has several fractures of her bones, mostly in her arms, legs, and ribcage. Several contusions along her body, a wound on her head that was bleeding, but we managed to stop it. CAT scans show lesions on her brain that could indicate signs of a concussion, but they seem to be healing, but we’ll keep an eye on it regardless. She’s a remarkably fast healer, and her bone density is greater than what you see for kids her age.”

“Focus, doctor, and remember, none of this is to be mentioned outside of his hospital. Understand?” Starlight asked.

“Yes, Ma’am. In any case, she’s fighting, but…and this is strange, there’s a degeneration factor occurring at the same time as regeneration, as if her body is fighting back against something. Do you know if she has any hereditary or other diseases she’s currently on medication for?”

“No…she isn’t,” said Twilight, her voice barely above a whisper.

Starlight frowned at this development, but then adopted a more serious expression. “I authorize any and all tested treatments for her, write it off as a business expense, but that girl is to receive the best this facility has to offer. It’s time to show me that the Medical Branch of PhoenEXE is what I expect it to be.” The doctor nodded and went back in to assist his colleagues. “I have to head back now, there’s another emergency I have to deal with at work thanks to all this monster business. But call me if anything happens.”
Rainbow Dash nodded. “We will.”

Ms. Harshwhinny walked up and shook Starlight’s hand. “Thank you, Ms. Glimmer, for helping Sunset.”

“No, that girl…I consider her, and the rest you, good friends. I’ll protect my friends, however I can.”

With that, Starlight left, and at almost the same time, Twilight collapsed onto the floor. Applejack managed to keep Twilight from hitting the floor hard, guiding her down until she was on her knees as she cried. “It’s my fault…It’s all my fault!”

Ms. Harshwhinny kneeled down next to Twilight and rubbed her back in soothing, comforting manner. “Twilight you didn’t do this, those monsters did.”

“You don’t understand…” Twilight reached into the satchel she had brought from Sunset’s home and showed the Phoenix Ascender. “This was supposed to make Sunset strong enough to defeat them, but…it didn’t work…I know it didn’t because it returned to me during the battle, and because Sunset went into her Shining Day form…They knew her strongest form’s weakness, it’s time limited, and they ran out the clock…now…”

Twilight continued to sob, and Rainbow Dash just continued to seethe in an anger at how she wasn’t able to save her friend.

“I’m sorry…” Sonata spoke. “I never wanted any of this…I just wanted to live together with my sisters…to just…just be like we used to before we had dark magic…now…It’s too late…and Sunset Shimmer…I…”

Rarity looked to the satchel that Twilight carried. She carefully took it from the distraught girl and reached in. Rarity stopped rummaging through it when she felt the object she was hoping was in there, as she pulled her hand out, it was revealed she had grabbed Sunset’s journal, the one that connected Earth and Equestria. Rarity took out a pin and opened it to a blank page.

“What are you doing?” Fluttershy asked.

“Calling for backup, Darling.”

***________________________***

The sun had dipped down over the horizon, and the city was on edge. An ultimatum was given, give up the Nasca and Unicorn, and those who conspired to assist them. This had the populous even edgier, leading some to ask who was working with Unicorn and Nasca. Certainly not the police, Trigger and the CCPD had made their position clear when it came to them, and the Dopants weren’t requesting Trigger to come forward. That only left the question hanging in the air of who it was?

Adagio sat the edge of the building, while Aria laid back and looked up at the stars. They had done well and could afford a rest while they watched the humans turn on one another trying to figure out who was working with the vigilante heroes, and possibly drag them before their executioners.

“Humans, anything for self-preservation,” said Adagio.

“What if they don’t show up? Honestly, Adagio, we know who they are, let’s just track them down and get rid of them already, why go through all this dog and pony show deadline crap?” Aria asked.

“Because it’s much more satisfying to see what they will do. Those girls know who they are, and what fate awaits them. If they show up, the city and the world will know that they aided a vigilante, and if they don’t and decide to run, they’ll doom the city to ruin. Or, maybe there are some who do know who they are and will rally others into a mob to drag them before us as a sacrifice.”

Aria’s mouth curved into a smile at the thought of such a scenario. “But what about Sona, what if those Raindorks are keeping her like a bargaining chip?!”

Adagio’s sinister smile turned into a grimace. “After what we did, I wouldn’t put it past them to do that…” Adagio began to consider alternative measures, she really didn’t want to have to mark Sonata as collateral damage, for all her annoying quirks she was still their sister, and all they had left was each other. “…We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

“A bridge that you will never cross I’m afraid.”

Adagio and Aria turned around and watched as four Dopants walked towards them. IceAge, Heat, Bird, and Luna. The Luna Dopant was yellow, with a slender body, a clown’s white ruffles around his neck, his feet were long shows that curled at the tip, and his arms looked like scrunched up accordions. The head of the Dopant was a long hat that had a white fluff ball that weighted it down to that it dipped backwards. All four of Starlight Glimmer’s lieutenants had arrived before the Sirens.

“Well looky here dear sister, we have guests,” said Adagio. “I was wondering when the creator of those mass production models would show their face. Kamen Rider Equal and gang.”

The Luna Dopant flinched.

“Drop the illusion Luna.” The Luna Dopant snapped its fingers, and the air before them became distorted for a few seconds before revealing the dark Rider, Equal. “Very perceptive of you. I assume you know why we’re here?”

Aria smirked. “Yeah, you’re here to take our Gaia Memories, the ones that look different from the creepy looking bone cage ones you make. But that ain’t happening.”

“Ha, I like her,” said Bird.

“I don’t think you understand.”

You hurt my friend.

“I have plans that involve this city, and the people in it.”

Everything I do is calculated, risks taken and managed to ensure as minimal amount of collateral damage as possible.

“And I cannot stand by while someone threatens my city, my domain.”

When you hurt my friends…

“When you threaten my plans…”

It’s time to even the score!
“It’s time to even the score!”

Adagio and Aria chuckled at Equal’s boasting.

“Fine then, a little warm up before the grand finale. Five on two sounds like a good handicap,” said Adagio.

< WEATHER! >

< OCEAN! >

***________________________***

A couple of hours had passed, and no one could rest easy, not with Sunset in the hospital bed, and not with the looming threat of the two Sirens. Rarity had left to go to CHS, and not but a couple of hours later did she return with someone they had not expected to see. Princess Twilight, dressed in the same casual blue blouse, pink bow, and violet skirt as she had on before. Next to her, they could tell, was Starlight Glimmer, but thankfully Rarity had thought ahead to bring a hoodie to conceal Starlight’s face. Too many things going to explain why there were more than one pair of twins walking around.

Princess Twilight rushed towards the room once Rarity had given her direction, everyone was standing outside, watching over her from the window that peered into the room. Princess Twilight walked up to the window and placed her hand against it, while the other was cupped over her mouth to stifle a sob. The Equestrian royal looked down at her counterpart, who had her legs hugged close, and buried her face in her lap to avoid seeing anyone, wallowing in the guilt she had thrusted upon herself.

The Princess knelt down and attempted to place a comforting hand on her counterpart’s shoulder, but the moment she touched her, Twilight flinched away. The Princess was saddened by this, but there was no time.

“Thank you for coming,” said Applejack.

“Of course, now, Starlight, let’s look in on Sunset,” said Princess Twilight.

Her protégé nodded and the two Equestrians entered Sunset’s room, Rainbow Dash Applejack entered behind them, closing the blinds and door, and switching to a lookout role. Starlight had managed to create an amulet for Twilight, figuring that the two of them combined could use their magic to heal Sunset, but first they needed to see what was wrong with her.

Princess Twilight and Starlight cast a diagnostic spell, a square of light appeared before them as a beam of blue and rosy-violet light passed over Sunset several times. After which, a three-dimensional image of Sunset’s body appeared on the squares, and when they looked at it, both mares’ brows furrowed. There were black markings within the 3D image, and beside it were words written in Equish, along with some numbers and formulas that could only be read by another pony denizen.

“This is…” Starlight began.

“Dark magic,” Princess Twilight finished.

The Princess of Friendship ended the spell, and all four returned outside the room, with both mares sparing one more glance at their ill friend. Once outside they sighed heavily, which was already a bad indicator.

“What’s wrong, is she going to be okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“……She’s dying,” said Starlight in a somber tone.

The hallway was so quiet you could hear a pin drop, everyone’s eyes opened to the size of saucer plates, and breaths were held for what felt like an eternity.

“Y-You’re joking, right Starlight, Princess? Please tell me you’re joking?!” Rainbow Dash asked desperately.

Princess Twilight placed her hand against her head as tears fell from her eyes, “She’s not…Rainbow…there’s dark malevolent magic in her, it’s aggressive, and intent on destroying her. Her own magic is working to fight against it, but it’s almost used up, she used a lot of it during her battle, and now it’s practically empty. When it does…the dark magic will attack her in full, her body will cease to function and…”

The Princess didn’t finish her sentence, there was no need to, it was implied. Fluttershy began to sob, with Rarity holding her and joining her in the sorrow. Rainbow Dash punched a wall and then was hugged by her parents. Pinkie Pie’s hair deflated, becoming straight from its normal curls. Applejack brooded in silence, while Twilight let a new wave of tears fall from her face. Ms. Harswhinny slumped against the wall, muttering all kinds of curses under her breath and berating herself for not stopping Sunset sooner.

“I killed her…it’s all my fault…” Twilight sobbed. She then tossed the Phoenix Ascender against the wall, letting it hit the floor and leaving it there. “And that’s the murder weapon…!”

Princess Twilight looked down at her teenage counterpart, and then back to the object she threw. She bent down and picked up the device, examining it curiously. “What is this?”

“It was supposed to make Sunset stronger, but it only killed her!” Twilight shouted.

“It’s…” Twilight ran her fingers over the device, she could feel something from it, something familiar, and yet new. “Twilight, what was this supposed to be used with?”

“Her Shining Memory,” Rainbow answered, “it was supposed to work like my Boost Upgrader and let Sunset use her final form, one that she didn’t have to worry about a time limit like when she normally uses it.”

“Time limit…the Shining Memory…the Miracle Magic…” Princess Twilight continued to stare at the device intensely, making Starlight appear hopeful as she watched her friend and mentor think. “I got it…! I GOT IT! WE CAN SAVE HER!”

Everyone’s head shot towards the Princess, hope sparked in their eyes.

“How?!” Ms. Harshwhinny asked.

“Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight, come with me!” The girls immediately followed the Princess into Sunset’s room, the Princess herself looked to the three adults and her protégé. “Do not let anyone disturb us under any circumstances!”

All four nodded as the door closed.

Starlight looked around and then asked, “Um, wasn’t there someone else here?”

***________________________***

Princess Twilight moved one of the nightstands from beside Sunset’s bed and placed it in the middle of the room. Twilight placed the Phoenix Ascender on it, and then said, “There’s only one way to save her, we have to purify the dark magic, and to do that, we need the power of the Elements of Harmony.”

“I think you said somethin’ about that one time, or Sunset did, wasn’t it like a magic item from your world?” Applejack asked.

“The one you all saw, the one that Sunset brought into your world, was my element, the Element of Magic. But there are five others, Laughter, Kindness, Generosity, Honesty, and Loyalty, and each of you represents one of those Elements as do your pony counterparts. While you may not have the physical items, you each have a magical connection to them that allows you to call upon their powers, which is how you’re all able to pony up when you play music, or as Sunset noted to me, when you show the truest parts of yourself.”

The girls nodded, remembering the Friendship Games incident and that same explanation that Sunset gave them.

“I kept wondering why Sunset said that the Shining Memory would time out when she was here on Earth, it didn’t seem to do that when she was in Equestria,” said the Princess.

“Sunset…theorized that it was because of the lack of magical energy on our side to keep it fueled long enough to sustain such a powerful form,” said Twilight as she looked over her girlfriend.

“That’s part of it, but not all. I suspect that the device you made, Twilight, is supposed to act as a catalyst to bring out the Shining Memory, the fragment of the Miracle Magic’s, full potential. The device wasn’t defective, it just wasn’t complete.”

Twilight bit her lip. “So, it is my fault…”

“No, it isn’t,” said Fluttershy. “You couldn’t have known, none of us did, and neither did Sunset, and she’s the expert in magic!”

Princess Twilight hovered her hands over the device, feeling a power within it that wanted to come out. “I long suspected that there was a seventh Element of Harmony, ever since the Battle of the Bands when we combined our magic to first stop the Sirens. At first I thought Sunset’s Element was Magic, but then,” Princess Twilight looked at her counterpart, “you appeared, and then I started to think about it again, Sunset is gifted in magic, I can’t deny that, but it didn’t feel like that was her element exactly.”

The girls all looked to each other, if all of them were already associated with an Element of Harmony, what would Sunset’s be?

“Empathy…” Rainbow Dash answered. “Sunset said that when she was using the power of the Unicorn Memory, she was able to tap into the memories and feelings of another person. And then she did it again, but this time her armor actually morphed like she ponied up.”

“It’s makes sense, to not just relate to another’s feelings, but to know them and feel them as your own, to truly connect on an emotional level with a friend, the Element of Empathy.”

Just then, the Phoenix Ascender began to glow, causing the girls to gasp. The glow it emitted was warm and inviting, a comforting warmth like that of an embrace from someone close.

“Girls, focus on your Element, on the magic inside you, and push it into the device! If we can awaken it, maybe…maybe we can do this,” said Princess Twilight.

“You don’t need to tell us twice, Darling!” Rarity stated.

“Let’s do this!” Rainbow exclaimed.

Pinkie Pie’s hair inflated back to its former curly state, and now she sported a wide grin.

All five girls placed one hand over the device, each of them calling to the magic inside of themselves. They remembered, the days spent with Sunset Shimmer, there were bad memories, but the good far outweighed them, and in each one, she demonstrated an Element of Harmony that she had learned from them.

“Honesty…” Applejack’s pony ears appeared, her hair growing long and braiding itself into a ponytail.

“Loyalty…” Rainbow Dash’s pony ears appeared, her hair growing until it was tied off into ponytail, and cyan wings grew from her back.

“Generosity…” Rarity’s ears flashed into existence, along with her curled up ponytail.

“Kindness…” Fluttershy’s pony ears grew out, her grew into a ponytail, and butter yellow wings sprouted from her back.

“Laughter…” As with Applejack and Rarity, Pinkie grew pony ears, and a puffy, curly ponytail.

The device absorbed their magic as streams of blue, orange, white, pink, and yellow light flowed into the Phoenix Ascender. Princess Twilight focused her own magic, calling to the Element within her to complete the awakening. “Magic…” But nothing happened, no wings, no ears, no ponytail.

“Uh, that’s not good,” said Pinkie.

“Why didn’t she pony up?!” Rainbow asked.

Princess Twilight thought for a moment, her suspicions now having been confirmed. “Because I’m not the Element of Magic, at least, not for Earth.”

The girls shifted their gazes to Twilight Sparkle of Earth, the girl took a moment to understand what they were implying and she firmly shook her head in the negative. “No, nonononono! I-I can’t be an-an Element of Harmony! Especially Magic! Not after what I did! After almost killing everyone and tearing reality apart!”

Princess Twilight walked up to her younger self and placed her hands on the other’s shoulders. “Twilight, you are the Element of Magic, it’s not Sunset, and not Starlight. It’s you. You discovered the magic, you were drawn to it, and it to you. You are the key to completing this!”

Twilight was still hesitant. “What if…What if I change into that monster again?! I’ll be an even worse threat to this world than the Sirens! What if I become Midnight Sparkle?!”

“That won’t happen,” said Fluttershy.

“We believe in you, Twilight,” said Rarity.

“Y’all love Sunset too much to let some monster take ya over,” said Applejack.

“You’re stronger than you think, Twi, Sunset and I wouldn’t have gotten this far without you, and that’s a fact,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Let’s save Sunset, together!” Pinkie added.

Twilight looked to the girls, to her other self, and then back to the device which was glowing brighter than before. Steeling her nerves, Twilight walked up to the group of girls and placed her hand over the device. She closed her eyes, feeling the warmth, and letting it ignite the long-forgotten spark of magic inside her. It didn’t take long before Twilight felt a familiar rush of power, causing her body to release a rosy-violet aura, but that aura was shifting to an azure blue, the same aura of the darker side of her.

Long time no see…

~*~*~*~

Twilight found herself back in the Infinite Library, but the books were in disarray, tomes floating about as the shelves were lopsided and floating aimlessly in the white space. A raven winged being began walking towards her, her skin a darker shade of purple than her own, eyes framed by azure flames, with a horn made of azure light coming from her forehead, and with a voice that was hers but more demented. This was the dark creature she once became when overwhelmed by the magic she had stored during the Friendship Games. Midnight Sparkle.

“I was wondering how long it would take before you needed my help,” said Midnight.

“Why are you here?! Sunset got rid of you back during the Friendship Games!” Twilight shot back.

Midnight chuckled, “Oh silly Twily, I’m a part of you, the magic never left you. You’ve just been neglecting it, and me. And I can see why, this library is fascinating, so much knowledge, I can’t wait to read it all! But first, we have work to do, don’t we?”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “We…We do?”

“We both know that device is a failure, this plan by that copycat won’t work!” Midnight stated. “But we can do something, all we have to do, is take that magical power being offered to it, syphon it all into us, and we can become one!”

Twilight placed her hands against her head she shook screaming, “NO!”

Midnight advanced on Twilight, grabbing her by the scruff of her shirt and forcing her to look Midnight in her blazing eyes. “You know it’s true! Those witches hurt Sunset! They have to pay! We can tear apart reality, they won’t stand a chance!”

Twilight paused for a moment, that was true. Her magic was powerful, Adagio and Aria would be nothing compared to her, even with their Gaia Memories and dark magic.

“You understand now, don’t you, I can see you thinking about it. Just give in, take the magic, let me in, and together, we’ll be the hero…” Midnight’s words were like honey, sweet and enticing. “Take my hand, Twilight, and let us show them our way.”

Midnight stepped back and offered her hand to Twilight. The bespectacled girl stared at that outstretched hand, an exact recreation of the moment Sunset saved her, only the reverse. Taking her evil persona’s hand would make her powerful enough to stop the Sirens, to cure Sunset, and to stop whatever threat that cropped up next. No longer on the sidelines but on the frontlines, a magical version of a tactical nuke to vaporize their enemies.

Twilight…

The girl stopped.

We believe in you…

You are a light, Darling, a force for good…

You can kick the darkness’ butt!

The voices of her friends, her friends…how could she forget them? She wasn’t alone anymore, her decisions didn’t just affect her, but those she loved. A flash of red appeared next to Twilight, when she turned to her right, Twilight’s eyes widened and teared up when she saw the form of Sunset Shimmer beside her as she smiled.

You are not, Midnight Sparkle!

Twilight wiped her eyes and gave Midnight a confident smirk that made her evil persona flinch. “No, I’m not! I am Twilight Sparkle, and I am the ELEMENT OF MAGIC!”

Twilight’s body shined with the light of the Element, granting her pony ears, a long ponytail, and lavender colored wings. The light bathed over the Infinite Library, bringing order back to the chaos of what Midnight ushered, the books returned to the shelves, and the shelves straightened and aligned themselves in perfect order. The light burst forth and Midnight cried out as its brilliance burned her existence into nothingness.

~*~*~*~

When Twilight opened her eyes, it was to the smiling faces of her friends, she glanced behind her, and saw that her back had sprouted wings, and that she did have pony ears. Her hand released a purple wave of energy into the Phoenix Ascender, making the device shine brighter than ever before.

The eyes of the Phoenix Ascender shined and then released a bright flash that ceased the absorption of their magic. The device flew over to Sunset and hovered over her body, it then landed gently atop her chest and soon ignited, bathing her in red and gold flames. Twilight was about to run in and save Sunset, but Princess Twilight held out her arm, forbidding them from approaching Sunset.

The machines that were hooked up to Sunset still showed her vitals were alright, well, as alright as they could be given her condition. But then something happened, Sunset’s heart rate began to rise quickly, her vitals took a sharp turn upwards as Sunset opened her eyes, revealing pools of pure white light, a flash of fire and light went off in the room, making Princess Twilight use her amulet to shield the others from the backlash. The light was blinding, and the warmth it emitted was comforting, there was no fear here, only peace.

When the light faded, the Phoenix Ascender was still resting on top of Sunset, but in the next moment, Sunset awoke with a start, taking in a deep inhale as she sat up in the hospital bed, eyes wide and darting around as she took in her surroundings. Twilight broke away from the others and rushed to Sunset’s side.

“Sunset, calm down, it’s me, Twilight!”

Sunset finally came to her senses, her eyes settling on the girl at her left side. “T-Twilight…?” Her eyes then looked ahead, and she saw, her girlfriend, again. “And…Twilight…? Okay, so…I’m having one of those kind of dreams then?”

Both Twilight’s blushed hard. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie snickered, Applejack shook her head with a grin, Rarity blinked and blushed, and Fluttershy blushed and placed her hands over her mouth to stifle a gasp.

“She’s definitely okay if she can think about that,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Where…Where am I?” Sunset raised her other arm and saw an IV connected to her. “Am…Am I in a hospital?!”

The heartrate monitor began to beep and an alarming rate, an indicator that she was in a panic. The girls quickly rushed to her beside and assured Sunset that everything was alright.

“This here hospital is owned by PhoenEXE Corp., our world’s Starlight Glimmer is keepin’ all this hush-hush, she told us to take you here herself,” said Applejack.

Applejack wasn’t a liar, so Sunset took some comfort in hearing that from her friend. Sunset lied back down on the bed, with Twilight wrapping her arms around her lover the best she could as she cried tears of joy. Sunset’s hand ran over the wings protruding from her girlfriend’s back and smiled.

“I knew you had in you, Sparky,” said Sunset. “They’re beautiful.”

Twilight only responded by hugging her tighter. The girls came in and managed to do a group hug. Princess Twilight went to the door and opened it, seeing an anxious Harshwhinny, Bow, Windy, and Starlight.

“She’s alright.”

Several hours passed by, the doctors came in to reexamine Sunset after her miraculous recovery. All her vital signs were showing vastly improved, they were almost ready to discharge her that night, but were willing to err on the side of caution and have her stay the night, that and Starlight might fire them if something happened to her not long after being discharged.

Sunset was filled in on the news, and the ultimatum Adagio had laid out to them. Sonata was gone, making the others believe that she had gone to join her sisters, that or she took their heed to leave the city before it was annihilated. But Sunset didn’t buy that, even now, she had faith in Sonata, and had an idea what she was planning to do. Starlight of Equestria had made sure that no one besides the three adults and herself saw what was happening in the room, having casted a misdirection spell to keep people focused on other things rather than the room, and a little electromagnetic interference spell that she had cooked up thanks to her time on Earth, which allowed her to mess with the cameras so that none of what happened was recorded. Sunset thanked everyone and managed to get some sleep.

***________________________***

Sunset woke up, finding all her friends still piled into the room and finding whatever way they could to sleep in there with her. The adults had taken to sleeping in chairs that were posted outside her room. Twilight, her Twilight, was sleeping with her head resting on Sunset’s bedside. Their pony up transformations had long since ended, returning them to their normal state. Sunset looked around the room, and then to her right arm. Sunset pinched at the needle insert and grit her teeth, she then swiftly pulled it out, biting her lip as the pain of the needle being ripped out shot through her arm.

Damn it, those action movie heroes are full of crap! That hurts!

After biting back the sting of ripping out an IV needle, and making a mental note to write an anonymous, angry letter to the movie industry about how pain is portrayed in movies, Sunset managed to get out of her bed without alerting her friends. At least, that’s what she thought. When Sunset turned around to make sure, she saw Twilight, her Twilight, looking at her with worry. Sunset nodded for her to follow and Twilight carefully, but quickly went to Sunset’s side.

Once out in the hall, Twilight asked, “You’re going, aren’t you?”

“You know me too well, Twi,” said Sunset.

“I figured you would, but I was hoping you’d rest a little longer, the sun hasn’t even risen yet,” said Twilight.

“Best time to slip out, just have the Princess and Starlight use a misdirection spell to keep the doctors from checking in on me, and I’ll head back as soon as I’m done.”

“Why?”

Twilight and Sunset turned to the familiar voice of Ms. Harshwhinny, she had roused from sleep to see the girls sneaking out and had heard everything. “Why must you go back out there? We have a police department, and a Kamen Rider police officer, military, these are the people whose job it is to protect us from threats like this!”

Ms. Harshwhinny walked up to Sunset and placed her hands on Sunset’s shoulders, and then she cried. “You almost died, Sunset Shimmer, you almost died and no one but I and your friends would have known that you had sacrificed your life! You’re all just young girls, you shouldn’t have to bare this weight on your shoulders! We…We’re the ones who are supposed to protect you, not the other way around…!”

Sunset and Twilight felt like their hearts were going to break, Ms. Harshwhinny may be a strict teacher, and a no nonsense woman, but she cared deeply for her students, and having to see them put themselves in danger time and again, protecting total strangers knowing that each fight could be their last, it tore at her conscience that this should be something an adult should be doing, so that they may be allowed to live their youthful lives.

The fiery red head gently placed her hands over Ms. Harshwhinny’s and said, “I understand, and there are times when I do wish there was someone else who could do this. But there isn’t, I was chosen to fight and protect those I love and care for, and you’re right, baring the weight can be overwhelming, but sometimes when I feel like I can’t save everyone, I focus on those I can save, and suddenly going from thousands, to just a handful, helps me get through it.”

Sunset managed to get Ms. Harshwhinny to release her, she then smiled at the teacher with confidence. “I won’t lose, I’m going to save them, and come back.”

Ms. Harswhinny dried her tears and adopted her old strict mannerisms. “I would hope so, Ms. Shimmer, I never pegged you as one to just give up.”

Sunset and Twilight nodded and proceeded down the hall. They managed to find a way outside and into the back alleyway out of sight. Once there Sunset summoned her Driver and Unicorn Memory.

“Wait,” said Twilight.

“What’s wrong?” Sunset asked.

As she turned around, Twilight leaned forward and gently pressed her lips against Sunset’s. Time slowed to a snail’s pace as the whole world – for that brief moment – fell to the wayside and every part of Sunset’s senses were focused solely on this sensation, this moment. Sunset moved her arms forward and draped them over Twilight’s shoulders as she brought her closer, deepening their kiss. Time would say it was only for a few seconds, but to these girls, that one moment felt like an eternity. Twilight backed away first, staring up into Sunset’s eyes with a bright red blush on her face and smiled.

“Wow…” Sunset whispered.

“I just…I just didn’t want to have any regrets…I…I–!”

Sunset silenced her girlfriend by placing her finger against Twilight’s lips. “Say it to me when I come back, we’ll say it properly. That wasn’t a bad first kiss, by the way.”

The fiery redhead released Twilight and placed the Uni-Driver at her waist.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

A bright flash of turquoise light made Twilight close her eyes, when she opened them, Sunset had now become her hero alter ego, Kamen Rider Unicorn. Her crystal horn flashed, and the sound of a motorcycle could be heard immediately after. The bike turned in the alleyway from around the corner and stopped right next to its Rider. Unicorn mounted her bike and revved the engine twice before looking back at Twilight.

“Go, Kamen Rider,” said Twilight.

Unicorn nodded and took off down the alley and disappeared around the corner.

***________________________***

Ocean and Weather waited atop the building they were on earlier, their battle with Equal and her Dopant Quartet was a good warm up, having thoroughly trounced them and sent them running with their tails between their legs. Equal did prove to be a bit annoying with her reduction field, but their dark magical power managed to prove too much for the dark Rider in the end.

“Sun’s almost up, think they’ll actually come?” Aria asked.

“We win either way, so it doesn’t matter, I just wanted to see them die close up,” said Adagio.

“DAGI! ARI!”

Both Dopants became alert as the voice of their sister caught their ears. They looked down below and saw her standing there, alone. The Dopants quickly descended the skyscraper and landed softly next to her, the two monsters hugged their sister fiercely.

“Damn it, Sona, where have you been?! Did those girls kidnap you?!”

“It doesn’t matter, what’s important now is that we get her out of here. I’ll take you as far out of the city as possible and–!”

“No.”

Adagio and Aria looked at Sonata with confusion.

“I’m not leaving, I’m staying here! It’s time to stop this! We weren’t always monsters! We were just sisters, living our lives in the seas! Our songs didn’t just bring negative emotions, we brought good ones too! That dark magic from the gemstones is still inside us, but it was going away until you two got those things! Please, let’s just go back to what we were doing! We can make it work here!” Sonata pleaded.

Adagio sighed heavily. “Dear me, Sona, they’ve truly brainwashed you, haven’t they?”

Aria scoffed. “Not like it would’ve been that hard with her.”

Sonata didn’t let the quip bother her, instead she fixed her eldest sister with a glare. Adagio took a moment to study her little sister, and her mood shifted from annoyed to perturbed.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

Adagio’s violet eyes began to glow. “Do you really want to put your lot in with these humans?!” A gust of wind flew out from Adagio, knocking Sonata back where she landed on her rear. “This is your only warning, Sonata Dusk, let me take you outside this city, or so help me, I’ll end you along with this city!”

Sonata groaned but resumed her steadfast glare at her sisters. But as she did, she could see their eyes glowing with the dark magic that now permeated their auras. “You’re not my sisters, we may fight, say hurtful things we don’t mean, but Adagio and Aria would never threaten to hurt me!”

Aria raised her right hand and focused as she created a sphere of energized water, Adagio joined her as she created a ball of lightning.

“So naïve, and so stupid,” said Aria.

Just then, several orbs of turquoise light barraged both Dopants, striking them repeatedly enough times that they retreated to see who attacked them. Sonata disappeared in a flash of turquoise light, and reappeared, somehow, mounted on a bike. Sonata’s eyes widened with shock as she stared at turquoise colored armor.

“S-Sunset?!” Sonata asked.

Unicorn turned her head and nodded. “I’m teleporting you back to the hospital. I’ll come back, and with your sisters.” Unicorn’s horn glowed, and Sonata was gone in a flash.

Unicorn teleported herself until she was standing in the middle of the road, the same spot where she had not too long ago suffered her defeat at the Sirens’ hands. Ocean and Weather glowered at the sight of Unicorn and were a little surprised to be honest.

“Huh, could’ve sworn that last attack did you in,” said Ocean.

“You almost did,” said Unicorn.

“This a good thing, it means we get to kill you all over again,” said Weather.

The sound of a distant helicopter caught their attention, Unicorn didn’t need to look, more than likely sure that it was Namby and her crew come to cover the fight. The sun finally crested over the horizon, chasing the darkness of night away, and bathing the sky in warm orange hues, a new day was dawning on the city, and for Sunset.

Without warning, Weather released a lightning bolt that sailed towards Unicorn. The magical Rider didn’t move an inch as the bolt continued to get closer. At the last second, a songful screech echoed as a flaming bird swooped in and intercepted the attack, dispelling it before it even reached Unicorn. Weather and Ocean got into defensive positions as the firebird flew around Unicorn before resting in her hands. The construct of the firebird flickered away, revealing the Phoenix Ascender.

“That thing again? Don’t embarrass yourself,” said Weather. “That hunk of junk didn’t save you last time.”

“It’s not junk, it just wasn’t finished yet.” Unicorn looked upon the Phoenix Ascender, feeling the magic of all her friends and girlfriend contained within it. “But it is now!” Unicorn folded the wings of the device, causing the eyes to glow.

\^/ PHOENIX! \^/

Unicorn took out her Shining Memory and pressed the button.

< SHINING! >

Unicorn inserted the Shining Memory into the Phoenix Ascender, she raised it overhead with her left hand, making the Dopants flinch at what was to come, everyone watching with baited breath at what their resurrected hero was going to do. With her resolve affirmed, Unicorn connected the Phoenix Ascender to the Uni-Driver. The Unicorn Memory and the Shining Memory, exploded with a surge of unleashed magical power.

{\^/} AAAAAASCEEEEENNNNSIONNNNNN!!! {\^/}

A circle appeared behind her with six points of light colored white, yellow, orange, blue, purple, pink, and a seventh one that stood at the center, which was red. Wings of fiery light extended from the circle and wrapped around Unicorn. Within the fire a transformation was taking place, Sunset could feel it deep in her soul.

The turquoise color of the armor had vanished, becoming pure white. The armor around her shins, up to her knees was fitted with golden plates, gold wings that had the tips painted red extended from the ankles. Going up to the Driver, the Mimetic Drive port transformed, becoming a holster as seven new Gaia Memories materialized into individual slots. The armor around the hands was a light-teal color, and going up to the forearm, showed the top half had gold armor plating, the image of a phoenix rising from the flames was molded onto it. Further up, her shoulders were protected by oval shaped pauldrons, which had the image of a sun emblazoned unto them.

The chest armor had a heart etched in gold, and etched inside that heart, was the circle that had appeared behind Unicorn. Outside the heart, more gold, etched lines radiated out from the heart, mimicking rays of light. The armor mesh that protected the gaps in the armor was a pale pink color which shimmered in the light. The helmet had changed, the aquamarine compound eyes had changed to turquoise, and across the helmet was a red line. The wing frills on the sides of the helmet had become a blazing red color, and Unicorn’s horn was no longer a turquoise crystal, but had become a pure diamond that was protected by a gold casing. On the back were two round disks that had sun images molded onto them, the disks were released from the back, and along the edges, particles of light were released until they solidified and created wings of light.

The fire and light that had surrounded Unicorn through the transformation dispersed in a shower of red and gold feathers of light, along with sparkles of her turquoise light cascading around them. Unicorn was a couple of feet off the ground, but when she finally touched down, the disks ceased the creation of the wings of light and returned to their resting position on her back. Unicorn had, at long last, achieved her final form.

Weather and Ocean stared wide eyed at this new form, not only because it was such a drastic change, but because of the power they could feel emanating from it.

“Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, Magic, and Empathy! The Magic of Friendship, forever burning bright!” Unicorn struck a pose and at the same time, the same magic circle appeared behind her. “Kamen Rider Unicorn: Day Dreamer!” The circle erupted with power, creating an explosion behind the hero as her compound eyes and horn glowed, while this happened, Unicorn raised her right hand and pointed a finger at the Dopants before her. “It’s time to restore harmony.”

Unless the Dopant was created to do so, it was almost biologically impossible for one to sweat, but right now, you could swear that both were sweating bullets.

“Adagio, this magic, it feels the same as–!”

“DON’T SAY IT!” Adagio shouted. “So, what if she achieved a new form, it’s still using that same Gaia Memory, which means all we need to do is run out the clock like last time!” Despite the fact that it feels like her magic’s evolved to that of an alicorn!

Weather didn’t hold anything back, unleashing twin lightning bolts straight for Unicorn. The ascended Rider didn’t even move, the bolts struck her, exploding the area around Unicorn, and obscuring her from sight. Weather didn’t let up as she fired a barrage of bolts right at that spot. Ocean joined by firing aqua spheres filled with her dark energy, the twin barrage kicked up a large dust cloud, completely covering that area in a thick cloud of black smoke.

Both Dopants stopped and waited. They didn’t wait long as a strong gust of wind blew the smoke away, revealing Unicorn, unscathed.

Unicorn’s horn flashed, disappearing in an instant. Unicorn reappeared behind Ocean, backhanding her with her fist, and sending the Ocean Dopant flying into the side of a building. Weather saw this and threw a fire laced punch at her, but Unicorn caught the punch with her left hand, sending a surge of magic to that hand to nullify the flames surrounding Weather’s fist.

Weather growled and threw a kick at Unicorn striking her in the midsection, but she didn’t even flinch. Ocean burst out from the hole she made in the building and lashed out with a flurry of punches and kicks. Unicorn dodged them, but when Weather joined in, she resorted to dodging and blocking.

It was so strange for her, their movements were slow, and predictable, more than likely due to the power up, her perception was heightened. Unicorn saw an opening when Weather went for a haymaker, and Ocean readied for a kick. With her enhanced speed, Unicorn kicked Weather in the gut, and in that split second, spun around and delivered an elbow strike to Ocean’s gut. Both Dopant’s released sparks from the points of impact, sending them reeling back as they tried to stay standing.

“You need to stop now, this is a battle of attrition,” said Unicorn.

Weather stood tall, still weakened from the blow. “Ha! You’re only saying that, because your time limit draws near! Don’t think I haven’t been keeping count!” Weather held up three fingers and curled each one in succession. “Three…two…one!”

The time limit had been reached, but nothing changed, Unicorn was still in her Day Dreamer form. Which more than unsettled the two Sirens.

“What the actual hell?! Why haven’t you changed back?!” Ocean demanded.

“I’ve ascended past that, I’m no longer constrained to a time limit. Do you understand now, you can’t win?”

Weather and Ocean growled as both of them took to the skies, the disk panels on Unicorn’s back popped out and generated the wings of light as she jumped up and flew after them. Once in the air, Unicorn used her right index and ring finger to draw a circle of light before her. She reached into the circle and a hilt formed, as she closed her hand around it, the circle shined and took on a new form.

The blade was made of a gold alloy, with a black line that ran along the center of the blade. The ring, which encircled the hilt, was white as snow, but on the outer edge of the ring were seven open slots, each deep enough to house a Gaia Memory. This was her Halo Blade.

Ocean created her water blades and crossed swords with Unicorn, the Halo Blade clashed with the water blades, creating sparks with each successive parry. Weather channeled her dark magic and elemental power, summoning forth gale force winds as she condensed them with each passing second between her hands. When the condensing was done, Weather unleashed in a blast of tornadic winds that roared towards Unicorn. Ocean bailed out of her fight, retreating to a safe distance as the attack grew closer. Unicorn took out a white Gaia Memory from the holsters, which had a letter “G” stylized by diamonds and inserted it into the top slot on the right side.

)O( GENEROSITY! AWAKEN! )O(

Unicorn held the Halo Blade before her, and immediately a wall of diamonds formed before her. The tornado blast struck the diamond shield, stopping it in its tracks as it struggled in vain to try and reach its target. Ocean growled and fired her high-pressure water blast at Unicorn’s back, but the diamond shield formed behind her as well. Unicorn took out another Gaia Memory, blue in color, with the image of an “L” shaped like a wing and inserted it into the middle slot on the right side.

)O( LOYALTY! AWAKEN! )O(

A blue aura appeared around Unicorn, and in the next moment, she became a blur. The high-speed power of the Memory got Unicorn close to Weather before she even noticed her. Unicorn slashed at her side once, and then sped over to Ocean before striking her in the back. Unicorn stopped and both Dopants cried out in pain as the delayed reaction from the attack caught up to them. Both Dopants looked up, seeing Unicorn had attacked at an insane speed that they couldn’t even see.

Unicorn began taking out each of the different Gaia Memories. An orange one with an “H” in the form of two strong arms and a golden apple. A pink one with an “L” in the shape of frosting, yellow with a “K” formed of different paw prints, purple with the letter “M” formed with twinkling stars, and the last one, which was red and had an “E” in the shape of flowing flames.

)O( HONESTY! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( LAUGHTER! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( KINDNESS! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( MAGIC! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( EMPATHY! AWAKEN! )O(

Unicorn took her left hand pressed down on the wings, when they clinked together twice, the Ascender’s eyes shined.

}\^/{ HARMONY! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }\^/{

An aurora of colors lit up the black line that ran through the golden blade, a ball of sparkling azure light surrounded Unicorn, and in the next moment, burst into a blinding light that created an alicorn of light, its mane was a rainbow, and its horn glowed bright white.

Weather and Ocean’s eyes blazed with the dark magic that they had gathered within them, they would not be beaten again, not by this, not again. Weather channeled the elements of wind, water, heat, and lightning, condensing all of it and mixing it with her dark magic. Ocean did the same, gathering water particles and combining it with dark magic, turning the water into dark water that glowed with violet light at the center. Both the Siren Sisters released a primal roar as they fired their two attacks, their dark energies called out to each other, combining into one monstrous beam attack that threatened to swallow the city.

Unicorn swung her sword around, and got into position, at the same time, the alicorn construct neighed loudly as it flapped it’s wings a reared its head back. When the attack was close, Unicorn’s eyes and horn shined bright in tandem with the alicorn construct’s.

“RAINBOW BURST!!!”

The construct released a loud neigh as Unicorn thrust her sword forward, a beam of intense rainbow light shot forth from the blade and through the construct’s horn. The two beams crashed against each other, creating a mighty shockwave that no doubt registered on any local or far away seismographs. The Sirens were struggling against the rainbow beam, but they would not let themselves be defeated, they had come too far and regained too much to let it all be for nothing, again.

Unicorn closed her eyes for a moment, reaching out with her magic, seeing the haze of darkness that covered two lights, they were small, almost struggling to stay lit. The ascended Rider released a loud battle cry as the construct’s eyes narrowed. The beam tripled in size, overpowering the Sirens’ combined attack. The rainbow beam flooded Weather and Ocean’s vision before washing over them like a tsunami. The beam surrounded both Dopant’s until it formed a rainbow heart and wings around them.

Unicorn dismissed the construct, spinning her sword around in her right hand and flicking downwards as she placed her left hand against her hip. “Harmony restored!”

At this proclamation, the rainbow heart exploded like some kind of fireworks show, before one last explosion went off with a golden hue. Within the explosion, dark embers could be seen being burned away until there was nothing left. Unicorn quickly reached out with her left hand and released a wave of telekinetic magic. Four orbs formed in the air, two showing the silhouettes of two girls, and the last two, which were smaller, were carrying the Weather Memory and Ocean Memory.

Unicorn spotted the CCNN news helicopter in the distance, no doubt Namby captured the entire fight. The superhero raised her left hand and threw up a “V” for victory sign with her fingers in the direction of the news copter. A roaring chorus of cheers could be heard erupting from the city below, the citizens declaring in one voice their praise and happiness for the return and victory of their hero, Kamen Rider Unicorn.

***________________________***

Case Report: Weather Dopant & Ocean Dopant

These last two days were the most terrifying and exhausting I’ve ever had to go through in my life. Not only did enemies from my friends’ past show up again, but two of them wielded Gaia Memories and dark magic. The combination of that and their previous physiology, granted them power and strength above that of normal users. The subjects, Aria Blaze and Adagio Dazzle were the users of these Gaia Memories respectively, they had a vendetta against Sunset and my friends, and trained for the day that they may return and defeat them.

Adagio and Aria came pretty close to doing so……we…I…Almost lost Sunset. I blamed myself for the Phoenix Ascender not working, but it turns out there was more to the device I built than just what I believed it designed to be. The Princess me showed me that, and in so doing, I found my link to the magic, and banished that part of me no, I have to use her name. Midnight Sparkle, she still resided in me, which was one of my greatest fears since I was saved by Sunset. But now, thanks to my friends, and Sunset, I was able to banish Midnight from my mind and soul, I am me, and no one else.

Thanks to this, the Ascender saved Sunset, and with it, she was able to not only defeat Adagio and Aria but save them as well. After cleansing them of dark magic, Adagio and Aria apologized for what they had one, even going so far as to bow before Sunset and request her forgiveness. Sunset was, to say the least, a little embarrassed about being bowed to, old Equestrian habits seemed die hard for those three sisters.

Sonata Dusk and Pinkie Pie somehow became friends through this whole ordeal. Adagio and Aria still felt terrible for what they had done, but Sunset and the girls were willing to put this behind them. Part of me wants to hate them for almost killing Sunset, but I can’t. I know full well what magic can do to you if not prepared, and they had dark magic running through them and the Gaia Memories, which only corrupted them further. Forgiveness is a part of friendship, so I will give them a chance.

On that note…I HAD MY FIRST KISS WITH SUNSET!

Sunset smirked at Twilight as she watched her type down her usual case report. When Sunset returned to the hospital after the battle, she was greeted by a barrage of angry protests about her sneaking out, combined with jubilant congratulations about defeating and saving the Sirens. By the order of Ms. Harshwhinny, she recommended Sunset stay another night just to make sure everything was alright and informed her she would come back later after freshening up. The rest of the girls decided to do the same, with Windy and Bow driving Rainbow Dash home, no doubt tired.

Princess Twilight and Starlight managed to use their magic to keep anyone from entering the room while she was gone, and Sunset professed her thanks to both of them. Princess Twilight bopped Sunset on the head, “Only because I couldn’t do it to your snout because you don’t have one!” she had argued, and then proceeded to hug Sunset fiercely, happy to see her friend and old(?) crush alive. Starlight also hugged her and called her crazy after everything she did. Both Equestrians decided to head back to their world, there was still some business to attend to, but promised they’d keep the journal close in case of any new developments.

Now, Sunset and Twilight were alone, the former sitting back in the hospital bed, while the former typed. Sunset smirked and said, “Why don’t you finish that up in a little bit, and come over here?”

Twilight blushed, smiled, and closed the laptop before proceeding to join her girlfriend in the bed. Sunset scooted over to allow her girlfriend to lie down next to her, Twilight ended up resting her head on Sunset’s shoulder as she curled up next to her, both girls looking up at the television which was replaying the battle nonstop, with panels of experts critiquing the fight, as well as interviews with the people about how grateful they were to the Kamen Riders who fought, especially Unicorn and her triumphant return.

The young genius glanced up at her girlfriend and heroine and smiled blushingly. “Sunset Shimmer…I love you.”

Sunset looked down at Twilight and hugged her tight to her side. “I love you too, Twilight Sparkle.”

Both girls shared a quick kiss, nothing passionate, just a quick peck of the lips, enough to convey their feelings in this moment. There was a knock at the door which drew their attention, the door cracked a little and showed Starlight Glimmer of Earth.

“Oops, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” said Starlight.

“No, no, it’s okay, come in,” said Sunset.

Starlight entered and closed the door, Twilight sat up and walked over to Starlight and extended her hand towards her. “I want to thank you, Starlight, for all your help with Sunset.”

The slightly older version of the Equestrian they knew shook Twilight’s hand with a smile. “I consider you girls my friends, of course I would help. And knowing Sunset’s situation, proper medical care would be an issue considering you’re not from Earth.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she chuckled, “Yeah, kinda, but I don’t get sick, so it’s limited to major physical injuries, like the ones I just got.”

“Well, if that ever happens again – which I pray to gods it doesn’t – I have you listed as special case here to receive medical care at no charge, and no records other than what is needed,” said Starlight.

Both girls blinked.

“You, don’t have to do all that,” said Sunset.

“No, I don’t, but I want to.” Starlight smirked in a manner that oozed authority.

Twilight shrugged. “Guess we can’t argue with that.”

“Oh, by the way, are you in need of any financing? I know school will be starting up soon, and I can make sure you have all you need,” said Starlight.

Sunset smacked her forehead. “Okay, now you’re just spoiling me.”

The girls all shared laughter within the room, it was a new day, and the blossoming of Sunset’s and Twilight’s relationship. However, unbeknownst to the three, someone was watching from the hallway, a young girl with grass green hair looked on with resentment.

Q: Quarrel Over / Reputation

View Online

Canterlot City was like any other city, it had its good places, a lot of them, and very few of the bad. Those kinds of places had declined sharply in the recent arrival of the Kamen Riders and Dopants. The criminal element knew that the Riders mostly focused on the monsters that attacked the city and threatened the people, but they also knew that heroes like that wouldn’t just standby and only fight the monsters, at some point they too would be sought after, so the streets had become effectively much safer.

Now there was a rougher section of Canterlot known as Caddy Corner, mostly because it was a corner of the city that was low income and sparsely patrolled, making it a good spot for criminals and others who wanted their less than legal activities seen. In the day it wasn’t too bad, but at night it was a little more dangerous. Which was why most people who didn’t have any business being outside at night stayed inside.

Take one woman for example, walking about in a black trench coat, high heels that clacked against the pavement, and broad black hat. The woman was eyed by every teen wannabe gang member and ne’er-do-well that was out. The woman, on the other hand, couldn’t care less for it. She was here on business, and if her cards played out right, these teens would be the ones to worry about her.

The woman rounded the corner and entered an alleyway, without her knowing, several of the gang teens that were loitering about the streets were following her, always looking for easy money. Once she was a good five feet into the alley, the teens banged their fists against the closest metal object to gain her attention. The woman quickly spun around and yelped at the approaching ruffians.

“You’re not from around here, are ya lady?”

“Because anyone who is would tell ya it ain’t smart to be out here at night.”

“Not unless yer packin’ some heat, but it don’t look like ya are.”

“Keep away from me you lowly troglodytes!” the woman shouted.

The three teens laughed.

“Trog what? Look at her talkin’ all high and mighty,” said the teen with a mohawk.

The three teen boys all pulled out switch blade knives, and ran them across the brick walls, making sparks that cast menacing shadows on their faces. The woman backed up more and more until she realized that the alley was a dead end. Just before they got near her, the air between them became distorted, and in the next moment, a being appeared. The teens backed away as a yellow creature appeared, the Luna Dopant.

“Please leave, now!” The boys went pale, dropped their knives and ran out of the alley screaming in terror. The Luna Dopant turned around and looked at the woman who he had just saved. “I don’t know why you agreed to come to such a place for this deal, you could’ve been injured before I even arrived.”

“I didn’t know black market dealers cared about their clients that much, oh wait, never mind, I’m you’re just worried about the potential loss of money. Correct?”

The Luna Dopant rubbed the back of his long head with his stretchy arm. “No, it’s not really that, but yes, my supplier would be angry if a candidate did get harmed before the exchange was done.” The Dopant stretched its right hand towards the woman and opened it, revealing a gold colored T1 Gaia Memory. The image at the center was an “I” made of bones that were fractured. “As you requested, per your payment, a high-quality device for your use.”

The woman quickly grabbed the device, looking at it with an evil gleam in her violet eyes. The woman pulled down at her collar and pressed the Gaia Memory against her neck, but nothing happened. “Is this thing defective?! I should’ve transformed into a monster!”

Luna titled its head curiously. “It won’t work without a connector.” Luna waved its left hand in the air and produced a gun-like object. “I need to print a tattoo onto you, it’s specially laced so that once it makes contact with the device, it will fuse with you and grant you its power. I just need to know where you want it. I would suggest someplace that can be easily covered up.”

The woman rolled up the sleeve on her left arm and presented her forearm. Luna stretched his arm over to her and pressed the barrel against her skin. Luna pulled the trigger and said, “You seem to have some knowledge of these devices.”

The woman looked at the Gaia Memory and then grimaced. “Let’s just say I’ve had an encounter with a similar device once before.”

Luna brought his hand up to his ear – or where his ear would be – and stepped away for a minute.

“This is Luna D.”

[Party Favor did you sell that Injury Memory yet?!] The voice of Starlight Glimmer shouted.

“Y-Yes, I did! Sorry it took so long, I–!”

[RETRIEVE THAT MEMORY IMMEDIATELY!!!]

“Wait what?!”

< INJURY! >

A bright flash of light erupted from the alley, and from there, the sounds of a furious battle.

***________________________________***

“You ready to do this, Sparky?” Sunset asked, using her girlfriend’s pet name.

“Uh…yes and no…Mostly yes because I really don’t want to have to keep hiding this from them, and no because I’m also afraid of what they might say,” said Twilight.

Sunset and Twilight were parked around the corner, one turn away from getting onto the street where Twilight’s house was. After the battle with the Sirens, and Sunset almost going to meet the All Mother Faust – as Sunset put it – Twilight decided that now should be the time that they make it official, with her parents anyway. Twilight had long lamented this day, and at the same time, wanted to get it over with. Part of her rational mind knew that her parents were not the kind of people to just outright reject their relationship, but at the same time her fears and anxiety failed to heed to logic and made her imagine all kinds of worst-case scenarios.

“Twilight Andromeda Sparkle! I can’t believe you…you would be with another girl?! What will the family think?! What will our colleagues think?!” The voice of Night Light echoed.

“I never raised my daughter in such a way! I thought I did everything right! Sure, you could’ve used more friends and I was afraid you’d end up just like most of history’s greatest thinkers, alone with no one! But to think all this recluse behavior would encourage you to-to – I can’t even look at you” said the voice of Twilight Velvet.

“Oh no, no little sister of mine is going to be associated with a known thug and manipulator! I appreciate that she saved your life when that monster attacked us, and being your best friend is one thing. But your girlfriend is completely out of the question!” The authoritative voice of Shining Armor ranted.

That last one seemed more plausible than she’d liked to admit. Twilight was starting to think that this was a bad idea. Sunset knocked her helmet against Twilight’s, making the brainy girl snap out of her internal dilemma.

“I can smell the gray matter burning whenever you’re overthinking something, it’ll be fine,” said Sunset.

Twilight released a sigh as her shoulders slumped. “I know, but I’m still nervous.”

“Not saying you don’t have to be, just saying don’t go in thinking the worst. You ready then?”

Twilight nodded her head.

Sunset revved the engine and made the turn onto the street. Both girls pulled up into the driveway where Sunset parked her bike out of the way. After dismounting the girls stood before the door, Twilight fished out her house key and opened it. Stepping through the threshold,
Twilight called out, “Mom, Dad?”

Twilight Velvet, or Velvet as she liked to be called, walked into the living room from her little office.

“Oh, Twily, and Sunset, welcome! Twilight, you should’ve texted me that you were bringing a friend over, I would’ve made snacks or something.”

The bespectacled girl rubbed her left arm nervously. “Um, sorry, but I kind of need to talk to you and Dad, is he here?”

Just as Twilight asked that, the sound of a car pulling up caught their attention.

“Oh, perfect timing,” said Velvet.

“Yes…Perfect timing.”

Sunset patted her paramour on the shoulder.

“Breathe, Twilight, just relax.”

Both girls took a seat in the living room while Night Light came in and gave Velvet a light kiss on the lips before entering. “Oh, Sunset’s here.”

“Yes, and Twilight would like to talk to us, it sounds pretty urgent.” Velvet and Night Light sat down in the couch across from the two teens, both had concerned looks on their faces when they noticed how Twilight was fidgeting with the hem of her skirt, alternating between that and stroking a lock of her hair. “Twily, what’s the matter?”

Twilight gathered her nerves, took one look at Sunset, and then turned to her parents. “Mom, Dad, I…I wanted to tell you that, Sunset Shimmer, she’s more than just my best friend. She’s…She’s my girlfriend! I love her, I love Sunset Shimmer, and I know she’s a girl and I didn’t know I liked girls like that, but I do! I really, really love Sunset!”

Sunset blushed heavily at the confession, especially with how loud her girlfriend was during the confession she just blurted out. She looked to Night Light and Velvet, gauging their reactions. Both parents were staring wide eyed at their daughter, and then at Sunset. After an awkward silence that seemed to drag on for minutes, Night Light slapped his knee and chuckled.

“Finally, honey, you owe me ten bucks!” Night Light stated.

Velvet huffed. “Oh, please, you couldn’t have really known they were together. That’s just the perverted side of the male brain trying to infer more than just platonic love between two girls and wanting to see it as romantic.”

“Maybe, maybe not, either way, cough it up honey.” Night held out his hand in a curled in his fingers in a “give me” motion.

Velvet rolled her eyes and walked into her workroom to grab the aforementioned ten dollars. Twilight and Sunset were noticeably confused.

“Um…w-what just happened?” Twilight asked as her eye twitched in confusion.

“Oh honey, we kind of figured that was the case,” said Night.

Twilight shook her head as she ran her hand through her hair. “B-But how?! I never kissed Sunset in front of you! Never held hands or did anything that would implicate or signify that we were in a romantic relationship!”

Velvet returned with the ten bucks and placed it in her husband’s hands as she took her seat. “Well it wasn’t so much the glaringly obvious, so much as the small things. Out all your friends that you talk about, your voice tends to get a little higher pitched and giddy when you talk about her.”

“And there was the time when Sunset took the time out of her own day to come and help your mother nurse you back to health. Some friends would go that distance, but sometimes not.”

“And then there was that awful attack on our house, and Sunset putting herself in the line of fire,” said Velvet.

Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she blushed from the recanting of their subtle shows of affection. “W-Well, I mean, we’re friends, wouldn’t it make sense for me to try and protect her?”

“Yes,” Velvet nodded, “but it was in the way you did it. No hesitation, and without a second thought for your own safety. I kind of leaned towards romantic as well, but I didn’t want to put all my cards on that.”

Night Light smirked. “Bet you wish you did now~”

Velvet gave Night a light jab with her elbow into his ribs.

“So…Y-You’re both okay with me dating Sunset, being lovers and everything?” Twilight asked still worried.

Night Light and Velvet nodded with smiles.

“Of course, we are, why wouldn’t we be?” Velvet asked.

“W-Well the topic never really came up in my life, I know we had ‘the talk’ a little early since I discovered all those biology books – and that’s a story for another day Sunset,” Twilight saw Sunset’s telltale smirk forming and proceeded to cut off any embarrassing questions regarding that. “But we never addressed whether or not attraction to the same sex was something that was not allowed or something you were open to…”

The two adults lightly chuckled.

“On that we could’ve done a better job of elaborating on. I guess we just assumed that you would be okay telling us or that we made it clear enough that we would support you no matter who you loved,” said Velvet as she got up and walked to kneel beside her daughter. “For that we apologize, if we knew that it was going to cause you such an internal conflict…”

Twilight turned to her mother and shook her head. “No, no, I mean…I still think I would’ve been confused and thinking it over a lot, even if we did. Considering I wasn’t the most sociable of people…”

Sunset placed a hand on her love’s shoulder. “But don’t forget, Crystal Prep didn’t exactly encourage relationships, friendly or otherwise. Which only made, or helped depending on your point of view, you focus more on your studies.”

Night Light and Velvet regrettably nodded, as much as they loved that their daughter excelled in her pursuit of knowledge, they often worried about her social growth, and while Crystal Prep did have a reputation of bringing out the best in the students, it wasn’t exactly a place to make friends due to the competitive nature that they instilled in their students. Shining Armor did pretty well and did manage to make a few friends that he still talks to. But they never really worried about him too much, he was a big strapping young man and was always on the side of justice, knowing what was right and wrong and never yielded that sense of justice for any reason, peer pressure or not. However, the same could not be said of Twilight, she pursued knowledge to the exclusion of all other things around her, and unfortunately that could come off as being a snob, or disinterested, or better than everyone.

“The important thing, Twily, is that you’re happy. And personally speaking, Miss Shimmer has been quite the good influence on you, and quite the catch if I may say,” said Night Light.

“DADDY!” Twilight shouted in embarrassment.

“Sorry, Mr. Light, but I’m taken,” said Sunset as she wrapped an arm around Twilight.

Night Light shrugged. “Oh well, guess I’ll have to settle for the prettiest girl in the room then, right, Velvet?”

The older woman rolled her eyes, but smiled at the compliment anyway. Twilight blushed at the embarrassing banter between her parents, while Sunset happily chuckled at the display. At that time the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway caught their attention, followed soon after by the entrance of both Shining Armor and Cadance. The fuchsia pink woman immediately zeroed in on the younger girl, with the latter getting up to hug her former babysitter/Dean/first girl crush. But Sunset doesn’t need to know about that.

Shining Armor smiled at the interaction between his little sister and his girlfriend, but his mood soured, albeit slightly, when he saw Sunset Shimmer. Now his opinion of her hadn’t changed that much in the last few months. Shining had yet to fully forgive Sunset for leaving his little sister alone in that mall when the Key Dopant attacked. And although she did risk her life to save her when the Claydoll Dopant attacked their home to save Twilight from getting shot at, he still felt a bit of skepticism regarding her actions and intentions with Twilight.

“So, what’s going on here?” Cadance asked.

Velvet giggled. “Oh nothing, just that now both of my babies have found their special someone!”

Cadance’s eyes went wide to match the smile on her face as she glanced between Twilight, Sunset, and back to Twilight. “NO! You mean, you told them?! You two are really?!”

Twilight nodded sheepishly, but also with a hint of pride and a blush.

Cadance enveloped her former charge with a near bone crushing bear hug, and smushed her face against Twilight’s as she gushed over this development. “Oh, thank gods! I’ve been waiting for you two to finally make it official! I’m so happy for you, Twily! She’s smart, artistic, and hot to boot, nice catch!”

“Cadance, please!” Twilight uttered in an embarrassed tone.

“Wait…” Shining spoke, “You mean, you two are actually dating? Like, for real dating? Not just friends going somewhere dating?”

Sunset crossed her arms and gave the older brother a pointed look. “That’s generally what ‘officially dating’ means.”

“Is there a problem, son?” Night Light asked with a raised eyebrow.

Shining shook his head. “No, just, surprised is all. Never knew, Twily swung that way.”

Twilight cleared her throat. “T-To be honest, I didn’t know either until a little later. Are you…upset?”

Shining Armor turned around and gave his little sister an incredulous look, and then moved to hug her. “Twily, never! You’re my LSBFF, I’m not going to think of you any differently because you like girls or whatever!” That still doesn’t mean I can’t scrutinize the people she dates. Shining separated from his little sister, who was now sporting a happy, relief filled smile with a few tears in her eyes. “I guess that means we have two things to celebrate then.”

“What’s the second?” Sunset asked.

Cadance smiled and wrapped an arm around Twilight. “I’ve just spoken to the Schoolboard not too long ago and went down there for a meeting. And they unanimously elected to make me the official Principal of Crystal Prep.”

Twilight fiercely hugged Cadance as she said, “Cadance, that’s wonderful! And you definitely deserve it after…well…you know.”

“And I wish I had known sooner,” Cadance bent her knees a little to bring herself eye level with Twilight. “Had I known, I would’ve reported Cinch immediately. She had no right to lord your academic future over your head just win some game!”

Sunset clinched her jaw at the mention of Principal Abacus Cinch, the woman was terrible. She kept the school in a state of constant competition, making it so that the students saw each other not as peers but as rivals. While it did help make Crystal Prep a prestigious school academically, it failed to encourage the students’ social growth. Seeing everyone as a potential rival and opponent was not a healthy mindset for anyone. Even when Cinch’s own daughter tried to instigate change, she was practically cast out of her own home.

“IF I ever see that woman again, it’ll be too soon,” said Sunset.

“On that we agree,” said Shining Armor.

“Well why don’t we all go out for something?! A little celebration for Cadance’s new position and for Twilight snagging herself a girlfriend!” Velvet announced.

“Moooooom,” Twilight groaned in continued embarrassment from her parents.

“I like that, let’s head to that fancy place, the-the Swan Song!” Night Light suggested.

Both parents went to get ready, and Twilight decided to get changed into something a little nicer, and Cadance went up with her to help. Which left only Sunset and Shining, in the same room, alone, with no parents or younger siblings or girlfriends to keep them in check. Sunset stayed in her seat, while Shining Armor approached the couch across from her and took a seat. Both gave each other intense stares, Sunset never had a problem with Shining Armor, not until the Key Dopant incident. Sure, he was riding her when she was Unicorn, but in his defense Shining Armor did not know her secret identity. However, if he did, the young officer would no doubt arrest her on the spot. So, telling him that she didn’t abandon Twilight because she was scared but to go and transform would just land her in jail.

Sunset thought that the older brother of her girlfriend was easing up, but deep down they both still had a bit of resentment towards each other, especially when Shining Armor announced himself as Kamen Rider Trigger and opened up his family to being a target for any criminal or Dopant to come and attack them out of revenge or as leverage against him. That had irritated Sunset on a level.

“So,” Shining began, “you’re really dating my sister.”

“I am,” said Sunset.

“You think you can make her happy?”

Sunset inhaled slowly and exhaled slowly to calm herself. “I want to, and I’ll do everything I can to make sure that I do.”

Shining Armor leaned forward and asked, “And if you can’t?”

Sunset bit her inner lip, she didn’t want to say it, to put that out in the universe, but she was sure in her love for Twilight, sure enough to say, “That won’t happen. But if it does, if that is her decision, I will…let her go.”

The older brother sat up straight as he continued to give Sunset a scrutinizing look. “I’ll be honest with you, Shimmer. I know what you’ve done in the past, I looked up your record the day after that whole monster incident went down at your school. You were manipulative, a schemer, blackmailer, and often times violent. Until about a couple years back during the Fall Formal at that school, you suddenly had a ‘Turn-Heel’ moment and became more active in your school activities that included community service, and other things. Then there was this ‘Battle of the Bands’ thing, and all of a sudden the student body and faculty – with a couple of exceptions – just seemed to forgive you.”

Sunset felt a stab at her heart, recalling her past was always a sore subject that filled her with guilt and remorse. “It wasn’t…It wasn’t like it was just an overnight thing…Someone dear to me showed me how much a of tyrannical bitch I was, and because of that I found myself in a hole.” Metaphorically and literally speaking. “I crawled up from that hole then I remade myself, doing everything I could to earn back everyone’s trust, it wasn’t just overnight, it was gradual, hard, and sometimes frustrating and tear inducing! But I did it and I never want to go back to being that way again. And I will never let Twilight experience that, ever.”

Sunset spoke the truth, whether or not Shining Armor believed her was another story, but she said what she meant, and meant what she said, she would be faithful, one-hundred percent. Damn that book series and its catchy rhymes…

Shining Armor still regarded Sunset Shimmer with suspicion. There was no doubt she could lie her ass off when she needed to and look innocent while doing so, the interviews he did at CHS during that monster incident told him enough to believe that Sunset could be lying to him right now. That was the problem, Shining Armor wanted to believe her, but her rap sheet was just too long.

“We’ll see, just know that for any reason, you hurt Twily, physically or emotionally, I won’t hesitate to come after you. Forget being a cop and a Kamen Rider, this will be just you and me,” said Shining Armor as he leaned forward.

Sunset did the same staring him dead in the eyes. “And I if do, I won’t stop you.”

“Sorry it took so long, Cadance kept insisting that I wear that, ahem, other dress she picked out for me a month back, but I–” Twilight stopped in the middle of the stairwell, peering from her vantage point to the living room and feeling the thick tension in the air as her girlfriend and big brother seemed to be having a staring contest. “Sunset, Shiny?”

Both turned their heads in Twilight’s direction and gave her welcome smiles, which wasn’t helping Twilight’s paranoia of what she had just witnessed.

Sunset stood up and walked over to the stairs, meeting Twilight at the bottom. “You look great, Twi.”

“Thanks…Um, Sunset are you alright?” Twilight asked.

Sunset quirked her head to the side in confusion. “Never better, why?”

Twilight could tell that that wasn’t the case, but she also knew that Sunset was a stubborn girl and would rather take on the problem herself before saying anything. “No, reason…well…did, did Shining Armor give you a hard time?”

“Oh c’mon, Twi, he’s your big brother,” Sunset laughed, “he’s allowed to give me the third degree about dating his little sister. Plus, he’s a cop, so it’s not totally out of the question to go through an interrogation.”

Twilight glanced over her lover’s shoulder to her brother still sitting on the couch, who also waved to her. “And, you’re sure you’re alright?”

Sunset rolled her eyes, then she leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. “Stop worrying, you know I’m made of tougher stuff.” Twilight quickly reached out and took Sunset’s hand, squeezing it tightly. Sunset cursed herself for saying that, it was too soon to quip about something like that, especially considering her near death experience. “Sorry…I-I shouldn’t joke like that.”

Twilight sighed a little shakily and looked up at Sunset. “It’s okay…you came back and that’s all that matters. Just please, remember that you have someone waiting for you at the end of every fight.”

Sunset gently pulled Twilight closer and embraced her as the smaller girl rested her head against Sunset’s shoulder. “I won’t ever forget, babe.”

Shining Armor watched the display from his seated position on the couch, both girls were just out of ear shot, but their actions conveyed a lot of emotion. It still made Shining Armor uneasy to see this, not the whole “my little sister’s a lesbian” thing, that didn’t concern him. What did concern him was the kind of people she would date. Shining Armor always told himself he wouldn’t be that cliché big brother who always scrutinized all his little sister’s romantic choices, at least when warranted. And Sunset Shimmer definitely warranted it, despite her recent actions, Shining had seen too many delinquent kids Sunset’s age that looked like they were on the straight and narrow, but then later found out that it was all a front.

Twilight was still a bit naïve, she not too long ago had no interest in social interaction beyond her family, Cadance, and Spike. Now, after transferring to CHS, she has six – very diverse – friends, and out of those six, one of them ends up becoming her girlfriend in little over a year, and that one just so happens to be the girl who was once known as the Queen Bee, bully, and overall manipulator of the school. Yeah, that wasn’t going to fly.

Sunset and Twilight parted with the former heading towards the guest bathroom. Shining Armor took this chance to approach his little sister, keeping his brotherly smile up as he asked, “You okay, Twily, you look a little upset?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, just recalling a bit of a traumatic event that happened not too long ago…”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “With Sunset, what she’d do?”

“Nothing, she wasn’t feeling well and was in the hospital during that monster attack. I guess I’m still not over it,” said Twilight as she fudged the truth of the situation.

“Oh…is she, alright?” Shining asked.

“Yes, she’s back to a hundred percent, if not better than ever. Still, I worry,” Twilight confessed.

The elder sibling smiled and wrapped an around the younger, bringing her into a half-hug. “I know what you mean, I worry about Cadance all the time.”

Twilight looked up at her brother in confusion. “You worry about her? She’s the Dean – well Principal now – of a school, if anything, considering your profession, she has more reason to worry about you.”

“True, true, no denying that,” said Shining Armor as he nodded his head, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t think about how she’s doing every day while I’m out there. Is she safe at home? Did she make it home? Is she anywhere near where this monster attack is going on? Are there punks checking her out and trying to take advantage of her? Just little things and big things. You just can’t help but worry about someone you really like, even if you knew that they were completely invincible and completely immortal, you’d still find something to worry about.”

Twilight couldn’t help but think how close Sunset was to those descriptions, she was resilient, durable, and stronger than most humans due to her influx of magic, and now that she’s achieved a possible higher state of that with the power of the Phoenix Ascender, there was no telling how much stronger Sunset had become physically as well as magically. Still, like Shiny said, I’ll still find something to worry about.

“Thanks, big brother,” said Twilight as she hugged Shining Armor.

“Anytime kiddo.”

***________________________________***

The Sparkle Family, plus Cadance and Sunset, all headed to a local semi-fancy restaurant. It was one that the family had been to a number of times and could easily recommend certain foods. The table was mostly filled with small talk regarding how the girls were looking forward to their senior year. Both could hardly believe that it was coming, and soon graduation would be around the corner.

Once the food arrived, the talking died down save a few sparse conversations, like with Twilight and Cadance.

“So…have you two kissed yet?” Cadance whispered.

Twilight nodded as a blush overcame her face.

Cadance had to reign her urge to release an elated squeal, but then her eyes narrowed, and her grin became devious. “Have you done…anything else?”

Twilight paused for a moment, swallowed her food and asked, “What do you mean?” Cadance leaned forward and whispered directly into Twilight’s ear. After a few seconds the bespectacled girl’s face was hot enough to roast a marshmallow on. “N-N-No, we, uh, we haven’t…we never discussed those…ahem…kind of activities…”

The older woman smiled gently at her former ward. “That’s fine, so long as you do eventually talk about it. And remember, no means no.”

“Of that, I can assure you, Sunset will never do anything to warrant that situation,” said Twilight with a firmness and confidence in her voice.

Just as the family was enjoying their meal, Shining Armor’s cellphone went off. He quickly took it out and saw that it was PhoenEXE Corp. calling. “Sorry,” he said before getting up and moving to the lobby to talk. “This is Officer Armor, is this you Ms. Glimmer?”

[Oh, great, I caught you! Listen to me Shining Armor, where is your sister right now?]

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow at that question. “We’re all having lunch at a restaurant. Why, what’s wrong?”

[Listen to me carefully, we received reports that there is someone with a device looking for your sister. And they may be stalking her right now!]

“WHAT?!” Shining Armor shouted, loud enough that most of the patrons looked his way.

[Don’t underestimate my company’s intelligence gathering. Look, you need to get your sister to a safe place. Bring her to PhoenEXE Corp, I have bolstered security since the last attack, and it will be much easier to defend than at a police station!]

Shining Armor’s mind was racing a mile a minute, someone was out to get his little sister, and could be close by right now. But who? Who would want to hurt her? Wait, is this because of me? Are they trying to hurt Twily to get to me?! “O-Okay, I’ll bring her and my family down there ASAP!” Shining Armor closed the phone and rushed back to table where everyone was sitting at. “Twily, everyone, we need to leave! Now!”

Sunset’s brow furrowed in concern. “Something bad is coming, isn’t it?”

Shining, reluctantly nodded.

“Twi, let’s go,” Sunset stated.

Before they could all get up, someone screamed into the restaurant, “TWILIGHT SPARKLE!!!”

That voice, it was a voice that Twilight, Sunset, Cadance, nor Shining Armor could ever forget. Their gazes fell on the front door, and there stood the ex-Principal of Crystal Prep, and former parent of Sunny Flare, Abacus Cinch. She wore her old Principal attire, looking as pristine and haughty as ever, but there was a maniacal glint in her eyes that spoke of vengeance.

Cadance was the first to rise up from the table as she glared daggers at the woman. “Ms. Cinch, what is the meaning of this?!”

“Oh look, it’s the little tramp they appointed to as the new Principal, who’s lap did you have to sit in to get my job, hmm?”

Shining Armor growled as his fist tightened.

Night Light sat up from his seat and stared down the woman who caused his daughter such grief. “Now see here, Ms. Cinch, we didn’t press charges regarding your little extortion of our daughter for her sake and your daughter’s, but your daughter is no longer a factor here, we’re more than within our right to do so, especially after that comment. Or did you forget our son’s an officer of the law?”

Cinch scoffed. “Oh yes, Shining Armor, I remember him. Always the do-gooder even back in school! Never could force you to adopt the full competitive nature of the school, the only time you did get competitive was during the Friendship Games, just about the only time I could fully rely on you! But this isn’t about you, it will be about Dean Slut later, but right now, it’s about you, Twilight!”

Sunset shot up and placed her arm across Twilight.

“M-Me?! Why?!” Twilight asked.

“Because of you, the Games were lost! Because of you, and that other hooligan girl next to you, the school whose reputation I had built up, has now become nothing! And because of you, my daughter has adopted a sickening infatuation with another girl! It’s repugnant! And it seems, like a virus, I found patient zero!” Cinch accused as she pointed her finger right at the girl.

Velvet stood up next glared at the former Principal, a stare that Sunset would wager would make even an Ursa Major wet themselves. “See here, Abacus Cinch, don’t you dare insult my daughter, or the person she loves in front of me! Or berate and belittle your own daughter in the same manner!”

Shining Armor quickly got out in front of his mother, fearing that this was the person that Starlight Glimmer had warned him about. “Abacus Cinch, either leave or I’m going to arrest you for harassment, right now.”

Abacus Cinch rolled up her right sleeve, revealing the connector tattoo, a mark that Sunset and Twilight immediately zeroed in on. Cinch then took out the Gaia Memory from her pocket and hovered it over the tattoo. “I’d like to see you try, Mr. Armor.”

< INJURY! >

A yellow light consumed Cinch and blinded others, after a few seconds, the light faded and revealed the former Principal of CPA’s new form. Her body was exoskeletal, with rough shoulder pauldrons and bracers that looked as if they were made of bone, but colored a pale white, her forearms were also covered in thick exoskeletal armor, with boney clawed fingers. The same thick armor covered the knees and everything below it, while another layer covered the thighs in a semi-circle. The chest was comprised of the pale white bones, shaped around where the abdominal and pectoral muscles would be, and on the sides were ribcages. The head was a skull, that had a crack that ran down the middle and over the right eye socket. The body itself was made of a solid dark substance that gave the Dopant form, but within the dark sockets appeared two points of violet light that acted as the eyes.

“Now I’m going to ruin you, as you ruined my life and my career!” Cinch declared.

Shining Armor summoned the T-Driver and place it at his waist, following up with the Trigger Memory.

< TRIGGER! >

“Henshin!”

> TRIGGER! <

An azure electrical field appeared around Shining Armor, transforming him into Kamen Rider Trigger. Trigger dashed straight for the Dopant, tackling it right through the front door and out into the open streets. Both the Rider and Dopant rolled around into oncoming traffic, hearing a symphony of screeching tires and crunching fenders as cars tried to stop before they hit the two brawlers.

Trigger managed to separate himself from the Dopant as he rolled to a stop, quickly shot to his feet, and drew the Chrome Magnum. “Oh-ho-ho, you realize you just gave me a good excuse to give you some righteous pay back for my little sister, right?”

Injury didn’t seem fazed by the threat. “Really now, Officer Armor, is that any way to speak as a policeman?”

“You’re right, actions speak louder!”

Trigger fired three bolts at Injury, the Dopant raised her forearms up as all three shots hit, making sparks fly from the points of impact. However, the skeletal Dopant didn’t receive much damage from the attack. Trigger continued to fire as Injury advanced, but Injury just shrugged off the blasts like they were nothing. She managed to close the distance on Trigger and raised her fist to punch him, but Trigger jumped back in time to miss the blow. As he backed away, Trigger took out the Knife Memory and loaded it into the Chrome Magnum.

< KNIFE! >

|^| KNIFE! ARMED! |^|

The Chrome Magnum shined and transformed into a dagger weapon. Trigger engaged Injury at close range, swiping at her left side with the dagger blade and causing sparks to fly. Unfortunately, it was a minimal amount, his attacks were doing damage, but not enough to slow down the Dopant. This was emphasized as Injury whirled around slammed her fist into the ground as she barely missed him yet again.

Trigger rolled again and quickly stood back up. She’s strong, and fast, but she has no technique. Cinch is just throwing punches, she’s pissed, but not a fighter. On top of that, I haven’t seen if she’s used her powers yet, probably best to end this quick before she has a chance. Trigger cancelled Knife Mode, and opened the slots on the blaster, readying to place the four Gaia Memories that would allow him to enter his super mode.

“Guess that’s long enough,” said Injury.

The left hand of Dopant began to glow as she raised it up and pointed it towards Trigger. “Break!”

Before Trigger could act, a sickening snap echoed inside his body and outside, the Super, Weapons, Action, and Tactics Memories fell to the ground as Trigger yelled into the air as severe pain rocked his left arm, his HUD gave readings that displayed the injured area and stated, [Warning: Radius Fracture.]

Injury took this chance, making its right fist glow as she charged for Trigger and punched him straight in the chest, sparks flew from Trigger’s armor, sending him flying onto his back. Just then, a mark appeared over his chest, outlined in yellow light before disappearing. Injury’s right hand still glowed as she pointed it at Trigger.

“Break!”

Suddenly, Trigger felt his chest erupt with pain as his helmet blared more warnings, this time displaying his ribcage and stating, [Warning: Multiple Rib Fractures. Recommend immediate medical treatment.]

Dammit! Shining cursed.

Injury chuckled in a demure, yet sinister way as she approached her victim. “Behold, the great defender of law and order, I’m certain you’re in a great amount of pain. Compared to Unicorn and Nasca, you’re just a second-rate Rider, quite a shame, I expected more from a Crystal Prep alumnus under my watch. But, I suppose it falls on me to correct that folly.” Injury channeled her energy into both hands as she reached to touch Trigger’s skull.

> UNICORN! <

< SHINING! >

\^/ PHOENIX! \^/

{\^/} AAAAAASCEEEEENNNNSIONNNNNN!!! {\^/}

A burst of fiery red and gold light shined down on the area, and in the next moment, Injury found herself getting struck across the chest and sending her flying into the side of a wall. Injury blinked as she peeled herself off the wall and glared at her opponent, the angelic form of Unicorn Day Dreamer, the final form she took to defeat two powerful Dopants at once.

“I don’t think you’re stupid enough to fight me like this, you’re better off just giving up,” said Unicorn.

“True, but you’re going to let me go nonetheless,” said Injury.

“Give me one good reason!”

Injury pointed at the still downed Trigger. “Because if you don’t treat him soon, one of his broken ribs will puncture his lung and he’ll suffocate to death here on the street!”

Unicorn quickly turned her attention onto the still writhing Trigger, the moment she did, Injury ran away down an alley, and no doubt would slip away when she changed back into Cinch. Fortunately, she made the mistake of revealing her identity, so it would only be a matter of time to find her, but first things first. Unicorn took the Kindness Memory out of its holster and loaded it into the Halo Blade.

)O( KINDNESS! AWAKEN! )O(

Unicorn held the weapon in both hands as yellow light ran up the sword until it collected at the tip. She then pointed the blade right at Trigger as the light began to drift towards him like wispy smoke. The light surrounded Trigger, soothing the pain of his injuries, in a matter of seconds Trigger’s HUD was indicating that the damage he received was being healed, after a minute, the fractures were all mended.

Trigger rose back up, rotating his left arm carefully and taking in steady breaths. But miraculously, there was no soreness, in fact, it was as if the injuries were erased. Unicorn deactivated her Day Dreamer form and returned to her default form, picking up Trigger’s special Gaia Memories and levitating them to him. Trigger took back the Memories and curtly said, “Thanks.”

“Like I told you once before, I’d help to protect your family,” said Unicorn.

“You must be loving this, a second big ‘I told you so’,” Trigger commented.

Unicorn sighed. “You did what you thought was right, and I’m doing what I believe is right. Whether it’s revealing who I am under this armor, or not. You’d better head back to your family.”

With that, Unicorn teleported away.

***________________________________***

An hour and a half later found the Sparkle Family at the PhoenEXE Corp. headquarters. There were cop cars surrounding the building, along with the company’s private security detail, all loaded with anti-monster hardware. They entered the main lobby, where Starlight Glimmer and one of her assistants, Double Diamond, were waiting.

“Oh, thank gods you’re alright,” said Starlight.

“Starlight? You alright?” Sunset asked.

The CEO of the major company quickly composed herself. “Y-Yes, just fine. I was worried when the news broke that there was a fight. Did you manage to figure out who the monster was? Our intel said it was someone with a vendetta against Twilight here, but we never managed to figure out who it was exactly.”

Shining Armor’s fist tightened. “It was Twilight’s old Principal, and Cadance’s former boss, Abacus Cinch, she’s on the run right now,” he then turned to his sister and girlfriend, “but I will bring her in.”

Starlight sighed. “For now, we’ve set up a safe room here, heavily fortified, and with guards roaming the halls at all times, no unauthorized entry will be allowed under any circumstances. The only ones the guards are allowed to let pass is you, Officer Armor.”

Shining nodded. “Alright, I’ll get going.”

“Shiny, wait!” Twilight called out.

“You’re all better off here, Cinch is out for revenge and she’s targeted all of us. She blames Twilight for the Games, Cadance for taking her job, and–”

“SUNNY FLARE!” Cadance called out. “She’s still out there! Cinch will go after her, too!”

Twilight and Sunset fumbled for their phones, checking their messages and MyStable pages.

“She’s on a date with Rarity right now,” said Sunset.

“I’ll call them and tell them what’s happening, maybe Rarity can get her here,” said Twilight.

“No, just have them stay put, tell them what’s happening and text me the location!” Shining Armor ordered as he ran out the door.

A few seconds later the sound of electricity went off and the sound of a motorcycle growing distant could heard.

“Let’s get you all to the safe room,” said Starlight.

Sunset didn’t like this, she understood why she needed to be kept safe, but at the same time it was a massive inconvenience. There would be no way to slip out and transform without attracting attention to her absence, and especially with all the security around. Sunset brought up her contacts and found Rainbow Dash, she quickly sent a text and prayed that her partner would receive it in time.

{Rainbow, EMERGENCY! Rarity and Sunny Flare are in danger! Principal Cinch – former – has a Gaia Memory, it’s called Injury! Hurry and get to them as FAST! FYI, don’t let her touch you when you fight! Stay moving!}

Q: Quarrel Over / My Decision

View Online

Rarity and Sunny Flare were very relaxed, both girls were neck deep in a mud bath, letting their bodies soak in the mineral enriched goo. Thanks to Rarity being a frequent patron of the Canterlot Beauty and Relaxation Spa, the owners, Aloe and Lotus, often gave the aspiring fashionista a large discount, and even more so today when she arrived with her romantic interest, announcing to them that for today, it was all on the house.

“I liked hanging out with the girls on that yacht, but this, this is really relaxing,” said Sunny in bliss.

“Oh, Darling, believe me, I know. I’m glad you had fun on your trip,” said Rarity.

Sunny looked to Rarity with a bit of concern. “Of course, I freaked out a little with what happened here and seeing…” Sunny glanced about the room to make sure that they were alone. “…Sunset get hurt so bad. We were all afraid for Twilight, that girl finally got someone good for her and then…”

Rarity shuddered. “Trust me, Sunny, we were all scared out of our collective minds on that day. The only thing that kept us focused was the danger that those two Sirens were going to level the city. But, in the end, it all worked out, they are no longer evil and are quite the lovely ladies to get to know, and of course, those two finally kissed!” Rarity gave a little squeal of delight at the recanting of her two friends’ romantic gesture.

“No way?! Who kissed who first?! Was it Sunset or Twilight?!”

“Twilight, my dear! It was so romantic, a kiss of promise to return from the field of battle, triumphant in the defeat of evil, and awaiting the love of a fair young maiden!” Rarity gushed.

Sunny’s smile broadened at hearing that. “I really am happy for her, like I said, we used to treat her like crap back at CPA, hearing that she not only has good friends like you, but now a girlfriend who cares about her, protects her, and is as smart as her, transferring to CHS was the best thing for her.”

“Agreed, but do not make light of the changes you and Dean Cadance have been able to instigate. Thanks to you two, and your friends, CPA is on its way to being just as socially reputable as it is athletically and academically,” said Rarity.

Sunny Flare felt her face heat up as she listened to Rarity, she always knew how to lift her spirits. “I’m glad I finally got to be with you, Rarity. I mean…I…” Sunny hesitated. “Why can’t I say it, I’m such a damn coward…”

“Darling, don’t worry about it. It should be said naturally, and without any forcing. I know you care about me, and I you. When you say it, it will be because you feel it is the right time, and when that day comes,” Rarity leaned out of the mud bath to stare at her girlfriend, the thick mud clinging to her alabaster skin, “I’ll return it in kind.”

Sunny leaned out as well and reached out for Rarity’s hand, but the moment she did, the door to their room burst open, revealing the visage of someone that Sunny Flare had never hoped to see again. “M-M-MOTHER?!”

Abacus Cinch glared down at her daughter, her eyes following her arm and hand as it rested on the hand of the girl in the bath adjacent hers. Her face scrunched in disgust at what she was seeing. “Honestly, where did I go wrong?”

Sunny Flare immediately retracted her hand back into the mud, sinking into it as low as it would allow, then cursing when it only came up to her chin.

“I did everything right, didn’t I? I gave you the talk, I know full well you know that nothing can come of this kind of relationship! How can you build a family, when the other person doesn’t even have the necessary equipment?!” Cinch spat with venom.

Rarity watched her girlfriend wince in fear, promptly stood out of the bath, and fixed Cinch with her own piercing glare. “Ahem, to answer your question, there’s adoption, donors, and Twilight was just regaling me about some experimental method that was being worked on for two women to conceive a child. So, despite the fact that I do not have the ‘necessary equipment’, as you say, there many options open for a family to be had. I don’t know how you found us, but if all you’re here to do is harass us I’ll have to call the police!”

Cinch smirked wickedly. “Oh, those simpletons, they won’t be arriving for a while. That is, if those twins can learn how to dial with their chins.”
Rarity glanced behind Cinch and gasped when she saw Aloe and Lotus on the floor, writhing in pain as their arms and legs looked broken. “What…What have you done?!”

“Considering what I’m going to do to the both of you?”

< INJURY! >

“Far less.”

Cinch pressed the Memory into her arm, and immediately transformed into the Injury Dopant. Sunny and Rarity jumped out of the mud tubs and moved as far back into the room as they could. Thankfully the mud was very clingy and preserved some amount of their modesty in this terrifying situation.

“Such an ungrateful daughter, you need some discipline!” Injury stated.

The Dopant lunged for Sunny, but both girls dodged to the sides as Injury smashed into hair dryer chairs. Sunny and Rarity were mad dashing for the door, but Injury quickly recovered, ripping the chair from the floor and throwing in their direction. Rarity and Sunny came to a sliding stop as the chair smashed against the door, barring them exit for the time being.

Injury’s gaze fell on Rarity, she quickly rushed across the room and grabbed the fashionista by the neck and thrust her against the wall, holding her there as she squeezed her throat to keep her from thrashing around too much. “Hmmm, I seem to recall my daughter mentioning you were a seamstress, you love fashion and are quite talented with your hands.”

The Dopant reached down with her left claw and wrapped it around Rarity’s right hand. She squeezed only has hard as she needed to keep a firm grip on it, Rarity glanced down at her hand as she watched the Dopant’s hand glow with bright yellow light, and then after a second released her hand which created skull mark that lingered for a few seconds. Injury reached over and grabbed her other hand, implementing the same light and the released it.

Sunny Flare rushed over to the Dopant that was her mother and pounded on her back as she yelled, “LEAVE HER ALONE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

“Teaching this little seductress, a lesson. that there is a price to pay for her deviant ways and her corruption of your morals!” Injury raised her left hand and the yellow light reappeared once again. “Break! Tear!”

All at once, the room echoed with the sickening sound of multiple bones snapping at once. Rarity released an ear piercing scream of pain as her hands erupted with pain, feeling every small bone that made up their structure snap and crack all at once, but it was more than that, she could feel it, the muscles weren’t responding no matter how much she tried to make them flinch, the only thing that seemed intact were the nerves, and every single one was blaring with pain that radiated up her arms.

Sunny Flare glanced down at her lover’s hands, gasped, and went wide eyed when she saw that the fingers and palm were grossly disfigured due to the multiple bone fractures that the skin tried to contain, the porcelain white skin around her hands was becoming red, black, and blue in stark contrast to the rest of her skin color.

“Now you’ll never sew or draw, or even write again. Not even a skilled surgeon will be able to fix that kind of ligament, muscle, and bone damage. And even if they could, you’d never be able to hold a needle or pen without violently shaking. Sorry to say, your career is over.” Injury released Rarity, letting her fall unceremoniously to the floor as she passed out from the shock. Sunny Flare rushed to Rarity’s side, despite the proximity of her mother. “Now, Sunny, you’ll come with me and once I’m done taking care of some unfinished business, we’ll leave this city.”

Sunny Flare’s eyes were red and puffy with tears, but even so she looked up and glared angrily, and defiantly at her mother. “How dare you…! HOW DARE YOU TAKE THAT AWAY FROM HER! YOU-YOU MONSTER! I’LL NEVER GO ANYWHERE WITH YOU! I’D RATHER DIE!”

Injury’s eyes shined brighter, while the skull didn’t allow for facial expression, the glowing lights in the sockets did. “Young lady, I can simply knock you out and drag you out of here or break your legs and arms. It’s up to you how much pain you want to endure. Or maybe I should just remove all temptation from your life?!”

Suddenly, several energy bolts were fired, destroying the blocked door, and afterwards, several more shots were loosed that forced Injury to fall back from the constant barrage. Trigger had entered the room, but now in his super form, SWAT. Trigger quickly pressed the 4 digit on the rifle and hit “Enter”.

/#\ SUPPRESSOR! /#\

A large bundle of light formed at the muzzle of the Chrome Ultimatum, Trigger aimed and fired bundle. It flew through the air and in a matter of seconds spread out and wove itself into a giant net that fell on the Dopant. Arcs of blue electricity began to discharge from the light net, forcing the Dopant to one knee as she tried to struggle against it. Trigger took a moment to assess the situation, he gulped once when he saw the mud stained girls but was more concerned with the state of one who was unconscious.

“She hurt her, I think she passed out from the shock!” Sunny stated.

“We’ll take her out of here, we need to get you two to the PhoenEXE Corp. building, you’ll be safe there!” Trigger, carefully, knelt down and lifted Rarity, with Sunny Flare taking up the other side. “Miss, I would suggest finding a towel for both of you right now, while she’s down, and hurry!”

Sunny did just that, only now realizing that the only thing barely preserving their modesty was a layer of dark brown mud that had clung to their bodies. Once she had wrapped a towel around Rarity, and then herself, Trigger and Sunny carried Rarity outside. But it wasn’t long before Injury burst out of the Spa from the opposite wall, her violet eyes fixated on Trigger and her two targets.

“You just don’t know when to quit, Mr. Armor,” said Injury.

Before she could get any closer, a streak of blue-green light descended upon them and Injury found herself being slashed from all directions before being kicked away, slamming into a parked car and leaving a body sized impression. When the Dopant looked to see who had attacked her, she growled. Standing with a gleaming golden sword, and mechanical wings that released streams of sparkling blue-green light, was Kamen Rider Nasca in her final form, Star Chaser.

Nasca turned around and looked over Sunny, and then Rarity, noticing the state of her hands. Nasca’s wings flared with greater intensity as she pointed her sword at Rarity and asked, “Did you do that to her?!”

Injury ripped herself from the car, giving it a kick for good measure. “And if I did?”

“I’m going to freakin’–!!!”

“NASCA!” Trigger shouted, gaining the speedster Rider’s attention. “Take this one to PhoenEXE Corp. I’ll take her!” Nasca looked back to the Dopant and then back to them. “Dammit listen to me! You’re faster than any ambulance, she needs treatment and PhoenEXE Corp. has it! Get her there now!”

Nasca – Rainbow Dash – knew this, but she was more than powerful enough to defeat this Dopant now, but then again, Rarity might not have the time for her to finish it, even if she was superfast. With a growl, Nasca sped over to Trigger and took Rarity into her arms. “I can’t take her, she can’t hold onto me with her broken hands, I’ll need both of mine just to keep her from falling off!”

“Take her and go, and I’ll worry about her,” said Trigger as he nodded towards Sunny Flare.

With an understanding nod, Nasca unfurled her wings and in the blink of an eyes shot off towards downtown.

“No more messing around!”

|<^>| 1-2-3-4-5-6, ENGAGE! |<^>|

}<^>{ TRIGGER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }<^>{

“Magna Enforcer!”

Six rings of light appeared around the muzzle of the Chrome Ultimatum, and once formed, Trigger fired the beam as passed through all six, magnified until it was a giant, column sized beam that roared towards Injury. The Dopant was unprepared as the beam washed over her, inside she could feel the power of this attack chipping away at her own power, bit by bit the Gaia Memory inside her was about to fracture and shatter. But something inside Injury wouldn’t let her give in, she wouldn’t stop, not until those who ruined her career, her life, were punished for their transgressions.

In a burst of light, an explosion went off. Trigger ceased his attack, waiting to see Abacus Cinch sprawled on the ground. However, when the dust settled, Trigger saw something worse. Injury was still standing, only now the white bone color of the exoskeletal armor had changed to a dark, shiny gold color, the eyes were now bright red instead of violet. Along the knuckles were spikes and the skull now had long curved horns.

“What the heck…?!” Injury looked upon herself and – metaphorically – smiled at the result of her transformation. Deciding to not stick around and find out what did happen. Trigger slung his weapon onto his back, picked up Sunny Flare, and ran her to his bike. “We’re out of here!”

Trigger revved the engine peeled away as fast as he could.

***________________________________***

A couple of hours had passed since the attack, Rarity was rushed into the medical lab at PhoenEXE Corp. where she was immediately placed into the ICU. After getting Sunny some spare clothes, she patiently waited outside the ICU, with Cadance and Twilight trying to provide comfort to the still distraught Sunny.

Sunset, meanwhile, was seething in anger. Cinch had hurt Rarity in the cruelest way possible, forget the pain of the injury itself, even with months of rehab, Rarity’s hands would never be the same after damage like that, her visions, her creations, would never leave the confines of her mind’s eye. It took everything Sunset had not to just transform now and use the Kindness Memory to heal her, but for now, she needed to be treated.

Another hour had passed and soon one the doctor emerged from the ICU, making everyone turn their heads in her direction. Sunny Flare immediately walked up to the doctor and asked, “How is she?”

“We’ve stabilized her, the shock that was induced from the severe trauma she sustained made her pass out. But she has a steady heartbeat, and has no internal injuries or concussion, so she’ll wake up soon. I’m more concerned about the state of her hands, I’ve…I’ve never seen such…”

“Damage…” Sunset stated.

“More than that, the damage was…precise, every bone was fractured jaggedly, the ligaments, muscles, and the nerves for basic motor function have been torn, the only thing working are the pain receptors from what our test show, she can still feel their pain. We had to give a good dose of pain medication to keep that at bay,” said the doctor.

Sunny spoke next, as much as she tried, she couldn’t keep the anger out of her voice, “What can you do to fix them?! She wants – no – is going to be a fashion designer, she needs her hands to sew and draw! That’s her life, tell us you can fix them?!”

“We administered one of PhoenEXE Corp.’s recent breakthrough technologies. Nanotech. Millions of microscopic robots have been injected into the damaged area of your friend’s hands, and each one is methodically piecing them back together. We’ve also given her a stimulant that increases cellular regeneration, so both combined should heal the injuries, but it may take some rehab time to get them to work properly.”

Starlight nodded, “Thank you, please continue your work, this girl is to have a full recovery, no matter what.” The doctor nodded and went back inside. “How could this have gotten so bad…” she whispered.

Sunset slammed her fist into the wall, “I’m going to make Cinch pay for this!”

“That might be easier said than done,” said Shining Armor as he continued to lean against the opposite wall, his arms crossed and a hard look of contemplation present on his face.

“What do mean, son?” Night Light asked.

Shining looked up and saw the expectant faces of his family. “I hit her with my strongest attack, and then…she just changed.”

Starlight’s head shot up as a serious expression befell her. “What do you mean, ‘changed’?”

“She was colored all bone white, but after the attack, she was like a dark golden color, with spikes and horns, and red eyes, like she evolved or powered up or something,” said Shining. “I hate to admit it, but I going to need Unicorn and Nasca’s help on this one, this is a first.”

No kidding, thought Sunset, a Dopant evolving into a powered-up version of itself…that can’t be good.

“I’m…I’m going to do a check with the security and make sure we’re secured…Excuse me.” Starlight walked off, making Sunset eye her with a hint of suspicion.

“For now, let’s get some rest, we’ve all been through a lot today,” said Velvet.

Sunset walked up to Twilight and gave her hug, which served to reassure Twilight that everything was fine, and secondly to whisper into her ear, “I’m going to follow Starlight, we may never get a chance like this again to verify if she’s…you-know-who.”

Twilight flinched but then returned the hug as she whispered back, “Be careful.”

Both girls separated, and Sunset planted a kiss on her lover’s forehead before heading down the same hallway as Starlight did. Sunset managed to catch up to Starlight, keeping a few feet behind her to allow her target some breathing room, and for Sunset to observe Starlight. The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. seemed to be fuming as she held her cellphone close to her head, and then even more so as she stopped at a wall. Sunset looked around and noticed that there was no surveillance in this dead-end hall. No other doorways or connecting corridors.

Starlight placed her hand against a wall and a green square lit up that scanned her hand like a copier. In less than a few seconds the wall split open, Sunset figured it was some kind of biometric scanner, which meant that even if she knew where it was, getting in it wouldn’t work unless Starlight was with her, which only left the fiery redhead one option.

“Hey, Starlight!” Sunset called out.

Starlight noticeably flinched as she turned and watched Sunset approach her. Despite Starlight’s recovery back to her calm and cool state, Sunset could tell that
she was definitely panicked by the fact that Sunset had caught her. “Uh, uh, oh, Sunset! What, uh, what are you doing here?”

“I just came back to thank you for keeping my friends, and girlfriend, safe from that monster Cinch.” Sunset nonchalantly looked at the secret elevator. “Wow, secret elevator, guess you have some more high-tech stuff down below, huh?”

Starlight’s jaw clinched, Sunset Shimmer was a very intelligent girl, same can be said of Twilight Sparkle. The only difference between them was that Sunset was much more intuitive, Starlight knew that there was no way she could explain this away. I can trust her…she’s…we’re friends…I think, I hope.

“Sunset…there’s something I need to confess to you, but I would like you to hear me out completely before passing judgement, please?” Starlight asked.

Sunset could see where this was probably going, she couldn’t let this chance slip by, and truthfully, she had wished to know what was driving Starlight to create these T1 Gaia Memories. And truthfully, she had no right to judge her as completely evil until she at least knew Starlight’s motives. “Alright, I’ll listen.”

Starlight nodded and entered the elevator, motioning for Sunset to enter. Sunset stood at Starlight’s right side as the doors closed and the machine began to its descent. They rode in silence for a good two minutes, Sunset just watched the display indicate how many levels down they were going.

“You know a lot about magic, Sunset. Have you ever found it in this world?” Starlight asked.

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “It wasn’t here, so far as I know. Or rather, it was, but it’s so faint that it might as well be nonexistent. I…in my hubris and quest for power and recognition…brought back a very powerful magical artifact from my world and into this one. As a result, my friends and I have some connection to that magic, and I can feel it more in this world.”

Starlight nodded. “I discovered something akin to magic, right here underneath Canterlot City a few years back. Rather, I would say it was a vein that connected to that power. It was as if I found a font of infinite knowledge and power, and it was here that I built PhoenEXE Corporation headquarters, to continue studying and adapting that energy.”

Suddenly, the elevator’s walls showed [Camera On]. The walls began to display the outside image of where the elevator was descending, and all-around Sunset could see a vast cavern that seemed to stretch on for miles in different directions. At the center of this vast cavern, was a giant mountain of emerald rock that pulsated. Wires and tubing were connected at the base of the mountain, leading to computers and other machinery where scientists in lab coats were running tests on it.

“That emerald mountain is the vein, the Memories of the Earth. I gained knowledge from it Sunset Shimmer, I was already a prodigy at a young age, but when I touched that, I was opened up to other possibilities, other worlds. It told me how to create devices that could harness these memories, devices that were called Gaia Memories.”

The elevator stopped and then opened up to reveal the full width and height of the cavern. To say it was vast would be an understatement the far end was sectioned off, with a walkway that went right past the mountain, down below there was a security door that led into the next section, which Sunset was certain was where the Gaia Memories were created.

“A few months ago, I received a vision that the Earth would give birth to twenty-six Gaia Memories, ones more powerful than the others, ones that were destroyed in another world and yet reborn in this one.”

“The Emerald Pillar,” said Sunset.

“Correct.” Starlight led Sunset down the walkway, stopping before the Emerald Mountain to gaze upon it. “Those Memories were different from the ones I created here, they had a kind of sentience to them, seeking their perfect compatible hosts.” Starlight reached into her pocket and pulled out the Equal Memory. “Much like this one did.”

Sunset’s eyes widened, there it was, there was the proof that she needed. All of this was one thing, but this was the concrete proof that she was Kamen Rider Equal. Sunset wanted to transform so bad right now, to expose her for the evil person she was to Shining Armor and the whole city, because of her, Rarity was hurt badly, and yet…

“Tell me, Starlight Glimmer…” Starlight winced at hearing her full name, she could already sense the tension in Sunset’s voice. “Are you the one who created the devices that turn people into monsters?”

Starlight, reluctantly, nodded. “They’re called Dopants. There are two types, T1 Gaia Memories are the ones that I have created here in this facility and distribute to…less than savory individuals. The others, the T2s like my Equal Memory, seek out their own hosts, and those I have no control over.”

“So, you sell them to criminals?” Sunset asked.

“Not always, some we just give away.” Starlight turned to Sunset, her eyes gentle and seeking understanding. “Sunset, I make no excuses for what I’ve done, I knew exactly what those people were going to do with them, but understand, I needed the data from each of them, compiling it for…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“Later…I had everything in place, to send them to jail as soon as the data I collected was done, I even accounted for collateral damage and casualty rates…My plan was to defeat each one after their data was collected, and also hunt down those who had the T2s. Then everything changed when Kamen Rider Unicorn appeared. It worked out, actually, letting her take down the Dopants, she always seemed to be drawn to whatever crisis they caused, and was subsequently collecting the T2s, I figured it would be easier to get them from her, but recently…I’ve had to reassess myself,” said Starlight.

“Because of how she got stronger?” Sunset asked with a slight amount of pride.

“That, and the thrashing I and my associates received at the hands of those two girls…”

~***~

The Luna Dopant created multiple copies of each of his comrades, flooding the rooftop with an army of Dopants and Equals. Weather and Ocean were not impressed.

The IceAge and Heat Dopant’s released streams of subzero ice blasts and red-hot flames at the T2 holders. Weather and Ocean created a barrier of wind and water, the flames were hissing at as they struck against the barrier, while the ice blasts were working to freeze the water, but the constantly moving warm winds prevented the ice from forming completely.

Bird flew overhead, her wings glowing as she flapped them, throwing a cascade of feathers on the two targets like arrows. The feathers exploded upon impact, shrouding them in a cloud of dust. The copies all ceased their attacks and waited to see what happened.

Two lightning bolts shot into the air, they performed a double helix before smashing together, and from there, firing off multiple smaller bolts that blossomed in every direction. The smaller bolts pierced through every copy that was around them, dispelling them with ease, unfortunately, the bolts managed to find their marks, hitting the originals. IceAge and Heat were sent flying back, skidding across the roof until they stopped at the edge. Bird tried to maneuver around the attacks, and managed to do so, but was eventually caught in a multidirectional attack that struck her, exploded, and had her going into freefall until she landed next to her teammates.

Ocean glanced about and sent a dense water blasts to a vacant area. Turns out the area was not so vacant as the blasts struck the Luna Dopant again and again, causing sparks to fly from his body as he rolled across the rooftop to the edge. Ocean formed her water blade and lunged for Luna, prepared to end him. However, Equal got between them and blocked her attack with her Staff. The two were locked in place as sparks flew off from the point of contact on the Staff.

“Heh, the big bad villain is protecting her mooks,” Ocean mocked.

“They are my associates, and I would rather not have to look for new ones!”

They are those who are loyal to me, I will not let them fall! Starlight thought.

| LESS THAN: > |

The water blade began to dissolve, causing Ocean to back way as she lobbed many hydro blasts at her. The Reduction Field was working, but for some reason, the blasts were making it through, causing damage. Minor damage, but damage all the same, which shouldn’t be possible.

Heat pointed her hands behind her and released a blast of flames that propelled her across the roof back to Weather, once she was in range, she pointed her hands in different directions and fired. The jet blasts made her spin at rapid speeds as she threw a spin kick at Weather. The elements wielding Dopant created a barrier of wind and water that attacked as a shield to buffer against the hard kick. Heat tried once again, but this time, Weather caught her by the leg, and brought Heat around, slamming the fiery Dopant into the roof hard enough to make her gasp.

Weather raised her left hand to fire a lightning bolt, but her hand was quickly hit with an ice blast, incasing it in solid ice. Weather glanced behind her and saw IceAge ready to go again, but Weather superheated her hand, shattering the ice like fragile glass. Weather summoned heat and lightning into her hands and fired both in a twin helix blast that converged on IceAge, exploding and sending the Dopant flying off the rooftop.

Bird managed to regain consciousness and hurriedly dove down and caught IceAge, hoisting him up into the air. Weather narrowed her eyes as she summoned another lightning bolt, but a beam of red light struck her in the back, causing sparks to fly off her body.

“You really are persistent, aren’t you?” Weather inquired in annoyance.

Equal had shifted into Greater Than, granting her increased attacking power. “I’ve honestly had all I can stand of this battle!” Equal moved her namesake Memory into the right hip port and slammed down on the button.

>} EQUAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The rogue Kamen Rider jumped into the air, her right foot glowing a bright crimson red as she flipped around and dove down into a flying Rider Kick. Weather didn’t even bother to move as Equal approached her, she merely gathered all of the elemental forces she commanded, condensed them into her right fist, and just before Equal got close, dashed out and met Equal’s kick with her fist.

An explosion went off that bathed the rooftop in crimson light, blinding everyone for a moment. Once the light faded, the other Dopants were shocked to see their leader on the ground, her armor damaged, the eye piece of her helmet had been shattered, allowing Starlight’s violet eyes to behold the visage of Ocean and Weather.

“Face it, honey, you’re no match against us,” said Weather.

“These Gaia Memories aren’t the only thing we’re packin’ that’s making us stronger. You ain’t got a snowball’s chance in hell,” added Ocean.

“We killed Unicorn and made her sidekick and that cop Rider turn tail and run. What chance do you think you have?” Weather asked in a mocking tone.

Equal looked to Luna, and Luna nodded.

The yellow Dopant clapped his hands together, and soon the entire roof was filled with hundreds, upon thousands of balloon animals. Equal, Bird, IceAge, Heat, and Luna, all made their escape.

~***~

“I should’ve been able to defeat them…but I couldn’t…had it not been for Unicorn, the entire city, and everyone in it would have been killed,” said Starlight as she scowled at the thought. Starlight had noticed that during their entire story, Sunset had remained quiet, it unnerved her, she did respect for this girl standing next to her, and for what she was going to do for her. “Sunset, I know you must see me as a villain, but believe me, I have a reason for all of this.”

Sunset took a deep breath and exhaled slowly as she calmed herself. “You trust me enough to tell me all of this. I’m pretty sure I know why, but I want to hear it from you. Why divulge all of this to me?”

Starlight turned to face Sunset, “Because I want you to know that I never wanted any harm to come to you! When I learned about my counterpart, and steadily, through our interactions, I began to grow attached to you all. When I found out about that woman, I tried to stop the deal from going through, even ordering the retrieval of the Memory, but she hurt my associate, and got away.”

Sunset moved closer to Starlight. “You’re the one who called Shining Armor and told him to get us here. Tell me something, are you protecting us because I’m the only one who can grant you a chance to see Sunburst again? And having my friends hurt or killed because of your actions would make me forbid you from ever reuniting with him?”

Starlight opened her mouth to deny that claim, but she couldn’t, she was already this far in, what was one more inch? “The selfish part of me says yes, but the part of that genuinely cares about you all says no. I consider you and Twilight my friends, I haven’t met many who can stand on equal footing with me as far as intelligence, and here you two are.” Starlight moved closer to Sunset and rested a hand on Sunset’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, and I promise I will take down that Dopant, Unicorn or no Unicorn, I’ll make her pay for what she did!”

Sunset took another deep breath and sighed. She gently removed Starlight’s hand and stood back. “If we’re being honest, then I have to be honest too.” Sunset reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the Unicorn Memory. “Starlight Glimmer, Kamen Rider Equal. I am Kamen Rider Unicorn.”

Starlight stood stunned as she looked at the object in Sunset Shimmer’s hand, the Unicorn Memory. All these months, all this time, the girl beneath the armor who had been combatting the Dopants, who had stood against her, was the very girl whom she had come to call – or had hoped to regard as – a friend. Starlight took a step back, shaking her head as she did so, as if to try and dispel the notion that this was true.

Sunset only looked upon her with a solemn and sad expression, she could tell that Starlight was in disbelief of this situation, but it could not go untold for so long. “Now that you know who I am, what do want to do now?”

“Please tell me this is a joke…? That you just picked that up off the street, please tell this is a joke?” Starlight almost begged.

Sunset shook her head. “No, it’s not a joke, I am Kamen Rider Unicorn, and you are Kamen Rider Equal.” Sunset lowered the Gaia Memory, and stared directly at Starlight. “Why are you doing all of this, Starlight? You’ve seen the pony version of yourself, I’m sure she’s told you her story, so you must know that whatever plan you’re embarking on will not end well for you or anyone!”

Starlight struck the railing with her right hand, “You don’t know what I’m planning! And yes, she did tell me, and I understand, but it’s not the same, her Sunburst is–!” Starlight cut herself off, she then took a deep breath and calmed herself down. “Just know, I have my reasons, they aren’t just for my benefit. If this works – no – when it works, the world will be all the better for it. The only real question is…what happens now?”

Sunset looked around the chasm, and then at the emerald mountain next to them. “Two things can happen right now, I can transform into my final form and tear this place apart and subsequently end the Dopant threat here and now, and we fight it out, you call on your Dopant henchmen, I fight them, and it all ends with all of us beaten up, probably bloody, and everything in here smashed.” Starlight’s jaw clenched a little. “Or, I just let this go for the time being as I need to deal with the crisis that is Cinch. And for that I’d like your assistance. I assume you were sincere in your wanting to help Rarity and Twilight, can I count on you that you’ll help her?”

“Of course,” said Starlight, “I will help her, I give you my word on that. Although, I assume that you’ll use your power in some fashion to heal her completely later on.”

Sunset smirked. “I will, but right now what you’re doing will ensure that the damage isn’t bad, it’ll make it easier to heal. Now, I need to know why you looked so freaked when Shining Armor said she had changed.”

Starlight took a deep breath, her mind still processing the gravity of this situation. But she did manage to gather her thoughts to explain. “It sounds as if the Injury Memory has evolved or leveled up.”

Sunset shuddered. “Yeah, let’s just stick with evolved, gaming references bring back certain memories.”

The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. looked at Sunset with confusion, but then remembered the Tirek Incident and understood what she meant. “Anyway, I have data that shows that a person’s emotions and resolve can forcibly make a Gaia Memory enter a new stage of power, Shining Armor’s description of what happened confirms that.”

“So Cinch has that much hatred and resolve to see her vengeance that she forced it to evolve…” Sunset didn’t like that, she knew the woman was driven and her priorities were misplaced, and yes, she was a bit of a bitch, but she never saw her as so far gone that it would cause a change like that. “Shining Armor said he hit her with his SWAT Max Driver attack, and she survived it. Does this mean she’s immune to Memory Breaks now?”

Starlight cupped her chin and thought for a moment. “Not necessarily, we just need a stronger attack, yours or Nasca’s attacks should – aaaaaaand I just realized that Rainbow Dash is Nasca.”

Sunset nodded, no point in denying it. “So, we just need to corner her.”

“We also need to know what kind of power she has, if it’s gotten stronger then we need to be sharp,” said Starlight. The CEO let a small smile grace her lips. “We’re quite a team together, Sunset.”

Sunset glanced back at her…frienemy. “Don’t think that this lets you off the hook. I’m sure Cinch will find another way to get at us…oh crap!”
Starlight’s eyes widened. “What?!”

“There’s two others she may go after as well, why didn’t I think about them before?!”

“Who?!”

***________________________________***

Night had descended on Canterlot, and in the sleepy suburbs, there were two women who were less than sleepy. In the large two-story house, lived the two sisters in charge of Canterlot High School. Some may have found it strange that the sisters lived together instead of on their own, but they have always had a close bond with each other, and it was more economical for them to pool their income to afford the house that close to their work. With their combined income, there was less stress when it came to utilities, but there was the occasional stress of just two sisters living under the same roof.

For one, Celestia was sitting in her office space, going over documents on the curriculum and budget proposals for the upcoming events, field trips, dances, and graduation for the new senior class. Celestia paused for a moment, realizing that this would be Sunset and her friends’ senior year, and soon they would no longer be CHS students, but alumni. Celestia admitted the school was going to be little less magical without those seven there. That’s not to say that she would miss all the magical incidents, gods know she’d rather have those be done with, but she would miss what those seven brought to the school. Especially Sunset, the former bully and queen bee of the school, now reformed and looked up to by her fellow students.

Celestia decided to take a break and walked into the kitchen, she wore yellow, silk pajama bottoms and matching top, her long tri-colored hair was tied into a ponytail to keep it from getting in the way of her paperwork. Celestia made a slight detour as she looked across into the living room, seeing her little sister sitting on the couch. Luna was also wearing a pony tail, but her night wear consisted of a loose tank top and pajama shorts. Luna was a night owl, and because of that spent most of her time online, gaming with her clans, guilds, and teams depending what game she was playing. Right now, Luna’s face as scrunched up into a look of determination as her fingers danced across the controller like a woman possessed.

“I wonder what the students would think if they saw their strict, rule keeper Vice Principle, sitting on the couch in her underwear, playing video games?” Celestia asked.

“Please, sister, do not put that image in their heads. The last thing I need is horny teen boys – and girls – seeing me that way,” said Luna.

Celestia sat next to Luna and sighed. “When did I become the less fun Tia?”

“I’d say somewhere between dating Sombra in college and living under the same roof together,” said Luna as she made her game avatar duck behind a wall.

The elder sister scoffed. “Please, Sombra wasn’t that bad.”

Luna’s avatar brought out a rocket launcher and fired it down the hall, taking out four enemies via an environmental kill. “He’s in prison.”

“He wasn’t always like that, he was kind and caring, and troubled, losing his high school sweetheart really hurt him. Radiant Hope, that was her name,” said Celestia with a bit of sadness. “Even you acted out quite a lot back in the day…Nightmare Moon.”

Luna’s finger slipped on the joystick and caused her avatar to be exposed, which was then subjected to a barrage of bullets, with an annoyed grunt, Luna turned to her big sister and said, “I was going through a phase, Tia, especially after mother and father died…I make no excuses for my actions back then, but I’ve tried to be a better woman.”

Celestia leaned over and draped her arm over Luna’s shoulders, bringing her into a half hug. Luna smiled and leaned into the hug, she then smirked and said, “Tia?”

“Yes, Lulu?”

“Marry me?”

Celestia rolled her eyes, “Don’t ruin the moment with incest jokes. You’ve no idea the things I hear the students say about us.”

“Oh, I do,” said Luna with a mischievous grin, “and I am willing to affirm to them all should I be asked.

“You wouldn’t dare!”

Suddenly, the front wall of their house was blown away, the force that it generated was enough to send both sisters flying from the couch and slide into the kitchen, the couch itself was wedged into the archway of the kitchen. Celestia and Luna managed to slowly get back to their feet to see what it was that had done that. To their horror, the Injury Dopant walked through the hole it had made. The golden Dopant’s eyes shined once they were laid on both sisters.

“Principal Celestia, Vice Principal Luna, I’ve been meaning to have a nice long chat with you both,” said Injury.

“What in – who or what are you?!” Celestia asked.

“Come now, you don’t at least recognize the voice of the person whose reputation you helped ruin?”

Luna’s eyes widened and then narrowed she made the realization, “Abacus Cinch!”

Injury raised her left index finger and said, “Correct Ms. Luna, and here’s your prize.”

The Dopant fired a gold beam that struck Luna in the shoulder, at first nothing happened, but then Luna cried out in pain as her arm went limp and she fell to her knees in pain. Celestia rushed to her sister’s side and noticed that her shoulder bone was at an odd angle. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!”

“Merely dislocated it, a simple injury that can be remedied if popped back into place, but I doubt you have the necessary knowledge to do such a thing,” said Injury.

Luna gritted her teeth as she felt the disconnect inside her body, it was painful and almost made her retch, but she couldn’t let that happen, not with this monster before them. The last thing she needed to be to her sister was a burden. “What reason do you have to assault our home?!”

The Dopant’s eyes shined brighter. “‘What reason’, you ask? How about the loss of the Friendship Games, my reputation as an educator, my rights a parent?! All of this I attribute to your accursed school and those girls! Your school infected them, corrupted them, even my own daughter is dating a girl from your school just to spite me!”

Celestia narrowed her gaze at Injury. “All of those are you own doing, Abacus! You blackmailed your brightest student into doing something she didn’t want to do and forced her to unleash a power that very nearly tore the fabric of reality! You oppressed your own daughter because you didn’t like what she was trying to do for the good of her peers, and because of her orientation! There is no one to blame here, other than yourself!”

Injury glared at Celestia as her left hand began to glow. “You speak boldly, I wonder how well you’ll speak with a broken jaw bone!”

The Dopant fired its beam, but at the last second, a flash of turquoise light went off inside the house, and the beam itself struck the back of the kitchen, its original targets having vanished completely. Another flash went off and Injury was struck in the chest by a powerful punch that sent it skidding backwards outside the house. Once outside, Injury noticed that Kamen Trigger was outside, along with SCU police, and Kamen Rider Nasca who was hovering in the air with her sword drawn. Injury looked forward and watched as Kamen Rider Unicorn walked out, her armor having been changed to that of Ace High.

“Wondered how long it would take before you interfered,” said Injury.

“I can tell that appealing to your sensibilities would be a waste of time, right?” Unicorn asked.

“Obviously.”

“Then let’s take this elsewhere!”

Unicorn’s horn shined with magical power as she, Trigger, and Nasca all teleported far away in a flash. When the second flash went off, all four found themselves teleported to the old industrial district.

“No people to hurt, it’s just you and us now,” said Unicorn.

Injury chuckled at that statement. “Oh, there are people to hurt, they’re standing around me right now. Field of Detriment!” Suddenly, Injury projected an energy field around her, the field expanded until it was at least twenty feet wide and thirty in height. All three Riders backed away from the field, not sure what this new power was going to do. “What’s wrong? Certainly, the brave and heroic Riders aren’t afraid of one monster, are you?”

Unicorn was about to attack, but then watched as an insect crawled about the ground and towards the field. The moment it crossed into it, the bug’s legs snapped, wings tore, and its head was twisted around. “DO NOT TOUCH THAT FIELD!”

Injury lunged for them, dashing across the battlefield. Unicorn quickly backed away, teleporting to random spots so as to confuse Injury. The Dopant switched targets and jumped straight up, trying to catch Nasca. The speedster Rider flew up higher, getting out of range of the Dopant. However, Injury concentrated and fired multiple beams of light straight up from her Field of Detriment. Nasca was forced to maneuver, weaving around blasts to avoid a fatal blow. Trigger began firing at Injury, but each shot only shattered the moment it entered the field.

“Such an impatient lad, if you wanted your lumps so bad then here!”

Trigger began running around, dodging the blasts that came his way and firing his blaster at the ones that got too close.

Unicorn disengaged her Ace High form, perching on a rooftop as the moon shined above. “Enough is enough.” Unicorn took out her Shining Memory and the Phoenix Ascender.

< SHINING! >

\^/ PHOENIX! \^/

{\^/} AAAAAASCEEEEENNNNSIONNNNNN!!! {\^/}

A magic circle appeared behind Unicorn, and from it flaming wings flared out and then wrapped around her. In a flash of gold and red light, the flames dispersed into feathers of the same colors, revealing Unicorn’s final form, Unicorn Day Dreamer. The disks on her back rose up and began spinning, fiery wings unfurled from the disks and Unicorn took flight as she aimed directly for the Dopant.

Injury cocked back her fist, and the two met fist to fist as a shockwave roared out from the impact. Unicorn grunted as she felt the strain of the Field of Detriment try to break her. Her bones ached, and her skin felt like a thousand claws were raking across her. Even her internal organs were in pain. However, Injury seemed shaken by the fact that Unicorn was able to penetrate her field and was still able to attack. A fact that was driven home when Unicorn broke off and struck Injury in the chest with an airborne roundhouse kick.

The Dopant was sent flying into the side of a warehouse, creating a large hole. Unicorn landed on the ground but went to one knee as pain wracked her body. Nasca and Trigger were about to rush over, but Unicorn held up a hand, signaling them to stop. “You two can’t get in close like that, it’ll do worse to you.”

“You don’t look much better,” said Trigger.

“Have to agree with Trig here,” replied Nasca.

Unicorn summoned her Halo Blade, she then took out the Kindness Memory and inserted it into the weapon.

)O( KINDNESS! AWAKEN! )O(

A yellow light enveloped Unicorn, immediately all the aches and pains she was feeling evaporated in an instant. Unicorn concentrated and expanded the field of sparkling light, granting her a shield of healing energy. Injury managed to tear herself free from the hole and began stomping towards her. Unicorn took out the Generosity Memory and briefly glanced to it.

)O( GENEROSITY! AWAKEN! )O(

The blade transformed and became a brilliant diamond blade. When Injury got in close, their healing and injuring fields clashed, canceling both out. Unicorn dashed forward and slashed at Injury, causing sparks to fly from the cut and making her stumble forward, catching herself before falling.
Injury looked down at her chest and saw a gash in her exoskeletal armor. “Impossible!”

Unicorn turned around and took an aggressive stance. “Nothing’s impossible, when you have friends! But you have pushed everyone away from you! Your colleagues!” Unicorn teleported to Injury, and slashed at her back, causing more sparks to fly. “Your family!” Another slash struck her across the right side. “Even those who would look to you for guidance!” Unicorn teleported a few feet away and pointed her Halo Blade at Injury. “It’s time to restore harmony!”

The empowered heroine tapped on the wings once, causing the eyes to shine purple.

}\^/{ GENEROSITY! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }\^/{

Unicorn held her sword before her with both hands. Three rings made up of ten diamond shorts swords appeared around Unicorn. The Kamen Rider’s horn shined, and the sword rings spun at such a rapid pace that they blurred into sparkling rings of light.

This is for you, Rarity! “DIAMOND DAZZLER!”

Unicorn swing once with her sword, launching the first ring. The ring sailed towards Injury, disoriented from the previous attacks, she was unable to defend as the ring struck her in the chest, releasing sparks as it acted like a buzz saw that went right through her, leaving a bright white gash. Unicorn slashed a second time, launching the next ring as it too hit its mark and left another white gash, forming an X. Unicorn launched the third and final ring and this one cleaved right down the middle, forming a six-pointed star.

“Harmony restored.”

The Injury Dopant fell backwards and then exploded as sparkling diamond dust descended upon the battlefield. After the explosion, the only thing left was Abacus Cinch, now lying on the ground groaning in discomfort, and the shattered remnants of the Injury Memory.

“You can take it from here officer, there are some stops I need to make first.”

Unicorn’s wings flared and before long she zoomed off into the night sky and headed towards the city.

***________________________________***

Sunset stood outside the recovery room where Sunny Flare was excitedly hugging her girlfriend, Rarity. During the night, Kamen Rider Unicorn had made a stop to PhoenEXE Corp. and used her power to heal Rarity’s hands as well as Vice Principal Luna’s dislocated arm. She also stopped by Canterlot General Hospital where Aloe and Lotus were being tended to and healed them. Rarity was crying tears of joy alongside her girlfriend, elated that her dream was not lost, that she could still be the fashionista that she always wanted to be, and is.

Starlight Glimmer walked until she was standing beside Sunset, the older version of their Equestrian friend (relatively) looked in the same direction as Sunset and smiled. “I hear all the damage is completely undone, as if it had been erased. She has full use of her hands, I’m glad.” Starlight turned her attention to Sunset. “So, what happens between us?”

Sunset sighed heavily. “I don’t know. I know what I should do is transform and tear your facility from the ground up and expose everything that’s going on.” She then glanced up at Starlight. “But what I want to do is understand the why. To what end are you planning? If you truly care this much about the people of this city, then why continue to create the Gaia Memories? Why create Dopants from criminals? Where are you going with all of this?”

Starlight grimaced a little, a pensive, painfilled expression befell her face. “I wish to, I think you and Twilight Sparkle may be the only ones who can truly understand what I want to do, what I’m going to achieve. Despite what it may appear, we are both on the side of life, and I want to believe that we can still work together in that pursuit.” Starlight held out her hand to Sunset. “You needn’t do more than what you’re doing now, I create the Dopants, and you defeat them. The only difference is that you will have the financial and tech support of my company to assist in whatever you need to recover the T2s and defeat those using the T1s. What do you say, Sunset?”

Sunset looked up at Starlight, who had a spark of hope in her eyes. Had they met earlier, maybe she could’ve steered Starlight away from this path she was on, and they could’ve been friends. That was wishful thinking, if the old Sunset met Starlight, Sunset had no doubt that her old self would have gone along with her plan, whatever it was.

“Once upon a time, when I was an entitled brat and prideful, I would’ve taken up that offer in a heartbeat, not even thinking about the people that I would hurt in the process, and somehow I see myself betraying you before it was over…” It hurt to speak the truth, but that’s exactly what would’ve happened. “That’s not me anymore, so I can see that at the end of this, you’ll be the one in pain, and something tells me you are indeed in pain, Starlight. I don’t want to be your enemy, neither of us want that, but I can’t just let you continue to do these things.”

Starlight retracted her hand and smiled sadly. “I figured as much, when I learned of your past, I could tell that you have reached a place that I can’t.”
Sunset reached out and placed her hands on Starlight’s shoulders. “You can too, you just need to stop, destroy it all, and end all of this!”

Starlight gently wrapped her hands around Sunset’s wrists and pulled her hands away from her as she backed up. “I can’t, when this is all said and done, you’ll understand. And, I do understand if you want to cancel my request to visit your world.” Starlight began walking away.

“I won’t take that away.” Starlight turned on her heel and looked back at Sunset with shock. “I made a promise that I’d let you see your best friend again, and I keep my promises.”

Starlight’s eyes began to water as she turned away from Sunset. “G-Good, it’s-it’s not good business to go back on your word.”

Sunset watched as Starlight walked off, either to cry or plan her next move, or both. Twilight walked up behind Sunset and hugged her from behind as she rested her head against her girlfriend’s shoulder. “You heard all that, right?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think I’m doing the right thing?”

“I know I trust you.”

Sunset looked over her should and said, “That’s not the kind of answer I was hoping for.”

Twilight looked up with her eyes. “I know, but it’s that trust that’s the only thing keeping me from reporting her to Shining Armor, well, that, and the fact that I’d have to explain how I found out, and thereby expose the secret of Unicorn and Nasca, and incriminate myself in the creation of your items and weapons. Oh, and let’s not forget, I’d also be the biggest disappointment of a little sister in all of history.”

Sunset chuckled patted Twilight’s hands. “You’re not.” The fiery haired girl gave a sly smirk and said, “You could place those a little higher, I wouldn’t mind.”

Twilight groaned. “We’re having a moment, don’t ruin it.”

“Prude.”

“Pervert.”

“And proud of it~”

R: Requiem for a Dream / Something's not right

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Alas summer vacation had ended, and school had started up once again. For many it was both the start of their high school life and the end of their high school life. Yes, the sad truth was that for the “Mane 7”, this was their last year Canterlot High School. But that was pushed to the back of their minds for the time being, there were still classes to be taken, and Kamen Rider business to do. Since the Injury Dopant incident, and Sunset’s finding of Kamen Rider Equal’s true identity, and Equal’s subsequent learning of hers, there hadn’t been any Dopant incidents to date.

The month of August had come and gone without incident, no reports of Dopant related activity from the police, or from what Twilight could gleam from her brother’s hacked computer files, an act that still made her feel dirty, violating her BBBFF’s personal computer and viewing his secure police files. But the occasional consoling and kisses from her girlfriend helped to ease the worry.

Classes went on, laughs were shared, groans of excess homework were made (along with excited glees from a certain nerdy genius girl), and of course Rainbow Dash excelling in every practice for every sports team she was on. It was the middle of the afternoon, not long before school let out. Sunset and Twilight shared a joint free period, so they decided to spend it together. The two geniuses took out their homework in the first 10 – 20 minutes of the period, and chilled for the remaining twenty-five. However, Twilight decided to bring up a certain matter up for discussion.

“Sunset?” Twilight tentatively asked.

“What’s up?” Sunset replied.

“I…I think we should come clean to my brother.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “I thought we did, you know, last month at your house when we made it official to your parents that we’re a thing?”

Twilight shook her head and said, “No, not that. I mean…that your Unicorn.”

Sunset nearly fell out of her chair upon hearing that. “Wha-What, why?!”

“Sunset, we know that Starlight Glimmer is Equal, and the one behind the Dopant incidents. We still don’t know what her objective is, why she’s in search of the T2s and is creating the T1s. While we can’t control what the T2s do or who they attach themselves to, we can get rid of one factor that we can control. And that’s destroying the place that creates them.”

Sunset knew that this was going to come up, honestly, she was surprised that Twilight had left it alone as long as she did, but still…

“I know that, but Twilight, the moment I do, your brother is going to throw me in jail,” said Sunset.

“W-W-We don’t know that for sure!” Twilight rebutted. “Will he be suspicious of you? Yes, but if you help to take down Starlight and expose her, then he’ll go after a bigger fish and might just sweep this under the rug! Besides, with everything that you’ve done for the city, the public would be behind you one-hundred percent, no way you’d be taken in!”

Sunset sighed, “That’s just wishful thinking, Twi. Look, say I come clean and tell him. Then what? I’m very much the definition of an illegal alien, emphasis on the alien part. Investigations would show that I don’t belong in this world, so even if – by some small miracle – I don’t get taken in by the cops for vigilantism, I’ll definitely be taken in because I’m in this world illegally, and then come the Area 51 experiments and dissections!”

Twilight deadpanned. “Sunset, you’ve been watching too many sci-fi movies. And this is coming from your girlfriend who loves them. There is no ‘Area 51’.”

“Until you came to CHS, you didn’t even know that other dimensions existed, and you’re currently dating a denizen from said parallel dimension. So how do you know, for sure, that that isn’t real, too?!” Sunset argued.

Twilight opened her mouth to counter but found Sunset’s arguments to have some merit. There was still a lot about this world, and others, that Twilight didn’t know about, and the fact that that there are other worlds out there with Kamen Riders battling against ancient, demonic, and sometimes extraterrestrial forces, it left the number of possibilities open as to what was truth and what was fantasy.

“I understand your wanting to tell your big brother what’s going on, I know you don’t like lying to him, but this is something that we have to play by ear.” Especially since Starlight’s the one who gave Shining Armor his Driver…

That was probably the one thing that worried Sunset the most. Starlight gave Shining Armor a Driver belt to fight against the monsters she created, and, possibly, as a way to keep Unicorn in check should something arise to the point of needing that extra bit of power. Sunset scooted closer to her girlfriend and draped an arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer so that Twilight’s head was resting on her shoulder.

“I know…I said I’d trust you, too…I’m a horrible girlfriend, I said I’d trust you and here I go doubting you…”

Sunset squeezed Twilight’s shoulder. “Hey, don’t go saying that, you’re the best. If anything, I need you to doubt me once and a while. I mean, it’s not like I have all the answers.”

“By the way, you said you were older back in Equestria, how much older were you? And do I need an adult?” Twilight asked with a smirk.

Sunset snorted. “Ha, ha, very funny. My mind is older here, my body is a different story. But after spending all this time here, and considering how I was acting before, I was practically a teenager.”

“Still didn’t answer the question…” Twilight pointed out as she turned to Sunset with half-lidded eyes.

Sunset grinned and said, “Just kiss me, Sparky.”

Both girls leaned in close, their lips about to connect, but before they could meet –

SLAM!

Sunset and Twilight scooted back a couple of feet, their hearts pounding in their chest, and Sunset looked about ready to fight, her hands balled up into fists. But she dropped them when she saw that it was Principal Celestia, with a perturbed look on her face. Upon looking at what made the noise, Celestia had used a heavy book and dropped it on the table the girls were sitting at.

“P-Principal Celestia, w-what the hell?” Sunset asked with an incredulous tone.

“I’d watch your language Miss Shimmer. Public displays of affection are prohibited on school grounds, please refrain from doing so in the future, this will be your only warning,” said Celestia in a no-nonsense-tone.

Both girls blinked in surprise, Principal Celestia was not usually so…high strung. Although, upon looking closer at her, Sunset and Twilight were able to see something was up. The Principal didn’t usually wear makeup, being a natural beauty, so it was odd to see that there was some heavy makeup around near her eyes, where they swore they saw bags. Celestia’s brow was knitted in agitation, and her normally well-kept hair was looking a little frazzled.

“Um, Principal Celestia, are you alright?” Twilight asked.

“I assure you, Miss Sparkle, I am. I just expect more from my brightest students when it comes to obeying school rules, well, one of you anyway,’ said Celestia offhandedly.

Sunset brow furrowed as she leveled her gaze with Celestia. “Excuse, what was that?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Oh, please, Miss Shimmer. You weren’t exactly a saint back before the Fall Formal. You always found a way to either break, bend, or get around the rules each and every time. I would appreciate it if you didn’t spread your bad habits over to Twilight.”

“Hey,” Sunset walked from around the table and stood before the, tall, woman. “I know I used to mess up a lot, but I would never have Twilight be like that.”

“Watch yourself Sunset,” Celestia warned.

Twilight looked nervously between her girlfriend and her teacher, Principal Celestia stood a head taller than most of the male and female staff of the school, the word “Amazon” came to mind. But even so, that height and intense look in the Principal’s eyes didn’t scare Sunset, who glared up at the woman with a look as equally intense as her own. Which, compared to what Sunset had faced as Unicorn, staring down an authority figure was less intimidating than staring down a Dopant.

After a long, tense minute of glaring, Celestia sighed in frustration and picked up her book. “I am not in the mood to argue with a student, remember my warning, or next time I will place both of you in detention.”

Sunset opened her mouth, about to talk, but was cut off when Celestia said, “If you utter one more word, Sunset Shimmer, your detention will start this minute.” Sunset snapped her mouth shut but kept her glare on the Principal as she walked out.

Once she was gone, Sunset growled in frustration as she sat down back in her seat. “What the blue hell was that about?! Detention?! And she had the gull to bring up…dammit!”

Twilight rubbed Sunset’s shoulder. “It’s okay, I’m sure she just wasn’t feeling too well. She honestly looked a little disheveled. Principal Celestia’s probably having a rough day.”

Sunset snorted again, a habit from being a pony. “Fine, even I can have an off day when I’m snappy at people, she gets a slide today.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Just one day when you’re snappy?”

“Okay, okay, I get snappy a couple of times a day!”

***______________________________***

Unfortunately, that was only the beginning. In the week that followed, Principal Celestia had become stricter and often times draconian in her actions. Canterlot High had seen a spike in detentions for kids disobeying the rules, it had gotten so that most of the students had to be on their toes whenever Principal Celestia was around. This had started some rumors that the Principal, the warm, kind, motherly woman, had been replaced by some monster like a Dopant, or might have been touched by magic.

The seven girls of CHS had gathered at lunch, each looking worried.

“So, I take it that everyone here has been getting requests for us to, ahem, ‘rainbow beam blast’ Principal Celestia?” Rarity asked.

A round of nods came from every girl at the table.

“Yeah, like, pretty much everyone on my team is asking me to Pony Up and save the school,” said Rainbow.

“That, and Ah’ve heard that some students are trying to think of ways to get Unicorn and Nasca to investigate her, thinkin’ that a Dopant’s replaced our Principal,” said Applejack.

“It is strange…Principal Celestia’s normally sweet, kind, understanding, and of course firm when she needs to be with some students, but she’s never, um, ‘been on the warpath’ before,” said Fluttershy.

“I kind of want to throw her a party to help her out of her funk, but then she said she’d give me detention for a month if I did that…” Pinkie Pie had a bit of a droopy frown as she said all this.

Twilight adjusted her glasses and said, “Well, it could be that she’s just really stressed out. I mean, she is the Principal of the school. She probably has a lot of administrative duties that are weighing down on her. Not to mention making sure each student is getting the help they need and not falling behind and dealing with problem students. Although for CHS, problem students are more or less nonexistent in comparison to other public schools.”

Sunset sighed and added, “Well, let’s just hope that she’s having a nervous breakdown and not being controlled by Equestrian magic or is a Dopant with disguising powers, again.”

Lunch concluded, and the girls went their separate ways to their classes, Twilight’s class was on the same hall as Sunset’s so both girls walked together. Twilight stealthily maneuvered her right hand and slipped it into Sunset’s, the action brought a cute blush to Twilight’s face, and a wide smile to Sunset’s.

“Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight and Sunset quickly separated and turned around to spot Principal Celestia storming towards them. Sunset moved Twilight so that she was standing behind her and stood her ground as Celestia stopped a foot from them.

“I thought I told you, no public displays of affection,” said Celestia.

“I…I was just holding Sunset’s hand, ma’am,” said Twilight in a timid voice.

“The fact remains I warned you, and now I will have you report to detention!”

“OKAY ENOUGH!” Sunset yelled loud enough for the hallway to echo her voice, loud enough that some students and faculty members peeked outside their classrooms, loud enough that other students who were around the corners had stopped to see what was happening.

“What did you say, Miss Shimmer?” Celestia asked as she narrowed her eyes at the young woman before her.

Sunset was undeterred by Celestia’s steely gaze, comparing it to that of her mother – who was a goddess of the sun – this version of her mother was far less intimidating. “Excuse my language, but since no one seems to have the balls to say this to you directly, I will. You’re out of control! You’re sniping at students for little things that wouldn’t have batted an eye at before, they actually hush up and move out of your way whenever your around, and I’m pretty sure some of the faculty is also getting stressed from whatever is happening with you!”

“Uh…S-Sunset…?” Twilight warned.

Sunset released a long sigh and looked up at Celestia again with understanding. “Look, I…I won’t pretend that I know what your responsibilities are, or how stressful they can be, but you can’t just lash out like this. Talk to Vice Principal Luna, or just take a couple of days to unwind and–”

“You’re suspended.”

“–and suspend me…………WAIT WHAT?!” Sunset shouted in shock.

“Principal Celestia,” Twilight intervened, “this is highly unprofession–!”

Celestia turned her steely glare onto the indigo haired girl. “Finish that sentence Miss Sparkle and you will also be suspended, do not let Miss Shimmer taint your record.”

Twilight was conflicted, she was raised to obey those in a position of power, however, she had also learned that even those with power did not always make good decisions. Her encounter with Principal Cinch helped to clarify that. On that note, suspension would mar her permanent record, colleges would see it and think she was a delinquent, all the top colleges she had carefully written letters and done projects for, it would all get thrown away. But, there was also a need in Twilight, a burning desire to protect her girlfriend against this injustice when all she was trying to do was help and address Principal Celestia’s odd behavior. The more she thought about how unfairly Sunset was treated, the more her heart burned to stand up for her.

But Sunset held out her arm, her own glare not faltering in the slightest. “Fine, have it your way then. Tell me when your mood improves.” Sunset turned her gaze back to Twilight, who was sporting a look of disbelief as her mouth worked to form words. “It’s okay, babe. Really.”

Sunset lowered her arm and shouldered her backpack as she walked past Celestia, the Principal’s gaze following her the whole way. She then spotted Ms. Harshwhinny coming around the corner and addressed her, “Ms. Harshwhinny.”

The blonde-haired woman looked up from her papers and gave Principal Celestia an inquisitive look. “Yes, Principal Celestia?”

“Sunset Shimmer is suspended as of today, please escort her to the front doors.”

Ms. Harshwhinny shook her head in disbelief, glancing between the Principal and Sunset. “Principal Celestia, I’m going to have to ask for an explanation as to–!”

“It’s okay, Ms. Harshwhinny!” Sunset interjected. “It’s fine.”

Ms. Harshwhinny did not like these state of affairs at all, but she trusted Sunset’s judgement and began her escort. When they were far enough away, the teacher walked up until she was side-by-side with Sunset and asked, “Are you alright, Ms. Shimmer?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry. Something’s just…off with Principal Celestia,” said Sunset with a concerned tone.

“‘Off’ is putting it mildly, that woman – in the time that I have known her – has never acted in such a manner, not even on her worst days, she would never snap at a student or be so harsh to anyone.”

“Yeah, that’s more your schtick,” said Sunset with a grin.

Ms. Harshwhinny rolled her eyes, but then rubbed her arm as she said, “I’m never strict without reason, and I do so only to ensure that you all are safe…you know that, right?”

Sunset smiled warmly at her teacher as she placed an arm on her shoulder. “You cried for me when I was going to fight the Sirens, of course I know how much you care about us. And I’m pretty sure most of the students understand where you’re coming from. So, don’t worry so much.”

Ms. Harshwhinny cleared her throat, retaining her air of composure, but unable to hide the blush on her face. Once they arrived at the front doors, Ms. Harshwhinny glanced to Sunset and asked, “Are you sure I can’t fight this on your behalf…” she paused for a moment and said, “You’re not putting up much of a fight, which means you think that there’s something else making Celestia act the way she is, don’t you?”

Sunset nodded. “If it’s Equestrian magic, my friends and I can stop it. If it’s…Rider related, then I need to start investigating from the outside in. Rule out external factors.”

The teacher sighed heavily. She knew Sunset was the only one equipped to do these kinds of things, still, it didn’t make it easier sending her off to do these things. “I’ll have Miss Sparkle bring you the homework for the lessons you’ll miss. In the meantime, I’ll see if I can also talk her down from this, and maybe get some insight as to what’s making her this way.”

“Be careful, if anything’s out of place, tell my friends immediately.”

Ms. Harshwhinny placed her hand to her forehead and shook her head. “I’m the adult, and yet the first ones I must turn to solve this problem are my young students.”

Sunset chuckled as she walked away stating, “Life is funny like that!”

***______________________________***

[That was completely uncalled for! I know she’s the Principal, and yes, you kind of were speaking out of line, but it was the truth! A-And it wasn’t like you were saying something that was untrue or outright spiteful, you were speaking out of concern, and she should know that!]

“Sparky…”

[This is outrageous! I…this…GRRR! I’m just so mad right now!]

“Babe.”

[I know, I’ll talk to Cadance, I’ll take this up to the schoolboard! I’ll–!]

“TWILIGHT!” There was silence for a moment. “I love you, and I love that you’re mad for me, but right now we need to make sure that this isn’t some kind of magic messing with her or a Dopant.” I’m really hoping its either one because I don’t want to believe that Celestia would just act this way without a reason.

[Alright…sorry, I just…I just got so mad when she said you were suspended. I never felt that way before.]

Sunset smiled. “That’s part of what love is, feeling protective of the one you care about. And again, I love that you felt that way and wanted to give her your two bits, but we should rule out magic or monsters first.”

[I understand.]

Sunset smirked her pervy smirk. “Good, so the next time you feel that kind of fiery passion, use it in the bedroom.”

[Of course………WHAAAATT?!]

“Bye,” Sunset ended the call, she could practically feel the heat radiating from Twilight’s face from pure embarrassment.

Sunset hadn’t gone far from the school, she kept close, circling the outer perimeter of the school to see if there was anything from the outside causing this to happen, even checking the portal to make sure nothing had leaked out, as the statue was the only access point for magic from Equestria to leak out into this world, even when it was closed the statue still acted as a conduit for the magic.

So far, Sunset didn’t find anything out of the ordinary, at the moment. Since there was still some time to kill, Sunset decided to head to the house of Celestia and Luna, while she couldn’t get in, perhaps she could find something amiss from the outside. Sunset rode her motorcycle all the way to their house, it looked much more pleasant in the afternoon than it did at night, and thankfully Starlight’s company helped to pay for the repairs to the house. You could hardly tell that the front was blown out at all.

Sunset parked her bike on the sidewalk and looked around, thankfully most of the residents were out at work, and the children who occupied the houses were still in school. So, it allowed Sunset time to mill about, although she kept her helmet on just for precaution. She made her way around the side of the house where the backyard was, noting that they had a pool in the back. No fair, probably doesn’t get much use.

After checking around the house a few times, Sunset headed back to her bike, but paused when she spotted a car parked out front on the sidewalk. Sunset hugged the fence, keeping herself just barely visible as to not be spotted. A man was leaning against the car, staring up at the house. He had black hair that was at least shoulder length. He had wicked long sideburns, ashen colored skin, and intense ruby red eyes. He wore a black leather jacket, and Sunset had to admit she liked it, under which it seemed he wore a white shirt. Black denim jeans with a silver interweaving, almost tribal markings were sewn in, and a pair of black steel-toe tipped boots. He looked to be somewhere in his thirties, mid to late. The man took out a cigarette and lit it, taking a puff and blowing out as he grinned toothily.

Sunset didn’t like this, every part of her was screaming this guy was bad news, even her old bad girl side was warning her this guy was trouble. And more than likely had a weapon on hand. He continued staring at the house until he finished his cigarette and went back in his black sports car and drove off down the road. Sunset released a breath she didn’t she know she was holding and went back to where her bike was, revving it up and heading back to the school.

By the time she got back, school had let out, and everyone was filing out. Unfortunately, Sunset couldn’t leave just yet, she still needed to wait until Celestia headed back home before she could call it quits. Hours passed by with Sunset just sitting on her bike, nearly nodding off here and there. She was awoken later by Twilight, asking where to leave her homework or if she should just keep it at her house until she comes by and picks up.

I really need to make a key for her, we already said the “L” word, might as well make it official.

Filing that away for a later time, Sunset watched as eight ‘o clock rolled around, and the teachers were finally leaving. Sunset spotted Celesita getting into her car, and parked next to her was Vice Principal Luna, who had entered her own vehicle. Sunset took off as soon as she saw this, deciding to beat them to their residence. Her speedier mode of transportation got her back to the two sisters’ house before they arrived, with Sunset waiting around the corner.

Sunset spotted Luna’s car pull into their driveway, watching as Luna got out and went inside. Sunset waited another hour, but still no sign of Celestia.

Probably out getting groceries or something…?

Another hour passed and the only other car that arrived was a pizza delivery guy. Thirty more minutes past and it was now officially ten-thirty. Sunset drove over to the house and parked her bike in the driveway behind Luna’s car. Taking off her helmet and stowing it away, Sunset walked up to the house and knocked on the door.

There were sounds of shuffling coming from inside until the door flung open and Luna nearly shouted, “It’s about time you came back! Do you – oh! Um…Sunset Shimmer?”

Sunset looked at her Vice Principal up and down. Boxer shorts, and a loose-fitting shirt, and never mind the fact that both sisters were pretty much natural beauties. Sunset couldn’t help but blush. “Um, hi, VP Luna…you look hot – I mean, whoa, it’s hot out here!”

Luna deadpanned. “It’s sixty-five degrees outside.”

Sunset’s eyes darted about, trying to find a way around this situation.

Luna sighed. “I know it can be a staunch thing to understand, but contrary to high schoolers’ believes, faculty members don’t always wear suits and dresses. Drink it in, get over it, and please explain why you are at my house. And if you tell anyone at school about how I dress for bed, I will end you.”

“Don’t need any of the boys fantasizing, do you?” Sunset asked as her trademark smirk was appearing, only to die out at the glare she was getting from the youngest of the two siblings. “Ahem, I promise. Actually, I was wondering if I could talk to Principal Celestia, but…from your reaction I take it she’s not home.”

“Yes…I…I heard of what my sister did,” said Luna said solemnly. “She’s, well, she’s…”

“Miss Luna, if there’s something,” Sunset glanced about and whispered, “magical, at work, then my friends and I can look into it.”

Luna chuckled dryly. “I wish it was that, then I could just simply ask you girls to fire a rainbow laser and zap my sister back to normal…however…”

Before Luna could say anything the obnoxious sound of a muscle car roared down the street and following behind it was Principal Celestia’s car. Both pulled in, Celestia’s went in first and the muscle car behind it. Celestia walked out, giggling and smiling, however, when the occupant of the muscle car exited, Sunset’s blood froze. It was the same man that she saw hanging around outside of their house. He walked up next to Celestia and wrapped an arm around Celestia’s waist, the tall woman giggled like a school girl at the action.

Sunset’s blood boiled, while this wasn’t her actual adopted mother from Equestria, it was still irritating to see some guy glob onto the woman who had acted as a pseudo-mother while she was here on Earth. Unfortunately, the happy laughter from both of them ended when they spotted Luna, and Celestia’s old glare returned when she saw Sunset standing on her porch.

“What are you doing here, Miss Shimmer?” Celestia asked.

Sunset snapped herself out of the mini rage she was in and focused on Celestia. “I was hoping we could talk, I mean, really talk and not as a student and teacher, but more like a concerned person checking on her kind of mother-figure.”

The man looked to the girl and then back to Celestia. “Babe, who is this girl?”

Celestia sneered. “That’s just one of my problem students. I had suspended her today, but apparently she feels it necessary to come and harass me at my own home.”

Sunset sputtered at that, trying to form a coherent sentence.

“You want me to take care of her, Celly?” the man asked.

“No!” Luna stepped in, putting herself between Sunset and the man. “Thank you, Sombra, but I have already told Miss Shimmer that we will review her suspension. She was just leaving, right Miss Shimmer?”

Sunset looked up at Luna’s eyes, there was a warning in those eyes, not one out of anger like her big sister, but of concern for Sunset’s wellbeing. In the end she relented. “Yeah, I was…just leaving.”

As Sunset walked to her bike, she heard Celestia say, “If I spot you around my house or at school again, Miss Shimmer, I will call the police.” That stung a bit, but Sunset made sure that they didn’t notice as she hopped onto her bike up and took off into the night.

***______________________________***

Sunset saw a world of darkness, which was a far cry from what she normally saw in her dreams. Her dreams mostly consisted of Equestria, having fun with her friends, or in the rare occasion, a rather saucy dream about a certain glasses wearing genius girl. But not this night, no, her dream was steeped in darkness, everywhere Sunset looked she was met with a void of complete nothingness.

This unsettled Sunset very much, the last time her dreams were like this was after the Fall Formal, when all her ambitions had been shattered and she was left to remain on Earth to learn the error of her ways. Despite having the assurance of the girls whom she had once bullied and divided that they would be her friends, there was still a soul crushing loneliness that she couldn’t escape, and in that dark void, she could sometimes hear…her.

Thankfully, the darkness seemed to give way to light, albeit a small corner of it. Sunset swam…? Flew? Ran? Well, she made her way towards the light as best she could. Eventually she made it to the light and her vision was blinded by it. Soon the world came into being, and Sunset was standing on a school campus of all places.

It wasn’t CHS, the buildings were bigger, more ornate, and spread out. Sunset believed this was a college campus, and her suspicions proved correct as people began to materialize, students in their early to mid-twenties roamed about, either sitting around in a circle discussing classes or other social topics, or some who were just loitering about. Sunset walked up to a few of them but found out that they didn’t acknowledge her. She waved her hands in front of them to gain their attention, and even yelled at them. Finally, she resorted to pushing one of them, only to pass through them like a ghost and ended up face planting on the ground.

Sunset rolled over and groaned as she rubbed her nose, “Ow…wait, ‘ow’? Ow can’t happen in a dream!”

All the books and movies that Sunset had gone through all stated same thing, “you can’t feel pain in a dream”. So that begged two questions, was Sunset’s mind trapped in some sort of magic that allowed her to feel pain, or…well, she didn’t have a second idea, not yet anyway.

“Okay, Shimmer, let’s assess the situation. This is clearly not your dream, pain is real so no doing anything stupid like jumping off a building. So long as I remain invisible to these people and I suddenly don’t end up in one of those cliché bits where I’m in front of a class naked or in my underwear, then I should be alright.”

With that established, Sunset began searching the area. After a little bit of time, Sunset as able to determine that the school was Canterlot University, and from what she could tell from the bulletin boards and school newspapers, it wasn’t in the present, but a few years back in the past.

As Sunset kept walking around, she found herself being tugged in a certain direction. It wasn’t so much as something was physically pulling her in one direction, but more like nudging her there. It showed when she had decided to go down one hallway but stopped as a tingling feeling in the back of her head told her to not go that way, but when she looked down the correct hall, it went away. Having little to go on, Sunset used that feeling to navigate the halls.

Her travels eventually brought her to a dorm room, she didn’t think she’d be able to go through it as it obviously had a key lock. However, when she turned the knob, it opened. Sunset entered the room and blinked. Sitting in bed with her legs crossed and wearing a baggy shirt, and hopefully something else under it, was Luna. Although, this Luna was much younger than the one she knew, and cuter too.

Sunset raised her right hand slapped herself across the face. Stop thinking dirty thoughts about your Vice Principal! Sunset decided to see if Celestia was in the adjacent bed, because knowing her, Celestia would be dressed more moderate – HOLY FLYING HORSESHOES!

Sunset quickly slammed the door shut and braced herself against the wall, her heart racing and her cheeks flushed at what she had seen. The fiery haired girl brought her hands to her face and shook her head. “Of all the things I didn’t need to see in my life, that was something I could do without! Oh man, seeing them is going to be sooooo awkward now.”

Her psychological trauma would have to wait, however, as Sunset became acutely aware of the sound of thudding of boots against linoleum. Sunset looked down the hall and spotted the man she had seen earlier that night, Sombra. He was younger, his black hair was slicked back compared to the shaggy mane he had when he was older, and his sideburns were cut to a reasonable length.

The moment that he got close to the room, Celesita opened the door, now fully dressed, and made Luna screech as she fumbled the game controller in her hand and dove under the sheets.

“TIA! Why the hell did you open the door when I’m dressed like this?!” Young Luna looked to the door and frowned. “Oh…it’s you.”

Young Celestia gave her little sister a frown of her own. “Lulu, be nice!”

“Hey, hey, it’s no problem Celly, she’s just a little jealous that I’m stealing away her big sis so much,” said Sombra in a cool tone.

Luna huffed. “I am not ‘jealous’! I just don’t like it when my sister swings the door open when I’m half-dressed!”

Celestia playfully slapped Sombra’s shoulder. “You better not get any ideas about my little sister, you!”

Sombra held up his hands and said, “Nah, babe, you know you’re the only sun in my sky.”

At that moment, both Young Luna and Sunset shared the same deadpan expression.

“Don’t wait up Lulu!”

Sunset watched as Celestia and Sombra walked away, leaving Luna alone in her room.

I should have said something to her…

Sunset looked around hearing Luna’s voice, she looked inside the room and saw that the younger sister was crying, and beside the bed was her older self, a look of regret prevalent on her face.

I never liked Sombra, just being around him made me uneasy. Tia was too kind hearted, no…it’s that he offered her something I couldn’t…freedom. When our parents died, she had to step up and be the adult when she should’ve still been a child like me.

The world shifted around, showing a younger Celestia and Luna standing before two headstones where they’re parents rested.

I acted out, I hated the world, I hated that it took our parents away. I wanted to make the world pay however I could!

The scenes switched around again, now showing Luna in a back alley surrounded by thuggish looking teens. The way they stood around her, it wasn’t as if they were cornering her, no, they were standing next to her, for she was the leader. She wore a black leather jacket, purple lipstick and indigo eyeliner to exaggerate her eyes and give her a menacing appearance, she wore a helmet, almost like a crown, that was a midnight blue. As the punk version walked on, Sunset spotted wings that were molded into the back the black jacket.

I called myself Nightmare Moon, on the streets of Canterlot, I could lash out, and it wasn’t hard to find other likeminded individuals who shared in my hatred of how the world treated us. Before I knew it, I had a gang, and I was its leader. But Tia…Tia wouldn’t have it…

The scene switched again and showed “Nightmare Moon” and Celestia in a house, the elder sister standing defiantly before the younger.

“Out of my way sister!” Luna warned.

“I’m not letting you go back out there! For what?! Some kind of gang turf war?! If Mom and Dad were alive–!”

“Well they’re not!” Luna shouted. “They’re dead…They’re dead and they’re not coming back! We’re alone, and no one’s going to help us! We need take what we want, Tia!”

Celestia shook her head. “Are you listening to yourself?! What good is all this gangbanging doing for you?! Except hurting your grades and messing up your future! Do you think I want to visit my little sister in jail?! Because I don’t! I have to be the adult here, and as such, you’re not going out!”

Luna scoffed at that. “Please, you know I’m stronger than you.”

Celestia glared at Luna. “Try me, Luna, I dare you.”

Luna narrowed her gaze and moved towards the front door, but Celestia blocked her path and even pushed her back, making Luna stumble a few seconds before regaining her footing. “Did you just seriously push me?!”

“I did.”

Luna made for the door again, but Celestia pushed her sister away. This continued for a minute before Luna became really agitated. “Don’t make me knock you out, Tia!”

Sunset could see it in Luna’s eyes, there was a rebellious fire in them, a similar fire that once burned in Sunset’s eyes. That kind of fire blinded her to what was important, allowing her only to see what was before her, everything else around fell to the wayside. Luna lunged at her big sister, and soon both of them were entangled in a brawl. They thrashed around on the floor, knocking over several items from tables. Curses and insults were thrown around as their fight continued.

Sunset tried several times to break it up but was reminded each time that this was a dream, and that she had no power over it and could not interact with these events. Eventually, Celestia managed to pin her sister on the floor, glaring down
at her as her eyes stung with tears.

“DO YOU THINK I WANT TO BE THE ADULT, LUNA?!”

Luna stopped her struggling as she looked up at Celestia.

“I want them back too! It’s not fair that they died and left us alone like this! But I’m the oldest, and I didn’t want them to put us in some kind of foster care with strangers! That’s why I stepped up! I promised that whatever it took we’d stay together as a family! You and me, because that’s all we have left now! But you go out and do these things, like your fervently hellbent on going to jail or dying in some gods forsaken gutter!”

The younger sister looked away for a moment, unable to meet her sister’s gaze. Celestia lowered herself and rested her head against her younger sister’s shoulder as she began to cry. “I want things to go back to the way they were…just…you and me being sisters and having fun, sniping at each other from time to time…but now, I have to be the parent and make sure we can make it…

The teenage Luna let tears fall from her eyes as she reached up and hugged her big sister.

Sunset felt her eyes water at the scene, but she then startled when the older version of Luna appeared next to her.

That was the night I came to a realization, as strong and stoic as Tia was, she was hiding her fear and sadness from me, believing she needed to be strong for the both of us. I think she was afraid that if I saw her cry or look afraid, then I would be afraid of everything that was to come out of our situation. And instead of helping her, I made it harder on her. I stopped being Nightmare and quit sneaking away into the night and I was just Luna.

Suddenly, the world around them became dark, a deep rumbling shook beneath their feet. Sunset could feel something in the darkness moving, or, more like the darkness was a living thing.

“You could never be there for her, can never offer what she needed! She needed to be free, but she couldn’t do that because of you!”

The voice emanated from every direction, but soon, the darkness seemed to ooze out something, a being walked out of the darkness and stood before Luna. It was her, but her as if she continued to be Nightmare Moon. Her skin was black as night, irises crystal blue with slits for the pupil. She wore a leather jacket that had a silver crescent moon emblazoned on the shoulders, and black wings that flared from her back.

“YOU ARE LIKE A PARASITE! You can’t exist without someone else to drain!” Nightmare accused.

“No…I…I’m not like that, I love my sister, I don’t want to be a burden to her!” Luna shouted as she hugged herself.

Nightmare began stalking towards her, her right hand morphed until it was wrapped in shadows and changed into a large claw. “Then do the sisterly thing…and end your existence!”

Before Nightmare Moon could get close to Luna, Sunset had stepped in between them. With a fierce gaze, Sunset held out her right hand and from it a turquoise glow of magical light erupted from her hand. Nightmare Moon backed away as the light shined brighter and brighter. The rays of turquoise light pierced through Nightmare Moon, causing her to shriek in agony until her entire body shattered like fragile glass.

The world around them transformed, becoming a field of flowers and a night sky with the aurora borealis flowing through it. Sunset released a sigh of relief, thankful that she was able to do something to stop the evil doppelganger before it could reach her Vice Principal.

“Sunset Shimmer…?”

Sunset turned around and saw that Luna was staring directly at her with wide eyes. “Um…Ms. Luna?”

“How are you –?!”

Suddenly, Sunset awoke with a gasp. Blankets were strewn all over the place, and her brow was beaded with sweat. Sunset looked to her right hand, feeling it clutched around something. When Sunset opened her hand, she saw that the Unicorn Memory, glowing slightly and fading as the seconds ticked by.

“Did I just…” Sunset looked over at her clock and shot up. “OH, CRAP I’M GOING TO BE LATE and I won’t because I’m suspended…right.” Sunset flopped back onto her bed and released a sigh. “Either I just tapped into VP Luna’s dreams or this is just another one of those weird Kamen Rider things.”

Just then a knock came at Sunset’s front door. Curious, Sunset cautiously went down the stairs from her bed, into the living room, and carefully looked through the peephole of the door. Sunset blinked for a moment, looked again, and then opened the door, revealing Luna.

“Vice Principal Luna? Um, what – uh – what are you doing here?” Sunset asked.

“Sunset Shimmer, I need to know, do you think my sister is under the influence of magic?” Lunas asked in desperate tone.

Sunset fidgeted, keeping her right hand held behind her back to hide the Unicorn Memory. “I’m…I…well…”

“I saw you.” Sunset’s eyes widened. “I saw you in my dreams, you…you saved me from that monstrous version of myself! It has to do with your pony magic, right?”

Sunset scratched at her head. “Why don’t we talk inside.”

Luna walked into Sunset’s loft, taking a seat on the couch while Sunset made some coffee, believing that she was going to need a good amount of caffeine to process whatever was happening. After offering and pouring a cup for Luna, Sunset sat down on the adjacent loveseat and asked, “Okay, why do you believe it’s dark magic?”

“It has to be, doesn’t it? I know you know, Tia – er – Principal Celestia isn’t acting right.”

Sunset raised her hand in a stopping motion. “I think we need to establish something first, if it isn’t too personal, can I call you Luna? It’ll get to be a mouthful for the both of us to use titles. Also, I won’t tell anybody what nicknames you guys use.”

Luna blushed a little but her stoic expression returned quickly. “Very well, that sounds reasonable.”

“Anyway, before we can even rule this to be dark magic or any kind of magic, I need to know when she started to change. If I’m right, it looked like this started about a week or so ago?” Sunset speculated.

Luna put her coffee down on the table and rubbed her temples. “About right, but if I’d wager a guess, it started when Sombra came back.”

Sunset narrowed her eyes at that name. “Who was that guy, and why was her globbing onto Celestia like they were a thing?”

With a frustrated sigh, Luna said, “Because they are…were…once a ‘thing’. Back in college, Tia was dating Sombra, he was brilliant, to a degree. Had great potential but he fancied rebelling against everything and anything, causing trouble, and dragging my sister along for the ride. Tia had to be the adult in our lives after our parents died…so she didn’t allow herself to indulge in the normal things that most teens or young adults like yourself would…she had to be our parent, and Sombra gave her that freedom…”

Sunset scrutinized Luna for a moment before saying, “There’s something else to Sombra, maybe it’s my magic or pony nature, but I keep getting this sense of danger coming off of him. What aren’t you telling me?”

Luna leaned back into her chair and placed her right hand over her eyes. “He was a criminal, Sunset. He knew how to manipulate people into getting whatever he wanted, either through coercion, blackmail, or threats. Problem is, he had the tenacity to follow through on his threats with violence. He was a dark person, Tia often attributed it to his loss of his first love, and maybe that’s true, but the person he is now is not what he once was. If anything, he was like me if I had continued down the path I was on.”

The midnight blue woman sat up and rested her elbows on her knees. “One night, he had told Tia to meet him, she never told me where. So, I did for her what she did for me…”

“You stopped her from going, and had a fight,” said Sunset.

Luna smirked. “So, it seems that you saw more than what I thought.”

Sunset blushed. “Um…maybe…”

“I’ll chalk it up to involuntary, for now. But yes, I did. Turns out that Sombra was orchestrating a robbery, one that had gone awry and landed him in jail. I thought that was the last time we’d seen him. But just about three weeks ago he popped up out of nowhere. And right around the same time, Tia began having nightmares, getting less sleep. However, on the times she went to go and meet with him, that following night she’d slept peacefully.” Luna tightened her fists.

“I, at first, gritted my teeth and bared it, because I couldn’t stand seeing my sister thrash about and in pain when gripped with a nightmare. But steadily, she’s been changing. When she suspended you, I knew I had to do something, and after last night, I’m more than certain of it.”

Sunset was starting to feel a little more confident in what was going on, although she disliked the idea of the mirror version of her adopted mother being under control, it was a load off her mind, she didn’t want to believe that Celestia was just secretly spiteful and irate. “Okay, I’ll use this suspension to my advantage and take a look into this. But, if possible, could you find a way to make sure that this doesn’t get into my record?”

“I can do that much, if you want, I can possibly try and get it reversed?” Luna asked.

“No, don’t want to tip off Celestia, for now, try and talk her down. I have some leads I want to check out, and see if you can help my friends, Twilight and the girls can investigate the magic side to see if there’s anything at the school that did this.” Sunset stood up and asked, “If at all possible, I want to look around Celestia’s room and your house to see if there are any items that dark magic could’ve attached itself to. If you’re comfortable with that…I mean…”

Luna stood up, reached into her pocket, and took out a key. She walked around the table and placed it into Sunset’s right hand. “Had you suggested something like this a couple of years ago, I would’ve suspected you had some dark ulterior motive.”

“Oh, I do, I want to see what your night clothes consist of.” The moment Sunset said that, Luna snatched the key back. “Kidding! Kidding! I won’t go snooping through your dressers! I promise!”

The older woman raised a suspicious eyebrow but returned the key. “Very well, please be careful and be quick.” Luna walked towards the door with Sunset right behind her. Before Luna exited, she turned her head and showed a devious smirk. “I know I am alluring, but don’t cheat on Twilight Sparkle this early in your relationship, it just wouldn’t work out…at least until the end of your senior year.”

Sunset was left standing there with mouth agape, all while Luna walked away with a smirk of satisfaction that she managed to stump the brilliant girl.

Note to self…give Twilight a guilty gift.

***______________________________***

True to her word, Sunset headed to the two sisters’ house, parking her bike on a sidewalk about a block or so from where the house was, just in case a certain someone popped by. With the key, and a quick text on how to disarm the alarm system, Sunset started her investigation. She first checked around the house, remembering the ground floor layout from when she made her entrance to save them from the Injury Dopant.

After going over the entire floor, Sunset couldn’t sense or find anything that radiated magic. So, she took her investigation upstairs. It wasn’t hard finding Celestia’s room, she had a large queen-sized bed, with an oak head board, and a white comforter with pink flowers that looked as if they were painted on with water colors.

Sunset ran her hand over the bed, the moment she did, she jerked her hand away, feeling a stinging, almost electrical shock running through her hand. “Something was here…rather, something occurred here.” Sunset looked around a little more before deciding on a course of action, something she hadn’t tried in a long time since her days a unicorn. “Guess I’ll give it a shot.”

The former unicorn mare took out the Unicorn Memory and sat down on the floor, crossed legged, in a mediation position. Sunset held the Unicorn Memory in her hands and used it as focal point to channel her inner magic. Closing her eyes, Sunset focused on the hostile energy she felt emanating from Celestia’s bed.

~|~***~|~

Within her minds eyes, her body was cloaked in the form of her alter ego, Kamen Rider Unicorn. “Well, at least I don’t have to worry about whatever’s causing this to know who I am.”

It was a strange feeling being back in the void of darkness again, she didn’t like it. It felt alive, like the darkness was sentient.

“Who enters my domain?”

The voice reverberated in the darkness, rumbling through everything, even through Unicorn’s ethereal body. Unicorn steeled her nerves and responded, “I am Kamen Rider Unicorn! I’m the protector of this city and its people! Who or whatever you are, if you seek to endanger anyone, you’ll have to contend with me!”

The darkness began giving way to a new landscape, showing a gray and barren wasteland, with dark storm clouds that roared with thunder and spat lightning. Unicorn found her feet touching solid ground, but her time to analyze the situation was not given as a being appeared before her. Clad in silver armor, with dark smoke acting as the body, and helmet adorned with a single red horn crest, was the being in control of the realm. His eyes burned with violet wisps coming from the corners of its eyes, the sclera of the eyes was a dark green, while the irises were blood red.

“Oh, the hero, I’ve heard so much about you. Unfortunately, you have no power here. This is my world, and in here, I make the rules!”

The Shadow raised his right hand and slammed it against the ground, a surge of power coursed through the dreamscape, and immediately responded. The “earth” began to jut out into sharpened granite glaives that roared towards Unicorn. The magical hero jumped into the air, avoiding the earthen glaives, and fired off several magic bolts in rapid succession straight for The Shadow. The Shadow raised his left hand and created a barrier, all the shots either exploded off its surface or ricocheted off into the distance.

The Shadow raised his right hand towards the cloud ridden sky and clenched his fist. The lightning arced wildly across the clouds, culminating into a single point in the sky. Unicorn, in anticipation of the incoming attack, created her own barrier bubble, just in time before a huge bolt of lightning crackled across the sky and struck her shield. The protector of harmony was forced back to the land with a tremendous explosion that left a scorching crater.

Unicorn jumped out of the crater as fast as she could, stumbling a bit when she touched back down. “That all you got?!”

The Shadow’s eyes narrowed with irritation. “Y’know, nobody likes stubborn women who don’t know when to lie down.”

Unicorn glared at The Shadow. “Really? So, you’re not just a dream monster, you’re a sexist, dream monster. Thanks, just one more reason to motivate me!”

The horn on Unicorn’s helmet flashed and Unicorn vanished from sight. The Shadow widened his stance as his eyes looked around for his opponent, however, he was not ready for Unicorn’s teleportation assault. Unicorn appeared behind him and delivered a spinning roundhouse to his back, sending The Shadow flying forward. Unicorn teleported again, this time on an intercept path, she then dashed towards him, holding out her right arm as she drew near, and let The Shadow’s momentum carry him forward.

The Shadow’s neck struck against Unicorn’s armored bicep, causing him to gag. Unicorn felt his momentum almost carry her with him, but with a little burst of magic, she was able to shoot forward and follow through. The Shadow, having been effectively clotheslined, spin in midair for a few seconds before falling onto the ground unceremoniously.

“Ha! I’ve always wanted to try that move!” Definitely need to thank Rainbow Dash for sitting me down and watching that anime. “Now let’s end this!”

The Rider of friendship took out the Unicorn Memory and placed it into the right hip port.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn jumped into the air, spun once, and descended with her right foot forward. I spiral cone formed around her right foot, preparing to deliver the finishing blow of Spiral Breaker.

However, The Shadow had other plans. The apparition’s body suddenly grew five times his size, becoming a giant that spread out across the landscape. Unicorn, upon seeing this, tried to cancel out her attack, but it was no use. The Shadow reached out and grabbed ahold of Unicorn in midair, now rising until his body had broken through the clouds above, revealing an even more tumultuous storm raging overhead.

Unicorn could feel the giant hand squeeze her body, tighter and tighter, without any sign of relenting. Unicorn had formed a full body barrier to protect herself, but even that was showing cracks with each passing second. The Shadow raised his fist up and brought Unicorn to his eye level, even though this being lacked a mouth, she could tell that he was smirking at her.

“No one defies me, this is my world! I have all the power!” The Shadow titled his head in curiosity for a moment. “I wonder, are you just someone who dreams of becoming Kamen Rider Unicorn? Or are you actually the Unicorn?”

Unicorn grunted as she struggled to get free from The Shadow’s grasp. “That’s for me to know and you to never find out!”

The Shadow shrugged. “Oh, I like a challenge!”

At that moment, dark tendrils rose up from his fist and struck against Unicorn’s chest, right over where her heart would be. The tendrils coiled together and formed a makeshift drill that began to bore into the barrier that Unicorn had created. Cracks began to fissure from the point of contact as Unicorn tried putting more energy into the shield, but doing so meant taking energy away from other parts of the shield that were protecting her body.

Soon the drill broke through and struck at her heart, Unicorn cried out in pain as she felt the cold darkness creep over her, little by little.

“Yes, we’ll see who’s under that mask,” The Shadow mocked.

Suddenly, a bright light began to push back against the tendrils, the light grew brighter and brighter until it released a powerful explosion of turquoise, gold, and crimson. The Shadow’s right hand was completely erased from the power of the light, along with the storm clouds. The light eventually faded, and when it did, The Shadow saw that he was alone, Kamen Rider Unicorn, had vanished.

~|~***~|~

Sunset released a terrified cry as she fell on her back, now staring up at the ceiling as her heart hammered in her chest. Speaking of which, Sunset scrambled to a seated position and felt around her chest, and with a thankful sigh, was relieved to find that there was no hole or anything that showed what the creature had done anything to her. However, her body was sore like she had been in a fight, and when she pressed a little more over that spot there was soreness. Sunset looked down her shirt and noticed a bruise had formed over where her heart was.

No…No way…that dream, whatever that was, it actually affected me here? Sunset thought.

Sunset looked at the clock and realized that barely a minute had passed since she entered that state. It didn’t surprise her as much, time moves faster in the dream world, the brain’s unconscious state can’t grasp time in a relative sense, so what felt like an hour, more likely was a minute or less in real time. Sunset stood up on unsteady legs, as she made her way towards downstairs, Sunset noticed a figure outside the house and ducked back up the stairs and stealthily made her way into another room. Once in, she gently separated a section of the blinds and saw that it was Sombra again.

The man was just standing there, dragging on his cigarette as he gave a none-too-pleased look at the house. Thankfully it wasn’t long before Sombra got back into his car and drove away, Sunset waited an hour to be sure that he wasn’t there anymore and left the house as quickly and silently as possible.

As she walked back to her bike, Sunset started contemplating what had just happened to her. She battled some creature in the dream world, who had complete control over it, but as Unicorn, she was able to deal some modicum of damage to him. Sunset unlatched her bike from the lamppost and revved the engine, at this point, she wasn’t sure if this was Equestrian magic or a Dopant.

Sometimes though, it’s better to go straight to the source.

R: Requiem for a Dream / Celestia's Dilemma

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Sunset waited in the lobby of PhoenEXE Corp. her tapping foot a clear indicator of her anxiousness. She had shot a text to Starlight Glimmer to request a meeting with her, and surprisingly she said yes. Sunset knew it was a long shot, but better to try and exhaust all options.

After about five minutes of waiting, a young woman walked towards her. She had a strawberry pink complexion with curly, bouncy hair. She was dressed in a business suit, with a pin on her lapel that was shaped like a cupcake.

“Sunset Shimmer?” she asked.

Sunset blinked. “Um, yes.”

“My name’s Sugar Belle, I’m one of Starlight Glimmer’s assistants, I’ve heard a lot of good things about you.” Sugar Belle extended her right hand forward for a handshake.

Sunset stood up and shook her hand with a smile on her face. Both women made their way to an elevator and were soon on the rise to the top floor. As the floor numbers passed by in rapid succession, Sugar Belle couldn’t help but steal glances over at Sunset. Something that Sunset did notice.

“Is there something you want to ask me?”

Sugar Belle blushed at being found out. “Um, well, I was just curious.”

Sunset tilted her head. “About what?”

“Well, Starlight – er – Ms. Glimmer, seems to be a little happier whenever she talks about you and your friends, guess I was just eager to meet the girl who’s she fond of,” said Sugar Belle.

“She…She really thinks that of us?” Sunset asked.

Sugar Belle looked around before whispering. “Not that she’ll tell anyone, but she didn’t have that many friends when she was a kid or teen, so, I think spending time and corresponding with you all helps her in some way.”

Sunset hoped that was the case, although, now she was left wondering if Sugar Belle knew exactly what was happening under her feet. Eventually the elevator stopped, Sunset and Sugar Belle disembarked and headed through the double doors and entered Starlight’s office. Once inside, Sugar Belle left, the doors giving a thud upon closing. Sunset walked up to the desk and stood before it as Starlight looked out through the window to the city below.

“Sunset, come over here and look at the view,” said Starlight.

Sunset, not seeing any harm, walked over to stand beside Starlight as they both gazed out into the city skyline. “It’s a nice view.”

“Thank you,” Starlight turned to her and allowed a small smile to grace her lips. “I’d liked to hope that this is a social call, but I’m pretty sure I know why you are here.”

The fiery haired girl sighed, “Then I won’t have to tiptoe around the subject then. Have you released any new T1 Gaia Memories?”

Starlight looked back out the window. “Were you hoping I would tell you?”

“A long shot, but yes.”

Starlight shook her head. “Sunset, you strike me as a girl who does better by doing, and if you’re anything like me then you hate having the answer just handed to you.”

Sunset turned to face Starlight. “When it’s problem with a magical formula, math, or some kind of test, yes. But this isn’t a test, this is something that’s affecting someone I care about! Right now, I’m trying to rule out that it isn’t some form of wild Equestrian magic, but at the same time I can’t rule out that the cause isn’t a Dopant. So right now, I need you tell me if you’ve given out any of those things, and if you have, what its name is.”

Starlight was silent.

Sunset moved closer and placed her hand on Starlight’s shoulder. “Please, forget the name of the Memory, just give me the name of the person you sold it to! I can just work with that, and I’ll figure out the rest!”

Starlight glanced to Sunset but remained silent. The former unicorn mare growled in frustration and turned her back on Starlight, stepping away for a moment. “I know you’re frustrated, Sunset, but for my goal, my dream, to become a reality, I must continue on my path. When all this is done, we can start over, but I know, as bright and strong as you are, you’ll find a way to stop whatever’s happening.”

Sunset beat her fist against Starlight’s desk as she turned around. “You know, I could just out you! Just tell everyone in the city that you’re Kamen Rider Equal, and lead them to the secret, Saturday morning cartoon, underground base where you’re making the Gaia Memories!”

Starlight turned around, and without missing a beat, sat in her desk and looked at Sunset with a calculating gaze. “Alright, let’s entertain that thought. I’m the head of the most powerful and wealthy company in all of Canterlot City. If you were to go and accuse me of such things, that would mean I would have to out you as Kamen Rider Unicorn, and let’s not forget that you’re also a denizen from a different dimension, you technically don’t exist here, and if anyone looked hard enough they’d put two and two together, but with that amount of attention on you, I’m pretty sure authorities would be involved.”

“But let’s just shove aside the whole revealing you’re Unicorn and a girl from a parallel world. From the perspective, it would just be a teenager accusing a corporate CEO without any hard proof. A CEO who has made many donations to the repairs of the city during the Dopant attacks, and who has outfitted the CCPD’s finest, finest, with a weapon to effectively combat the Dopants.” Starlight leaned forward and said, “As it stands, Sunset, you have much more to lose than gain from such an action. And I really, really don’t want to go there.”

The sad part about everything that was said, besides the fact that Starlight was right, was that Sunset could see it in her eyes, it was an option Starlight didn’t want to resort to. “Fine…eventually though, I’ll figure out what you’re after, and how to stop you. No one will die on my watch.”

Sunset calmly walked out of the room and left Starlight alone as she turned around in her chair to look back out of the window. She stretched out her hand as of grasping the city into her hand and said, “No one will die, Sunset, not when I’m done…”

***__________________________***

Sunset had arrived home later, once school was out, the girls all arrived at her house to discuss what had been going on at school in relation to Principal Celestia’s behavior.

“I take it not much has improved?” Sunset asked.

Applejack sighed. “Not in the least…s’far as we can tell, there ain’t no sign of any magical no-good goin’ about.”

“And, I’m afraid, there was a bit of an…argument between Ms. Harshwhinny and Principal Celestia. It was apparently a heated discussion over your suspension, it got to the point that Vice Principal Luna had to step in and break it up,” said Rarity.

Sunset bit her lip, this was definitely not going to get better until she figured something out.

“So, any leads on the Dopant front?” Rainbow asked.

Sunset crossed her arms in front of her chest. “Maybe, there’s a good chance it might be a Dopant. But…”

The girls noticed that Sunset was shaking a little. Concerned, Twilight moved closer and placed her hand over Sunset’s. “Sunset, what’s wrong? You’re shaking a little.”

“Oh…” the girl in question shook her head. “It’s…It’s nothing, just…”

“Oh no, you’re not going to hide anything from us,” said Fluttershy. “We’re your friends, and you can tell us anything.”

Pinkie appeared before Sunset and said, “Of course, it’s just like Fluttershy said.” She then proceeded to place her hands on Sunset’s shoulders and shake as she yelled, “Spill it, Sun Shim!”

After the shaking was done, Sunset recounted what had happened to her when she was at Celestia and Luna’s house. Upon hearing this, Twilight immediately – and without any shame – lifted Sunset’s shirt to exam the area where the tendrils had attacked her. The girls all averted their eyes, except for Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash, the latter letting out a wolf whistle.

“You don’t seem to have a bruise now, I guess your healing factor must’ve taken care of it,” said Twilight as she looked over the skin.

Sunset’s left eye twitched, her face a bright shade of red as she tried to control herself. “Twilight, babe, I know I can be a perv at times, but even I have my limits. Like when my girlfriend pulls up my shirt and flashes our friends…Rainbow stop staring already!”

“Just enjoying the show,” said Rainbow as she lounged on Sunset’s couch.

Twilight seemed to finally understand what she had just done and swiftly pulled Sunset’s shirt back down to cover her chest back up. Sunset may have been a shade of red, but Twilight was practically red from head to toe. “I-I-I am so sorry…!”

There was silence in the room for a while before Rainbow Dash said, “At least I was right, you are bigger than Rarity.”

“WHAT?!” Sunset and Rarity exclaimed.

“Yeah, if I had to guess, we’re probably about the same size,” said Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie!” Twilight exclaimed.

“That’s it, I deserve a peep show too, c’mon, whip ‘em out!” Sunset ordered as she shot up from her seat and stalked towards Rainbow Dash.

The rainbow haired girl quickly began to back pedal away from Sunset, all while keeping her arms wrapped around her chest. “W-Whoa, wait, hold on now Sunset, I was just joking!”

“Pinkie, cut off her escape.”

“Aye, aye!”

A good ten minutes or so was spent with Pinkie and Sunset trying to corner Rainbow Dash and give her a taste of what Sunset had just had. Rarity merely shook her head and muttered words like, “Such a childish display…” or “This is truly unladylike behavior, all three of you!”

After the fun was done, and Rainbow Dash sported a red blush, it was time for everyone to leave. However, before Twilight left, Sunset called out, “Twi, hold on a minute.”

Twilight stopped before reaching the doorway, with Rarity waiting for her. “Yes, Sunset?”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she approached Twilight. “Um…well…since we’ve already said that we love each other…and, since we’ve been through a bit together…” Why am I feeling so embarrassed?! It’s not a big deal…okay yes, it is, but still, mare up Shimmer! “I…I wanted to give you this, please hold out your hand.”

Twilight held out her right hand as instructed, Sunset reached into her pants pocket and pulled something out, keeping her fist clenched around whatever she had taken out. Sunset rested her closed fist in Twilight’s open palm and dropped something into it. As she pulled away, Twilight now saw that it was a key, a yellow key that was decorated with Sunset’s sun cutie mark.

“It’s…the key to here, my home. You know, in case I’m not home and you need to drop something off…or if you just want to come over, you know, for anything really…”

The bespectacled girl’s eyes widened, it was a small gesture, but it spoke volumes. Sunset was opening her home to her, as far as Sunset was concerned, this was Twilight’s home as well. “Sunset…” Twilight quickly enveloped her girlfriend in a tight hug, her eyes tearing a bit. “Thank you so much, Sunset.”

Sunset hugged her back as she smiled at her. “Hey, no need to cry about it. At least you have another place to crash, or if anything happens, another place to go that you’ll know I’ll always be.” As Sunset said these things, she could see Rarity biting her lip in a feeble attempt to keep herself from gushing and overall fangirling over what she was seeing. Sunset rolled her eyes and gently pushed Twilight away, working her finger under Twilight’s glasses to wipe away a tear. “Alright, better head back before Rarity loses it. I’d cover your ears when you get into that car.”

Twilight gave Sunset a chaste kiss on the lips before heading out the door, holding the key close to her heart. Rarity merely smiled in that way that she does, which prompted Sunset to ask, “Dare I ask what’s going through your head at this moment?”

“Oh, nothing, just getting some ideas on how I can design yours and Twilight’s wedding dresses,” said Rarity.

“Wedding dresses?!” Before Sunset could retort, Rarity closed the door behind her, effectively ending the conversation. “I hate it when she does that…”

***__________________________***

Sunset found herself standing before a large boutique, which was oddly shaped like a carousel. She walked through the front doors, hearing the serene wind chime go off to indicate a customer had entered. The shop was obscenely huge, with dozens of clothing options, ranging from men, women, and children, and everyone from high society to the common folk were milling about and choosing the clothes they liked. Sunset had to admit, many of the designs were gorgeous, and oddly familiar.

“Sunset, Darling!”

Sunset turned her head towards the escalator and her jaw dropped. It was Rarity, although, she was older, about mid-twenties. She was wearing a black leotard that hugged her figure well and extenuated her curves, and a cape and mantle that was studded with diamonds. And her hair sparkled in the lights as of crushed diamonds were sprinkled into every lock of it.

“R-Rarity, you, uh, you look…”

“Dazzling? Lovely? Sexy?” Rarity gave coy smile at the last one. “Well, you’d be right on all fronts.”

The fiery redhead shook her head and slapped herself across the face for being stunned like that. “What’s going on here – you look – and this place…how?!”

Rarity gave a lilting laugh as she directed the younger girl to walk with her. “Oh, Sunset, why what else would I be doing after high school? My designs have been getting so much attention since I was in CHS that I was scouted out and brought right into the industry! And now that I’ve made a name for myself, I’m leaving my dream, Darling!”

Sunset couldn’t help but smile. “I’m happy for you Rarity, I know this is all you’ve ever wanted. How are you and Sunny Flare?”

“Oh, we’re doing fabulously, in every sense of that word,” said Rarity with a half-lidded gaze. “And if you need further convincing…” Rarity pulled off the glove of her left hand and revealed a gold band around her finger. “Oh, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have showed you that…”

“Why?” Sunset asked.

“Well, considering–”

Suddenly, the world shifted around Sunset, bringing her to a new setting. It was large veterinary hospital, the waiting room had a number of both the standard pets, dogs, hamsters, cats, and exotic animals. Heading out from the back was another friend she recognized, and unfortunately, this also got another reaction out of Sunset. It was Fluttershy, dressed in a white lab coat, with a green blouse and black pencil skirt. Her long pink hair was done up into a bun, and upon her face was a pair of rimless glasses. The older version of her friend looked in her direction and beamed.

“Sunset, I haven’t seen you in a long time!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she moved closer and hugged the teenager.

Some other things got bigger too…

“What do you mean, haven’t seen me?” Sunset managed to get out.

Fluttershy released her and gave Sunset a curious look. “Well, because you went back to Equestria, you’ve been living over there for the past ten years.”

Before Sunset could inquire further, the world shifted again, this time to a laboratory. It was a no brainer who she was going to meet here, and she was thankful too. The lab was everything Sunset imagined her girlfriend’s fantasy playground to be. Beakers filled with unknown concoctions, multiple super computers running complex algorithms and calculations, and if Sunset wasn’t mistaken, she was sure she saw a particle accelerator in the back.

As she made her way further into the lab, she was stopped as a large purple dog appeared out from around the corner and growled at her. Sunset immediately recognized the dog and yelled, “Whoa, hey, Spike it’s me, Sunset!”

Spike took a moment to look at the intruder, his expression changed from one of aggression and to one of curiosity. “Sunset, what are you doing here?”

“I’d like to know myself, you’ve gotten big since your puppy days,” said Sunset.

Spike scoffed. “Look, I don’t know why you came back, but leave Twilight alone.”

Sunset shook her head in confusion. “Why, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean ‘what’s wrong’? You –!”

“Spike, what’s all the…” Twilight appeared from around the corner, her lab coat buttoned up, her hair a frazzled mess, and a pair of goggles resting upon her forehead, but no glasses. Even in such a state, Twilight was still the most beautiful thing to Sunset, and she had matured well, if Twilight’s mother was any indicator. Twilight’s smile turned into a frown upon laying eyes on Sunset. “…What are you doing here?”

“I have no idea, to be honest, but I’m glad to see you babe.”

Twilight took a step forward and stated, “Don’t ‘babe’ me! Not after…Not after you left me!”

Sunset’s heart felt like it cracked. “What?! T-Twilight I would never do that! I love you!”

“I thought you did…I really did…” Twilight’s eyes watered, but her eyes were narrowed in anger. “I understood you didn’t have many options since you didn’t exist in this world, but we could’ve worked something out! You’re as smart as me, we could be here, working together! Living together! I didn’t need a ring or a wedding to know that we would be together forever! I just needed you!”

“Twilight…I…” Sunset’s hands trembled, she didn’t know what to say.

“But no, you selfishly decided – on your own – to go back to Equestria…! I know that’s your home, but…” Twilight wiped her eyes and glared at Sunset now. “Tell me, are you with the other me back in your home world?! It’s probably easy to get over a break up when the person you broke up with is waiting for you in another dimension!”

Sunset ran up to Twilight, pulling at her coat. “I would never do that to you! I…I mean, yes I worry, but I’m – I wouldn’t just leave you!”

“It’s like a cruel joke…” Twilight pushed Sunset away. “That portal changes you back to the age you were when we fell in love, when we had our first kiss, and our first…” Twilight clenched her jaw. “Just get away from me, Spike, if she doesn’t leave in the next two minutes, you can remove her by force.”

Sunset watched as Twilight walked away, leaving her to fall on her knees, tears flowing like a waterfall……

~|~***~|~

Sunset awoke with a start, her heart threatening to burst from her chest. Her eyes stung with tears as she wiped them from her face. She got out of bed and made her way downstairs, turning on the faucet in the bathroom and splashing water in her face. Without really thinking, Sunset rushed back up to her bed and dialed Twilight’s phone number. The phone rang a few times before Twilight picked up.

[Mmmm…Sunset…?]

“Twilight! I’m so sorry, I would never do anything like that to you! I wouldn’t ever leave you like that! I’m so sorry!” Sunset choked out, nearly in tears again.

That seemed to sober Twilight up as her voice sounded much more alert when she replied, [Sunset what’s wrong?! I don’t know what you’re talking about, are you alright?! You sound like you’re crying!]

Sunset took a moment to breathe, she looked at her clock and saw that it was two-thirty in the morning. Once she had collected her thoughts, Sunset swallowed hard and sighed heavily. “S-Sorry, Sparky, I’m…I’m alright…kind of. I had a nightmare…”

[Oh…did you want to talk about it?]

“No, no, it’s late. You have to be at school, and I need to get some of that work done,” said Sunset.

[Don’t do that,] said Twilight in a stern voice. [I don’t like to hear my girlfriend crying over the phone saying ‘I’m sorry’ this late at night and act like it’s nothing. Please, tell me what happened.]

Knowing that this was a losing battle, Sunset told Twilight about the nightmare. After a minute and a half, Sunset had confessed the whole nightmare to her. “And that’s pretty much it…I just…you looked so hurt in my nightmare that I had to say something to you now or regret it…”

[I don’t blame you, I’d act the same way, too. But it’s okay, I know you’d never hurt me like that. I trust you, Sunset Shimmer, no matter what.]

Sunset chuckled happily. “I wish you were here right now, I need to cuddle something.”

[……I…I could try and sneak out, if you need me to.]

Sunset shook her head. “No, don’t do that. The last thing either of us needs is to give your big brother a reason to watch you and me like a hawk.”

[That’s true. Well, I’ll keep my phone close, call me, even if you just want to talk.]

“Thanks, goodnight.”

The call was ended, and Sunset flopped back onto the bed, not sure if she wanted to go back to sleep for fear of that nightmare, or something worse, popping into her mind again. Sunset shot up like a springboard as her eyes widened.

“THAT’S IT!”

***__________________________***

Twilight found herself standing within the Infinite Library. It had already been two days since Sunset’s suspension and Twilight was determined to have it end and get Principal Celestia back to normal.

“Alright, Sunset, what’s the Keyword?” Twilight asked.

---Try, dreams.---

“Lookup: Dreams.”

Hundreds of dozens of bookshelves flew away, leaving a good hundred shelves of books. “Not enough, narrow it down more.”

---Next word, manipulation.---

“Lookup: Manipulation.”

The shelves dislodged hundreds of books before zooming off into the eternal white expanse.

“We’re getting closer, anything else?” Twilight asked.

---Nightmare.---

“Lookup: Nightmare.”

Out of the hundreds of books, only one was not recalled into the white expanse. The book was black, with sliver littering, and the book almost felt like it was made of an oozy substance. “Found it. It’s the Nightmare Memory, it not only grants the wielder power to send its victims into slumber, but also has the power control another person’s dreams, causing nightmares that can physically harm a person.”

~*~*~*~

Twilight exited the Infinite Library and was now standing in Sunset’s loft. Sunset was going over the copied police files that Twilight had on her computer, and just as she feared, this Sombra had a long rap sheet. Repeat offender, theft, assault, almost everything bad under the sun, but apparently nothing with drugs. Guess some criminals have standards.

“You really think this Sombra guy is responsible for what’s happening with Principal Celestia?” Twilight asked.

“I do, that nightmare I had, I’ve haven’t had anything like that since the Fall Formal. And that nightmare only really started after I fought that thing in the dream world. On top of that, Sombra just so happened to be outside of their house both times, and Celestia’s mood only started to shift when he waltzed in, coincidence? I think not.”

Twilight looked back the file and grimaced. “Okay, assuming it’s him. How are you going to verify he has the Nightmare Memory, not to downplay our other cases, but he’s dangerous.”

“Working on that, it may take a bit off…forwardness.”

Sunset didn’t like leaving her with such a cryptic answer, but truthfully, she was winging it here. After getting all that information together, Sunset had Twilight go back home while she began her plan, or what bit of one she had going on in her head.

The next day was a Friday, and now Sunset stood in the faculty parking lot of CHS. She stood next to Principal Celestia’s car, patiently waiting for her to arrive. Sunset wasn’t one-hundred percent sure what would happen, but she needed to see if she could break through to the kind and caring woman beneath this cloud of anger. Sunset spotted some of her teachers as they exited, some giving her weary looks, not of suspicion, but of worry. By now the word had circled around the school of her suspension, and how uncalled for it was, and were afraid that Celestia seeing Sunset would make her situation worse. Despite their concerned gazes, Sunset didn’t falter, not even when Ms. Harshwhinny offered to stay with her.

Sunset declined, stating to the teacher, “I need to do this, alone.” After another hour of waiting, the person Sunset waited for exited the building. Her irritation was still noticeable, but so was her grin, the grin of someone who had a fun night ahead of them. And then that grin fell into a frown upon seeing Sunset.

Celestia walked up to her car and asked, “I do believe I warned you that I would call the police if I saw you on school grounds or around me or my house.”

“I remember.”

“Then it better be life threatening to warrant your presence here,” said Celestia.

“It is, but not to my life.”

Celestia took a step back. “Is that a threat, Ms. Shimmer?!”

“No, something is making you this way. At first, I thought it was some wild magic, but I haven’t sensed or seen anything to warrant that it is, at least not yet. So, I went another route. One that’s been more prevalent in the recent year. The monster attacks.”

The tall woman gave Sunset a skeptical look. “What are you getting at?”

“I think someone is hurting you, using one of dangerous devices that turn people into monsters, to mess with your head,” said Sunset with determination.

Celestia shook her head and gave Sunset and incredulous look. “How absurd! Why does everyone in this school think I’m possessed by magic or an imposter just because I have a mood swing?! I’m not possessed by your otherworldly magic, I’m not a monster in disguise, I’m just a woman who’s stressed and has had a long day and wants to go–!”

“Out with Sombra?” Sunset finished.

Celestia narrowed her gaze. “Leave him out of this.”

Sunset took a step forward. “He’s bad news, Celestia. I know, I can see it in his eyes, and feel it when I was near him. He’s how I used to be, but worse.”

“You don’t know anything about him! He makes me feel better! Whenever I’m around him, I feel free! I don’t have to think about everything happening here and just follow!” Celestia stated.

“I know…and I’m guessing when you’re not around him, you’re plagued with nightmares right?”

Celestia recoiled at that, eyes widening as if Sunset had slapped her in the face. The older woman didn’t have a response, allowing Sunset to push on, taking a calming breath before she did.

“In my world, I was taken in by the ruler of all the ponies in Equestria. Her name was Princess Celestia, I was her apprentice, her protégé, and…her adopted daughter. Although, I didn’t act like the grateful child I should have been, I was the same there as I was when I first came to this world, probably worse since I had access to my magic.”

For the first time since this whole mess started, Celestia’s irritation faded away and a look of concern fell upon her. “It…It must’ve been a shock to see that the Principal of this school, was the same person you hated so much…”

“I didn’t hate her…I was angry at her, I was a brat! So, when I saw you here, a less powerful and less royal version of her, I guess…I started to see more of the mare, or woman, who was behind all that, and well…” Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she tried to find the right words.

“Is that the reason you never tried to blackmail or manipulate myself or my sister?” Celestia asked.

Sunset nodded. “Especially since you helped me get into this school and didn’t pry into why I didn’t have a family or home. It was thanks to you that I got that loft. I’ve long since made up with the other you in my world, so that’s why it…it hurts to see you this way. Because it goes against the woman, I know you are.”

Celestia said nothing, there a palpable silence that hung in the air between them for a long, drawn out minute until Celesita walked over to her car and leaned against it. “I’m sorry…” Sunset turned to face her. “I don’t…I don’t know why I’ve been this way…it’s like…it’s as if all the little things are irritating me, as if I am becoming a different person…but when I’m with Sombra, I feel right…at least, I think I do. He wasn’t all bad, and…yes, he could have been better than a thug.”

“You thought you could change him, right?” Sunset asked as she leaned up against Celestia’s car.

“I did…I-I mean I do…I don’t know,” said Celestia.

Sunset dared to place her hand on Celestia’s shoulder, and gently squeezed reassuringly. “I think you really need to take a minute and see what’s happening around you.”

Surprisingly, Celestia didn’t brush her hand away, she did however place her own atop it and gave it a light squeeze. “I’ll think on it…I promise.”

“That’s all I’m asking.”

Sunset took back her hand and moved so that Celestia could enter her car. Once she was inside, Celestia rolled down the window and said, “Come back on Monday, I want to discuss your suspension.” Sunset nodded and watched as she drove away.

Well, at least that’s one step in the right direction. Sunset thought as she walked out of the parking lot and towards where she had parked her bike. Now I just need to look into that guy……and speak of the devil and he shall appear.

The black sports car was parked against the sidewalk, with Sombra leaning against the lamppost that she had tethered her bike to. “Not a good place to park your bike, never know if someone’s going to steal it or mess with it, kid.”

“That a threat?” Sunset asked.

“No, just a suggestion.”

Sunset snorted as went to untether her bike. “Thanks, but I can take care of my own ride, and myself.”

“No doubt about that, you look like a fighter, or have been in a few brawls. You got this air about you that screams ‘bad girl’. Guess that’s why Celly suspended your ass,” said Sombra.

The former unicorn mare gave Sombra a sideways glare. “Just so you know, I know you’re no saint either. I can smell thug a mile away.”

Sombra then began to laugh out loud as he walked around to Sunset’s right. “Oh man, that’s good to hear, I didn’t know how long I was going to keep holding back.” The tall man then struck his boot against the lamppost, making Sunset jump back and enter a fighting stance. “Ooh, you got good reflexes, and a fierceness in your eyes, I like that in a woman.”

“Please,” Sunset scoffed.

“Alright, stay away from Celly. I can tell she has a soft spot for you, and I’d rather not have to make this between us,” Sombra warned.

Sunset didn’t bat an eye to the threat. “I won’t, I’ll make sure she sees you for the what you are.”

Sombra smiled and into his pocket. “Have it your way.” The red eyed man’s hand left his pocket, revealing a Gaia Memory. The ribcage design definitely made this a T1, the symbol on it was an “N” formed by a sleeping crescent moon and a ghost.

< NIGHTMARE! >

Sombra pulled up his shirt and stuck the connector against the tattoo pattern on his chest. The transformation was immediate, his body was enveloped in violet light, and when it faded, his body was that of the armored dark one that Sunset had faced once before. Sunset readied to bolt away from there, but Sombra was not having that.

“Go to sleep.” With a flourish of his cape, Sombra threw out a violet light net that quickly caught Sunset.

The fiery haired girl fell to the ground as the net seemed to increase in weight, dragging down until she was on her back, struggling to free herself. Her movements, after a couple of seconds, were getting sluggish, her strength leaving her as her eyes began to droop, suddenly feeling very tired.

“What…What is…?”

Sombra stood over and chuckled. “Don’t worry, you’re not dying, my net puts anyone who’s caught by it to sleep for at least four hours. You’ll be so deep in sleep you won’t make a sound or be aware of anything that’s happening.”

“Noo…No…!” Sunset cried feebly before the power of the net finally made her fall completely asleep.

***__________________________***

Celestia found herself back at CHS, she walked her familiar halls, greeting the students with a smile and a wave, getting a return smile from her students. As Celestia made her way into her office, she paused when she saw Sunset Shimmer sitting in her chair, her feet propped up on the desk, sporting an arrogant smirk and glaring right at Celestia.

“Sunset, what are you doing in my office?” she asked.

“Huh? Your office? I think you mean my office, I run this school now,” said Sunset.

Celestia gave the teenager a stern look. “Excuse me?”

“I didn’t stutter.” Sunset stood up from the desk and walked around until she as sitting on it. “You can keep the office, but I’m the one with the real power here, you don’t make a move without my say so.”

“And what makes you think that I’ll do as you say?” Celestia asked.

“I love it when someone asks me that.” Sunset took hold of a file and presented it to Celestia. The tall woman walked over and took it, opening it, and then going pale at what she was seeing. “Yeah, amazing with a little photoshopping can do. I’ll admit, Twilight Sparkle’s little photo job wasn’t my best work, didn’t think I needed to put in that much of an effort. But for you, I decided to go the extra mile.”

Celestia kept looking through the photos, she knew Sunset had a skill for such things, but she didn’t know to this extent.

“If you don’t want the whole school, or the Board of Education, finding out that the Principal of CHS is having a forbidden affair with the VP of CHS, her own sis–”

“WE WOULD NEVER! WE’RE NOT LIKE THAT!”

“It doesn’t matter, so long as everyone else believes it, then truth is what others perceive it to be. I swear, you humans are too easily fooled and manipulated.” Sunset reached out and grabbed Celestia by the collar of her blouse and brought her down to look in her eyes. “You belong to me, and so does everyone else in this school. There won’t be any pony princesses coming to save you, nor any bunch of teenage, magical girl clichés from a Saturday morning cartoon.”

Celestia couldn’t comprehend this. “Why, why would do all this when you were changing yourself, becoming a better person?!”

Sunset released Celestia and gave a mad cackle as her body was enveloped in flames, her body transforming until it resembled the same form as her demon self from the Fall Formal. “Saving you from the Sirens and that nerd gone power mad? All of it was just a means to an end! If it got you to lower your guard, so be it, I’ll be the good girl, I’ll be whatever I need to in order to get the power I deserve! Today this little school, then the city, and afterwards, the world!”

The Demon raised her arms up and fire enveloped the entirety of the room.

~|~***~|~

Celestia awoke with a start, her heart beating fast in her chest as sweat dripped down her brow. At that same moment, Luna burst into her room, hearing her older sister’s cry, seeing her in distress, Luna quickly moved to her bedside and began calming Celestia down.

“I’m here, Tia, just breathe slowly, I’m right here,” said Luna as she held her big sister close.

Slowly, but surely, Celestia was finally able to calm herself down. After about ten minutes of silence and a reassuring embrace, Celestia finally spoke. “Thank you…Lulu.”

“You had a nightmare, another one. What was this one about?” Luna asked. Celestia looked away, and Luna frowned. “Please, sister, just tell me. How can I even try to help you if you won’t tell me what’s wrong?!”

“Because you don’t need to burden yourself with my worries or my…problems…” Celestia whispered, but upon looking up and seeing the determined look on her younger sister’s face, Celestia sighed and relented. “It was about the school…about Sunset Shimmer.”

Luna raised an eyebrow at that. “Tia, there are a lot of things I’m prepared for when it comes to our job, but please, don’t tell me you’re developing some kind of infatuation with her? I know you swing both ways, but this would be…could you wait until she graduates…I don’t…?”

Celestia’s cheeks burned red at what Luna was insinuating. “IT’S NOT LIKE THAT! I would never do such a thing!” Celestia narrowed her gaze. “Although, truth be told, you’re the one I’d be worried about that happening with.”

Luna had a deadpan expression. “We will discuss why you’d think that later. So, why were you dreaming about her, what was it about?”

Celetia sat up a bit straighter as she recalled the dream, or rather, nightmare, in vivid detail. Luna listened, her face remaining expressionless the whole time as she was more likely taking an analytical approach. Once she was done, Celestia looked back at her big sister and asked. “Well…?”

“Are you afraid that she’ll revert back to her old ways? Because, while I still have no explanation, she never once tried intimidate or blackmail us into doing something.”

Celestia played with the sheets in front of her as she spoke, “I met Sunset after I left the school, she was waiting for me in the parking lot…She…She told me how the other me in her home world is a Princess, royalty, and that that version of me took her in and became her adoptive mother.”

Luna nodded her head sagely. “Well, when you say that, it makes more sense why she hasn’t outright tried anything like she used to with the other faculty members or the students. Despite her attitude back in those days, she still couldn’t disassociate the version that had raised her and the version that acts like her guardian. But, why would you imagine that given how she’s changed?”

“I…I don’t know, she’s…ugh!” Celestia sighed in frustration. “It’s not her…I know that…it’s me…I hate feeling like this! I don’t like being angry all the time…I don’t want the students seeing me with…with fear…When Sunset stood up to me, trying to help me and make me see what I was doing…I suspended her! I even threatened to call the police on her!”

Celestia’s eyes began to tear up, sniffling echoing in the room as Luna hugged her big sister again. “What’s wrong with me Lulu?! I’m not like this!”

Luna debated whether or not she should tell her sister what she asked of Sunset Shimmer, the young teen had not given her an update about what was causing Celestia to be in this state, magic or monster, it was still unclear. But…

“Sunset Shimmer and her friends are looking into it.”

Celestia looked back at her younger sister. “What?”

“Look, Tia, let’s be honest. Canterlot High has had its fair share of magical and frankly paranormal events. I just wanted her to rule out any kind of external force before we settled on something else…” Luna confessed. “Are you…upset?”

“I should be…but, I know why you’re doing it.”

“There’s something else I’d like to ask, sister.”

“Yes?”

“…Why are you with Sombra again?” Luna asked.

“Because…Because…” Celestia per right hand against her head. “Why…Why did I start to go out with him again…?”

Luna titled her head in worry. “Tia, what’s wrong?”

“I don’t remember why…”

***__________________________***

Sombra rose that morning with a happy grin on his face, even as he drove over to his destination he was still in a good mood. The power the Nightmare Memory had gotten him most of what he wanted, money, a nice place to live, and now he was soon about to have the woman who was a drop-dead knockout. There was just one problem with all of this, that brat teenybopper girl. Sombra left his apartment, it was a nice place, but he planned to trade up to a nicer place once he got Celestia wrapped around his finger. He drove his sports car all the way to Canterlot Harbor, which had a plethora of warehouses that were either being rented out or hardly used.

As such, it made a perfect place to lay low, or to hide from someone, or in Sombra to hide someone away. Sombra stopped his car and exited his car, he slipped through a break in the fence and entered the closest warehouse. The inside was clearly unused, dust particles filled the air, and many of whatever was stored her was covered by thick tarps. Sombra walked over to one of the manager’s office’s that was back in a corner. He unlocked the door and opened it, finding the girl, Sunset Shimmer, slumped against the floor. Her legs were bound, there was enough wiggle room to move her legs, but not so much as to allow her to stand and walk or hop. Her hands were bound in front, but kept close to her chest, making it hard for Sunset to move her arms around.

Sombra strolled in and knelt down to smirk at the tied-up teen. “Comfy?”

“Screw you,” said Sunset with venom.

“Not into jailbait kid, got enough stuff to deal without adding that to my rap sheet.” Sombra confessed as he reached into a bag and laid out a container of food. “Eat up now, and don’t worry, it’s not poisoned or anything.”

“What do you want?”

“Short answer, I want Celly. She’s the only ray of light in this otherwise dark world…a living nightmare…I’ll take all that is owed me, and I’ll carve out a nice little place for the two of us, where I’ll run everything from the dream world. I can take what I want and make people believe it is their idea! Or, cause them pain, send a message not to screw with me or it’s their life!” Sombra declared.

Sunset managed to get herself into a seated position as she rested her back against a cabinet. “And part of that is kidnapping me? My friends are going to realize something is up, and so is Celestia and Luna! They’ll come looking for me, and then, whoa-oh, wait until Unicorn, Nasca, and Trigger find you!”

Sombra shrugged. “I may not know who Nasca is, but I know who Trigger is. If he tries anything, I’ll make him regret it. And as for Unicorn, well, we already tangoed, she can’t beat me in the dream world.”

Sunset sneered at the recollection of their first encounter. Maybe not there, but once I get out of here, I’ll take you down here in the real world. “So, how long are you going to keep me here?”

Sombra reached into his bag and put down three bottles of water before standing back up. “As long as I deem necessary. Once Celly’s finally seen my way of thinking, and given herself to me, I’ll take her and leave an ‘anonymous’ tip that there’s a girl tied up in a warehouse out on the docks. If I remember.”

The dark-haired man chuckled as he left the room, leaving Sunset Shimmer alone in the dirty warehouse, hearing the occasional rat scurry away. Since last night, Sunset had tried to break her bonds, but Sombra had taken advantage of her knocked out state, clearing the room of anything that she could have used to cut the robes with. The thing of it was that the ropes were only part of the problem, he had also used wired zip-ties, so even if the ropes were cut, Sunset would’ve needed something like a sharp knife to cut through them.

“Well, that, or I could get enough wiggle room to summon my Driver and call on the Unicorn Memory…” Sunset thumped her head lightly against the cabinet she was sitting up against in frustration. “Stupid, Shimmer, you should’ve been more alert!”

Sunset hated feeling this, powerless. Especially with Sombra trying to make Celestia his. All she could do now is hope that Twilight or one of her friends will start to worry enough to start looking for her. “And of course, the a-hole goes and smashes my phone…I’m going to Rider Kick you in the balls for that one.”

Sunset managed to get the container of food, which consisted of a hamburger and some fries. She really didn’t want to eat it on the off chance that Sombra indeed poisoned the stuff, but Sunset’s healing factor would probably keep her alive…probably. She took a small bite of the burger and waited about ten minutes. Nothing. Sunset continued in that fashion, eating small bites of the burger, if there was poison, then her healing factor was keeping it from affecting her so long as she kept eating it in small bites and at ten-minute intervals. She’d rather make it slow than get poisoned all at once.

It took her almost an hour to finish the burger, and another ten plus to finish the fries. Sunset wiggled around and picked up the first of the three water bottles, taking some solace that the bottle cap gave a reassuring crack as the seal broke off. Sunset also made sure to inspect it for any sign that it was poked with a syringe and taped over, but no such thing was on any of them. Sunset took in small sips, deciding not to waste them as she wasn’t sure if Sombra was going to return with more food or water any time soon.

Sunset was left alone with her thoughts, trying to figure out a way out of this place. She paid particular attention to the numerous sounds around her. Mostly fog horns, and the sound of seagulls cawing. I must be near the docks…at least I’m still in the city…and from the what I can hear, there’s a lot of large machinery moving around, loaders maybe?

All and all, it made enough of a racket that Sunset’s cries for help would go unheard. Sombra picked a spot inside the warehouse that was probably farthest from the front so that even if she did try and call for help, her cries would just echo through the metal, buffered by the many crates and whatever else was inside the structure. By time it would be quiet enough to even attempt such a thing, the majority of the workers would have gone home, leaving only a skeleton crew that would only be working on specific areas.

There’s always the chance a security guard could come make some rounds through here…But I’m not holding my breath.

Sunset decided to think on what she could do, but what would that be? The former unicorn mare let her mind drift back in time, to the days she studied under Princess Celestia, but it wasn’t a random memory, no, it was specific, an exchange between herself and Princess Celestia.

“Princess, I don’t know why I have to learn this, I can cast spells that protect against mental manipulation”

“While I know you can my faithful student, you can’t always rely on them. A ward can be gradually worn down, chipped, and broken if your opponent is stronger than you.”

“Heh, nopony’s stronger, or better, than me with magic. O-O-Other than you – Princess – that goes without saying!”

“I understand, but this is necessary, it won’t only help fortify your mind against suggestion, but it will also help you…control your inner mind…I guess, you could call it the dreamscape.”

Sunset sighed, in her correspondence with Twilight, she had learned about Nightmare Moon’s true identity and what Princess Celesita was grooming her for. It was, at one point, going to fall upon Sunset to go to Ponyville, make friends, awaken the Elements of Harmony, and together with those friends, save Princess Luna from her prison known as Nightmare Moon. Sadly, this did not come to pass, and more so by her own doing.

“Alright, let’s do it. The last thing I need is that creep to jump into my mind and learn things he shouldn’t.”

***__________________________***

It was Monday, and Celestia was feeling anxious for some reason. She was sitting in her office, downing some aspirins and chasing it with some water. Last night had not been kind to her, nightmares plaguing her once again. However, Luna had proven to be attentive to her plight, even staying with her to insure some semblance of a peaceful sleep. Although she’d never admit it out loud, Celestia always felt calmer and safer sleeping next to Luna, as if her very presence ushered her into a peaceful sleep from time to time.

Morning had come and gone, with no sign of Sunset Shimmer. She knew Sunset wanted to speak to her, and getting the suspension lifted was something that she wanted to have happen, so why hadn’t she come? With an antsy feeling she couldn’t shake, Celestia requested the secretary, Raven, to have Twilight Sparkle report to her office. If there was anyone in the school who knew her whereabouts, it was her.

About ten minutes later, Twilight Sparkle entered through her door, the genius girl looked quite timid. Celestia sighed, she could hardly blame after the way she’s been acting, and since it was, she who suspended her girlfriend. “Thank you for coming, Twilight.”

“Yes…um, Principal Celestia, w-what exactly did I do? I’d just like to say I’m sorry now, and I’ll do whatever I need to in order to make up for it!” Twilight blurted out.

Celestia shook her head. Good gods, have I really made myself that frightening to be around? “No, Twilight, you’re not in trouble, please be assured of that. I actually asked you here to find out where Sunset Shimmer is?”

“Wait, why are you looking for Sunset?” Twilight asked, getting a little defensive.

“I ask, because Sunset approached me last Friday. We talked…and I had asked her to come here today to discuss her suspension, or lack thereof. But she hasn’t come in all morning. I was wondering if she has said anything to you?”

Twilight started to have a worried look on her face. “No…I-I haven’t, I haven’t seen her since last Friday, she hasn’t responded to my calls or texts! I thought maybe she was doing some more investigating on…um…”

Celestia waved off her concern. “I already know you and the girls have been trying to determine if my state is due to magical means. While I can’t say that is, neither do I have any evidence to the contrary.”

“Well, I thought she was investigating more magical means and had gone dark, but she would’ve contacted me by now…” Twilight began to panic, her heart racing at the thought that Sunset could be in trouble. “Something could’ve happened to her – no – I’m sure it did!”

Celestia moved from behind her desk and quickly enveloped the young teen in a hug, trying to calm her down. “Twilight clam down, we need to think. Have your friends call her, you as well, try to see if she responds. If not, I’ll personally head to her home and check on her myself.”

Twilight quickly sent out a group text, all five her friends responded that they had tried calling Sunset, but no response was given. Even multiple texts from all of them were going unanswered.

Celestia narrowed her eyes as she grabbed her car keys and made her way to the door. “Raven, inform Luna I am stepping out, and that she is charge of the school until I return! Please have her look after Twilight Sparkle, she’ll explain everything to my sister!”

Without much else said, Celestia rushed into the faculty parking lot and hurried over to Sunset’s loft. She knew exactly where the teen lived, of course she’d know, Celestia was the one who helped her find it and paid on the rent. Once there, Celestia walked up to the front door and knocked a few times, there was no response. She looked around and didn’t spot her bike parked anywhere.

Worry began to build up in the Principal. Had she pushed Sunset too far? Had she run away? Of course not! Especially with the way she and Twilight are, Sunset isn’t the type to just leave her…

Celestia hurried back into her car and drove back to the school, but stopped when she rounded the corner and spotted Sunset’s motorcycle, what’s more, there was police officer there writing on a pad. Celestia pulled up to the curb and exited the car as she called out, “Excuse me, Officer!”

The cop looked up and asked, “May I help you, ma’am?”

“What are you doing?”

“Writing a ticket, and it looks like this isn’t the first. This bike has several stuck on here, why no one’s called in for a tow…” the Officer grumbled.

“I know the owner of this bike, she’s a student at my school, and she would never just leave it here…” Now Celestia was really beginning to worry.

The officer raised an eyebrow. “When was the last time you saw her?”

“Last Friday evening at the school parking lot, we had a talk, and then I drove off. According to her friends, she hasn’t contacted them since then…She was supposed to come today and meet with me, but she hasn’t…I’m beginning to think something is wrong here,” said Celestia.

“Okay ma’am, I’ll need some information, she’s been missing for forty-eight hours, so that classifies as a missing person, I’ll call it in and have some units come to the school to get some statements and we can start the search.”

***__________________________***

Hours passed, the police came, statements were given, and units were told to be on the lookout for a missing girl. Celestia felt the weight of this situation fall on her, had she not suspended Sunset Shimmer, she’d be at school or at home, not looking into something dangerous. Which was probably what has caused her to have gone missing, Celestia could only imagine what she had stumbled into. Magic was already a mystery, but add in these monster attacks, and the fact they were humans, opened the door to all kinds of bad scenarios that Celestia dared not let her mind wander to.

Celestia couldn’t trudge through the day so she decided to head home. The whole time she was driving, her mind couldn’t help but come back to one question the detective, Spearhead, had asked her.

“Can you think of anyone that might want to hurt her? Or want her out of the way?”

“You want me to take care of her, Celly?”

“Sombra…” Celestia tried to dismiss the errant thought. “He wouldn’t do something like that…yes, he’s got a record, but that doesn’t mean…”

Who are you trying to convince? Yourself, or someone else? Celestia’s inner voice echoed.

The Principal of CHS pulled over and quickly dialed a phone number.

[Hello?]

“Sombra, it’s me, Celly.”

[Celly? What’s up Babe, you’re usually at work supervising those snot nosed kids.]

Celestia tightened her jaw a little at how he addressed her students. “I couldn’t stay…one of my students has gone missing and…” Celestia began to think. “they think that I did it!”

[What?! That’s crazy! Why you?!]

“It’s because the missing kid is Sunset Shimmer! I swear that alpha bitch brat doesn’t give me any peace!” I am so sorry, Sunset…

There was silence on the other end of the line, and Celestia wondered if she laid it on too thick.

[Babe, I’d like to talk to you in person. Do you have a minute?]

“Sure, where do you want me to go?” Celestia asked.

[I’ll text you the address, I’ll be waiting.]

Celestia smiled a little, but at the same time she was hoping she was wrong. A minute passed before the text came, Celestia quickly inputted the address into her phone GPS and drove in the direction it gave. About an hour later, Celestia found herself at the City Harbor. She didn’t like this. She kept driving until she found the spot where Sombra had indicated, stopping next to his car. Celestia exited and Sombra came towards her, giving her a hug and kiss on her cheek, an action that had at once filled her with some sense of joy now made her feel disgusting.

“Sombra, why are we at the Docks of all places?” Celestia asked.

Sombra smiled charmingly. “I want you to understand something Celly, I’ve become…different. I’m stronger now, I have real power now!”

Celestia cocked an eyebrow at that. “What do you mean ‘real power’?”

“I can get things done, I’ve got good money now because of it, and if need be, a place where we can live.” Sombra looked into Celestia’s eyes. “Celly, I’ll give you anything, because I can now. You won’t even have to worry about people who would want to hurt you. I’ll make sure they enter a never-ending nightmare.”

Celestia was starting to get worried, but she was a master of poker faces, even better than her little sister. “How so, Sombra? And why do I think this is leading somewhere I don’t want it to…or…maybe I do?”

Sombra’s smile grew wider as he began lead Celestia towards the fence, opening the break in the fence to allow her entry. Once on the other side, Celestia was taken to the nearest warehouse and granted entry. Sombra continued to lead her, taking her deep into the seldom used building. Further and further in they went until they came upon the back office. The tall ashen man pointed towards the window, Celestia walked forward and peeked inside, it took locking up every muscle in Celestia’s body to keep herself from flying into a rage and knocking out Sombra right here and now.

“That’s…Sunset Shimmer…” Celestia turned to Sombra and asked the question she hoped there was no answer to. “You didn’t…did you?”

Sombra vehemently shook his head. “Please, Celly, I’m not into jailbait. Especially when I got you.”

I have no idea if I should be furious about that answer, grateful, or impressed by the level of loyalty!………Yeah, I’m leaning towards the first two. “Well, I’m glad, I don’t want to be going out with a rapist. Why did you kidnap her?”

Sombra leaned against the wall and said, “For you, Babe, I remember you going on about how this girl was messing with your school and how she used to be the queen bitch, and here I find her poking her nose into our business. So, I thought, ‘Why don’t I do something about this for my Celly?’, and well, here you are.”

Celestia kept a careful eye on Sunset, trying to determine if she had been injured in any manner, but she could only make out so much through the crud covered window. One thing was for sure, she needed to get Sunset out of here, and Sombra to the police. But, if he really did have some sort of power, something like magic or those devices that turned people into monsters, then this was going to be extremely dangerous no matter how she played it.

The tall woman took a deep breath and gave a smirk to her boyfriend. “Sombra, give me ten minutes with her, I think I’m done with CHS.”

***__________________________***

Sunset could hear voices outside, she thought she heard Celestia’s voice, but that could’ve been a trick. Sombra had only brought the one meal on Saturday, and Sunset had done her best to keep the water rationed. Her stomach growled insistently for food, giving her headaches as punishment for the lack of proper nourishment. Her healing factor could only do so much to keep her going without the need for food, but Sunset had never thought to test the limits of it, especially without access to healing magics.

The door opened, and Sunset opened her eyes, they opened all the wider when the person who entered the room was Celestia. Sunset would’ve been elated at the sight of the human version of her adopted mother, but the look on her face made her feel otherwise. It was the same tired, and irritated frown she had worn for weeks.

“Sunset, how the mighty of fallen, again,” said Celestia as she approached Sunset.

“Celestia…?”

The taller woman reached down and picked the young up by her jacket, hoisting her up to her eye level. “I’ve put up with your crap around school for too long!” Celestia threw Sunset into the corner, the far corner, away from the window, which already had poor visibility to begin with.

“Celestia…why…? OOMPH!” Sunset wheezed out when Celestia straddled her and pushed her head down to the floor.

The older woman leaned down and whispered. “I’ll get you free, just react as you know you would until I can get these off!” Sunset’s eyes widened again, when she allowed herself to look up at her guardian, she saw a comforting smile, a real smile, the real Celestia. “I’m going to enjoy this!”

There was a sack nearby that read “Sandy Moon’s Imported Sand”, Celestia grabbed the sack and gave it strike, creating a satisfying “thud” like that of a body blow. Sunset began letting grunts of mock pain, unsurprisingly, Sunset has had a lot of practice given the number of times she has received similar blows from Dopants. Celestia reached into one of her pockets and pulled out a Swiss Army knife, it had a logo on it that read in the picture “Alumni of Camp Everfree”.

Celestia popped the blade, glad that she had kept it sharp, she swiftly cut at the first part of the ropes that bound her arms. “You little punk wannabe! I looked after you when no else would! And you go and repay my kindness by turning my school into your own personal kingdom?!”

Sunset wiggled her arms out of the restraints, Celestia handed her the knife and Sunset went to work on cutting the ropes around her legs. “I-I’m sorry – AAAH! – you don’t know what I – OOMPH! – have done to get what I deserved!” With the ropes done, she worked on the zip-tie binding her ankles. The wire was proving to be a hassle, but it was cutting it, at this point she would settle for freeing her legs so she could run.

“Oh, I know what you deserve, young lady!” Celestia raised her hands and continued to beat on the defenseless sandbag, throwing it up against the wall for good measure and returning back to its savage beating. All the while, she watched as Sunset was finally able to cut through the zip-tie around her legs, with Sunset giving her a nod. “Now, Sunset Shimmer, I’m going to put you out of my – and every other person’s – misery!”

“Wait, what are you going to do with that knife?! No, stop, please – AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!”

Sunset turned so that her back was facing the door, curling in on herself. Celestia rose up and opened the door and stated in as best a grim tone as she could, “It’s done…I…I did it…”

Sombra couldn’t believe she did it, but then again, if this girl was a bad as he was told, then she deserved it. Not that he cared, one less person to meddle with them. The ashen man walked over to Sunset’s body, kneeling down to inspect his girlfriend’s work, however…

“Surprise!” Sunset yelled as she rolled over and tossed a handful of the sand that leaked out of the bag right into Sombra’s eyes, making him cry out in pain as his eyes stung from the tiny particles that scratched as his corneas. Sunset jumped up and delivered a swift kick to his stomach, sending the man flying out of the open door and into a crate outside.

Celestia took back the knife and in one fluid motion sliced upwards, cutting Sunset’s wrists free from her last binding. “LET’S GO!”

Sunset began following Celestia, but quickly found her past actions to have been too much for her food deprived body as she quickly fell, barely catching herself against a crate. Celestia stopped and rushed to her side asking what was wrong? “Did too much too fast, haven’t had much food, and I’ve been rationing the water he brought…all that was pure adrenaline.”

Celestia brought Sunset’s arm over her shoulders and wrapped her arm around her midsection as best she could. “I’m getting you out of here, just hang on Sunset!”

Both women ran, slowly, quite slowly, but they were making some progress. However, the maze-like innards of the warehouse and the rows of piled up crates made it hard for Celestia to know which was the correct way to go.

< NIGHTMARE! >

“Crap…” Sunset swore.

“What was that?” Celestia asked.

“We don’t have much time…Lean me against that crate, hurry!” Sunset ordered. After Celestia leaned her against one of the crates, Sunset quickly reached around behind her back. “What I’m about to show you…I’ll explain later…do you understand?”

Celestia nodded.

“Alright then…”

Sunset concentrated, and suddenly felt a weight in her hand. She brought her right arm from behind her back and produced the Uni-Driver, placing at her waist as the belt shot out its straps to secure itself to Sunset. Sunset concentrated again, closing her left hand as a turquoise glow came from it. When she opened her hand, the Unicorn Memory appeared.

< UNICORN! >

“Sunset…y-you’re…!” Celestia whispered.

“Heh, yeah…Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

Sunset slotted the Unicorn Memory into the belt, activating the transformation sequence. All at once her body was shrouded in a turquoise electrical field as pieces of armor formed over her body. In less than a few seconds, Sunset had completely transformed into her heroic alter ego, Kamen Rider Unicorn. With the power of the Unicorn Memory, Sunset’s body was more energized than before, burning away the fatigue from earlier, however, she didn’t want to bank on how long this would last.

“We need to get out of here, now!” Unicorn stated.

Without another word, Unicorn grabbed Celestia’s arm as she lit up her crystal horn. In a flash of turquoise light, both her and Celestia were teleported out of the warehouse, reappearing outside. However, their reprieve didn’t last long as the one of the windows shattered, allowing a mass of black smoke to come pouring out of it. The mass slithered through the air and landed a few feet away from them. The mass reformed, the silver armor appearing and giving the mass a humanoid form, that of the Nightmare Dopant.

The Nightmare Dopant looked about and growled, the wisps near the corners of his eyes began to whip violently in response to his anger. “Where is that girl?!”

“She needed medical attention, so I sent her away.” Unicorn glanced back at Celestia. “Sorry, Miss, I would’ve done the same for you, but I didn’t know how much power I would have left to fight with if I did.”

Celestia understood the ruse, but she also knew Sunset was probably not lying about that last part. She hadn’t eaten in two days, and hadn’t had that much water to drink, Sunset was starved and possibly dehydrated, and yet she was fighting to protect her in such a state. “It’s okay, just do what you must, Unicorn!”

“Celly…I can’t believe you’d trick me like that!” Sombra yelled.

“I held out hope that you might’ve changed, but you were changing me and I didn’t like what I was becoming! Sombra, please, just change back and turn yourself in, show me that there’s at least some shred of good in you!” Celestia pleaded.

Sombra chuckled darkly as he shook his head. “Damn, after all that trouble I went through to mess with your head through all those nightmares, just went straight down the crapper, huh?”

Celestia’s eyes widened as he said that. “You…You’re the one who’s been giving me those terrible nightmares?!”

“A little nightmare can sour a person’s day depending on how bad it was, I was going to plague you with them until you were so done with all those brats! I was going to make you mine, we could have had anything with this power! But, I guess I’ll just have to trade up! I know I said I don’t go for jailbait, but that girl will do!”

That got her, Unicorn released a battle cry as she charged forward, but as soon as she did, the Nightmare Dopant increased in size, becoming a dark cloud that blotted out the sun overhead and then, right after, dropped over both Celestia and Unicorn.

~|~***~|~

Celestia found herself in a wasteland, the ground was gray and lifeless, the sky was filled with thundering storm clouds that spat lightning in every direction. Fear began to grip Celestia, this was a hostile place, a dark place, there was no hope or happiness here, just despair and evil. A dark chuckle echoed through the wasteland, and soon the form of the Nightmare Dopant appeared in the distance.

“Welcome to my nightmare, Celly!”

Celestia took a step back.

“I’m going to bring all your worst fears to life here, and by the time I’m done, you’ll have a psychotic break that will render you into a vegetable!”

Suddenly, a turquoise bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the ground before Celestia. When the lightning faded, it revealed Kamen Rider Unicorn, her gaze fixed on the Dopant before her. “That’s not going to happen!”

Nightmare chuckled darkly as she approached them. “Did you forget the last time you were here? This is my world, and everything in it is under my control! YOU’RE ALL ALONE, AND THERE’S NOTHING YOU CAN DO!”

Unicorn widened her stance and placed her hands together in prayer position. “I’m not alone, not really.”

Suddenly, a gust of emerald wind kicked up, blustering and blowing, all of its gale force hitting Nightmare head on. The Nightmare Dopant had to brace himself as his heels dug into the barren dirt, trying to stay standing. His eyes squinted, but he was able to make out something in the wind, something floating next to Unicorn. a fairy-like creature descended, it had wings like a dragonfly, but was colored green from head to toe. The fairy creature had white eyes, pointed ears, and long hair that bellowed in the wind it created.

“What is that?!” Nightmare asked.

“A friend, but he’s not the only one you have to worry about!”

A screeching roar cut through the roaring of the wind, causing Sombra to look to his left, just in time to watch as a large blue raptor came charging straight for him. The giant creature skidded to a halt, but in the same motion, brought its spiked tail around and whipped it across, striking Sombra and sending him flying into the air.

Another being materialized, this time a metal giant. The giant brought both hands together and struck Sombra with a powerful, double fisted hammer blow, sending him careening into the earth.

Two more beings appeared on either side of Unicorn, that of a pink armored humanoid with blue eyes and golden crown, and the other was black with red eyes and a fedora hat.

“Been a while since we’ve all met up like this, we should really commune like this more often,” said Queen.

“Queen, I didn’t think this would work until today! I don’t have much time, break his hold on this world!”

“Alright, let’s do this, your Highness!” Joker stated.

“Very well, I find this environment too bleak for my tastes anyway.”

Queen and Joker took off for Nightmare, the monster rose out of the hole and tried to counter attack, but Joker was right on him, delivering a flying kick to his face. The wildcard Gaia Memory chased after him, continuing a blitzkrieg attack of punches and kicks from all angles. Meanwhile, Queen waited overhead, amassing energy into one huge power ball.

Joker threw in a few more combos and managed to get Sombra airborne. Queen took this as her cue, condensing the sphere into her right fist, and flew straight down for him. Joker followed suit, setting his right fist ablaze with purple energy. Both Memory Avatars met at the center, throwing their punches at the exact same time as they connected with the Dopant. The result created a massive explosion that was strong enough to push the clouds away, and allow the bright sun to shine once again

Sombra fell back to the ground, staggering as he stood back up. Unicorn’s Gaia Memories all stood around her, guarding her with all they had.

“We are our Rider’s absolute defense!” Queen declared.

“To challenge her, is to challenge ALL of us!” Joker added.

Fang released a roar to add his agreement to that statement.

“Impossible…!” Sombra argued.

“No very possible!”

With a flash of Unicorns’ horn, all the Gaia Memories began to transform, taking on a different combo form. Mystic Cyclone, Fang Edge, Ace High, Iron Heart, and Empress, all forms of Kamen Rider Unicorn were now lined up in a row. The six versions of Unicorn all jumped up at once flipped once, and then extended their right legs forward in a combined Rider Kick.

Six blazing, multicolored feet descended upon the Nightmare Dopant, the only thing that could be heard was his cries of defeat.

~|~***~|~

Nightmare’s black smoke mass form began to shift and moan. In the next moment, the smoke was jettisoned from its position, reforming into the Nightmare Dopant as he laid on the ground, groaning in pain the assault in the dream world. Unicorn and Celestia were in the same place they were from the beginning, Celestia shook her head, as if a haze had been lifted and was surprised to see that they were still at the Docks.

“How did…?!”

“He cast his sleep net on us while in the smoke and infiltrated our dreams. But he wasn’t prepared for my mental defenses.” Unicorn walked towards Sombra as she took out her Unicorn Memory. “Sombra, you tried to turn a good and kind woman into a spiteful person, all to drive her into your arms for your own selfish reasons! Not to mention the kidnapping and threatening of those who wished to help her! It’s time to restore harmony!”

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn’s horn glowed as particles of turquoise light gathered to it. More and more particles began to appear, and all of them moving faster and faster to her horn, their speed made them look like shooting stars were streaking through the air. Nightmare gathered what strength he had left and charged for Unicorn, hoping to stop her before the attack was complete. He hoped wrong.

“MANA BURST!!!”

A large beam of turquoise light roared from Unicorn’s horn, completely engulfing Nightmare in its brilliant light. After a minute, an explosion went off. Unicorn canceled her beam attack as Nightmare landed on the ground, he struggled for a moment to get back on his feet, trying to keep fighting, refusing to lose. But his Nightmare Memory had other plans. The transformation ended for Sombra, with the device slipping out of his body, landing on the pavement, and a second later, bursting apart into pieces.

Unicorn smiled under her helmet, but suddenly dropped to one knee, heaving from the added effort of fighting that she did. Did too much with too little fuel…but he’s down at least. Unicorn noticed that Sombra was slowly getting back up, now on his hands and knees as he too was panting heavily. “Oh, come on…are you kidding me?!”

Celestia walked passed Unicorn, her eyes obscured by her bangs as she stood before Sombra. When the dark-haired man looked up, he saw not a look of anger or hate, but disappointment and sadness. “You’re smart, you’re strong, you could’ve been so much more…what would the girl you loved have thought about you? You’ve made Radiant Hope cry.”

Sombra’s eyes widened upon hearing that name, his body going completely numb and cold. Celestia then cocked back her right arm and punched the weakened Sombra across his left cheek, throwing him back to the pavement in an unconscious heap. After making sure Sombra was out, Celestia hurried back to Unicorn and knelt before her asking, “Are you alright?!”

“I don’t think I should change back yet. This form’s keeping me energized, call the police and have them send EMTs,” said Unicorn.

“Alright!” Celestia rushed to her car and quickly made the call, after a minute, she ran back and rested an arm over Unicorn’s back. “They’re on their way. You have so much explaining to do!”

“Great…”

***__________________________***

2 DAYS LATER…

“I seriously don’t like seeing you in the hospital, again,” said Twilight.

“Sorry, Sparky.”

“Wait, there was a first?!” Celestia and Luna exclaimed.

Sunset had once again been the guest of Starlight Glimmer’s state of the art hospital. It begrudged Twilight to have to bring her to that place, considering it was Starlight Glimmer’s fault that Sombra had the Nightmare Memory in the first place, and that she wouldn’t even tell Sunset that it was a Dopant, she wouldn’t be in the condition she was if Starlight had given Sunset the information she had asked for.

“I have my own goals, for now, this is all I can do. Don’t ever hesitate to bring her here, we may be…enemies…but I don’t wish to see Sunset killed or any of you girls…”

Twilight scoffed remembering those words when they were at the hospital. I don’t know whether I should be furious with her or grateful for her help…

Currently, Sunset had been discharged from the hospital, her body having fully recovered from the two days she spent without food and much water, and the additional fighting she had to do that only exasperated her condition. Of course, in those two days, both girls explained to the visiting Principal and Vice Principal the whole story of Kamen Rider Unicorn, minus the whole Starlight part.

While Sunset was in the hospital, Sombra was taken into custody, and Principal Celestia gave an apology via an assembly at CHS, as well as officially ending Sunset Shimmer’s suspension. And thanks to Luna, she was able keep it off of Sunset’s permanent record.

Once they arrived at Sunset’s home, they were both able to go into more detail about the events back in Sunset’s home world, and the Tirek Virus incident. The whole time both women listened, with Celestia pinching the bridge of her nose and Luna having a hand rest over her eyes as the contemplated this information.

“And your brother has no idea, does he?” Luna asked.

“No, ma’am, he doesn’t,” said Twilight.

“I knew you girls were instrumental in helping Crystal Prep with that whole Sunny Flare incident…but I didn’t think that you were that instrumental!” Luna stated.

“And Ms. Harshwhinny knows about this, too…and has been helping you…” Celestia spoke.

Sunset raised her index finger, “Just as a point of fact, she really didn’t start helping until around that time of my sabbatical.”

“I see why you wanted a week-long vacation, but from what you told us, that didn’t sound like much of one,” Luna said.

There was silence for a long while as Twilight and Sunset awaited to hear what the two sisters were going to do. Celestia and Luna glanced to each other for a few moments, as if having some secret, telepathic discussion between them. Afterwards, both looked at Sunset and Twilight, a decision had been reached.

“Given the fact that you’ve done much up until now, it would be unwise of us to meddle with something that we don’t fully grasp ourselves,” said Luna.

“So, given that you, Sunset, along with your friends, have helped to protect this school, the city, indeed the world, we won’t interfere with your operations as Unicorn,” Celestia added.

Twilight and Sunset sighed in relief.

“We will support you as best we can, however, if this should start to affect your school work…” Celestia warned.

Twilight wrapped her arms around Sunset’s left arm. “That will never happen, not as long as I’m around. Plus, Sunset’s quite a genius, too.”

Sunset couldn’t help but blush from the praise of her girlfriend. Celestia and Luna smiled and nodded their approval. “Alright, unfortunately, I can’t allow you to stay alone with Sunset, partly because I promised your family I’d take you home, and as your teacher I can’t in good conscious leave two students who are in obviously romantic relationship, alone, in a house, unsupervised.”

Twilight blushed as she understood the meaning behind that. As they began to exit, Luna stopped and said to Sunset, “Don’t be a stranger, Sunset Shimmer, I know Tia would love to have you come by and visit more often. And maybe…you could stay overnight for a gaming session?”

Sunset smiled as she replied, “Sure, that sounds like fun.”

Luna’s expression became a bit devious. “Good, I’ll remember to wear something very distracting to test your gaming skills.”

Sunset’s mind reeled back to what she saw in the dream world and what she saw during her last visit to their home. The amber girl’s face became instantly red as the images played in her head, earning an amused smile from Luna. On the other hand, this caused Celestia and Twilight to gawk at Sunset and Luna, mouths agape, as they processed what just transpired.

“LUNA!”

“SUNSET!”

“…help…”

S: Supernatural / Different Dimension Enemy

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It was now October, the month where all things ghostly and scary are the theme of every day. And why not? For soon it would be that time of the year, Halloween, all Hallows Eve, the time where the barrier between the spirit world and the living world is at its weakest and all manner of strange, wonderous, frightening, and sometimes, fun things can happen.

Canterlot High was already getting in the festive mood, with only two days until the promised night, the entire school was decorated – thanks to Pinkie Pie – in festive Halloween décor. Fake spider webs clung from the corners of the ceiling, with plastic spiders to complete the illusion, vampire bat toys hung on barely visible string, and streamers of black, orange, and purple lined the halls. Of course, this was only a small amount, as the day of all Hallows Eve drew closer, Pinkie assured the students that the school would look like a giant haunted house by time she was through with it.

The students didn’t know whether to be excited or terrified out of their minds.

During lunch, there were two girls at the table of the Rainbooms that shared vastly different opinions on this particular upcoming holiday. Twilight was very giddy, she did enjoy going trick-or-treating with her big brother back when she was little, and a little more until she got into middle school. Focusing more on her studies and not having that many friends to hang out with didn’t exactly make going out to Halloween parties that much fun, especially when you didn’t know anyone at the parties. Some would take that as an open invite to go wild, but Twilight wasn’t for that much social interaction, alone. Now it was different, she had a lot of friends, and an honest to goodness girlfriend to spend the holiday with and attend Halloween parties.

Fluttershy was on the opposite side of the spectrum. She was absolutely terrified of Halloween, Fluttershy had a weak constitution when it came to horror themed things, the kind and caring girl didn’t very much like the idea of scaring others for fun, even if the holiday called for it. On the night of Halloween, she always hunkered down in her room until the night had passed, her parents would leave the porch light off to avoid having trick-or-treaters come by, as they were more than likely sure that the constant doorbell rings would just play havoc with Fluttershy’s nerves.

“I just can’t wait to have my first, real, high school Halloween party!” Twilight exclaimed in excitement.

Pinkie Pie – who was sipping down a carton of milk – released the milk in a ten-second-long spit take that sprayed all over Rainbow Dash and Applejack. The curly haired girl’s baby blue eyes fixed on Twilight as she gave a loud gasp. “You haven’t been to a Halloween party?!”

“Nope…” Twilight answered.

“AT ALL?!” Pinkie shouted.

“…Yes,” said Twilight hesitantly.

Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped up, prompting the others to move their trays before her feet landed on the table. When Pinkie stood on the table, she pointed straight down at the girl in question. “Twilight Sparkle, as of today, I promise you, you will have – repeat: WILL HAVE – the best, scariest, and funnest Halloween party in the history of Canterlot City!”

Twilight blinked a few times, her face red from Pinkie’s declaration and the subsequent stares the rest the students were giving their table. “Y-You really don’t have to do that much, Pinkie…A normal Halloween party will do just fine.” About a few seconds later, Twilight realized she had just been talking to a smoke cloud in the form of Pinkie Pie that waved bye to her before disappearing. “B-B-But how – when did – how did – WHAT?!”

“Ain’t no stopping a Pinkie Pie party,” said Rainbow Dash.

Sunset draped an arm over her lover’s shoulders. “Try not to think too hard on it, Sparky.”

“Magic is one mystery, but I will solve the mystery that is Pinkie Pie,” said Twilight with determination.

“Good luck with that, Sugarcube, don’t lose all yer sanity in the process.” Applejack warned.

Rarity coughed to gain the attention of the rest of the girls. “On that note, I would request that you all stop by my place this weekend. I want to get final measurements for all your costumes.”

“Don’t you already have our measurements from the last round of clothes you made us? Or are you just using this as an excuse to see your friends naked?” Rainbow Dash asked with a wiggle of the brow.

The fashionista rolled her eyes at the dirty insinuation. “Please, Darling, I’m strictly professional when I take measurements, male or female, it’s quite unbecoming of a designer to get distracted by a customer or model’s anatomy while you’re working.” Rarity let a little smirk appear on her lips. “Besides, I have Sunny Flare to admire at any time I choose.”

Twilight leaned forward, still sporting a blush. “Y-You mean, you a-and Sunny–?!”

“Ah, bub, bub, a lady never kisses and tells, Twilight. At least, not without permission from her significant other,” said Rarity.

The bell for lunch eventually rung, and the girls dispersed to their individual classes. Sunset’s class took her down a different hallway, so she gave Twilight a goodbye kiss before heading to it. She was kind of psyched about the whole Halloween party idea, of course she attended a few here and there, the responsibility of being the popular queen bee of the school. But now she wouldn’t have to worry about all that, she could just enjoy the party, and best of all, it would be Twilight’s first high school party.

Hmm, maybe we could coordinate costumes? Sunset thought. Maybe a couple of pirates? Gangster duo?

Just then time seemed to slow down, each step that Sunset took down the hallway echoed unnaturally loud throughout the halls. Speaking of the halls, they seemed to elongate the more she walked down them. Sunset looked around, taking a moment to feel out the area. Suddenly, Sunset’s left pocket glowed, she reached into it and took out the Unicorn Memory.

Just then, a sound like fabric tearing apart resounded loudly in the hall. There was an increase in light that seemed to originate from behind her. Sunset turned around and watched as a literal tear in reality began to widen more and more until it burst open in a flash of violet light. The former unicorn mare was then pushed as something flew out of the tear, knocking her forward and onto the floor. Sunset looked up and gazed at the entity that escaped.

A blood red cape flowed from his back, but once he turned around, Sunset got a full view of this creature. It had dark gray armor, accented with dark gold, bearing the images of bat swarms and two crossed, ghoulish looking lances. The gauntlets were all claw tipped, even the boots had three long talons. The creature’s face was uncovered, the front of his face was a pale blue color, his eyes were long, red slits, pointed ears, and his mouth had two long, vampire-like teeth. The rest of his skin looked like it was made of stained-glass window.

“W-Wh-What the hell?!” Sunset exclaimed.

“Looks like I lost that nuisance.” The monster reached out with his left claw, which glowed with the same violet light as the tear behind Sunset closed, but the monster seemed to be struggling afterwards. “Great, I used up too much power…” his eyes fell on Sunset, “But, it looks like fortune smiles on me, to have someone so full of energy to be laid out before my feet.”

Sunset whipped out her Uni-Driver and placed it at her waist. She then pressed the button on the Unicorn Memory still in her left hand.

< UNICORN! >

“HENSHIN!”

> UNICORN! <

A turquoise electric field formed around Sunset, transforming her into Kamen Rider Unicorn. The monster raised his right arm, charging it with energy, but Unicorn managed to grab onto one of his arms before he could slam it into the ground. Unicorn’s horn glowed, and in an instant, they vanished in a flash of light. Another flash of light went off outside in the soccer field, depositing both Riders and the monster onto it. Unicorn sprang to her feet and entered a fighting stance, the monster did the same as the hero and villain circled each other, waiting for an opening to strike. The vampire creature flinched, and Unicorn dashed towards him.

The superheroine came in with a roundhouse kick to his left, the six-foot monster grunted when Unicorn’s kick landed in his left side. The vampire monster caught himself on his right foot and used his left arm to hook Unicorn’s leg under his arm. Unicorn struggled to pry herself loose but stopped when she saw his right arm rise up and prepare to break her leg. But Unicorn focused her energy into her right hand and fired a sphere of mana straight for his face.

The attack exploded on impact, making the monster howl in pain as he released her and stumbled backwards.

“Okay, let’s get a little more serious,” said Unicorn as she took out the Queen Memory.

< QUEEN! >

{< QUEEN! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Unicorn’s armor had taken on pink armor plating, and a long silk-like train, she was now Kamen Rider Unicorn Empress. Unicorn quickly struck her left hip port twice.

\\ KNIGHTS! //

Two Knight constructs formed beside her, she then struck the port six times.

\\\\\\ RALLY! //////

The knights glowed and transformed into two claymore swords that rested in Unicorn’s hands. Unicorn took one step and dashed across the field, her swords in position to cut him down.

The monster saw this coming, he channeled power into both of his hands and slammed them down on the ground. In no time, several iron spikes erupted from the dirt and soil, jutting outwards like a blooming flower in all directions. Unicorn slashed with her blades, cutting several of the spikes and striking the nucleus of the iron spikes. But, unfortunately, there was no sign of the monster that caused it.

“Damn, where’d he go?!” Unicorn asked.

Unicorn noticed that a lot of the student body and faculty were watching the goings on and snapping pictures and videos, she sighed a little annoyed. Well, so much for a break.

**__________________________***

Later that day, once school had let out, the girls arrived back at her loft. All of them were bombarding the bacon haired girl with questions as she opened her door and paused when she saw a small cube like device sitting on her coffee table. Sunset had the girls stay back as she slowly approached it. Rainbow Dash approached from the opposite side, her N-Driver and Nasca Memory already brandished and ready to be used.

Sunset examined the device, it was a chrome colored, with lines that had a circuit pattern and colored sky-blue. The former unicorn carefully tapped the top of the cube with her index finger, and immediately the device came to life. The lines shined a bright blue as it began to release light particles that rose up into the air. In a matter of seconds, the cube stopped releasing its particles and revealed a person. Sunset looked at the person in the light image, he may’ve been a different species back in Equestria, but she’d recognize that smirk anywhere.

“Hi, Tsukasa!” Sunset greeted.

The image nodded to Sunset. [Ah, Sun-chan, good. I was hoping you wouldn’t blow this device up.]

“Yeah, how exactly did you know where I live?” Sunset asked.

[I have my ways.]

“That’s not super creepy at all,” Rainbow commented sardonically.

The hologram gazed upon the other occupants in the room, his head tilting a bit. [Huh, so it is true, going through that portal of yours really does age you down. Compared to the pony counterparts I encountered in your world, these versions are in their teens.]

“Blame Star Swirl and whatever magic he used to make that thing, but I take it you didn’t leave this cube thing here to just shoot the breeze, did you?” Sunset asked.

Tsukasa’s face became serious as he nodded. [Indeed, I’m sure you encountered – Twilight-san, please don’t touch the device.] Somehow Twilight had gotten close to the cube and was examining it with wide eyed giddiness, but when Tsukasa called her out, the nerdy girl chuckled in embarrassment and retreated behind her girlfriend. [That monster that attacked you today, it was something a couple of other Riders were chasing.]

“Yeah, what is it exactly? It definitely wasn’t a Dopant.”

The hologram shifted and showed the monster again. [Its name is Fanghoul. It’s a experimental creature that was made by Foundation X. For simplicity’s sake, they’re a group whose goal is the study of Kamen Rider powers and the powers of Kaijin and finding ways to weaponize them for either their own goals or to sell as weapons. That thing is a combination of a supernatural creature called a Ganma, and another, older, vampiric creature called a Fangere.]

“WHAT?!” Twilight exclaimed.

[They were trying to create a new form of monster. According to another Rider, Takeru, the Ganma is the spirit of one called Vald Tepes III. You may or may not know him by his infamous name, Count Dracula.]

Everyone in the room felt a chill go up their spine. Although the circumstances behind the legend may be a bit different, the name of the legendary king of vampires was well known. Books, movies, and tv shows were made about him as the most powerful and terrifying of all vampires. And that being was on the loose in their city.

[Vlad III was a conqueror, also known as Vlad the Impaler. Mix that with the DNA of a Fangere which is similar to a vampire and takes on life energy from its victims, and you got something really bad.]

Tsukasa went on and explained how Fanghoul entered their world. According to the tenth Rider, Kamen Rider Kiva and Kamen Rider Ghost were on the trail of Foundation X to try and stop the creation of this abomination, but they were too late, and the monster was born, he destroyed everything, as well as his creators. A battle ensued between Kiva, Ghost, and Fanghoul, with the latter proving to be quite formidable, however, the hybrid creature managed to use his newly found powers to cause a tear in space-time, allowing him to slip out from their universe and into another.

“But, you’re bringing backup, right? I mean, you can bring those Kiva and Ghost guys here, right?” Rainbow asked.

Tsukasa shook his head. [Unfortunately, Fanghoul’s intrusion into your dimension is causing some turbulence between our dimensions. Opening a portal to you now would be dangerous for any Rider to walk through, including myself. For now, I’ll be monitoring the portal situation, and once it stabilizes, I’ll send the first available Rider to you, I’ll come myself if necessary. Be vigilant and be careful. And Twilight-san, please don’t dismantle this device for the time being.]

Twilight pouted a little as she crossed her arms. “You know I’d put it back together once I did.”

Sunset lightly bopped her girlfriend on the head. “Bad Twilight, no taking apart advanced technology without permission.”

The girls giggled at their back and forth, and with that, the hologram ended, leaving the group with the information that a super monster was running around the city, and was part vampire. Sunset sighed heavily as she rubbed the back of her head. “Well, I better Rider up and contact Shining Armor, the police force needs to be on alert for this thing. And I probably should inform Starlight Glimmer…”

“Is that really a wise thing to do? I mean, considering she’s technically our enemy.” Rarity asked.

“I’m not wild about the idea either, but if this thing is as bad as Tsukasa says, we’ll need all the Rider power we can get, good or bad…” Sunset shook her head. “Anyway, one problem at a time. You guys should head back home and stay in. That goes for you too Rainbow.”

Rainbow Dash gave a low grunt, but complied with Sunset’s request. As the girls began to leave, Twilight let more of her irritation show. “How any scientist can be so immoral?! The advancement of science is meant to help mankind, not to create death and destruction!”

Sunset gave a gentle smile to her girlfriend. “I understand, but, if there’s one thing I’ve learned from both my world and yours, it’s that anything good can be turned evil in the wrong hands. Magic in Equestria can be beautiful, mesmerizing, and helpful, but in the hooves of somepony with a wicked heart and intentions, that power can be used to harm many. Same thing with science, when I first got here I studied up on as many scientific breakthroughs from history books and science books. And it’s the same thing, good intentions for an invention in the creator’s eyes, can be a weapon in another’s. And, there are those who just wish to delve so deep into the dark side of magic and science that they don’t care how far away the light is.”

Twilight rubbed her arms, this was the truth that could not be overlooked, mankind has a history of creating grand and wonderous things, only to find a way to use it against their fellow man. But Twilight, she only wanted to further her knowledge in order to make the world a better place through her vision of science, and possibly the combination of magic. Still, she could not deny that fact. “Do you…Do you think that I’ll ever go down a path like that…? I mean…if Midnight was any indication of my subconscious’ thirst for knowledge, then…”

Sunset walked up to Twilight wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug, bringing Twilight’s head to rest in the crook of her neck. “You will never be like that, because I know you, I know your heart, Twilight. Besides, I’ll be by your side to make sure to slap some sense into you.”

Twilight had a broad smile her face. “I’ll hold you to that.”

**__________________________***

Fluttershy had caught a ride with Rarity when they left the school, and Rarity insisted on driving her back home. Along the way, Fluttershy peered out the passenger side window, watching as they passed by several houses that were gearing up for the promised night of all Hallows Eve. Inflatable ghosts were set up and flopping about back and forth, rubber bats and spiders carefully placed about houses. Fake tombstones jutted from the front lawns, and of course some had gone all out and set up their residences as full-fledged haunted houses. There were also some teens and little kids out in their costumes, either breaking them in or just too eager to wait and wore them early.

Despite the scary and happy tone of this celebration, Fluttershy was just feeling scared, and…angry. This did not go unnoticed by Rarity, as she was driving, she stole glances of her friend and noticed her hands were shaking.

“Fluttershy, are you alright?” Rarity asked.

“Y-Yes, I-I’m fine,” said Fluttershy.

“You’re clearly not, Darling, does Halloween truly frighten you that much?”

The yellow girl sighed heavily. “It does…I know it’s all fake, the costumes, the eerie noises, and scary decorations, it’s all just for fun…but…Can I tell you a secret, Rarity?”

Rarity nodded and added, “Of course, Fluttershy, whatever you want.”

“A long time ago…when I was ten, I actually loved Halloween, well, maybe not to the extent Rainbow Dash or Applejack do, but as much as I could. I loved dressing up as a fairy princess, or a cute animal, and walking to different houses with my mom, dad, and little brother to get candy.” Fluttershy’s face contorted into smile as she recalled the fond memories, but that smile slowly fell. “Until…I got lost, I wandered into a neighborhood that had a large haunted house.”

“I got in through an unlocked door and…I got really scared, the workers there must’ve thought I was with the group that was already in there because they kept going with the scaring and the noises and…” Fluttershy’s hands began trembling, but Rarity managed to place her right hand over Fluttershy’s left and gave it a calming squeeze. After a minute, Fluttershy continued. “A-Anyway, after that, they realized that I wasn’t part of the group and stopped. My parents arrived a few minutes later, and I couldn’t stop crying, I missed two whole days of school because of that…”

Rarity remembered that day, Fluttershy seemed even more timid than usual upon her return, but she never thought it was due to something like that happening to her. “Dear, I’m so sorry that happened to you. No wonder you don’t like Halloween that much anymore. If you told our friends I’m sure they’d understand why.”

“That’s just it, Rarity, I’m tired of being afraid!” Fluttershy stated with firmness. “I hate not being able to have fun with you all, or enjoy the holiday, or make everyone feel as if they need to walk on eggshells whenever this comes up! I…I want to go to the p-party!”

Rarity spared her a surprised glance before returning her eyes to the road. “Fluttershy, none of our friends are pushing you, I just want to make sure you’re doing this for the right reasons. You went through a pretty traumatic event, and we’d hate to have you regress back to such a frightened state.”

The two eventually made it to Fluttershy’s house, with the pink haired girl exiting Rarity’s car. “I’m sure…at least, I think so…maybe…? I don’t know?”

“Sleep on it, Darling, and if you feel the same way tomorrow I’ll help you out,” said Rarity.

Fluttershy nodded and smiled, waving a goodbye as she watched Rarity drive away. The timid girl looked around the neighborhood. Most of the houses had decorations all over their house, but Fluttershy’s remained the same as it always did. With a heavy sigh, Fluttershy walked inside her house, the interior had a calming blue coloring to the walls, with white accent molding. Above their fireplace hung a picture of their family, Mr. and Mrs. Shy along with Fluttershy and her little brother, Zephyr Breeze.

In truth, she loved her little brother, but he could be a lazy good-for-nothing from time to time. Fluttershy did take her role as a big sister seriously, if she didn’t, she was certain that Zephyr would be far worse than he was now. “So long as he doesn’t end up living with me in whatever future home I get, everything should be okay.”

It wasn’t long before Mrs. Shy came walking from around the corner and gave her daughter a fierce hug. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, Mom, really. I wasn’t anywhere near what happened,” said Fluttershy.

Mrs. Shy let out a sigh and said, “When your brother told me what happened, I was really worried, but your text after helped…Really, I’m starting to think it’s not safe at that school anymore. What with that incident during the Fall Formal, and that strange Battle of the Bands, and then more recently what I’ve heard during the Friendship Games and these monster attacks…maybe…maybe we should look into transferring you two to another school?”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened with fear at the notion. “No, no, Mom, it’s safe! I mean, Unicorn did come and save us after all. Plus, for Zephyr it might be okay, but I’m already a senior and changing schools now would be hectic, especially if the curriculum is different at another school and I end up having to do a lot of catch up work. And, I really want to walk with my friends…”

Mrs. Shy knew her daughter was right, it would be unfair to make her change schools now, considering all the possible make up work and tests should need to do at another school at this time. “I’m sorry…I just worry about you two, especially you, dear. Considering all you’ve been through in the past years.”

Fluttershy smiled and hugged her mother back. “I know, but I’ve gotten stronger because of it. So, it isn’t all bad.” Flutterhsy released her mother and headed up the stairs, “I’m going to my room, I need to do my homework.”

“Of course, I’ll call when dinner is ready,” said Mrs. Shy.

Fluttershy ascended the stairs, her heart still a bit heavy as her resolve wavered. She was sure she wanted to overcome this, but not sure if she was truly ready to do so. Twilight’s first real Halloween party with friends, and she was going to be the only friend who wasn’t there. “But even if I did go…would they still be able to have fun?”

And that was the other side of the fear, if Fluttershy managed to muster up the courage to go, would everyone censor themselves around her? Would Pinkie try and tone down the scary element of the party for her sake? Most likely she would, but then that would only make it less fun for everyone else. As Fluttershy walked down the hall she stopped when she noticed her little brother, Zephyr. Although, “little” was not what you would call him. The boy stood a head taller than his big sister, had a lanky build, and stubble around his face. His growth spurt hit him like a ton of bricks. Despite all that, Fluttershy would always be his big sister, and Zephyr surely knew that, or else.

Currently Zephyr was posing in his mirror, wearing something…well…something. It looked like a werewolf fur and then another part dragon scales, and topped with vampire teeth, it was like he had no idea what to wear. “Zephyr…what are you doing?”

“Oh, hey Sis! Check out my costume for Halloween!” Zephyr struck a pose, giving Fluttershy a frontal view. There was armor on his chest, and below that strange mummy wrappings. “Ya like it?”

Fluttershy took a deep breath, her little brother was eccentric, creative, and very “out there” at times, but sometimes, Fluttershy had to ground him back to reality. “I…I don’t, what is it?”

“Well, I thought to myself, ‘Zephyr Breeze,’ I said, ‘why just pick one costume? Anyone can go as a monster or whatever, but it takes a genius to blend and create!’ So, that brings us to my wolf-knight-dragon-mummy-vampire combo!” Zephyr struck a dramatic pose upon uttering what his costume was.

Fluttershy slapped her face and sighed, “Zephyr, please, just choose one. For everybody’s sake.”

Zephyr’s enthusiasm dropped upon hearing that. “Humph, well, it’s not like you’re dressin’ up anyway.”

Fluttershy narrowed her gaze at Zephyr, making her little brother flinch. The elder sister gave a tired sigh and walked away until she was back in her room, not even bothering to turn on the lights as she flopped onto her bed. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Zephyr was right, she had no room to criticize his costume choice when she herself was not even participating in the festivities.

“I wish I was stronger…”

**__________________________***

The next day at school, the students were still talking about the fight in the hallway between Unicorn and the new monster. Sunset had successfully contacted Shining Armor and now he had the police force on the lookout for any strangeness, well, stranger than usual. Starlight was willing to pitch in as well, as this Fanghoul had the potential to mess up whatever plans she had.

Now all that’s left is to find out where that monster is? Gods I hope it didn’t just up and leave the city?! Sunset thought.

As Sunset walked through the halls, Rainbow Dash came running towards her, skidding to a stop before Sunset with a strange, blushing look on her face. “Um, Rainbow, you okay?”

“Y-You gotta come and see this! I don’t – it’s just – you have to see this!” Rainbow insisted.

Without giving her much alternative, Rainbow grabbed Sunset’s wrist and dragged her along. Apparently whatever Rainbow wanted her to see was also catching the attention of the other students as well. After turning the corner, Sunset paused, and now understood why everyone was looking so shocked.

Fluttershy was at her locker, but…not as they knew her. She was wearing a pair of hip hugger jeans, a tank top with spaghetti straps, and her long pink hair was done up in a pony tail, exposing the back of her neck, and her bra straps. When Fluttershy turned around she had this, unusually confident look. Normally she would be completely embarrassed to be showing off so much skin and wearing such clothing, but that didn’t seem to bother her whatsoever.

“F-F-Fluttershy?!” Sunset exclaimed.

Fluttershy turned towards the familiar voice and happily called out, “Hi, Sunset, Rainbow Dash!” the pink haired girl walked towards them, with a bit of swagger in her step, whether that was a conscious or unconscious action was anyone’s guess right now. “It’s nice to see you this morning.”

“Uh…huh…Um, Fluttershy, I-I don’t know if you noticed, but you dressed…differently, today,” said Sunset.

Fluttershy tilted her head in confusion. “Oh, how so?”

“Uh…well…you…”

“You’re kinda hot now – OW!” Sunset swiftly elbowed Rainbow Dash in the ribs. “I mean, it’s not like you weren’t always hot, but now you’re like – well, like it’s really out there for everyone to see and – OOOOOWWW!” Sunset “accidentally” stepped on Rainbow Dash’s foot, really, really hard. “WILL YOU STOP THAT?!”

“Only when your foot learns to finally go into your mouth!” Sunset retorted.

Fluttershy looked down at herself, as if she just now noticed her outfit. “Oh, well, I guess this is different from my usual clothes. I just decided to change it up, is that bad?”

Rainbow was about to reply, but Sunset quickly slapped her hand over the prismatic girl’s mouth and answered for her. “No, no, it’s definitely not! Just so long as you’re comfortable is all.”

Fluttershy then let out the cutest – and daresay sexiest – chuckle that the two had ever heard. “Oh Sunset, I am very comfortable. Well, I don’t want to be late, see you at lunch.”

As she strode by, Fluttershy hip-checked Sunset and gave her a wink as she walked on, with every male and female student still ogling her the whole time.

Rainbow managed to get Sunset’s hand off her mouth and asked, “Did…Did she just flirt with you?”

“I…think so…”

**__________________________***

The rest of the day wasn’t any better, Fluttershy continued to display instances that her namesake may need to be changed. At P.E. class, where Fluttershy was usually the last one when running laps and Rainbow would run with her to keep pace so she wouldn’t feel bad or run alone. That wasn’t the case today, Fluttershy was running like a champ, making Rainbow actually try hard to keep her spot at the head of the pack.

During Mr. Cranky Doodle’s class, Fluttershy was the first one to tackle all his math problems, not batting an eye as the class stared at her from her impressive display. Whenever classes ended and Fluttershy walked the halls, she would walk with a sense of purpose and swagger, the definition of the phrase, “I’m sexy and I know it”.

Sunset, Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, were just staring in shock the entire time they followed their friend. Rarity had to gut check Rainbow Dash a few times while they did.

“Seriously! Why do guys keep hitting me?! I’m gonna get bruises!” Rainbow asked in annoyance.

“Because you’re drooling over our friend, and don’t deny it,” said Rarity with annoyance.

Rainbow gestured to the girl in question. “Have you seen Fluttershy lately?! I think I made this clear, I’m BI! And what’s wrong with admiring how my friend looks hot! Do you know how many times I – EEP!” rainbow haired girl swiftly slapped her hand over her mouth.

Twilight, Rarity, and Sunset all gave her dubious glares as the cyan sports girl seemed to sweat bullets.

“Oh no, please go on Rainbow Dash, how many times you what?” Rarity pushed.

“She means that she’s ogled most of us a few times and enjoyed the view.” Rainbow yelped, jumped, and turned around to find Fluttershy standing there, giggling at her friend’s surprise. “And I’m honestly fine with it, I don’t mind if somebody checks me out.”

“Are…Are we in some alternate dimension? Did we get teleported to one when we were asleep last night?” Twilight asked in pure confusion.

Sunset stepped forward and placed a hand against Fluttershy’s forehead. “Okay, you don’t seem to be running a fever, you sure you’re alright, Shy?”

Fluttershy giggled again. “Of course I am.” The animal lover gently grabbed Sunset’s left hand which was against her forehead and – much to the shock of their friends and a few passersby – placed it over her heart, pressing it against her left bosom hard enough for Sunset to feel Fluttershy’s heartbeat. “See, my heart’s beating nice and strong.”

Sunset’s eyes widened as she peered into the half-lidded gaze of her friend. Was, was Fluttershy hitting on her? And was Fluttershy leaning closer to Sunset, because she was getting a little closer than she was earlier.

“STOP!” Twilight yelled as she rushed in between both her girlfriend and Fluttershy, forcefully separating the two. “What are you doing?!”

Fluttershy blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I-I mean you, you – you know what you were doing!” Twilight accused.

It was then that the others saw something that they thought they’d never see – among other things today, a smirk. It wasn’t like the ones Rainbow, Sunset, or Applejack gave, this one was laced with something else. Superiority? Satisfaction?

“Oh, you mean flirting with Sunset? What’s wrong with acting a little flirty with your friends?” Fluttershy asked in an innocent tone.

“The problem is she’s my girlfriend!” Twilight huffed.

Fluttershy rested her hands on her hips as she cocked her head to the side. “Oh, and does that mean she’s exclusively your property?”

Twilight flinched at that question. “Uh, well, no – NO! – of course she’s not!”

“Then I really don’t see the problem here, Twilight. I mean, I didn’t see a ring on any of her fingers? Or on yours for that matter.” Fluttershy again walked towards Twilight, looking her square in the eye as she again gave that half-lidded stare, running a finger from Twilight’s exposed collarbone all the way up her neck and resting that finger on her chin. “And that goes both ways.”

“HEY!” Sunset snapped as she pulled Twilight back. “That’s enough Fluttershy, you’re starting to act really weird now!”

Fluttershy shook her head and “tsked” in a disappointed tone. “Really, I get a bit more confident and attractive, and you all think something is wrong with me?”

Rarity quickly intervened. “No, no, no, it’s not that at all! There’s definitely nothing wrong with a woman wanting to express her confidence and beauty, Darling. But, it’s just that we want to make sure this is something that you’re doing for you and not because of what others think.”

The new Fluttershy gave an annoyed huff. “This is me now, girls, either like or not. I’ll see you at lunch, maybe.”

Rarity began stammering for something to say, but Fluttershy just walked past her and gave Rainbow Dash a boop on the nose before smiling and walking away. The fashionista just looked at her friend and asked, “Aren’t you going to say anything?!”

Rainbow had some things to say but decided not to in case she incurred the wrath of Rarity.

**__________________________***

Lunch time came and went, and no Fluttershy. Sunset went down the hallway to her class, an unsettling feeling growing in the pit of her stomach. Fluttershy’s just trying to be something or someone else new…I mean, I changed from a total bitch to a hero. It’s not at all uncommon to think that she may want to undergo a change like that. I mean, it’s not like it’s hurting anyone…well…she could tone down the flirtyness.

Sunset spotted something in the distance, it was Fluttershy, but being led by the wrist was Lyra Heartstrings. Curious, Sunset hurried down the hall, careful to make her approach as silent as possible. Sunset knew that that particular way led to a dead end of lockers but was deep enough to allow some privacy from prying eyes. And the only way I know that is because I’ve cornered a fair number of people in ones like that.

Once at the edge, Sunset peered around the corner and her eyes widened with shock. Lyra was pushed up against the locker, her eyes fluttering and her breath heavy. Fluttershy’s mouth was clamped around the left side of Lyra’s neck, her ponytail had been let down to allow her hair to cover her face.

Sunset whirled around as her heart raced, her brain unable to comprehend what she was seeing. Fluttershy, her friend, was busy giving Lyra Heartstrings – who was in a relationship with Bonbon – a hicky! Sunset slapped her face a couple of times, trying to ensure that this wasn’t a dream. The fiery haired girl turned and saw that Fluttershy had wrapped her arms around Lyra, bringing her closer as the mint girl gasped. Sunset couldn’t take it anymore.

“OKAY, STOP!” Sunset shouted as she rounded the corner and stepped into view. “I know you’re trying to be more confident and assertive or whatever, but dammit, Shy, this is too much! And Lyra, what hell is Bonbon going to say when…when…”

Sunset’s words died right there as she watched Fluttershy lift her head. The color of her eyes had changed from teal to blood red, her mouth had two long fangs that were slowly reshaping to normal canines. From her lips was a slight trickle of blood, her tongue quickly extended and licked her lips clean of the crimson substance, all while giving Sunset a most wicked smirk. In her arms, Lyra was held, limp, her face flushed and her neck sporting two fresh puncture wounds.

“Heh, heh, Sunny, it’s not polite to interrupt someone’s private time,” said Fluttershy.

The former unicorn quickly entered a fighting stance, upon doing so, something happened. Her turquoise colored eyes glowed, and suddenly, she could see something. A red aura encompassing all of Fluttershy, and Lyra, her yellow-gold aura was faded. “Who are you, what are you?!”

Fluttershy feigned hurt. “Why, Sunny, that hurts. It’s me, Fluttershy, of course. Just…unchained.” The pink haired girl carefully lowered Lyra to the floor and turned her attention back to Sunset. “I’ve been, reborn, so to speak. And it’s glorious!”

“Fanghoul…when, how?!” Sunset demanded.

“In the dark of the night…when all is creepy and dark, a voice beckoned me to hark! I heard his voice so deep, a promise he said he would keep!” Fluttershy sauntered towards Sunset, her fangs extending again. Her skin became a shade paler along with her hair, nails turning into sharp claws.

Sunset prepared to summon her Driver, but then the bell rang and suddenly the sound of many students began to fill the hallway. Fluttershy returned to normal, the claws and red eyes were gone, and her skin was back to its brighter shade. The vampiric girl walked back to where Lyra was and bent over to grab her backpack, but then planted a quick kiss on the mint girl’s cheek before walking away.

“Don’t tell anyone, okay, Sunny? Or else.”

“Or else what?” Sunset asked.

Fluttershy giggled. “Twilight looks awfully cute, I wonder what she tastes like?”

Before Sunset to pounce on her, Fluttershy disappeared like a ghost. Sunset rushed to Lyra who was still lying on the floor unconscious, she slid to the floor and shook the mint colored girl. “Lyra, c’mon, wake up! Are you alive?!” Sunset quickly placed two fingers against Lyra’s carotid artery, feeling a small pulse that gave her great relief. “Okay, okay.”

Sunset rushed into the hall and asked for help, one of the teachers took Lyra to the nurses’ office, and now Sunset was on the hunt. Fluttershy was a vampire, Fanghoul had someone gotten to her and transformed her into what she was now. This wasn’t good by any stretch, she had to find this monster now before whatever it had done to Fluttershy became permanent.

The fiery redhead ran through the halls, but as she moved down another hall, she spotted a flash of pink hair. Sunset skidded to a halt and ran in that direction, when she was at the spot where she saw Fluttershy’s hair, Sunset noticed that it was the doors to the natatorium. Sunset hurriedly went into the girl’s locker room, and scanned the area, calling out to anyone still inside.

Her search brought her to the showers, where Fluttershy once again had another girl pinned against the wall. Her hair was raven black, with gray skin, fuchsia colored eyes, and wore a Wondercolts once piece swimsuit.

“OCTAVIA!”

Upon hearing the name, the celloist’s fluttering eyes made contact with Sunset, reaching out with a shaky hand, she spoke, “Help…me…” before giving a gasp as Fluttershy brought her closer.

Sunset’s knuckles tightened, she couldn’t let this go on even if Fluttershy was their friend. The heroic teen moved swiftly, Fluttershy’s ear twitched as she heard Sunset’s moves, removing her mouth from Octavia’s neck as she quickly raised her right forearm to stop Sunset’s right hook.

“That’s not very nice, Sunny. What would Princess Twilight say if she saw that you were about to strike your own friend?” Fluttershy asked.

“She’d say that sometimes you need to knock some sense into your friends!”

Sunset hooked Fluttershy’s left arm with her right and drew her as she delivered knee strike right to her abdomen. Fluttershy hissed in pain, but quickly recovered as she pushed Sunset away, her nails extended and curved into claws as she lashed out at her friend. Sunset blocked the first palm strike from Fluttershy, and left claw swipe, but barely missed a swipe that was aimed upwards. Unfortunately, the swipe slashed right through her shirt, briefly exposing her stomach and bra before Sunset quickly zipped up her leather jacket.

“Oooh, Rainbow was right, they are big,” Fluttershy teased.

Sunset charged in, swinging left and right, jabbing, and coming in for a leg sweep. Fluttershy dodged the first jab and then second, blocked her haymakers, and jumped up just in time to have Sunset’s leg miss her entirely. While Sunset was about to recover from her leg sweep, Fluttershy threw a front kick right into Sunset’s chest, sending her flying back until she slammed into the lockers. A loud gasp left Sunset’s mouth as the pain from the impact was about to settle.

Fluttershy took this opportunity to race towards Sunset, reaching out with her left hand and grabbing her by the throat. Sunset weakly tried to resist, but the earlier damage she took made her efforts all but futile in the super strength grip of her once timid friend.

“Lord Fanghoul wants energy, the more life energy he has, the easier the plan will be on the promised night!” Fluttershy used her right hand to dig her claws into the leather of Sunset’s jacket, hooking the shirt underneath. In one swift motion, Fluttershy tore part of the jacket and shirt away, exposing the upper left half of Sunset’s body. “Since you have magic and come from another world, you probably have a lot of life energy, it’ll be good feeding.”

“F-Flutter…shy…”

The pink haired girl leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “Don’t worry, it only hurts for a few seconds, you’ll love it right after that.”

Fluttershy’s fangs extended as she gave the nape of Sunset’s neck a slow lick, savoring the taste of her latest victim. The next moment brought pain as Sunset felt two sharp – almost blade-like – fangs pierce the flesh of her neck. Whatever sounds of pain she was going to make died in her throat before she could give them voice. The pain was excruciating as they dug deeper, making Sunset wonder when they would stop. Suddenly, pain turned to pleasure as the spot where she was bitten began to radiate some kind of energy into her that calmed her body, at the same time, Sunset could feel energy leave her body.

It’s okay, I got you. Give into this feeling, Sunset…give in to me…

S: Supernatural / Happy Halloween!

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Sunset awoke with a start, taking a deep, gasping breath as her eyes went wide. A stinging pain erupted around her neck, and the memories of what had happened to her came flooding in. She was attacked, by Fluttershy, her friend. Sunset’s mind finally came into focus, taking in her surroundings. She was lying in a bed, from the sterilizing smell, and the green tinted paper curtain that sectioned off her bed, Sunset presumed she was in Nurse Redheart’s office. Now that her senses were becoming sharper, Sunset was aware of a presence to her right. Sunset glanced further and saw that Twilight Sparkle was sitting in a chair, her back to the wall as she somehow found a comfortable enough position to sleep in.

Twi…

Sunset reached up with her right hand and brushed it against Twilight’s, causing her girlfriend to stir from her sleep with a cute snort. Twilight looked down to her hand and followed that arm back to Sunset’s face. “Sunset?!”

“Hey, Sparky…”

“Y-You’re awake! Oh my gods, you’re awake! I-I have to get the Nurse!”

“Wait!” Sunset begged. “What happened…how did I get here?”

Twilight seemed hesitant but relented to her question. “A couple of girls from the soccer team went into the locker room and found you slumped against a locker, with your…your clothes torn and blood coming from your neck…” Twilight began to tear up as she recalled the news of hearing such a thing. “They found Octavia in the same condition, and before that Lyra Heartstrings! Sunset…what happened to you…? Did…were you…?”

Sunset slowly, and carefully, shook her head in the negative. “No, nothing like that happened…although…I can’t say what did happen was any better…” Sunset took a calming breath as she spoke the name of her assailant. “It was Fluttershy; she did this to me…and to Lyra, and to Octavia.”

Twilight’s eyes widened with shock, her head shaking as to deny this. “No…i-it can’t be, this is…this is Fluttershy, Fluttershy! The kindest, most gentle person in this city! Possibly on this planet! She would never hurt anyone, especially her friends!”

“Normally, no, she’d rather die than do that…but, Fanghoul got to her. Somehow, he got to Fluttershy and changed her, that’s why she’s been acting strange this whole time,” said Sunset.

Twilight watched as Sunset began to set up. “Whoa, what are you doing?!”

Sunset’s neck was still sore, but she managed to get herself upright. “We have to stop her…and Fanghoul…before he hurts anyone else!”

“You’re really in no condition to be out fighting anyone, your healing factor closed the bite marks, but I doubt you’ve completely recovered enough blood to properly stand up, let alone fight!” Twilight could see the defiant look in her girlfriend’s eyes and decided to put her foot down. “Sunset Shimmer, stay in this bed and rest up! You’re no good to Fluttershy or anyone if you pass out before you can even transform! I-I mean it!”

Sunset looked into Twilight’s eyes, anger and worry was prevalent within those amethyst orbs. In the end she relented, her stubbornness however still warranted her to act frustrated as she lay back down on the bed. “Fine…” Sunset gave a little smirk. “Y’know, that was kinda hot the way you took charge like that.”

Twilight’s face blushed as she kept her serious expression. “Don’t try and flirt your way out of this, I’m going to go and get the Nurse now.”

Sunset chuckled, but her humor didn’t last long as her mind flashed back to that moment in the locker room. Fluttershy’s red eyes and that silky voice that made her submit to the feeding. Somewhere, deep in the shell of the monster that she had become, was the true Fluttershy, who was crying out for this to stop.

After recovering her strength, Sunset brought their friends together to tell them what had happened. Apparently, during Sunset’s time knocked out, Fluttershy had also drained about five more students before finally disappearing, all within the time span of three hours. Now, Sunset had fully informed them of what had happened in the locker room, and Rainbow Dash was livid.

“Are you kidding me?!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“I wish I was Dash, but it’s true, Fluttershy’s been taken control of by Fanghoul. He’s using her drain people, not of blood, but their life energy.” Sunset’s hand drifted to the spot where her friend had assaulted her earlier that day. “I felt it when she attacked me, I felt weak. Like something more than blood was leaving my body.”

“We gotta find her and save her, ASAP!” Rainbow stated.

“Darling, that’s easier, said than done. If she’s gone to wherever this monster is hiding, then there’s no way to do that,” said Rarity.

Rainbow looked at Twilight and asked, “Twi, can’t you use the Infinite Library to find her?!”

Twilight quickly shook her head in the negative. “It’s not like that, I can only get information on this world, and it doesn’t predict the future! Plus, Fanghoul doesn’t belong in this dimension; the Library wouldn’t have any info on him!”

Rainbow ran her hands through her multicolored locks as she wracked her brain trying to figure out a way to find and help Fluttershy. “W-What about Decade?! That Tsukasa guy?!”

“He’s a dimension away or several; point is because of what Fanghoul did, the dimensions are unstable. Until they settle, we can’t rely on the other Riders to come, at least not yet,” said Sunset.

Twilight reached into her backpack and began typing at her computer. “I can send Hawk to do aerial reconnaissance, and with some doing I can hack whatever traffic cameras I can to see if I can locate her, cross reference that with Hawk’s aerial view, it’ll give us at least a somewhat descent search grid.”

“Um, you’re not going to hack a military satellite, are you?” Pinkie asked.

Twilight paused in her typing and looked up at Pinkie Pie; the light of the screen was reflected in her lenses and obscured her eyes for a moment as Twilight’s expression became neutral. She tilted her head a little and smiled at her pink friend.

“They still can’t prove that I was in their systems, but I’d rather not give them any reason to look into me…again.”

Rainbow Dash took Sunset aside and said, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but your girlfriend scares me sometimes.”

“Oh, I know, and it’s hot.”

***______________________***

Fanghoul, that’s what he was called, an amalgamation, an abomination, a creature that shouldn’t exist but does. Created by humans to be a weapon, to be an instrument of destruction, well, he was more than happy show them the fruit of their labor. Foundation X, that’s what they called themselves, humans tinkering with powers beyond their comprehension, trying to rein in that which should not ever be reigned over.

The hybrid was aware of the plan among the Foundation X members who created him, a plan to unleash him on a populace to see what havoc he could wreak. While a fun plan, there was more to it than that. Apparently, a new world had caught their attention, one that previously didn’t have any Riders, but now had a powerful one. But that wasn’t the only appeal, and now that Fanghoul was here, he could see what it was.

This world had a unique energy, it was weak, but awakened, and it was very potent. Fanghoul confirmed this when he exited the world he was in and into this one, it was the strongest anchor point of otherworldly energy he could sense across dimensions. But, unfortunately, this world seemed to want to reject him, and in so doing made him expand more power in order to enter it. If it wasn’t for that, that female Rider would’ve have been easily dispatched.

“But I am no fool…”

Fanghoul knew that Riders were not to be underestimated; the genetic memories of the Kaijin he was created from were vehement in that warning. When he was facing Kiva and Ghost back in the other world, he made a tactical withdrawal, choosing to fight them when he was at his strongest. And that time would be soon. For now, Fanghoul took refuge in an old church, the setting sun shined through the stain-glass window, creating an aurora of colors that painted the floors and pews, and gave notice to particles of dust that floated in the air.

The old brass pipe organ that rested off to the left of the altar would release a tune whenever a strong enough wind managed to move through the pipes, but the keys were mostly gone, not completely unfixable. The bell at the top of the structure still hung proudly, the rope from the belfry still hung, a tight weave that would remain strong no matter how much time passed.

It was here that Fanghoul took refuge, and soon, he would get more power, tonight would be the night. Fanghoul’s ears twitched when he heard the sound of someone approaching, but he did not panic, there was only two who knew of his whereabouts. The first to arrive was a girl in in mulberry uniform, wearing a pair of goggles on her head with amber eyes, and spikey blue-green hair, Indigo Zap.

The second to arrive was Fluttershy, walking in with a swagger all her own, much like the Crystal Prep girl beside her. Both girls had paler complexions, red eyes, pointed ears, and dull colored hair that looked quite disheveled, and both sported wicked grins as they bowed before Fanghoul.

“Greeting, Lord Fanghoul,” Fluttershy and Indigo echoed.

“Welcome my subjects; have you brought me what I require?” Fanghoul asked.

Indigo and Fluttershy stood back up and held their hands out before them. Within their hands a ball of ghostly pale light formed, the two orbs grew brighter and brighter until they were glowing like the full moon. The two girls pushed the orbs in Fanghoul’s direction, upon which he reached out with his right and left hands, grabbing onto them. Fanghoul sniffed both orbs, inspecting them carefully. His lips curled upwards in a smile as he looked upon the orb in his left hand.

“You’ve brought me a good haul, my shy one.”

“No way! I must’ve drained twice as many as her at my school! How is hers better than mine?!” Indigo asked.

“Sometimes quantity doesn’t always equate to quality, Indy. Did you forget where I go to school? Hello? Magic central!” Fluttershy mocked.

“Oh, don’t go and act all big and bad because you sucked your magic friends, you friggin cow!” Indigo spat.

Fluttershy let her claws extend as she glared at Indigo Zap. “What did you call me you stupid jock bitch?!”

“ENOUGH!” Fanghoul ordered.

Indigo and Fluttershy went silent as they faced forward and lowered their heads.

“What you have BOTH brought me is quite sufficient, it will allow me to enact my plan, and from there I’ll be able to draw in even more power.” Fanghoul opened his maw and inhaled the orbs at the same time; his body began to glow with the same pale light as the orbs as his cells were reinvigorated with the life energy of his two subjects’ victims. “Ah, now that’s good.”

“Um…my Lord, what is the plan? You never really told us.” Indigo asked.

Fanghoul stood up and walked towards Fluttershy and Indigo. “I am a creature of both the spiritual and physical world, and as such my power is great in one, but lessened in another. On this plain, I can only access half of powers. But on the night of all Hallows Eve, when the border between the living and the dead is blurred, I will stand at the apex and rule this dimension, taking all its power for my own! The night shall last forever, and this shall be my dominion! And not even the Kamen Riders will stop me.”

“Um…maybe we should be careful,” said Fluttershy.

Indigo looked at her as if she grew a second head, and Fanghoul just eyed her curiously.

“Are you saying you doubt our Lord’s power?!” Indigo asked indignantly.

“N-N-No! Never! I just…I’ve seen her take down a few of powerful beings…I was just urging caution,” said Fluttershy skittishly.

Fanghoul smiled as he stood before Fluttershy, running his armored claw hand through her hair before settling it against her right cheek. “Your concern for me is endearing, but not to fret. Not even the Kamen Riders of this world will be able stop me, they will annihilated. Come, we have work to do.”

The hybrid Kaijin opened a portal and waved for his subjects to follow. Indigo was right on his heels, with Fluttershy bringing up the rear. The shy girl paused for a moment, the red in her eyes flickering back to their normal teal color, but it was only for a moment before she disappeared into the portal alongside Indigo and Fanghoul.

***______________________***

Night had befallen the city of Canterlot. All around the suburbs were alight with Halloween festivities. Kids were out in their costumes, going door to door and collecting candy and competing with friends for who had the bigger haul of the night. For some teens, this was the night to party and perform pranks with total anonymity, dressed in scary costumes to perform pranks on houses and other kids alike. For others, it was an excuse to party into the wee hours of the night in cute, funny, scary, sometimes scantily clad, costumes.

Unfortunately, tonight would not be a night for fun, no, tonight was a time for ghoulish delight. Fanghoul stood at the center of Canterlot City Park; it was a large enough area, close to the woods and brimming with natural energy. From here, he would begin his reign.

“The sun has set, the moon is full, and tonight shall herald my rise!”

Fanghoul balled up his right fist and thrust it into the ground. The earth beneath their feet began to rumble and shake violently, and in matter of seconds a giant spike rose up from the dirt. The spike went higher and higher, clearing at least thirty feet before it finally stopped. Upon the spike were sigil markings, otherworldly in origin, and each one emitted an eerie light that wafted into the air. More and more of this light began to pour out until the entire spike released it all in the form a pillar that roared into the sky. Dark clouds gathered around them, thunder and lightning raged as the clouds grew and spread at a slow pace, but it was gradually picking up.

“We’ll amass power here, and then spread my influence across the world, until then, this conduit must not be damaged at any cost!”

“They’ll probably be coming soon, now that the pillar is up,” said Indigo.

“We’ll need numbers, there’s four Kamen Riders, Unicorn, Trigger, Nasca, and Equal. Each one is strong, but Unicorn’s the strongest of the four, she could harm you if she used her full power,” said Fluttershy.

Fanghoul reached around and took up a bag. He poured the contents of the bag into his right claw, all of which appeared to be sharp teeth. “The spirit who is infused with me, he was called Vlad the Impaler, as well as Dracula, ‘Son of the Dragon’. Well, it only makes sense that I have an army to suit my title. My loyal subjects come here.” Fluttershy and Indigo approached him. “Hold out your hands.”

The two girls did as he instructed, Fanghoul poured the first batch into Fluttershy’s hands, and another batch into Indigo’s, and poured the remaining into his one large claw. “Plant these dragon teeth in the ground and stand back.”

The girls and monster went to work, digging out small holes with their index and ring finger, and then placing the dragon tooth into the hole and covering it back up. When they were done, they had planted at least eighty dragon teeth. For a moment, nothing happened, but it wasn’t long before the ground once again rattled and rolled, from the spots where the teeth were buried, bony arms thrust out from the dirt, pulling up a still forming ribcage, and soon a spine, pelvis, legs, and skull. The skulls weren’t human, in fact, the skeleton itself wasn’t.

The skeleton creatures that emerged were dark gray, the digits of their hands were claw tipped, matching their clawed feet. A long tailbone wagged back and forth, making a clattering sound as each joint knocked against the other. The skulls were dragon shaped, having two long horns, and short snout, and rows of sharp teeth.

“My Spartoi, my ghoulish army!” Fanghoul turned around and looked upon his two favored lackeys. “And for you two…a present, bow your heads.”

The girls did as instructed; Fanghoul placed his claws upon their heads, and in the next moment, both Indigo and Fluttershy were engulfed in pale, ghostly light as they released screams that pierced the night.

***______________________***

“Are you sure about this?!” Sunset asked as she spoke through the Bluetooth headset in her bike helmet.

[I’m positive; I’m getting strange readings coming from the park. These readings are similar to the ones that I was tracking during the Friendship Games!]

“In other words, reality warping, Fanghoul is trying to tear reality a new one, but for what?! To where?!”

Sunset and Rainbow Dash were on their bikes, tearing through the city as cars were heading in the opposite direction of the pillar of light. Some took it as an elaborate Halloween event and were just standing around and taking videos and pictures on their phones. Twilight had gotten a visual on Fluttershy’s location, along with Fanghoul, and someone else they didn’t know was also taken in, Indigo Zap. Rainbow Dash had respect for her rival at Crystal Prep and was just as determined to save her as she was Fluttershy.

The duo managed to take a shortcut, with Twilight using Hawk to guide them from above; she led them to an auto lot where she disabled the cameras to allow them to suit up. Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer summoned their Drivers and brandished their Gaia Memories.

< UNICORN! >

< NASCA! >

“HENSHIN!”

> UNICORN! <

> NASCA! <

Blue and turquoise electric fields enveloped the two girls and their bikes. When the fields dissipated, Rainbow Dash had become Kamen Rider Nasca, and Sunset was Kamen Rider Unicorn. Their bikes had also transformed into their supped-up state, and with a twist of the handle they took off at twice the speed their bikes had before. It took the Riders little time before they arrived at the park, a line of police cars formed a front line at the park entrance, and the officers – who were a little on edge – all turned to see the two Riders as their weapons were trained on them.

“Whoa, hey, good guys here!” Nasca announced.

Many of the officers released a sigh of relief and turned their attention back to the entrance. Trigger walked through, Shining Armor already transformed and ready to engage.

“This what you were warning me about, Unicorn?” Trigger asked.

“Yeah, unfortunately, the situation’s gotten more complicated,” said Unicorn.

Trigger shook his head. “Of course it has…how much more?”

“The monster up ahead has two girls under his control, a couple of high school girls, one from Crystal Prep Academy and another from Canterlot High School.” Nasca answered.

A burst of energy shot out from the pillar of light and into the sky, making the air vibrate for a moment. Tears began to open around the park, as if reality was being gouged and leaving behind open wound gashes.

“You know, I miss the days when the weirdest part of my day was just arresting a random flasher in the park,” said Trigger as he drew the Chrome Magnum. “All officers, maintain this line, anything other than us tries to enter or leave, you blow it away! Let’s go!”

Trigger ran in, taking the lead as Nasca and Unicorn charged into the park. About halfway in, they spotted someone leaning against a tree. Trigger pointed his weapon in the shadow’s direction, but Unicorn put her arm out to stop him, the being walked from under the shadows and revealed themselves to be Kamen Rider Equal.

Trigger resumed his aggressive stance, pointing the Chrome Magnum at their enemy. “Figures you’d be here, guess you wanted to see your handy work?!”

“Simmer down, officer. This isn’t my work, my work has to do with Gaia Memories, this is more along the lines of that virus incident,” said Equal.

“Regardless I’m –!”

“Hold up, Trigger. As much as neither of us like the idea, the more Riders we have the better.”

Trigger looked at Unicorn as if she grew second head. “Excuse me?!”

“My goals don’t involve city wide destruction, this poses a threat to my life and plans as much as yours, for now we will have a temporary truce,” said Equal.

Trigger looked to Nasca as if expecting some backup on the absurdity of this offer.

“I don’t like it either, trust me, but this monster’s supposedly different and has two girls under his control, we can’t afford to short change ourselves here,” said Nasca.

Trigger growled but lowered his weapon as she pointed his left index finger at Equal. “The moment you make a wrong move–!”

“You’ll blast me into next year, yes established, let’s go! We’ve wasted enough time.” Trigger huffed and continued to lead the way. Equal walked alongside Unicorn, the villainous Rider spared her glance as she said, “Thank you…”

“Don’t thank me yet, the real mess is up ahead.”

The four Riders made their way up the hill, and when they reached the top, their eyes beheld a small army of skeleton warriors, a few yards away was the pillar of light, the source of this whole potential catastrophe. At the head of the army were two female monsters.

The first once had long flowing, pink, dingy hair. Her body was covered in dark yellow armor, with the symbol of two ghoulish spears crossed like an X in red. Her hands were claw tipped; the claws themselves were a dark pink color. The creature had a wicked smile on its face was its fangs protruded from its upper lip. The other wore the same type of armor, but it was colored a dark blue, the hairstyle was different, a spikey blue.

“You shall not take another step,” said Flutterbat.

“Lord Fanghoul will not be disturbed,” said Indigo.

Trigger shook his head at what he was seeing. “Are those the girls you were talking about?”

“Yeah…” Nasca confirmed.

Equal’s fist tightened, she recognized the yellow one, it was one of Sunset’s friends, and no doubt the other girl was one that Rainbow Dash knew. This was not going to be an easy fight.

Flutterbat raised her right hand signaled the army of skeletons to attack, the ground rumbled as the skeletons charged at the same time, some wielding swords and shields. But before the army could reach them, a Silver Veil appeared behind the Riders, causing the army to stop. Unicorn, Trigger, Nasca, and Equal turned around and saw the Veil, out of the assembled Riders; only one had a knowing smile.

From the portal emerged a young man, his hair was sandy brown, with a colorful gi and black pants. “Hi, Tsukasa-sempai said you could use a hand, I’m Tenkuji Takeru!”

“Who in the…? Wait! He’s another Rider?” Trigger asked.

“Yep,” Unicorn replied.

Takeru walked towards the Riders, spotting the tower of light that Fanghoul had created. “We figured as much. Fanghoul’s supernatural powers from his hybridization allow him to access powers that a Ganma and Fangire can’t normally attain. He’s going to use this world as a battery to become stronger and conquer other worlds just like Vlad III.”

“What do you recommend?” Equal asked.

Takeru took out the Eyecon Driver G, the center of the buckle was black, the outside of that was white, and wrapped around the device was gold armor. The young priest placed the belt at his waist and let the driver fasten itself as Takeru entered his stance.

**(O)** GRATEFUL! **(O)**

**(O)** WAIT TILL YOU SEE THIS! COME AND GET IT! **(O)**

“HENSHIN!”

**(O)** ALL EYES OPEN! **(O)**

**(O)** SWORDSMAN, INVENTOR, COMPOSER, PHARAOH, SAMURAI, PRIEST, AND SNIPER! GRAND TRANSFORMA~TION~! **(O)**

A blinding flash of golden light made everyone – except the skeletons – turn their eyes away as the transformation ended. What stood before them was a black and gold clad warrior, at different points of his armor, there were symbols, one for every hero whose spirit resided in the built and granted him power. This was Kamen Rider Ghost Grateful Soul!

“If they’re bringing an army, I figured we’d need one, too. Everyone, lend me your strength!”

**(O)** MUSASHI! **(O)**

**(O)** EDISON! **(O)**

**(O)** ROBIN HOOD! **(O)**

**(O)** NEWTON! **(O)**

**(O)** BILLY THE KID **(O)**

**(O)** BEETHOVEN! **(O)**

**(O)** BENKEI! **(O)**

**(O)** GOEMON! **(O)**

**(O)** RYOMA! **(O)**

**(O)** HIMIKO! **(O)**

**(O)** TUTANKHAMUN! **(O)**

**(O)** NOBUNAGA! **(O)**

**(O)** HOUDINI! **(O)**

**(O)** GRIMM! **(O)**

**(O)** SANZO! **(O)**

Ghost pressed on the Eyecon Driver G fifteen times, and each time a Ghost Parka appeared, each a different color and stylized to match the persona and look of the spirit they represented. When the Ghost Parkas were all released, they lined up on either side of Ghost and glowed, taking form as they now stood side by side with each other.

“We’ll take care of these things; take down Fanghoul before his plan is complete!” Ghost instructed.

The Heroic Eyecon Ghosts and Kamen Rider Ghost charged straight into the Spartoi, Robin Hood, Billy the Kid, Edison, and Nobunaga were providing long range support, firing laser bolts and arrows into the crowd with perfect precision, felling one skeleton after the other. Musashi, Benkei, Goemon, Ryoma, and Ghost engaged in close combat. The other Riders were just stunned, to say the least, they were only sixteen strong, but each spirit might as well have been equal to that of ten warriors as they swept through the small army of Spartoi.

The remaining Riders managed to get around the army, and were heading towards the pillar of light, that is until Flutterbat and Indigo intercepted them, both of them dropping from the sky and striking the ground with great enough force to form a crater and throw dust and dirt into the air. Flutterbat flew through the dust cloud and aimed for Unicorn and Equal, while Indigo went in to attack Trigger and Nasca.

Unicorn dashed out and threw a right punch at the same time as Flutterbat. Their fists met at the center, creating a shockwave that flattened the grass around their feet. “C’mon, Shy, fight this! I know you don’t want to hurt anyone!”

“That’s funny, because I want to hurt YOU!”

Flutterbat broke their hold and threw a lift kick straight up, Unicorn narrowly dodged, but was unprepared for her friend to come back down with an ax kick across her chest. The attack caused sparks to fly from her armor, sending Unicorn stumbling backwards. Flutterbat capitalized on this and moved in to press her attack.

| GREATER THAN: > |

Equal quickly intercepted Flutterbat, bringing up her arms to form an “X” pattern as Flutterbat’s kick landed at the center of the formation. Equal pushed back, making her move away, the villainous Rider began throwing punches and kicks, trying to force Flutterbat into a corner. “You don’t want to do this! Think of your friends!”

“Ah, the villain trying to be a hero, that’s so cute!” Flutterbat mocked.

The yellow Kaijin caught one of Equal’s punches in the palm of her left hand, Flutterbat began squeezing down on Equal’s fist, making the rogue Rider grunt in pain as she tried to wrist herself free of Flutterbat’s iron grip. Luckily, Unicorn fired mana spheres in consecutive bursts, each round hitting the mark on Flutterbat as sparks flew from her body. Equal felt Flutterbat’s grip loosen, from there she charged her left fist and punched her in the abdomen, sending Flutterbat skidding backwards as her heels dug into the earth.

Meanwhile, Indigo and Nasca were fighting in a high-speed battle. Nasca’s wings were flared as she and Indigo dueled. Indigo had summoned a sword; its metal was black as night, with bat wings for the guard and an emerald at the center of the guard. The human turned Kaijin came down with an overhead slash, Nasca raised her sword and blocked the attack, creating a shockwave upon impact. The brief pause gave Trigger enough time to fire three shots at Indigo. However, Indigo saw them coming, disengaging with Nasca as she jumped back and let the bolts fly by.

Indigo quickly switched targets and dashed across the field towards Trigger. Trigger quickly took up the Knife Memory and inserted it into his Chrome Magnum.

< KNIFE! >

|^| KNIFE! ARMED! |^|

The Chrome Magnum glowed until it had transformed into its knife form, just in time for Trigger to block Indigo’s blade. The two weapons grinded against each other as sparks flew from the blades. Nasca flew and slashed at Indigo’s back, sparks flew off, following the slash trail that Nasca drew. Indigo growled in pain and swung to try and hit Nasca. The speedster Rider flew back, getting out of range of Indigo’s blade as it hit nothing but air. Trigger flipped his knife around into a reverse grip and slashed at Indigo, the Kaijin barely had enough time to block the attack as Trigger flipped the blade around and began thrusting with quick and precise moves. The smaller blade made it hard for Indigo to counter, with Trigger getting in close where the range of her sword worked against her.

Whenever she backed away, Nasca would swoop in and reengage her in a sword clash, but whenever that happened, Trigger would come up from behind or from the side to get in another attack.

Both sides were now at a standoff, the sounds of Kamen Rider Ghost and his Hero Soul warriors echoed in the background as they continued dispatching the Spartoi. On the opposite side, the pillar’s light had grown in intensity, and the tears in reality were getting worse, showing glimpses into other worlds. One in particular gave Sunset pause to worry, recognizing the location as Ponyville. Another showed a city, but with a giant wall that radiated a red glow into the sky.

“This isn’t good, the boundaries between the worlds are collapsing,” said Equal.

“What to do, what to do? Do you use your full powers and risk harming us?” Flutterbat asked.

“Or will you stand there and twiddle your thumbs until it’s too late?” Indigo added.

Unicorn clenched her fists; this whole situation was bad, and every second was another closer to Fanghoul taking control of this world and multiple others. “No matter what, we’ll save everyone, including you two! No one dies tonight!”

Suddenly, a violet light began to shine right before Unicorn’s feet. Something connected to that light began to rise up from the dirt, continuing to ascend until it was right in front of Unicorn. The magical Rider reached out and grabbed the light, when it faded, Unicorn opened her hand and saw that it was yet another of the T2 Gaia Memories. The symbol inside was that of an “S” in the form of a skull.

“Looks like the Gaia Memories have a sense of humor. It’s going to be a very scary Halloween!” Unicorn pressed the button on the Memory and inserted it into the left hip port.

< SKULL! >

{< SKULL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A glowing violet skull appeared behind Unicorn, the other three Riders stood back as they watched Unicorn undergo a new transformation. The skull opened its great maw and shut it around Unicorn as the skull turned into pure energy. When the light faded, Unicorn had attained a new Mimetic Drive form. Unicorn was covered in a black trench coat that went past her knees; the shoulders had bone white plate armor on them, while the forearms had segmented plates on top of the leather jacket.

There was an armored ribcage over Unicorn’s chest, white in color to contrast against the black armor behind it. Upon Unicorn’s head was a white Fedora hat, with the Skull “S” symbol embroidered on the side. Her helmet was all black; the eyes changed to violet as a pair of crossbones were painted across the front of the helmet. The knuckles of the armor were studded with white plate armor, along with the thighs, kneecaps, and shins, ending with the tip of the boots. A new form had been obtained, the phantasmal, hard-boiled strength and magical knowhow combined as one.

“Unicorn: Noir!” Unicorn stepped forward ahead of the other three Riders and pointed her left hand towards Flutterbat and Indigo Zap. “Now…count up your sins.”

Indigo was the first to attack, dashing straight for Unicorn as she slashed with her sword. Unicorn widened her stance and raised her left arm up just in time to block the blade with her left forearm guard. While Indigo was stunned from this action, Unicorn swiftly used her right hand to tap down on the left hip once.

\ MAGNUM! /

Unicorn’s right hand glowed, and in it formed a blaster. It was jet black, the grip a tombstone gray color, with the image of a horse skull running along the length of the weapon. Unicorn raised the Magnum and pointed straight into Indigo’s chest, pulling the trigger multiple times as she fired at point blank range again and again. Each impact was accompanied by a shower of sparks until Indigo was thrown back and away from Unicorn Noir. The skeletal Rider twirled the Magnum in her hand as she slowly walked towards them, “Equal, Nasca, Trigger, you three head to that pillar and do what you can, and I’ll be there shortly.”

The three Riders nodded as they took off for the pillar, Flutterbat and Indigo were preparing to go after them, until they both got blasted from behind, making them turn their attention onto Unicorn Noir. “Don’t go turning your backs on me.” Unicorn pushed back her coat and pressed on the left hip port two times.

\\ PHANTASM! //

In an instant, gray fog was released from Unicorn’s body. The fog grew bigger and bigger until the fog obscured everything from sight. Flutterbat and Indigo Zap were on edge, feeling a sense of dread from the cloud. A violet bolt of light shot out from the cloud and hit Flutterbat in the shoulder, not soon after, another one pierced through the fog and hit Indigo. Flutterbat felt a punch across her face, followed by another and another, and finished up with a kick to her side that sent her flying into Indigo Zap.

“WHAT THE HELL?!” Indigo shouted in anger.

“It wasn’t me! She was attacking me! But it felt like it was coming from the front, but I didn’t see anything!” Flutterbat explained.

“Hahaahahaha, ahaha, hahahahahahahah!” Mocking laughter echoed within the dense fog, seemingly coming from all directions. “I was standing right in front of you and you couldn’t even hit me.”

“GRRRR! I should’ve done worse to you back in that locker room! I’ll correct that mistake fast!” Flutterbat threatened.

“No, you won’t, because this isn’t the real you, nor you, Indigo. That monster has turned you into something inhuman and buried your goodwill deep inside you. I’m here to exorcise the demons within you!”

\\\ SKELETON! ///

Without warning, a powerful gust of wind blew away the fog and buffeted both girls. A bright glow in front drew their attention, and both human Kaijins’ eyes grew wide with shock. Unicorn Noir was standing before them, however, behind her floated a phantasmal apparition; it was a skeleton, its bones colored violet. Only the upper torso was formed as the eyes sockets glowed yellow. With a wave of her hand, the skeleton avatar reached out and grabbed both girls, snatching them up into its large hands. Fluttershy and Indigo tried as hard as they could to get free of the avatar’s grasp, but it was too strong.

Unicorn pressed down the left port four times.

\\\\ SPIRIT! ////

Both of Unicorn Noir’s arms became see through and intangible, the only indication that they were still there was the faint violet glow that outlined them. Unicorn dashed towards Flutterbat, holding out her left arm as she thrust it right into her chest. Flutterbat released an audible gasp, looking down at her chest where Unicorn’s arm had gone through. Unicorn felt something within and grabbed it tight, pulling back as hard as she could. Slowly, she began to peel back the Kaijin form and reveal the true Fluttershy underneath; thread-like strands of energy could be seen being snapped as Unicorn pulled back more and more.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!” Kaijin Flutterbat asked.

“Like I said, I’m exorcising you!”

With one final tug, the Kaijin was separated from Fluttershy and tossed aside like a rag doll. Unicorn quickly proceeded to do the same with Indigo, the Kaijin was stubborn, and put up an admirable fight, but it was all for naught as Unicorn ripped the last girl free from her monstrous form and tossed it to join its comrade. The skeleton avatar slammed itself onto the ground, and then placed both girls into is ribcage, setting them down gently as they watched Unicorn approach them.

“You’ll both be safe in there.” Unicorn turned her head towards the two Kaijin who were slowly getting back up. “And as for you two…” Unicorn took out the Skull Memory and placed into the back slot of the Magnum.

>} SKULL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn raised the Magnum and pointed it at the two Kaijin, the muzzle glowed brighter and brighter as it built up energy, at the same time, the wicked whinny of a horse sounded into the night. “Phantom Stampede!”

With a pull of the trigger, the weapon fired, releasing a stream of violet light that took on the form of a large unicorn skeleton. The beam neighed and whinnied as it approached the Kaijin and washed over them like a tidal wave. In a matter of seconds both forms were completely destroyed as the beam died out. Unicorn Noir twirled the weapon in her hand as it disappeared into light particles.

The skeleton avatar disappeared not soon after, allowing Fluttershy to rush towards Unicorn and hug her from behind as she let tears fall from her eyes and sobbed loudly.

“I’m sorry! I’m so, so sorry!” Fluttershy cried.

Unicorn smiled under her helmet. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” She turned around and faced her friend as she said, “We’ll talk later, and right now I need you both to get to safety while we finish this. Indigo!”

The girl in question blinked. “Whoa, wait, Unicorn knows my name?!”

“Uh, magic sense. Look, take this girl and get out of here, there are police officers just outside the entrance to the park, hurry!”

***______________________***

Nasca had transformed into her final form, Star Chaser, and Trigger into his super form, SWAT, both powered heroes were engaged with Fanghoul. The hybrid Kaijin merely grinned as the stood still, arms crossed as multiple glaives began to rise from the earth and rush towards his opponents. Nasca’s enhanced speed allowed her dodge most of them, but the glaives that grew only grew more glaives from the one previous, making it hard for her to get close. Trigger used the Chrome Ultimatum to blast through the spikes to try and get closer, but for each one he destroyed another grew in its place.

“A powerful offense and defense, what can you possibly do to get to me?”

“THIS!”

| LESSER THAN: < |

>} EQUAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Equal twirled her Staff of Sameness around, pointing the business end of the weapon towards the blockade of iron glaives that surrounded Fanghoul. The twin prongs of the staff fired a cerulean beam of light that slammed against the iron glaives. At first, Fanghoul didn’t give it much heed, but then the glaives began to show signs of weathering, and then they had cracks forming all over them. In the next moment, the beam spread out through the rest of the glaives, further weakening them.

Trigger pressed the “1” digit on the Chrome Ultimatum and hit enter.

/#\ GATLING! /#\

The Chrome Ultimatum formed a construct Gatling barrel around the muzzle, and with a pull of the trigger, the weapon fired a rapid succession of azure energy bolts that leveled the weakened glaives, shattering them like glass. Fanghoul growled and jumped into the air to avoid the mowing of his glaives, however, this left him open as Nasca came swooping in with her glowing wings to strike Fanghoul from behind. The hybrid Kaijin roared with pain as he turned to swipe at Nasca, but the speedster Rider was already gone, striking only her afterimage.

Nasca ran her left hand over her blade, energizing the Condor Sword as she prepared to slice him down the middle. Fanghoul wasn’t a fool, grinning as he sensed Nasca’s fast approach. “Did you honestly think that summoning them from the earth was the only way I could attack?!”

As soon as Nasca got close, iron glaives materialized from Fanghoul’s body, jutting outwards as they winded upwards towards Nasca. It was too little too late for the speedster as she was bombarded with several glaives striking her at once, sending sparks flying from her body as she was forced down to the ground. Fanghoul was about to finish her, but a barrage of azure bolts rained on him from down below, but not soon after a barrage of violet energy bolts came blasting him from the back.

Unicorn had finally joined the battle and was firing side by side with Trigger. Fanghoul dropped out of the sky and landed back on the ground, keeping his arms up as he protected himself from the constant hail of blaster fire. The hybrid Kaijin growled in anger as his aura flared up, more and more power was being gathered until Fanghoul unleashed in a column sized beam of dark energy. Unicorn’s eyes widened and quickly placed herself in front of Trigger as she pressed down on the left hip port three times.

\\\ SKELETON! ///

Unicorn Noir’s skeleton avatar appeared around herself and Trigger, both of them standing in the center of the ribcage. The skeleton crossed both arms in front of its chest, forming an “X” pattern. The beam crashed into the avatar, making Unicorn Noir grunt from the effort of keeping her avatar active. Fanghoul merely smirked as he poured even more power into the beam, the force it generated was enough to lift the skeleton avatar off the ground and send them flying into the woods. Cracks formed on the skeleton’s body, until it shattered, causing and explosion. Both Trigger and Unicorn were expelled from the avatar, going off in different directions while Unicorn continued to sail on.

Her armor shifted from Noir form and back to default, and not long after her transformation ended. A hill of granite was quickly approaching as Sunset kept flying, but before she could hit it; an orange streak flew at her and grabbed the heroine before she could splatter against the rock face. Sunset groaned as her whole body ached from the attack, she soon came to her senses and noticed she was in the arms of Kamen Rider Ghost.

“Takeru?!”

“Thank goodness I made it in time,” said Ghost.

“Thanks...” Sunset managed to stand on her own as she peered down the way she had come. “Gods, that guy is powerful.”

“True, but then again, you weren’t exactly fighting at your full power either, right?”

Sunset grinned at Ghost as she said, “And something tells me that you haven’t either, right?”

“Not in the least.”

The former Equestrian took up her Unicorn Memory.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

Sunset’s body was surrounded by the turquoise electrical field, turning her back in the Kamen Rider Unicorn. The magical Rider held out her right hand, and in a matter of seconds a flaming firebird flew down from the sky and landed in her hand, becoming the Phoenix Ascender, and into her left hand she brought out the Shining Memory, inserting it into the Phoenix Ascender. Ghost took out his most powerful Eyecon, a white device with an infinity symbol at the top. The paranormal Rider took out his default Eyecon device and replaced it with the Infinite Ghost Eyecon.

***(O)*** INFINITE EVOLUTION! ***(O)***

***(O)*** LOOK UPON THIS! ***(O)***

***(O)*** SUPREME EYES OPEN! INFINITE! ***(O)***

***(O)*** KEEP GOING! GO, GO, GO! GO, GO, GO! GO, GO, GO! GOTTA! GHOST! ***(O)***

< SHINING! >

\^/ PHOENIX! \^/

{\^/} AAAAAASCEEEEENNNNSIONNNNNN!!! {\^/}

Beams of pure white light, along with gold and red swirling light erupted into the air, causing everyone in the vicinity to stop what they were doing. The pillars of light broke apart, and from that feathers of white, gold, and red cascaded over the battlefield. Fanghoul didn’t like where this was going, and raised his power, but not before two streaks of light shot out of the forest and slammed right into his gut. The hybrid Kaijin released a loud gasp as he felt the tremendous impact resonate through his body. The two lights faded and from it everyone could see who it was who had attacked him.

On Fanghoul’s left was Unicorn, now in her final form, Day Dreamer, and with her left fist against Fanghoul’s gut. On Fanghoul’s right was Kamen Rider Ghoust, but now in his final form. His armor was silver and white, but sparkled with different colors, the horn on his helmet was rainbow colored, and the eyes on his helmet were dark orange. This was Kamen Rider Ghost’s final form, Infinite Soul.

Ghost had his right fist against Fanghoul’s gut, right next to Unicorn’s. Fanghoul roared out as he brought both arms up to bring down in a dual hammer fist upon his foes. But Unicorn’s light wings flared, and Ghost began to shine. The two Riders bolted from their position just as Fanghoul brought down his arms, striking the ground and sending a cloud of dust and dirt into the air. Unicorn and Ghost appeared on opposite sides of Fanghoul, with Sunset summoning her Halo Blade. In Ghost’s hands, he summoned the Gan Gun Saber, putting into its double bladed Naginata Mode.

When the smoke cleared, Unicorn and Ghost dashed across the battlefield. Fanghoul summoned iron glaives from the earth, blocking both Riders’ blades from hitting him, the resounding ring of metal striking metal echoed through the area. But this wouldn’t deter them, the blades began to slice through the iron spikes, and Fanghoul noticed quickly enough that he jumped up out of the way before both Riders managed to slice through the glaives.

Unicorn and Ghost skidded to a halt and immediately flew up to meet Fanghoul, the hybrid Kaijin thrust out his right arm and from it sprouted several more glaives that winded and twisted as they rained down towards Ghost and Unicorn. Ghost slashed at the incoming iron glaives, but for each one he destroyed, three more took its place. The phantasmal Rider charged his blades and slashed twice, forming a giant X of blue light that flew towards the still growing amount of glaives. But then several grew around the X of blue light and aimed directly for Ghost.

)O( LAUGHTER! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( MAGIC! AWAKEN! )O(

Suddenly, several explosions ignited around Ghost, destroying the glaives before they could reach him. Ghost looked back and saw that Unicorn’s sword was glowing with power, a nod from Unicorn was all that Ghost needed as he flew upwards. Unicorn channeled the powers of the Magic and Laughter Memories to fire off spheres of condensed, sparkling energy that flew off by the dozens towards the still incoming glaives. Fanghoul gritted his teeth as he witnessed their combined attack; he raised his left hand up as he prepared to fire a beam of dark energy. Unfortunately, Fanghoul wouldn’t get the chance before Ghost appeared and slashed him across the chest. Sparks flew from the Kaijin’s chest as the glaives he created shattered into pieces.

)O( LOYALTY! AWAKEN! )O(

Unicorn zoomed off to where Ghost was and slashed him across the back, Fanghoul, annoyed by the changing tide of the battle, focused as much power as he could muster and made hundreds of glaives bloom from his body, shooting out in all directions, each one containing the power to blow away the Riders.

)O( GENEROSITY! AWAKEN! )O(

With a swipe of Unicorn’s sword, a giant diamond sphere formed around Fanghoul. The glaives all impacted upon the enclosed sphere, and within seconds, exploded. The explosion was contained within the sphere, for a minute the sphere held until the explosions ceased and Unicorn released the sphere. Fanghoul dropped out and fell straight to the ground, impacting right next to his column of light; Unicorn and Ghost flew back down, landing a few feet away from where Fanghoul was as they dismissed their weapons.

Fanghoul managed to get back onto his feet, snarling at the current state of things. “This wasn’t how it was supposed to turn out!”

“Fanghoul, Foundation X made you, but you had no say in your creation or what your destiny is to be, but there is another way,” said Ghost.

“Another way?”

“Ghost is right; you don’t have to be what they created! Just end this whole thing, and we can find a way!” Unicorn asked.

Fanghoul began to laugh; the absurdity of what they were saying made him laugh into the air. I am, and will always be, a conqueror! There isn’t a thing I want more than to make this world, and all other worlds, my domain! That will never change – I WILL NEVER CHANGE!”

Ghost hung his head low as he spoke. “Very well…let it never be said, that we didn’t give you a chance.” Ghost made a hand sign and behind him formed an eye symbol with the symbol for infinity weaved into it.

“It’s time to restore harmony!”

“Human potential is infinite!”

Unicorn pressed down on the wings three times, the holster for the Seven Memories of Harmony began to glow as the driver drew on their collective power. At the same time, Ghost pulled on the lever of his Ghost Driver, causing the center to glow bright. Both Riders rose into the air as an aurora field swirled around them. Fanghoul took the remainder of his power and released in one giant stream of dark power. Unicorn and Ghost shot towards that beam with their right feet shining brighter as their combined powers formed a comet of swirling aurora colors.

}\^/{ HARMONY! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }\^/{

***(O)*** GOD OMEGA DRIVE! ***(O)***

Three wings of made of white light feathers, and three wings made of gold and red light feathers sprouted from the comet, Unicorn and Ghost released mighty battle cries as they pierced through the attack all the way until they struck Fanghoul, carrying him straight into the giant iron spike. All three smashed against it, creating thundering shockwave that roared through the entire city. In a matter of seconds, the comet pierced through Fanghoul and the spike, causing a giant explosion of aurora color that shot up into the sky. The result created a wave of aurora light that washed over the city, closing the tears in space-time as feathers gently rained down from the sky. Unicorn and Ghost appeared a meter behind the pillar, both standing as they watched the entire event come to an end.

The Riders released a sigh of relief when they saw that nothing was left of Fanghoul, or his giant spike. Unicorn looked at Ghost and gave him a thumbs up. “Thanks for the help, Takeru.”

Ghost gave his own thumbs up as he said, “Tsukasa-sempai said you had gotten stronger, but I didn’t know what to expect. Oh and don’t worry, he told me about your situation, so I won’t say your real name.”

Nasca flew over and landed next to her allies. “That was freakin’ awesome, but what about Fluttershy and Indigo?!”

“I managed to free them from Fanghoul’s control; they should be waiting for us back at the police line.” Unicorn looked about and asked. “Where’s Equal? ”

Nasca sneered and said, “Soon as she saw you guys cleaned house, she bailed.”

Unicorn continued to look around to her growing worry, noticing that they were short one more Kamen Rider. “Oh crap, where’s Trigger?! We both got shot into the forest, but I didn’t see him anywhere!”

“Over here.” The others looked towards the tree line as Trigger came limping out, the others rushed towards him but he waved off their concern. “Don’t worry, I’m fine, just got tossed around. My suit tells me it’s nothing requiring medical attention.”

“If you say so, Trigger,” said Unicorn.

Just then the Silver Veil appeared behind them; Ghost looked to the veil and nodded. “Looks like my times up, it was great meeting you all, even if that time is limited.”

Unicorn held out her fist as she smiled beneath her helmet. “Kamen Riders help each other, always.”

Ghost smiled as well and pumped her fist with his own before disappearing into the Veil.

***______________________***

It was all wrapped up, the night went on, and Halloween was saved. Unfortunately, with all the commotion, Pinkie Pie was unable to setup the party that she had promised Twilight, but she did manage to throw together something at Twilight’s house. Mr. Night Light and Mrs. Velvet were more than accommodating with Pinkie Pie turning their living into a Halloween Party room. Black and orange streamers were hung all over the place, with banners saying “HAPPY HALLOWEEN”. Shining Armor and Cadance agreed to chaperone the party along with Twilights parents.

The girls managed to get into their costumes, with Rarity sporting a mermaid outfit, a long skirt that ended in a fish tail and had green sequins to mimic green fish scales. A couple of purple seashells covered Rarity’s bust, and to complete the outfit was a starfish barrette in her hair. Applejack was a lion, complete with face paint; Pinkie Pie was a 70’s roller blade disco dancer, Rainbow Dash was a futuristic astronaut, and surprisingly, Fluttershy showed up, but only in a black dress.

Sunny Flare was in a pirate captain’s costume, and she already spotted her catch. Gilda didn’t really dress up; she would just say she was “rocking the street gangster look”. She brought Gabby with her, and she went as a comic book hero, Zap. Diamond Tiara was doing a whole Kamen Rider Unicorn cosplay; Scootaloo was dressed as – of all things – Kamen Rider Nasca, something that brought Rainbow Dash an immense amount of joy to see. Apple Bloom was Daring Do, and Sweetie Belle unfortunately was a vampire, after everything that happened, nobody really wanted to see another vampire anything for a long while.

Twilight came down from her room, showing her Romane centurion armor. Standing next to her was her girlfriend Sunset, sporting a white tunic, with a little bit of a low cut collar to expose a small amount of cleavage, with a large purple mantle that was draped over her left side, and a golden laurel wreath that was placed upon her head.

“Friends, countrymen, lend me your ears! Are we not the hottest couple here?” Sunset asked with a smirk.

Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes, Pinkie Pie and Cadance gave a “here-here”, and Rarity gushed.

“Please, Empress Shimmer, a little modesty wouldn’t hurt,” said Twilight.

“Oh shush, you’re Empress decrees it, and so shall it be my loyal general,” Sunset replied.

Twilight blushed as she rolled her eyes; she figured the title would give her ego a boost. A couple of hours passed with the entire group laughing, and in Pinkie and Rainbow’s case, pranking a few of the partygoers. During the party, Sunset couldn’t help but notice how Shining Armor was staring at the two of them this whole, she knew the guy didn’t let her as much, but she really hoped her lighten up on the hawk eye routine for the party.

Finally, it came to the point where Sunset excused herself and walked over to the young man. “Look, Armor, you’ve been giving me the stink eye from across the room, so could you please layoff for the time being so your little sister can enjoy it?”

“Well, since you came here, I do need to talk to you. Can you see meet me in the kitchen, now.” Shining stated.

Sunset sighed and complied with Shining’s…demand. Once inside the kitchen, Sunset crossed her arms and gave Twilight’s older brother a serious look. “Alright, so what’s up?”

Shining Armor kept his back to her as he spoke, “You’ve had everyone completely fooled, thought you were so much smarter than everybody around you…”

Sunset raised an eyebrow. “What the heck are you talking about?”

“Cut the BS Shimmer!” Shining Armor turned around and glared at Sunset. “I know who you are, Sunset Shimmer…or rather, Kamen Rider Unicorn.”

T: Trigger's Decision / I Know Who You Are

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The blast sent both Unicorn and Trigger flying in different directions. Trigger slammed through a few trees before finally coming to a stop. The law enforcer Rider groaned in pain from hitting so many trees, as well as the explosion that jettisoned him. After a moment to clear his head, Trigger went on the search for Unicorn. She had protected him from the brunt of the attack, as strong as she was, Trigger was certain she would be more injured than he was. A flash of orange light caught his attention and Trigger, although limping, hurriedly made his way to that spot.

Thankfully, he managed to get closer, and spotted…something that he didn’t think he’d see, Sunset Shimmer, in the arms of that Kamen Rider Ghost. She seemed to be a little disoriented as she shook her head, but then got back to her feet. Trigger used his advanced gear to pick up on their voices, and hearing how the two interacted, it seemed that Ghost was somewhat familiar with her. But really, what drew his eye was that Sunset Shimmer had the same Driver as Unicorn.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

Trigger continued to watch in shock as the high schooler transformed into the vigilante he had been after for so long, the one who has been fighting the monsters since before he became a Kamen Rider. The girl whom his little sister had fallen in love with and become girlfriends with, was in fact, Kamen Rider Unicorn. He continued to watch as both her and Ghost transformed into some kind of celestial, angelic forms and took off for the monster they were fighting.

Later, when all was said and done, Shining Armor sat in his squad car, his mind unable to let him stop thinking about what he saw. Sunset Shimmer was Kamen Rider Unicorn, it kept ringing in his head, to the point that he didn’t even realize that he had driven back home until he pulled up into the driveway. When he arrived, the inside of the house was done up in Halloween decorations, Twilight’s friends, including Twilight herself, were all downstairs, in full costume, just having a good time.

Cadance was there as well, already suited up in her witch costume, a full black dress with a tattered skirt, and a pointy, wide brimmed hat, along with his parents. The whole while, Shining couldn’t stop his gaze from falling on Sunset Shimmer, an ember of anger was growing inside him.

How can she smile like that, he thought. She’s fooling everyone here, even Twily! She’s a dangerous vigilante and she’s just partying like that whole thing never happened!

Now that he thought about it, there were numerous times, with each monster incident, that Sunset would act nonchalant and completely oblivious. Oh, she was good, she knew how to wear a mask of complete ignorance. Sunset wielded dangerous power, was wanted by the police, and doing it all right under his nose. Shining Armor knew there was something not right about Sunset Shimmer, and that was just from her rap sheet from CHS. The girl could manipulate people easily and appear like the innocent victim when all along she was the genius mastermind.

She was fooling him, fooling Twilight, his family, their friends, everyone. And Shining Armor wasn’t going to have it anymore. That’s why he took her aside, that’s why he confronted her away from everyone, and that’s why now Sunset Shimmer had a look of absolute horror plastered on her face.

“I…I…”

“Don’t deny it, Shimmer. If need be I can show you the footage from my helmet from the battle,” said Shining Armor.

Sunset was sweating bullets, swallowing a lump in her throat as she tried to compose herself, trying to think of a way out of this situation. “W-W-Well, if you have it, then show me. Otherwise, these are just baseless accusations.”

Shining Armor reached into his pants pocket, pulled out his cellphone, and played a video. Sunset watched it, watched herself get rescued by Ghost and transform into Unicorn, and all the blood in her body went cold.

“I don’t accuse without evidence, but I guess back in the old days, you didn’t need that.” Shining Armor stated.

Sunset slowly moved towards Shining Armor as she said, “Shining Armor, I–!”

“How long?”

Sunset stopped. “‘How long’, what?”

Shining Armor slammed his fist against the counter as he glared at Sunset Shimmer. “How long have you been Unicorn?! Was it before or after you started seducing my little sister?!”

Sunset got genuinely angry at that. “I didn’t ‘seduce’ Twilight! I love her, if nothing else you believe, then believe that!”

“You know, I’d like to, but considering that you haven’t been outright truthful to begin with, makes it less likely for me to believe even that! So, tell me, how long?!” Shining asked again.

Sunset sighed heavily as she said, “Almost a year…it started when the Emerald Pillar shot up from the city and scattered the Gaia Memories around the city. The ones that you and I have, they’re the special ones, and more powerful. Mine sought me out…”

“And you just decided to become a vigilante from that point on?! You didn’t think to hand a strange device like that over to the police as soon as you got it?!”

Sunset’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at the tall, broad man. “Look, a lot of weird stuff happens around me and my friends, magic related stuff!”

Shining Armor rolled his eyes. “Oh please, are you seriously going to spout that crap? I heard about CHS’ Battle of the Bands, a lot of people said the ‘Rainbooms’ beat a girl band trio with magic music or some BS like that, and then I heard about the Friendship Games from some of my friends’ younger siblings and they went on about how Twilight became some dark – apparently – ugh – ‘sexy’ – angel of death and ripped holes in the fabric of reality. And that some girl went Super Saiyan, fought her, saved Twily, and saved reality.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her head as she blushed. “I wouldn’t say ‘Super Saiyan’…”

Shining Armor slapped his forehead as he dragged his hand down his face. “Look, I’ll admit, since this whole monster thing has gone on, I’ve had to broaden my view of the world. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a nerd to the core, and part me actually finds this all fun, being a superhero and all, but you’re not about to tell me that magic – actual magic – exists in this world!”

“Look, I know it’s hard to believe, but it does, me and my friends have it, and we’ve saved the world at least two times over before I ever became a Kamen Rider! And I did save Twilight from becoming a monster!” Sunset added.

“Granted, and thanks, now, please, never see Twily again!” Shining Armor ordered.

“Excuse me?!”

“I need to think of what I need – or rather should – do with you! In the meantime, you aren’t to be alone with her or anywhere near her! As far as I’m concerned, Sunset Shimmer, you’re just as dangerous as those criminals that attack innocent people! You’ve been lying from day one, and I can’t trust you around my little sister or my family!”

Sunset tried to figure out a counter to this situation, but none was coming to mind.

“You’ll finish out this party, go home, and tomorrow, you will not interact with Twilight more than is necessary.” Shining Armor glared daggers into the young teen before him. “Do I make myself clear? Or do I have to show this video to your friends, my girlfriend, and my parents? Better yet, do you want me to show this to my Captain?”

Sunset looked down at the ground, defeated. “No…”

Shining Armor ran his right hand through his hair as she sighed heavily. “Go…and remember what I said.”

***__________)T(__________***

It was now November, almost a week had passed since the Fanghoul incident, and Shining Armor was still struggling with what he knew. Sitting at his desk, in his private office, he looked over all the different cases which Unicorn was involved in, going back to the first monster attack and Unicorn’s first appearance.

On a digital board, Shining used the Emerald Pillar event as a starting point. Going forward a few days, there was an incident inside the school’s gymnasium where there was extensive damage, more than the rest of the building. It was later ruled that it was due to the earthquake breaking open a gas line and sparking into an explosion. But then again, what if that was, in actuality, the first instance of Sunset becoming Unicorn?

The next line brought him to the blue raptor monster. The one immediately following that was the attack that Garble committed to try and kill him and his little sister. It made more sense now that he knew Sunset was Unicorn, she came to Twilight’s rescue. The third case was that of Crystal Prep, his old stomping grounds. Reports had said that the Vice Principal of CHS, along with Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle went to the school as a kind of ambassadorship, but somehow got mixed up with something that was controlling the students of Crystal Prep.

“And yet again, Unicorn appeared and saved the day, as if she knew exactly where the trouble was,” said Shining.

For the longest time, Shining Armor believed Unicorn had some kind of sixth sense when it came to danger, but in reality, Sunset Shimmer was more than likely close by whenever a monster crime was happening.

“Wait…if that’s the case then…!” Shining Armor dug through his reports and looked up the third case. The underground casino run by Gladmane, he used a Gaia Memory to trap peoples lifeforce in coins according to reports. “Hold on, does that mean she went to an illegal underground gambling ring?! Never mind their lax age restriction – or lack-there-of – how the hell did she have enough money to even do anything in there?!”

Shining managed to keep his mind from exploring darker theories on what else Sunset Shimmer could be doing in there and moved on to other cases. Every which way that Shining Armor approached the different monster cases, when he factored in Sunset Shimmer; it began to make much more sense, even…

“The mall…!” Shining Armor smacked himself in the forehead. “She…She didn’t run away to leave Twilight, she…she left to change to fight that monster…! Great, not only do I have to apologize for calling her a coward, but now I have to thank her for saving Twily…………I’m not too fond of the former but the latter I’m fine with.”

All of this was spinning around in Shining Armor’s head, even the fight with the two female monsters that almost killed her…

“Sunset Shimmer almost died…”

Shining Armor was becoming conflicted, on the one hand he had at one time believed Unicorn was behind the creation of the monsters, but then Equal showed up and showed her true colors as the mastermind. Before that Nasca came along and he had no idea what to make of her, of any of this. Unicorn was a vigilante in the eyes of the law, a guardian hero to the people, an underage minor in possession of dangerous power, a friend to others, a menace in the past, and the girlfriend of his little sister.

*Knock!*

Shining Armor looked away from his digital board and saw his friend from Crystal Prep, and back in the Police Academy, Spearhead. “‘Sup, Shining? Whoa, you’re really hitting this whole Unicorn Case hard, aren’t you?”

“Heh, heh, kinda…yeah…hey, can we talk, there’s just some things about this that don’t make sense,” said Shining Armor.

“Sure, dude, let’s go!” Spearhead replied.

Both officers went around the block to a deli shop, of course, since Shining Armor’s identity as a Kamen Rider was known, it wasn’t unusual for people to come up to him and request an autograph, and for some women to slip him their phone numbers. When the two sat down outside to eat, Spearhead merely chuckled.

“You better not let Cadance see you with any of those,’ said Spearhead.

“She knows about them, and I can’t honestly throw them away, Cadance says that I have to be careful not to trample on the hearts of young women,’” said Shining Armor.

“Say what?”

“Basically, don’t be a d-bag and throw away their phone numbers in front of them, it’s not like they know I’m taken.”

Spearhead nodded in understanding. “Got it, got it, yeah, you’ve been trying to keep the press off of Cadance for a bit. So, what’s this about, you look serious?”

Shining Armor closed his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he thought for a moment. He then opened his eyes and looked directly at his friend, “What do you think about Kamen Rider Unicorn?”

Spearhead blinked and then glanced about, he then leaned in and whispered in a conspiratorial tone, “Dude…am I on the radar for something?”

“What?! No, dude, seriously, I want to know your opinion!” Shining insisted.

“Huh…it’s just, you never really asked before, you were always ‘Unicorn’s a vigilante and must be brought to justice!’ I mean, you kinda sound like one of those cliché guys from comics who can’t see the vigilante as a good guy even though they do good things…no offense,” said Spearhead with a light blush.

Shining Armor sighed. “None taken, and you’re right, I have been like that. But, I guess I’m trying to take a different approach to this whole Unicorn thing, so, tell me, what do you think about her?”

Spearhead sat back in his chair as he pondered that question, wanting to give as honest an answer as he could. “Honestly…I think she’s hot.”

*Snap!*

“Oops, broke my fork. But, REALLY, you think she’s ‘hot’? You ever stop to think that underneath that armor she could be a teenage girl? Like, jailbait age? Or could be some guy in drag?” Shining Armor asked.

Spearhead’s expression fell instantly. “Well when you put it that way…” the detective took a sip of his soft drink and continued. “Okay, beyond that, real talk now. I admire her for what she’s doing, I mean, the cop part of me is still suspicious and critical at times, but overall, I think she’s a hero.”

“But, have you ever thought about why she does what she does? I mean, what does she gain from this?”

“Well, just gotta do process of elimination. I don’t think she’s doing this for money, with all that power she has, there are definitely easier ways to get money than save people. Plus, she never asks for a reward, and there was that news report on CCNN,” said Spearhead.

Shining Armor thought back to Sunset’s file, remembering how it was said she would extort favors and other things from her fellow students, if she did do something good, it would be for her benefit and everything else was a happy accident.

“Then do you think she’s behind these monster attacks? Maybe she’s working with Equal?” Shining asked.

“Dude, no way, I totally get a supervillain vibe from her! Plus, she’s fought you, Unicorn, and Nasca at least…what, twice now? But to be honest, I’m still not sure about her, she did help against that virus monster thing that almost wrecked the entire city, and then there was that vampire monster a week ago.”

Shining Armor leaned back into his chair as he looked into the sky. “When did police work entail fighting eldritch abominations from different dimensions?”

“The moment a girl decided to put on a belt and defend our sorry asses from said eldritch abominations. As far as I can tell, man, she’s just doing what she can to protect us, or at the very least someone she cares about who lives here.” Spearhead suggested.

Thoughts of Twilight, his little sister, popped into his head, seeing her smiling face whenever she was around Sunset Shimmer, how she always seemed to light up whenever she talked about the girl. Could that be it? Could that really be the reason why she’d put her life on the line to protect this city?

There was something missing, something that Shining Armor wasn’t seeing. He wasn’t sure what, but somehow, all roads led to Sunset Shimmer. “Thanks, buddy. I need to go.”

“Really?” Spearhead asked.

“Yeah, I have a hunch and I’d like to run it down,” said Shining Armor.

“Good luck, dude!”

***__________)T(__________***

Shining Armor arrived at Canterlot High School, parking his bike in the visitor’s area. A lot of the students who were transitioning from one class to another caught sight of the officer, and all were whispering about him, knowing full well that he was Kamen Rider Trigger. As far he could figure, they were probably thinking this was monster related, and it might just be that. Shining Armor arrived at the office of Principal Celestia, her assistant, Raven, sat at her desk as she typed away on her keyboard. Shining Armor cleared his throat and got Raven’s attention.

Raven looked up from her computer screen and stammered as she noticed the policeman before her. “O-Oh, sorry, m-may I help you?”

“Yes, is Principal Celestia available? I’d liked to talk to her if possible.”

Raven made a call to Celestia and after a minute was told to go on in. Shining Armor entered the room, noticing that it was bright and welcoming. It was definitely a stark contrast to Principal Cinch’s office, no windows, dark, and foreboding. Celestia offered Shining a seat, to which he happily accepted.

“Tell me, Officer Armor, what brings you to our school? Nothing serious I hope?” Celestia inquired.

“No, no, nothing serious, just some follow up questions regarding yours and Ms. Shimmer’s ordeal,” said Shining Armor. “But mostly, pertaining to Sunset.”

“Um, okay, well, what is it that you wish to know?” Celestia asked as she leaned forward in her chair.

“Well, for one thing, it was clear that Sombra was altering your behavior and mental condition. And witnesses stated that on the day you suspended Sunset Shimmer, she was quote, ‘trying to talk some sense’ into you. I’ve gotta ask, not a lot of students or your own staff managed to do something like that, but she seemed to have no problem with it, standing up to you.”

Celestia sighed, it was an unpleasant time that she didn’t like to recall, considering how she treated everyone. “Yes, well, Sunset Shimmer has always been strong willed, a natural leader. She’s not afraid to speak up when something bad is happening, nor is she one to stand idly by and let something bad happen if it can be preventable.”

“And yet, not too long ago, she wasn’t exactly a model student, was she?” Shining asked.

“Pardon?”

“Well, grades wise, I don’t doubt she’s on level with my little sister, but as far as character is concerned, I recall a lot of these same students telling me how terrified they used to be of her,” said Shining Armor.

Celestia knit her brow at how this conversation was going. “Yes…well, people can have a change of heart, it’s rare, and not many go through with it, but Sunset is the picturesque model of what someone can do with a second chance. Going from someone whom the student body feared and hated, to someone whom they can look up to and aspire to be.”

Shining Armor could tell Celestia truly believed this of Sunset Shimmer, but one thing still bothered him. “On that note, what exactly brought about this turn heel moment for her? As far as I can tell, it happened between the events of the Fall Formal and Battle of the Bands, and both were rumored to have supernatural things going on that pre-dated the arrival of the monsters and Kamen Riders. Although, when I ask around, some people either take it as an elaborate light show, a mass hallucination, or as many of the students would insist, magic. What’s your take on this?”

Celestia studied Shining Armor, he was fishing for something, something revolving around Sunset. What exactly she wasn’t sure, but she was damned if she was going to fall for whatever he was plotting. “I let others believe what they want, if the students believe it is magic, then let it be. Besides, with the events that have gone on in our fair city, I think it’s too narrow minded to dismiss certain things as ‘unbelievable’ or ‘fairytale’ when there is clearly so much more that we don’t know out there, don’t you agree?”

“I would agree, but then it’s all the more imperative that we know more about those kinds of things to determine whether or not they’re a danger to others,” said Shining in response.

Silence reigned in the office for what felt like minutes, finally, Celestia leaned back in her chair as she gave Shining Armor a scrutinizing look. “Is there any particular reason – other than the ordeal with Sombra – that has lead you to inquire on Sunset Shimmer?”

Shining Armor leaned forward and said, “It’s just that Sunset Shimmer seems to be an odd factor in the weird things that have gone on in the past to the present.”

“It sounds like you’re accusing one of my students of something, Officer. I am listed as Sunset’s guardian, if there’s something I should know–?”

“No, no, nothing like that…just following leads, dotting ‘I’s crossing ‘T’s, you know.” Shining Armor insisted. “I guess I hit a dead end here, I won’t waste any more of your time.” As Shining Armor got up and walked towards the door, he paused there to look over his shoulder and ask, “Ma’am, did you know that it’s a federal crime to create false documents for any unregistered person?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow. “Is that a threat, Officer?”

“No, just an interesting bit of information, just in case you didn’t know. There are a lot of laws to keep up with in your profession, and in my case, I have to keep up with almost all of them, just take it as a reminder.”

With that, Shining Armor left Celestia’s office, believing now more than ever that the Principal, and quite possibly the Vice Principal, were covering for Sunset Shimmer in some capacity, maybe it was time he started digging into that girl’s past. As he walked, Shining Armor felt someone run into him, or more precisely, he ran into someone. There was a yelp and the sound of scattering of materials onto the floor.

“Oh, crap, I’m so sorry! I was deep in thought; let me help…you…” Shining Armor paused when he looked down and saw the person he had bumped into, Sunset Shimmer. The girl looked up at the man with hesitation. She hid it well, but in that brief moment he saw it, fear. Shining Armor reached out with his hand, and Sunset flinched ever so slightly at the action. Is she…Is she really that afraid of me? “Um, here, let me help you up.

Gingerly, Sunset took his hand and was helped up. Shining knelt down and collected the books and papers that had been strewn on the floor due to their collision. He handed them over to Sunset, the amber girl taking them gratefully. “Thank you.”

Nary was another word spoken before Sunset continued her walk to her next class, with Shining Armor just looking in her direction. Something weighed on him in that moment, was the fear that he saw because she knew she was busted and would go to jail? Was she scared because she was afraid Shining would use this information to make her do something she didn’t want to do? Or was it something else?

***__________)T(__________***

Dinner at the Sparkle was pleasant to say the least, Velvet and Night Light talked about their day, and for the most part Shining Armor did too. However, Twilight seemed a little down, she’d normally be talking their ears off about what she and her friends did, especially tidbits concerning Sunset Shimmer, her girlfriend. That was another thing that Shining Armor couldn’t dismiss outright. If Sunset Shimmer had an ulterior motive behind being with Twilight, then what was it? If there was one at all.

Shining Armor couldn’t deny that Twilight’s transfer to CHS wasn’t the best thing for her, in fact it was the best. For a long time now he believed that the only friend that his little sister would have was himself and Spike, not that there was anything wrong with that, he loved Twilight dearly, but still, having a wider social circle was better than not having one. Shining Armor will be the first one to admit, Crystal Prep was good at pushing their students to strive for excellence, but that made for quite a toxic environment, it was a lucky thing that some of Shining’s friends, himself and Cadance included, didn’t end up taking all that competitiveness to heart.

While Shining Armor was sure CHS’s curriculum was not quite on par with CPA’s, there was no doubt that that was a moot point, as Twilight’s social growth was more than compensating for all of that. She actually had friends now, and quite a diverse group of friends that Shining Armor wouldn’t normally peg as being friends. A jock, a fashionista, an animal lover, a party girl, a bad girl, and a country girl. Saying that in my head makes me think that they’re some archetypes for a Magical Girl anime show.

In any case, it had helped Twilight grow into a more sociable person, even though she still had her introverted tendencies, and most of the time had her nose in a book, they seemed to accept that about her and still managed to get her to join them in certain activities. And, at the center of all that, no one was more attentive to Twilight than Sunset Shimmer. Apparently, there was quite the ordeal that went down at the Friendship Games, Cadance was a little reluctant to say what exactly, but that it did involve Twilight, Principal Cinch’s blackmail, and Sunset Shimmer saving her.

“Um, Mom, Dad, may I be excused?” Twilight asked.

Velvet looked at her daughter curiously. “Are you feeling alright, Twily?”

“I’m just not very hungry,” she replied.

Velvet nodded her approval, Twilight excused herself and took her dishes to the kitchen. Once done, she walked up the stairs in a somber mood.

Night Light glanced to Shining Armor and asked, “Do you know what’s going on with Twilight?”

“No, not entirely, I’ll go check on her,” said Shining Armor.

He took his time getting up the stairs, wanting to give Twilight some time to settle before he came knocking at her door. Once he arrived, Shining Armor gently rapped at the door and said, “Hey, Twily, what’s wrong?”

No response.

“C’mon, it’s me, your BBBFF, you can talk to me. Err, so long as it isn’t about certain things you should probably be asking Mom about!” Shining Armor joked.

After a minute of silence, Twilight said, “Come in.”

Shining Armor slowly opened the door and asked, “You decent?”

“Not funny.”

The older brother found his little sister curled up on her bed, Spike laid beside her, trying to comfort his master. The puppy dog looked at him with expectant eyes, apparently as in the dark about Twilight’s mood as he was. Shining Armor closed the door and walked across the room to sit at the edge of the bed. He waited for a few moments before asking, “So, what’s going on? You look pretty bummed out.”

Twilight turned around and looked up at Shining Armor, he gently reached out and placed his hand on her shoulder, looking down on her with reassuring eyes. “Okay…it’s…Sunset.”

Shining Armor arched an eyebrow. “What did she do?”

“Nothing!” Twilight immediately defended, but her fire died out as she added, “Which is also not good…”

“What?”

“Sunset’s been acting distant for a week now, she still talks to me at lunch, and we study, but…It’s like she’s afraid to be around me…we don’t hold hands anymore…she doesn’t even give me a kiss or wrap her arms around me…it’s like she’s trying to avoid me.”

“Oh…well, maybe she’s not feeling well or something?” Shining lied.

“No, she doesn’t get sick that easily, I’d definitely know if she wasn’t feeling well! Do you…Do you think she’s tired of me?” Twilight asked with a quiver in her voice.

“W-What?!”

“I mean, we’re both teenagers and statistically speaking the percentage of high school relationships die out either due to distance or other extenuating circumstances…” Twilight reached out and clutched at the loose fabric of Shining’s pantleg as if it were a lifeline. “Did I do something to make her not like me anymore…? I-I know I don’t have any experience in relationships, I was bound to mess something up at some point, but for the life of me I don’t know what it was that I did to warrant this?!”

Shining Armor’s heart was being torn, the expression of sadness and confusion on Twilight’s face was rending his heart, he knew full well why Sunset was avoiding her, but he couldn’t just outright say that Twilight’s girlfriend is Unicorn, if she felt bad now, how would she feel when she learned Sunset was lying to her the whole time?

“I…I asked Sunset if she wanted to go to the Fall Formal. It would be my first high school dance that I went to, and with someone I care about…but when I asked her, she smiled at me and said, ‘I’ll think about it’.” Twilight began to sniffle. “I know Sunset doesn’t have too many fond memories of her past Fall Formals, but I was hoping to make up for that with this one…it would be memorable to us, and it would be her last, as well as my first and last, Fall Formal before we graduate at the end of the semester…”

Shining Armor moved closer and wrapped his baby sister up in a hug. “Never think that you did something wrong, okay? You a wonderful person, Twily, and any guy – er – girl would be crazy not to see that! There’s probably some other reason, just give her time.”

Twilight continued to sniffle, but smiled nonetheless, “Thank you, big brother.”

After a few minutes of comforting Twilight, Shining Armor left her room and went into his. He sat on the edge of his bed, staring at himself in the mirror on the adjacent wall. His sister was crying, feeling as if she had done something wrong, but…Did I do the wrong thing here?

Twilight was happy, on a different level than when she was with family. Sunset Shimmer made her happier, Twilight trusted Sunset, but how can she trust her when the truth is revealed. “On that note, why haven’t I revealed the truth yet…?”

Because we still don’t know what Sunset Shimmer’s goal is.

“True, but what if she really is doing all this masked hero stuff out of the goodness of her heart? If she needed a reason to fight, then protecting your friends and those you love is a good reason. Hell, it’s part of the reason I became a cop!”

Yeah, a cop not a vigilante. Sunset used a dangerous weapon to fight against monsters, her total anonymity allows her to move around without taking any real responsibility for her actions. If she endangers another person’s life, then that’s that, she doesn’t have to answer to courts or cops because there would be no way to know who was under the helmet.

“Still, she looked scared of me…”

Scared because she was caught, and scared because she knew we have evidence.

“There’s more to this than what I’m seeing, I need to know who Sunset Shimmer is. First thing’s first though, I gotta at least make Twily happy.”

***____________________***

Sunset laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling as she went over the events so far. Shining Armor knew she was Kamen Rider Unicorn, he had physical evidence that she was, there was no way she could get out of it. Of all the people in the city to find out her secret, having Shining Armor, a policeman, who’s had a personal vendetta against Unicorn from practically day one, find out about this was quite possibly the worst-case scenario. She could see it now…

“Our breaking news, Officer Shining Armor of the CCPD, also known as Kamen Rider Trigger, has successfully uncovered the identity of Kamen Rider Unicorn!”

“Reports say that a local high schooler, one Sunset Shimmer, has been the one under the mask fighting against the monsters who have tried countless times to attack the city.”

“I just don’t see how any adult could let a young girl like that use such dangerous weapons, what made her think that it was a good idea to use such things? Who appointed her the keeper of the peace for everyone in the city?”

“We’re now getting reports that there is no record of a girl named ‘Sunset Shimmer’. Our sources have verified that there is no paper or digital record of this girl’s birth anywhere in the city, or in the country for that matter, we are still awaiting verification from overseas.”

“We have just learned that the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI are taking the young girl into custody, treating her as an illegal alien until such time as her identity can be determined by federal authorities.”

“This just end, it seems – as remarkable as it sounds everyone – a portal to another world has been discovered on the grounds of the local Canterlot High School. The Principal and Vice Principal of the school have been taken in by federal authorities for questioning about the mysterious gateway and their involvement in keeping the girl, Sunset Shimmer, hidden for so long.”

Princess Twilight would come out of the portal, with a dozen guns pointed at her and taken into custody before she could utter a word of protest or reason. The feds would enter the portal, and then Princess Celestia would find out that Princess Twilight was captured, creating an interdimensional/diplomatic incident that would set off a war between humans and ponies! Sunset and Princess Twilight would be used as Guinea pigs for experimentation to find out how ponies turned human tick, and her friends would either be studied like her, or forced to fight in the war to avoid punishment upon them and their families, and her Twilight…her Twilight…

Sunset yelped when she heard knocking at her front door. The young woman was weary, as none of her friends had texted or called about coming over to see her. Sunset made her way down the steps, crossing through the living room, and stopping to look through the peep hole once she reached the door. The amber girl tensed, it was Shining Armor, of all people, why was he here now? Did she mess up something? Had she violated the conditions he had set? Her interactions with Twilight were minimal compared to what they used to be. As hard as all of it was, she had obeyed his demand, so why was he here?

“What do you want?” Sunset asked through the door.

“I just want to talk.”

Sunset tightened her jaw, she still didn’t like this. “Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it through the door!”

“It’s about Twilight…”

That caught Sunset’s attention. Cautiously, she unlocked the door, keeping the chain attached, as she cracked it open. “What about Twilight?”

“Please, just let me in so we can talk about her, I really don’t want to do this through a door,” said Shining Armor.

Sunset gave the young man a scrutinizing look before answering, “If I even think for a moment you’re here to try something, I’m not holding back.”

“I left my Driver and Gaia Memory at the house, I’m not even armed, look!”

Shining Armor lifted his jacket and did a three-sixty turn to show that he didn’t have a gun on his hip, even opening his jacket to show that there were none strapped to his chest. He even picked up his pantleg to show that there wasn’t an ankle holster. Sunset closed door, and slid the chain off, opening the door fully to allow Shining Armor entry.
Once inside, Shining Armor paused halfway, taking in how Sunset’s home was set up, realizing that this was the first time he had been to the teen’s residence. Once the door shut, Sunset directed him to the sofa, with Sunset taking seat across from him.

“You wanted to talk about Twilight, so talk,” said Sunset.

“She’s a bit depressed, she thinks she did something wrong,” said Shining Armor.

Sunset gripped the armrests of the chair, hearing how Twilight was being affected made her heart hurt. “And whose fault do you think that is?!”

“Look, I don’t like seeing my sister sad alright! Neither do I want to see her go back to the way she was, alone. Having family is one thing, but having friends and…a girlfriend, completes a person, and for someone like Twilight, who had none of that, and was just starting to come out of her shell, losing her first girlfriend can be a hard blow,” said Shining Armor.

“Well maybe you should’ve thought of that before you blackmailed me into staying away from her! I know she’s hurting, because I am too! I want to be there with her, I wanted to say ‘YES’ to her when she asked me to the Fall Formal! But when I remembered what you ordered me to do, and what would happen if I did, I couldn’t!” Sunset stood up, tears in her eyes as she narrowed her gaze at Shining Armor. “What do I have to do to show you that I’m in love with her?! That I would do anything for Twilight! That I’m not a threat!”

“I DON’T KNOW ALRIGHT!” Shining Armor yelled, standing to his full height as he glared back at Sunset. “Every instinct I have tells me you’re hiding something, more than you just being a Kamen Rider, something that’s not right and it’s that thing that I can’t trust! You were less than a good person, and suddenly pull a one-eighty, and now you’re not just respected, but loved and admired, considering all you did to your fellow students and some of the faculty! And there’s the little detail about how I can’t find a single record of your existence in this city beyond what is at CHS, and that’s what I can find without a warrant!”

Both Sunset and Shining continued their stare down, an invisible clash of auras going on in the background. After about two minutes both released the tension in their shoulders and flopped back down into their seats.

“……”

“………What are you?”

Sunset glanced back at Shining Armor. “I’m a girl.”

“Not what I meant. Given all the weird crap that’s been going on in the city for almost a year now, I can’t overlook even the most ‘out-there’ theory.” Shining sat up straight and began ticking off his fingers. “A girl with no record, has hardly ever been sick, and fights with a superpowered weapon. If I follow comic logic, you’re either an alien, or a being from another dimension. So, which is it?”

Sunset looked away and asked, “Does it really matter? I’m not the person I was before, I’ve learned from my mistakes and doing everything I can to be better!……I don’t ever want to go back to the way I was…alone, bitter, and too full of pride and anger to see what I was doing to the world around me…”

“………” Shining Armor considered her words and spoke carefully. “Take her to the Fall Formal.”

Sunset’s head picked up. “What did you say?”

“I didn’t stutter. Take her, dance with her, all the normal things that a girl at her first dance should do. Just don’t get to fresh with her, alright?!” Shining warned.

“Uh…y-yeah – YEAH! I mean, no, I won’t do anything inappropriate! I’ll take her, yes!” Sunset blurted out.

Shining Armor nodded. “I can see enough that you do care about Twilight, and she cares about you. But, we’re going to have a serious talk sometime soon.”

Sunset’s elated state came down a little, but it was enough, at least she was going to take Twilight to the Fall Formal.

How am I going to tell Twilight…?

T: Trigger's Decision / Moment of Truth

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The ultimatum was given to Sunset Shimmer, Shining Armor had lifted his “restraining order” on her and has now allowed the former Equestrian to resume their normal couple activities as well as take Twilight to the Fall Formal. While this has come as a relief to Sunset, it’s not a complete relief. Shining Armor still knows she’s Kamen Rider Unicorn and is still in possession of the damning evidence that shows her transforming into the masked hero.

Sunset had made the call on Saturday to Twilight and informed her that she would be honored to take the prettiest, most adorkable girl in CHS to the Fall Formal. What followed after was a string of repeating “yes” and thuds which were most likely caused by Twilight jumping up and down like a rabbit on crack. After claiming, down, Twilight told her that she would be happy to go out with her and would call Rarity to see if they could go to her Boutique tomorrow for some dresses; a project that both knew Rarity would push everything to the backburner just for them.

With that date settled, there was still the looming matter of exposure, so Sunset Shimmer went to see Rainbow Dash. She needed to be informed of the coming danger and how this could eventually lead back to her, and how this could affect her parents who were completely allowing their daughter’s superhero activities. Although this practically made them the most awesome parents in the world, it wasn’t exactly something the law saw as a good thing, the whole “child endangerment” laws and all. So, Sunset arrived at the Dash household and went to Rainbow Dash’s room to discuss the matter, all and all she took it pretty well.

“Lemme get this straight…Shining Armor, Twilight’s big bro, mister ‘I’m going to arrest Unicorn and Nasca whenever I catch them’, knows you’re Unicorn. Not only that, but he made you – or blackmailed you – into staying away from Twilight, which explains why you both looked so bummed out this past week, and now he’s suddenly ‘allowing’ you to take her to the Formal. Is that pretty much it?’

Sunset nodded.

Rainbow Dash took in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. “Okay……WHAT THE ACTUAL F-ING HELL?!” after her exclamation, Rainbow plopped onto her bed as she let out a frustrated groan. “But, seriously, I’m guessing this is better than what we were thinking. We thought you were breaking up with Twilight, and that I was going to have to start hitting on her to make you get your ass in gear.”

Sunset released her own frustrated groan as she said, “First off: try hitting on her, and the next time you take a shower in the locker room, you’re going to find all your clothes have vanished and the only thing left behind will be a bunny girl costume, I guarantee that! And second: thank you.”

“So, what’re we going to do?! He’s had it out for Unicorn from the beginning, and now that he knows it’s you, he definitely has every reason to blow the whistle on you!……So why hasn’t he?” Rainbow asked now that she thought about it.

The former Equestrian took a moment to think that over. “Maybe…he’s conflicted? If he really wanted me out of the picture he would’ve done so that night and I wouldn’t be having this conversation with you. He’s probably thinking about all the ways this would not only affect me, but also Twilight. You should’ve seen him last night; I think he genuinely feels bad about making Twilight go through all that.”

“Asshole should’ve thought of that before making you promise to stay away from her,” said Rainbow Dash with a hint of malice in her voice.

Sunset waved her hand in a calming motion. “Settle down, Dash. I hate that he made me promise that, but he’s her big brother and a cop, and he’s doing what any other elder sibling would do, look after their younger sibling. So, for now, we’re going to have to go with what we can do, and that’s taking Twilight to the Fall Formal and making sure she has a good time. After that…”

“Hey, hold on, why don’t we tell Twilight! Then he wouldn’t have any leverage over you! If he’s that devoted then maybe he’ll back off if Twilight gives him a scolding?!”

Sunset made an “X” shape with her arms. “Negative, right now, he believes that I’m the one who made the Driver. Telling him that Twilight’s an accomplice would only make things worse for her.”

“Yeah, but at the same time, he’d be less likely to follow through with any of his BS because he’d be too afraid that Twilight would get arrested for, like, aiding and embedding, right?” Rainbow argued.

“Or he could be on the other side of the spectrum and have both of us put in jail, although that scenario is highly unlikely, the most likely scenario would be that he’ll think I brainwashed Twilight or manipulated her with my wiles into making me our gear,” Sunset explained as she struck a seductive pose for dramatic effect before scoffing. “Please.”

Rainbow’s lips curled into a grin. “I don’t know, I’d commit armed robbery if it meant I could have a shot with you.”

Sunset’s expression became deadpan. “One: you try something with me and I’ll just leave you the skimpiest bikini I can find in your locker. And two,” Sunset struck another pose, “you lost your chance at this months ago.”

“Ouch!”

***______________________***

The roar of Sunset’s motorcycle engine cut through most of the traffic noises as both her and Twilight rode to Rarity’s little Boutique. It actuality, it was Rarity’s home, but due to the wealth of her family, her father had the garage converted into a studio to allow his daughter to create and run a fairly profitable online business. Rarity always affirmed that one day she would own a real building and plaster it with the name “Rarity For You”.

Sunset’s bike stopped as it reached the house’s driveway. I was a large two-story house, colored an immaculate white, with a couple of topiary lions that “guarded” the front door. On one end was the two-car garage that held the family’s vehicles, on the other end was the second garage that was made into a two-story garage that was adjacent to Rarity’s bedroom, allowing her access to her work space whenever she pleased.

The garage door was finely made, it was a standard door with white a finish to reflect the harsh rays of the summer sun, it had tinted windows on it to allow light to come in, but kept prying eyes from peering in. Considering the nature of her work, privacy was a must. Sunset was wearing a pair of denim jeans and tank top underneath her leather jacket, while Twilight wore simple purple skirt with black leggings, and pink blouse. The two went around to the side door and gave it a few knocks.

Immediately they heard the sounds of movement from within and were greeted by a starry-eyed Rarity. “DARLINGS! I cannot tell you how much I’ve been looking forward to this!”

“Heh, heh, knowing you, Rarity, probably since we first started going out,” said Sunset.

Rarity made a few nonsensical noises before stating, “Puh-lease, I’ve been shipping you two since Twilight arrived at CHS. Although, I will admit to a little guilty shipping of you and Princess Twilight as well.”

Sunset and Twilight blushed bright red.

Twilight cleared her throat a bit, “Ahem, well, so long as you haven’t been ‘shipping’ all three of us in a three-way relationship, then…” Twilight’s expression fell when she spotted Rarity guiltily blushing as she fidgeted in place.

“You didn’t?” Sunset asked.

“You haven’t…?” Twilight also asked.

“LET’S GET YOU UPSTAIRS AND FITTED SHALL WE, OKAY?! OKAY!” Rarity announced loudly to end the string of questions as she headed straight for the stairs.

“She imagined us in a three-way relationship, didn’t she?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, I’m sure it was more than just the relationship and more on the relations part of that ship her mind was on, judging by that reaction.”

“Are all of my friends perverts?”

“For sure Rainbow and I are, definitely Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy…jury’s out on her, and apparently Rarity is a closet pervert,” Sunset answered.

Twilight took off her glasses and dragged her right hand down her face. “Jeez, I’m starting to wonder if I’m the weird one because I’m not or if all of you are.”

Sunset began walking towards the stairs, stopping at the first step as she offered out her hand to her girlfriend in a dramatic fashion. “Come, Twilight Sparkle, join the side of complete debauchery and hentai websites, you know you can’t resist!”

Twilight threw out her left hand and raised her right to her forehead, also in a dramatic fashion. “No, I will remain pure, you shall never corrupt me!”

“Oh, my dear Twilight, you’re already mine, come to me!” Sunset commanded.

Twilight began walking towards Sunset, however her movements were slow, as if giving the impression that she was resisting. “I can’t…I mustn’t!”

Before long, Twilight was in arm’s reach of Sunset, allowing the amber girl to reach out, and grab her girlfriend by the waist, bringing her close as she stared into those amethyst eyes. “You must…”

“Ahem!” Both girls looked up the stairs and saw Rarity leaning on the railing as she gazed down upon both of the lovebirds. “Sorry, Darlings, but do you need use my bedroom before we get started?”

“NO!” Sunset and Twilight spoke at the same time, a little embarrassed at being seen in a goofy moment.

“Please, don’t be embarrassed, I find it fabulously cute.”

After getting over that bit of awkwardness, it didn’t really get much better. Once they were in the upstairs design/work studio, Rarity immediately broke out the measuring tape, giving a quick snap as she turned to her favorite couple and asked, “Who’s first?”

Twilight took a giant step back, leaving Sunset completely alone. Before she figured out what had happened, Rarity stripped Sunset of her clothing, making Twilight turn away before she had a nosebleed. After a fair amount of grumbling and other embarrassing sounds, Rarity was finally done with Sunset, and moved on to Twilight. The result was the same for Twilight, but Sunset kept her back turned, out of respect, and for the promise of someday seeing her like that on more romantic terms.

Once the measuring was done, Rarity went through a number of sketches that she had conceived. “I’m going to make you two shine so brightly that every couple will just die!”

“Um, maybe not that. I wouldn’t want my first school dance to be riddled with corpses,” said Twilight.

“Figure of speech, darling. Anyway, I have several variations if the two you want to go more traditional routes,” Rarity flipped through a number of sketches that showed Twilight and Sunset in flowing dresses. “Or, if you want to change things up, I have some alternatives.”

Rarity brought out another round of sketches that showed not only dresses, but tuxedos, each done for either one of them. “Personally speaking, I think Sunset would look rather dapper in a tuxedo.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow and grinned. “You saying I wear the pants in this relationship, literally?”

“Well, I wanted to be prepared so I made a suit design for each of you.”

Twilight twiddled her thumbs as she spoke, “Well…to be honest…I, ahem, always imagined you as the more…I guess, core of the relationship? I mean, I have so little experience with dating and all, I was more comfortable with you taking the reins.”

Sunset smiled and rubbed Twilight back soothingly. “Hey, don’t just assume I have all the right answers. I kind of blew it with Flash, even though I was just using him for popularity, at first, I did like him and honestly dated him. But, that fell apart quickly as you all know where it led. Don’t be afraid to take the reins yourself, Sparky. I don’t want to you feel as if I’m suffocating you or controlling you, okay?”

Twilight smiled up at Sunset and leaned against her girlfriend. “Thank you.”

Rarity was biting her lip, trying in vain to keep her excited squeals of delight from being heard. “Oh, you two are just SO precious!”

***___________)T(___________***

The sound of laser fire echoed within the large chamber. Trigger wielded his Chrome Magnum as he blasted through several holographic targets that sprang up around him. He cycled through several of his Utility Gaia Memories before entering SWAT form and blasting away remaining enemies. When the smoke cleared, only Trigger SWAT stood, his body glowed as he returned back to his default and holstered his weapon.

[That was good Officer Armor, we’re done with testing for today, you can exit the training area.]

Trigger did just that, as he did, the recreated buildings and monsters all disappeared as he walked through the standby area and changed back to normal. The other door opened up and waiting for him was Starlight Glimmer, a towel and bottle of water in hand. “Good work out there, Officer Armor.” Shining Armor gratefully took the towel, wiping off the sweat and took a few sips from the offered bottle. The whole time though, Starlight Glimmer couldn’t help but notice something off about him. “Are you alright?”

Shining Armor looked away and chuckled. “That obvious, huh?”

“Probably not to others, I’m just observant that way. I could lend an ear if you’d like?” Starlight offered.

The blue haired man looked to Starlight and then back to his bottle, after a moment he sighed. “You ever know a secret about a person, but you weren’t sure how to approach it?”

Starlight blinked. “Think I’m going to need a little more detail than that, kind of vague.”

Shining Armor scratched at his head to figure out a way to word what he was asking without it revealing too much. “Kind of hard to say without outing the person I’m thinking about.”

“Well, is the secret a bad one? Is it hurting them or hurting someone else?” Starlight asked.

“Potentially, both.”

“‘Potentially’, but this secret hasn’t hurt anyone up to this point. Okay, does this secret help people?”

With an annoyed grunt he said, “Yes.”

“Like just a few, or a lot?”

Again, with an annoyed grunt, he said, “Yes.”

“But I’m also guessing that this something is also illegal, hence your dilemma, right?” Starlight asked.

“Yeah…I mean…I know what the law says, it’s cut and dry. They do this, I arrest them, they go to court. They break the law, and I stop them…but then we get into moral gray areas, and lord knows I’ve seen a few here and there,” said Shining Armor.

Starlight leaned up against the wall as she contemplated the philosophy of his question. “Just so you know, this is only my opinion and under the advice of my lawyers is not a reflection of my true beliefs.”

Shining Armor chuckled. “Got it.”

“Okay. Sometimes, we have to live in the gray in order to ensure that good things happen. History is full of people who were oppressed, and then rose up to end that oppression. Others where unjust laws favored the powerful, and individuals broke the law to bring about order and justice. We can only imagine what goes through a person’s mind when they’re thrust into a situation where they know they can do something to stop something bad from happening but know that the world may look at them as either hero or villain.”

Starlight glanced to Shining Armor. “You fight as Kamen Rider Trigger, and keep your identity known to the public, because you believe that it is the right thing to do and that the people deserve to know who’s under the mask. However, the negative applies as well, some would see such an act as idiotic, moronic even. Considering your line of profession, you put your family in danger by being a police officer, making them targets of lowlifes that you put away, but now as a Kamen Rider, you invite monsters with powers that do more harm than any thug could ever do.”

Shining Armor winced a little, he had experienced his folly first hand.

“So, the question then becomes, do you believe, in your heart, is this secret this person is keeping important enough to them?” Starlight asked.

“I…don’t know…” Shining answered.

“I guess that means you need to talk to this person, honestly. Without judgement, without the badge, just a person, hear them out, and maybe others who know that person and know what they’re going through…” Starlight looked away. “Heaven’s know the rest of world could benefit more if we knew so much more…”

Shining Armor smiled and offered his hand to Starlight. “Thanks Miss Glim – er – Starlight, this talk helped a bit.”

Starlight smiled back and shook his hand. “Glad I could help.”

***______________________***

Dear Princess Twilight,
How’s it going in Equestria? Hopefully things have calmed down since that Nega-Shocker thing.
Listen…I need to tell you something. Shining Armor, the one in my world, he knows I’m Kamen Rider Unicorn. I was careless, and he found out during a battle about a week ago, and now I’ve been on edge about when he’ll out me! He told me to stay away from Twilight, but when he saw how much it was hurting her that I wasn’t around, he lifted his “restraining order” and is allowing me to take her to the Fall Formal. After that…I’m not sure what he’s going to do.
I don’t want to believe he’ll just out me like that, but I’m still nervous. What would your Shining Armor in such a situation? Also, if things go sideways…I may need to come back home, permanently. I’d rather keep that as a last resort, I like my life here, despite the low amount of magical power here, it’s still a place I call home, I have someone I love and friends I never want to part with…please…write back as soon as possible.
Your friend
Sunset Shimmer

Sunset stood in front of the mirror, checking herself out as she gazed upon the dress Rarity made for her. It was strapless, allowing Sunset’s bare shoulders and just the tiniest amount of cleavage to show. The warm colors of orange, red, and yellow, and a touch of turquoise here and there, made the dress sparkle brightly when hit by light, the skirt only came down to a little past her knees, which lead to a pair of red high heels. The dress had a wildfire design, but when you looked close enough, you could tell that the flames made the image of a phoenix.

As much fun as this night was going to be, Sunset still felt nervous. One half due to the looming threat of Shining Armor, and the other half due to not wanting to mess this night up for her lover. This was going to be the first Fall Formal she could enjoy with someone she loved with all her heart, and nothing was going to go wrong, not even Shining Armor’s little vendetta was going to ruin it.

The sound of knocking, followed by a car horn, grabbed Sunset’s attention. She quickly checked herself over one last time and headed towards the door, when she opened it, Sunset was struck speechless. Standing before her was a dazzling beauty, her girlfriend, Twilight Sparkle. Her hair was let down, flowing past her shoulders and down her back. Unlike Sunset, Twilight wasn’t nearly as bold as she was to go with a dress that exposed too much, but it was no less beautiful. The dress was a deep violet, with differing hues of violet, purple, and blue, mimicking the night sky. There were tiny specks of crystals that, when the light caught them, sparkled like stars in the night sky.

Sunset could tell that Twilight was wearing makeup, it wasn’t a lot, and no doubt Rarity helped her with it, for Twilight, less was more. For a good minute and a half, Sunset Shimmer was just staring at Twilight with her mouth hanging open. The purple girl blushed as she waited for her girlfriend to regain her senses, but that didn’t appear to be happening any time soon.

“Sunset?”

The girl in question shook her head, “Huh, uh, y-yeah?”

“Let’s go, everyone’s waiting,” said Twilight as she gestured towards the limo.

Sunset grinned happily a she closed the door and walked towards the limo. Just like last year, Rarity, had rented another limo to take them to the dance. Rarity’s family may not be as rich as the resident rich girl, Diamond Tiara, but she was well off enough that her family could afford such things and not worry about it. After a twenty-minute drive the limo arrived at CHS, there were cars still coming in with all the couples and friend groups pouring in through the front doors.

When the girls exited, they made sure that Twilight and Sunset were out last. Sunset was out first and offered her hand to her lover, Twilight happily accepted and stepped out of the limo. In a bit of a bold move, Twilight wrapped her arm around Sunset’s right, leaning her head against Sunset’s shoulder. Both girls blushed, but not out of embarrassment, more like from the feeling of the closeness. Rarity was doing all she could to keep herself from jumping up and down and squealing like a madwoman at how gorgeous and cute they looked.

While they were walking in, Sunset took a moment to take note of how many couples there were here tonight. The obvious paring of Lyra Heartstrings and Bonbon, those two had been a couple sense Sunset first arrived at CHS. Out of all the people she tormented, she never really gave them a hard time. The next couple she spotted came from Flash Sentry’s car. To Sunset’s surprise, the girl who exited the passenger side was none other than, Derpy. The blonde-haired girl blushed as Flash approached her and offered his arm to her, which she gladly accepted, Flash matched Derpy’s smile, both young teens were happy as far as Sunset could tell.

Heh, wow, Flash and Derpy. Good for you Derpy, he’ll treat you right, thought Sunset.

Sunset heard the roar of a motorcycle engine as it parked, both Twilight and Sunset stopped when they noticed two girls dismount. The first was Gilda, wearing dress pants, a blazer with a white shirt underneath, and a loose black necktie. Next to her was Gabby, who was all smiles as she looked up at the school. The young girl was immediately swarmed by Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who had become good friends with her via online chats and through meetups over the Summer. Following behind those two was Apple Bloom and…

“Diamond Tiara?!” Sunset exclaimed.

“And is she holding hands with Apple Bloom?!” Twilight asked.

“Eeeyup.” Applejack interjected. “Ever since that whole mess with Diamond’s mother goin’ Dopant psycho, she and Bloom had become closer, their whole spat between them kinda vanished and somehow…that, happened.”

Sunset raised an eyebrow in a concern. “You’re not…upset that she’s like that, right?”

Applejack smiled and waved off her concern. “Shoot, no, if Ah was, Ah wouldn’t have been so on board with you two bein’ a couple. Not my cuppa tea, but Ah don’t got nothin’ against it. So long as meh little sis is happy, that’s all Ah care about.”

“Still, what’s Gilda doing here?” Sunset asked.

As if to answer the question, Rainbow separated from the group and walked up to Gilda, sporting her trademark smirk.

Gilda looked down at her friend, a light blush on her face as she said, “Nice dress, Rainbutt.”

“Nice suit, Featherbrain,” said Rainbow Dash.

Sunset, Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack blinked a few times.

“Did I miss something, or are Gilda and Dashie…flirting?” Pinkie Pie asked.

“Oh no, we’re right there with you, Darling, when did that happen?!” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy fidgeted. “Um, a bit over the Summer Break, and a little before that, they’ve been keeping in touch for a while, and after their last little incident, some things just clicked.”

“Fluttershy, you knew?!” Twilight asked.

“Rainbow Dash wanted it to be a surprise, and…” Fluttershy gestured for the group to come closer to whisper. “Apparently, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle have a crush on Gabby, Rainbow told me because she found out from Gilda.”

All the girls looked back at the trio of middle schoolers. Now that they were given this info, they could tell that Sweetie Belle did seem a little clingy to Gabby, while Scootaloo seemed to be giving her the stink eye, before finding a way to wrist Gabby away from Sweetie and cling onto the girl herself, leaving Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara to shake their heads at the actions the other two girls were taking.

“Damn, now that’s interestin’,” said Applejack.

“Oh, my sweet little sister is becoming a young woman! Ah! Fighting for her first crush!” Rarity exclaimed in a giddy tone.
With all that established, the group continued forward, and Sunset noticed there was a few more chaperones this time around. CHS staff and PTA members were positioned at certain points along the way, leading all the way into the gym. Once inside, Vinyl Scratch – aka DJ PON-3 – was already at her turntables and busting out a dance beat for everyone to enjoy. The dance floor was filled with multiple teens from almost every grade, making the cool air from outside vanish in place of the combined body heat within the gym.

“Good evening Miss Shimmer, Miss Sparkle.” Sunset and Twilight glanced to their left and noticed Ms. Harshwhinny, sporting an elegant dress that made both girls go wide eyed. “You both are very cute together.”

“Thank you, Ms. Harshwhinny, you look nice too!” Twilight stated.

“There’s definitely an increase in the number of chaperones around here tonight, something up?” Sunset asked.

Ms. Harshwhinny shrugged. “Well, considering that during one of our Fall Formals…certain things happened…”

Sunset expression fell. “Oh…I see.”

“Please understand it’s not really you in particular. It’s all precautionary, we’re mostly told to stay as invisible as possible and give the students some space. Personally, I’m glad you’re here, it would’ve been a tragedy if you didn’t come for your senior Fall Formal,” said Ms. Harshwhinny.

The amber girl smiled as her mood picked up. “Careful teach, I’m not legal and out of school yet, plus I have a girlfriend so you’re kinda out of luck.”

Ms. Harshwhinny rolled her eyes. “Yes, well, I’ll just have to live with it won’t I? Now go on and dance with your girl!”

“Yes ma’am.”

The dance had gone off without a hitch so far. The group had mostly dispersed throughout the gym, each one with their dates or just hanging out with some of the others. Rainbow and Gilda were practically in a dance off for most of the time, which eventually got a few others roped in creating a makeshift dance crew, one on Gilda’s side and another on Rainbow’s.

Fluttershy had somehow gravitated towards Bulk Biceps, the musclebound young man was surprisingly shy when Fluttershy approached him, their interactions were cute to watch. Rarity was a natural tease and had most of the boys who weren’t already with their dates clamoring for her attention.

Pinkie Pie was hurricane of activity, making sure the party was going at maximum efficiency, dancing with her friends, as well as dancing with the numerous boys – and girls – who asked her to. Twilight had asked Pinkie Pie at one time, if she was into girls or boys? The answer was, “Neither! I honestly don’t care if they’re a girl or a boy, so long as I’m sure that the other person cares about me, then gender doesn’t really matter to me. Besides…you can have fun with both~” That last part was said with a pervy grin and a wink.

Eventually the music took a slower pace, allowing the couples to have the floor. Of course, Lyra and Bonbon were out there, but so were Fluttershy and Bulk Biceps. Flash and Derpy waltzed, with Derpy resting her head against Flash’s chest, the latter smiling down at the cute – if a bit overly clumsy – girl in his arms. Gilda and Rainbow were out there, both were awkward, blushing up to their ears as Gilda led their dance. But, none would argue that the couple that took center stage this night, was that of Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer. Their outfits complemented each other well, Sunset’s beauty was only rivaled by Twilight’s cuteness.

Their gazes were locked onto each other, the world faded away and left only the dance floor, the music, and them. Sunset’s happy expression fell a little as she said, “I’m sorry…”

Twilight raised an eyebrow and asked, “For what?”

“The way I’ve been acting all last week…Something came up and it was on my mind a lot…” Sunset explained.

Twilight squeezed Sunset’s hand a little. “I was scared…I thought I had done something wrong, said something that offended you, something I didn’t do that I should have…But, I’m just glad you said ‘yes’ to coming here with me. Was it because it’s the Fall Formal, because I remind you of the other me and it reminds you of the last time you were here?”

Sunset brought Twilight closer. “No, you and the Princess are two different people, for the similarities you share with her, you’re also very different from her. And while, yes, the Fall Formal reminds me of some my more ruthless days, and as the day that I was brought down and found myself in a hole, literally. But, it’s also the day that I decided to change myself, and tonight, marks the start of something new for us. So, no, it wasn’t you, and it wasn’t the dance, and don’t ever think I don’t care about you.”

Twilight leaned up and kissed Sunset briefly on the lips as she gave a wide smile. “I promise.”

***___________)T(___________***

“Sir, you want me to do what?”

“It’s just simple guard duty, I have everyone stretched thin tonight, and you’re the only one close enough to do it, and quite frankly, given the history of this place, it’s better if it is you.”

“Sir, it’s just a high school dance, have Stonewall or Recon do it.”

“They’re both assigned to the prison transfer of that Garble fella. Look, kid, I know your duty as a SCU member and Kamen Rider, but look at it this way, your sister goes to that school too, right? Look at it as protecting her safety as well.”

Shining Armor sat on his bike outside of CHS, watching as the last few of the student body enter the school, leaving the outside completely deserted, with only the thrumming of the dubstep that echoed from the gym to fill the night.

“You say that, Cap, but…” Shining Armor sighed, inside that building, his little sister was dancing with a girl who was hiding a huge secret from her, and he wasn’t even sure if he should out Sunset Shimmer, despite knowing by law he had to. “…this is still annoying.” Shining Armor stared off towards the school, the music seemed to have changed from the dubstep to a slower paced song. “Oh great…that means they’re probably slow dancing about now…”

Suddenly, there was a glow coming from the marble statue. Apparently, there was once a horse that stood upon the marble platform, but has not been replaced yet, but that could be pondered later, as the glow that was emanating from it was getting brighter. Shining Armor quickly dismounted his bike and called upon his Driver and Gaia Memory.

< TRIGGER! >

“Henshin!”

> TRIGGER! <

An azure electrical field formed around his body, transforming Shining Armor into Kamen Rider Trigger. Drawing his Chrome Magnum, Trigger rushed to where the glowing light was coming from, keeping a few feet back as he watched the light, keeping his weapon trained on it. After a few seconds, a human figure exited the light, stumbling forward until the being caught itself, standing on wobbly legs.

“Halt, put your hands in the air!” Trigger ordered.

The figure did as he commanded and said, “P-Please don’t hurt me, I’m not an enemy! I’m her to see a friend!”

Trigger lowered his weapon as the light finally dimmed down, revealing the person who had come through to be his little sister, Twilight. “T-Twily…?”

Twilight blinked paying attention to the voice as she gazed upon the Kamen Rider before her. “Shiny?”

Trigger put his weapon away and deactivated the transformation. “Twily, what…how’re you…?”

Twilight lowered her hands as she breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, good, this was my first time seeing you like that, Sunset told me you were a Kamen Rider too, but I’ve never seen what your form looks like.”

Shining Armor continued to stare at the girl before her. She was dressed in a violet skirt, black loafers, long purple socks, and a powder-blue blouse with a pink ribbon. Right off the bat he could tell the differences between the Twilight before him and the Twilight he knew, for one thing, this Twilight stood at least few inches higher than what he knew. Her, ahem, assets weren’t exactly that defined, and she didn’t have glasses.

“Are you…No, you’re not the Twilight I know,” said Shining Armor.

“Correct, I’m not the Twilight you know, but I’m still your little sister.” The other Twilight bowed her head and curtsied to Shining Armor. “My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle, of the kingdom of Equestria.” The curtsey ended, and Princess Twilight quickly put her hands against her hips and gave her big brother a stern look. “And I’ve got some words for you, big brother!”

Like a child having been scolded, Shining Armor sat down on the grass with Twilight sitting across from him giving him a lecture, mostly about where she was from and why she didn’t look like the Twilight he knew. An hour almost past before she finally finished her explanation as to who she was, and that the multiverse did in fact exist, and that she was biologically his little sister, even with a few small physical differences, she they were still family.

“Wow…I mean, comics talk about this stuff all the time, but to see this…wow,” said Shining.

“The theory had some merit, but now with my being able to traverse between two worlds, and from the other things I’ve seen, it’s made the possibility of alternate realities existing real,” said Princess Twilight.

“I mean, when those Kamen Rider doctors appeared, that was one thing, but now you’re telling me there’s a world with magical talking ponies?!”

Princess Twilight rubbed the back of her head. “I know, it can be a bit overwhelming when you think about it.”

“Hold on, you said earlier that you were here to see a friend, what friend was that?” Shining asked.

“Actually, she’s the reason I came, but since you’re here, this makes things easier, because I needed to talk to you about her, about Sunset Shimmer.”

Shining Armor’s eyes narrowed at the mention of her name. “What about her?”

“Sunset wrote to me, she said she was scared about what you would do to her with the information you know. Shining Armor, she doesn’t mean you any harm. Yes, she was once a danger to herself and others, but she has long since purged herself of those ambitions, and only seeks friendship and to defend it, and those she loves and cherishes.”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. “So…wait, are you saying Sunset Shimmer is from your world?”

“Yes, she was taught by the ruler of our world, as was I, but…” Twilight began the tale of Sunset Shimmer, starting with her fall from grace when she thought herself above everyone, including their teacher, escaping into this world and plotting her vengeance. This led to Twilight telling of her first journey to Earth, defeating Sunset Shimmer and leaving her behind to learn about friendship from the girls that Shining Armor’s little sister was friends with now.

That led into the Battle of the Bands, where the Sirens – also known by their stage name, The Dazzlings – tried to take over the world through the use of dark magic and song. She told him of how, even with her magic aiding the others, they were still no match for them, and that it was Sunset Shimmer whose power and resolve granted them all the strength to defeat the Siren.

The next chapter was told only from what she was told by Sunset, but she recounted the events of the Friendship Games and how Sunset struggled to figure out the magic that seemed to be changing on this side of the mirror, and how the appearance of her Earthly double threw things into a tailspin for the group. In the end, Sunset not only saved all of reality, but also saved Twilight Sparkle from becoming a monster.

Through it all, Shining Armor’s emotions were plain to see, his anger rising and falling at certain points, as well as his excitement. “Now, as far as Sunset being a Kamen Rider, I can only give secondhoof – sorry – secondhand accounts of what she’s done from our correspondence, but I can account for what she did when she came to visit.”

Twilight’s next story told of how Sunset arrived back to her home world to have a little vacation from the stress of being Unicorn and her daily life as a high schooler. Unfortunately, her vacation was anything but relaxing as the organization, Nega-Shocker, invaded Equestria, were it not for the efforts of Sunset Shimmer and the Kamen Riders from parallel worlds, Equestria would’ve fallen. “And not soon after that, I’m certain Nega-Shocker would’ve come for this world, and nothing would’ve been able to stop them. Actions sometimes speak louder than words, Shiny. Sunset has done some bad things in her past, but she’s determined to make up for them, and saving the world at least four times over should speak a lot to her character.”

“Five,” said Shining.

“Pardon?”

“Recently, she and another Rider from another world beat a monster that could’ve taken over this world.”

Twilight gently tapped her head with her knuckles. “Oh, yes, that slipped my mind, it was recent so forgive me for forgetting that one. But, still, that’s not counting the number of times she’s saved this city, and its people from harm. I’ll let her explain the finer details about her adventures, but I hope that you have a better idea about Sunset’s character.”

Shining Armor sighed as he mulled over everything in his head. “I do, but I still don’t know what the right decision is…”

“I think you do,” Twilight spoke gently as she moved closer and placed her hand over his own. “I know you, big brother, there are some differences between you and the one I know, but you both are a good judge of character.”

Shining Armor looked up into the eyes of Princess Twilight, her face was so alike to his own sister, but her eyes spoke volumes. There was a similar thirst for knowledge and natural curiousness within them, but where they differed even more was how it looked like this Twilight had seen and done more, when she spoke it was as if he was having a conversation with a grown woman, not the seventeen-year-old he was looking at.

“Tell me something, and feel free not to answer if it’s too rude, how old are you?” Shining asked.

Princess Twilight giggled. “It’s not rude, it’s actually a fair question. To be honest, my true age back home is twenty-five. But here, I retain that age mentally, but physically, I’m the same age as your Twilight, albeit with a few minor physical differences, not needing glasses for one.”

“So…wait…does that mean Sunset Shimmer’s older than my sister?!” Shining asked in shock.

“Well…she was a grown mare around my current age back before she left Equestria, and whenever we pass through the portal our bodies are morphed to fit the age of this world, in this case a teenager. And seeing as how Sunset hadn’t aged at all when she came back, and that around the time Sunset exiled herself I was a young seven-year-old filly, she’d be quite a bit older…” Princess Twilight explained. She could already see the gears in Shining Armor’s head moving, going off on a tangent, to which she quickly added, “I guarantee that Sunset hasn’t done anything inappropriate with the other me! Don’t forget, she may be mentally older, but physically they’re the same age!”

Shining Armor sighed heavily as he ran his hands through his hair. “You know what, I’m not even going to think about it, the law was not made to handle this level of craziness.”

Princess Twilight released a sigh of relief. “I hope I at least gave you a better understanding about who Sunset is, and why she does what she does.”

“You have, thanks,” said Shining Armor.

Princess Twilight nodded and rose up, dusting off her skirt before she turned around and headed for the portal. “It was nice getting to meet my big brother from this world, the other me is lucky to have you. Just like I am.”

With those last words, Princess Twilight walked through the portal, vanishing in a flash of light. Shining Armor walked up to the statue pedestal, touching the smooth marble surface where Princess Twilight had gone through, but there was no reaction. “Weird is the new normal…”

***______________________***

“You were robbed!” Rarity exclaimed.

The night had ended, it was about eleven at night before the dance finally wound down. A good number of students still remained, having one last slow dance with their dates. During the dance, Principal Celestia announced the Fall Formal Princess, and it was none other than Derpy, with Flash Sentry as her prince. All cheered for the sweet, if but over clumsy, girl, but it seemed that others thought differently.

“It’s alright, Rarity,” Sunset assured. “I’m fine with not winning another Princess title.”

Rarity huffed as she said, “I could understand that, but at the very least, Twilight could’ve been chosen! I mean, did anybody notice how gorgeous and stunning you two were?!”

“To be honest, yeah, everyone did. As far as anybody’s concerned, from what I gather, they already see these two as the Princesses of the school, but in a cool way. So, letting that blonde-haired chick have the title this time around doesn’t seem that bad,” said Gilda as she draped her arm over Rainbow.

“Honestly, Rarity, it’s alright. I’m happy Derpy got the Princess title, I’m not quite sure I’d want to copy something that the other me did, I don’t feel like I earned that title,” said Twilight.

Rarity sighed heavily and smiled as she conceded to their points. “Very well, I’m happy for her too, and I do agree with Gilda, you both are like royalty here.”

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Wouldn’t go that far.”

The girls managed to meander outside where the limo was waiting, but in the case of Gilda and Gabby, they were to head back to their apartment on Gilda’s bike. Fluttershy, after saying goodbye to Bulk, walked over to the tall, gruff girl and asked, “Don’t you want to ride with us?”

Gilda rubbed the back of her head. “It would be cool, but I’m not sure…don’t want to leave my bike here…”

Rainbow hooked her arm around Gilda’s and looked up at her, “Just come with us, you and Gabby can stay at my place and then we’ll have my Dad drive us back to pick it up.”

Scootaloo quickly rushed in and asked, “Can I come with you?! It can be a sleepover!”

Sweetie Belle immediately chimed in, “No way, Rarity can I go too?!”

Gilda nudged her adopted little sister and said, “Aren’t you popular with the ladies?”

“Gildaaaaa, that’s not funny,” Gabby whined.

Before either Rainbow or Rarity could answer, Sunset tensed up. Twilight could feel it in how hard Sunset gripped her hand. When she looked in the direction Sunset was, she was surprised to see her big brother walking towards them.

“Shining Armor, what are you doing here?” Twilight asked.

“Sorry, my Captain said we were shorthanded tonight and asked me to do security detail for CHS during your dance,” Shining explained. “Did you have fun?”

Twilight beamed and shook her head vigorously.

“Good…” Shining’s gaze fell on Sunset Shimmer as he said, “Sunset, can we talk in private for a minute?”

Rainbow broke away from Gilda and gave Shining a fierce glare. “Anything you gotta say to her, you can say it in front us.”

“Rainbow?” Twilight asked in confusion of her behavior.

Shining Armor glanced about the group, seeing as they were of like mind with their rainbow haired friend. “Alright, let’s talk by the statue.” Shining began walking towards the statue, keeping a slow pace so that the group may catch up.

“Hey, Gab, we’re getting in the limo,” said Gilda.

“But, Gil…?”

“Do as I say Gabriel.”

Gabby knew this was serious, Gilda didn’t usually use Gabby’s full name unless something was up. With a reluctant nod, she entered the limo, with Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell following close behind, Gilda gave a nod to Rainbow and shut the door. The group walked towards the statue where Shining Armor was waiting for them, the whole Sunset was growing noticeably more nervous. What was he planning on doing now? Was there backup lying in wait somewhere ready to take her down?

Once they reached the statue, the girls formed a semi-circle line, Shining Armor took notice of their various expressions of confusion, along with the worried look on Sunset’s face. Twilight also had a worried look, but it was from how Sunset was reacting, concern dominant in her eyes as she watched her girlfriend.

“I was paid a visit tonight, by another version of my little sister,” said Shining Armor. “Can you take a guess who it was, Sunset?”

Every one of the Rainbooms had a shocked expression, with Sunset’s being the biggest of all. “Princess…Twilight?”

“Yes, apparently, she told me you’re a magical unicorn from a world on the other side of this statue, called Equestria, right?”

Sunset nodded.

“She also told me how you were a smart and talented sorceress, but that your ego and pride got so big that you denounced your mentor’s teachings and fled here. She mentioned that you went back and stole her magical artifact that turned you into a demon and that you nearly killed the girls standing around you, your friends, and almost enslaved the city to fight in your army to conquer your own home world.”

Sunset bit her lower lip as the memories of that night started to flood back, and what’s more, she hated that Twilight was hearing about it like this. Yes, she told Twilight about the time she too became a monster that nearly destroyed the world, but having it aired out like this didn’t make the sting hurt any less.

“Stop it, Shiny, I already know that about her!” Twilight exclaimed.

“You were not a good person in the past, Sunset Shimmer. Stealing, manipulation, attempted homicide, and destruction of public property. All of these crimes are enough to put anyone away for a long time.”

The rest of the girls began to gather around Sunset, with Applejack and Rainbow making up the front line, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity comprised the back line.

“Now you listen here, Officer Armor! Sunset Shimmer is the best friend anyone could have, she’s turned her back on the person she used ta be and became someone Ah’d be proud to call family!” Applejack declared.

“Yeah, Sunset was a bitch in the past, but so what?! She changed, she proved that people can change!” Rainbow’s eyes drifted back to the limo. “And I won’t turn my back on her, not now or ever!”

“She’s the epitome of generosity, she’s shown that time and again,” said Rarity.

“Sunset may not have been a nice person before, b-but she’s definitely changed and become a much kinder person!” Fluttershy insisted.

“Yeah! Sunset’s brought smiles to everyone ever since she’s changed, and we all love her!” Pinkie added.

At that moment, five of the girls began to glow bright colors. Their hair extended and became long ponytails, and each of their ears changed from human ears and into pony ears. When it came to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, they grew yellow and blue feathered wings. Shining Armor’s eyes widened at the sight of the transformation, the pony version of his little sister described what happens when the girls call upon their magic, but still, seeing it happen before him was still a shocking thing to see.

Shining chuckled nervously for a moment before saying, “Okay…well, good thing the princess version of Twilight gave me a bit of a heads up or I would’ve thought you guys were going monster.”

“Well…They aren’t the only ones, Shiny.” Twilight declared, stepping to front of the group and letting her body glow with magical light, growing large purple wings, pony ears, and a long ponytail. “I have the same kind of magic as they do, the Magic of Friendship. Shining Armor, what’s going on here?”

Shining Armor stepped forward to meet his little sister, Sunset wanted to stand at her side, but right now she feared what he would do. “Answer me this, Twily. Did you know Sunset was Kamen Rider Unicorn?”

Twilight steeled her nerves as she spoke, “Yes.”

“How long?”

“I’ve known since the beginning, I’ve always known, Shining Armor. And yes, I know what that means, I’ve aided a vigilante, but I don’t care!”

Shining Armor narrowed his eyes. “Twilight…”

“I am the one, who made Sunset’s Driver, and the mech-animals, and I’ve helped in different ways, some I’m not proud of, but considering the alternative to letting the Dopants attack and hurt innocent people, then I’d gladly do it again!” Twilight stated. “Because if we didn’t do anything, this city would’ve been thrown into chaos thanks to the actual criminals using the Gaia Memories, and the lives of those who were overwhelmed by the power of the more powerful T2s!”

Twilight thrust out her wrists to Shining Armor, making the girls all gasp in shock. “If you’ve decided to take Sunset in, then you’re going to take me, too!”

Rainbow Dash stepped up next to her and said, “If you’re taking them, then you’re taking me in! After all, if you’re taking Unicorn, then you’re also going to take Kamen Rider Nasca! We’re partners, and I stick by my friends!”

The rest of the girls nodded, as each one stepped up and offered their wrists to the police officer.

“If’n yer takin’ mah friends in, then yer takin’ me in, we all knew and helped out,” said Applejack.

“Yeah, if you’re taking one of us, you take us all!” Pinkie Pie stated.

Rarity and Fluttershy nodded in agreement, all of the girls stood as a shield before Sunset, all of them willing to give up their freedom and their futures; they would not let their friend suffer alone. The amber girl gently pushed her friends aside as she looked to Shining Armor. “Do you want to take me in? If so, then I ask that you just take me and no one else.”

Shining Armor looked deep into Sunset’s eyes, she was afraid, yes that much was certain, but not for herself. He could see that she was afraid more for what would befall her friends. This was the girl who fought for the city, who had turned her back on her mentor’s teachings, who was once arrogant and selfish, and saved both this world and her own home world. Shining Armor raised his right hand, and Sunset shut her eyes tight, but then she felt something on her head that confused her. The blue haired boy’s narrowed gaze had softened; he was actually smiling at Sunset.

“You’re really something else, Sunset Shimmer. I can see why the Princess version of Twily spoke so highly of you,” said Shining Armor as he ruffled her hair.

“Uh…I…” Sunset stammered.

“Big brother…?”

Shining Armor sighed as she looked at each of the girls. “I’m not going to do anything to Sunset, girls. I think it’s time I was filled in on a few things, but those can wait. This night is still yours after all.”

Twilight moved closer to her big brother, eyes full of hope. “Do you…Do you really mean that, Shining?!”

“I do, and I’d be a pretty crappy big brother if I went and made my little sister cry on a special night like this.”

Twilight rushed up and hugged her brother tight. “Thank you…”

Shining Armor hugged her back, being mindful of her large wings. Sunset felt the strength in her legs fail her as she nearly collapsed onto the ground, if it wasn’t for Applejack and Rainbow Dash who caught her by the arms.

“You alright there, Sug?”

“Ha, aha, ha…I think I’ve reached my limit for tonight…”

***______________________***

It wasn’t until after school when Sunset, Rainbow, and Twilight met up with Shining Armor at Sunset’s home. It was here that the two girls went into detail regarding the recent events with the Dopants. How Sunset obtained her Gaia Memory, Twilight’s ability to access the Infinite Library, and of course…Starlight Glimmer’s involvement with the manufacturing and distribution of the weapons known as the T1 Gaia Memories, and her hunt for the T2 Gaia Memories.

Shining Armor sat there, taking it all in, trying to make sense of everything. If he was told this before meeting Princess Twilight, Shining Armor would’ve thought they were crazy, but too many things lined up. With each story they told, every “case” they solved, it just filled in the blanks perfectly. Although, Shining Armor wasn’t too happy about the fact that Sunset went to an illegal underground casino, or that Rainbow Dash went undercover into a street gang and nearly got herself killed trying to stop it.

After the lengthy explanation, Shining Armor sighed heavily. “I can’t believe I let Starlight Glimmer fool me…”

“You’re not the only one, Shining Armor, she tricked all of us,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Unfortunately, she’s still in a better position than either of us. Even if you said something, with all her company has done to fix the damage to the city, and to arm the police, we’d need hard evidence to show that she’s doing what she’s doing before even think of taking her down,” said Sunset.

“She seems to trust you guys, if I can get a warrant for something to investigate, then I can take care of the rest,” Shining suggested.

Twilight shook her head. “She’s fully aware that we know that she’s Equal, and that she can tell the whole city Sunset’s secret, and we can’t risk Sunset being taken in because of it. I won’t risk it!”

Shining Armor crossed his arms and nodded. “Well, we may be safe, public opinion favors Unicorn and Nasca, especially considering the times you’ve saved the city, and not to mention the world from that Virus Incident. So…it may be a risk, but you’d probably be safe from any kind of backlash. As much as I my pride hates to admit it, the city would most likely go into a riot if they found out their heroes were taken away.”

Rainbow Dash smirked at hearing that, and Sunset smiled with comfort knowing that the people would support her.
Twilight felt at ease as well, however, “We still can’t let our guard down. Without knowing Starlight Glimmer’s true intentions, any attempt to stop her could mean us falling into her clutches. For all we know, she’s anticipated that we may just throw caution to the wind and launch an attack, knowing that public opinion may favor us. But, she may not have anticipated this.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “‘This’, what?”

“I mean this,” Twilight gestured to all of them in the room. “All of us, in the same room, Shining Armor aware of your identities and willing to fight with us, instead of trying to take you in.”

Sunset grinned at that idea. “You’re right, Shining was meant to be her ace in the hole, but she couldn’t have figured that you’d have a change of heart.”

Shining Armor nodded as he stood up from his seat. “Alright then, starting from here on, we’re allies. Sorry for…uh…what I did…and for calling you a coward when Twilight got hurt.”

Sunset stood up and shook Shining Armor’s hand. “Hey, I get it; you were worried for Twilight and everybody in the city.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow. “Wait, Shiny, what was the first part, what did you do?”

Rainbow, Sunset, and Shining all froze up.

“Uh…well…” Shining looked to Rainbow Dash for help.

“Hey, this is your own grave pal,” Rainbow stated.

“What happened,” Twilight asked again.

“Heh, funny story…do you remember Halloween Night…Twily?” Shining asked.

“And how I was kinda avoiding you for almost a week?” Sunset added.

“Yeeeess…” Twilight’s brain took all of one second to piece it altogether. “SHINING FRANCIS ARMOR!!!”

U: Unicorn's Special Day / Sunset's Secret

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It was December in Canterlot City, and all around the city was covered in a blanket of snow. The spirit of Christmas was alive in this city, decorations adorned the street lamps, Christmas trees, tinsel, wreathes, and the sound of carolers singing ran through the air. Santas were at practically every corner, ringing their bells as they asked for passersby to show their generosity for those less fortunate this time of year.

However, not everyone was in the Christmas spirit, no, for it seems there would always be a few scrooges –

“GET ‘EM MILO!”

“GET HER BURK!”

Or in this case, bickering couples armed with Gaia Memories.

On one side of the street stood a being made of diamond, held together by glimmering silver armor. Its head was diamond shaped, with sapphires that moved as if they were the Dopant’s eyes. Next to this Dopant was another, it had a humanoid body, but it definitely didn’t act like it. This creature had golden fur, with long fangs protruding from its mouth and equally long, sharp claws on its hands.

On the other side of the street was a being completely wrapped in burning flames, parts of his body were comprised of volcanic rock, if only to give an idea that this person was humanoid in shape. Next to him was a snarling, anthropomorphic dog. It had silver fur, with yellow, gleaming eyes, sharp teeth, and claws to match. The two animal Dopants charged for each other, slamming into one another as they met at the center. The saber-toothed Dopant’s fur began to spark as it released powerful electric discharges.

The Canine Dopant howled in pain as the electric shocks ran through its body, however, it was not deterred. The beast opened its maw and clamped its jaws around the Feline’s shoulder, causing sparks to fly as its fangs bit into its armor-like body. The Feline Dopant backed away, giving the Canine Dopant time to jump up, and roll up into a spinning ball. The Canine Dopant rammed itself into the Feline Dopant, bouncing off and then rebounding off a building to attack again.

Meanwhile, the diamond Dopant and fire Dopant were slinging long range attacks at each other. The diamond Dopant fired off several shards like a Gatling gun, the diamond hard shards tore through everything in their path, cars, cement, asphalt, metal, nothing stood in their way. The fire Dopant summoned a wall of intense flames that seemed to act as a good defense against the shards, the heat managed to melt the ice and snow that had accumulated.

Suddenly, a hail of laser arrows fell from the sky, causing the two animal Dopants to separate. Swooping down from the skies above was Kamen Rider Nasca, wielding Hawk in its Archer Mode. The diamond Dopant was blasted with several energy bolts at the same time as the fire Dopant, both stopped their attacks to see who was stupid enough to attack them.

On the left side of the street was Kamen Rider Trigger in his super form, Trigger SWAT. On the right was Kamen Rider Unicorn in her newest form, Unicorn Noir.

“You guys know it’s at least nine days until Christmas and you’re really doing this now of all times?!” Nasca asked.

“Don’t look at me, it’s all HIS FAULT!” The Diamond Dopant accused.

“ Ha! That’s rich coming from that gaudy thing! If anything, all of this is HER FAULT!” The Magma Dopant shot back.

Unicorn shook her head. “I’m sorry but did you two buy Gaia Memories for the explicit purpose of having some all-out lovers spat in the middle of the city?!”

“No, that’s what she’s doing! I’m here to – wait – why the hell should I tell you?!”

“Because any other reason would be better than what you’re both doing right now,” said Trigger.

The Diamond Dopant scoffed at Trigger. “Please, what would you know about romance or anything.”

“A: I have a girlfriend, thank you very much. And B: she’s, like, the guru of love advice. So, I’ll tell you now, I KNOW.”

Suddenly, the Magma Dopant had a flare go off over his head. “Okay, this works better. Why don’t we settle this with seeing who can take out the most Kamen Riders?!”

“What…?” Unicorn, Nasca, and Trigger uttered in confusion.

“Wow, that’s probably the best idea you’ve had in a long time. Alright, I’m game!”

“WHAT?!!” Unicorn, Nasca, and Trigger uttered in confusion, again.

“BURK!”

“MILO”

“GET TH E BIRDY!”

The Feline and Canine Dopants glared up at Nasca. The speedster Rider looked at her fiery-electric wings and said,
“Ah crap, I’m the ‘birdy’!”

The two beasts jumped straight up for Nasca, but the winged Rider quickly ascended, narrowly dodging the beasts before they could get her. However, the Feline Dopant was already speedily running up the side of the building, and on the opposite end, the Canine Dopant was in his rolling buzzsaw ball form as it tore up the side the building on its way up. The Feline Dopant vaulted off the building and released bolts of golden lightning at Nasca, and once again, Nasca narrowly dodged the attacks and drew back on the bow to fire at the Feline. Unfortunately, the Canine Dopant used this chance to launch a sneak attack, hitting Nasca in the back as its metal-like fur scratched at Nasca’s armor.

Sparks flew from Nasca’s armor as she was sent flying into the same building that the Feline Dopant was on, smashing through a window and plowing through several desks before stopping. Nasca released Hawk, allowing it to transform back into its animal mode. The mech-animal looked at its wielder with concern before Nasca waved it off.

“Get out of here, if that thing’s electricity hits you, it’ll fry your circuits, and Twilight would kill me if that happened.” Hawk nodded and quickly flew up and away, finding a good vantage point for aerial recon. “Okay, sorry Shy, but these critters need some tough love!” Nasca declared as she took out the Accel Memory.

< ACCEL! >

{< ACCEL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Crimson flames engulfed Nasca, transforming her into her super form, Nasca Full Throttle. The red armored Rider smirked as she watched the Feline Dopant enter through the broken window she was sent through. Nasca dashed towards the beast, her body catching fire and catching the Dopant off guard as she rammed into it sending both of them flying out the window. Nasca held out her hand and the sound of her motorcycle roared in the distance. In no time the motorcycle drove up the side the building and just as it neared Nasca, the bike revved up and charged towards her. As it did, the machine flipped and transformed, until it was now the Engine Blade. The speedster Rider caught the weapon and twisted the hilt.

<<<<< SPEED OF HEAT! >>>>>

The sword blade caught fire as Nasca flared her wings and flew at the Feline Dopant; she spun twice in the air and slashed the beast across its chest, creating a fiery gash that caused sparks to fly from its body as the Feline Dopant was sent flying down to the ground with a great BOOM. The Canine Dopant used this as an opportunity to attack Nasca from behind, but Nasca quickly revved the hilt again.

<<<<< SPEED OF SOUND! >>>>>

Nasca turned around and slashed rapidly at the spinning saw that was the Canine Dopant. Sparks flew from every rapid strike as the blows kept the beast at bay and gradually slowed him down. The Canine could no longer keep up that form and backed off to stand on both its legs, providing Nasca with the opening she needed. The winged Rider closed the distance between them and performed a spinout attack on the monster, slashing at the Dopant’s midsection at least five dozen times before sending the Canine flying to the other side of the street.

Meanwhile, Trigger was having a hard time damaging the Diamond Dopant; his Chrome Ultimatum was barely making a scratch on the Dopant’s dense body, the energy bolts deflected off in different directions, making him have to stop shooting at the enemy. Unicorn had used her Phantasm ability to try and sneak attack the Magma Dopant, but the Dopant ended that plan by releasing a fire wave that roared through the fog and struck Unicorn. Both Riders were pushed until their backs met, causing them to look over their shoulders to each other.

“Wanna change dance partners?” Unicorn asked.

“Why not,” Trigger answered.

Unicorn dashed towards the Diamond Dopant and swapped out her Gaia Memory.

< METAL! >

{< METAL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Unicorn’s body shined with silver light, transforming her into Unicorn Iron Heart. The diamond Dopant thrust both of its arms forward and fired a barrage of diamond shards at Unicorn, to which she quickly responded by pressing the left hip port button twice.

\\ ARMOR UP! //

Unicorn’s armor doubled up and shined bright silver as the shards struck against her, all of them shattering like fragile glass. The Diamond Dopant continued to fire her barrage hoping that one of the shards would stop the hero, it didn’t.

\ METAL RING! /

Unicorn summoned her weapon, twirling it around on her arm before launching it at her opponent, the ring whizzed as it cut through the air and struck the left arm of the diamond Dopant sending sparks flying. The Dopant stopped her attack, looking at her left arm as cracks began to form on the surface and seemed to go deeper. The distracted Dopant realized too late that Unicorn had gotten much closer as the hero began to initiate her unique fighting method with her weapon. The Diamond Dopant made her arms form into blades as she attacked Unicorn, but the quick spins and fluid movements of Unicorn’s ring twirling made it impossible for the Dopant to land a damaging blow as the ring deflected and blocked each of her attacks.

On the other end, Trigger was battling the Magma Dopant, the creature slammed its hand against the pavement, causing the asphalt to boil and rumble as a stream of lava came rushing towards Trigger. The law enforcer Rider quickly jumped into the air, doing a back flip before landing on the opposite side. Trigger quickly pressed the “4” digit and then the “Enter” button.

/#\ SUPPRESSOR! /#\

The barrel of the Chrome Ultimatum began to glow as a construct formed around it. A blue light muzzle formed, attached to it was a hose that was connected to a light construct canister at the top of the weapon. Trigger smirked under his helmet as he took aim and fired; the Chrome Ultimatum launched a slushy substance that sailed as fast as a bullet at the Magma Dopant, hitting it in the face hard enough to make it topple over onto the street.

The substance spread downwards and began to cool off his fiery form. The Dopant looked at his body, panicking as he tried to shake off the slush. “W-What is this c-c-crap?!

“Whenever I use the Suppressor, my helmet analyzes my opponent and deduces the best suppressing countermeasure for them; in your case it’s super extinguishing coolant.”

The Magma Dopant focused his energy and made his flames erupt from his body, trying to overpower the coolant. But Trigger wasn’t giving him that option, taking aim once again and firing off several shots at the Dopant. Again and again the Dopant was hit, covering more of his body in the extinguishing substance, the flames were valiantly trying to overcome the coolant, but the constant barrage was proving to be too much to fight against as the flames were soon dying out.

“Let’s finish this!” Unicorn announced.

“Roger that!” Trigger affirmed.
“Oh yeah!” Nasca exclaimed. “Dillo!”

The robotic armadillo spun onto the battlefield, bouncing like a ball against the pavement and cement walls as it approached Nasca. The two animal Dopants merely entered defensive stances as they waited to see what was going to happen. Nasca took ‘Dillo into her left hand, taking out her Accel Memory, she swiftly inserted it into ‘Dillo’s port and closed it.

>} ACCEL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Nasca began dribbling ‘Dillo like a soccer ball, the two animal Dopants began following its movements, like a cat would see a ball of yarn or dog when it saw a ball. The winged Rider kicked ‘Dillo into the air and flared her wings to zoom up after him. Nasca’s right foot caught fire, burning a crimson color, at the same time, ‘Dillo spun out until he was a ball of scarlet red energy.

“BLAZE SHOOT!”

The winged Rider gave a mighty kick to the glowing sphere, setting it ablaze with crimson fire as it roared towards the Canine and Feline Dopants. The Feline Dopant released a lightning discharge but the attack was just parted down the middle. The Dog Dopant rolled up and tried to intercept, emphasis on tried as the moment they made contact the Dog Dopant was overpowered and taken away by the attack as both Dopants were hit with the fiery energy ball, ending in a bright red explosion as Nasca floated down to the ground. ‘Dillo popped out of the explosion, rolling up to Nasca as it ejected the Accel Memory back to her and looked at her with a happy expression.

“Good work, little buddy,” said Nasca as she petted the mech-animal. She then looked to where the Dopants fell and watched as they shifted forms, changing into an actual cat and dog as their Gaia Memories rose up from their bodies and shattered as soon as they hit the ground. “Ah man…Fluttershy’s going to give me an earful for this one…”

Unicorn continued her assault with her ring, pushing back the Diamond Dopant after causing several parts of her body to crack. The magic hero dismissed her ring and called out, “R0V3R!”

The Canine mech-animal ran in from, practically, out of nowhere and stood next to his master. “Sword and Shield Mode, go!”

The mech-animal barked as it jumped up and began transforming, detaching part of its body to act as the shield, while the other became a sword. Unicorn took the Metal Memory and inserted into the sword hilt.

>} METAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn held her sword up high as it began to shine silver, creating a construct blade with several segmented teeth. After a second, those teeth began to move as it turned out the blade became a chainsaw.

“METAL DESTROYER!”

With one swing, Unicorn brought down the chainsaw sword, striking the Dopant on the head. The gnashing sound of metal cutting diamonds rang out as the blade cut straight down the Dopant, leaving a glowing gash before exploding in a brilliant sparkling explosion.

Trigger dialed a triple 4 and hit “Enter” on the Chrome Ultimatum.

}<^>{ 4-4-4, ENGAGE! }<^>{

}<^>{ SUPPRESSOR! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }<^>{

Azure light began to gather at the muzzle of the construct; Trigger ran at the Dopant and jumped as high as he could until he was right over the suspect.

“SUPPRESSION BURST!”

A flurry of light and foam roared out of the muzzle of the construct and bathed over the Dopant as he released the last torrents of flame he could muster. But it was all for nothing as the foam washed over him like a tidal wave, snuffing out the flames as it hardened. In the next few seconds, the foam shattered, and the Dopant’s body released several sparks before falling to the ground, reverting back to his human form before the Magma Memory exited his body and shattered.

All three Riders returned to their default forms and joined at the center, looking over their handiwork before nodding to each other. Nasca and Unicorn took off down the road, heading off back to their daily lives.

***________________________***

Back at Canterlot High, the girls were sitting at their usual table, with Sunset and Rainbow regaling their friends about their latest exploit. As expected, Fluttershy gave Rainbow Dash a verbal accosting for attacking the poor cat and dog, even though said cat and dog were not the cute little animals they turned back into when she fought them.

Trying to change the subject, Rainbow Dash blurted out, “So, who’s ready for the holidays?!”

Pinkie Pie was the first to pipe up. “Ooh, ooh, me! I am! My Mom, Dad, and sisters are all getting things together! I can’t wait!”

Applejack shrugged. “Same here, we really decked the halls at the house and barn, Ah can’t wait for Christmas dinner, goin’ to be a real feast.”

“Yes well, this year, I’m going to have a guest. Sunny Flare’s going to be spending the holidays with my family and I, apparently when your mother is Abacus Cinch, the spirit of Christmas was…shall we say…less than strong with her,” said Rarity. “But I’m looking forward to changing that!”

“Um, what are you doing for the holidays, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked.

Sunset looked as if she had tuned out during this part of the conversation, for when Fluttershy addressed her she shook her head and said, “Doing what now?”

“Christmas, she was asking what your plans are,” said Twilight.

“Oh…well, nothing really.”

The table went silent.

“Wait, what do you mean, ‘nothing’?” Rainbow asked.

“I mean nothing, I’m not really celebrating…actually, I haven’t at all since I’ve been here,” said Sunset in a matter-of-fact tone.

Pinkie Pie shook her head in disbelief. “W-What?! Why? Is it because Equestria doesn’t have Christmas?”

Sunset waved off that notion. “No, no, we have something similar. It’s called Hearth’s Warming. Actually, aside from the origins of the holiday, most of what you guys are doing as far as decorations is very similar.” Sunset looked around the table, seeing the concerned faces of her friends and knowing that she wasn’t going to get off easy after. “Look, the holidays are supposed to be a time where you’re with those you love, family and friends. I grew up an orphan back in Equestria, and since most of you here remember how I used to be when I came here, I didn’t have any family – or friends – to celebrate with.”

Sunset saw the increasingly sad looking faces of her friends but pressed on anyway. “When Princess Celestia adopted me and made her protégé she would throw Hearth’s Warming parties, I remember her inviting some foals from the orphanage to join me in celebrating for both the holiday and – EEP!” Sunset quickly slapped her hand over her mouth.

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “And what?”

Sunset groaned, having let that slip even a little. The amber girl sighed in defeat, knowing their next reaction would not be pleasant, for her. “It’s…Hearth’s Warming – Christmas here – is also the same date as my……brrrdrr.”

“Buh what?” Rainbow asked.

“My brrdrr.”

“It sounds like she’s saying, ‘her brother’?” Fluttershy asked.

“Ugh, it’s also my birthday, alright! Celestia used a spell to determine my actual age and found out I was born on Hearth’s Warming Day! Until she adopted me the orphanage never knew what my actual date of birth was…so she made those days a little extra special to celebrate the day and me…but of course, as I got older and became the power hungry, egotistical bitch that I was, I started to celebrate less and less, and again, when I came here, it was even less so.”

Every jaw dropped as they heard this stunning revelation, but out of the group, Pinkie Pie seemed the most shocked. She was the premier party planner of CHS, she knew every student’s birthday by heart, even the faculty birthdays, but out of all the students, Sunset Shimmer’s was the most elusive, and hidden. Now, after all this time, she’s missed out on planning one her bestest friend’s birthdays, and on such a special day, for the last couple of years.

Twilight was the first to regain her senses after that bombshell, realizing after a cursory glance of the table that no one here knew this either. “B-But, why wouldn’t tell anyone, or tell me?! I mean I was already going to get you a present, but now that I know it’s also your birthday?! How…I need to rethink my gift, what should I get, was there anything you had your eye on?!”

“Personally, I think you should just show up to her house dressed in nothing but a big red bow, with a card on next to her bed that says, ‘Merry Christmas/Happy Birthday’ on it.”

“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity scolded.

“Oh please, like you wouldn’t want Sunny Flare doing that, too!”

Rarity’s face blushed and found it hard to argue further. Twilight on the other hand seemed to be blushing hard as she turned to Sunset, who was also sporting a bright red blush.

“Um…i-if that’s something that you’d like then…” Twilight gulped. “I-I could…uh…”

Sunset shook the image of her girlfriend doing such a lewd thing for her, as clearly the idea of doing such a thing was making Twilight uncomfortable. The fiery redhead leaned to her right and hugged Twilight while nuzzling the top of her head. “Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to do anything like that. And the rest of you, don’t worry either. I don’t need anything extravagant, you’re all going to be spending time with your families, that’s what the holiday is about. Just enjoy your traditions and whatnot, it’ll just be another day like the past ones.”

Before any of them could offer protest, the bell rang.

“I got a class on the other side of the building, gotta run,” said Sunset as she picked up her tray left.

Leaving the rest of her friends to continue to wrestle with the idea that their friend has been spending the holidays and her own birthday alone.

***________________________***

Principal Celestia was busy with some paperwork, happy that winter break was about to start soon. Just then, six girls entered her office, causing her to look up at them as she glanced over at the clock. “I assume this is important, as you all should be in class right about now?” As she said that, Celestia’s expression grew serious. “Is this concerning you-know-what?”

“No, Principal Celestia, it’s not concerning anything hero related,” Twilight assured.

“Oh, well then, what is it?”

“It’s about Sunset, see, we just found out that she’s been spendin’ the holidays alone,” said Applejack.

Celestia’s expression began to sadden, but she did not look surprised.

“You knew, didn’t you, that Sunset was alone?” Rarity asked.

“Unfortunately, yes. I had offered before to have her over to our house for Christmas, hoping it would lighten her mood and make her feel included. However, each time she declined. I haven’t asked her recently because, well, now she has all of you, but judging from your expressions, she’s still planning on being alone, again,” said Celestia in a solemn tone.

“Yeah…well, apparently there’s something else that makes it even worse,” said Rainbow.

Celestia’s eyebrow raised as she asked, “How much worse?”

“IT’S ALSO HER BIRTHDAY!” Pinkie Pie screamed.

Celestia blinked in shock. “Oh…I…Oh my…I had fudged a date of birth based on her age, but…I never…”

“Yeah, so now you see why we came here, we gotta do something about this,” said Rainbow Dash.

Applejack sighed as she crossed her arms. “That’s goin’ to be harder then we think, Sunset can be a mite stubborn about certain things. We may just end up annoyin’ her if we try and push somethin’ onto her that she’s not comfortable with.”

“But we can’t just not celebrate her birthday or let her be alone on Christmas!” Pinkie stated.

“But, Sunset did have a point,” said Fluttershy. “When the break starts, we’ll all be with our families…it’ll be hard to really celebrate with her.”

Twilight remained silent as she pondered over a solution, when she looked to each of their friends the solution became clear. “Well…if we can’t individually go to her, why not bring her to our homes and celebrate with us?!”

“Oh, oh! Like a slumberparty?!” Pinkie asked.

“Sort of, we’ll let Sunset spend a day at each of our homes and let her join in our family traditions!” Twilight explained.

Everyone smiled at the idea, even Principal Celestia. Rainbow Dash walked over and draped her arm over Twilight’s shoulders as she said, “Well then, I say we save the best for last. On Christmas Eve, Sunset should spend it with you and your fam.”

“That’s actually a brilliant idea,” said Celestia.

“I’m in!” Pinkie chimed.

“Me too!” Rarity answered.

“Mm-hm,” Fluttershy nodded.

“Ah have no problem with it, but we still gotta run it by Sunset. It’ll all be a flop otherwise,” said Applejack.

Twilight pushed her glasses up and said with a confident smile, “Leave that to me.”

“Oooh, you’re going to go with the naked ribbon thing, aren’t you?” Rainbow asked.

“NO!”

***________________________***

It was the end of school, and today marked the start of the winter break. In a way, Sunset kind of disliked this break. Before she didn’t much care, it just meant not having to deal with the stress of keeping her iron fisted grip of the school and just relax. Of course, that was before her change of heart, now though, she kind of disliked it. School had been a place where she could see her friends, she drew comfort from being around them. And although Sunset could hang out with them outside of school, during this time frame, they were deep into their own celebrations with their families, or some were away visiting relatives and spending the holidays with them.

Now though, it was just her in her home. Get a grip Shimmer, you already decided that this was how it was going to be.

Just then, Sunset heard activity down below, she sat up in her bed and watched as Twilight entered her home. Sunset smiled as she saw her girlfriend make good use of the key she gave her. “Wow, just waltz right in why don’t you. No call or text? I could’ve been walking around naked for all you know.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks. “Oh dear, I’m sorry! I-I really should’ve called you before just coming over and barging in here! I mean, I know you gave me a key and told me to regard your home as my own, but–!”

“Sparky,” Sunset called out as she descended the stairs, “relax, I’m teasing. You don’t need my permission, when I told you to consider this place your home too, I meant it. Which means you don’t need to ask permission to enter your own home.”

Twilight smiled as she approached Sunset and gave her a kiss on the lips, an action that Sunset reciprocated as she wrapped her arms around Twilight and held her close. After a few seconds, the two separated and Twilight said, “I want to talk to you about something, and I’d like you to hear me out before you say anything, alright?”

Sunset sighed, she had a feeling what that “something” was about, but in the end, she sat down in the couch alongside Twilight. “Okay, shoot.”

Twilight took a breath and looked Sunset in the eyes. “I’m sure you know what I’m going to talk about, and before you say anything, I don’t like knowing that my girlfriend is going to – willingly – spend Christmas, which is also your birthday, alone! Principal Celestia told us that you decline her offers to spend Christmas with her, I can understand your reasoning before you changed, but not after. Please tell me, why?”

Sunset looked down at her hands for a moment before looking back at Twilight. Before telling Twilight her true feelings was kind of hard, but now, it was more comforting. “Alright…the truth is I feel as if I don’t deserve to celebrate either…” Sunset leaned back in her seat as she stared up at the ceiling. “All I’ve ever done was hurt those around me, mock and scorn them, humiliate and degrade, manipulate and threaten, my pride and my anger grew to the point that I believed I deserved everything that I ever wanted…and when I got the power I thought I so richly deserved…it turned me into a monster.”

“So then, after I realized all my mistakes…celebrating the holidays, my own birthday, felt wrong…who was I to celebrate and be happy when I caused so many people misery…? Even when things started to get better and people finally saw that I was changing myself and the way I acted around others, I still felt like celebrating was wrong…all that guilt…it stayed with me.”

Twilight looked as if she was going to cry, she reached out and hugged Sunset close to her as she spoke, “You don’t need to carry that guilt anymore. You’ve made peace with your adopted mother, you saved your home world, you saved, this city, and a lot of people, Sunset. Not to mention you saved this world twice before ever becoming a Kamen Rider. Sunset, I can’t make you not feel guilty, but I like it if you’d finally let some of it go. Because I want to spend the holidays with you, and I want to celebrate the day when the most important person in my life was born.”

“Twilight…” Sunset sniffled.

“Not just me either, all our friends want to too. They want you to spend a day with them at each of their houses, share in their family traditions. Because the truth is, Sunset Shimmer, our friends consider you family.”

Sunset eyes began to water as she bit her lip, trying not to let the emotional weight of that statement crush her, but the dam was breaking as she let out soft sobs, crying into Twilight’s shoulder as the bespectacled girl rubbed Sunset’s back soothingly. After a minute, Sunset wiped her eyes and smiled at Twilight.

“Will you do that? Will you let us celebrate the day of your birth? Will you spend the holidays with all of us?” Twilight asked.

Sunset sniffled a bit more and wiped her eyes. “Geez, when you lay it on that heavy, I kind of have to.”

“Thank you,” said Twilight.

“Do you mind staying a little while longer? I kind of want to be cuddled,” said Sunset in a bashful tone.

Twilight smiled broadly. “Sure.”

Sunset nuzzled into the crook of her girlfriend’s shoulder as Twilight embraced her. The amber girl sighed in content as a grin graced her lips. “You know, I wouldn’t mind if you did do that ribbon thing that Dash said earlier.”

“You really are a pervert.”

“And you love me for it.”

“Debatable.”

“I didn’t hear ‘no’~”

“I said debatable!”

After about half an hour of cuddles, Twilight bid her girlfriend farewell and headed home via the bus. Before that, she made a note to contact Starlight Glimmer, it helped that the CEO seemed to drop everything whenever any of them called.

[Hello, Twilight.]

“Hello, Starlight.”

[Sunset, Shining, and Rainbow made quick work of those Dopants today. Not the best, but I wasn’t really looking to create a long-term problem this close to the holiday weekend.]

“Speaking of, that’s why I’m calling. It’s about Sunset.”

[What’s wrong, is she okay?]

It made Twilight a little sick to know that despite Starlight’s distribution of the Gaia Memories to dangerous people, she still cared for the safety of both herself, Sunset, and their friends. What made it worse was the fact that Starlight did seem to care about them, which was what she was banking on right now.

“She’s fine, but I’m calling to ask a favor.”

[Okay.]

“For one: please refrain from distributing anymore Gaia Memories, the last thing anyone needs is to worry for their life on the holidays.”

[I can abide by that, I wish to celebrate as well so that last little batch was the last I’ll be letting loose until after the new year or so.]

Unfortunately, that gives me only a mild sense of comfort. “Okay, second…well…we just discovered that Sunset’s birthday is coming up.”

[Wait what?! Her birthday, and you just found out?!]

“She’s been keeping it a secret from everybody, mostly out of guilt for her past actions. But now she’s willing to let us celebrate it, and it’s on the twenty fifth.”

[That’s Christmas! Oh, wow…uh…I need to think a good gift then…]

“Part of that would be no Dopant attacks. So, I thank you for that, and I just thought you should be aware. For whatever reason, you seem to care about us, despite everything that you’re doing. So…as a friend, I thought you should know,” said Twilight.

[……Thank you, Twilight.]

***________________________***

Sunset revved her bike as she drove down the long highway. According to Twilight, Sunset would be spending the day at each of their friend’s house, ending with Sunset spending Christmas Eve and Day at Twilight’s home. Truth be told, Sunset was giddy at the idea of spending time with her friends like this, being allowed to share in their family traditions and welcomed as part of their families, it almost made Sunset cry, again.

The first part of this journey would be spent at the Apple Family Farm. Sunset got off the highway and onto the street where Applejack’s farm and home was. She passed through the gate which was already decorated with gold and silver tinsel and had a large wreathe hanging from the top of it. Sunset continued her drive in and saw the house was completely decked out. Lights were strung all around the modest farm house, with a scarecrow dressed as Santa Claus, a sleigh, and few reindeer cutouts to round out the image.

Sunset pulled up to the house and parked her bike, she dug through her saddle bags and pulled out some additional supplies for her overnight stay and slung her backpack over her shoulders before she walked up the porch and right to the front door. Taking a deep breath, Sunset raised her right hand to knock at the door, but was beaten to the punch when the door swung open and Sunset suddenly found herself in the midst of a bone crushing hug.

“Howdy, Sunset! Heard that bike a yers comin’ a mile away!” Applejack exclaimed happily.

Sunset, having been lifted off the ground by AJ’s natural strength, wheezed as she struggled to say, “T-Thanks AJ – gasp – but if you – oomph! – don’t let me go – gasp – I won’t live long enough to see Christmas Eve!”

Applejack released Sunset, letting her boots hit the ground as she backed up a bit and rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment. “Oops, sorry there, got excited and all.”

“It’s no big deal, when you’re friends with Pinkie Pie, you better expect a hug of that caliber or higher, right?” Sunset asked.

“You can say that again,” Applejack concurred, having been on the receiving end of such powerful hugs herself. “Well come on in then, Ah got the guest room all set up fer ya.”

Sunset had been to the Apple Family house a few times in the past, but this was her first time seeing it all decked out for the holidays. The weather was cold, so the fireplace was already set aflame, giving the inside a nice warm and toasty feeling, Sunset had to take off her leather jacket upon entering as she could already feel the heat. Off to the side she noticed there was a box filled with ornaments, glittering from the light of the fire. Red, blue, silver, and gold spheres, along with tinsel and a few little figurines of Santa, reindeer, turtledoves, and other knickknacks.

“Um, AJ, I’m not sure if it’s the same here, but isn’t there supposed to be a tree?” Sunset asked.

“Oh that, yeah, we’ll gettin’ to that here soon,” Applejack informed, a grin split her face as she explained this.

Sunset was led to the guest bedroom where she was able to unload her luggage. “Um, AJ, thank you, for all of this.”

“Ain’t no thanks necessary, Sunset. This is somethin’ that we shoulda been doin’ with ya a long time ago. Ah’m just sorry that we didn’t see it sooner,” said Applejack.

“To be honest, I wasn’t being very forthtelling about it. Really, when I think about all I’ve done in the past, I didn’t think I deserved to be a part of any of this, a celebration of family, love, and friendship, it didn’t seem right for someone who shunned all that to join in its celebration,” said Sunset with a somber tone.

Applejack walked up to Sunset and gave her a hug, although this one was less pain inducing and more on the warm and comforting side. “Never think that, Sunset. We meant what we said back at the Fall Formal, sure you didn’t show that, you worked at it, and now everyone looks to ya as someone they can aspire to be. So, stop doubtin’ yerself, ya hear?”

Sunset gently broke the hug and nodded. “Okay, I’ll try, but you’re talking to a girl who has a lot of emotional baggage.”

“Eh, we can manage, now come on downstairs. Granny’s got a meal ready fer us and y’all will need yer strength,” said Applejack.

***________________________***

After a hearty meal from the matriarch of the Apple Family, Sunset, Big Macintosh, Apple Bloom, Applejack, and Granny Smith went on a little trip in the family pickup. Granny sat upfront with Big Mac driving, while Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Sunset rode in the back. Sunset breathed in the deep scent of the orchard as the headed down the dirt path, looking at the trees that were barren of their leaves.

“So where are we going?” Sunset asked.

“We’re headin’ to a spot on the farm where we’ve been growin’ some pine trees. Once in a while, we all head out as a family and go and pick out the best lookin’ one, chop it down, and haul it back to the house where we decorate it.”

“Wow, and you do this every year?” Sunset asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “Nah, not every year, we’d probably have cleared all the trees out by now. We only do this on special occasions, like if we had a good harvest year, or if somethin’ special happened and we wanted to make it with a homegrown pine.”

Sunset nodded. “That makes sense, so was it a good harvest year for you guys?”

“It was good, but that’s not why we’re cuttin’ one down this year,” said Apple Bloom.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “Oh, well then, what’s the occasion? Big Mac finally get proposed to?”

“Nope!” Big Mac called out from the front.

Applejack chuckled as her friend failed to see the obvious reason. “Sug, it’s you.”

Sunset’s eyes widened with surprise. “W-What?! Me?! I – why?”

“Considerin’ everythin’ ya’ve done as our friend, and some other things, I figured you were long overdue, birthday girl,” said Applejack. “After today, consider yerself an honorary member of the Apple Family.”

Sunset’s heart swelled, she tried to look away to not let her friend see her crying, but in the back of a pickup, that was easier said than done. The strong redhead sniffled as she said, “Thank you, Applejack.”

Apple Bloom looked to Sunset and then to Applejack, and then she got a mischievous grin. “Now, Big Sis, what do ya mean exactly by ‘other things’?”

Applejack looked at Apple Bloom quizzically as she unscrewed a bottle of water. “Just some things between friends that
don’t need to be said aloud and are private, alright?”

“Uh-huh……So does Twilight know that Big Sis is yer mistress?”

Applejack’s reaction was expected, she spit out her water which made Sunset and Apple Bloom cover themselves as the wind carried it away. After composing herself a little, Applejack glared at her little sister and said, “It ain’t like that! We’re friends AB! ‘Sides, Sunset wouldn’t ever do that to Twilight!”

Sunset looked to AB and the two shared a conspiratorial glance. “I don’t know, I wouldn’t mind exploring my options, and I always did find that southern drawl of yours sexy.”

Applejack blushed as she turned her glare onto Sunset. “Oh, now don’t you start that too!”

A series of laughs and giggles could be heard as the truck continued down the road. After a good thirty-minute drive the truck stopped at a little clearing, a smaller dirt path led further into the grove of trees, showing the contrast between the pine and apple trees.

Big Mac and Applejack carried the axes as the group walked down the road, Sunset could already smell the strong scent of pine wafting through the air as they approached, coming to the end of the road where a grove of pine trees stood healthy and tall.

“Wow…” Sunset spoke in awe. “Which one are we cutting down?”

“There’s one in particular I think would be good fer this occasion, but consarnit meh memory ain’t what it used to be. Ah know it’s in there, but exactly where, eh,” said Granny Smith with a shrug.

“Why don’t we walk around a bit, maybe it will jog your memory?” Sunset suggested.

“Sounds like a plan to me, Sunny girl! Let’s head out, but be careful in there, easy to get yerself turned around,” Granny Smith warned.

The four teenagers entered the grove, with Granny Smith tagging along with Apple Bloom. Sunset entered the dense pine grove, making sure she kept the others in her sight and trying not stray too far. Worse came to worse Sunset could always transform and fly above the trees or teleport everyone out of the grove.

As Sunset headed further in, she could’ve sworn she saw someone up ahead. “Hey, Applejack, I think there’s someone…” When Sunset looked to her right where she had been keeping her friend in earshot, she noticed she was gone. “Oh great, already got lost.”

Sunset looked up ahead and noticed the figure was still there. She hoped it was Granny Smith, judging by the height, but she still remained on guard. The former unicorn slowly advanced towards the being, coming to a small clearing where the sunlight pierced through the canopy enough to light up the figure.

It was an elderly woman, her complexion was mint green, she had wrinkles, but this woman had aged gracefully. Her hair was curly, and was a light-pink color, her eyes were gentle mauve color, with thin framed yellow glasses. The elderly woman had a maroon colored shawl draped over her that had a bell hooking it, with a simple cream-colored dress, and a cane that looked to be carved from a tree branch.

“Hello? Are you alright? I’m–”

“Sunset Shimmer,” the old woman interrupted, “‘bout time you got her girl, I was gonna catch a cold waitin’ for ya.”

Sunset blinked. “Um, do I know you miss…?”

The old woman blew a raspberry. “None of that ‘miss’ stuff with me, you can just call me Aurora.”

“Oh, okay, um, may I ask why you’re out here? Although this is a large area, it’s still private property,” said Sunset.

“I know that, that young Apple girl’s taken care of this land with her family for generations, probably out live even me, heh, heh!” Aurora cackled.

Sunset scratched her head at Aurora’s words. “Wait, you know Granny Smith?”

Aurora began walking further into the grove, the old woman waved for Sunset to follow, and, without much else to do, she followed. “Heh, oh indeed, well, her and many others. Sadly many of them have passed away, gone on to rest after a long life.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” said Sunset.

“Ah, don’t be, life is the greatest gift of them all, Sunset! Fragile, powerful, and finite. But all are remembered, because that life is not just a gift to the that one person alone, no ma’am, it is a gift to everyone, for all the other lives that one can touch.”

Sunset understood the wisdom of Aurora’s words. “Unfortunately, part of my life was spent either shunning or making others lives miserable.” Without warning Aurora struck Sunset’s shin with her cane, making the amber girl yelp in pain. “OW! What the hay! Why did you do that for?!”

“Take it from me, Sunset, if ya get too hung up on the past, ya never learn anything. Just like that little thwap I just gave ya. You can either gripe and moan at how much it hurt, or ya can learn from it!”

Aurora took another swing at Sunset’s shin, but Sunset was quick enough to move her leg out of the way and allow the cane to whizz by. The elderly woman gave a smirk of satisfaction at seeing this.

“See, the past can give us many gifts, so long as you’re willing to learn,” said Aurora sagely.

Sunset smirked at the old lady, understanding what she was getting at. “Alright, alright, I get it. My past is my past, I should learn from my mistakes and work to never repeat them.”

“Eh, kinda hard not to, the past often repeats itself, but sometimes you can change it a little and come out on top, as you have, my dear.” Aurora stopped walking and pointed her cane straight ahead. “Ha, there it is!”

Sunset followed to where Aurora was pointing and saw that there was a pine tree standing proudly in small clearing up ahead. But when Sunset looked back to her right, Aurora was gone. Suddenly, Sunset felt a hand touch her right shoulder, making her immediately jump up and enter a fighting stance.

“Whoa now, simmer down Sunset, it’s just me!” Applejack stated.

“Oh…sorry, I just…” Sunset looked around, but could find no sign of Aurora. “AJ, did you see anyone with me a second ago?”

“Nope, Ah’ve been lookin’ fer ya fer a minute now, you went and disappeared on us and Ah was gettin’ a little worried you’d gotten lost in here.”

“Ya find, her Sis?!” Apple Bloom called out.

Applejack turned in the direction of her little sister’s voice. “We’re over here, she’s okay!”

A few seconds later, Big Mac, Granny, and AB entered their field of vision. Granny Smith gave a loud, triumphant yell as she pointed straight ahead. “There she is! That’s the one Ah was lookin’ fer! Grew up into nice big one too!”

The group gathered around the tree seeing it in all its splendor, however, Sunset couldn’t help but look over her shoulder, wondering who that old woman, Aurora, was?

“Ya got good luck on yer side, Sunny. Ya found the tree!” Granny Smith exclaimed.

“It was just…dumb luck,” Sunset lied nervously.

“Well then, guess that means you take the first swing,” said Big Mac as he handed Sunset the ax.

“Try not to cut it down in one shot! AJ and Mac always do that, and Ah never get a turn!” Apple Bloom whined in annoyance.

“Oh, hush now, if Sunset does, then it just means she’s a strong girl is all, and ‘sides, that only happened once,” said Applejack.

“Right and it just so happened to be the year Ah was old enough to swing the ax.”

“Now you two, enough of yer gibber jabber, let’s let Sunny here take a swing!” Granny insisted.

Sunset looked at the pine tree as she set herself up. She hefted the ax up and took a good swing, hitting the base of the tree and making it shake from the impact. Big Mac whistled when he noticed how deep the cut went, Sunset almost cut the whole thing down in one swing. Sunset looked at her work and was dumbfounded at how strong she had gotten recently. But after seeing the damage she did, there was no way it would stand up for more than one more swing, and with Applejack and Big Mac, either one would be able to finish the job. Then again…

“AB,” Sunset held out the ax to the youngest Apple, “you wanna finish this? Oh, unless, there’s an order to this or something?”

Granny Smith shook her head. “Nope, Deary, the one holdin’ the ax gets to decide who takes the next swing, so have at youngin’!”

“Thank you, Sunset!” Apple Bloom exclaimed as she rushed over and hugged the amber girl tightly.

After that fierce hug, Sunset gave the ax to Apple Bloom, and as predicted, the tree fell after the final hit from Apple Bloom. Big Mac and Applejack went to work getting the tree ready to haul back to the truck, and while she waited, Sunset stood beside Granny Smith and asked, “Um, Ms. Smith?”

“None ah that now, yer an honorary family member, ya can call me Granny, child.”

Sunset’s cheeks reddened as she fought to keep another round of happy tears from falling. “Um, Granny, I think I saw someone out here…it was an elderly woman, she said her name was Aurora…do you know someone by that name?”

A small grin appeared on Granny Smith’s face. “Huh, said her name was ‘Aurora’, huh?”

“Do you know her?”

“Oh yes, and no. She’s always around, comes to folks when they think they’re lost,” said Granny Smith.

“Wait…is she a…a ghost?” Sunset asked.

“Not quite, Sunny girl, she ain’t yer typical spirit, that’s fer sure.” Granny cackled lightly as if she had just told a joke and she was just waiting for Sunset to get the punchline.

Sunset wasn’t sure what to make of this, she knew there was magic rising in this world, but, maybe it was already there and was just waiting for the moment to surge back into the world? The amber girl took one last look over her shoulder and saw Aurora standing at the tree line. Aurora gave a kind smile before vanishing in a wisp of mint colored light.

With the fact that she may have seen a spirit out firm in her mind, Sunset helped Applejack and Big Mac haul the tree to the pickup, it was up to Applejack, Sunset, and Apple Bloom to make sure the tree didn’t jostle around too much. Once they got back, Granny Smith went to work making dinner while the teens began trimming the tree. Unboxing the ornaments and hanging them upon the tree with care and threading the lights through the branches and around it to make it glow.

The whole thing took a few hours to do, especially when you take into account the hauling of the tree into the house then the decorations on top of it. When all was said and done, the tree was standing tall in their living room, lit up nice and bright. Although, Sunset couldn’t help but notice one spot was vacant.

“Um, aren’t you supposed to have a star or something at the top? I know back in Equestria we usually have a star or the Fire of Friendship burning over it, but I’m not sure if you do something different,” Sunset asked.

“Nah, we do put a star up, it’s one that’s passed down through the Apple Family, and it’s right here.” Big Macintosh pulled out the topper in question. It was a golden star, plain and simple, with a red apple at the center of the star.

Big Mac handed the star to Apple Bloom, who proceeded to get on her big brother’s broad shoulders as he hoisted her up to the top where the youngest Apple was able to place their family heirloom on the tree. Sunset smiled as she looked upon the completed tree, and only one word came to mind. Perfect.

Once she was back on the ground, Apple Bloom walked up to Sunset and asked, “You really do come from another world right, a pony one?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“And you said yer world has a Christmas too?”

“Eh, sort of, it’s called Hearth’s Warming Eve, it’s one-part story and another part history,” Sunset explained.

Apple Bloom tugged at Sunset’s sleeve as she asked. “Can ya tell us?”

Sunset was caught off guard by that. “W-Wha, you want to hear a story from my world?”

“Truth be told, ya haven’t really told any of us a whole lot about Equestria. Ah’m curious too,” said Applejack as she sat down in the couch.

Big Mac followed suit as he pulled up a footrest and sat ready to listen.

“Gonna be a few minutes before the main course is ready, so Ah reckon Ah can listen in, should be interestin’,” said Granny Smith as she sat in her rocking chair.

Sunset looked around the room at the expectant faces of the Apple Family, all of them waiting to hear the story of Hearth’s Warming Eve. A wide smile formed on Sunset’s lips as she sat back and took a breath. “Okay…This is tale not only of how the land of Equestria was founded, but also how the warmth of unity and friendship won over the bitter cold of hatred. A long time ago there lived three tribes the Pegasi, who controlled the weather, the Unicorns who changed the seasons with their magic, and the Earth Ponies who harvested the land…”

***________________________***

After spending time at Applejack’s, Sunset was then moved to another of her friend’s houses, that being Rarity’s. The fashionista was ecstatic to have Sunset spend a day in the life of her holiday family cheer. Of course, that meant a never-ending parade of Rarity’s parents, Hondo and Cookie, embarrassing their eldest daughter by doting on her and their youngest, Sweetie Belle, and generally embarrassing their daughters. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view, Sunny Flare was enjoying the embarrassing doting of Rarity’s parents along with Sunset, both girls getting a giggle at their antics.

Their holiday tradition was a shopping spree, apparently Rarity’s family was wealthy, although not obscenely wealthy, more like well-off compared to others. So, they could afford to shop for more expensive gifts, and afford to renovate one of their garages into Rarity’s own work studio.

Closer to the afternoon hours, in a rather surprising act of charity and generosity, Rarity’s family would volunteer at soup kitchens buy gifts for families who were having hard times and couldn’t afford something nice for their children.
After making the second trip to another shelter, Sunset said, “I didn’t know you guys did this every year?”

“Oh of course, my father and mother’s families weren’t exactly on stable financial ground growing up, so when they both got good jobs and good money, they decided that they wouldn’t forget how that felt and made sure that Sweetie and I didn’t either. I guess they didn’t want us to grow up to become snobs and look down on others because they weren’t as well-off as us,” Rarity explained.

“I can see that, I mean, you do exhume the air of a girl who’s used to the finer things. Some people might think that you’re spoiled,” said Sunset.

“Oh, I am, Darling, but I make sure not to let it go to my head. After all, we’re not rich like Diamond Tiara’s father or…ahem…Starlight Glimmer, but we definitely live in luxury for sure. Besides, showing generosity to those in need is never to be seen as something below someone, it’s something that we should all strive to do.”

***________________________***

After spending the day with Rarity’s family, her next stop was Fluttershy’s home. The reception was…mixed. When she arrived, Fluttershy greeted her with all the warmth and kindness one would expect from her, Mr. and Mrs. Shy on the other hand greeted her with a bit of a nervous smile. Really though, Sunset couldn’t blame them for being nervous around her. Fluttershy had essentially invited her former bully to come and spend the day with them.

How many times had their daughter come home crying because of her bullying of Fluttershy? How many hours had they spent comforting their daughter because her? How many times did they have to rebuild Fluttershy’s already low self-esteem only to have it all torn down the following day? From what Sunset could recall, too many times. To this day, Sunset still didn’t know why she picked on Fluttershy a little more than the other students, there was just something about Fluttershy back then that infuriated her every time she looked at the shy girl that just made Sunset want to go over to her and tear her down.

Now on the flipside, there was Fluttershy’s younger brother, Zephyr Breeze. Despite being the little brother, puberty had hit him like a ton of bricks. A massive growth spurt put him as the tallest member of the family, standing a head above Sunset. For a boy of fifteen he was already sporting the shadow of a shaven face, although he was a lanky looking boy, that didn’t seem to dent his confidence in the least. As evidenced when Sunset walked in.

“Well, Sunset Shimmer, it’s been a while,” said Zephyr.

“Hey Zeph,” Sunset greeted plainly.

“Spending the day with us, heh, heh, I guess my animal magnetism was too much to resist,” said Zephyr with a wiggle of the brow.

Fluttershy groaned loudly as she gave her little brother a glare. Sunset liked seeing this side of Fluttershy, while she wasn’t that assertive with some things, when it came to her little brother, she became the definition of a big sister. Scolding him when he did something stupid – which was every time, dragging him away when she felt he was going overboard with something.

“I thought you were after Rainbow Dash? Did you give up?” Sunset asked.

“Oh no, I haven’t, but that don’t mean I can’t play the field and keep my options open y’know?” Zephyr asked as he slid up beside Sunset and draped an arm over her shoulders.

“Zephyr Breeze!” Fluttershy scolded.

Sunset picked Zephyr’s arm up and ducked under it. “Thanks, I’m flattered. But I’m currently off the market, and I wouldn’t want to hurt Twilight’s feelings.”

Zephyr blinked. “O-Oh, you, uh, ya, sure! Heh, heh, completely slipped my mind that you two were a thing.”

Fluttershy reached up and pulled her little brother’s ear and brought him down to her level. “Oh please, you knew she was with Twilight, you seriously have no tact! She’s a guest here, so behave yourself!”

“Ow, ow, yeah, sure, whatever ya say Sis! Ow!” Fluttershy released the poor boy as she rubbed his earlobe. “I’ll just, go and make sure the guest room’s all done up for ya!”

Zephyr scurried away upstairs, prompting Fluttershy to follow after him. When Sunset asked where she was going she said, “I’m just going to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid-er.”

Now that the two were away, Sunset sighed and decided to address the elephant in the room. “Um, Mr. Shy, Mrs. Shy, may I speak with you?”

“S-Sure, dear,” Mrs. Shy answered as she led them to the living room.

Fluttershy’s parents sat in the couch across from Sunset, this was something that Sunset had always meant to do but was afraid to. Out of all her friends, she caused Fluttershy the most misery, she half expected them to flat out deny the amber girl entry into their house, or possibly use it as an excuse to release their pent-up frustration about everything she put Fluttershy through. But, she knew she had to get this out there.

“Mr. Shy, Mrs. Shy, I should’ve done this a long time ago…Saying I’m sorry for everything that I did to Fluttershy is not enough, and I know it will never be enough. I cannot imagine the number of times Fluttershy’s come home crying because of my actions…but I have been trying to make up for it, I’ve tried to be a better person and a better friend to her and everyone around me. I know Fluttershy probably told you why she wanted me over, but I’ll understand if you want me to leave.”

The two adults looked at each other and then back at Sunset, they were surprised to see genuine remorse from this girl. Fluttershy had told them of how Sunset Shimmer had changed since the Fall Formal, but they never imagined this much. Although there was one burning question they had.

“Sunset Shimmer, why did you target out daughter?” Mrs. Shy asked.

Sunset felt heart hurt at hearing Fluttershy’s mother ask that question, she made to open her mouth and answer, but was beaten to the punch.

“I know.” All eyes moved towards the stairs were Fluttershy stood, smiling at them kindly. “Although, Sunset may not have realized it herself after so long. I think I understand why you singled me out so much more.”

Sunset shook her head in confusion. “You do…?”

“Yes, in your own, ahem, twisted way, you were trying to make me be more assertive.” Fluttershy walked into the living room and sat down next to Sunset as she looked her in the eyes. “I was always a crybaby, soft-spoken, a practical doormat for others. Although you were mean back then, I think you wanted to make me stronger.”

“Honey, that’s…” Mr. Shy began.

“No, Daddy, that’s what I’ve come to understand. Yes, I cried, and yes, my feelings were hurt, but I knew that I needed to be stronger, because there may be worse people I would have to deal with in the future wherever I go, or someone like Sunset. I remember, it was one time, but after we had one of our… ‘talks’…you looked over your shoulder at me and you looked sad. You wanted me to fight back, to at least show some resistance.”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck as she looked down at her knees. “I think you’re giving me too much credit there Shy, I wasn’t a nice person back then, even less so back in my original home…”

“Can’t you defend yourself even once?! You’re such a doormat, are you going to let everyone just walk all over you? You really are a loser! Try it sometime and maybe I get bored of you!” Fluttershy yelled, making everyone look at her in shock. “Those were the words you spoke to me a long time ago, I always held onto them, analyzing them. It was different from the usual things you had said, and that’s when I understood. You wanted me to be stronger.”

Sunset thought back, back to the day she remembered saying those words. It was after she saw Fluttershy fail at another attempt at recruiting volunteers for her animal shelter, Sunset was practically fresh to the human world, and while Sunset had nothing against animals, neither did she see a reason to do anything positive in this magicless world that she’d soon leave. Still, she didn’t see why others couldn’t spend a little time taking care of some small creatures. Sunset attributed it to Fluttershy’s lack of confidence, it wasn’t any secret that the boys of the school found her cute, and hot, but apparently Fluttershy didn’t look to use her natural allure to her advantage, so much potential and all of it wasted.

That’s when Sunset started bullying Fluttershy, yes, she wanted Fluttershy to become stronger, to finally stand up to her, the true meaning had just gotten lost under a mountain of anger, pride, and ego. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy…”

Fluttershy reached out and held Sunset’s hands in her own, “Christmas is the time of kindness and forgiveness, where we open our hearts to others. I forgave you a long time ago, I think it’s time you did as well.”

Sunset started to cry, feeling like a total fool bawling in front of her friend’s parents. Fluttershy brought Sunset close and hugged her tightly, letting the normally strong girl show some weakness. Mr. and Mrs. Shy couldn’t help their own tears from falling as they watched this, Sunset had truly felt bad about her actions, and they saw firsthand how much of a saint their daughter was.

“Thanks, Shy.”

Fluttershy patted her head and said, “Anytime.”

Sunset sat back up and wiped her tears away before she addressed the two adults. “Again, I’m sorry for all I did to her, good or bad, it was no excuse to make her feel that way…”

“We understand,” said Mr. Shy.

“You’ve seemed to have been through a lot of self-reflection, haven’t you?” Mrs. Shy asked.

“Yeah, a whole lot,” Sunset answered.

“Well…” Mrs. Shy stood up and walked over to the couch, and in a surprising gesture, brought Sunset into a hug. “You’re definitely quite the young lady, Sunset Shimmer. I’m glad my daughter is friends with you.”

Sunset hugged Mrs. Shy back and spoke softly, “Thank you.”

U: Unicorn's Special Day / Merry Christmas!

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After a rather emotional day a Fluttershy’s home, on the following day, Sunset visited Pinkie Pie’s house. It was…interesting, to say the least. It was obvious that Pinkie’s family didn’t exactly seem like the type to put up lights and decorations, if anything it was the bare minimum. However, this little visit did give Sunset a chance to meet Pinkie’s other two sisters, the younger twins, Limestone Pie and Marble Pie.

Limestone was quite the aggressive girl, dressed up in steel toed boots, wearing fingerless gloves, a sleeveless leather jacket, and a pair of gray jeans to match her tank top. Marble was more reserved, wearing a gray dress tied at her waist by a simple black belt. As she spent the day at the Pie Family home, their emotions ranged on a spectrum. Limestone was aggressive, Marble was practically as shy as Flutteshy, Maud was…neutral, and Pinkie was on the extreme side.

It’s like all those emotions from her sisters were forwarded all to Pinkie Pie, thought Sunset.
Despite their somewhat monotone lifestyle, the Pie Family did smile and have fun with each other during this time, and Pinkie Pie made sure her family smiled a lot.

After spending time at Pinkie’s, the following day had at Rainbow Dash’s house. Of course, having Rainbow’s parents know about her identity as Unicorn made her visit less awkward. She was surprised at how welcoming they were, Sunset always saw Rainbow’s parents as a couple of laid back and go with the flow type of people but were strict when it was warranted. So, she halfway thought that they would be a little mad that she got their daughter embroiled in something dangerous.

“Oh, Sunset, don’t worry about it,” said Windy.

“Our Rainbow Dash would’ve found some way to get into this kind of craziness even if you weren’t Unicorn,” said Bow.

“Besides, it’s just one more thing to add into the Rainbow Dash Hall of Fame!” Windy exclaimed.

“Wait, what?” Sunset asked with intrigue.

Rainbow Dash groaned loudly, “Mom, Dad, pleeeeeaasse don’t!”

Her pleas fell on deaf ears Windy Whistles dragged Sunset by the wrist all the way down the hall. They stood before a mahogany wooden door, and Windy gestured to open it. Sunset looked down the hall at the approaching Rainbow Dash and her father, the former shooting her a pleading, and threatening glare to not open the door. Sunset then opened the door.

As soon as she did, the sound of a heavenly choir played in the back ground. Sunset walked in and looked upon not only the various trophies that Rainbow had amassed over her years of playing sports, but also mementos from life events. Pictures that documented her first-time walking, her first time eating solid food, playing on the preschool playground. Making her first friend, Fluttershy and Gilda appeared in a few of those early childhood pictures. And then there were the more embarrassing ones of her first time, ahem, using the bathroom, a bronzed diaper to commemorate her transition to big girl underwear.

There was even a bronzed training bra. To say Rainbow’s parents were proud of their child would be the understatement of the century, not only where they proud, they were almost fans of their daughter. And tucked away in a small corner of the room was a spot that had a picture of Rainbow as Kamen Rider Nasca, Sunset looked at Rainbow Dash with a glare as she gestured to the picture.

“They were asking for a picture of me in my gear ever since I first transformed, so I did…” Rainbow explained.

“Sorry, it’s our fault; we had planned on making this the center piece of the room, our little girl a superhero!” Bow gushed.

“But we do have an explanation in case anyone asks, we can just say that Dashie’s really into cosplay!” Windy explained.

“I’m pretty sure no one’s going to see this room if Rainbow has anything to say about it.”

Rainbow mouthed something to the degree of, “Damn right no one’s seeing this room!”

“So, I see a lot of things in here, but…” Sunset expression turned sinister. “You guys wouldn’t happen to have something a little more recent, would you?”

Windy slid next to Sunset and whispered. “Actually – although we hid them in here – we do have something called ‘Rainbow’s FWD’.”

Rainbow Dash’s face changed from a cyan blue, to a crimson red in less than ten seconds upon hearing that. “W-W-WHA-WHA-WHAT?!”

“Guessing it was an especially eventful to keep a memento,” Sunset commented.

“Oh, it was, in fact she–!”

Windy was cut off as Rainbow practically zoomed into the room and covered her mother’s mouth to prevent her from saying anything. “No, of all the things in here, you are NOT telling her about that!”

“I’m definitely going to make that my mission of the day, finding that little treasure and the story behind it,” Sunset teased as she smirked at her friend.

“You do, and trust me, there’s going to be a lot signs posted that say, ‘Missing: Sunset Shimmer’!”

***________________________***

It was the day before Christmas Eve, and Sunset’s journey was nearly done. Her second to last stay was at the house of her guardians, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. To say Celestia was happy to see Sunset was an understatement, the moment she arrived, the tall woman embraced Sunset tightly, reminding Sunset of Pinkie and Applejack’s vice hugs.

Once inside she found Luna at the couch, watching a Christmas themed movie, and of course she showed her lax self here as she wore only a baggy t-shirt that said “Ho! Ho! Ho!” A pair of socks with red and white stripes around the toes and green, and from what Sunset could tell, Luna was wearing a pair of pajama short shorts that were decorated with the same color pattern as her socks.

Luna glanced towards the door and smiled a she waved at her. “Sunset Shimmer, glad you could join us this year.”

Celestia groaned in annoyance. “I told you she was coming over, and you still haven’t changed out of that?”

Luna blew a raspberry as she said, “Please, we’re not at school, Tia, we don’t always have to dress proper, especially when it’s in our own house, and I’m wearing my holiday lounging outfit.”

“If you can call it that,” Celestia whispered in a harsh tone.

“Sunset doesn’t seem to mind.” Luna gave Sunset a coy look. “Do you, Sunset? If this makes you at all uncomfortable I suppose I could slip into something else.”

“N-No, don’t change! I mean, it’s your house, so don’t change anything on my occasion,” said Sunset, blushing for some unknown reason.

Luna smiled as she hopped off the couch and slung an arm over Sunset’s shoulders as she brought her into a hug. “See, Tia, Sunset doesn’t mind! Besides, we’re supposed to be treating her like family, and it would be an insult to change up the dynamic and make her feel as if she’s not considered family.”

Hugging! Too close to chest! She’s hot! Sorry, Twilight!

Celestia rolled her eyes at Luna’s logic, as annoying as it was, her younger sister did have a point. “Fine, guess I’ll just kick off my pants and wear a damn tank top all day!”

“Whoo-hoo! That’s right, Tia, let your hair down!” Luna goaded.

“Not happening.”

“You’re no fun,” Luna accused as she stuck her tongue out at her big sister. “Well, I need to change anyway, I’m going out. And, Sunset, you’re coming with me.”

Celestia shook her head in confusion as she watched her little sister go up the stairs. “But she just got here?”

“Yes, being a part of a family means being dragged about to places,” Luna stated as she vanished upstairs.

Celestia released a sigh as she turned to Sunset. “I’m sorry; she can be a handful sometimes. The authoritarian you’re used to at school is in actuality quite the immature woman when she’s at home.”

“I heard that!”

Sunset chuckled at their sisterly banter. “No worries, it’s refreshing to see, and it makes me wonder if the Celestia and Luna in my world banter like this sometimes.”

“Yes, about that, you said when you used to live in your home world, you only saw me around, what happened to Luna? Was she away during that time?” Celestia asked.

Sunset looked away for a minute, not quite sure how to tell this story. But she knew that at some point this was bridge that was going to be crossed. So, Sunset told the story of Princess Luna’s descent into darkness, her thousand-year banishment, her return as Nightmare Moon, and her eventual redemption.

“I see…guess even in another world I tend to overlook certain things when it comes to family,” said Celestia.

“From what Princess Twilight tells me, they’re closer than ever now. I’m pretty sure they’d be like you two are now, albeit without the whole royal title and dealing with international politics,” said Sunset.

Luna came back downstairs, wearing a midnight blue sweater, black jean pants, and a navy-blue coat. “Come along, Sunset!”

Celestia shrugged and nodded for Sunset to go with Luna. With little else to do, Sunset followed Luna into her car and the two drove out. Sunset felt a little awkward, she had never spent any real time alone with Luna, the incident with Sombra was the most time the two had spent talking to each other. Sunset twiddled her thumbs as she continued to watch the scenery pass by, realizing she really didn’t know where they were going.

“Um, Luna, where exactly are we going?” Sunset asked.

“Hmm, well, with the money have saved up, was thinking of taking you out to a nice restaurant, buy you something nice, and celebrate your turning eighteen at a nice hotel, just the two of us,” said Luna with a wiggle of her brow.

Sunset’s eye twitched, heart racing as she suddenly found her hand searching for the door handle. Sure, the car was moving at about sixty miles-per-hour in a busy street, but Sunset was fairly sure she could survive a tumble on the highway, provided she fell the right way and her healing factor worked overtime.

Luna, after watching Sunset squirm in her seat, began laughing loudly. “Hahahahahaha, oh, oh man, the look on your face! I knew that’d get you!”

Sunset’s face became red in both embarrassment and anger that she fell for such a trick. “That wasn’t funny!”

“Please, Sunset, we both know between the two of us, you’d surely kick my ass up and down this highway with ease if I ever tried something like that. Plus, I would never think of doing such thing and destroying what you have with Twilight Sparkle. You both are my favorite couple, just don’t let the other students know that,” said Luna.

“I’m so getting you back for that.”

***________________________***

About twenty minutes later Luna drove them to Canterlot City Mall, and as expected it was swamped with people all trying to finish up their Christmas shopping before it was too late.

“Wow,” said Sunset.

“Is this your first time being inside the mall during the holidays?” Luna asked.

“Yeah…”

Luna chuckled. “You should see it tomorrow, if you think it’s packed now, this whole building will be bursting at the seams.”

Sunset decided to stick close to Luna, normally she’d be able to navigate the mall, but with all these people she was afraid she’d get swept away. “So, I take it we’re here to do some shopping?”

“Indeed, I wanted to get Tia something, and while we’re here I didn’t know if wanted to get anyone anything, so I thought this would be a good chance for you,” Luna explained.

“Well…I don’t really have that much, in all honesty I’d love to get them all something, but I can’t,” said Sunset.

Just then Luna thumped through her wallet and produced a credit card; she then placed it in Sunset’s hand and made sure she had a good grip on it. “There’s just enough on this one to get a nice gift for one person.”

“I-I can’t, this you’re money!”

“It’s mine to give out, plus, I trust you, you are family now.”

Sunset looked at the credit card as she frowned. “All my friends, and even you two, have been giving me such a wonderful gift for the past six days now…how can I choose just one?”

“If I may make a suggestion, I don’t think your friends would argue that there’s a least one special someone in your life that deserves a gift from you, and you’ll be seeing her tomorrow.”
Sunset smiled and nodded as she understood.

Both women picked up a directory and exchanged phone numbers so that they may call and text photos of the gifts they thought would be good. With a plan set, Luna and Sunset diverged and went on the hunt. Twenty minutes passed, and Sunset was no closer to knowing what exactly a good gift for Twilight would be. She stopped by the bookstore, knowing Twilight with a good book would always make her smile, but then she thought on it harder.

No, I can buy her a book any day of the week. A Christmas gift needs to be special, especially since she’s your girlfriend, Shimmer!

After that she perused the electronics shop, there were a number of nice looking laptop computers, the latest models at that. But then Sunset saw the price tags and her face went pale.

Yeah, there’s no way Luna would let me charge this onto the card, she’d probably wring my neck!

With that thought shot, Sunset moved on. She was becoming a little frustrated; buying a gift for one person shouldn’t be this hard. It was Twilight, she didn’t want much, and what she did want she practically invented in her little workshop. Now that I think about it, she could probably make a faster and more advanced computer at home if she wanted to…actually, I’m sure she already has one.

Sunset sat on a bench as she growled in frustration at herself for not being able to think of a good gift for her girlfriend. Just then, Sunset’s phone went off, she swiped the screen and looked to see a text from Luna that read, {Sunset, do think this is a little too bold for Tia?}

What followed next was a picture of some lingerie that made Sunset’s face burn bright red, replying quickly with, {Why would you show me that?! I just – no!}

{Oh well, I was hoping to help Sister with her lack of a love life. She really has uninteresting taste in her underwear, so I decided to add a bit a flare to her selection, but judging by your response, I can surmise that will be her reaction as well. Back to the drawing board. 😉}

Sunset groaned, “I swear, she gets a kick out of teasing me.”

“Shopping not going so well?”

Sunset looked to her left and saw a woman sitting there. She had a white leather coat on, her complexion was a light-pink color, with maroon colored eyes, and curly strawberry hair, and her ears were adorned with festive jingle bell earrings. She seemed to be a fairly young woman, if Sunset had to guess, around mid to late twenties. She had a kindly, almost motherly smile to her as she looked upon Sunset.

“You could say that, sorry if I was disturbing you, Miss.”

“Not at all, and you can call me Bori, dear.”

Sunset smiled at Bori, but then went back to lamenting her lack of ideas for finding a gift for her girlfriend.

“If you don’t mind me saying, you seem a bit down,” said Bori.

“Just stressing about a gift…I want to get a good one for my girlfriend, she’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me and she makes me happy! I just want to get her something special that shows her how special she is to me…you know?” Sunset explained.

Bori nodded sagely as she listened to Sunset’s dilemma. “Hmm, it can be a stressful; you want to show the one you love just how much you love them, and how much they mean to you. But how can there be a gift, any material item, which could sum up all those feelings?”

Sunset smiled as she said, “Sounds like you’ve had experience with this kind of thing.”

“More than I’d care to admit to, dear. But I can tell you that you’re overthinking it.” Bori noted the confused look on her face and explained, “Love between two people is a priceless gift, and sometimes we can get so wrapped up in thinking of the perfect gift that people often overlook the one simple thing.”

Sunset turned fully to Bori. “And that is?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

Sunset blinked. “It doesn’t matter…?”

“You’d be surprised how something as simple as a piece of costume jewelry, or an action, can have so much more meaning than the most expensive or lavish gifts. What matters are the memories and feelings that person experiences upon receiving it that makes even a simple gift have so much more meaning than biggest diamond ring, although, it doesn’t hurt to give your paramour one,” Bori explained with a wink.

Sunset felt her frustration and anxiety begin to quickly fade away. Bori was right, Sunset didn’t need to get something overly expensive, what mattered was the presence she put into her present, not the amount of money. Sunset stood up from the bench, her confidence renewed as an idea formed in her head of what she wanted to get Twilight. “Thank you, Miss Bori.”

“Not a problem, Sunset.”

The amber girl began to bolt towards the destination she had in mind but halted when she was halfway away from the bench. Wait…I never told her my name…How did she–? Sunset quickly turned around and saw Bori wave at her before she disappeared in a wisp of glowing pink light. “I should uh…yeah…”

Sunset continued her light jog to her destination, making it to a jewelry shop where she saw something that caught her eye. But when she got there, the item was gone. Sunset walked up to one of the clerks and asked, “Excuse me, Sir, there was a piece of jewelry in that display case, did you have any more in the back possibly?”

The older gentleman walked off into the back; about five minutes later he reemerged, shaking his head in the negative. “Sorry, Miss, that appeared to be our last piece. If you wish, I can search our database and see if there’s another store that may have it in stock?”

Sunset thought about it, but she didn’t really have much time, and she didn’t want to keep Luna out hunting down a gift that may be on the other side of town. “Nah, that’s okay, thank you.”

With disappointment in her heart, Sunset began walking out of the store, taking up her phone in order to dial Luna that she was done and would meet up with her Vice Principal. However, that thought was derailed when someone snatched up her cellphone in one swift motion. Sunset blinked for a second and realized that her phone was gone from her grip; she looked around and noticed that there was a girl; she couldn’t be more than fourteen years old. She had curly grass green hair with curly bangs, but flowed at the back, a sandy complexion, and green freckles adorning her face. She was wearing a pair of denim suspenders, with a striped shirt, and a red bow with a jingle bell on it.

“Wait, what?! Give me back my phone!” Sunset demanded.

“Sorry, I can’t really let you call Luna yet, Sunset. She’s in the middle of getting Celestia’s gift, and I’d rather you not interrupt her,” the girl stated.

Sunset blinked and started to become cautious, she never told this girl her name, and how did she know who she was going to call? “Have we met before, ‘cause you seem to know me and someone else I know too.”

The girl wagged her finger back and forth and “tsked” with each wag. “Sunny, Sunny, don’t even try it.”

“Try what?”

“You’re going to try and lunge at me and then I’m going to start running down that way towards the food court, where you’ll end getting covered in every condiment known to food, and eventually get tired before I offer a wet towel to you in a gesture of goodwill and kindness. But given that it’s almost Christmas, and because I’d rather you not go back home smelling like that food court, why don’t we skip all the hijinks and get down to brass tacks.”

The girl walked up opened one side of Sunset’s jacket and slipped her phone into the pocket. “The name’s Alice, by the way.”

Alice reached behind her back and produced a slender, rectangular gift box, as she opened up the right side of Sunset’s jacket and placed the item in it. “What…What are you doing, what is that for?”

“That’s something for later, and don’t open it until – eh – about midnight on Christmas Eve, but this is because this will be my only chance!” She then reached up and gave Sunset a peck on the cheek, making the amber girl blush as she took a step back in surprise.

“Heh, heh, you’re cute now, but trust me, you’re going to be hot when you get older.” The girl began to walk away but looked over her shoulder as she smiled. “Oh, and don’t worry about that gift for Twilight, check your right hand.”

Sunset looked down at her hand, and found herself cupping a small gift box. Sunset saw that it had a crease, indicating the box could be opened without messing up the decoration. Carefully she opened it up and gasped when she saw it. “Wait how did you–?!” When Sunset looked up to question Alice, she was gone. “What…the hell…is going on?”

The fiery haired girl suddenly felt someone place a hand on her shoulder and call her name, “Sunset?”

“GAH!” Sunset whirled around and almost entered a fighting stance. That is until she realized that it was Luna.

The older women looked upon Sunset a little surprised at her jumpy reaction. “Are you alright?”
Sunset shook her head and ran a hand through her long hair. “I think so…I guess I was a little stressed about getting a gift and I think I was seeing things…”

“Hmm, yes, as lovely as the holidays are, it can be stressful for some people.” Luna draped a comforting arm over the young girl’s shoulders and smiled at her. “Well, it looks like you’re done with your shopping and I’m done with mine. What say we head back home and enjoy Tia’s home cooking, and afterwards I can school you in the fine art of video games.”

A smirk crossed lips at the challenge. “Don’t think just because I’m a pony from another dimension that you have the advantage, you forget who I hang around with.”

“Ha, amateurs, allow me to show you who rules the cyber world,” Luna scoffed.

Luna and Sunset walked off, heading for the exit, but the whole time she couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened. The woman, Bori, who gave her advice, then there was Alice, the girl who seemed to know exactly what Sunset was looking for, and what she was going to do. Not to mention, the old woman from back at the Apple Farm, Aurora, who led her to the old pine tree.

“Um, Luna, have you ever heard of…I don’t know…spirits of Christmas that come in threes?” Sunset asked.

Luna hummed as she thought. “Well, there is a story called A Christmas Carol, about a miserly old man who despised Christmas and those who celebrated it. Until the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future came to him one night and showed him the error of his ways.”

“Oh, so it’s similar to A Hearth’s Warming Tale!”

“Is that a story from your world?” Luna asked with intrigue.

“Yeah, it is.”

Luna grinned at the confirmation. “Oh, you must tell it when we get home, and then after I’ll school you.”

Sunset chuckled and agreed to tell the tale, but with that information, she was worried. If those three were anything like the ghosts of the two stories, did that mean that Sunset had not learned her lesson? Was the Spirit of Christmas about to hand down its own punishment for trying to celebrate her day of birth and the holiday itself?

I really hope that’s not the case…

***________________________***

Twilight paced the living room as she tried to contain her nerves but was doing a terrible job at doing it. Her brother and Cadance were sitting in the living room as well, watching the poor girl wear a groove into the floor at her continuous pacing.

“How long as she been at that?” Shining asked.

“I’d say about thirty minutes or so,” Cadance answered.

“Eh, that’s nothing, I’ve seen her go at least an hour and a half,” Spike added.

Velvet and Night Light walked into the room and saw their daughter pacing, while not uncommon; it was starting to become a bit overdone.

Velvet walked into the path of her daughter’s pacing, causing Twilight bump into her and stop the cycle from repeating. “It’s going to be okay, there’s no need to go Twily-nanas, over Sunset’s spending her Christmas/birthday with us.”

Twilight blushed. “I am not going ‘Twily-nanas’!”

Everyone raised an eyebrow at that denial.

“Okay, maybe a little Twily-nanas…But, can you blame me? I just want things to go perfect for Sunset, she’s been willfully avoiding celebrating her birthday, and has been alone these past few years for the holidays, I just want her feel like she’s truly loved and a part of a family,” said Twilight.

Night Light smiled at his daughter as he said, “Twilight, from what I’ve heard and seen that girl is definitely well loved by you, your friends, and others. And as far as we’re concerned, Sunset Shimmer is a part of this family. And not just because she’s your girlfriend, although it did help a bit”

“Honey,” Velvet groaned as she rolled her eyes.

Just then the doorbell rang, and Twilight jumped like a cat that was startled. She quickly composed herself and raced to the front door, after making sure her clothes were tidy, Twilight opened the door and saw her lover, Sunset Shimmer.

“Merry Christmas, Twilight,” said Sunset.

“Merry Christmas, Sunset,” Twilight replied.

Twilight looked over Sunset’s shoulder and saw that her bike was parked in the driveway, noting how cold it was as she crossed her arms. “We really need to look into getting you a car, riding that bike is not good for your health in cold weather.”

“Yeah, but that’s if I was a normal human.”

“Well, maybe I want you to have a car so that I can enjoy a ride that doesn’t blow my skirt up,” Twilight commented.

Sunset smirked. “Oh, now I get it. You just want me to get one because you want to break in the backseat.”

Twilight’s face lit up red as the implication set in. “T-T-That’s not what I meant!”

Sunset made her way in and gave Twilight a pinch on the cheek. “You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Twilight pouted for a moment but let go as she closed the door and ushered her girlfriend into her living room. Cadance hopped up from the couch and gave Sunset a big hug as she practically smushed her face against her own. “Happy day-before-your-birthday, Sunset! I’m glad you want to spend it with us.”

“Thanks, Cadance,” Sunset struggled to say before the cheerful woman released her. “I’m just happy you all are allowing me, I was afraid I was going to intrude on some family time.”

Velvet waved her hand in dismissal of the thought, “Sunset, please, at this point, if you didn’t spend this day with us, I’d be insulted. It’s a special day for more than one reason, and we’re happy to celebrate it with you in our home.”

“That’s for sure, especially now that you’re with our little Twily, we have to subject her to all the standard embarrassing parenting clichés. Honey, do we have that scrapbook of Twilight when she was a baby?” Night Light asked.

“Oh, here we go,” Shining chuckled.

“Remember when they did that with you, Shiny?” Cadance asked.

Shining Armor’s face grew red as he put on a serious face. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Twilight on the other hand was groaning loudly. “Please don’t!”

Sunset patted her girlfriend on the shoulder. “C’mon, Sparky, it can’t be that bad. I mean, it’s not like they have you naked posing on a bearskin rug with your butt sticking up in the air or……” Twilight’s face was burning a bright shade of red, Shining Armor and Cadance had a devious smirk on their faces, and Twilight’s parents were doing all they could stifle their laughter. “Nooooo…!”

“Yes,” Velvet chirped.

“Bring it out, now!” Sunset declared.

“Sunset Shimmer!” Twilight scolded.

The redhead chuckled as moved out of the way of her nerdy girlfriend trying to tackle her. “C’mon, babe, I’m sure you look adorable! And it’ll give me a reference for what that may look like down the road.”

Twilight’s eye twitched. “That’s it! I’m throwing myself out from my window upstairs!”

“Okay, put on a jacket though, it’s cold,” Shining suggested.

Cadance frowned and swatted him on the arm as she said, “Shiny, please!”

“What? There’s thick snow outside, Dad and I haven’t shoveled it so even if you do, it’ll be like landing on a pillow.”

“Found it!” Night Light announced.

Twilight grabbed a blanket from the couch, found a vacant spot on it and cocooned herself in it in order to hide her from the embarrassment that was to come. Sunset shook her head as she smiled at Twilight’s overreaction to the whole thing; she then motioned for Velvet to give her the album. Velvet handed it over and Sunset went and sat next to the lump that was her nerdy lover.

“Twilight~”

“No.”

“C’mon, Sparky, just come out and rip the Band-Aid off,” said Sunset.

Twilight curled in tighter. “No, you’ll just laugh, they’re embarrassing!”

Sunset reached out and found where Twilight’s head was and began stroking that spot gently. “Twi, I’m not going to laugh……Okay, I might laugh, but Twi, you know I love you no matter what. Embarrassing quirks and all, it’s not like I don’t have my own share.”

“Oh yeah, name one,” Twilight dared.

Sunset sighed and leaned in close as to not allow the others to overhear. “When I first came to this world and I was hungry, I used to sneak off and tried to eat flowers and grass from around the school.” Twilight peeked from under the blanket, so Sunset continued. “One day I left my home naked because I wasn’t used to wearing clothes every day and ended up flashing some random guy.”

Twilight gave a snort of laughter under the blanket.

Sunset smiled a bit more and then added, “I talked to a horse for at least thirty minutes before I realized she didn’t understand a word I said!”

Finally, Twilight emerged from her cocoon. “Okay, I get it; I’m not the only one who has some embarrassing moments.”

“Good, so there’s nothing wrong with this. Velvet, show that picture!”

“On it!” Velvet answered.

Twilight groaned and resumed her hiding in the blanket cocoon.

***________________________***

The day was filled with the Sparkle Family, Cadance, and Sunset, doing family activities. One was going to a fancy little restaurant that served holiday foods; another was heading to a theater that was showing holiday movies on the big screen. Sunset had already seen some of them at Celestia and Luna’s house, but seeing them with the large family and on the big screen was a different experience. The family then spent some time at the local ice rink; of course they all paired off. Cadance and Shining Armor, even Velvet and Night Light were naturals as they glided across the ice, each couple keeping their respective significant other close.

Sunset on the other hand, was not as skillful. Despite all her abilities, it would seem that the former unicorn had found her match when it came to ice skating. In contrast, Twilight was a natural, moving across the rink as she came to a stop before her lover at the entrance.

“I-I don’t know about this, Twilight,” Sunset stammered.

“You’ll be fine, just put one foot in front of the other.”

Sunset carefully took a step onto the ice, the blade of her skate making contact with the ice as she put some weight on it and balanced it. She then took another step forward but began to lose her balance. Thankfully, Twilight caught her before that happened, which also made Sunset cling to Twilight like a scared cat. “O-Okay, I-I don’t think skating and I are good friends!”

“Sunset, this is probably the one time I’ll ever say this, but don’t overthink it. Take my hands,” Twilight instructed.

The amber girl cautiously placed her gloved hands into Twilight’s, the lavender girl slowly moved away, allowing their arms to extend. Twilight began to move, pulling Sunset along as they both glided across the ice, Sunset watched Twilight’s footwork, taking note of how she moved and pivoted her weight with each stroke of the blade. Sunset tried mimicking those movements, and for the most part they worked, but it was clear that there was a major skill gap Sunset ended up almost faceplanting a few times.

“Looks like there’s at least one sport thing I’m better at than you,” Twilight commented.

“Hey, I bow to the master right now, b-but I will admit…this is kinda fun,” said Sunset.

The young couple continued to skate around the ring, listening to the music that played overhead. Velvet and Night Light watched on as their two children skated with their special someone, and a tear came to Velvet’s eyes as she said, “My children are all growing up so fast.”

“Oh, honey, we knew this day would come,” said Night Light.

“I know…I’m just really happy that our son found a woman who appreciates and loves him, even before he was a cop, she cared about him and even his nerdy interests,” said Velvet.

“Indeed, and let’s face it, we both figured Twilight would go on to win Nobel Prizes, but would end up isolated with no friends or someone she cared about. Now look at her, I’ve never seen her so happy, she has many friends, and a girl that loves her dearly, what more could we wish for our children?” Night Light asked.

Velvet squeezed her husband’s hand a little as she smiled, “As far as I’m concerned, this is the best Christmas Present……Now only if Shiny would hurry up and give me a grandchild to spoil already! At this rate, Twilight’s going to be the one to give me a grandchild before him! Adopted or donor, either way, I want one!”

Both siblings sneezed at the exact same time.

“You okay, Shiny?”

“Catching a cold, Sparky?”

“Nah, nose just itched, I guess,” Shining answered.

“That or someone was talking about us behind our backs,” said Twilight.

Shining Armor and Twilight Sparkle both gave a deadpan stare towards their parents who only waved at them happily.

“Grandchildren?” Twilight asked.

Shining sighed, “Grandchildren…”

***________________________***

The night was upon them, and the Sparkle family was now at their last destination, White Tail Park. There was to be a big tree lighting ceremony, and everyone was invited, hot chocolate and warm gingerbread men cookies were served throughout the evening as the people gathered to watch the big Christmas tree light up the night.

Sunset sat on a bench, looking into her cup of hot chocolate as the marshmallows swirled about. As warm and fun as the past few days have been, Sunset still couldn’t shake the lingering feeling that those three people she met in the past few days meant something. If they were indeed spirits, did that mean that they had come to punish Sunset for her past deeds? They certainly didn’t look threatening…but then again, what better way to catch your prey off guard? A kindly old lady, a motherly woman, and a precocious young teen girl, yep, that would be one way.

So deep in her thoughts, Sunset hadn’t noticed that Twilight had sat next to her. Twilight stared at Sunset for a minute, noticing how hard she was looking into her hot chocolate, as if it held the answer to a question she was pondering in her mind.

“Um, Sunset, it’s going to get cold if you don’t drink it,” said Twilight.

Sunset snapped out of her thoughts and finally noticed that she wasn’t sitting alone. “Oh, sorry, I was deep in thought…” Sunset quickly took a swig of her beverage, and instantly regretted it as she found the drink to still be quite hot. “Ow, ow, Eh urnt meh ung.”

Twilight giggled a little as she watched Sunset fan her tongue, sticking it out so that the cold air would sooth it. After that, Sunset took more cautious sips of her drink, but Twilight could tell her girlfriend was still pondering something. “Sunset, what’s wrong? You look like you expect something bad to happen.”

Sunset went silent for a moment as she stared at the pavement. “I don’t know…I know you said I deserve to celebrate tomorrow, that I deserve to be surrounded by those who love and care about me…but I wonder if there’s something else that doesn’t believe that.”

Twilight sighed heavily, she loved Sunset, but sometimes her own self-loathing was exhausting. “Sunset, I love you, our friends love you! Heck, even the me in Equestria and the pony versions of our friends care about you! Yes, you’ve done some bad things, but that doesn’t have to define you, you’ve rose up above all those things and have become someone spectacular! Someone, I am proud and happy to call my girlfriend!”

The nerdy girl took her right hand and gently turned Sunset’s head to face her, and then touched her forehead to Sunset’s. “So, stop beating yourself up for things in the past, learn from them, accept the present, and embrace the future. Because all I want…is a future with you, I will never regret becoming your friend, and I definitely will never ever regret being your girlfriend.”

Sunset began to sniffle as a lump formed in her throat, her face breaking out into a great big smile as said, “Dammit, Sparky, it’s freezing out here, you’re going to make my eyes ice shut…”

Twilight smiled and carefully wiped Sunset’s eyes to prevent any ice from forming, although Twilight had to point out that even at the temperatures right now, there was no possible way for Sunset’s tears to instantly freeze to the point of preventing her eyes from opening, to which Sunset retorted by saying, “Egghead”.

With her spirits lifted, Sunset walked with Twilight to the gathering place of where everyone crowded to see the tree lighting. Apparently, it was a big enough thing that the mayor of Canterlot City came out to perform the ceremony. She was an older woman, with a sandy complexion, blue sapphire eyes, a gray hair, and a pair of glasses that rested upon her face.

“Welcome one and all, to our annual tree lighting ceremony. As your mayor, it is, as always, my honor and privilege to start off this joyous time of year this way, and now, everyone, let’s count it down. TEN!”

“NINE!”

“EIGHT!”

“SEVEN!”

“SIX!”

“FIVE!”

“FOUR!”

“THREE!”

“TWO!”

“ONE!”

The mayor hit the switch and the tree, and every other subsequent decoration around the area, lit up, shining its light and piercing the darkness of the night. The tall, ten-foot tree glittered with an array of multicolored lights, ending with a big white star at the top off the tree. Sunset looked around at all the happy faces, and then she looked at Twilight’s and their eyes met, this was a magical moment, perfect in every way. Both girls drifted closer to each other, eyes closing as they prepared to give the other a kiss.

“MERRY CHRISTMAS!”

…At least, until that happened.

Everyone gasped in fright as something flew overhead. The object rushed back and forth a few times before finally stopping over the Christmas tree. Hovering over the tree was a sleigh, colored black and red, with a green snowflake on the side, and in the back was a large burlap sack that was bulging with unknown contents. At the head of the sleigh were reindeer, four in total, each one had black fur with a dark gray underbelly that covered part of their muzzles. Their antlers were jagged and sharp, eyes blazing purple, and their hooves were covered with armored shoes.

Standing from the driver’s seat was a large man, dressed in a dark red Santa suit, the white parts of the suit were pitch black, his leather belt buckle had the image of a Christmas tree super imposed over a skull. The only thing with white coloring was the man’s long, ratty beard and mustache, which hid rows of sharp teeth, dark green skin, and eyes that blazed orange.

“Look at you all, happy and celebrating, what naughty people you all are! Goodwill is punished, and the wicked are rewarded, this will not stand! And who better to correct this injustice than me!” The man announced.

Shining Armor quickly shifted gears as he broke away from his family and summoned his Driver and Gaia Memory.

< TRIGGER! >

“Henshin!”

> TRIGGER! <

In a matter of seconds, Shining transformed into Kamen Rider Trigger, he immediately jumped up on the stage, keeping his Chrome Magnum trained on the figure as the mayor’s protection detail got her away. “Who or what are you?!”

The being grinned wickedly as he said, “Who am I?! I am Santa Claws! A rebel with a cause!” Santa Claws reached into his bag and pulled out two gifts. “I’ll punish you all and give you a fright!” The monster Santa threw the gifts overboard as he shouted, “NOW HAVE HORRIBLE CHRISTMAS NIGHT!”

Trigger didn’t give them time to hit as he fired at both of the packages. The moment his laser bolts hit the packages, they exploded into big bang of brightly colored flames, like fireworks with a destructive kick to them. The unjolly fat man released maniacal laughter into the air as he pulled more gifts and began throwing them off indiscriminately.

“EVERYBODY, CLEAR THE AREA!” Trigger ordered as he took out the Gatling Memory.

< GATLING! >

|^| GATLING! ARMED! |^|

The Chrome Magnum transformed into its Gatling Gun form, allowing Trigger to fire into the air and sweep the open space as the presents fell and exploded. Everybody on the ground was scrambling about, running in any direction that would get them away from the crazed Santa monster.

Twilight just stared up at the demented man in the flying sleigh, as she did; she took out her cellphone and decided to do a video call. After about twenty seconds, Starlight Glimmer answered the phone.

[Twilight, what’s wrong, you look a little miffed.]

“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it has to do with THAT!”

Twilight turned her phone around, showing Santa Claws causing all sorts of mayhem. [What in the name of all things holy is that thing?!]

Twilight turned the phone around to face herself. “Wait, you didn’t release another Gaia Memory?!”

[No! I gave the whole staff holiday vacation! Even the underground lab staff is off! I’m not even at the building, I’m at home! There’s no possible way that – OH! Oh no…]

Sunset entered and asked, “‘Oh no’ what?”

Starlight looked nervous as she spoke, [Well…a few days ago, the Emerald Mountain reacted and spat out something that zoomed off out of the cavern. We tried tracking it down, but no such luck, I figured it had left the city…and it seems I was right…]

Sunset slapped her forehead. “And you waited until now to tell us?!”

[I didn’t want to ruin your holiday and birthday with something like this! I was going to handle it since it was most likely going to hinder my plans!] Starlight sighed. [Regardless, I’ll join the battle soon.]

Sunset looked up at Santa Claws, and then to Starlight. “No, it’s fine, we can handle this.”

[Sorry…]

Before Starlight signed off, Sunset showed a small smile as she said, “Have a Merry Christmas, Starlight.”

With that established, Sunset knew that this Dopant may just be some hapless civilian who was corrupted by the rogue Gaia Memory, or someone who was truly out to ruin the holiday cheer. Either way, Santa Claws had to be stopped, unfortunately, there were very few places where Sunset could transform, or there was no way she wouldn’t get spotted with such scarce cover. That is until she spotted the giant Christmas tree. The only ones around there was Trigger and Santa Claws, with a confident smirk, Sunset dashed for the tree.

Trigger continued to blast all the gifts that rained from the sky, but that limited Trigger as to how to counterattack. Sunset ran as fast as she could, passing by Trigger for as their gazes locked. Trigger understood what Sunset was going to do as he provided cover fire for her to change.

Sunset managed to duck under the tree, she scanned the area, but no one was around, and the thick branches obscured her from any prying eyes. With a nod, Sunset summoned her Uni-Driver and Unicorn Memory.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

A flash of turquoise light erupted from under the tree, catching the attention of Santa Claws. He raised his right hand and prepared to chuck a present in that direction, but was stopped when Unicorn appeared behind him, gripping his wrist to prevent him from tossing the glorified bomb.

“You know, you’re not being a very good Santa, you’re supposed be a jolly soul,” said Unicorn.

“Oh, ho, ho! But I am being a good Santa! I’ve let everyone skate by for too long, and now I’m here to correct that mistake!” Santa Claws’ eyes glowed as he looked at Unicorn directly. “I and see I have quite the naughty child standing before me, eh, Sunset Shimmer?!”

Unicorn released her grip in shock, upon doing so; Santa Claws reached back and swiped his clawed nails across Unicorn’s chest armor. Sparks flew from her as she was tossed back by the strength of his attack. Unicorn landed on his sack of presents, but she wasn’t given much time to recover as Santa Claws jumped up and stood over Unicorn, grabbing her by arm and then tossing her overboard.

The magical hero descended at a rapid pace, but thankfully used her teleportation spell to land on her feet. Trigger ran up to her side, his weapon trained on the Santa monster. “Hey, you alright?”

“He…He knew my name…!”

“Wait, what, how?!” Trigger asked.

“The answer is quite simple.” Santa Claws’ sleigh lowered until it hovered five feet off the ground. Santa jumped off and landed with a thud and a crunch of the snow as he stood to his full height. “That’s because Santa knows the names of all the naughty and nice kids of the world! Like you, Shining Armor.”

Trigger shrugged. “Big deal, you know my name, everybody knows I’m Trigger.”

Santa Claws stroked his beard as chuckled. “Ho, ho, that’s true. But, I don’t think anybody knows that you recently sent a letter addressed to me, saying how you wanted me to and I quote, ‘Overlook Sunset Shimmer’s past misdeeds’ and ‘She has a good heart and loves my sister dearly, so please give her the gift of a good Christmas.”

Trigger stiffened at hearing that, prompting Unicorn to glance in his direction. Although his helmet obscured it, Unicorn could see the signs that Santa Claws was not lying.

“Trigger…?”

“You…I mean…don’t make me say it, you get it, right?” Trigger asked in a pleading tone.

If it wasn’t for the fact that they were engaged with a Dopant Santa, Unicorn would have hugged the big lug.

“Yes, and for asking for something as selfless as that, I will spare you and your family any harm this night. However…I cannot – will not – overlook this child’s misdeeds upon the people here in this realm! I may not have much authority in Equestria, but that does not mean my eyes are blind to what happens there! So, I will give you the punishment you so righteously deserve!”

Santa Claws brought his hands together, at the center of his palms a lump of coal formed, and in a matter of seconds that lump was set ablaze with burning crimson flames. The Dopant Santa lunched the burning coal straight for Unicorn, but at the last second, she dodged it, allowing the coal to hit the ground behind her, instantly evaporating the snow and leaving a three-foot-wide crater.

Trigger fired his Chrome Magnum at Santa Claws, but the Dopant merely changed form. The villain’s body transformed into burning ash that zipped about the battlefield as Trigger continued to try and hit him. Unicorn focused her magic, watching Santa Claws’ movements carefully. At that moment, she cast a spell, creating a barrier wall in front of the wisp of ashes, stopping him in his tracks. But Unicorn wasn’t done; she expanded the wall, turning it into a spherical barrier that completely trapped him.

Santa Claws returned to his normal form, growling as he pounded at the barrier. “You dare detain me?! Do you have any idea how many presents I have to deliver after I’m through with you?!”

“Considering the way you’re acting right now, trust me, I’m doing every good boy and girl in the world a favor!” Unicorn stated. “Trigger, fire off a Max Drive attack while I got him!”

Santa Claws smirked. “You seem to have forgotten something.”

Suddenly, the wild snorting and growls of the demon reindeer magnified as they four beasts pulled the sleigh, moving at such a fast pace that Trigger didn’t have time to dodge. Armored hooves and sharp antlers struck Trigger, sending him flying into the air as sparks flew of his armor, ending with him lying in the snow.

“TRIGGER!”

Santa Claws surrounded his forearms in burning coals as he struck the sphere with all his might, shattering it into pieces. The Dopant transformed into burning ash as he zoomed straight for Unicorn. Once upon her, Santa Claws entered and exited his ash form, striking Unicorn from all sides as she struggled to defend herself.

“This is for that filly you dunked in the fountain!”

A fierce right hook struck her in the head.

“This is for setting that fire construct on your fellow students just for a laugh!”

Another fierce blow came from the side, hitting Unicorn in the ribs.

“This is for tormenting every young boy and girl who crossed your path in this world!”

Santa Claws remerged and gave Unicorn a knee strike to the gut, making her hunch over.

“And this is for scorning all those who showed you kindness and love!”

The Dopant Santa brought both hands up, the coal merged together until if formed a burning hammer. Santa Claws brought down that burning hammer causing a massive explosion that sent Unicorn into the air, only to fall back down with a mighty crash as a crater formed from the impact.

Unicorn just lied there, the beating was bad, but the words Santa Claws spoke hurt worse. But then Sunset remembered, the days she had spent with her friends, the words exchanged with Twilight, all of it resonated within her, soothing the pain and anxiety of her past. The words of the three mystery women also echoed in her mind, the words they spoke, they held just as much weight as those spoken of by her friends and lover.

Santa Claws stood at the edge of the crater, his wicked grin split his face as he looked down at the beaten hero. “Now, Sunset Shimmer, any last words?”

Unicorn pulled herself up, getting into a sitting position as she panted. “Yeah…I’m sorry.”

Santa Claws raised an eyebrow in confusion. “An apology will not save you now, a good effort, but pointless.”

Unicorn managed to stand to her full height as she looked at Santa Claws. “No, I’m apologizing to my friends, and those I love. I’ve been continuously blaming myself for my past, I need to learn to accept that I did bad things, and learn from the experiences of the past. I must learn to accept the present, that this is the person I am today, and to work towards a future that I can be proud of, one where I am surrounded by friends and loved ones!”

The heroine took a fighting stance as her horn glowed. “So, come at me all you want, I’ll take all that punishment, and then I’ll set you free from that Gaia Memory! And that will be my present to you!”

A bright flash of light emanated from Unicorn’s right hand, blinding both Santa Claws and Unicorn. The light began to dim as Unicorn felt something in her hand, and when it finally went out, she found herself holding the mysterious rectangular gift Alice gave her at the mall.

“Say, what time is it?” Unicorn asked.

Santa Claws, strangely, obliged the question as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a watch, flipping open the latch he read, “It’s midnight.”

Unicorn tore the box open and revealed the present, A Gaia Memory. It was colored green and red, with an “M” symbol that was made of sparkling stars. “Well then, happy birthday to me!”

< MIRACULOUS! >

{< MIRACULOUS! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A starry “M” formed behind Unicorn, the starry energy wrapped around her, changing Unicorn into a new Mimetic Form. Red armor plates formed over forearms and shins. A white color formed within the inner leg and thigh, going up her stomach to form a big heart, and continuing up her neck and stopping around where the face plate was. At the center of the heart was an outline of a five-pointed star. The green of the armor became a deeper, sparkling green color, with whimsical swirls that ended with a four-pointed star.

On the sides of the helmet two antlers grew, both were three pointed and colored silver. Around Unicorn’s neck, a red velvet cape formed, with white fur edges, the inside of was different, it appeared as if a brightly lit starry night was sewn into the fabric. When the starlight finally faded and now Unicorn was in her newest Mimetic Form.

“Unicorn: Miracle Star!”

Santa Claws’ eye twitched at this latest development. “A festive wardrobe change won’t save you!”

“Oh man, if I had a bit for every single bad guy who said that, I’d be a rich mare.” Unicorn entered a fighting stance. “But right now, I’ll settle for getting you back to normal.”

Santa Claws summoned a giant burning coal overhead; he then jumped into the air and chucked it straight at Unicorn. The empowered heroine pressed down on her hip port twice, flared her cape, and wrapped herself in it. The burning ember struck the crater where Unicorn was at and exploded, sending a shockwave that shorted out all the lights and knocked down the giant Christmas tree. Santa Claws’ sleigh arrived in time to catch him, and there he stood, looking down at his handy work as he smiled sinisterly. However, that smile faded when he noticed there was a large red bag sitting in the middle of the crater.

\\ INIFINTY BAG! //

The bag opened up, and slowly revealed Unicorn as the bag morphed back into her red cape. “Yeah, apparently the inside of the cape has its own pocket dimension, and the outside is pretty durable to attacks. Go figure.”

Santa Claws growled in anger as he took the reins of his sleigh whipped them once, making the four demon bucks charge forward at ramming speed. Unicorn chuckled as her horn lit up, and in the next second, she disappeared. Santa Claws pulled upon the reins and made the sleigh fly straight up before leveling off. The Dopant glanced about, trying to see where Unicorn would pop up.

Unicorn did reappear, but it was several feet above Santa Claws’ position. The magical hero went into free fall as she pressed down once on the left hip port.

\ MISTILTEINN! /

Vines of green light formed in Unicorn’s right hand, coiling together until they gave off a flash, and formed a sword. The hilt was woven tightly together by vines of mistletoe, while the blade was made of a polished metal that glowed white. Santa Claws looked up and watched as his foe was heading right for him. The Dopant quickly used his power to form an ax made of burning coals, just in time for the two blades to crash into each other. The shockwave generated from the clash pushed Unicorn back up and made Santa Claws’ sleigh shake and rattle.

Santa Claws believed that Unicorn would fall, and he’d catch her off guard. The plan wouldn’t get the chance to be enacted as Unicorn’s body became outlined with a shimmering aura, allowing her to float in midair. Upon further inspection, it seemed the cause for this new flight ability was the antlers as they were glowing brightly to match the aura surrounding Unicorn. With this new discovery, Unicorn charged in with her sword, but Santa Claws was not having any of it. The Dopant Santa transformed into burning ash and headed for her, Unicorn flew at the ash stream and slashed at it. Santa Claws was forced to reenter into his solid state as he crossed blades with Unicorn.

Santa Claws broke off and came around to attack her from the back. However, Unicorn’s antlers began to blink and in response Unicorn flipped around and blocked Santa Claws’ attack. The two of them continued in this fashion for about a minute, trading blows in the air as two streaks of evergreen and crimson collided with each strike.

The two separated with Santa Claws returning to his sleigh, huffing from the effort of fighting Unicorn. The magical Rider was tired too, but she persevered, the longer she fought this man, the more she was starting to think the impossible. “If you are who I think you may be, then I need to end this before it gets any later.”

“Finally, something we agree on! I’ve been wasting too much time with you, and I have a very busy night ahead of me! So, let’s wrap this up!” Santa Claws announced.

Unicorn flew high into air, and Santa Claws followed after her in the sleigh. Higher and higher the two ascended until they broke through the snow heavy clouds and into the clear skies above, the numerous twinkling stars and full moon shined in the night sky as the two beings readied for their final attack. Santa Claws’ sleigh began to shine with dark energy, each of the demonic reindeers’ eyes glowed as Santa Claws himself raged as the nucleus of this power.

Unicorn took out the Miraculous Memory and placed it into her right hip port.

>} MIRACULOUS! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn’s whole body began to sparkle with twinkling lights as she extended her right arm up and pointed to the heavens. “It’s time to restore harmony!”

Santa Claws whipped the reins and made his reindeer charge for Unicorn, their speed and combined power turned the sleigh into a dark meteor that was careening straight for the Rider. But at that moment, Unicorn’s body changed into a reindeer light construct. The new form began to dash towards Santa Claws, leaving a trail of sparkling stars in its wake.

The construct proved to be the faster of the two, as the Unicorn-Reindeer construct began to fly circles around Santa Claws, each pass left behind twinkling stars that seemed to form a line. The construct moved faster, crisscrossing the lines, moving up, around, and over. Santa Claws didn’t know which way to go, Unicorn was moving too fast to intercept.

After one final pass, the trail of twinkling stars expanded and combined together to form a perfect sphere that completely surrounded Santa Claws. The construct flew up higher until it was over the ball, changing back into Unicorn Miracle Star. The energy from the construct gathered around Unicorn’s right foot as she dove down for a Rider Kick. When she hit the sphere, it changed colors into that of the evergreen color of Unicorn’s transformation. Every single star that made up the sphere descended upon Santa Claws all at once.

“Oh…sugarplums…”

Several sparkling lights of gold, green, and red went off at the same time, ending with a massive explosion of sparkling evergreen light that lit up the sky. Unicorn reappeared on the ground, but the attack was not done yet. With a wave of her hand, she pointed to the sky to pronounce the name of the attack, which was simply called…

“MIRACLE!”

From the explosion, the evergreen stars spread out through the area, surrounding all the trees and stands that were damaged during the battle. All at once the damage was fixed, as if nothing had ever happened. Trigger was caught up in a whirlwind of those stars and was completely healed and standing.

“Uh…what just happened?” Trigger asked in confusion.

The stars seemed to be swirling around something large, bringing it down from the sky and setting it upon the ground. When the stars blinked out of existence, Trigger and Unicorn gasped at what they saw. There, in a bright red and gold colored sleigh, with four brown furred reindeer, and sporting a red suit and white beard, was Santa Claus, although, the jolly man seemed knocked out.

“That can’t really be…him, can it?”

“I’m a magical talking unicorn from a parallel dimension, and we fight monsters with supernaturally powered USB sticks. Yeah, at this point, I’m not ruling out anything,” said Unicorn as she approached the sleeping old man. “Hey…um, Santa, you alright?”

The old man in the sleigh groaned as he came to, shaking his head to dispel the fogginess that surrounded it. When he looked to his left, the old man spotted Trigger and Unicorn blinked, and then looked down at his hand. All three looked to his gloved hand and noticed a strange Gaia Memory; it had the rib design of a T1, along with the smoothness of a T2. The symbol at the center was that of “C” with black fiery design. After a moment the Gaia Memory shattered in his hand and the pieces evaporated into nothingness.

“Oh, oh my, what have I done?”

“Is it…really you? The Santa Claus?” Unicorn asked.

“Unfortunately, child, I am…and I have done a great disservice to you all…” Santa hung his head in lament. “Please, forgive me. I was not of my right mind when I spoke of all those things…”

Unicorn sighed. “Well, it’s not like you were wrong.”

“But the same is also true, that you have become so much more than your past, Sunset,” Santa explained. “You saved me from that accursed device.”

“Yeah, exactly how did you do that? I’ve never seen you use that before.”

“Yeah, that’s thanks to us.”

Unicorn, Santa, and Trigger turned around. The magical hero gasped as she saw the three women she had met these past few days. “Y-You’re–!”

“Aurora,” the old woman announced.

“Bori,” the young woman spoke.

“Alice,” the young girl exclaimed.

“The Gift Givers of the Grove!”

Upon this declaration, all three women shined with a combined light, transforming into reindeer, but not normal ones. Aurora was a mint green color, with her right antler missing a piece, and wearing a shawl held at the center by a jingle bell. Bori was a pink reindeer with medium seized antlers and sported her jingle bell earrings. And the youngest of the group, Alice, had small antlers and wore a red bow with a jingle bell at the center. It was unmistakable that these three hailed from Equestria.

“B-B-But you – you’re – FROM EQUESTRIA?!” Unicorn exclaimed.

Alice floated over and booped Unicorn on the nose of her helmet. “Yep, told ya that present would come in handy.”

Suddenly, Unicorn changed back into her default form, and the Miraculous Memory dissolved into shimmering sparkles.

“You see, Aurora sees gifts of the past, Alice sees gifts of the future, and I just live in the moment,” Bori explained.

“Yeah, like how I saw something was going to happen to the big guy over there, and that the only one who could save him was Sunset,” said Alice. “But I also saw that you were still full of self-doubt and other junk.”

Unicorn recalled the words said to her by Santa Claws. “And that’s why you all were giving me advice when we met each other?”

Bori nodded. “Indeed, that device gave Santa the power to weigh down the hearts of others with all the negative things they’ve done in their lives, magnifying them to the point where they lose the will to fight and accept their fate. Alice can see even bad gifts, so to counteract that, we decided to try and give you as much encouragement as we could to try and overcome your past.”

Aurora floated over to Unicorn and patted her on the helmet. “And it’s a good thing ya did; otherwise that little doohickey wouldn’t have worked. It was a special Memory, one that could only work if you believed in yourself.”

“Wait, how are you guys here in our world if you’re from Sunset’s?” Trigger asked.

“Oh, well that’s simple Shining Armor,” Santa answered. “The Gift Givers and I share a connection to Earth and Equestria, I can peer into their world and them into ours, and sometimes we can crossover into each other’s worlds from time to time to help out.”

Alice flew around to the front of the sleigh and said, “On that note, you better get going if you’re going to finish up before the nights over! And before you ask, yes, we’ll lend you a hoof!”

All three of the Gift Givers used their magic to lift he sleigh, and gave it a little of their energy. Santa Claus gave a hearty “Ho, ho, ho!” before snapping the reins and having the sleigh take off.

“Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!” Santa declared.

“And Happy Hearths Warming!” Aurora, Bori, and Alice added.

With that, they zoomed into the night, leaving Trigger and Unicorn to watch as an aurora borealis formed in the night sky above Canterlot City.

Trigger crossed his arms as he looked up at the lights and said, “Happy Birthday.”

Unicorn smiled under helmet and replied, “Merry Christmas.”

***________________________***

Sunset slept like a log that night, along with Shining Armor, actually most of the family did. So it was a late start for the whole family. A feast was had, and Sunset and Shining Armor ate like a couple of starving beasts.

“She has quite the healthy appetite,” Night Light commented.

“Daddy!” Twilight hissed in embarrassment.

“My, maybe I should have made more,” said Velvet.

After their meal was had, the family gathered in the living room and began opening presents. Cadance wondered where her gift was, but was assured by Shining Armor that it would come after everyone got there’s. With that, Cadance gave Shining his present, a limited edition, Crisis Comic: Jade Guard, very rare. When asked how she procured such an item, she simply said, “Let’s just say that the owner at the Comic Shop was no match for my wiles.” By that, Cadance merely gave the clerk the flirty bat of the eyes a cute giggle.

Velvet received a writing quill, a finely made one with a brass handle and tip, the feather itself was black and sheened in the light. The gift was from Night Light, knowing his wife had a signature when writing her signature on important work she was working on for her writer or writers. It often involved her signing her name with old ink dipped pens, and Velvet had her eye on that one for a while now. Night was given a new telescope, he may work in the Canterlot Observatory, but sometimes he’d like to stargaze for fun. Even Spike wasn’t left out on the festivities, having received a new collar, and a nice new chew toy.

Now we came to the “main event” as the adults in the room were joking. Sunset found the gift that Alice had given her, before that night, Sunset wasn’t sure about the gift itself, but then there was that thing at the park and Sunset became more confident that she knew what it was. Twilight received the gift and slowly opened it, inside was an emerald crystal charm of a unicorn.

“I know it’s cheesy…corny even…and if you want to take it back, then I’d completely understand,” said Sunset.

Twilight giggled as she reached for her present and gave it to Sunset. Curious, Sunset opened the box and her jaw dropped. “When I saw it…I was worried it would be offensive, possibly corny and cheesy, but now…”

Sunset saw an identical crystal charm in her present box and not too long after, both girls went into a fit of laughter at how this came about. Neither one wasted placing the charm bracelet on the other girls’ wrist; the careful manner in which they did it would have given the impression that the two were exchanging engagement rings. Cadance and Velvet couldn’t contain their squeals of delight at seeing this exchange.

“Oh, can we please start planning for their wedding?!” Velvet asked.

“I call brides maid!” Cadance added.

Sunset and Twilight both blushed, and as if answering her prayers, Sunset’s cellphone rang allowing for the excuse to leave and take the call. When Sunset went into the kitchen she looked at the caller ID and froze for a moment before answering. “Hello, Starlight.”

[Happy Birthday, Sunset Shimmer. I heard your eighteen, officially an adult.]

“Heh, you offering to take me to a fancy hotel or something? Sorry, but that part of my life is saved for Twilight, but you come in at a close second,” Sunset teased.

[Ha, ha, guess that’s your loss. I had a fabulous night of wine, luxury, and debauchery planned for your turning legal.]

Sunset chuckled at their teasing, but her face grew a little somber as she said, “Hey, sorry for…for thinking that you were the one who caused that incident.”

[Sunset, considering the nature of our relationship, I don’t blame you or Twilight for your suspicion. That being said, I hope you don’t think I didn’t get you anything.]

Sunset blinked. “W-What?? You really didn’t have to…”

[Well, too bad, I did. Although, what I have can’t be given to you right away, it’ll take a little more time to finish up, but I promise your belated present will be worth the wait. For now, enjoy your day, and I’m happy that you’re surrounded by people who love and cherish you.]

Sunset took a moment to remember, these last seven days spent with each of her friends’ families, being treated as family, and finally, being welcomed as family by them. The amber girl peeked around the corner of the kitchen and smiled as she watched the Sparkle Family continue their merry making, with Twilight waving Sunset down to come and join them. Sunset smiled and went back into the kitchen for a moment.

“Thank you, and Merry Christmas Starlight,” said Sunset.

[Happy birthday, Sunset.]

After all her past scheming, her straying from the correct path, defying her mentor, making others miserable, and then falling low only to rise again into a better person and a better pony. This year had shown Sunset that she didn’t have to be alone anymore, that her past no longer defined her, if anything, it helped to mold her into the best version of herself. Friends, family, and a lover, what more could she ask for?

“AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Sunset turned the corner and looked back into the living room, their, on one knee, was Shining Armor, and in his hands was a diamond engagement ring. The scream from earlier was apparently Cadance screaming in joy and jumping up and down like a five-year-old.

“Will you marry me?” Shining Armor asked.

“YES! YES! YES!” Cadance fiercely hugged Shining Armor and kissed him again and again. She then turned to Twilight and Sunset, who had just entered the room. “YOU TWO!” Cadance pointed at both girls, “You’re both my bride maids! And I am NOT taking no for an answer!”

Of all the things that the girls could’ve said at that moment, and of all the things Night Light and Velvet could’ve said, they all only had one thing to say. “It’s about damn time!”

V: Victory Condition Achieved / A Promise Kept

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“That new girl is, like, really creepy.”

“She’s super smart and stupid strong and fast, how’s that fair?”

“She thinks she’s better than us, you can tell in that smug smile of hers.”

Words hurt, that was a lesson that young Starlight Glimmer learned when she was just eight-years-old. With the passing of her mother, her father, Firelight, was doing the best he could as a single parent, Starlight felt she had to grow up a bit more than most girls. She was incredibly smart, so she knew from an early age how hard it was going to be for her father to raise her on his own, so she did what she could to make it easier for him. She helped around the house, cleaning her room, and the house when she could. Getting herself dressed for school so as to give her father one less thing to do when getting her ready for school, and she even helped with making breakfast, although she wasn’t allowed near the stove, or use sharp knives unless they were the plastic ones.

Of course, a good majority of help that came to them was from Starlight’s one – and quite possibly only – friend, Sunburst. He and his mother, Stellar Flare, were close to their family, and Sunburst’s mother was divorced so she knew the struggle of raising a child alone and was more than happy to help the family. In a strange way, Sunburst became Starlight’s brother, although, she wouldn’t exactly call it that, they’re families were just close without either of their parents marrying each other.

At one point, Starlight actually contemplated a plan with Sunburst to try and get their parents to fall in love and marry each other, that way they could be a family. Of course, after many failed attempts by the duo, both their parents sat them down and gave them many reasons why that was not going to happen anytime soon. But, as Starlight pointed out, that didn’t mean the possibility was zero.

For years Starlight and Sunburst had been together, helping each other out, getting into a little mischief here and there, why, he was even there when Starlight tried her first alcoholic drink. It didn’t end pretty.

However, if there was one thing that one could say about them, it was that Sunburst was – more often than not – being compared to Starlight. At a time, he was considered the smartest kid in their school, and at first, he didn’t mind, Sunburst actually liked having someone as smart as he was. That’s why, whenever someone made fun of her, he’d always play the “knight in shining armor” for her. As they got older, that was becoming less and less of a thing as Starlight started to not just improve her mind, but her physical body as well, taking different martial arts classes, fencing, kendo, and other sports activities at their school.

It was after a martial arts tournament, Starlight had just defended her title once again for the third year in a row. She had already changed out of her uniform and was in her sweats, after getting all her things; she exited the changing area and found Sunburst waiting there with a bottle of water.

“Thanks, Sunburst,” said Starlight with a smile.

“You did great out there, that guy didn’t stand a chance,” said Sunburst.

After guzzling down half of the bottle, Starlight took a breath and replied, “No, that was pretty tough, he knew what he was doing, his attacks were precise and strong, and he had good pacing, he was either going to tire me out or force me to attack for the ring outs.”

“Yeah, he was skirting you close to the edge of that mat a lot. But in the end, you still kicked his butt.” Sunburst gave his friend a light jab on the arm.

Starlight chuckled, “Thanks.” She stopped in the hallway and looked at her friend happily. “I really need to thank you, Sunburst.”

Sunburst stopped and looked at Starlight quizzically. “For what? I didn’t do anything.”

Starlight shook her head. “For being my friend. Sometimes I feel like it’s me against the world, but you help keep me grounded.”

“Of course, otherwise your ego would get so big that we’d have to classify it as the ninth planet.”

“You jerk!” Starlight exclaimed with a light shove, earning a round of laughter from the both of them.

***____________________________***

Winter Break was still in swing, and after this weekend it would officially be New Years. With the break still going on and their ceasefire still in effect, Sunset had decided now was time to keep her promise to Starlight Glimmer. So with some talking, she managed to get Princess Twilight to open the portal and allow them to come over and have this reunion. And so, now it was Friday, and Sunset Shimmer was leaning against the alabaster Wondercolt statue, or what was left of it after the Friendship Games. She checked her phone for what felt like the hundredth time that day, going ever the text messages that she sent Starlight Glimmer yesterday.

{Starlight, I’ve spoken with Princess Twilight, and she has agreed to allow you to come to Equestria. However, you will be under my supervision and your pony double is coming with us. It’s going to be confusing enough to have to explain it to Sunburst, so better to have both of you there.}

{P. S. This is not a trick, if you still trust me enough to uphold my word; I’ll be waiting tomorrow at my school in front of the statue. Don’t worry about packing anything. Where we’re going, clothes are optional.}

Sunset remembered to text all her friends and girlfriend about what she was doing, more so to keep them in the loop and just in case Starlight tried something while she was away. She hoped for the best but planned for the worst. It was approaching eight in the morning, and still no sign of her. Sunset had remembered to dress warmly, but there was only so long she could wait in the freezing cold. She was about to dial Starlight’s number when she saw a limo turn the corner and pull next to the sidewalk in front of the school.

Starlight exited the car, rushing over to Sunset and skidding to a stop. She was dressed warmly as well, a pair of black denim jeans, a thick purple leather coat, and black leather gloves, and with her hair tied into a ponytail. “I-I’m sorry, Sunset! I-I had to cancel some meetings and push back some things to clear enough time, but I’m here now! Am I too late?!”

Sunset shook her head. “Nope, the portal’s been open since I’ve got here; I’ve just been standing guard to make sure no one stumbles in.” The former unicorn mare walked over to the side where the portal was open and pushed her hand through, showing the rippled distortion of the open gateway. “Remember why you’re there, alright? I trust you not to do anything that will make me have to fight you. The denizens of my world have already had to deal with a threat that very nearly wiped out our universe and could’ve spread to others. So, I don’t want to have to worry about you, okay?”

Starlight shook her head vigorously. “I promise I won’t! I even left my Driver and Gaia Memory back at home! You can even shackle me if you want!”

Sunset blinked. “I…No, I don’t think that will be necessary.”

Starlight rubbed the back of her head nervously, as she said, “Sorry, I’m just really nervous and really don’t want to screw this up…”

The amber girl shook her head and smiled at the young woman. “I understand. Now some important things to know, going through the portal is going to feel like a rollercoaster ride. When you exit you’re not going to be you, you’re going to transform into a pony.”

“A pony?”

“A pony.”

“With hooves, fur, and a tail?”

“And a muzzle, but you won’t look like the ones here, we’re built differently. Also, I have no idea what tribe you’ll be either. I’m a unicorn, originally, same as your pony double. But I have no idea if that applies to you, too.”

Starlight slowly nodded. “Uh-huh, and when you said, ‘clothing is optional’, you meant that as a joke, right?”

Sunset grinned. “Nope, basically, you’ll be naked when you get there, so better to strip now to make it easier.” The look on Starlight’s face was priceless, she wasn’t even sure the girl could look that red and embarrassed. Okay better tell her the tru– “WHAT IN THE?!” Starlight was about to unbutton her coat when Sunset rushed over and stopped her. “I was kidding! You can pass through the portal with them on, but you’ll just have fur all over you when you transform, but you still need them here!”

Starlight’s face became even redder as she contemplated the fact that she almost stripped naked in front of a public school. “You can be terrible sometimes, you know that, right?”

“So, I’ve been told by my girlfriend, and friends. But in all seriousness, your center of gravity is going to shift. When you exit, lean forward with your arms out.”

With that piece of advice given, Sunset returned to the portal with Starlight in tow. The young woman carefully touched the portal, watching the surface ripple like water. Sunset nodded towards the portal, silently encouraging Starlight to go on. Taking a deep breath in and a long exhale to calm her nerves, Starlight walked straight ahead and passed through.

The world around Starlight became nothing but swirling colors, and streams of light. She could feel a powerful force at work in this tunnel, an energy that was seeping into her body. It didn’t hurt; it just tingled all over her body. After a few more seconds of the glorified dimensional flume ride, Starlight could see the light at the end of the tunnel. She remembered what Sunset said and held out her arms in front of herself and leaned forward the moment she reached the end.

Starlight had closed her eyes but did feel herself land on her hands and finding a strange sense of balance. She tried to wiggle her fingers, but found that something else was moving, and that she could feel something soft underneath, almost like carpet. Starlight slowly opened her eyes and beheld a large library, with a vast collection of books. Above her the structure seemed to be made of crystal, not even the most gifted contractors and builders could fashion crystal into such a way. Her eyes eventually fell back down before her, and she saw something odd.

There was a…pony, although not like the ones in her world. This one had large, violet eyes; an indigo mane with a pink streak running through it to match her tail, and her fur was colored purple. Probably more striking than that was the fact that this pony sported a long spiral horn and wings that rested at her side.

“Hello there,” said the horned-winged-pony.

Starlight blinked, that voice, it sounded exactly like, “Twilight…Sparkle?”

“Oh, you knew my name! Wait, of course you do, Sunset probably told you and you’ve most likely met my human counterpart,” said Twilight.

“Oh…Okay, so, the pony version is a winged unicorn,” said Starlight in a dumbfounded state.

“Um, the term is ‘alicorn’, and you might want to move.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow before noticing an increase of light coming from behind her. The light grew and grew until Sunset barreled into Starlight, sending both mares tumbling and rolling across the floor until they eventually hit the other side, causing a cascade of books to fall. Fearing for their safety, Twilight quickly used her magic to catch all the books, wrapping them in her telekinetic aura and placed them back in their original positions.

“Every time, I’m starting to think I need to set up a mattress whenever somepony comes through the portal,” Twilight commented.

“It couldn’t hurt,” said Sunset as she rose up and looked down at the mare underneath her. “You okay, Starlight.”

Starlight blinked as he beheld Sunset Shimmer now above her. She had to admit, Sunset looked…good, as a pony. Her mane was same as her hair back on Earth, fiery locks of red and gold, her turquoise eyes held strength and resolve, and yet intelligence and understanding. Her gaze fell on her legs, or rather forelegs, which seemed to have lean muscle running through them. She gazed lower until Sunset’s voice drew her attention back up.

“You know, I don’t mind being checked out, but if you’re going to continue to look at my underbelly, I’m going to start charging,” said Sunset with a smirk.

Starlight blushed. “I-I wasn’t looking! I was just observing – I mean, I was looking, but not like that! I just thought you looked cute – I mean majestic – I mean cute and hot – I mean–!” Starlight was cut off by a hoof pressing against her lips.

“Stop now, while you’re ahead, and thanks, I know I am.” Sunset backed away to allow Starlight to rise on her own power.

Starlight tried to, but the task was difficult, only now that she was on the floor did she take in what had happened to her. Her body was covered in lilac colored fur, her hands had become hooves, and she used said hooves to feel her face and noticed it had become elongated into a muzzle. Her hooves traveled up further and felt a horn protruding from her forehead.

“I’m a…a unicorn, right?” Starlight asked.

“Figures, typically whatever your pony counterpart’s tribe is, chances are that’s what you’ll look like. Of course, I’m just theorizing. Do you have any input, Twilight? Twilight?” Sunset turned her head around and saw that Princess Twilight’s mouth was hanging open, eyes wide as dinner plates. “Um, Twi, you alright?”

“S-S-Sunset…w-when did you become an alicorn?!” Twilight exclaimed.

Sunset’s eyes went wide, she immediately checked her sides, and sure enough there were wings tucked against her sides. The sun-yellow mare’s left eye began to twitch; she then broke into a fit of hysterical laughter before flopping to the floor, completely knocked out, with her mind only able to capture the echoes of Twilight and Starlight calling out to her.

***____________________________***

Sunset opened her eyes slowly as she came to, looking up at a familiar crystal ceiling, and feeling a sense of comfortability with her body. She then glanced to her left and saw a worried Twilight. “Hey, babe, you look cute as a pony…”

Twilight blushed, resisting the urge to just play along with Sunset’s confused state. “As much as I’d like to take advantage of your confusion, it’s me, Princess Twilight.”

Sunset shook her head, now taking in the full scope of who she was speaking to. A tint of red colored Sunset’s cheeks as realized her faux pas. “Heh, heh, sorry.”

Twilight’s wings fluttered a little. “Y-You know, the offer still stands. Just to let you know”

“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” Sunset slowly sat up, letting the blankets fall from her body and reveal the wings that were still tucked against her sides. She looked down her sides again, groaned, and then fell back onto the bed. “I really am an alicorn, right?”

Twilight nodded slowly. “I ran a scan of your magical circuits while you were asleep, and there’s no doubt, your physiology and magical power are similar to mine. You are a Princess, Sunset Shimmer.”

The mare in question put her hooves against her face and groaned out loud, “HOW?!”

“My guess, when we used the Phoenix Ascender to bring you back, the Elements of Harmony fused into you, granting you the power of an ascended alicorn. I figured you got the power, I felt it all the way to the hospital when you fought the Sirens, but I never thought it would cause a physical transformation like this!” Twilight explained in an almost giddy tone.

“Great…” Sunset droned.

The purple pony princess tilted her head in confusion. “Why aren’t you excited by this? This is a great honor, you deserve it.”

Sunset sighed heavily. “I know……and I shouldn’t have it.”

Twilight shook her head. “Why would you say that?”

“Because I was prideful, a brat, and I believed I deserved everything that was owed me, because I was the best student, and Princess Celestia’s – Mom’s – personal protégé. I have just come to terms with everything in my past, more or less, and now I got this on top it all…” Sunset began to chuckle. “It’s funny how similar we were in that regard, had it not been for my mistakes, you might’ve ended up just like me.”

“Or like Moondancer…” Twilight whispered.

“What?”

“A friend of mine from back in my days at Celestia’s school, I hurt her pretty bad by not showing up to her birthday party, somepony who she looked up to, admired, and made her feel as if she had some worth, shunned her and shattered her self-worth……” Twilight shed a few tears, remembering Moondancer’s tirade. “She ended up throwing herself into studying, well, everything, every subject she could, and it made her into a shut-in. I caused that…Yes, I was called away by Celestia to stop Nightmare Moon, but I never so much as wrote her, or my other school friends, about why I wasn’t there, why I wasn’t coming back any time soon.”

“Twilight…”

“So, you’re not the only one who feels as if she doesn’t deserve her wings, after I found that out, I truly felt I was unworthy of the title Princess of Friendship.”

Whether by force of will or by instinct, Sunset’s left wing extended forward and brushed against Twilight’s cheek to wipe away the tears that were falling. “You are worthy, you made a mistake, but you made up with her in the end, right?” Twilight nodded. “That’s all that matters, recognizing your mistake and making an effort to correct it, that’s what friends do.”

“Thank you, Sunset,” said Twilight.

“Any time.”

“Gee, it almost sounds like that’s the exact same thing I’ve been telling you, hmm?” Twilight asked with smart smirk.

Sunset rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, point proven.” Sunset carefully got out of bed and noticed immediately that she was a bit taller than the last time she came to Equestria. She was now standing eye level with Twilight, and her horn was just as long as the purple alicorn before her. “This will take get some getting used to.” Both alicorns walked out of the guest room as Twilight led them down the hall to where both Starlights were. “I guess we’ll need to tell Mom about this before I take
Starlight to Sunburst.” That’s when Sunset’s eyes widened with panic. “OH CRAP! Where’s Starlight?!”

“Sunset, relax, she’s fine. I have my Starlight helping her adjust to her pony form and teaching her how to use her magic.”

“Good…Good…” Sunset released a sigh of relief. Even though she trusted Starlight not to do anything that would jeopardize her meeting with Sunburst, there was still that part of Sunset that was cautious.

“Is everything okay? You looked really worried there for a moment.” Twilight asked with a bit of concern.

Sunset quickly shook her head. “No, no, I’m just worried for her. You know, being in a strange new world in a body that’s not your natural one can be jarring.”

Twilight shivered when she remembered her first foray into the human world and looking like, well, herself but not herself. “Oh yeah, I can completely understand. I still can’t believe you were able to get used to it for all these years.”

Sunset shrugged, “More about adaptation at first, but then you start to get comfortable in that form once you realize some the perks.”

Twilight tilted her head. “Perks?”

“Fingers, and an increased level of sensitivity in certain areas, if you catch my drift,” said Sunset with a wiggle of her brow.

Twilight blushed even harder than earlier. “S-Sunset Shimmer, are trying to make it hard for me not to…to…UGH!”

Sunset pulled ahead and swished her tail in front of Twilight. “You’re both too easy to rile up. It’s cute.”

“Mixed signals, Sunset Shimmer, mixed signals!”

***____________________________***

Eventually, both alicorns reached the throne room where Starlight (human) and Glimmer (pony) were. When they entered, Glimmer was giving Starlight some lessons on how to walk like a pony. It was clear to see how much Starlight was concentrating, matching her pony counterpart’s actions as best she could until she got a feel for her new way of walking.

“Starlight?” Sunset asked.

“Yes?” both answered, the one on the left wore her mane in a ponytail and her bangs were flat and even. It was also this same Starlight who missed a step and flopped onto the floor.

Sunset and Twilight winced and moved to assist, but Glimmer used her magic to raise her counterpart back onto all fours, albeit said counterpart had an annoyed look on her face. “I’m a genius, a prodigy, I have a master’s degree in engineering, and well-conditioned after many years of physical exercise and martial arts training…SO WHY IS IT SO HARD TO WALK ON FOUR BLEEPIN’ LEGS?!”

Sunset snickered a little at Starlight’s frustration. “Well, I can tell you from experience that all that amounts to nothing when you’re in a body that’s completely foreign to you. It took me a long time to get used to moving around on two legs instead of four, plus,” Sunset pointed to her horn, “no magic whatsoever, which is, like, a crucial and ingrained part of everyday life for a unicorn.”

Starlight took a moment to contemplate that, raising her right hoof to her own horn. Losing something that was with you since the day you were born, something that you took pride and were so talented at, it must’ve been like a piece of Sunset’s soul was ripped out. “I’m sorry you had to go through all that.”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s no big deal, well, now at least. It made me have to adapt, get physically stronger, and smarter with learning about science. Around here that’s kind of second fettle to magic.”

“Ahem.” Twilight tapped her hoof and gave Sunset a cautionary stare. The Princess of Friendship was an avid pursuer of the both the magical arts and sciences.

“Oh, don’t start with me, you know what I mean,” said Sunset.

“On that note, since when has Sunset been an alicorn?” Glimmer asked. “The last time she was here, I clearly remember her being a unicorn like me.”

Twilight blinked. “Oh, that’s what we’re going to find out. I was thinking that it would be good for you to go and see Princess Celestia, such a sudden change on Earth and now having its effects shown in Equestria, I’m sure she’ll want to make sure everything’s alright. Plus, now this makes you a Princess.”

Sunset sighed heavily, she wasn’t sure she really wanted such a title. Years ago, when she was a brat, oh yeah, this would’ve been the highlight of her life. But now, after reflecting on her actions in the past, she felt very unworthy of this honor. “Yeah…but, I promised Starlight that I’d take her to see Sunburst in the Crystal Empire.”

“A-Actually,” Starlight spoke as she wobbled with each step, “I’d rather take some time to learn how to walk properly before I seem him. I really don’t want to embarrass myself by flopping on my face in front of him…”

“Well that works with me, also means I can teach you some basic levitation spells, it’ll make things more convenient when opening doors and holding things,” said Glimmer.

Sunset still seemed hesitant to leave Starlight alone, with Glimmer, in a library filled with books on magical spells and everything else that Princess Twilight had collected over the years. Starlight looked up at Sunset and said, “I’ll be here when you get back, trust me, I’m definitely not faking this, I have little coordination with this bodyyyyyyyy-WAH!”

Starlight lost her hoofing again and this time flopped onto her side, earning another round of winces from the other three mares. Glimmer used her magic again to prop her back on all fours. “Trust me; she’s been doing that since you passed out.”

The newest alicorn sighed heavily. “Fine, I guess. Just make sure to follow everything that Glimmer tells you.”

“Got it, by the way, you seem a bit older. All of you actually, how old are you two exactly?” Starlight asked.

“Twenty-five,” said Twilight.

“Twenty-three,” said Glimmer.

Sunset rubbed her chin. “Now that’s tough. When I first ran through the portal I was twenty-one but came out as a fifteen-year-old girl. Add the three years I spent on Earth so far, I should be around twenty-four by now, but as you can see, the portal likes to play with our ages, or saves them from when last we entered and exited. This is why I still look the same as I did when I first left.” Sunset glanced over her body again. “Age wise anyway.”

Starlight took a moment to process that. It made much more sense why Sunset seemed to act more maturely compared to her friends, and why Sunset didn’t feel that intimidated around her, despite her body being that of a teenager, Sunset was mentally the same age as her, even her own pony counterpart. “I think I need to concentrate on walking before I can fully process all this…this.” Starlight gestured to everything around her.

“Alright,” said Sunset.

Both alicorns walked out of the room, with Sunset sparing glances over her shoulder towards the doorway they had just exited. This did not go unnoticed by Twilight. “What’s wrong?”

“Huh…Oh! Nothing…just worried about Starlight.” She only half-lied, she was worried about Starlight, but not for the reasons that Twilight was probably thinking about.

Twilight didn’t seem wholly convinced but decided to let the topic go for now. “Alright, there should be a train leaving for Canterlot soon, we’ll take it up there. Oh, and one more thing…”

Sunset stopped as Twilight brushed her tail across Sunset’s face and gave a smoldering look. The amber alicorn’s eyes widened, her face went red, and then there was the unmistakable “poomf!” sound. Sunset looked to her sides and saw that both her wings had become fully extended. It took Sunset’s mind all but a few seconds to realize what had just happened.

“Oh no, you did not just make have a –!”

“Welcome to being an alicorn, Sunset! And it’s nice to see that I can still get that kind of reaction out of you!” Twilight announced before flying down the hall and giggling the whole way.

Sunset growled in frustration and ran after her yelling, “Mixed signals my ass!”

***____________________________***

In hindsight, Twilight thought, I probably should’ve cast an illusion spell on her wings or put a cloak on her.

The moment they stepped outside the castle and made their way towards the train station, many of Ponyville’s residents stopped in their tracks and gawked as not one, but two alicorns were walking down their street. The ponies of the little hamlet were used to seeing Twilight walk around, the mare having been a friendly resident even before her ascension, so it wasn’t unusual to see her walking about. However, it was unusual to see her walking with not only the pony who was decorated for saving Equestria, but who had somehow returned and was now sporting wings.

Once they reached the station, it was a veritable mob scene of ponies all asking questions about the alicorn mare who was once hailed as Princess Celestia’s student.

“Sunset Shimmer, did you become an alicorn because you saved Equestria?!”

“Was your absence all these years due to some mission or test that Princess Celestia gave to you to lead you to becoming an alicorn?!”

“Are you currently dating Princess Twilight Sparkle?! You have been spotted coming and going from her castle both times during your last stay?!”

That got a red blush from both mares, and thankfully the train whistle sounded, cutting off all chatter and bringing relief to both alicorns. Once the train arrived, and the passengers disembarked, and the new passengers embarked, Twilight ushered Sunset inside, at the same time she quickly did an about face and spoke to the regular and reporter ponies, “Thank you for all your questions, I will make a formal statement regarding Sunset Shimmer’s recent development as soon as I am able. In the meantime, we must be going, urgent Princess business to attend to, bye!”

“Wait, the public would at least like to know, Princess Twilight, if you two are currently courting each other?!”

“HAVE A BEAUTIFUL AND SPLENDOROUS DAY!” Twilight shouted before using her magic to close the door.

Thankfully, again, the Conductor yelled his last call for all passengers before the train whistle sounded again, the hiss of the steam engine made many of the reporters back away from the now moving train as the familiar chugging of the wheels began. Before they knew it, the train had left the station and was now on its way to Canterlot. Twilight and Sunset slumped in their seats with a sigh, as un-princess like as it was, they didn’t care, this bit of piece they were going to enjoy. At least until they hit Canterlot.

“Sorry,” said Twilight.

“For what?” Sunset asked.

“I should’ve cast an illusion spell on your wings or at the very least gotten you a cloak to hide your identity.”

Sunset chuckled. “Yeah, the former would’ve been good, the latter…not so much. Probably wouldn’t look good that a Princess was hanging around with a hooded and cloaked stranger.”

“Hmm, true.”

Sunset looked out the window, to the distant mountain where rested the capital of their nation, Canterlot. Sunset and Celestia had long since made up about what happened in the past, forgiveness was given, and their mother-daughter dynamic had been restored. But now that Sunset had ascended, she wondered how her adopted mother would react to such a change, and if she believed like Princess Twilight if she was indeed worthy.

It took less than a couple of hours before the train arrived to Canterlot, and of course, the moment both of them stepped out all the ponies in the immediate vicinity swarmed around them, especially with Sunset next to Twilight. Thankfully, there was a procession Royal Guards making their rounds, once they were spotted, the guards immediately put themselves between the two alicorns and the crowd of ponies.

“Princess Twilight, are you alright?” the pegasus guard asked.

“We’re fine; they’re just overexcited is all. If you don’t mind, could you back everypony up just a bit, I’m going to cast a teleportation spell and I don’t want to drag anypony along besides myself and my friend.”

“Of course, Princess. BACK IT UP BOYS!”

The eight unicorn and pegasus Royal Guards managed to make the crowd back up more and more, giving them a good five-foot radius of free space to work with. Twilight lit up her horn and, in an instant, both her and Sunset had vanished, reappearing in the central lobby of the castle and startling most of the Royal Guards, nobles, and palace staff. The Royal Guard immediately went into defensive mode, but quickly calmed down when they noticed that it was Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer, her deeds had not gone unremembered in saving Equestria, however, many were surprised to see that the hero of their land now had wings.

Twilight and Sunset began walking down the halls of the castle, passing by the familiar stain glass windows that depicted Twilight and her friends’ heroic feats. Sunset couldn’t help but smile at seeing her friend’s accomplishments over the years, but at the same time, it only reminded her of her own failings in the past. Twilight saw this, she then looked ahead, smiled and stopped abruptly to look up at one of the windows.

“What’s up?” Sunset asked.

“I think you should have a look at this,” said Twilight as she pointed a hoof to one of the windows.

Sunset looked up and gasped, her legs giving out and making her fall onto her rear in shock. Before her was a new stain glass window, but not one of Twilight and her friends or of Spike saving the Crystal Empire. No, this one was of Sunset Shimmer. There was an image of Sunset in her pony form, and behind her was her form as Kamen Rider Unicorn Shining Day, beside her the images of the pony forms of Tsukasa, Haruto, Kouta, Gentarou, and Eiji, each had a symbol on their chests which represented their Rider forms Decade, Wizard, Gaim, Fourze, and OOOs. In the back were images of the other Riders who aided in the war to save Equestria from Nega-Shocker.

“Is that…Really me…?”

“Celestia had it commissioned to be made as soon as everything was back to normal. She wanted to show you when it was done, but I thought you could use the boost.” Twilight moved closer and draped her right wing over Sunset’s back. “Sunset, you may have not been the nicest of ponies or the best person when you went to Earth. That can’t be denied, nor should it be forgotten.”

“Twilight…” Sunset groaned.

“However, it’s not what you did, but what you do in the future. You’ve done a lot to be a better you, stepped up when nopony – err – nobody – would give you a chance of redemption besides our friends. You saved them from the Sirens, you saved the other me from herself, and now, you save countless people as a superhero, putting your own life on the line to defend them, total strangers, in a world that’s not your original home world. As far as I am concerned, those are the qualities of a Princess. You may not have been ready then, but the magic inside you believes you are.”

Sunset shook her head. “Maybe, but I still don’t think I am.”

“And it is precisely for that reason that you will make a great Princess, Sunset.”

The new voice startled both mares as they turned to see Princess Celestia walking towards them.

“Geez, Mom, I need to put a bell on you or something,” said Sunset jokingly.

“Funny, Raven says the same thing whenever I ‘mysteriously’ vanish from her sight.”

“To go on a cake binge,” Sunset and Twilight stated at the same time.

Celestia’s face was tinted scarlet. “W-Well listening to nobles and bureaucrats all day does tend to be draining, and cake not only gives me an energy boost, but also gives me comfort, who could blame me?”

“I know two parts of you that could blame you.” Sunset uttered and pointed to Celestia.

The white alicorn glanced over her shoulder and her blush intensified. “Oh please, I already get enough of that from the tabloids; I don’t need my own daughter and former student pointing that out, too.”

“Well, technically, you have advocated honesty when speaking to your friends so…” Twilight let that hang in the air.

Celestia snorted and feigned hurt. “You’re both terrible.” She then smiled, sat down and held out her right foreleg.
Sunset rushed over and embraced her mother, nuzzling into her chest and letting the comforting feeling of her presence wash over her.

“And I agree with Twilight, everything she said is true. I am so proud of you for what you have become, not just an alicorn, but also a mare you yourself can be proud of for the right reasons.”

“It took me a long time…b-but I finally understood what you were trying to teach me,” Sunset choked out.

“Better late than never, my bright little Sun.”

Twilight only sat and watched, her eyes welling up with tears at watching the scene before her. Of mother and daughter embracing, and an acknowledgement of all the accomplishments that Sunset had made. Many hours were spent at the palace, with Sunset regaling her mother of her exploits as Kamen Rider Unicorn, and of course her more recent encounter with the Sirens. Celestia’s mane almost turned into a raging inferno when she heard how Sunset was hospitalized and had come so close to death’s door. Luckily both were able to calm her down before mother bear sun goddess could cross over and incinerate the now reformed Siren sisters.

***____________________________***

It was late at night when they arrived back at the castle, and thankfully Starlight had made a lot of progress with her walking skills and could now move about without falling, but she was still not as confident with running, however, Glimmer was able to help her learn basic levitation, which definitely made her time as a pony much easier. Sleeping arrangements were made with Starlight bunking with Sunset. She didn’t particularly mind, seeing as Starlight was Equal and Sunset still needed to keep an eye on her. But, in all honesty, Starlight was most likely still unsettled by being in a strange new world and wanted to be close to someone she knew.

Thankfully they managed to find a room that was big enough to accommodate two beds and with a window. Starlight occupied the bed closest to the window, having watched the moon rise into the night sky and was now sitting there, illuminating the night, and letting all the stars shine brilliantly.

“No light pollution,” said Starlight.

“What?”

“City lights make it hard to see the stars this clearly, usually you need to go into the wilderness or an observatory with a powerful telescope to even see them this clearly. They’re beautiful,” Starlight commented.

Sunset smiled as she turned around in her bed to face Starlight’s direction. “Yeah, it is, but it’s not without its faults, and not without its fair amount of things threatening it. But it’s not all doom and gloom, about ninety percent of the time it’s all sunshine and rainbows.”

“I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that there are two immortal goddesses that move the sun and moon with just their power alone.”

“I still haven’t gotten over how your sun and moon don’t move without magic,” Sunset replied with a smirk.

Starlight chuckled, “Fair point. It’s all relative when it comes to normal.”

“Can’t really sleep, huh?” Sunset asked.

Starlight released a heavy sigh. “Not…Not really…I’m just…nervous? Excited? I don’t know…”

“Nervocited?” Sunset asked.

“That’s not a word,” said Starlight.

“It is when you’re around Pinkie Pie,” Sunset drowned.

“Fine, yes, that. I want to see him again, but at the same time, I keep wondering if he’ll…see through me…Sunburst could read me sometimes…and…” Starlight began to cry a little.

Sunset sat up in her bed and looked worriedly at Starlight, was she her nemesis? Yes. But that didn’t mean anything while they were here, she was a mare who wanted to see her long since dead friend, and now was in pain. “Starlight, what’s wrong…?”

“It’s alright, I’m just a bit overwhelmed, memories are coming back, some good and painful, our friendship wasn’t always ‘sunshine and rainbows’, but it was good…he was my only friend when everyone shunned me…I guess I’m just worried about how weird it’s going to be for him, to have me, a version of his friend, unload all this emotional baggage on him like that…is that even right?” Starlight asked as she looked at Sunset.

Sunset closed her eyes and thought about her answer. “Honestly, it’s not an easy question or answer. But, Sunburst is a good friend to the Starlight here, and from what she’s told me, always will be. So, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind hearing you out, at most, he’ll geek out about meeting his friend from another world.”

Starlight chuckled and smiled a little. “He would, I know it.”

Sunset nodded and yawned. “Well, we better get some sleep, it’s a long trip out to the Crystal Empire and we’re leaving early.” Starlight hummed in agreement and laid back down into her bed. But, Sunset couldn’t let this opportunity slip by. “So, you find me cute?”

Starlight sat up like a springboard. “I-I-I didn’t mean it in any way that could be construed as me having any kind of attraction to you! I-I just meant you looked cute as a pony!” Starlight smacked her head. “Oh right, that’s the same thing here…I just…I…”

“Starlight, over there, on Earth, I was jailbait, eighteen now, remember? But here, where I’m my real age, perfectly legal in all sense of the word, and I’m technically older than you anyway, sooooooo…plenty of time to experiment with that pony body.” Sunset gave Starlight a perverse grin and half lidded gaze.

Starlight’s face heated up and she quickly enveloped herself in her blankets. “Has anyone told you you’re a tease and a pervert?!”

“My girlfriend and my friends actually, and they’re right, but in all seriousness, don’t crawl into my bed and try and cop a feel, you can look, but don’t touch.”

“I hate you.”

“But you love my flank?”

“Stop that!”

“Nope.”

“How does Twilight Sparkle put up with you?”

“She just can’t live without some Shimmer in her life.” Starlight poked her head out and raised an eyebrow. “Okay, okay, she’s a saint, and I love her.”

Starlight nodded. “Better.” As both mares laid back down in their beds, Starlight was starting to hear some grunting. Sighing, Starlight said, “Sunset, I swear to gods if you are…uh…what are you doing?”

Sunset was tossing back and forth in her bed, but it seemed her new wings were not being very accommodating in her efforts to achieve slumber. After a few more adjustments to the malcontent avian appendages, Sunset finally got them under control and managed to get into a comfortable position to sleep. Only after closing her eyes did her wings decide to pop up, throwing the blanket a good five feet into the air as it slowly descended down onto Sunset, upon which she gave an irritated growl.

Starlight had to bite her lip, but it was a poor attempt at stifling her fit of giggles as she watched all this unfold. Sunset levitated the blanket off her head and said, “Not a word, Starlight.”

***____________________________***

The sun was barely cresting on the horizon before Sunset, Twilight, and the Starlights left for the Crystal Empire. Twilight was going to be there in case anything went awry but was going to give the group their space while she visited her brother, sister-in-law, and niece. For the whole train ride Sunset kept an eye on Starlight, she could see her nervousness, and her excitement, about the only thing keeping her from passing out was watching the changing scenery as they traveled further and further north.

Sunset couldn’t lie, she did want to see the Crystal Empire, her last excursion into that kingdom was only inside the palace, and so seeing the rest of it was going to be a treat. As the lush green landscape shifted into a snow-covered wasteland, with ominous blue colored mountains in the distance, Starlight looked increasingly worried.

“Sunburst lives out here?!” Starlight asked. “It’s completely frozen!”

“It is called the Frozen North,” said Glimmer.

“How does anything live out here in these conditions? And you said the Crystal Empire is inhabited by ‘crystal ponies’, are they really made out of living crystal, because that’s the only the way I can see anything calling this place a home,” said Starlight with worry.

Sunset looked towards the window and smiled. “You’re about to get your answer, look.”

Starlight looked out the window and saw the crystalline structure of the empire ahead. After a couple of minutes, the snowy wasteland transitioned into a lush green field, the dark gray clouds which unleashed a howling blizzard had now given way to a clear blue sky, and warm shining sunlight. The further along the train went, the more of the kingdom came into view, allowing the crystal house structures to become more defined, along with the sparkling palace that rose from the center of the land.

The train finally stopped and calls for ponies to disembark were given. The group of four exited and Starlight just stared with wide eyes and a gaping mouth as she beheld the splendor of the Crystal Empire. “H-How is this possible?! Why is this area, and a little beyond, the only things not covered in snow?!”

“That’s the magic of the Crystal Heart,” said Twilight. “It’s fueled by the love and joy of all the crystal ponies, and with that power, it creates a protective magic that pushes the blizzard a good distance away, allowing the crystal ponies to grow crops and feed their citizens.”

Starlight looked back at Princess Twilight and asked, “So one magical artifact is responsible for keeping this entire kingdom safe from a blizzard?! Isn’t that a little dangerous?! What if it stops or breaks?!”

Twilight and Glimmer gave nervous chuckles, which made Sunset raise a suspicious eyebrow. “Anyway, I’m sure Sunburst would love to tell you all about this place when you guys meet, let’s head over to his place.”

Starlight – having been snapped out of her entrancement of the Crystal Empire – suddenly became fidgety as she remembered the reason why they were there in the first place.

“I’ll be in the palace, if you guys need me.” With that said Twilight spread her wings and flew towards the crystal palace.

“Question, why don’t you fly, too?” Starlight asked.

“I literally just got these wings, I wasn’t an alicorn when I left, and I was a unicorn like Glimmer here. And that’s a story I’d rather not get into right now.”

With the discussion closed, Glimmer led the way down the crystal paved road. Starlight continued to marvel at everything around her, from the sheen of the crystal ponies’ coats, to the big statue of a dragon holding a heart, and everything else in between. Sunset made a mental note that if she ever brought Twilight to her home, this was how she would be acting.

Although it felt like a long walk, it was all too short for Starlight as they arrived at Sunburst’s home. It was a large abode, also made of crystal. Starlight’s heart hammered in her chest, she was going to see her best friend again, albeit a pony version of him, but still it was going to be Sunburst. Would he sound the same? Would he act the same way as her Sunburst? All of this continued to swarm in her mind as she watched her double knock against the door.

After a minute there was a lot of shuffling, and the sound of things being knocked over. Starlight quickly ducked behind Sunset as soon as the door opened up, she peeked over Sunset and saw a golden-yellow unicorn stallion, and his mane was orange and messy, along with a matching goatee. His glasses fell down his snout, making him use his magic to push them back up into place. He also wore a cloak that made him look like a wizard. He always had a thing for fantasy games…

“Starlight, what a surprise! Uh…” Sunburst looked behind her and gasped. “S-Sunset! I didn’t know you were back!”

“Hey, yeah, this was kind of a spur of the moment visit, with some changes.” Thankfully his angle made it so that he didn’t completely see her wings.

“Sorry I never got around to telling you, I was able to do some research regarding our…ahem…possible family ties, and I wanted to tell you–!” Sunburst stopped again and now noticed another pony behind Sunset. “Who’s that?”

“Sunburst,” Glimmer interjected, “You know how Princess Twilight said there was another world through a magic mirror portal and that Sunset was from here, but now lives there?” Sunburst nodded. “And do you remember Princess Twilight telling us that there are doubles of some of us on that side, like her friends and the princesses?” Again, Sunburst nodded. “Well, it turns out…I have one too.”

Sunset looked over her shoulder and had an annoyed look as Starlight continued to hide behind her flank. Sunset took a huge step to the left, exposing Starlight and earning herself a glare from the nervous human turned pony. For several seconds, Starlight Glimmer of Earth stared back at Sunburst of Equestria. Glimmer stepped aside and offered an unobstructed view of her counterpart to her friend.

Slowly, Starlight began to rise up back to her hooves. She slowly walked towards Sunburst, stopping about a few inches away. She reached out a hoof and touched the side of his face, to his credit, Sunburst didn’t flinch away, nor did he look particularly scared or nervous.

Starlight gulped as she held her hoof there against his face and asked, “Please say something else…”

“Um…Hi, Starlight.”

Starlight lunged at Sunburst, causing him to fall backwards as Starlight wrapped her forelegs around him. Sunset and Glimmer rushed in and found Starlight hugging him fiercely and crying into his chest.

“Sunburst, it really is you! I-I’m so sorry, I’m sorry!” Starlight wailed. “I missed you so much!”

Sunburst looked up at Sunset and Glimmer, both had sad smiles on their faces, and somehow Sunburst had an idea of why this Starlight was acting the way she was. The unicorn stallion gently stroked his friend’s mane as she continued to cry into his chest.

***____________________________***

After a lot more crying, they were all able to enter Sunburst’s home. The place was a mess with magical tomes scattered everywhere, stacked up close to the ceiling, or just stacked to form a couch. There were notes plastered at a little work area near the window, along with a helping of wadded up pieces of parchment paper littering the floor around the desk, having bounced off the wastebasket that was already filled to the brim.

Starlight chuckled at the condition of his home. “Just like I remembered, the you from my world had a dorm room that looked very much like this. I always joked that if he had his own house, he’d fill it with tons of books and that it would look like a mess.”

Sunburst blushed and chuckled a little. “Y-Yeah, I tend to get caught up in my research. I seriously would’ve tidied up if I was given a heads up.” At this, Sunburst leveled his gaze with Glimmer.

Glimmer rubbed the back of her head. “Sorry, something like this was a bit much to put into a letter, I mean, how was I supposed to word it? ‘Hi, Sunburst! I wanted to let you know that I’m bringing my parallel dimension self to come and see you! Oh, and Sunset will be tagging along! But apparently she’s an alicorn now!’ We would be giving Spike indigestion for a week with us going back and forth with explanations and questions.”

Sunburst stroked his goatee, and then nodded. “Fair point.”

“So,” Starlight began, “you work with the royal family here in this kingdom?”

Sunburst nodded. “Yep, I’m a Crystaler of the young, Princess Flurry Heart. She’s just a baby right now, but it’ll be on me to teach her the ways of magic, and with her raw power, she’s going to be quite the strong spellcaster.”

“That’s the understatement of the century,” Glimmer whispered.

Sunburst cleared his throat and looked directly at Starlight. “I guess we need to address the elephant in the room. The way you reacted when you saw me, I can infer that the…other me…is no longer with you. Is he?”
Starlight hung her head and nodded.

The unicorn stallion gulped a little. “I…I see, was it…um, was it bad?”
Images flashed before Starlight’s mind. A flash of green, screaming, power, and knowledge, Starlight shook her head as she cleared her mind of those thoughts. “It was an accident……a terrible accident that should’ve never happened…and it was all my fault.”

Sunset and Glimmer looked to Starlight with curiosity.

“I was always a prodigy, intelligent, physically strong, the only one who never saw me as a freak was you, Sunburst. Although…as intelligent as you were, all the other kids always compared you to me, how you would never beat me at anything, and how they said that the only reason we were even friends was because I either forced you, or that you were trying to coast on my abilities.” Starlight’s horn began to glow red. “Those fools didn’t know how I felt or how much I cherished our friendship! And yet they had the audacity to say that about you!”

The aura began to rise up, creating a cloud of black and red energy.

“Maybe if I had toned my grades down, maybe if I had lost a few things so that you could catch up. Maybe then…Maybe then…!”

“Starlight!” Sunset and Glimmer yelled.

Starlight snapped out of her trance and looked up, noticing the cloud of crimson and ebony energy floating above her. After a few seconds the energy dissipated, but Starlight was worried about what she saw.

“It’s okay, since we’re the same; my magic sometimes does that when I’m feeling angry. Or if I’m keeping something bottled up, my magic will create a physical manifestation of my anger. Most unicorn magic is fueled my emotions, and since you’re not using that anger to fight or protect something, it just does that.”

Starlight touched her new cranial appendage carefully. “Magic is weird.”

“You have no idea,” said Sunset.

“I’m sorry, this was a mistake…” Starlight got up to leave but was quickly cut off by the unicorn stallion. “Sunburst?”

“Look, I can’t really speak for the other me, there’s an array of differences between us I’m sure. While some of our past may correlate and even parallel each other, and in some instances it may not, but I can at least say that he probably, most likely, didn’t hate you or anything!” Sunburst looked to Glimmer who nodded her approval. “When I first got my cutie mark, I thought I was destined to be a great wizard. Growing up, I knew all there was to magic, but Starlight – err Glimmer – was the one with the real talent and power.”

Starlight looked to her double who nodded in agreement. “It’s true, I wasn’t sure about my direction with magic until later, but even so, Sunburst will still surprise me with his knowledge, and he does have magic skill.”

“We kind of got to a point where I thought she was better than me and I had to pretend I was. It was kind of funny, and life threatening,” said Sunburst as he recalled the incident with the Crystal Heart.

“I feel as if there’s a story to be told here,” said Sunset.

“Ditto,” Starlight agreed.

Sunburst cleared his throat and placed a hoof on Starlight’s shoulder. “Anyway, I know that version of me didn’t hate you, but probably didn’t know how to talk to you about what he felt. I’m…I’m sorry that you never got the chance to tell him, but – and I’m not sure how much this will count for – I know you’re not like that.”

Starlight smiled as tears began to fall from her eyes; she slowly moved forward and hugged her best friend. Even as a pony, they still carried the same scent of books.

***____________________________***

Many more hours were spent with Starlight and Sunburst just talking, mostly about stories regarding their past. Both seemed to want to know what the other was like when one was a pony and the other a human. Sunset couldn’t help but pick up on how Starlight seemed to dance around certain questions when they were closer to the present, which was understandable, considering what she was doing.

Feeling emotionally drained, and satisfied by their reunion, Starlight decided that it was time for her to return home. As they were about to leave, Sunburst pulled Sunset aside.

“What’s up?” Sunset asked.

“Um, I managed to get some results regarding…well…” Sunburst levitated an envelope from inside his house and had it hover before them.

Sunset looked at the envelope, the question of whether or not the stallion was related to her. Their similarities were so close to each other that it was hard not to see them as possibly being brother and sister. Sunset’s – now red – aura took the envelope and opened it, noting that it was already opened. The alicorn mare read over the documents within, Sunset’s eyes narrowing and widening as she scanned it over. She looked up at Sunburst who nodded and smiled at her. Sunset smiled too and gave the stallion a hug before returning to the documents and heading off with the others.

A few hours later and the group had returned to Twilight’s castle. At the behest of their host, Sunset and Starlight stayed one more night so that they would be well rested when they crossed over back to Earth. Thoughts swarmed in both mares’ minds, Starlight having seen Sunburst again, and Sunset having learned the truth of their similarities.

When morning arrived, Starlight was still asleep, but Sunset had risen early – which was a first for her – and wandered the castle for a bit to collect her thoughts. Sunset made her way to the library where the portal was and found Starlight there.

“Starlight?”

“Yes?”

Upon second glance, Sunset realized it was Glimmer. “Oh, sorry, I thought I woke up the other you.”

“Nope, though I’m sure she’ll be up soon. There is something I wanted to talk to you in private about without Twilight, me, or Spike around,” said Glimmer.

Sunset walked over to where Glimmer was and sat down across from her. “Okay, shoot.”

“The other me is a bad guy, isn’t she?”

Sunset kept her poker face on, she knew this was coming sooner or later, but the last thing she wanted to do was tell Glimmer that even in another world, she had become a villain.

“I can tell you’re hiding something,” said Glimmer in a deadpan tone.

“What? How?” Sunset asked.

Glimmer pointed to her sides where Sunset noticed her wings were fidgeting a lot. “Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash are better at hiding that nervous tick, but Twilight still does that when she’s nervous or hiding something since she hasn’t had wings as long as other pegasi.”

Becoming an alicorn is starting to become a pain in the flank. Sunset sighed, no longer able to hide it. “Yes…She’s…I recently found out she’s Kamen Rider Equal, the person who I fought against during the Rocket Dopant incident, and that one when she took out two other Dopants that stole from her. I also learned she’s the one making the Gaia Memories, and is hunting down the last remaining T2s.”

Glimmer gave a slow nod. “I was hoping that wasn’t the case, but I guess not every version of me has to be good at first.”

“Hey,” Sunset reached out and placed her hoof on her shoulder, “if mares like us can pull ourselves out of the darkness and into the light, then there’s always hope. I won’t give up on her, because I know there’s good in her, just like I know there is in me. Besides…” Sunset spared a glanced in the general direction of where the doppelganger was. “I don’t think she’s being evil for evil’s sake, I think there’s something driving this, I think she wants to help the world, but in some kind of twisted way.”

Glimmer chuckled. “Yep, sounds like me alright…Take away everything that makes that pony special, and force them to conform to an ideal of perfect equality by relinquishing their cutie marks.” Glimmer put on a sad smile. “I don’t know how bad Sunburst’s death hurt her, or what her ultimate goal is, but at the very least, try and bring her into the light.”

Sunset hugged Glimmer, the latter reciprocating the gesture. I will, I promise.

It wasn’t long before Twilight and Starlight entered the library, the Princess of Friendship worked her magic and activated her complicated device that opened the portal to Earth. After an exchange of goodbyes, Sunset and Starlight leaped through the portal. The familiar vortex spiral feeling was all both women could feel as they were tossed through the flume ride that was the mystic portal that connected Earth and Equestria.

In little less than a minute, Sunset was the first to exit, catching herself as she remembered the portal’s nasty habit of spitting out its travelers. Never gonna catch me off guard. As she thought this, a scream was released behind her as Sunset felt a body slam into hers, sending herself and the other tumbling about on the quad, landing in the grassy area. Sunset groaned and looked up, watching as Starlight – who had ended up on top of her – was groaning in an aching manner from the ordeal. I stand – well lie – corrected.

“Oh, ow, Sunset, you alright?” Starlight asked in a daze.

“Yep, sorry, I forgot to mention the exit…again. So, not that I mind or anything, but how long are you planning on using my chest as support?”

Starlight blinked her right hand feeling something warm and soft. When she looked down, Starlight’s face burned a scarlet red and she quickly backed up off of Sunset as if she was the plague itself. “I-I-I am so sorry! I didn’t mean to do that! I was still dazed and I was –!”

Sunset raised her hand and the stood up. “It’s alright, remember, real age is like twenty something. But here, that only applies to my mind, body on the other hand is officially eighteen…still, that’s not good PR Starlight Glimmer.”

The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. began to panic, but then Sunset laughed and Starlight gave a short growl. “That’s not funny, Sunset.”

“Oh for that look on your face, it was!” Sunset continued as she held her sides.

Starlight snorted and began to move slowly towards Sunset as she said, “Well then, since I’m in this deep, I might as well go all the way.”

Sunset stopped laughing and managed to get out a, “Wait, what?!”, before Starlight embraced her. The crimson haired girl stiffened up a bit at the contact, her instincts about to kick in, believing that she was going to do something. That is, until Starlight began to cry. “Starlight…?”

“Thank you…” Starlight sniffled. “Thank you for letting me see him again…”

All worry left Sunset as she returned the embrace. “I know he wasn’t the Sunburst from here, but at least you got to talk with him and…if you want…you we can go see him again.”

Starlight pulled away slowly, wiping the tears away from her eyes. “I don’t think that’ll be necessary.” She walked back to the portal, feeling the cool marble surface and noticing that there were no ripples, indicating the portal had closed. “I was able to see my friend again, and now I know what I have to do…” Starlight turned around and narrowed her gaze at Sunset. “Sunset Shimmer, Kamen Rider Unicorn. I Starlight Glimmer, Kamen Rider Equal, challenge you to a duel…”

The world seemed to grind to a halt, leaving Sunset in such a state that she could only utter one word, “What?”

V: Victory Condition Achieved / Unicorn vs. Equal

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Sunset and Starlight stood outside of Canterlot High School. It was here, in front of the portal, after their trip to Equestria, that Starlight Glimmer issued a challenge to Sunset Shimmer, a duel between Unicorn and Equal.

“Wait, what did you say?!” Sunset asked.

“I didn’t stutter, Sunset, I challenged you to a duel as Unicorn and Equal.”

Sunset stood there in utter confusion, considering their trip to her home world, and all that was experienced there, Sunset couldn’t wrap her head around why Starlight was challenging her now of all times? “Starlight, I don’t get it, why?!”

“Because one way or another, whether or not my plan succeeds, is based on one deciding factor…you, Sunset Shimmer.” Starlight approached Sunset, looking her straight in the eye. “I hadn’t figured that someone in this city had a power that was similar and yet different to that of the Gaia Memories, your magic resonates with the Memories, draws them to you.”

Starlight stopped her advance, with a foot of space between them. “At first, I believed it was just luck, or that someone else had understood how to create the Drivers and arm you with the necessary equipment to fight Dopants. Now I know it’s more than that. That form you took when you fought against those Siren girls said it all, there was no way my plans could be enacted.”

The young woman placed her hands on Sunset shoulders, but Sunset didn’t flinch as she looked up at Starlight. “This is also hard for me…I have come to see you as a friend to cherish…as well as the rest of the girls…”

Sunset grasped Starlight’s hands gently as she said, “If that’s how you feel, then why go through with this? Look, if there’s anybody in this world who believes in second chances, you won’t find any better people to help you than me and my friends. Destroy the lab, bury the Emerald Mountain, and seal away the Gaia Memories. Hell, I’ll take them to Equestria and give them to Princess Twilight, I’m sure there’s a myriad of places she can either hide them away or seal them in!”

Starlight sighed heavily. “Well then, let’s make that a part of the duel then. If you win, I’ll bury it all, my plans, the Gaia Memories, all of it. I’ll start fresh…and if possible, I’d like your guidance in that, Princess.”

Sunset groaned at that title. “Please don’t call me a Princess…I’m still coming to terms that I’m an alicorn now…the last thing I need is a royal title.”

“I don’t know, Princess Sunset Shimmer has a nice ring to it, your majesty,” Starlight teased.

Sunset covered her face with her right hand as she groaned, noting that she still needed to notify her friends of this change to her pony form. But that was an issue for a later time, now though…

“Alright, we’ll have a duel, when and where?” Sunset asked.

“At the city’s center, I will issue a public challenge so that on that day, the area will be evacuated so that our battle can go unimpeded. The time, well, let’s just make it the old high noon cliché.” At that moment a limo appeared and parked near the sidewalk. Starlight walked towards it but stopped to turn and look at Sunset Shimmer. “It will be one week from today. Do not hold back, Sunset.”

With that said, Starlight got into her limo and drove away. Sunset sighed at this new turn of events, putting her hands into her pockets as she began her walk back to her home. She contemplated calling for a ride from one her friends, but she needed time to think about how she was going to explain this to her friends and Shining Armor, as well as the revelations that she wasn’t just a unicorn anymore.

***________________________***

After school the following day, Sunset had her friends gather at her place. It was here that she disclosed what had happened during her trip to Equestria, everything from finding out that she was an alicorn like Princess Twilight now, the emotional reunion of Starlight with Sunburst’s pony counterpart, and of course, the duel that Starlight challenged her to. Now that Sunset thought about it, she seemed to dish out a lot of heavy news in her house.

Huh, maybe I should ask Rainbow if we do these meetings at her place? Sunset thought.

On that note, Rainbow saw fit to go into a fit of laughter and lightly patted Twilight on the back. “Wow, Twi, how’s it feel to be dating royalty now?”

Twilight blushed as her mind began going through this new bit of information. Her girlfriend had ascended to the ranks of an alicorn, the same as her own counterpart in Equestria. Now Sunset’s increased strength and reflexes made a little more sense, the power of the Phoenix Ascender and the Shining Memory together, combined with the girls channeling their magic into the device must’ve caused her sudden evolution, and it was reflected in her pony form when she went back to her home. Now that Twilight looked at Sunset, she could’ve sworn her height increased a little, along with the curvature of her hips, and her…bust.

“So, what’s the verdict, does this mean you can create your own harem now, because if that’s the case, I call second!” Rainbow announced.

“H-H-HAREM?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Well, yeah, those kings in the history books all had either one wife and a few other girls on the side, what were they called…?” Rainbow snapped her fingers a few times trying to recall the word. “Ah, right, concubines!”

Applejack crossed her arms and gave Rainbow a scrutinizing look. “Ah thought y’all were with Gilda?”

“I never said I was going to be in it alone, Gilda would totally be in on this, not leaving her out of the fun,” said Rainbow.

“Oh, oh, I call fourth in the harem!” Pinkie stated.

Rarity shook her head. “Honestly you two, Sunset is not like that.”

Pinkie sidled next to Rarity and whispered, “If Sunset’s royal status bleeds into our world then your clothes would get royal fashion status, and all the perks that come with being with a Princess~”

Rarity’s cheeks tinted red for a moment as her gaze wandered to Sunset, “Ahem…I-I’d have to talk with Sunny Flare, but is there room for two more?”

Twilight quickly rushed over to Sunset and hugged her fiercely while giving everyone a defiant look. “No way! I-I don’t approve, Sunset and I are together, I love you girls, b-but that’s too much too fast!”

Sunset sighed, but she was smiling the whole time as she hugged Twilight back and held her close. “Sparky, don’t worry, you’re the only girl I love. And I’M NOT starting a harem,” Sunset saw Rainbow Dash about to open her mouth, “or a herd!” Rainbow pouted as she kept quiet. “Please don’t treat me any differently girls, I may be an alicorn now, but I haven’t received any kind of title…at least none that Mom has told me about.”

The amber girl’s eyes did go to Rarity as she said, “If I’m given a title, I promise, Rarity, that I’ll make you my personal, royal seamstress.”

Rarity gave an excited squeal of delight at the prospect of clothing a potential royal.

“Not to…um…interrupt, but what about Starlight’s challenge?” Fluttershy asked.

The room became silent for a second, but it was Sunset who spoke up to break it, “She should be issuing that challenge any day now…and yes, I’m going to fight her.”

“Ah still don’t think that’s a good idea,” said Applejack. “After what Starlight’s done so far, how can we trust that she’ll have a fair fight with ya? Issuin’ this challenge gives her time to set somethin’ up too.”

Twilight moved off of Sunset and sat next to her on the couch as she said, “As much as I agree with you on that, Applejack, Starlight has shown to be a woman of her word. During Christmas, she didn’t distribute any Gaia Memories, she hasn’t disclosed any information on Equestria or that Sunset is an alien from a different dimension, and she’s kept the hospital where Sunset was treated reserved for whenever she gets injured.”

“Well, yeah, because Sunset still had something she wanted, that being the portal and Sunburst. But now that that’s done, what’s stopping her from going full villain and tying up loose ends?” Rainbow asked.

Pinkie Pie hummed as she said, “I don’t know, Starlight is a villain, but she’s not really a supervillain, like, ‘I’m going to destroy the world!’ types, but more along the lines of, ‘I’m doing this for the good of us all, don’t try and stop me!’ kind of thing.”

Rarity gave that some honest thought. “You really think that her motives aren’t based on hatred or some need to cause bedlam, but more out a necessity for a greater good?”

Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Uh, well, it would explain why she does what she does. She’s used her company’s money to repair the damage done by Dopant attacks, she also protected and befriended the Equestrian Starlight Glimmer, and she’s helped on at least two occasions now with otherworldly monsters. And she did protect us when Principal Cinch tried to get revenge.”

Sunset took in all this information, tried to cypher it and understand what Starlight’s true motives were, if she knew that, all this would make sense. Suddenly, Twilight jumped a little as her phone went off, when she saw who texted her she immediately said, “I think Starlight’s making her move, turn on the TV!”

Rarity, who was closest to the remote, grabbed it and turned on the TV, and on it, was Kamen Rider Equal, apparently having hijacked the broadcasting network for the city.

[Citizens of Canterlot City, I suppose it’s time you got a good look at the person lurking in the shadows. For almost a year, this city has been my little experiment, distributing the monster making items called Gaia Memories and creating the monsters called Dopants. But unfortunately, my experiments have hit a bit of an obstacle, that being in the form of the Kamen Riders, to be more specific, Kamen Rider Unicorn.]

The girls briefly glanced to Sunset before turning their attention back to the screen.

[So far, your appearance has worked to my advantage, but now you’re becoming an irksome thorn in my side. As a result, I’ve decided that we should end this once and for all. One final duel between you and me, winner takes all! The great defender of Canterlot City, protector of its people, do not back down from this challenge, if you do, then I will be forced to meet out punishment to the city! The battle will take place at the center of the city, Sunday at noon. I know how much you don’t want the people to be hurt, so I’m giving the CCPD time to clear out that area, I’d recommend keeping everyone within a twenty-block radius away.]

The compound eyes of Equal’s helmet glowed as she pointed towards the camera.

[I will not accept any interference from anyone; I will not have my lackeys assist, so I suggest you do the honorable thing and not have Trigger or Nasca join in either. That is, unless you don’t think you can beat me without some help? The great Unicorn, having saved this city and world at least three times over, can’t stand up to one dark Rider, now that would be pathetic! Now, Unicorn, I await your response.]

With that declaration made, the broadcast cut off and the news returned, the anchors were visibly shocked by that unexpected interruption and were struggling to figure out what to say to it. Rarity pressed the “mute” button before turning back to her friend. “Well, there’s no backing out now, is there, Sunset?”

Sunset shook her head. “No, there isn’t…” The amber girl took out her cellphone and quickly dialed Namby Pamby. “Hey Namby, guess I beat you to the punch…uh-huh…yeah…I know, I know – look, I need you to setup a response, I’ll call you back with details.”

***________________________***

[I’m here with an exclusive, people of Canterlot City! I have here Kamen Rider Unicorn, ready to give a statement in response to the villain, Kamen Rider Equal’s, declaration.] Namby, who seemed to be recording from a random rooftop, moved close to Unicorn. [Unicorn, Equal has issued you a challenge for the fate of this city and its people; tell us, what is your response?]

Namby handed the mic over to Unicorn, who took it and held it close to where her mouth would be. [Thank you, Ms. Pampy. I have only this to say to Kamen Rider Equal, while I will not dismiss that you have fought along myself, Trigger, and Nasca during the Tirek Virus incident, as well as the incident on Halloween Night, I cannot overlook that you have been the cause of all the strife that has befallen everyone. I became a Kamen Rider because someone had to stand up and fight against these monsters, as well as save them from the madness the Gaia Memories you create sometimes induce. I won’t say that every single person you gave a Gaia Memory to was innocent, some of them were just criminals, some were coerced, and others weren’t given a choice in the matter. But the bottom line is that the crimes they committed wouldn’t have happened at the scale that they were if it wasn’t for your distribution of the devices.]

Unicorn’s horn and eyes began to glow as she continued. [Since I can’t talk you out of changing the location, I ask that the CCPD do everything it can to clear that area that Equal had designated. I’d prefer we had this fight outside the city, but since that’s not an option, we will keep casualties down to just myself and Equal. I will face you, Kamen Rider Equal, and before the day is done, I will end the evil you have wrought.]

When the statement stopped and the scene shifted to show the anchorman and anchorwoman sitting with the captain of the CCPD, Broadside.

[That was Kamen Rider Unicorn’s response to the challenge of Kamen Rider Equal. It seems that Equal is not giving Unicorn any room to negotiate the terms of how this fight will take place but has allowed time for citizens and officials to prepare for the – no doubt – large amount of collateral property damage that will ensue from the battle,] said the anchorwoman.

The anchorman nodded. [With us now is Captain Broadside of the CCPD and head of the Special Crimes Unit. Sir, what is being done to ensure the safety of the citizens during this time?]

[Unfortunately we can’t stop this from happening, I’d like to prevent this fight if at all possible, but considering we have no leads as to who this Equal and Unicorn are, we have to begin cordoning off the central area of Canterlot City, we’ve set up roadblocks and stationed twenty-four hour police guard at the twenty-block radius mark, that means anyone seen going into this area will be immediately arrested. The fact that we have this window means we can limit the number of people getting hurt to just those two,] said Broadside.

[Does this mean that Officer Shining Armor, or as he’s also known as Kamen Rider Trigger, won’t be intervening in this fight?] The anchorwoman asked.

[Officer Armor is on standby and will be there when the fight starts. He’ll serve a few functions, one: in the event that Unicorn wins, he’ll be there to arrest Equal and to make sure that Unicorn doesn’t kill Equal. A villain she may be, but that doesn’t give Unicorn the right to be judge, jury, or executioner.]

[To be fair, Captain, Unicorn hasn’t taken any lives. In fact, with each monster – or “Dopant” – attack, she’s managed to defeat each of them and revert them back to their normal states. Not counting that Virus Incident a few months back and the more recent event.] The anchorman pointed out.

Broadside nodded. [And that’s true, I won’t deny that those were special cases, those creatures weren’t of this Earth, and came close to claiming the lives of several people, and nearly ripping the world in two. But again, that does not give her ANY excuse to take Equal’s life. She will be tried in a court of law, and if Unicorn has any respect or believes herself to be on the side of law and order, she’ll keep that in mind.]

Starlight chuckled at the spectacle on the TV. Idiot, you don’t know Sunset at all. Just then Starlight heard the doors to her office open, she didn’t have to turn around, judging by the sounds of the footsteps, it was the four people she was avoiding regarding this decision. “I already know what you’re going to ask, but you might as well say it anyway.”

“Good, then I’ll start,” said Night Glider. “WHAT THE ACTUAL EFF?! You challenged Unicorn to a showdown?!”

“I…I have to agree with Night Glider–”

“Was it that painful to agree with me?” Night Glider interrupted.

“How could you challenge Unicorn so blatantly?! The plan is at least eighty percent complete, we’re so close – you’re so close; please allow us to back you up at the very least!” Double Diamond continued.

Starlight turned around and took in each of their expressions. Double Diamond looked about ready to go into a panic attack, Night Glider looked furious, Sugar Belle was worried, and Party Favor was, I guess reading the situation, not really sure how to react yet. “I understand your objections, but rest assured I am of sound mind in this decision. If I am not strong enough to defeat Unicorn, then my plan is destined to fail regardless if it’s ready or not.”

Night Glider slammed her fist against Starlight’s desk as she said, “Jeez, what happened over the weekend?! You just gave us a vague text that you were going to hang out with that Sunset girl, and then suddenly you want to have a showdown?!” The navy-blue woman raised an eyebrow as a thought formed. “Oh, Glimmer, please tell me you’re not sleeping with that high school girl! I know she just turned legal, but c’mon, don’t make crazy ass decisions based on your libido!”

Starlight shot up from her chair and glared at Night Glider. “We are not like that! She’s a friend! My decision has nothing……nothing to do with her.”

The others picked up on that hesitation.

“So…Starlight, is this Sunset Shimmer that important to you? I mean, you seem to care about her and her friends a lot,” Sugar Belle asked.

Starlight growled a little and then sighed in frustration. “Maybe I like them because I wish I was as young as them again, maybe I wish I was given a do-over and allowed to be with them. They are each so different, and two of them are practically geniuses, but that doesn’t make the others feel inferior to them or make them hate Sunset or Twilight, their friendship is beautiful, and allows me to leave my scheming world for a brief moment and share in theirs. So, no, I have no romantic inclinations towards Sunset Shimmer!” Well…maybe for that brief time we were in Equestria but that’s a different matter. “All I ask is that you know that I have a plan, and I will reveal it in due time. Now, please, leave.”

Night Glider, Double Diamond, and Sugar Belle all had worried looks, but exited the room as instructed. However, only Party Favor remained behind, making Starlight raise a curious brow.

“What is it, Party Favor?”

“I just want to say…you’ve, uh…you’ve kinda mellowed a bit since you met Sunset and her friends,” said Party Favor.

Starlight blinked. “What?”

“I mean…you were a little more – okay a lot more – scary and iron fisted, but you’ve been less so, and less stressed I guess. I don’t know what made you want to do this, but I like that this Sunset and her friends are helping you heal, is what I want to say. Sorry, I’ll leave now.”

Starlight watched Party Favor leave the room; she sat back down in her chair as she digested his words. Unlike the other three, Party Favor wasn’t a fighter; the Luna Memory was proof of that. He preferred indirect methods, party tricks and such. But he was honest, like a combination of Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Starlight chuckled as she realized what she just did. “I really compared him to those girls…I guess they have changed me a little…” Starlight turned around and looked out into the city scape as she narrowed her eyes, “…but not enough.”

***________________________***

At CHS, and pretty much all over the city, the students and even the teachers were talking about the upcoming battle between Equal and Unicorn, some referring to it as the ultimate showdown of good versus evil. For Sunset it was just embarrassing, she had to fight to keep herself from blushing whenever someone talked about her as the students theorized how the fight would go and how Unicorn would win. Thankfully, with Twilight being near her, she was able to write it off as being giddy around her girlfriend. However, the declaration did not go without some additional explanation.

“Principal Celestia wanted me to tell you to come to her place later…I also heard that Shining Armor and Ms. Harshwhinny are coming too…” Twilight explained.

“Yep…I was wondering when those four were going to start…Thankfully, I managed to convince Rainbow to stay back and let me fight, although I suspect she’s going to be hovering somewhere close by just in case, I had to assure her parents that she would not be in this fight, and make sure Rainbow understood that, too,” Sunset stated.

The pair turned a corner and went down a different hallway, after taking a cursory look around, Twilight asked, “Are you really sure about this, Sunset?”

“I am.” Sunset stated without hesitation.

“I want to believe she’ll fight you fairly, but something feels…off about this. Why now? Why after you just came back from Equestria, does she want to have a final battle with you?”

Sunset shook her head in agreement. “I wish I knew. I had hoped that meeting Sunburst would change her mind about whatever it is she’s got planned, but…I don’t know, maybe because she met him again is why she wants to have this final battle. To go all out and not have any regret, that’s the only thing I can think of…still, you’re right, something is off. Considering all the Gaia Memories I have at my disposal, and the Phoenix Ascender, I’m clearly at a higher level of power than she is, and she knows it.”

Twilight squeezed Sunset’s arm as she said, “I know I can’t talk you out of fighting her…but I just want you to be more careful than you normally are in a fight. I don’t want to lose you again…”

Sunset stopped and gently turned Twilight’s head towards her, she then planted a soft kiss on her lips as she said, “You won’t, that’ll never happen.”

Twilight looked at Sunset curiously for a moment. “I never did get around to asking you, when you saw Sunburst again, what did he say?”

Sunset’s smile was a mixture of happy and sad. “The tests that he ran, they came back positive, Sunburst is my biological little brother. I have a little brother Twilight, I’m a big sister!”

Twilight smiled up at her girlfriend and said, “Sunset that’s great news! You do have a family…but, you don’t look as happy as you should be…”

“I am happy, but now I’m wondering why did his…our…mother give me up? Was I a mistake or…or what?”

The nerdy girl stopped walking and brought her hands to rest on both sides of Sunset’s face. “NEVER think about yourself like that, you’re not a mistake, you’re the girl I love, that I will always be with no matter what! I love you, our friends love you, the pony version of Principal Celestia loves you, so matter what you decide, and whether you want to confront her or not, just know that you are loved.”

Sunset almost grew teary eyed as she placed her hands to rest over Twilight’s. “You really are the best girlfriend, Sparky.”

***________________________***

It seemed that everyone was either trying to talk Sunset out of it, or wishing her luck, more the former than the latter. And leading up to their – possible – final confrontation, Sunset had a meeting with another friend, that of Namby Pamby. The journalist had chosen a location that was far enough away from Crystal Prep and CHS that no one from either school would see them. Sunset had to admit, it had been awhile since they last spoke, and she was looking forward to catching up with the young woman.

The place was a little diner, it had a 80s feel to it, with old rock music playing on the jukebox, and the waiters and waitresses dressed in 80s clothing. Sunset entered the diner and saw Namby sitting at the far end of a booth, perfect for privacy. As she walked up, Namby stood up and gave Sunset a hug as she said, “It’s great to meet up with you again!”

“Likewise,” said Sunset.

When they both sat down a waitress came over and took down their drink order, after which, Namby asked. “So, what’s new on the home front?”

“Huh, well I just turned eighteen last month, on Christmas to be exact,” said Sunset.

“Congrats,” Namby took a moment to think about that and remembered the battle in White Tail Park, “Oooh, I hope that Santa Dopant thing didn’t completely ruin it.”

Sunset smiled and shook her head, “Nah, not really, and for the record, that was the real Santa Claus that I saved.”
Namby chuckled a little, but noted that Sunset’s face hadn’t changed. It was then that a look of shock appeared, “Oh my gosh…y-you’re serious?!”

Sunset nodded.

“Huh…okay then…I’ll, I need to reassess everything that I know to be true in this world…again.”

“Sorry,” Sunset chuckled.

Namby waved it off. “Eh, honestly, it’s not a bad thing, knowing things like magic exist in this world, makes life feel more fantastical. So, anything else?”

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she blushed. “Well…you remember Twilight, right?”

“Of course.”

“Yeah, so we’re actually dating now. We’re officially girlfriends and everything,” Sunset confessed.

Namby gave a cute squee as she reached out and took Sunset’s hand. “Oh, Sunset congratulations! I’m happy you found someone special, truly, and all I can say is finally!”

Sunset gave a deadpan expression. “Let me guess, you’ve been on the ‘SunLight’ ship train for a while now, right?”

Namby gave a coy smile as she said, “Let’s just say I have an eye for these things, I am a journalist after all.”

Sunset rolled her eyes playfully. The two continued to make small talk until their waitress arrived with their drinks; they placed in their orders and let the waitress leave before they continued.

Namby sighed as she said, “Well, as much as I’d like to keep catching up, I really need to address the elephant in the room.”

“I figured.”

“You’re really going to face Equal, one on one, without Rainbow or Officer Shining Armor to assist?” Namby asked.

“Yes.”

Namby ran her hand through hair as looked at the young girl before her. “Sunset, on the day that you faced those two Dopants, when they hit you with that attack and you didn’t get back up……it took all I had not to break down and bawl my eyes out…if it wasn’t for the fact that I was on camera, I would have. Do you have any idea how hard it was to say that you were defeated, to think that you might’ve been……dead?”

Sunset reached out and held Namby’s hand, trying to convey some comfort to the young woman. “I know…all my friends; I know how scared they were for me, and how close to death I was. But things are different now; I won’t let that happen again.”

Namby sighed again, “You can’t make promises like that Sunset, not with the kind of stuff you do. I know you came back with a more powerful form, but what if Equal has something else in store for you?! What if this entire thing is just one big trap and she’s planning on ambushing you with some Dopants?!”

Sunset looked away for a moment. “I just…I just know…”

Namby narrowed her eyes at that explanation. “No, you don’t ‘just know’. I may not have known you as long as your friends, but even I know you don’t just go on your gut feeling alone, not unless you know something that backs it up…” It only took a moment for Namby to piece it together. “You know who Equal is…don’t you?”

The amber girl nodded her head slowly.

“Then…why haven’t you told Officer Armor?! Or anyone for that matter?!” Namby asked.

Sunset, her hand still grasping Namby’s, gave a slight squeeze as she said, “Listen, Namby, I know it’s cryptic as all hell, but trust me, I know this isn’t a trap. I assure you it isn’t, if Equal says she’s going to fight me one on one, then she means it. This could be my chance to end this whole Dopant, Gaia Memory, thing in one fell swoop! Whatever happens, I feel like this is something that needs to be done.”

Namby kept a narrow gaze on Sunset, searching for any sign that the young girl was lying to her. But after a minute, Namby relented, “Okay, I trust you. Just…please be very careful. I’d rather report on your victory than your…you know…”

Sunset smiled at Namby as she said, “I know, and I will.”

The young woman nodded. “Okay, so, now that that’s out of the way, I need to ask another important question.”

“Shoot,” said Sunset as she took a drink.

“Have you and Twilight kissed yet?”

Sunset nodded.

“Uh-huh…have you had your, ‘first night’ together?”

Then Sunset spat out her drink.

***________________________***

And so we came to it at last, the day of the fight. As expected, the center of Canterlot City was completely evacuated. The CCPD had cordoned off the area designated by Equal, and it had already been confirmed that Kamen Rider Equal was standing in the middle of the street waiting patiently for her opponent. News helicopters were told they could fly within the zone, but once Unicorn arrived, they were ordered to leave the combat zone immediately, or be arrested. The only thing that was allowed to fly inside the combat zone after that were camera drones, machines could be replaced, but human lives couldn’t. And no one wanted to distract Unicorn from her fight with worrying about a civilian caught in the crossfire.

Trigger was stationed at the only designated entrance in or out of the combat zone, his eyes briefly shifted upwards as he spotted Nasca perched on one of the buildings, overlooking everything and no doubt as anxious as he was about letting Sunset enter the battle alone. Unfortunately, while there as significant degree of police presence, there was already a large crowd of civilians gathering around the perimeter, despite repeated requests to vacate it. Their warnings, however, fell on deaf ears as the citizens wanted to witness their hero defeat the villain responsible for bringing chaos to their city. Many of them were holding signs that read “Unicorn 4 the Win!” or “Unicorn > Equal”, and other variations.

Just then, the sound of a motorcycle echoed, causing the citizens to quickly clear a path directly to the entrance set up by the police. Unicorn sighed and smiled under her helmet as she saw the many citizens who came out to offer their morale support for her showdown with Equal, she gave them a confident wave as she continued to drive down the path that the people opened up for her. Soon, Unicorn approached the main entrance where the police had set up the barricade; she stopped her bike as not only Kamen Rider Trigger, but Captain Broadside of the CCPD were standing at the entrance.

“Officers,” said Unicorn.

“Listen, Unicorn, if it wasn’t for the fact that we have the ability to keep casualties down this time around, I’d have Officer Armor here take you both in. But, regardless, this once, you will have our support in this. I expect you to only defeat Equal, not kill her, I don’t expect you to change your M. O. now that she’s present, got it?” Broadside warned.

“You don’t have to worry about that, Captain. I’ll bring her down, I won’t take her out.” Unicorn extended a hand towards Captain Broadside, and the gruff man accepted her hand and shook it.

The magical Rider revved her bike and prepared to head out, but then…

“Unicorn…”

“Yes, Officer Armor?” Unicorn asked as she looked up at him.

“Good luck.”

Even though she couldn’t see his face, Sunset knew that Shining Armor was smiling at her. With a twist of the handle bar, Unicorn sped down the road at top speed; leaving the rest of the CCPD to close the barricade, but not before Trigger brought his bike and himself to the opposite side. Many thought he was about enter the battle, but Trigger merely kept his bike off as he stood next to it, arms crossed as he waited for whatever would happen. Nasca flew over to the next building that was closest to Trigger’s position, both Riders ready to speed to Unicorn’s aid should things go sideways.
One thing did give them comfort as they watched a large bird fly in Unicorn’s direction.

***________________________***

[Testing, testing, can you hear me, Sunset?]

“Loud and clear, babe, the earpiece is transmitting perfectly,” said Unicorn.

[So long as Hawk is flying above you, I’ll be able to remain in direct communication with you throughout the fight. I can also transmit to Shining and Rainbow in case of an emergency.]

Unicorn nodded. “Good, but remember our deal. Once the fight starts, radio silence, no matter what, you’re not giving me any kind of aerial recon while I’m fighting her, this is a showdown between Starlight and myself, understand?”

There was a sigh of discontent coming from the earpiece. [I understand, just be careful, that’s all I ask……Looks like you’re almost there, beginning radio silence……I love you. ]

Unicorn smiled as she said, “I love you, too.”

The bike skidded to a halt as Unicorn neared Equal, she sat on the road in a meditative stance, legs crossed and resting on her legs. However, once she heard the sound of the bike, Equal slowly rose up as Unicorn began walking towards her. Once the magical hero was at least five feet away, she stopped. The center of Canterlot City was normally loud, the sounds of car engines, the constant thundering murmur of the people, it was all gone, silent enough to hear a pin drop.

“Here we are,” said Equal.

“Here we are,” Unicorn replied. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

Equal entered a combative stance. “Very sure, Unicorn. And watch what you say, although we are alone, we’re not alone.”

Unicorn glanced upwards, spotting a few drones. Although she doubted that they were close enough to catch anything they said unless they yelled, it was still wise to exercise caution. One wrong spoken word and her identity could be found out. Unicorn released a heavy sigh as she too entered a combat stance. The digital clock lamppost now read “11:59am”, only one minute until noon, and then…

The clock struck twelve, and without little warning, both Riders dashed across the street and met each other head on. Their fists collided with each other, creating a shockwave that rattled the windows all along the shops and buildings. Unicorn and Equal broke away and reengaged, Unicorn let loose with a flurry of punches, Equal either deflected, blocked or counterattacked, but then began to press into the attack. Equal threw a right kick to Unicorns’ left thigh, causing her to grunt, but Unicorn remained balanced, but with that same leg, Equal struck her twice in the ribs, causing Unicorn to flinch a little. That little bit gave her time to jump and throw a roundhouse kick to Unicorn’s head.

The magical hero spun backwards, but managed to catch herself, had that hit her bare in the skull, Sunset doubted she’d even be conscious to complain about the headache. But that pretty much solidified it for her, Starlight wasn’t holding back, she was serious in this battle, and anything less than Sunset’s best was going to have this fight end with Starlight as the victor.

Unicorn gave a growling snort as her horn began to light up, and in a flash of turquoise light she vanished. Equal entered a defensive stance as Unicorn reappeared, striking her with a right hook to her helmet, making Equal stumble for a few seconds, but in the next moment, Unicorn vanished again, teleporting behind her as she swept Equal’s legs from under her, making her go airborne for a few seconds. In those few seconds, Unicorn teleported again, appearing above Equal as she spun once and brought down her right foot in a powerful ax kick on her midsection. The blow sent Equal straight to the ground, making her bounce once, cracking the asphalt in the process. Unicorn then unleashed a mana burst wave, sending Equal flying away as she bounced on the ground like a pebble on water.

Equal regained her senses as she dug her clawed fingertips into the street, tearing into it and leaving long gashes in her wake as she slowed herself down. Unicorn teleported again, but Equal wasn’t about to let that blitzkrieg happen again. Equal quickly took the Less Than sign and slid it over her buckle.

| LESS THAN: < |

The crystal facets of her armor all glowed blue as they released a field of cerulean energy into the air. The release of energy happened at just the right moment, as Unicorn’s teleportation was cut short, appearing right in front of Equal and caught her off guard. Equal struck fiercely and swiftly, hitting Unicorn in the chest with a series of jabs and palm-heel strikes to her stomach and chest, sending sparks flying from each impact. Equal planted her feet, drew back, and then struck Unicorn with a double fist attack. In the reduction field, the damage Unicorn received was increased due to the field also reducing defensive power.

This time it was Unicorn being sent flying across the street, the magical hero released another mana burst wave to slow herself down as she dug her heels into the asphalt, halting herself from going any further. Unfortunately, she wasn’t given that long of a respite.

| GREATER THAN: > |

Equal dashed across the battlefield, her crystal facets not glowing bright red, her speed and power now increased. Once she was upon Unicorn, she grabbed her by the face and sprinted off into the distance, raising her up and plowing her through the street, upturning concrete, metal, and wiring, creating a large fissure in their wake. Equal didn’t relent as she jumped up and tossed Unicorn straight into the side of a concrete building. The dark Rider pressed down on her buckle and summoned her Staff of Sameness, once in hand; she twirled the weapon around, channeling her energy into it as she fired a crimson beam straight for Unicorn.

A fiery explosion went off in that moment, obscuring all signs of Unicorn. However, after a few seconds, a turquoise bubble fell from the flames and smoke and crash landed against the sidewalk. Equal landed in the middle of the street, growling in frustration as she pointed her weapon at Unicorn, who was now in a kneeling position. “GET UP UNICORN! DON’T YOU DARE PATRONIZE ME BY NOT USING YOUR STRONGEST POWER! IF YOU WANT TO WIN, YOU WILL GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU’VE GOT!”

Unicorn stood back up, her horn and eyes glowing with power and determination. In her right hand, the light of the Shining Memory glowed brilliantly. Unicorn raised her left hand into the air, and immediately, a firebird flew out of the sky and landed into her hand, transforming into the Phoenix Ascender. “You want my best?! Then I’ll give you my best Equal!”

< SHINING! >

\^/ PHOENIX! \^/

{\^/} AAAAAASCEEEEENNNNSIONNNNNN {\^/}

At that moment, a pillar of white light and flames erupted around Unicorn; the flames took the form of fiery feathered wings, and with a single flap, the pillar and wings dispersed. Ember feathers and white sparkles cascaded around the battlefield as Unicorn assumed her final form, that of Kamen Rider Unicorn: Day Dreamer. Unicorn used her right index and ring finger to draw a circle of light before her. She reached into the circle and a hilt formed, as she closed her hand around it, the circle shined and transformed into the Halo Blade.

Equal twirled her Staff of Sameness around as she dashed towards Unicorn. In an instant their weapons clashed, creating another shockwave that rattled the streets, but this time, Unicorn didn’t flinch, in fact, she didn’t even move one inch from where she stood. Unicorn widened her stance and flicked her wrist, making the Halo Blade slash upwards. The action made Equal stagger backwards for a moment before regaining her balance, but Unicorn wasn’t going to let up now. The two circular disks on her back rose up and released her light wings.

Unicorn sped towards her, unleashing a series of slashes at Equal. The dark Rider twirled her staff around, using it to block as many of her attacks as possible, every other attack that she didn’t block was getting through, hitting her in the arms, legs, torso, and even across the cheek of her helmet. Unicorn backed away, and quickly took out the Loyalty Memory, inserting into the Halo Blade.

)O( LOYALTY! AWAKEN! )O(

A cyan aura coated Unicorn’s body, and in an instant she disappeared from sight. Suddenly, Equal was assaulted with slashes from all directions; sparks flew from her armor as an invisible force continued to lay siege to her. Equal knew of this Memory, it granted Unicorn the power of super speed, but Equal knew that her reduction field should counter it. Without wasting another moment, Equal switched out her signs.

| LESS THAN: < |

The crystal facets once again turned cerulean, and the field was released, now all Equal had to do was wait for Unicorn to enter her field and then–

A slash struck Equal in the back, causing more sparks to fly from her body, and then another to her shoulder, and then to her leg. Over and over again, the assault on Equal did not cease, but it didn’t make sense. “The reduction field is up! Her speed should be reduced to the point where I can see her attacks coming! Unless…Unless she’s attacking me faster than the field can affect her?!” Equal hadn’t thought about that, it wasn’t that her field wasn’t working; it was that Sunset was moving so fast that the field didn’t have a chance to reduce her power by even a fraction. Equal was brought to a kneeling position as she panted, holding tight to her Staff of Sameness as the assault seemed to have finished.

Unicorn reappeared, her cyan aura still active as she held her sword tight in her grip. “This is what you wanted, Equal. Me not holding back, now you see the difference in our power, this is a battle of attrition at this point. Surrender now, give up your Driver, Gaia Memory, and turn yourself in.”

The dark Rider stood up slowly, on shaking legs as she switched back to her other sign.

| GREATER THAN: > |

Equal took out her Equal Memory and placed it into the Staff of Sameness.

>} EQUAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“The battle isn’t over until I can no longer stand, Unicorn! You haven’t beaten me yet!”

Unicorn sighed heavily as she took up the Honesty Memory and inserted it into the Halo Blade.

)O( HONESTY! AWAKEN! )O(

The Halo Blade flared up with an orange aura. Unicorn dashed towards Equal, and Equal towards Unicorn. A flash of crimson and orange light ignited between them, and in the next instant, Unicorn was on the opposite side of the street, and Equal was on the other. For a few moments, neither one of them moved a muscle, but then, Unicorn twirled her sword around. All of a sudden, Equal’s body erupted with sparks, her Staff of Sameness was cleaved in two as the Equal Memory jettisoned itself from the weapon, the Greater and Lesser Than signs were shattered at the same time, and Equal herself collapsed onto her hands and knees.

The Equal Memory lay before her, but the damage was too much, the armor began to disappear, revealing the identity of Kamen Rider Equal. Unicorn – or rather Sunset – realized she used too much power in the attack, she had to do something, but there was no doubt the drones were already zooming in on her to try and catch a glimpse of who Equal was.

“I can cause a distraction so you can get out of here! It’s over now! Just keep your head down!” Unicorn stated in harsh whisper.

However, Starlight did not heed her words. The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. grabbed her Gaia Memory and stood up proudly before Unicorn, for all the world to see. Unicorn didn’t understand why Starlight was showing her identity? Why didn’t she take her help?

“I figured something out after that trip…in order to achieve my dream, for the good of every single human being on this planet; I have to go to extremes in order to realize my dreams, Unicorn. I’ve remained hidden in the shadows for too long, it’s time I stepped into the light and became a bit more aggressive in my methods!”

Starlight gripped the Equal Memory tight, as she said, “I WILL NOT BE DETERED! I WILL BRING TO THIS WORLD A RECKONING OF UNDERSTANDING! NO MATTER WHAT I HAVE TO DO!”

At that moment, a red light shined from down the street. This light flew towards Unicorn and Starlight, but stopped right before Starlight Glimmer, hovering in the air. She reached out her hand, and grabbed the light, clenching it in her fist as the red light flowed over her body. A scarlet field of light erupted around Starlight, layering over the shattered pieces of her two signs. The signs began to reform, a black hourglass shaped item formed before her, with a red and blue button resting on either side of a glass window at the center. The two signs then combined with this new device and formed an “X”. Once locked in, Starlight gripped the device and slid both halves until they parted enough to reveal a slot for a Gaia Memory.

< EQUAL! >

Starlight inserted the Equal Memory into the Driver, freeing her left hand to hold the device, while she opened up her right and revealed what was inside. It was a black T2 Gaia Memory, and at the center of this device was the image of a red “X”. Starlight then pressed the button on the Memory, activating it as it called out its name.

< XTREME! >

“Henshin…”

> EQUAL! <

{*X*} XTREEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMEEE! {*X*}

Scarlet, navy blue, and black energy rose from Starlight, engulfing her very being. The sphere of tri-colored lights continued to swirl around her until they disappeared in a shower red and blue sparks. What stood before Unicorn could only be explained as Equal’s final form, akin to her own.

The armor had shifted to a black color; with the only part that retaining its silver-gray color was the chest plate. The crystal orbs on her chest had doubled, now there were six which formed an “X” pattern. The upper part of the forearms, the shin plates, outer thigh armor plates, and the whole of the shoulder pauldrons had been replaced with the diamond-like crystal orbs. A battle skirt flowed down and stopped just five inches above Equals heel, the skirt itself was open in the front, and was colored black; the edges were a dark gold color, with the symbol of a scale printed onto it. Equal’s helmet had changed as well, instead of eyes it was a visor that formed a wide “V”, but below that there were two red grooves that made it appear more like an “X”. Where the mouth would be, were segmented plates, three in total, and finally, where her equal crest horn once was, now rested a new crest of balancing scales.

“Starlight…what have you done…?”

“I have ascended, in my own way. This is my strongest form, Kamen Rider Equal: Balance Breaker. The scales of fate will tip in my favor…”

W: Within My Grasp / City Under Seige

View Online

Unicorn couldn’t believe the sight before her, Starlight had somehow achieved a Final Form, by use of the Xtreme Memory. The air around them became even more intense than it was when this fight began, and now, Sunset feared, round two was about to begin.

“What’s the matter, Unicorn, afraid to fight me now that I have my own supped up form?” Equal mocked.

“Starlight, it’s over, this fight is meaningless now! Everyone just saw your face! They’re probably about to raid your corporate office as we speak! For your sake, please, just surrender! You helped during the Tirek Virus Incident, and you helped back during Halloween! With all the other good you’ve done as just Starlight Glimmer, they might take it into consideration!” Unicorn pleaded.

“I like that about you, Sunset. You want to see the good in others, give them a second chance, because you were given one and rose above your past misdeeds. But in this case, the ends justify the means.” Equal reached up towards the sky, blocking out the sun with her open palm before making a fist, as if she was trying to capture the sun. “I will create true harmony, I have to…the world needs it, and I will be the one to bring it. Whatever it takes.”

Equal placed two fingers against the right side of her helmet as she said, “Activate plan: Omega.”

A deep rumble began coursing throughout the city, the vibrations extended well beyond the suburbs and to the city limits. There were towers bearing the logo of PhoenEXE Corp, which looked akin to cell towers, but that was only one function they served. The tower deconstructed at the top, revealing another mechanism underneath. It was shaped like an electrical coil, with violet colored electricity and plasma radiating off of it. The tower then shot a beam of violet light that angled itself towards the airspace above Canterlot City.

Not long after that, nine more beams of light followed suit. All ten converged right above the city proper, and upon contact, the beams began to spread out, interlacing with each other. It didn’t take long to understand what this was a giant barrier. Cars that were entering and exiting the city limits seemed to understand, to some degree, what this was, as many tried to speed their way either in or out before the barrier completely formed. Some cars made it through, albeit by either crashing through other cars or going full throttle.

When the barrier fully formed, some of the cars were cut in half, separating passengers and drivers, parents and children, husbands and wives. Unicorn took a cursory glance about the area, and narrowed her gaze from beneath her helmet, leveling it at Equal.

“What have you done?!”

“What I must.”

Unicorn’s light wings flared as she sped off towards Equal, and utilizing the Loyalty Memory, vanished from sight. Equal was not deterred, she pressed on the button on the left side of the new X device, and immediately all the crystal facets on her armor began to glow and emit a blue wave over the entire area.

[{X}] DIVIDE! [{X}]

Unicorn was suddenly hit with the wave of energy, and somehow it felt as if she was pushing herself through molasses. The Loyalty Memory shined, trying to speed her up to overcome the new power that Equal was using, but it only managed to make her less than half as fast as she was when using one of the Harmony Memories. Thanks to this slow down, Equal was able to duck out of the way of Unicorn’s blade as she passed behind her. Unicorn whirled around and slashed at her again, but Equal narrowly dodged the attack as she jumped backwards to put some distance between them.

“My Reduction Field has become an Entropy Zone, all available energy is syphoned from the area, heat, and kinetic energy, so long as the Zone is up.”

Unicorn looked around her, and indeed, the air was becoming chilled, and even frost was starting to form on the cars, glass, asphalt, and sidewalks. However, Unicorn didn’t feel the full effects of her Entropy Zone, the Harmony Memories, Unicorn, and Shining Memories were all still glowing bright, trying to resist the draining power of Equal’s new ability.

“Looks like my Gaia Memories are more stubborn than I am,” said Unicorn.

The magical warrior took hold of the Magic Memory and inserted it into the Halo Blade.

)O( MAGIC! AWAKEN! )O(

The Loyalty, Honesty, and Magic Memories created a trinity of power as blue, orange, and purple light wrapped around her, pushing away the effects of the Entropy Zone.

“Heh, actually I’d say you’re about the same!” Equal shot back as she pushed down on the button on the right side of X device.

[{X}] BOOST! [{X}]

A red aura shined from the crystals on Equal’s armor. She raised her right hand into the air, collecting crimson red energy that only grew bigger and bigger.

Both women released a battle cry as Unicorn fired a tri-colored beam from the blade of her sword, at the same time, Equal fired a beam from her crimson sphere. The two opposing powers clashed in the middle as a bright light formed from the dueling energies. Neither one was about to give up as they focused more and more power into their attacks, the point of light also grew bigger and brighter with each passing second. Eventually, it could last no longer as the bright point exploded violently.

The force of the blast threw Unicorn through the building behind her, while also doing the same for Equal. Both fighters ended up on far opposite ends of where they were battling, and as a result, their Rider forms dissipated into particles.

Starlight Glimmer was the first to rise up, groaning as she propped herself up against an undamaged pillar. “Okay…well…that was interesting.” Starlight looked at her closed fist and sighed heavily. “Guess I’m still holding back a little when it comes to her…”

[Starlight…come in…!]

The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. placed her left index finger against the earbud in her left ear. “Double Diamond, what’s going on?”

[There’s APB out on you, and there’s also a team of SCU officers led by Shining Armor. Seems he was ready for this somehow…?]

Starlight grinned a little. “Seems that Sunny and Twily have been hiding a supposed ace up their sleeve. No matter let them arrive, I had planned on a raid happening in response to this.”

[Do you wish for me to–?]

“No, you are to bring that system online, I have other associates who will take care of the raid problem.”

***_________EXE_________***

Multiple squad cars and SWAT vans were barreling down the road, and leading the pack was Kamen Rider Trigger. Starlight had finally shown her true colors, and now Shining Armor could take out the heart of this evil while Sunset battled Starlight. Trigger’s bike came to a screeching halt in front of the PhoenEXE Corp. headquarters, with the rest of his team stopping behind him. At the front of the building stood two women, women who were supposed be hospitalized.

“Sunflower and Clear Skies?!”

Indeed, the two women who were once holders of the Terror and ClayDoll Memories were now standing before them, completely healed and dressed in business suits.

“Oh look, Officer Shining Armor, you miss us?” Clear Skies asked in a sarcastic tone.

“You two were in a coma, I saw it!”

Sunflower chuckled and said, “Yeah, we were, but not for long. That chick, Starlight, came and woke us up and made us a deal. We work for her and get something even better than just money, power.”

At that moment, both women produced T1 Gaia Memories. Clears Skies’ Memory had a picture of hand with the index finger pointed outward with the thumb, forming a crude “C”. Sunflower’s was a crude diagram of an eye that formed the letter “E”.

< COMMANDER! >

< EYES! >

Both women pulled down the collars of their shirts to reveal their Living Connecters and pressed their Gaia Memories against their necks. Clear Skies was engulfed in a dark yellow light, and after a few seconds, had transformed into her Dopant form. The body was female, made of armored plates. Her right arm had several sharp spikes coming from it, and was colored orange-red, matching her lower leg armor. A black leather kilt hung from her waist, covering the back and sides, but exposing the front. Her left arm had a wrist device, displaying different buttons and dials. Her face was covered with a black visor, the only thing visible was her yellow eyes which glowed from within it.

Sunflower’s Dopant form had an almost pharaoh-like motif. It was also feminine in appearance, with a gold chest plate that was etched with intricate designs ofc eyes and wings. Her fingers were longer than normal, and each was claw tipped. The only visible skin was around the neck, hands, and mouth, which was blue-green. The headdress covered her eyes and head, the headdress itself seemed almost melded to her head.

The SCU officers all lined up, each one donned in combat gear, ready to take on the Dopant’s blocking their way. Trigger took point, his Chrome Magnum already out of its holster and resting at this right side. “I’m not like Unicorn or Nasca, just to let you know, `cause I don’t save the best for last!”

Trigger pulled out the SWAT Gaia Memories and immediately inserted them into his weapon.

< SUPER! >

< WEAPONS! >

< ACTION! >

< TACTICS! >

|<^>| SUPER! WEAPONS! ACTION! TACTICS! S.W.A.T. ENGAGED! |<^>|

A bright flash of azure light engulfed Trigger, transforming him into his Super Form, Trigger SWAT.

“Heh, figured you do something like that. And you know, you’re not the only one who has an army.”

The Commander Dopant pressed a few buttons on her wrist band, and soon the doors to PhoenEXE Corp. flew open. Several beings dressed in black combat fatigues came marching out, each one wearing a silver mask with black visors. Each of the Masked Soldiers had a device that looked as if it had a USB jack mounted onto their left wrists, and each of them had something in their right hands.

“Present arms!”

Each of the Masked Soldiers raised their devices, and it didn’t take Trigger and the officers long to realize that they all had Gaia Memories.

< ARMS! >

< TERROR! >

< TABOO! >

< CLAYDOLL! >

< SMILODON! >

< UTOPIA! >

< ANOMALOCARIS! >

< MAGMA! >

< T-REX! >

< MONEY! >

< BAT! >

< QUETZALCOATIUS! >

< INJURY! >

< LIGHTNING! >

< DOG! >

< JEWEL! >

< SPIDER! >

The Masked Soldiers inserted their Gaia Memories into their wristbands and all sixteen of them transformed into the Dopant forms of the Gaia Memories they wielded. Each was a perfect replica of the previous holder of the Gaia Memories, even the dangerous Quetzalcoatius Dopant.

“Oh, you got to be kidding me…!” Trigger groaned.

“Soldiers!” The Dopants got into attack position upon hearing the Commander Dopant. “Please remove these pigs from the premises, they’re trespassing.”

The Lightning Dopant raised both of its hands and fired arcing bolts of electricity towards the SCU officers, multiple explosions ignited as the officers were thrown into the air and landed roughly against either the squad cars or pavement. The rest of the officers began opening fire on the battalion of Dopants. The Jewel Dopant quickly stepped forward and slammed its fist into the ground, a deep rumble occurred and in a matter of seconds a wall of diamond rose before them, blocking the barrage.

The Bat Dopant opened its mouth and released its sonic waves. The waves resonated with the vehicles in the area, causing the headlights to change to an eerie purple color. The engines revved, and tires squealed as the squad cars and vans charged forward.

Trigger turned around and saw one of the vans approaching some downed officers. He quickly trained the Chrome Ultimatum onto the van and fired multiple shots at the tires. The beam attacks struck, causing the van to veer into a few rogue squad cars that were about to attack some more officers.

“Everybody fall back!”Trigger ordered.

“What’s the matter, Armor? Can’t take the heat?!” Commander mocked.

The armored Dopant pressed a few buttons on its forearm device, and not soon after, several missiles fired outwards from its back. The missiles then angled themselves and aimed directly for the officers that were fleeing. Trigger hurriedly aimed for the missiles but was suddenly struck several times in the back by the barbs of the Anomalocaris Dopant.

The missiles closed in and were about to hit, but at the last second, a streak of blue-green light flew in from the sky, it whipped back and forth between the missiles and after it passed, each one exploded in midair before they could reach their target. The streak landed before the stunned officers, revealing itself as Kamen Rider Nasca Star Chaser.

The Claydoll, Arms, and Taboo Dopants all opened fire on the speedster Rider. Nasca nimbly dodged the energy blasts and deflected a few blast spheres that were heading towards her. She finally made it to Trigger and pulled him back away from the horde of Dopants, allowing him to get his bearings.

“Okay, what in the actual hell is going on?! Where did all these Dopants come from?!” Nasca asked.

“There were these guys in combat gear, they put the Memories into some kind of device and the next thing I know, they’re all turning into, well, THAT!” Trigger looked behind him and was relieved to see that the rest of the SCU officers had gotten away. “We need to regroup, we definitely weren’t prepared to fight a squad of Dopants!”

Nasca twirled her blade around as she stared down the creatures before her. “I took down some of these guys with Unicorn, and in this form, I have these guys on their asses in ten seconds flat!”

Trigger grabbed ahold of Nasca’s wrist and looked straight at her. “We’ve already underestimated the situation in more ways than one right now! This dome, these Dopants, and now Equal’s got some Boss Final Form on top of all that! We need to link up with Unicorn and get a plan together, copy?!”

Nasca looked back at the Dopant army, as much as she didn’t want to admit it, he was right. Past Dopants were one thing, but this dome, and now Starlight achieving a Final Form? Not to mention these two new Dopants, there was no telling what they were capable of right now. With a heavy sigh, Nasca nodded in agreement to Trigger’s decision.

Trigger quickly made it back to his bike as Nasca flared her wing thrusters, but not before proclaiming. “Don’t get too attached to those Gaia Memories, we took these clowns down once, we’ll do it again!”

After that, the two Riders sped off down the road.

***__________________***

Due to the current crisis, many of the citizens of Canterlot had either hold themselves up in their homes or gathered in a sturdy place to provide some level of protection. One such shelter ended up being CHS, Celestia and Luna, along with CCPD officers were helping in coordinating the effort to keep the whole place orderly.

Meanwhile, Sunset had decided to crash at Twilight’s place, still feeling the harsh blow that she was dealt by Starlight’s powered form. She was currently lying on Twilight’s bed, with Spike curled up next to her, Sunset would occasionally pet the young canine as it did bring her some comfort. Twilight had stepped out for a moment to grab something to eat and brought it back up to her still recovering girlfriend.

Sunset turned to Twilight and asked, “How’s Shining Armor doing?”

“He’s alright, frankly he was more worried for his friends than himself…I can’t believe she was able to do something like that?! Starlight achieved a Final Form that could match you as Day Dreamer?! And now we have a Dopant army to deal with!” Twilight stated as she sat down in her chair and rested the plate of food on the night stand.

“Yeah, how exactly did she create an army of monsters like that? Didn’t you guys mostly beat them all?” Spike asked.

Twilight growled in frustration. “We did and, luckily, the ones who were the original wielders of those Memories are not them.” Twilight adjusted her glasses as she looked away for a moment. “I may or may not have been keeping electronic surveillance of those who were once Dopants by means of the T1s. Except…”

“Except Clear Skies and Sunflower…” Sunset finished.

“I figured I didn’t need to since they were in a coma, it never occurred to me that Starlight would cure them and recruit them! Ugh! I’m so naïve!” Twilight shot up from her seat and began pacing around her room. “I thought ‘Yes, she’s evil, but maybe evil with sense of honor and good intentions.’ But oh no, she’s really evil!”

Sunset didn’t say a word, she didn’t want to completely give up on Starlight Glimmer. She could feel that there was more to this than what was being seen, Starlight may be doing bad things right now, but Sunset couldn’t help but feel that there was a bigger truth behind her actions. Plus, she owed it to the Starlight Glimmer of Equestria, she made a promise to her.

“I don’t know how bad Sunburst’s death hurt her, or what her ultimate goal is, but at the very least, try and bring her into the light…”

“We’ll just have to plan accordingly, right now she has the numbers, but if we take out the Dopant’s a little at a time, we can beat them.” Sunset suggested.

“What about that guy you told me about?” Spike asked. “The one who sent that other Rider guy to help you out?”

Twilight and Sunset looked to each other, that thought hadn’t crossed their mind. Tsukasa, Kamen Rider Decade, had sent a communication cube to them during the Halloween Incident.

“You don’t think he’d be up for sending us some backup?” Spike asked.

“It’s worth a try, right?” Twilight asked.

Sunset knew that this situation was a bit bad, but she still felt that as a Kamen Rider, she should be able to deal with her own dimension’s crisis. Threats like Tirek, Shocker, and the hybrid Kaijin, they were big and nearly multiverse ending events, in comparison to those, calling Tsukasa for help would make it look like she couldn’t handle her own business.

“……I, well, we could. But, I don’t think we’re there yet. We should try and handle the situation ourselves. Besides, whatever Starlight’s plan is, it’ll more than likely require the use of the T2 Gaia Memories, and we have a good majority of them with us. So long as we can hold onto them, she can’t complete her plan,” said Sunset.

Twilight didn’t seem to agree with her girlfriend’s assessment but yielded to her judgment for now. “Wait…what’s exactly stopping her from attacking us right now and taking the rest of the Memories?”

Sunset paused and then said, “Oh sh–!”

***_________EXE_________***

Back at PhoenEXE Corp. headquarters, Starlight’s “Elite Four” were standing in her office, while Clear Skies and Sunflower sat on the couch in the middle of the office space.

“D, did you have any idea about these two?” Night Glider asked.

Double Diamond didn’t answer right away, he took a moment to carefully word his response. “In a word…no.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought. So why in the hell are you two here?! You were trying to kill Starlight last time I checked!”

Clear Skies was busy hugging her girlfriend close to her but managed to give a sly glance towards Night Glider. “Yes, I admit, we were originally going to kill her. But then she made us a better proposition, and got us out of that coma, so I’m not exactly complaining.”

“And that would be?” Party Favor asked.

“None of your business, kid,” said Sunflower.

Night Glider took a step forward, prepared to demand some answers.

“That’s enough.” Everyone in the room looked towards the doors and watched as Starlight entered the office. “We have too much to do and not a lot of time to do it all. The last thing I need is for you all to kill each other.”

Night Glider stepped back and grumbled under her breath.

Starlight took her seat behind her desk, prompting Clear Skies and Sunflower to join the ranks. “As of right now, we have only one T2 Gaia Memory unaccounted for, and all research indicates that it hasn’t gone beyond this city. That can be easily taken care of, however, we still require the other T2s that Unicorn and Nasca have.”

“And what about Officer Armor’s Trigger Memory?” Sugar Belle asked.

“We have that, so it’s pretty much ours,” Double Diamond answered. “The real issue is how to get the rest of the Gaia Memories away from the heroes?”

Clear Skies cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the others. “Here’s an idea, we take some people hostage.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow. “Like who?”

Sunflower answered, “We go for the one Rider we know we can get to. Unicorn appeared pretty quickly to help save Armor’s family when we attacked him, so there’s no doubt she’ll appear to save them again. More specifically, his precious little sister. We take her, and he contacts Unicorn and Nasca, and we get the Memories.”

“Only,” Clear Skies added, “it’ll be a double cross, we ambush them with our Dopant army before they have a chance.”

The four looked back at Starlight, knowing that she had recently developed a close friendship with the seven girls from Canterlot High School, among them, Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle were two she had grown closest to. All the other times when the girls were in danger due to a Dopant getting to close to them, Starlight had tried to keep them from getting caught in the crossfire. Clear Skies and Sunflower’s proposed plan was surely going to be shot down, and most likely followed up by a verbal accosting by Starlight.

“I authorize it.”

“WHAT?!!!” Diamond, Sugar, Party, and Glider exclaimed as one.

“But…” Starlight rose from her seat and looked the two women in the eyes. “It is only extraction, you are NOT to harm Twilight Sparkle, or her family. Detain, non-lethally incapacitate, but no physical harm is to befall them. If I find out that this rule has been broken, you two will only wish I put you back in a coma. Understand?”

With an audible gulp, both women nodded their heads and proceeded to exit the room to enact their plan. When they left, the four all gathered around Starlight’s desk, each of them bombarding her with questions as to why she was allowing such a plan to take place. Starlight raised her right hand and slammed her open palm onto the desk, silencing her comrades.

“I understand why you’re questioning this. But this is more essential than you realize, and they’re plan has a high chance of success. Glider, Party Favor, I want you to tail them and make sure that they don’t disobey my order. If it looks like they are about to do harm to that family, you are authorized to stop them, by lethal means if necessary. Now GO!”

Night Glider and Party Favor still weren’t sure of what was going on here, but they took some comfort in knowing that Starlight didn’t completely trust those two women. Taking her order, the two headed out the door to begin their surveillance of the Clear Skies and Sunflower.

“Sugar Belle, I want you to begin your search for the last T2 Memory, it’s here in this city, the dome will ensure if it found someone then they aren’t leaving easily.”

Sugar Belle, with a reluctant nod, left to begin her search.

“Double Diamond, prep the machine, take the Memories we have in the vault and place them.” Much to her mild surprise, Double Diamond didn’t immediately move out after receiving her orders. “Do you have a question?”

The snow-white young man took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Yes, what has changed? You’re acquisition of the Xtreme Memory was surprising, and…I can sense a change in you. Why would allow them to enact such a plan, when all of us know how fond you are of them?”

Starlight leaned back in her chair as she stared up at the ceiling for a moment. “I understand why you would question me about this, I’m honestly glad you did. But understand, my reasons are for the advancement of the plan. The Xtreme Memory has granted me greater insight as to what needs to be done, and…”

Double Diamond raised his eyebrow. “And…?”

Starlight sighed as she looked back at Double Diamond. “It’s too late to turn back now.”

Double Diamond wasn’t completely convinced, but he was sure that Starlight wasn’t going to give him anymore than that. The pale white young man nodded to her and set off to begin the preparations. All while Starlight began to formulate the remaining pieces of the plan.

W: Within My Grasp / The Ultimatum

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Twilight and Sunset had begun to take inventory of the T2 Memories in their position, after realizing that they may be in the endgame of Starlight’s plan, and with her recent show of force, there was no doubting that she may attack them when they were most vulnerable in order to take the rest of the Gaia Memories. The girls had laid them out on Twilight’s bed, with Spike resting at the head of the bed, he also saw them put down strips of paper as place holders as at least three of the Gaia Memories were with Rainbow Dash, and one was with Shining Armor.

“Okay, so in order…Accel, Cyclone, Fang, Joker, Metal, Nasca, Ocean, Queen, Rocket,” Sunset began.

“Skull, Trigger, Unicorn, Weather, and Zone. If my theory holds true, and there are indeed twenty-six T2 Gaia Memories in relation to the alphabet, then…” Twilight began writing out placeholders for the remaining Gaia Memories that were not listed and put them on the opposite side of theirs.

“When I fought Glitter, she used the Gene Memory, and an ice powered Dopant came and stole the Memory before I could get it. After that, there was that incident with Rara and her manager using the Puppeteer Memory, and that memory was stolen by a dopant with fire powers.”

“Then there was Gilda and the Violence Memory, and that was stolen by a bird Dopant. Those Dopant’s must work for Starlight,” said Twilight.

Sunset put the pieces of paper placeholders down, arranging them in alphabetical order. “If we assume those three Dopants work for Starlight, and since the letters correspond to the name of the Gaia Memory, we’re missing letters B, D, H, I, L, and Y. I’m going to take a stab in the dark here and say the ‘B’ Memory is Bird, ‘I’ for Ice, and…the other one was fire, sooo…Heat. ‘D’, ‘L’, and ‘Y’ we’re still not sure of.”

Twilight made a few more paper placeholders and arranged them for Starlight’s side. “So, they’re in possession of the Bird, Equal, Gene, Heat, Ice, Key, whatever ‘L’ stands for, Puppeteer, and Violence Memories. All but two, that must be why she closed off the city, to ensure that whoever holds those Gaia Memories will be locked in this dome and unable to leave.”

Sunset looked over their “game pieces”, for the most part they had the majority of the T2 Gaia Memories, but Starlight still had more of the T1s at her disposal. “In any case, it’s not a good idea to have them here, I’ll hide out somewhere and have Dash do the same.”

Twilight looked to her girlfriend as if she grew a second head. “Excuse me?! Why?!”

“The Memories are a big target, and Starlight knows that Dash and I have them. If she comes after them, I can at least draw her away from you and the girls,” said Sunset.

“But that’s–!”

“That’s no guarantee that she still won’t come after Twilight or your friends.” Both girls turned around and saw Shining Armor leaning against the doorframe.

“Shiny, you should be resting,” Twilight scolded.

Shining Armor grinned as she walked into the room. “Compared to what Sunset went through, she should be the one in bed resting.”

“I do agree with that,” said Twilight as she gave her girlfriend a scolding glare.

Sunset chuckled sheepishly as she tried to avoid the gaze of her lover, it wasn’t working all too well. “Still, the only other option we have is a full-frontal assault, which means we have to go through a horde of Dopants and whatever else she may have at her disposal. Without knowing Starlight’s plan, we don’t know if we’ll just be falling into her hands.”

*ding-dong*

Twilight, Shining, and Sunset each looked at each other in confusion, with the city on lockdown, there wasn’t many people going out. They could hear the door open, but not much else after that. After a couple of minutes there were footsteps heading up the stairs. Sunset reached behind her back and took hold of the Unicorn Memory, at the same time Shining Armor was getting ready with his Driver and Trigger Memory. Twilight quickly scooped up Spike and ducked behind the opposite side of the bed.

The footsteps grew closer and closer, until a figure turned the corner, and it was Cadence. Sunset stood up straight, while Shining Armor just released a sigh of relief.

“Are you guys alright?” Cadence asked.

“Babe, we’re supposed to be on total lockdown. Why are we still at ‘ding-dong’?” Shining Armor asked.

“Sorry, but there’s someone here to see you, says he’s an associate from the SCU?”

Shining Armor’s eyebrow rose in suspicion. “Huh, okay, I’ll be down in a minute.”

Cadence turned the corner and proceeded downstairs, Shining Armor turned around and said to Sunset, “Be ready, just in case.”

Sunset nodded and watched as Shining Armor went downstairs. “Let’s gather up the Gaia Memories while we have the chance, I’m getting a bad feeling.”

Twilight quickly collected the devices and handed them to Sunset, and not a moment later did they hear Shining Armor exclaim, “YOU!”, followed up by a crash of furniture and glass.

“SHINING ARMOR!” Twilight cried.

Sunset grabbed ahold of Twilight’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “You stay up here!”

“But…?”

“Twilight, it’s safer up here, don’t give your brother something else to worry about, alright?!” Sunset stated in a stern voice.

Twilight reluctantly nodded as Sunset rushed down the stairs and watched as a blast from the past was standing in the living room. The teenager that threatened Shining Armor and Twilight, and nearly killed them, her second opponent as Kamen Rider Unicorn, Garble.

The young man held a cocky smirk as he held his Gaia Memory in his left hand and his exposed right forearm with the Living Connector tattoo. “Long time no see, Armor!”

Shining Armor had crashed into a wooden table, snapping it in half and was currently dragging himself back up to his feet as he stared down his assailant. “What the hell are you doing here?! You were supposed to be transferred weeks ago!”

Garble chuckled darkly. “Yeah, I was, but then this chick with floating eyes and another in heavy metal came back and busted me out and gave me a ‘second chance’, and I plan to make good!” Garble announced as he raised his left hand and pressed the button on the Gaia Memory.

< BEAST! >

Sunset dashed towards Garble and tackled the teen to the ground, making the Gaia Memory fall from his hand.

“UGH! You bitch!” Garble growled.

Garble, shoved Sunset off of him and crawled towards the Gaia Memory on the floor, but Sunset roared as she ran and body slammed Garble, making the boy release a pained, “Oomph!” sound as the air was nearly knocked out of him. Sunset then hooked her right arm under his neck and got him in a headlock. She then rolled until she was on her back and gaining leverage as she choked him.

“LET! ME! GO!”

“Go to sleep now, go to sleep!”

Garble tried to pry Sunset’s arm, but he found the task to be more difficult than he anticipated, despite being taller and more muscular, Sunset was surprisingly, almost freakishly, stronger than him. Garble’s pride wasn’t about to let him get choked out by a girl, he raised left arm and began throwing elbow jabs into Sunset’s ribs. Sunset gritted her teeth and grunted with each painful strike, but every time he struck, she only increased the intensity of her hold in direct opposition to his protesting strikes.

In a desperate act, Garble threw his head back and struck Sunset in the face. Sunset cried out as her face erupted with pain that made her close her eyes. She flinched for just a moment, but it was all that Garble needed as he struck her again, making her grip loosen as he scrambled to his feet. The street fighting youth then proceeded to kick Sunset in her stomach a total of three times, making her cough in pain. Garble raise his left foot and prepared to stomp on her head to finish her.

Just then, Shining Armor’s fist collided with the left side of Garble’s face, throwing him against the wall. Shining didn’t let up as he pinned the gangster teen against the wall and began pummeling him with lefts and rights as he shouted, “DON’T YOU EVER!” left punch, “EVER!”, right hook to the ribs, “HURT MY LITTLE SISTER’S GIRLFRIEND!”

Shining raised his fists above his head for a hammer blow, but Garble yelled as he charged forward and threw them both into a cabinet filled with commemorative plates and assorted knickknacks. Meanwhile, Cadence was watching all this carnage unfold from around the corner of the kitchen, she tried to call the police but all she was able to get was an automated line stating that “All emergency services were currently busy”.

Sunset recovered enough to get back her feet, she hurriedly rushed to Shining Armor’s side as Garble was lying into him with several punches. The former pony mare threw a roundhouse kick into his face, throwing him off Shining Armor as he hit the wall next to the kitchen entrance. Garble wiped some blood from his lips and glared at Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer. The latter helped the former to get back to his feet, both squaring up and ready to fight Garble again. Unfortunately, they didn’t notice that the Gaia Memory they were trying to keep him away from was already in his hands.

“Should’ve watched where you were kicking me, ya stupid redhead!” Garble proclaimed as he readied to connect the device to himself.

However, before Garble could even press it against his arm, a loud metallic ring sounded in the room. Garble paused and then slowly fell forward, face planting onto the floor as the Gaia Memory fell out of his hands and landed before them. Sunset and Shining looked down at Garble and then looked up to see that Cadence had struck the young man with a frying pan.

“Did I…Did I kill him…?” Cadence asked.

Sunset raised her right foot and stomped on the Gaia Memory hard, breaking it in half. Shining Armor went over to Garble and pressed two fingers against his carotid artery.

“No, he’s alive, probably have a concussion, but trust me, the alternative would have been worse, you were great honey,” said Shining Armor.

Cadence dropped the frying pan and leaned against the archway, the adrenaline that was coursing through her when she attacked Garble had left and now she was shaking. “I just saw him fighting you two, I called the police, but with all that was happening there was no I they’d make it in time! Then I saw an opening and I just, well, took it!”

“Hey, it was either him or us, and he’s still breathing – little turd doesn’t deserve to be – but at we’re alive.”

“Thank gods I told Twilight to stay upstairs,” Sunset limped a little as she walked towards the foot of the stairs and called up, “Twilight, it’s safe now, you can come down.”

There was no immediate answer, which made Sunset worry.

“Twilight?”

Again, no response.

“Twilight please answer me, I just got through with a fight and I’m really not in the mood to be climbing stairs right now!”

Sunset started to hear movement upstairs, but then her heart sank when she saw who came out of her room. The Eyes Dopant came walking down the stairs, with Twilight cradled under her left arm, completely immobile. Sunset’s fist tightened, and her teeth gritted as the fires of rage burned inside of her at the sight of her lover in the clutches of this Dopant.

“Ah, I remember you, you’re the ‘hero’ who tanked my last shot at this girl. Damn, I thought I killed you that last time, you’re tougher than I thought,” said Eyes.

Shining got into position, but suddenly, a beam of blue light shot across his left shoulder and whizzed by Cadence’s left ear to strike the window, and blow it out. An eyeball floated next to the Eyes Dopant, who wagged her right index finger back and forth.

“Nah-uh-ah, none of that. I can easily kill you all right now, but all I really need is her.”

“Why?!” Sunset asked.

“Officer Armor, if you want this little nerd girl to live to have her first drink, you’ll get Unicorn and Nasca to hand over all their remaining T2 Gaia Memories, yours included. You have two hours, and we’ll meet in White Tail Park, pretty open space so if you try anything, we’ll see it coming a mile away,” said Eyes.

Sunset flinched as if she was about to rush her, but another beam shot at her, and nicked her across her right cheek, causing her yelp from the pain.

“We were told we couldn’t kill you, but we can make sure that you don’t put up a fight. Although, she was a little vague on how exactly we were allowed to do that, she did say ‘non-lethal’, so as long as you don’t die, that means I do can whatever I want, like say…shoot out your kneecaps or maybe hit you in the spine to turn you into a paraplegic.”

The floating eye began to charge up, but before it could fire, the eyeball was whipped out of the air and down to the ground. The air began to distort close to the Eyes Dopant, and what was revealed was the Luna Dopant, its long arms coiling and ready to ensnare the Eyes Dopant.

“You have your hostage, there’s no need for more than this,” said the Luna Dopant.

At that moment, the sliding glass door to the backyard patio shattered, and from it swooped in the Bird Dopant. “Let’s go, now!”

The Eyes Dopant looked to her associates and sighed in disappointment. “Fine, I guess we’ll go! Can’t even have a little fun, nooo.”

“WAIT!” Sunset exclaimed as she lurched forward, only for quill to fly and land at her feet, penetrating the floor like a knife.

“We won’t hurt her, but that won’t be guaranteed if you slack around. You have four hours,” the Bird Dopant stated.

“But I said–!”

“I SAID FOUR HOURS! And you can keep that trash, and you have some explaining to do.”

The Luna Dopant released a flash of light, creating bubbles that filled up the room. And after a few seconds, all four of them had disappeared. Sunset’s fists trembled with anger as she struck the closest wall next to her, striking through the drywall as if it were made of wet tissue paper.

Starlight, why would drag her into this?!

Sunset looked back up, hearing a groaning sound from the top of the stairs. Spike had managed to make it to the edge of the stairs before collapsing, Sunset rushed up and took the young pup into her arms as she said, “Spike, talk to me, are you alright?!”

“Uh…I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop it…she hit us with some beam and everything went black.”

“Shh, it’s alright, you did your best. We’ll get her back.”

***_________EXE_________***

“You did WHAT?!” Starlight exclaimed.

“He had a beef with Armor, and we used it to our advantage. Besides, you got another one of those Beast Memories lying around down there,” said Clear Skies.

Starlight ran her hand down her face as she growled. “That’s not the issue here, I allowed you to take that girl hostage, but I specifically said NOT to harm them! That psycho would’ve killed them!” Starlight glanced to the unconscious Twilight Sparkle now lying on the couch in her large office and then turned her gaze back to the two women before her. “Just get ready for the exchange.”

Clear Skies and Sunflower shrugged as they left the room, leaving Starlight alone with Twilight. Starlight sat in the couch opposite where Twilight was, and after a few seconds, she could see the young teenager begin to stir from her slumber. Twilight slowly rose up, holding her head as she tried to remember what had happened to her. However, it didn’t take her long to remember what happened, and that recall instantly alerted her to the fact that she was no longer in her home. Twilight tensed when she saw who sat across from her, she wasn’t sure what she should do.

“Are you alright?” Starlight asked.

“Huh?” Twilight asked.

“Do you need any medical attention? I ordered them to bring you here safely, but I don’t put it past them to have roughed you up. So, if there’s something hurting you, please tell me now so I can have it treated,” said Starlight.

Twilight’s brow knitted as she heard Starlight speak. “You act like you’re concerned for my safety, and yet you do all of this! Dome the entire city, send someone to capture me, and now you have an army of Dopants?! I don’t get you! You caused all this mayhem, and yet you’re still acting as if we’re friends!”

Starlight smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I know…I honestly don’t have the right to call myself that, but that doesn’t negate the fact that I do consider you my friend, you, the girls, and even Sunset Shimmer. But I have my reasons for what I am doing, and to reach my goal, I must push everything to the limit now. Or else I’m afraid I’ll lose my resolve if I keep interacting with you all for much longer.”

“Maybe if you told us what it is you’re trying to do, maybe we could’ve either helped you or found a different way! But even now, your intentions are a mystery. Why do you need the T2 Gaia Memories, why did you create the T1s, and what is this all for?!”

Starlight reclined in the couch as she looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to pluck the answer from the air. “I’m honestly surprised you hadn’t figured out it by now. Considering you have access to the Earth’s Memories, same as me.”

Twilight’s eyes widened with shock. “What…What did you say?”

“There’s no way Sunset had the knowledge to create the Drivers, the mechanical animal weapons, and the power up items. She’s brilliant, but not like that. No, only someone with access to the Earth’s Memories could’ve possibly been able to manufacture those, and I’m very much confident that it wasn’t Rainbow Dash. That left the only resident genius among your friends, you, Twilight Sparkle. I’m sure you’ve seen it, the library with endless shelves and equally endless books, right?”

“You…know about the Infinite Library?! How?! Only my friends know about it, how did you know?!” Twilight asked in a panic.

Starlight leaned forward and tapped the side of her head. “You’re not the only one the Earth has bestowed such wisdom and knowledge, you’re the second, and I’m the first. It’s how I was able to build everything around you, the factory for the T1s, and my own Driver. The Earth seems to have chosen another to bear such knowledge, it can be a heavy burden, but at least you haven’t lived with it all your life.”

The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. stood up and walked towards the window looking out towards the enclosed city. Twilight looked at the doors, briefly contemplating the idea of running out now, but then again, a woman like Starlight would’ve already had them locked, or there was probably someone standing guard outside. And Starlight was a strong fighter, so Twilight knew she had no chance of overpowering her. With a sigh, she too stood up and joined Starlight as they gazed out into the city.

“You say you’ve had this ability for a long time now…ever since you were born?” Twilight asked.

Starlight nodded. “I didn’t know what exactly it was at the time, but even at my young age, I knew it wasn’t something I could share with anyone. They’d just think it was a metaphor for me to explain my genius mind. But I knew it wasn’t, all I needed was the right ‘keywords’ to whatever it was I wanted to know, and I would have access to it immediately, like my own mental internet. Ancient writings called such archives the ‘Akashic Records’, or the ‘Collective Unconscious’, have you ever heard of that?”

“Yes, the first is the myth that all knowledge, both past, present, and future, is stored in a type of archived record that exists on a metaphysical plain. It’s said that humans can access these ‘Records’ unconsciously, but those who are of a higher IQ are said to have a stronger connection to these ‘Records’ and that’s what allows them to come up with such innovative and sometimes fantastical ideas. The ‘Collective Unconscious’ is more or less the shared mindscape of every sapient being on the planet, how we’re all connected on a subconscious level.”

“Very good, Twilight. It’s gone by many names, but it is still called Gaia Memories. The very instruments that transform people into Dopants, and me and Sunset into Kamen Riders. They are the physical manifestation of one of the Earth’s memories, plucked from the essence of the world itself. But the Earth has its own version of the ‘Collective Unconsciousness’, as the knowledge of such devices did not exist in our world, but from another Earth in another dimension. I’m sure you’ve seen enough by now to know that there are other dimensions, where Kamen Riders live, and even where ponies can use magic and are intelligent beings.”

Twilight remembered, when she saw the Uni-Driver, when she made the items, she could sometimes see visions of other Riders. After discovering that there was a vast Multiverse of Kamen Riders, she wondered for a while now if her knowledge was somehow something she tapped into from another Kamen Rider world because of her magic once meddling with the fabric of reality? Now it made sense, she was connected to the Earth’s Memories, and through that, she could tap into the knowledge of another world where the Gaia Memories were possibly used by another Kamen Rider.

“But what does that have to do with now? What does any of this have to do with what you’re trying to do–?!”

“Tell me,” Starlight interrupted, “if you had to choose what the number one cause of violence, fear, and discrimination was in the world, what would it be?”

Twilight was not expecting such a philosophical question from Starlight, but if it would get her closer to the truth then she’d oblige with an answer. “If I had to guess…ignorance. When people don’t know about something, they fear it, when they fear it, they discriminate against it, and discrimination more often than not, leads to violence.”

“Very good, you nailed it right on the head. A person’s lack of knowledge can often make them feel frustrated, lashing out against those who know more than them, or had better access to the knowledge they were denied. And just the same, someone who knows more than others, labeled a ‘genius’, can be shunned and often hated because they were born smarter where others had to work harder for it. I know you know what I’m talking about, right?” Starlight asked.

Twilight frowned as her gaze turned downward. Indeed, she did know very well how others could treat those who were different from them. A girl like her, who was more interested in the pursuit of knowledge than personal relationships with others, was often shunned by others. They believed that she was so smart that she didn’t want to mingle with the “dumb people”, and saw everyone as inferior to her. But that simply wasn’t true, yes, she could’ve made a better effort to strengthen her social bonds with her peers, but when others made up their minds about you, it was hard to try and change their perspective. Even Crystal Prep’s students, they saw her as nothing more than a rival, someone to knock off the pedestal that her grades and hard work granted her. It was part of the fear that Twilight had when she started dating Sunset Shimmer, she had long ago accepted that her girlfriend was an alien from another dimension, and her friends weren’t bothered by it, and neither did most of CHS. However, the rest of world couldn’t be held to the same standard, she still, to this day, worried that someone would report that Sunset was not someone who existed in this world, and that she’d be taken in, and eventually found out as a not really human. They’d treat her as an invader because they knew nothing about her.

“You’re right, I know that pain, all too well,” said Twilight.

Starlight smiled sympathetically as she placed her hand on the young teen’s shoulder. “That’s my goal, Twilight, to eradicate ignorance at its source. And to do that, I require the T2 Gaia Memories. They are far stronger than the normal T1s, and they’re power is different, as they are not from our dimension, but rather, from another where the power of the Gaia Memories originated from. They were destroyed there, but the Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy states that matter and energy cannot be destroyed, it can only change form. As so it did, whatever power ‘destroyed’ them in their world, acted as a catalyst to cause their rebirth in this one. They are the keys to the lock of infinite knowledge.”

Twilight looked to Starlight, she looked deep into her eyes and could see it. There was an earnestness in those eyes, a great determination, Starlight’s ultimate goal, Twilight had figured it out. “You want to grant everyone access to the Gaia Memories, so that everyone has equal knowledge…”

“Yes, no one will ever feel stupid compared to others, because they’ll be just as smart as they are. And those who are geniuses will no longer feel alone because they’re smarter than those around them, because now they will have the same level of genius as they do! Do you see, a world with no ignorance, where everyone has equal access to infinite knowledge! There will be no more need for wars, no need to discriminate, no need for any of it! With ignorance eliminated, human beings can focus on bettering the world and humanity itself! It’ll be a bright and beautiful future, Twilight!” Starlight declared in an excited and giddy tone.

Twilight could hear the great sense of hope in her voice, the wish of a child, of every child, a world where we understood each other and helped one another, in a way, it was much like the ways of Friendship that Sunset and her otherworldly counterpart preached.

“So, yes, have I done a great many things, and committed some sins in the process. But, Twilight, you can see, the ends do justify the means, and I want you, Sunset, and your friends to survive to see it, a brand new world! At the end of all of this, I will gladly answer for the crimes I’ve committed. But I will do so gladly knowing that world from this point forward is a better one.”

***____________________***

After Twilight’s kidnapping, Sunset had gathered her friends together, sending emergency texts to them about what was going on and that they needed to come up with a plan. Shining Armor was busy getting together his SCU partners, and in a sense stalling for time. He told his fellow officers he didn’t know where they took Twilight, but he would inform them once Sunset came up with a plan to get her back. When they all arrived, Sunset was surprised to see Gilda among them, apparently she had paid Rainbow a visit to her folks’ place and left Gabby with them, since she didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone at their apartment. However, as the hour went by, and with the deadline growing closer, Sunset was getting increasingly frustrated.

“Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!” Sunset cursed as she paced her loft back and forth.

“Calm down, Sug, we can’t save Twilight if yer all hot and bothered,” said Applejack.

“Maybe you forgot, but MY GIRLFRIEND WAS KIDNAPPED! How else should I react! I swore I’d protect her after what happened with the Key Dopant, and now…RAGGH!” Sunset shouted as she punched the brick wall of her living room.

The girls gulped when they noticed that Sunset actually left a dent in the brick and her hand barely any damage to it. The fact that they’re friend had become an alicorn was definitely showing in these little shows of strength.

“Starlight won’t hurt Twilight, she still cares for us a friends, otherwise Starlight would’ve just come and attacked us all or kidnapped all of us,” said Pinkie Pie. “She took Twilight because she knew you probably wouldn’t hesitate to give her the Gaia Memories in exchange.”

Rarity nodded in agreement. “Pinkie Pie does have a point, she knows you’re Unicorn, she could simply just attack you when you’re not ready for her and just take them from you. Instead, she’s bargaining with you.”

Rainbow Dash smacked her right fist into her left palm as she narrowed her gaze. “If she wanted the Memories, she should’ve just fought us both for them, probably afraid we’ll kick her ass up and down the city, even with that new form of hers.”

“Or,” Fluttershy interjected, “maybe she’s wanting to avoid having to do that. If you give up the Gaia Memories, you two won’t have any way to transform, and then we wouldn’t be able to stop her.”

Gilda cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the group. “Yeah, just putting this out there, but, don’t you guys still have your Magical Girl Pony Powers?”

Sunset shook her head in frustration. “They’re not meant for combat of this nature, even if our magic could give us an edge, we’d still have to fight through at least twenty or more Dopants, and then fight Starlight at the end who’ll be more powerful thanks to her Balance Breaker abilities! And no doubt she’ll have some of them there for the exchange, she won’t be expecting us to be in Rider form, because our Memories are also T2s…we’re outgunned and driven into a corner on top of it all…BUCKING HORSEFEATHERS!”

*knock, knock*

Everyone looked to each other, they were all assembled, and Shining Armor hadn’t texted Sunset about coming over. Sunset and Rainbow Dash summoned their Drivers and readied their Gaia Memories as they approached the front door, but when Sunset looked through the peephole, she was confused to see a person she hadn’t seen for bit. The redheaded girl unlocked the door and opened the door to show Juniper Montage.

“Jun, what’s, uh, why are you here?” Sunset asked.

Juniper rubbed the back of her head as she looked behind Sunset to see the rest of her friends. “Oh…well…this may be a bad time, but, with all that’s going on right now, I think there’s something you should see…”

Sunset nodded and allowed Juniper entry. Once inside, she was informed of all that was going on, and her worry seemed to increase. “Okay, well…the reason I came was…this.”

Juniper reached into her purse and pulled out a Gaia Memory, but this wasn’t a regular Gaia Memory, it was the T2 version of the one Juniper had once used, the Dummy Memory. The girls all shot to their feet as they bombarded her with a dozen questions.

“It’s not what you think, I swear! This wasn’t like the one that I used when I lost it. When this dome thing appeared, it just shot towards me while I was on set, it looked different from the one I used before, and looked more like the one you two use. I figured this might have something to do with the dome, so I came to see you, but I didn’t know that Twilight was…”

*knock, knock*

“Now what?” Sunset asked in annoyance as she walked to the front door to see who else was coming to see them. When she looked through the peephole this time, she was actually surprised. “Okay…wasn’t expecting them…”

Sunset opened the door and standing outside was Sunny Flare, but with her was also Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Indigo Zap. Sunset ushered them in as they joined the rest of the group, Rarity stood up and hugged her girlfriend tight and said, “Sunny, Darling, whatever are you all doing here?”

“Sunny Flare told us that Twilight was kidnapped, and that Sunset Shimmer was Unicorn, and Nasca is Rainbow Dash,” said Sugarcoat.

Sunset and Rainbow’s eyes twitched as they then turned their scolding gaze onto Rarity.

The violet haired girl chuckled in a sheepish manner as she said, “Well…honesty is a very important part of any relationship, and-and Sunny has proven trustworthy so–!”

“How long?” Rainbow asked.

“It was after that incident where Twilight went to the hospital,” Sunny answered. “Rarity gave me the details then, and of course, I’m grateful to you and Twilight for stopping me from becoming a full monster.”

“We’re here to assist in whatever efforts you’re planning to save Twilight, you helped me save my father, and I’ll return to the favor,” said Sugarcoat.

“Twilight may not be enrolled at CPA anymore, but that girl’s been through enough, besides, when you mess with one Shadowbolt, you mess with all of us!” Indigo stated.

“Yeah, so let’s go and save that cute nerd hero style!” Lemon added.

Sunset raised an eyebrow at that “cute” comment, but was happy to have the extra assistance. “I appreciate your wanting to help, but we don’t have a lot of options right now…”

“Actually, we do.” Gilda stood up and had a very scheming grin on her face. “We have all the pieces right in here, get me Red?”

Sunset looked around her, Juniper with the Dummy Memory, Sunny Flare and the rest of the Shadowbolt Five, the Gaia Memories. It clicked. “Gilda, I like the way you think. This might be dangerous, for all of us…”

All the girls stood up each gave a confident grin.

“Did you forget who you’re talkin’ to?” Applejack asked.

“What’s the plan SunShim?!” Pinkie asked.

Sunset’s grin grew as she took up the Unicorn Memory. “Listen up…”

***________???________***

The Silver Veil, the conduit for which the Destroyer of Worlds, Kamen Rider Decade, traveled through to the multiverse of Rider Worlds. Tsukasa found himself in one such world, a peaceful enough city with huge windmills and a pleasant breeze blowing through it.

Many Riders would see him as a leader, although he never saw himself a leader material. Shocker had brought him to be their weapon and to lead their forces against the Showa and Heisei Riders, but in the end, Tsukasa chose his own fate, breaking the shackles of Shocker and ending up taking them down. At one point he lost his memories, forgetting his origins, but after traveling through the different Rider Worlds, they came back, and in the end, he did Destroy the Worlds, in a sense that he ended up actually saving them instead.

He always said he was a “Passing through Kamen Rider”, because that’s he did, he passed through, not really having a proper dimension to call his home, well, except for one place, but he preferred to keep that world secret. Since he was seen as a de facto leader of the Heisei Riders, he had to have some place where the others wouldn’t bother him.

Nonetheless, being the de facto leader also meant that he had to step up and take care of incidents before they got too out of hand. Which what brought him to this world, a new Rider – well, actually there were two, but he was focusing more on Sunset – was about to enter a crossroads, one that could affect more than just her world depending on the outcome. That’s why he was here, fledgeling Riders like Sunset sometimes do better when they have a true senpai to show them the ropes. For the most part, Sunset had been doing good.

It was sometimes the curse of all Riders to be indoctrinated into this life without anyone to show them ropes. But that was mostly because there weren’t others with similar powers to show them how it was done, but in this case, Tsukasa knew that wasn’t true. The only real problem was that her senpai was another dimension away, and being the great leader that he was, Tsukasa decided it was time to get his kohai a proper senpai.

Tsukasa was leisurely walking through the streets, sometimes he didn’t need to actively look for someone to find who he was looking for, one of his uncanny powers at work. Not but a couple of minutes after entering this world did Tsukasa stumble upon a man in a black suit and a matching fedora hat.

The man was currently scaling a tree, with a few children watching him. Tsukasa looked up to see what the man was going after that made him climb the tree, and up on one of the branches was a cat, a orange tabby. The man continued to climb until he finally got to the branch the cat was perched on. The cat didn’t seem to like having someone come after it as it backed away from the man, the feline hissing as he got closer.

After a few more attempts, the cat lost its footing and began to fall, only for the man to jump off the tree. He caught the cat in midair and held it close to his body as he hit the ground back first. The man groaned in both annoyance and pain from the effort, which prompted one of the children to say, “Onii-san, that was crazy.”

“Yes, but everyone in this city is under my protection, even ungrateful cats. I will not allow anyone in my city to shed tears,” said the man.

“Ah, yes, the great half-boiled detective of Futo,” said Tsukasa.

The man shot up to his feet and turned to face Tsukasa, “I’m hard-boiled, HARD-BOILED!” he insisted.

Tsukasa patted the man of the shoulder. “Yes, yes, whatever you say, Shotaro-kun.”

Shotaro blinked as he finally recognized the man standing before him. “Tsukasa, what the heck are you doing here?”

“I have request for you and Phillip, and Terui.”

X: Xtreme Measures / Failure

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Applejack had to make a quick stop to CHS before their plan could take place. She tired to make her movements as unsuspicious as possible, she didn’t need to draw any undue attention to herself. After a bit of sidestepping between the faculty that were called in and the police, she was able to make it to the gym storage room. Inside were various items that were left behind from during the Friendship Games, some items like the archery supplies. To this day, it still boggled the girls’ minds at how the school was able to build such an elaborate course.

“Still, hopefully they kept the – aha!”

The young farm girl found her prize, the bow she had used during the Friendship Games, along with a quiver full of arrows. It seemed a bit on the low side for what she may need, so she took the remaining arrows from the quiver that Fluttershy used. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be anyone watching the back entrance, or if there was supposed to be someone, they were too busy doing something else. With the bow and quiver in tow, Applejack exited the storage room, only to skid to a halt as she saw who was standing before her.

“G-Granny?! Wh-What the – why’re you here?!” Applejack asked.

“They were lookin’ fer some extra help with the kitchen, so a brought Mac and Bloom with me so we can stick together. Ah knew ya were with yer friends, so Ah didn’t have much to worry about. Imagin’ my surprise to find ya sneakin’ around like a fox in a henhouse. And now Ah see ya takin’ that there bow and arrow set from the Games.”

Granny Smith moved a little closer to the second oldest of the Apple Siblings, and Applejack gulped under her grandmother’s scrutinizing gaze. “Out with it, missy. Ah know yer up to somethin’ dangerous, and after all the hocus pocus Ah’ve seen ‘round here, Ah know that you and yer friends are plannin’ on doin’ somethin’ to stop whatever it is that’s goin’ on.”

Sometimes Applejack really wished she wasn’t raised with such strong moral fiber and that she could spin convincing lies like Sunset. Then again, she was deemed the Element of Honesty, she couldn’t rightly hold on to such a title if she could so easily lie to everyone’s face. “Okay…ya want the truth Granny?”

“I’mma waitin’ fer it,” Granny responded.

“Alright…the truth is…One of my friends, Twilight, was kidnapped by one of them monsters! And the girls and Ah got a plan fer gettin’ her back, but it kinda involves some fightin’. If all goes well, we can stop this whole thing, the monsters, the dome, all of it! So please, Granny, don’t say Ah can’t go, meh friends need me, and Ah’m not about to let meh friends down, especially when one of ‘em’s in danger!” Applejack stared into the eyes of Granny Smith, her will was unwavering, she had hoped that that much was being conveyed to her grandmother.

After whet felt like an intense hour-long stare down, Granny Smith sighed and said, “Sunset Shimmer’s that Unicorn gal, ain’t she?”

Applejack’s jaw dropped and her right eye twitched. “Wha-What?”

“It don’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, Jackie. She’s a special girl, all a ya are, but that one, she’s somethin’ else,” said Granny Smith.

“Y-Yeah, she is…used to Ah couldn’t stand her, but now…heh, she’s meh best friend, one Ah’d do anythin’ for, and someone who’d do anythin’ fer us. So, Granny, please, let me go and help her,” Applejack pleaded.

Granny Smith sighed as she looked upon her grandchild and cupped her cheek. “Every bit the courageous woman yer mother was, and every bit the knucklehead yer daddy was, too.” Applejack’s eyes watered upon being compared to her late parents, but she smiled nonetheless. “Well, go on and get, just promise you’ll be as safe as possible? Ah know that’s a tall order for ya’ll, but…”

Applejack wiped her years and confidently nodded. “Of course, and thanks Granny!”

As the young apple farmer rushed to the exit, Granny shouted, “WAIT!”

Applejack stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face her grandmother.

“There’s somethin’ Ah need to tell ya, since we’re bein’ this honest and all…”

***____________________***

Twilight was left alone in Starlight’s office, the CEO had stepped out, no doubt preparing whatever final steps were needed in her grand master plan. A plan that Twilight was having a hard time finding fault in. What Starlight wanted to do wasn’t necessarily evil, granting infinite knowledge to the whole world, to make it so that people no longer felt inferior to each other, equality on that level would bring about some level of peace.

So then why, why couldn’t Twilight shake off the feeling that there was something inherently wrong with what Starlight was doing? Sure, she could see why she had to go to such extreme lengths to bring about the fruition of her plan, there was no way that governments, domestic or foreign, would allow such a thing to happen. They’d rather horde such power for themselves, and elevate the status of a single country, rather than all of humanity.

An endeavor like that was worthy of pursuit, and as far as she could tell, Starlight had no intention of remaining in a seat of power after it was done.

“That’s right…if she needs to use the T2 Gaia Memories, then she’d have to give up her own power to make it work, but then…the T1s…”

Twilight had posed this question earlier to Starlight before she left the room and her response was, “The T1s have a built-in self-destruct, once the plan is set in motion, I’ll have the T1s disengage from their hosts and then shatter.”

“She seems to have thought about everything…”

But did she really? That was the thought that Twilight couldn’t stop from lingering in her mind. Heavens knew that Twilight has made mistakes in the past, even with her great intellect, she was still human, and so there was always room for human error in any calculation.

“There may be a way to find out.”

Twilight sat cross legged on the couch as she closed her eyes. Within seconds, her mind was transported to the Infinite Library, although, now she looked at it with a different respect. She was granted the privilege to be able to access the Memories of the Earth, she was more or less being allowed to delve into the mind and soul of the world itself. Twilight ran her hand against the books upon the shelves, each one filled with knowledge about every subject in the world, past, present, and future. Future…?

“Look up: Starlight Glimmer.”

The shelves shifted about, some disappearing into the endless white of the space.

“Key word: Gaia Memories.”

The shelves shifted again and released books that surrounded her.

“Key word: Equality.”

The books began to disappear until only three remained. Twilight thought about right keyword to use, she could just read all three, but who knew how much time she had, and if Starlight could access the same space, how long would it be before she noticed she was here? Before, Starlight had an inkling that she was able to access the Earth’s Memories, but now that she was sure, her presence might be sensed, if not already, so she had to choose the right word to get the right info.

“Key word: Knowledge,” said Twilight.

With that last word, the other two books vanished and the middle one remained. Upon touching this book, it immediately glowed, the cover changing to that of an equal sign, with a gray colored cover. Somehow, this was more foreboding then the previous books she’d had looked into.

Twilight opened the book, and, to her surprise, it read more like a children’s storybook.

“Once upon a time, there was a little girl…”

This little girl was born with unique knowledge, for the Earth had chosen her to have access to its wellspring of knowledge. It was a wonderful gift, but in way, also a curse.
The other children would shun her, call her strange, and freakish. With the ability to know all, it left more time for the little girl to do other things, to perfect her physical prowess, and in so doing, she was now stronger than most of the other children. All of this combined made them feel inferior to her, that no matter what they did, they would never be better than her.
In truth, the little girl didn’t feel that she was better than anyone, in fact she was lonely. But that loneliness evaporated like a puddle on a bright sunny day, because she made a friend, the boy whose name was Sunburst. He was originally toted as the smartest kid in their class, a “nerd”. But somehow, the two got along swimmingly.
The little girl had no need for others who saw her as just someone to beat, who shunned her before they even got to know her, so long as she had Sunburst, their pettiness was just as easily forgotten like a bad dream.
Unfortunately, not even bad dreams can remain forgotten forever. The little girl’s brilliance had her accel straight through high school, into college, and graduated before she was sixteen. With her great knowledge and her father’s ties with some wealthy people, she was able to build a castle that reached to the sky, this castle was called “PhoenEXE Corp.”
This castle was special too, she didn’t just build it on a random spot, no, she was cleverer than that. She found something, something that resonated with her mind and soul right underneath the city. The Emerald Mountain, a piece of the Earth’s mind and soul physically manifested in the world itself.
When she found it, the little girl wasn’t so little anymore, she was a young woman now, she was twenty her friend twenty-one. Upon making this discovery, there was no one else she could think of to show it to, other than Sunburst.
“This is amazing!” Sunburst said.
“I know, it’s incredible, and I wanted you to be the first and only one to see it,” said the young woman.
“But, I don’t get it, how can such a huge mountain be this far underground, and no one had noticed it?!”
“It’s special, if it doesn’t want to be found, it won’t. Only those who sought knowledge and understanding can find it, can have a connection to it.”
Sunburst looked at the young woman curiously. “What do mean?”
The young woman sighed. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, I never new how to tell you because I never had any physical proof to backup my claim. But now that it’s here, a literal mountain of it, I can finally tell you why I am so smart.” The young woman placed her hand on the side of the mountain and it immediately glowed in response. “This is a physical manifestation of the Earth’s Memories, everything that was, is, and will be, all knowledge, this is the wellspring.”
“Wait…you mean, but I thought you just found this?”
“I did, but I’ve always had a connection to it. Think of it as an oversized server for the world’s collective information. All of that at my mind’s fingertips, a internet that exists in your mind.”
Sunburst looked at the mountain, and in that moment, the young woman saw something in his eyes, something changed. “So…then, is it possible that I could have that same power as you? To access all the knowledge I want?”
The young woman hesitated to answer, but obliged. “I’m not sure, I was born with it already, so I couldn’t tell you if you could gain it.”
“But it’s right here, this mountain, if it’s here then it might be possible right?!” Sunburst asked in a almost a frantic tone.
“Sunburst…”
The ginger haired boy grabbed ahold of Starlight’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “C’mon, Star, it’s gotta be possible, right? I mean, all things considered, this is way out there! Please, Starlight, can we at least try and do it!”
The young woman blushed. “You, uh, could’ve chosen your words better…”
Sunburst didn’t catch on, but then thought about what he said and then released the young woman and backed away, blushing just as much as she was. “S-Sorry…I didn’t mean for it come out that way! Oh, crap, no that sounds worse! I meant…sorry.”
Starlight looked to the boy she had considered a dear friend, her best friend, someone she’d do anything for. “I…I don’t know if it’s possible, but…with this stone, we may be able to connect you if I act as the conduit?”
Sunburst turned to his friend with hope in his eyes. “Do you think so?”
“It’s just an untested, unproven theory right now. And it could be dangerous, so I’m not a hundred percent sure what the backlash will be to you,” Starlight warned.
Sunburst shook his head. “If it’s you, then I trust you.”
A reluctant sigh passed through the young woman’s lips as she pressed her right hand yet again to the solid mass of emerald. The mountain glowed again, humming with power and warmth. Sunburst pressed his left hand against the stone, right next to her hand. A smile graced both their faces before Starlight concentrated, willing the knowledge held within this Emerald Mountain to flow into her friend.
At first, it appeared as if nothing was happening, but that quickly changed. Green tinted energy began to seep into Sunburst’s body, and the affects were immediate. Soon, both he and Starlight were in the same infinite space, where all manner of books resided.
“Are these…?”
“Yes, each book contains information any and every subject on this planet, even some things that were omitted from history, both good and bad,” Starlight explained.
Sunburst walked to one of the shelves and chose a book at random he then looked to Starlight and said, “Is this how you always see the knowledge?”
“I think it’s how our minds most easily perceive a vast collection of knowledge, and what better representation of that than a library?”
Sunburst continued to call books to him, more and gathered as he tried to read as many as he could, his eyes lighting up with fascination and thirst for more and more knowledge. But then, his eyes really did begin to glow.
“Star…I…I don’t feel so good,” said Sunburst.
“What’s wrong?!”
Sunburst began clutching at his head as he groaned in pain. “My head, it feels like it’s going to burst.”
“It’s too much, you’re accessing too much, we’re stopping this now!”
Sunburst reached out with this hand and cried out, “NO! I need this, Star! I need this knowledge!”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not risking your safety!” Starlight focused on severing their connection, but nothing happened, they were still in the infinite space. “What…What’s going on, I can’t stop it, I can’t take us back!”
“AAAAH!”
“SUNBURST–!”

*SLAM!*

Twilight shook her head feeling tears running down her face as she looked down at the lilac hand that shut the book. The young genius looked up and saw Starlight Glimmer, her own face streaked with tears.

“You shouldn’t be peeking into other people’s private memories…especially painful ones…” Starlight stated in a hollow tone.

Starlight took the book from Twilight, the latter made no attempt at stopping her, she was sure of what the outcome was, but wasn’t really sure she wanted to see it happen before her eyes. “I’m…I’m so sorry…”

“That you were caught or for what happened?” Starlight asked.

“For what happened…and for invading your privacy…” Twilight’s gaze was downcast as she spoke.

“I can’t completely blame you, after all, I am your enemy, and it only makes sense that you’d want to see what my plans are. For the record, yes, I did sense you here, and yes, I could’ve done the same to you, but I chose not to out of respect.”

Twilight felt a sting in her heart, which was strange, considering this woman before her was their enemy.

Starlight sighed as she turned her back to Twilight. “All of what you saw, transpired in less than a minute, although it felt like minutes passed by in this world, it was less than that in real time. I had unknowingly opened up a floodgate for the knowledge to flow into Sunburst, but apparently, not all are able to withstand the power of the Earth’s Memories, as smart as he was, his mind and soul weren’t strong enough to withstand it all.”

The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. trembled as she recalled that day. “I tried to stop it, but it wouldn’t obey me. I had to watch as my friend writhed in agony as his body, which was, in this world, essentially his mind, shatter like brittle glass in front of me! The backlash was enough rip us both from the stone and end up on the ground.”

“I tried everything I could think of to resuscitate him, but nothing worked. I dragged him to the elevator and got an ambulance to take him a hospital. He was pronounced dead not long after that…it was ruled as a brain aneurism death, a simple enough explanation, better than the alternative that his mind was shattered to pieces in a metaphysical world.”

“I just didn’t understand…why he would beg me to do that, knowing that it was a risk to his life, he asked me…I met with his mother not long after, and I asked her if there was something going on in Sunburst’s life? Do you know what she told me?” Starlight asked.

Twilight shook her head.

“She told me…” Starlight opened the book and flipped to the page, changing the world around them and bringing Twilight back to the world of Starlight’s memories.

The sky was ashen gray as thunder lightly rumbled, signaling the beginning of a rain storm. The wake had concluded long ago, and Starlight felt hollow, her best friend in this or any world was gone, and it was all her fault. Although, Stellar Flare never blamed her, she could never, she knew more than anyone attending, well, except for Starlight’s father, that Starlight would never hurt Sunburst.
But it was true, her actions brought about his death, she could’ve said “no”, she could’ve just dragged him out of that place and never bring the subject up again. Yes, he would be angry, but at least then he’d have been alive so that they could talk it out later. Now, they would never talk again, her sun had been taken from her, by her own hands.
Starlight had secluded herself in her friend’s room, surrounded by all the things that reminded her of him, even his scent still lingered in here. Stellar knocked on the door, announcing her presence as she sat on the edge of the bed, the two women remained silent for a long time before either spoke a word.
“Auntie Flare, was Sunburst in trouble?”
“He said something to you?” she asked.
“He seemed desperate about something when we talked…he never said anything out loud, but…Please, tell me.”
Stellar Flare sighed heavily. “I just recently found out myself…Sunburst’s scholarships were denied, and the school that he had applied for had…had utterly rejected him. They said he was a bright boy, but compared to a genius like Starlight Glimmer, they have to be sure that they are granting such opportunities to worthy scholars.”
Starlight turned around to face her surrogate aunt with shock. “He never told me that!”
“Me neither dear, but, you know Sunburst, he’ll just keep it to himself and try to figure out everything himself before he would ever reach out and ‘bother’ someone else.”
“That’s crazy! After everything you and Sunburst have done for us, the least we could do is help you two out!” Starlight argued.
“Had he told me all of this, I would have said the exact same thing. But I don’t think it was just the money, it was the rejection. The fact that others were measuring him to you, I think it made him frustrated, and that asking you would seem like he was admitting something…I swear that boy…”
Starlight felt a pit grow in her stomach she never knew this, she never knew any of this about Sunburst. “And that’s why he was so desperate…he wanted the knowledge to be on par with me…I’m such a shitty friend…!”
Stellar Flare wrapped her arms around her surrogate niece and held her tight. “Dear, don’t you ever blame yourself! He cared about you, and…this may’ve been wishful thinking on my part, but I think he may have had a crush on you.”

Starlight closed the book, and yet again the world returned to its infinite white space. “That’s when I realized, how many others like Sunburst were turned away? How many others worked hard, just to be told you didn’t work hard enough, you weren’t smart enough? Sure, I could’ve started my own scholarship in Sunburst’s name, but that wouldn’t solve the real problem, it wasn’t just a localized scourge! So, my plan was hatched, I would bring infinite knowledge to the world, no one would be made to feel inferior ever again, because logic will win over such pettiness.”

“But how do you know that it won’t end the same way as Sunburst?! If he wasn’t chosen by the Earth like you and me, then the same thing will happen to billions of people around the world!” Twilight argued.

Starlight shook her head in the negative. “No, not with the apparatus I built, and I’ll have something that I didn’t have back then. The Gaia Memories. Why did you think I put these T1s out into the street? I was gathering data on how they affected the human body, the same for the T2s. I’ve collected all that data, so that I knew exactly how to direct the energy, so it doesn’t overwhelm the human mind and body, to facilitate the seamless melding of the Earth’s Memories and the human race!”

Starlight released the book and let it return to the white void. She then turned around and walked towards Twilight. “However, I did find a flaw in my plan. The device I created still can’t do one thing, it does require someone with a connection to the Earth to act as the key. The problem before, was that there was no one to mitigate the flow of energy, I was basically having a hard time walking and chewing gum at the same time. But with you, Twilight Sparkle, you can act as the key, and I the driver. We’ll usher in a new world!”

***____________________***

Sunset stood alongside Kamen Rider Trigger, right in the middle of White Tail Park. The tree line was to their left, and to their right was the city, it provided a good amount of cover with the sporadically placed trees along the park proper, and hills. Trigger had his weapon drawn, his finger tapping against the trigger of his weapon, ready to fire the moment he saw their targets.

Their waiting game soon ended, the Commander and Eyes Dopants arrived on the back of the T-Rex Dopant, following them was the Smilodon and Dog Dopants, along with Magma, Arms, and now Beast had joined their ranks. Commander had a hold of Twilight, and upon her was strapped a time bomb that bared the same color scheme as the Commander Dopant.

“TWILIGHT!” Sunset screamed. “What have you done to her?!”

“Simmer down, hero, the bomb won’t go off, provided you do as we say,” Commander stated.

“Open the case,” Eyes ordered.

Trigger nodded to Sunset. The fiery haired girl opened up the briefcase and revealed all the Gaia Memories that they had gathered, including Unicorn and Nasca.

“They’re all there, with the exception of mine. I’ll give mine up when I have my little sister safely back,” said Trigger.

“You’re not in a very good position to bargain,” said Commander.

“Considering you out number me a hundred to one, I’d say the odds are in your favor. You really think I’m going to try something with her in danger?”

Commander looked to the girl that was Twilight’s friend, and then back to Trigger. “Fine, give us the case.”

“No, we exchange at the same time! And take that bomb off of her first!” Sunset demanded.

“Fine.” The Commander Dopant pressed a few buttons on her forearm mounted device and the bomb on Twilight’s chest digitized and vanished. “Sunflower, escort the fare maiden to her hero and collect the payment.”

The Eyes Dopant did as she was told as she escorted Twilight, with Sunset walking out to meet them. The two eventually met in the middle, with the Eyes Dopant keeping one hand on her while she held out the other for the case. Sunset reached out her left hand while holding out the briefcase with her right. Twilight carefully took Sunset’s hand, the Eyes Dopant put her hand on the briefcase. In a matter of seconds, the exchange was made, Twilight was drawn into Sunset’s arms while the briefcase was now in the hands of the Dopant. Both retreated back to the safety of their respective sides with their exchanges made.

“Alright, officer, now it’s your turn, hand over your Gaia Memory,” Commander ordered.

Trigger looked down at his Driver, and then back up at the Commander Dopant. “Yeah, about that…I LIED!” Trigger declared as he pointed his Chrome Magnum into the air and fired one shot straight up.

A second later, arrows laced in pink energy came flying from the tree line, the arrows struck the area around the Dopants, causing several explosions to go off. The other Dopants were thrown from their spots and sent sprawling to the ground, the briefcase containing the Gaia Memories fell from the Eyes Dopant’s claw and slid across the grass.

“I don’t…what’s happening?!” Twilight asked.

“Sorry, Twilight, but I need to go to work, your girlfriend will give you a proper ‘welcome back’ kiss later!” Sunset winked as she dashed towards the Dopants.

As Sunset ran, her body began to glow with blue light, and she transformed into an anthropomorphic cheetah girl. She dashed across the filed and scooped up the briefcase full of Memories, the Eyes Dopant looked up and saw the change and shook her head in confusion.

“How?! What?!”

“It’s called the ol’ double cross, classic movie trope,” said Not-Sunset.

The cheetah girl ran back to where Trigger was, the other Dopants were ready to get up and fight again, but another volley of arrows rained down upon them, causing more explosions. The Magma Dopant raised its right hand slammed it against the ground, sending a surge of molten heat straight for the tree line. The molten surge struck the tree line with a powerful impact, setting it on fire.

Trigger and the cheetah girl both looked at the tree line with worry as they saw the woods start to catch fire pretty quickly.

< WEATHER! >

{< WEATHER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Suddenly, clouds started to form over the trees, and released a torrential downpour that smothered the flames and cooled the molten earth. Within the black smoke, a turquoise light shined within. The same light washed over the smoke and pushed it away, revealing Kamen Rider Unicorn, but she was not alone. Beside her was the Queen Dopant and four of the Shadowbolt Five, who were dressed in their archery attire, and sporting a glowing “Q” mark. Along with them was Applejack, who was also sporting her archery attire from the Friendship Games, she too was marked with a glowing “Q”.

Floating above them was Kamen Rider Nasca, but she was in a new Mimetic Drive Form. Her normal helmet was converted to a Romanesque helm, porcelain white, accented with gold etchings that depicted feathered wings and lightning bolts. Her helmet had a bladed gold crest plume, and the eyes were now bright green. The shoulder pauldrons had small statues of two pegasi facing opposite directions, the gauntlets on her arms had images, on the right was the image of the sun, on the left, the image of water. On the right boot, the image of lines that represented wind, and on left boot was a snowflake. Upon her chest was the same Romanesque armor, but it possessed the image of a horse head, with wings on either side of it, and behind her flowed a crimson red cape that flapped in the wind that was conjured around her.

“Hey, whaddya think of my new form? It’s called Nasca Strom Breaker!” Nasca declared.

“HOW?!! THE BRIEFCASE HAD THE UNICORN AND NASCA MEMORIES IN THEM!” Commander yelled.

“Yeah, you can thank our resident, up-and-coming actress over there,” said Unicorn. At this, the cheetah girl morphed again, revealing herself as Juniper Montage with the Dummy Memory in hand. “They’re making a movie about me and Nasca, and so our friend here decided to borrow a few items from their props department. They look so real, don’t they?”

Juniper opened the case and took out the Nasca, Weather, and Unicorn Memories, and then proceeded to snap them in half. “Don’t worry, they have a ton of these just in case of accidents during filming.”

“But then…WHO ARE THEY?!” Eyes asked.

Indigo stepped up and said, “We’re Crystal Prep students, and even though Twilight is not in CPA anymore, she’s still a Shadowbolt!”

“We were pretty much real bitches towards her, but after what happened Friendship Games, we’re looking to change all that! Starting with saving our friend!” Sour Sweet announced.

“I never wanted to see this Gaia Memory again, but to save her, I’ll gladly turn into a monster again, for our friend!” Queen stated.

“Ya, mess with one of us, ya mess with all ‘a us!” Applejack stated.

“GRRR! I’m not having this teeny bopper, superhero playtime crap! ATTACK!” Commander ordered.

The T-Rex Dopant roared and began stomping towards them, on its back, Beast and Arms joined in as they headed right for them.

“Remember, don’t engage directly! Sunny, I’ll leave it your discretion, Nasca, we need take out the Commander Dopant, if Gilda’s theory is right!”

“On it!” Nasca confirmed.

Applejack led the Shadowbolt Four one way, while Unicorn, Nasca, and the Queen Dopant went another. Queen proceeded to lob power spheres at the debris formed T-Rex, each sphere exploded against the beast’s body, pushing the T-Rex Dopant back. The Beast and Arms Dopants jumped off and proceeded to engage Nasca and Unicorn.

Meanwhile, Smilodon and Dog came running at the girls. Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat notched an arrow each, their “Q” marks glowed as pink energy flowed into the arrowheads, setting them ablaze with power. The two released their arrows, the two projectiles blazed through the air as they fell just a few inches shy of their targets as the two animal Dopants moved out of their way. However, the resulting explosion did buffet them and made Dopants stagger.

Magma readied to attack again, but Trigger immediately entered his Super Form, Trigger SWAT and fired on the Dopant, using his Suppressor Memory to keep the walking fire hazard from hitting them with another molten attack from shooting off.

Unicorn threw a roundhouse kick to Beast’s head, sending the monster spiraling to the ground. But the Dopant quickly recovered and attacked again with its claws, Unicorn easily dodged, and charged forward. She gathered mana into her right hand and slammed it against Beast’s abdomen, discharging it as a mini-explosion went off and made sparks fly from it. The Dopant was thrown a couple of feet away, but even after sustaining that damage, it just got back up, its body healing quickly.

“Right, you can regen fast…but still, you should at least be getting winded by now,” said Unicorn as she tried to make sense of this.

Meanwhile, Nasca was flying around, conjuring lightning bolts and heat rays that she struck Arms with. The Dopant formed a blaster from his left hand and fired energy shells straight up at Nasca. However, her wind and lightning barrier helped to keep the shots from hitting her directly, but as she fought, she couldn’t help but notice the same relentlessness in this Dopant as the one that Unicorn was fighting.

“It’s like we’re fighting robots or something, they don’t get tired no matter how times we put the on their backs!”

“Clear Skies’ power must be that, at least one of her powers, creating soldiers that will follow any command she gives and will fight without relent! Then we really do need to take her out!”

The Smilodon Dopant was quickly approaching the girls, but before it could get close, a minotaur came in and rammed itself into the monster cat, sending it rolling to the ground. The Dog Dopant sidestepped the minotaur and went straight for Applejack. The cowgirl balled up her right fist, channeled the energy that was coursing through her, and struck with an uppercut right to its muzzle. The creature recoiled at the blow, but then the minotaur came in and clotheslined the Dog Dopant, it spun in the air until it finally landed on its back.

“Ladies, light it up,” said Lemon Zest.

All five jumped into the air at once as they notched their arrows. In unison, they fired and struck the monster fives times with exploding power arrows. When they landed, a large smoke plume arose from the spot where they attacked, but before they could catch their breath, the Dog burst through the smoke and bared its fangs at them. But several blue energy blasts hit the Dog Dopant and made it go the other way before it could reach them.

Trigger stood there, with a determined spirit and a smoking barrel as he tried to pick his targets among the chaos of the fight, while also protecting his little sister. “Don’t worry, Twily, I won’t let you get taken away again!”

“I know…you’re the best big brother, probably the only one who would go to such lengths to protect their sibling. Which is why I feel bad about all this…” Twilight said.

Trigger turned around to look at Twilight. “You have nothing to feel bad about.”

“No, I do…” Twilight walked forward, reached into her skirt pocket, took out a remote-control device, and pressed the button.

Electrical surges ran up and down Trigger’s armor, his systems blaring out warnings the whole time. After a moment, the eyes of Trigger’s helmet switched to a gray color as his body stood attention.

Unicorn stopped fighting as she witnessed this and yelled out, “TWILIGHT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Twilight’s body began to change, shifting as yellow light enveloped her. Her true form was revealed as she had transformed into the Luna Dopant. “Sorry, but you weren’t the only ones who did a double cross.”

Commander and Eyes chuckled at the sight of the Kamen Rider’s surprise.

“That’s IT!” Unicorn took out the Shining Memory and the Phoenix Ascender, ready to end this fight here and now.

“UNICORN, INCOMING!!!” Nasca warned.

A huge fireball came flying from the sky and struck the middle of the battlefield. Applejack, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, and Sour Sweet were thrown to the ground from the shockwave of the blast. Before they could get back to their feet, they were surrounded by the Smilodon and Dog Dopants, along with these fiery constructs of butlers and maids wielding weapons that were trained right on them.

Trigger, in his brainwashed state, fired his Chrome Ultimatum at Queen and Dummy, making them back off of their targets and retreat back to where they were, but now they were in the crosshairs of the Arms Dopant. And to make matters worse, the Magma Dopant created a ring of fire to enclose them.

Up above them, the Quetzalcoatius Dopant hovered, the giant bird-dragon cawed as it watched everything up above, its eyes roving over the battlefield for any sign to attack.

“It was a good plan, Unicorn, Nasca, but ultimately, not good enough. Kid grab the briefcase and bring the puppet over here,” said Commander.

The Luna Dopant huffed indignantly, he really did not like these two, but right now their mission was priority. The Luna Dopant did as he was told and now they had the Gaia Memories and Trigger.

“Well, here we are, staring down the barrel. On the one hand you could transform into that super angel or whatever form you have and hope you both are fast enough to keep us from killing your friends. Or you give up the Gaia Memories and we let you all live, what’s your decision? Bear in mind, we still have our hostage, so you can factor that into your decision,” Commander held out her arms and asked, “What’s it going to be?”

Unicorn looked to Nasca, and Nasca to her. They both glanced over at the situation with their friends, and then to their Dopant companions. If they gave up their Gaia Memories now, then there was no way for them to fight back against Equal or stop whatever it is she was planning. But if they didn’t, they’d lose their friends. Save her friends, save the world, save Twilight, save them all?

There has to be a way to stop this, it’s up to me to keep everyone safe, to keep this world safe! C’MON SUNSET THINK! Sunset shouted in her mind as she tried to figure out a way out of this predicament.

The Commander Dopant slowly walked towards them, chuckling in a mocking tone the whole way. “Poor heroes stuck between a rock and a hard place. Starlight Glimmer may not want those girls hurt, or the hostage. But in all honesty, I could give to flips about any of them. And if I have to, I will kill that nerd, and her pig brother. So, it’s up to you, can you live with that kind of blood on your hands? Are you willing to sacrifice all these lives to beat the Big Bad?”

“STOP!!!” Unicorn yelled. “Just…stop…you win. Okay, you win, just don’t hurt them…”

“Power down heroes.”

Nasca floated down to the ground and stood beside Unicorn. Both heroines disengaged their Rider forms and revealed their civilian forms to Commander. The heavy metal Dopant just laughed out loud at what she saw.

“Oh, crap, not only are they some snotty nosed brats, but one of them’s that girl you were telling me about!”

The Eyes Dopant looked closer and gasped. “I’ll be damned, I was standing in front of Unicorn the whole time. Now it makes more sense how you were able to survive my blast all those months ago. Ooh, and you failed to save your girlfriend on top of all this, harsh.”

Sunset looked away as she handed over her Unicorn Memory to Commander. Rainbow Dash, with much reluctance, put both the Nasca and Weather Memories in the monster’s hand. “Now tell them to give there’s up next.”

“Jun, Sunny, power down and give them your Memories,” said Sunset in a defeated voice.

Queen and Dummy looked to each other and sighed in defeat, they couldn’t do anything, not with their friends on the line. The heat from the lava the Magma Dopant made cooled immediately, allowing both girls to change back and hand over their Gaia Memories to the Arms Dopant, who rushed them over to Eyes to place in the briefcase.

“Okay, you got all the Memories we have, now, please, give her back!” Sunset ordered.

“Hmm, I wonder, should I?”

Applejack reached into her pocket, and as she did she said, “When Ah tell ya’ll to run, you run, got it?”

“What are you going to do?” Sugarcoat asked.

The Luna Dopant came up to the Commander Dopant and said, “Hey, we got the Memories, and Starlight ordered that these girls not be harmed, this is NOT part of the plan!”

The Commander Dopant turned her head and glared at trickster looking creature. “Ugh, she doesn’t see the big picture yet, and these girls are a distraction, and these two in particular are dangerous to her plans. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to remove them from the equation? To ensure that Starlight’s plans go off without a hitch?”

The Luna Dopant tightened its grip around the briefcase handle as he heard this, and before he could blink, the Commander Dopant turned sharply and grabbed Sunset Shimmer by the throat, hoisting her up as she continued to squeeze harder. Sunset thrashed about, striking the Dopant’s arm and trying to kick her, but her attacks fell short and her air was running out fast.

“SUNSET!” Rainbow yelled as she threw a punch at the Dopant.

The punch landed, but it did nothing to her, the Commander Dopant backhanded Rainbow Dash, sending her straight to the ground and into a slight daze.

The Luna Dopant swiftly wrapped his right arm around Commander’s left, coiling it like a snake as he tightened it into a near constructing squeeze. “Let her go, NOW!”

“Or what?”

“Or I’ll snap your arm in half, don’t think that because I do illusions that I’m not strong enough to do that much!”

At that moment, two eyes floated on either side of the Luna Dopant, the pupils glowed with stored up energy, ready to fire.

“You do that, and she blasts your head off, I’m willing to get a broken arm,” said Commander.

< YESTERDAY! >

“RUN!!!” Applejack shouted as she pressed the Gaia Memory into her arm.

The device turned into energy, flowing into Applejack and morphing her body with bronze colored energy. In a matter of seconds, she was transformed into the final T2 Dopant, the Yesterday Dopant. Upon her head was a Stetson hat, with an hourglass strapped at the center. A poncho draped off her shoulders, green in color, and had roman numerals that looped around like those on a clock. Her body was charcoal black colored armor, accented with silver to show the segments in the armor. Wrapped around her waist was a holster, the built buckle had the letter “Y” stamped onto it, and in each holster was an eight-barreled revolver. The armor around her forearms and lower legs were bronze colored, giving the illusion that she was wearing gloves and boots.

Under the hat, the Dopant’s mouth was covered by a bandanna, and her eyes were a gleaming yellow color. Yesterday took out her revolvers and in quick draw fashion, fired at the Dopants and constructs surrounding her and the Shadowbolts. The monsters that were hit with the yellow plasma bolts were then coated in a faint yellow aura and began to move in reverse fashion. Yesterday fired again, this time hitting the Dopants that were keeping Juniper and Sunny Flare from running, as soon as the bolts hit, those Dopants began to move in reverse too.

Yesterday twirled her revolvers and fired a volley up at the Quetzalcoatius, and upon hitting the bird-dragon monster, it began to fly in reverse. Yesterday opened the revolver chambers, watching as yellow energy filled all eight chambers before she clicked them back into place and charged for Commander.

}<^>{ GATLING! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }<^>{

A barrage of azure beams pummeled Applejack, causing sparks to shoot off from her body along with multiple explosions one right after the other. All blasts culminated into one single beam which caused a large explosion, sending Yesterday straight to the ground. The Dopant tried to get back up, but Trigger was already on her, stamping his foot on her stomach to pin her, and then he fired five shots at her chest before she finally stopped. Her body shimmered, and in less than a second Applejack was back to her normal form, clothes torn, bruised, and bleeding from her head.

The Dopants that were going in reverse suddenly stopped, shaking their heads as if they were in a daze. The Yesterday Memory rose from Applejack’s body and fell onto the ground next to her. Trigger bent down and retrieved the Memory and began his walk back to Commander, Eyes, and Luna.

“That’s the last T2, we’re done, let’s just go!” The Luna Dopant ordered.

Commander looked to Sunset, and then released her, letting the former unicorn fall onto the ground in a heap. Sunset coughed violently as she gasped for air, Rainbow Dash rushed over to her to try and help her friend, all the time glaring up at the Commander Dopant and looking at her friend who was unconscious.

The Commander Dopant sighed and said, “Fine, let’s go.” The other Dopants began to move away from the three remaining girls, and when they did the rest of the Shadowbolts hurried over to help. “But not before I leave a parting gift!”

Commander pressed a few buttons on her wrist device, and soon after, missiles fired from her back, six in total, all aimed for the girls. Rainbow Dash covered Sunset with her body, while the Shadowbolts huddled together around Applejack’s unconscious body in an attempt to save her. The Luna Dopant began to move, but he knew there was no way he’d reach them in time.

< LUNA! >

< TRIGGER! >

{< LUNA! TRIGGER! >}

Before the missiles could reach them, blue spheres with yellow energy tails flew at them, the beams wound and curved before they hit all six missiles, exploding them in midair. The girls braced as the shockwave reached them, and when it was over, the sound of a motorcycle echoed in the silence. When they figured out the source of the sound, they all turned to the right and watched as someone drove up to them, skidding to halt between the two sides.

The person riding dismounted, and there was only one thing to call him, a Kamen Rider. His suit had a silver strip that went down the middle, splitting both sides, one side was colored yellow, and the other blue, an elongated, silver, “W” crest adorned the middle of his helmet along with two round, red compound eyes. In his right hand was a blaster weapon with a “W” symbol on it.

But that wasn’t the only surprise, the strange, red looking bike began to transform, becoming a human, or rather, another Kamen Rider. His armor was bright red, with a blue visor and silver crest that rested in the middle of his face, splitting the visor into threes. In his right hand was a large sword weapon, it didn’t look all that heavy, but when the Rider let the sword drop, blade first, it sunk deep into the ground.

Sunset looked upon these two Riders, the half-and-half Rider turned around to face Sunset directly, and it was then that she noticed the two Gaia Memories in his Driver, one yellow, and the other blue, she did not recognize the yellow one, but the blue was the Trigger Memory.

“Who…Who are you?” Sunset asked.

“Some passing through Kamen Rider said my kouhai needed some guidance and help, so he helped us crossover to give you a hand. We’re your senpais, Kamen Rider Double,” said the half-and-half Rider.

“And I was told that your partner needed some encouragement too. I’m Kamen Rider Accel, nice to you meet you,” said the red Rider.

“Shotaro, don’t forget we’re still in the middle of a fight now.” The right eye of Double’s helmet flashed when this new voice spoke.

Commander looked to Luna and took him by the ruffles and said, “I thought the were only these THREE! Why are there TWO MORE and why do they both have Gaia Memories that are the same as yours and the cop’s?!”

“Hey, I’m just as confused as you are!” Luna stated.

Commander released him and looked back at the two newest Riders, for some reason, she could feel it, these two weren’t like the children she had just fought, these two exuded the aura of veterans who had seen and lived through countless battles. Clear Skies wasn’t a fool, not after last time, she knew when to retreat.

“Sky?” Eyes asked.

“Let’s get out of here,” said Commander.

The group of Dopants all retreated, with Commander, Luna, and Eyes riding atop the T-Rex Dopant as they made their way back to PhoenEXE Corp.

Double holstered his blaster on his left chest plate and ran over to Sunset, and Accel over to where Applejack and Shadowbolts were. Double knelt and looked at Sunset and asked, “Are you alright?”

“No…I’m not…my friend’s hurt…I lost my girlfriend…my Gaia Memories…I’ve…I’ve lost…”

X: Xtreme Measures / You are a Kamen Rider

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Starlight had dragged Twilight up to the top of PhoenEXE Corp., and there, once they made it off of the elevator, was the mechanism that would bring infinite knowledge to the world. Two towers stood the far opposite ends of the roof, both had giant satellite dishes, the towers had three oscillating rings each spinning at a slow pace as they built up power. Between the two towers was a chair and large ring. The ring had slots that were perfectly sized to house a Gaia Memory, totaling twenty-six, one for each of the T2s. The chair had a headband that was connected to the back of the chair, wires ran from the base of the chair itself and down through the roof, most likely connecting to the Emerald Mountain down below.

“You want me to get into THAT?! It’s looks like some sort of sci-fi torture device!” Twilight exclaimed.

“Ugh, it’s not a ‘torture device’. It’s the keyhole, and you’re the key. You won’t feel any pain, I promise,” said Starlight.

“Out of context, Starlight, that sounded wrong,” said Twilight.

Starlight blushed lightly and grabbed Twilight by the wrist. “Sunset’s sense of humor is starting to rub off on you.” The lilac woman stopped, and face palmed herself. “Don’t even say it…” Twilight continued to struggle against Starlight but was finding the effort more difficult than she imagined, she was strong, probably got stronger from the influence of the Xtreme Memory. She eventually got Twilight to the chair and forced her to sit down, metal clasps sprang from the armrests and anchored Twilight to the chair. “There, it’ll be over soon, and then I’ll let you out. You can slap, punch me, or whichever afterwards.”

The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. then heard the flapping of giant wings, followed up by a loud cawing sound. She turned around and watched as the Quetzalcoatius Dopant flew overhead, and from its back, Commander, Luna, and Eyes jumped off and landed before her. Party Favor approached Starlight, and opened the briefcase, showing almost all the Gaia Memories, including…

“Yesterday? She had the Yesterday Memory too?” Starlight asked.

“Not her, another girl, one of her friends, the one with southern accent,” Party Favor explained.

“Applejack had the Yesterday Memory?!” Twilight asked in surprise.

“That ain’t all, there are two more Riders now!” Clear Skies stated.

“They came and almost stopped us, but we managed to get away in time,” said Sunflower.

Starlight’s eyes widened at the mention of this. “Two more?! But that’s…”

“I wouldn’t say impossible, Starlight. You’ve seen first hand that there are other universes with other Kamen Riders,” said Twilight in her tone of voice that was a mixture of smugness and elation.

Starlight glanced to Twilight, noting that she was right, but still, she didn’t think it warranted the aid of other Riders, her plan wasn’t going to affect the multiverse…at least, not as far as she had calculated. “Put the Dopants on high alert, surround the building! I’m not taking any chances, if they’re from another universe, we don’t know what powers they possess, don’t take them lightly.”

Clear Skies and Sunflower headed towards the elevator and began their descent to the bottom floor to coordinate the defenses. However, Party Favor remained behind. “Starlight, there’s something I need to tell you.”

“What is it?” Starlight asked.

Party Favor went into detail about what had happened during their exchange, and how Clear Skies nearly killed Sunset and the rest. Starlight’s teeth gritted as a vein bulged in her neck, even after she ordered them not to harm them, she had almost killed Sunset Shimmer and her friends.

Twilight, unfortunately, overheard the whole thing and said, “Was that your plan all along?!”

“NO! I told you, I don’t want you all harmed! UGH! I just need you all to sit still until this is over!” Starlight ranted. “It’s fine…Sunset’s Memories, along with Rainbows are here now, and the only thing I have to worry about now is those two new Riders, I can deal with that.”

Starlight took the briefcase and said, “Thank you, Party Favor. Tell Double Diamond, Sugar Belle, and Night Glider what’s going on, and…keep an eye on those two.”

Party Favor nodded and headed down.

The young woman walked over to where Twilight was and began inserting the Gaia Memories in alphabetical order. “I designed this device, I took everything into account, this won’t harm you, I swear on my life, Twilight.”

“And…if…you’re wrong?”

Starlight stopped, her hand trembled as she reached for the next Memory. What if she was wrong? What if her plan had more dire consequences than she had anticipated? Could her plan affect more than just their world? Could this ripple across the multiverse and invite the ire of other Kamen Riders? Starlight shook her head, her brow knitted with conviction.

“I’m not wrong, you’ll live, Sunset and your friends will live, and everyone will live in a new world of knowledge and understanding.”

Twilight looked away from Starlight, her own hands trembling. In a way, I really hope you’re right…but…on the other…Sunset, please save me…

***________________________***

Applejack was taken to the hospital by the Shadowbolts, and thankfully, she was just knocked out, but was banged up a bit. However, the doctors assured them that she’d recover just feeling beat up. Rainbow called up Big Mac and told them that Applejack was hurt but that she’d be okay, and to get down there as soon as possible. Sugarcoat told Rainbow Dash that the five of them would stay until the rest of the Apple Clan arrived.

That left Rainbow and Sunset – well, Rainbow at least – to get to know the newcomers. The first guy was familiar to her, he wore a red leather jacket and matching leather pants and possessed a flaming spade symbol on the back of his jacket. His skin was a pale red color, with sandy brown hair, and brown eyes to match, and his name was Ryu Terui, or Kamen Rider Accel.

“Thanks for waiting, Mr. Terui?”

“Just ‘Terui’ is fine, Dash-san,” said Ryu.

“So, this is going to sound weird, but I think I saw you. Like, when I used the T2 Accel Memory, I saw someone that looked a lot like you and you even had the same voice, telling me to ‘shake off my weakness’ or something,” said Rainbow.

Terui didn’t seem to bat an eye to what she had said. “It’s possible, I have a strong connection to the Accel Memory, the T2 version may be resonating with mine.”

Rainbow Dash and Terui began to walk down the sidewalk from the hospital, with the erection of the dome and the Dopants running guard around PhoenEXE Corp. headquarters, the police had urged the citizens to remain indoors, so that made the streets relatively empty, with a random car passing by every now and again. While they walked, Terui couldn’t help but notice how down the teenager was. Not that he could blame her, they lost their Gaia Memories and now their enemy had everything they needed in order to enact their plan. A plan that no one had any idea what it was or when it was going to happen, but now that all twenty-six T2s were gathered, there was no doubt that Starlight Glimmer would make her move very soon, and there was only two active Riders who could stop her.

“This whole day, sucks!” Rainbow declared.

“I understand that you’re feeling powerless, but you mustn’t lose hope just yet,” said Terui.

“I don’t want to, we’re the good guys, the superheroes, we have to keep looking on the positive or else Starlight’s really won! I can’t let…I just wish I could…”

Terui hummed in contemplation and the said, “It seems your frustration stems more from your friend, rather than yourself.”

“I’m Sunset’s partner, we fight together, and yet couldn’t do a thing to help her…I can’t even help her now…In less than a day, she lost her girlfriend, her powers, and now we’re looking down the barrel of whatever mad scheme Starlight’s got goin’ on at the top of that skyscraper of hers! I swear, if she’s done anything to Twilight I’ll…I’ll…!”

Terui could see it in Rainbow’s eyes, she had the will to fight, she wanted to fight, but right now, the problem lied with Sunset Shimmer.

“I understand that you’re frustrated, but be patient. I was stricken with vengeance for so long I tuned out everything around me, and it took those two and my wife to finally open my eyes to see that there was more to life than just the pursuit of it. Do not fight with hate in your heart, fight the same way you have been, because the moment you stop doing that, you lose sight of who you once were, and can no longer call yourself a hero of justice,” said Terui.

Rainbow Dash sighed as she put her hands in her pockets. “I understand, I’m just frustrated is all…I hate not being able to help my friends, especially Sunset! With everything that’s happened, I don’t know what to do for her?!”

***________________________***

Shotaro and Philip arrived at the Sparkle Household, they had searched for Sunset Shimmer at the loft that her companions said she lived at, but there was no one there. They were tipped off by Rainbow Dash that she may’ve headed back to Twilight’s house, besides Celestia and Luna, it would be the only other place she would go to.

Shotaro had taken note at how his appearance had changed upon arriving to this world, his hair was a brown color, his skin a deep purple color. He wore a white shirt with a black vest, and a red necktie, along with black pants and shoes. Contrastly, Philip had a green complexion and black hair, he wore a striped, long sleeved shirt, and a brown, sleeveless coat, and carried a book in his left hand.

The two-in-one detectives arrived at the address that Rainbow Dash had given them, they noticed that there was a bike parked at the front, and another car. Shotaro knocked on the door a couple of times and waited to see who would answer. There were footsteps coming from behind the front door until it swung open and revealed Cadence, her face stricken with worry.

“Y-Yes, may I help you?” Cadence asked.

Shotaro removed his hat and politely bowed to Cadence. “Hello, sorry to disturb you at this time, but we’re looking for someone, a Sunset Shimmer?”

Cadence reached behind the door and produced a frying pan, holding it an threatening manner. “BACK OFF!!! I was tricked once by some guy, I won’t be tricked twice in one day!”

“It would seem she’s under the impression that we mean her harm,” said Philip.

“Oh really, you think?!” Shotaro scolded his partner before turning back to Cadence. “Please, Ma’am, we’re not here to hurt you or Sunset Shimmer, if she’s here, we’re detectives and we’d like to ask her some questions!”

Cadence took a warning swing, making both men back up. “Look, I don’t know where my fiance is, and the girl I’ve babysat since she was little was just kidnapped by monsters, and now Sunset’s here all depressed, so right now, I’m very suspicious of anyone who’s not a friend of this family right now! So either tell me what you want with her, or I swear I’ll…I’ll…!”

“It’s okay, Cadence…” The fuschia woman and the two men looked inside and saw Sunset Shimmer standing in the hallway. “You can let them in, I know these guys…”

Cadence, Shotaro, and Philip watched as Sunset walked back and ascended the stairs, moving as if she was in a trance, even her voice sounded hollow and emotionless.

“Um…well…I guess you can go and see her…? I’m sorry,” said Cadence.

Shotaro waved off her concern as he smiled. “Not at all, given today’s events your reaction is very much appropriate. Philip?”

Philip bowed his head and said, “Thank you for having us.”

The two men entered the house, with Cadence locking the door behind her. Despite being given Sunset’s approval, Cadence still kept the frying pan in her hands. Both men walked up the stairs in the same direction that Sunset went, they headed down the hall until they came upon the open door, inside was Sunset Shimmer, curled up in a fetal position on the bed, with a purple dog nuzzling her.

“What do you want?” Sunset asked.

“We came to see what it is you want to do,” said Shotaro.

“What do you mean? There’s nothing I can do now…”

“And why is that?” Philip asked.

Sunset growled in frustration. “Do I really needed to say it? Fine.” Spike backed away as Sunset sat up in the bed and looked the two men straight in the eye. Her eyes were red and puffy, no doubt from crying, they even had an almost blankness to them. “My girlfriend is kidnapped by a supervillain, her brother, another Kamen Rider, was taken control of, all our Gaia Memories have been taken away so I can’t even transform, and even if I could, there’s still an army of Dopants we need to fight through before we could get anywhere close to the top! I’m supposed to be the protector of this world! I’m supposed to be the one with the plans! It’s my responsibility to keep this world safe from otherworldly threats, because I’m the one who awakened magic in this world! And now, I can’t even do that anymore! SO, NO, I DON’T HAVE ANY PLANS TO SAVE ANYONE!”

Fresh tears began to stream down Sunset’s cheeks as she said all this, Shotaro merely stood there with his arms crossed and a pondering look upon his face as he listened to Sunset’s little tirade. All the while, Philip was looking around Twilight’s room, he could see all the tools that Twilight had used, and after rifling through some of her things, found the blueprints to the Uni-Driver.

“Did your girlfriend create your and Dash-san’s Drivers?” Philip asked.

“What? Yes, she did.”

Philip looked around, just from a cursory glance, he could tell that the girl who resided in this room was a genius, and the workspace she had was definitely that of scientist. There was something missing however, something that even a genius like Twilight Sparkle wouldn’t just leave lying around, especially when if it contained certain files regarding Kamen Rider.

“Sparkle-san, she has a laptop, yes? Where would it be?” Philip asked.

“I…don’t know, whenever I’m here she’s usually got it out, but I always just assumed she left it on her desk,” said Sunset.

“Nah, she doesn’t do that. Ever since your whole Kamen Rider thing, she’s kept it in the top drawer of her dresser, just because it would be the last place Shining Armor would look if he ever got wise. Or…actually, I think her words were ‘a place that Shiny wouldn’t dare go into’.”

Philip for a moment, lost interest in the computer and rushed over to Spike. “A talking dog?! Fascinating! Are you a new breed of intelligent canine? Do animals in your world typically have the ability to converse? Or do you possess psionic abilities that allow you to project your thoughts to us and make it look like your mouth is moving?!”

Spike looked to Philip, and then to Sunset Shimmer, who was also a little freaked out about Philip’s over enthusiastic interest in Spike’s ability to speak.

“Um…okay, I’m going to need you to step back a couple of feet before I bite you out defensive instinct,” Spike warned.

Shotaro grabbed Philip by the collar of his shirt and dragged him back to where he was standing. “I’m sorry, he gets over excited when he finds something new. Philip, get back to what you were doing!”

Philip sighed. “Very well, you said the top drawer, correct?”

“Yeah, but there was something about that drawer that Twilight told me was private…?”

“ ‘Private’ …PRIVATE! Wait, Mr. Philip don’t–!” Sunset tried to warn.

But it was too late, Philip had already opened the drawer and was greeted by an assortment of panties and bras. Philip’s face went red as he quickly shut the drawer.

“U-Um, Shimmer-san, w-would you mind…?” Philip asked in a flustered state.

Sunset sighed as she stood up and walked to the drawer. “Both of you, turn around.” Shotaro and Philip did as they were told. Sunset opened the drawer, despite the situation, she couldn’t help but blush herself. Admittedly, dressing and undressing before and after gym class had afforded them multiple views of each other in their own undergarments, but that was before they were together, now though, this took on a whole different context. Sunset shook her head and carefully dug through them, she stopped when she felt something rectangular. She pulled up and was satisfied to see it was the laptop. Sunset closed the drawer and handed it to Philip. “Here, although, I don’t think you’ll get too far with it. She’s got that thing protected in ways I won’t even begin to imagine.”

“I’ll take care of that,” said Philip.

“Right then, while you work on that, I’ll work on you,” said Shotaro.

“Wait, what?”

Shotaro grabbed Sunset by the wrist and began leading her out of the room and down the stairs. The young detective saw that Cadence was looking at them strangely and said, “Sunset gave us some info that may help us get your fiance and her girlfriend back, my partner will still be here, he’s upstairs looking into some additional clues.”

Before she could say “yes” or “no” to what was happening, Shotaro took Sunset out to the driveway, and had her get on her bike.

“Where are we going?” Sunset asked.

“Just follow me.”

Shotaro mounted his own bike and the two of them took off down the road. Philip, meanwhile, had already cracked Twilight’s password and was already reading through the different files that she had kept regarding Sunset Shimmer’s time as a Kamen Rider, as well as the rest of Twilight’s schematics and…

“Oh, now that’s interesting.”

***________________________***

Shotaro had led Sunset back to the place where they had last battled, the place where she lost everything. The two of them walked down the path until they had gotten to the same spot, the whole time was in silence.

When they finally arrived, Sunset asked, “Okay, why did you bring us here?!”

“Why do you fight as Kamen Rider? What is a Kamen Rider to you?” Shotaro asked.

Sunset cocked an eyebrow at that question. “What do you mean by that?”

“What defines a Kamen Rider? Is it their power, their skill, or their will?”

Sunset scoffed at these questions. “Obviously, if you can’t transform, you can’t be a Kamen Rider! I’m just me!”

Shotaro stopped walking and said, “You have one more Memory, don’t you? Tsukasa told be about your power.”

Sunset reached into her pocket and pulled out the Shining Memory. “Yes, but’s no good without the Unicorn Memory, it’s a power up, it can’t work without something to power it up!”

“So you’re just going to give up, that’s it?” Shotaro asked.

The fiery redhead snorted in anger. “WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?! I have no powers, a bit of magic, but it can’t defeat an ARMY OF DOPANTS! Nor can it stand a chance against Starlight’s power!”

Shotaro turned around and faced the young girl with a look of determination in his eyes. “Then it looks like I have to teach you what it means to be a Rider.” Shotaro reached behind his back and pulled out, not the Double Driver, but the Lost Driver.

Unlike the Double Driver, this Driver was a prototype, made specifically to work with only one Gaia Memory at a time. Shotaro normally used this Driver when he didn’t feel that using his and Philip’s combined power was needed. Shotaro placed the Lost Driver at his waist, and a strap automatically released and fastened it to him. He then took out the Joker Memory and pressed the button.

< JOKER! >

“Henshin.”

> JOKER! <

Upon inserting the Memory into the Driver, a purple field of energy surrounded him, and transformed Shotaro into Kamen Rider Joker.

“What…What are you doing?” Sunset asked.

Joker’s red eyes flashed as he dashed towards Sunset, the redhead gasped and quickly jumped out of the way as she rolled onto the grass and away from his attack.

Sunset recovered and watched as Joker once again ran straight towards her. He jumped into the air, spun, and then brought down his left heel for an ax kick. Sunset backflipped away just as his heel made contact with the dirt, making a hole upon impact.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Sunset asked.

“A Kamen Rider is not defined by their power alone!”

Joker dashed towards his target again, Sunset hadn’t had time to completely recover so she went on the attack as well. Joker threw a straight punch, the blow grazed Sunset’s left cheek, making her hiss from the sting as his punch continued to sail past her. She knew that she couldn’t harm him with his armor on, and punching him would only hurt her knuckles.

Palm Heel strikes it is!

Sunset struck with the flat of her palms, right into his chest. Her enhanced strength did manage to push him back a bit, but as far as damage was concerned, that was nonexistent. More and more punches were thrown at Sunset, some she managed to dodge, others she didn’t, taking one body blow after the other. Sunset didn’t stop though, she returned few of those hits, striking Joker in the arms, and across the helmet to disorient him.

“A Kamen Rider fights even though all hope may seem lost, because we are hope! Powers or no powers, there’s only one Kamen Rider Unicorn, and that’s YOU!”

Sunset used both of her arms to block a chop that was aimed at her head, she widened her stance as she dug her heels into the earth to keep herself standing. “I can’t save anyone now! Don’t you get it?!”

Joker broke off the attack, spun once and kicked Sunset in the gut, sending her flying across the field as she skidded to a halt on her back. The impact was so great, it knocked her cellphone out of her pocket, making it land next to her head as she held her stomach and coughed.

“So, you’re just going to let the city you swore to protect shed tears? Are you going to let the woman you love shed tears waiting for the one she loves to rescue her? Show me, show you’re at least willing to stand up and fight against whatever power comes your way! If you don’t, then fine, Terui, Philip, and I will go and take down this Starlight Glimmer. But you will have no right to call yourself a Kamen Rider!”

That’s…That’s not such a bad idea…I mean, c’mon, how long was I really going to keep up being a Kamen Rider for? When the last Dopant was defeated, that would be it. There would be no need for Unicor, Nasca, or Trigger…What’s so bad about just giving up and letting Shotaro do it?

Sunset looked at her cellphone, noticing that the screen had lit up. She reached out and took the device in hand, and when she did, she read a message, several of them.

[From Rarity: Sunset, Darling, I know you’re hurting, but you mustn’t give up, your princess is waiting for you in that dark tower!]

[From Fluttershy: I know the girl who dug herself out of that crater is no quitter! You stand up and go after Twilight!]

[From Pinkie Pie: I know it’s hard to smile right now, but that’s why you have to smile even more. Even when things are at their most grim, if you can smile through it all, then everyone can keep fighting!]

[From Applejack: Hey, Sunset, Ah woke up. Ah know things went south, but ya can’t give up yet…if there’s anyone who can turn somethin’ like this around, it’s you. We’re all behind ya Sugarcube.]

[From Rainbow Dash: I’m sorry…I’m your partner, and I couldn’t even help find a way out of that situation. And now, I can’t even comfort you right…I just want you to know, I’m not ready to give up, I know deep down you’re not ready either. I don’t know how, but I know we can stop this! FYI, if you get a bunch a messages from the girls, I told them what happened. Sorry]

[From Gilda: You and Dash saved me from myself, and you helped me realize how much I care for that dork, so please don’t tell me the girl who helped save Gabby and me is going to throw in the towel now! Get off your ass and fight!]

[From Juniper: Don’t quit, Sunset! I believe in you, and so do others, if seeing all these movies has taught me one thing, it’s that it’s not over until the credits roll, and I’m damn sure they haven’t rolled yet!]

[From Celestia: Sunset, Rainbow Dash told us what happened. I can’t imagine what you’re feeling right now, but you are the strongest girl I have ever met in my life, not to mention the most brilliant. You are a hero, Sunset Shimmer, no one can take that away from you.]

[From Luna: I will say, Sunset, I don’t often see you as just a friend, I consider you almost like a younger sister. And as any good big sister, I have to tell you to pick yourself up, and fight!]

[From Namby: I figured you might be down after what Rainbow told me. All of the news stations have your back, the people, and even the police have your back. If you don’t believe me, click the LINK.]

Sunset, did click the link, and when she did, it led to a forum that was started a few hours ago, filled with people sending their words of encouragement to Unicorn.

[Diamonds-R-4ever: Unicorn saved me from my monster of a mother, and helped to finally be honest with myself! No matter what anyone says, Unicorn is my hero, and I know she’ll save us!]

[RocketGirl: Unicorn saved my Mom from becoming a monster, and helped us become a family again! I may not be in Canterlot, but I’m rooting for her all the same!]

[Moon’s Keeper: Don’t forget about Nasca, she saved me from being forced to hurt people.]

[Inkblot: Same, Nasca helped us both, she gave us a second chance, we won’t abandon them!]

[DazzlingHips: I hope you’re reading this. We used to harbor such hate for what you did to us in the past, for all humans. But, you purified us, and even at our worst, you still saved us. The girl I know, the girl who saved my sisters and I, is not the type to just give up. Show us another miracle, Unicorn.]

Joker came up and took the cellphone away from Sunset, he read through the comments and her texts and said, “There are many people in this city, and beyond it, who are cheering you on. Tell me, what does being a Kamen Rider mean to you?!”

The black armored Rider cocked his fist back and punched straight for Sunset. However, Sunset met his punch with the flat of her right palm, catching the blow before it could make contact and stopping Joker’s momentum altogether. Sunset began to rise up, her body glowing with a faint red aura. From her head, she sprouted pony ears, and her long hair formed a ponytail as her aura sparkled more brilliantly than before.

“It means, fighting for those you love!”

Sunset pushed Shotaro back, she jumped into the air and came at him with a flying roundhouse kick. Joker stopped the blow with his left arm, but the power it generated did make the grass lay flat as the energy was dispersed.

“It means protecting the innocent against whatever darkness threatens them, with all you’ve got!”

The former unicorn landed on the grass just as Joker unleashed a flurry of punches. Sunset blocked or deflected most of them, while counterattacking and hitting the armored hero with her fists. Each of her blows did manage to cause a sparse amount of sparks to fly from Jokers armor, but it wasn’t enough to completely stop him.

Both fighters separated, and then dashed towards each other again. Joker threw a right punch, and so did Sunset. The two fists met in the middle, colliding against each other as purple and red light flashed. Both heroes stayed like that, frozen in place, however, Sunset couldn’t maintain her power up for much longer as her aura faded away and her ears and tail did the same. She collapsed onto the ground, staying in a kneeling position as she panted from their fight.

“I get it, Kamen Rider Unicorn is more than the power, more than the mask, I am Unicorn, with or without my powers. I don’t know what I can do, but I’ll do whatever I can, so please, Mr. Shotaro, please help me save this world? Please help me save the person I love?”

Shotaro disengaged the transformation and held out right hand towards Sunset. Sunset looked up and saw that Shotaro was smiling at her, she took his hand and stood back up.

“That’s what I wanted to hear.”

The hard-boiled detective opened Sunset’s hand and reached into his pocket. He then placed something in Sunset’s hand and made her close it around the object before releasing her hand. Sunset, confused, looked at what Shotaro had given her and gasped at what she saw. The Unicorn Memory.

“But…But how?!”

Shotaro crossed his arms. “Tsukasa had a feeling something may go wrong with regards to the T2s, so Philip used Museum’s old facilities to make perfected T1 versions of your Unicorn Memory, and one of Nasca. They function similar to ours, they’re not as powerful as the T2s your used to, but we figure it’s better than nothing.”

Sunset held the Unicorn Memory tight in her hand as she cried tears of joy. “No, it’ll do, thank you so much, Mr. Shotaro!”

Shotaro tipped his hat to her and said, “Just Shotaro is fine.”

Y: Yearning / To Save a Life

View Online

A strange glow began to emit from the top of the PhoenEXE Corp. building, no doubt Starlight’s plan was going to begin soon. Down below, an army of Dopants guarded the block, denying entry to any who dared get too close, and with the giant bird-dragon running aerial recon, it was nearly impossible to come at them from the sky. The police force had given up on trying to penetrate their defenses and instead focused their efforts and trying to keep the citizens safe and finding a way to crack the dome. Everyone was hoping for a miracle, everyone was hoping that their heroes would appear, everyone.

Sunset, Rainbow Dash, Shotaro, Philip, and Terui all stood in the middle of the empty streets. But they weren’t alone, behind them were Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy, Celestia and Luna, Gilda, Namby, Bow Hothoof, and Windy Whistles. The entire area had been evacuated, so there was no one to see them transform, which also meant they could fight at full strength without holding back and worrying about collateral damage.

“I looked over Sparkle-san’s designs, your drivers were made to be used specifically for the T2 Memories, however, the T1 should still allow you to transform and use the same powers, but since the T2s have a higher power output, your Drivers may overload the T1s and they could shatter. It’s a risk, but knowing that, are you willing to go on?” Philip asked.

Sunset and Rainbow nodded to Philip, a fire of determination burning in their eyes.

“Don’t forget, you won’t be as powerful as you normally are, probably half as strong, so watch each other’s backs,” said Terui.

“Roger that,” said Rainbow.

Bow and Windy came up and hugged their daughter tight, they didn’t want to think that this may be the last time they see her, but they believed – no – they knew that their daughter would come back safe and sound, because that’s how awesome they knew she was.

Celestia and Luna hugged Sunset tight, to the point that the young woman believed that they might accidentally snap her spine in two. But she understood, they cared for her, and although this Celestia wasn’t the mother she knew back home, she had come to look at her as a second mother, and Luna, she’d consider her a teasing older sister.

Sunset and Rainbow gave their friends one last hug, and Rainbow gave her girlfriend a nice, long, kiss. Much to the awkwardness of everyone standing there.

“Time for the greatest battle of Unicorn and Nasca’s careers, and I have the honor of writing all about it, now go out so I can write a happy ending,” said Namby as she held out her hand.

Sunset shook it and said, “Don’t worry, we won’t make a liar out of you.”

“Time to go to work,” said Shotaro.

Shotaro and Philip summoned their Double Driver, Sunset and Rainbow summoned their Uni-Driver and N-Driver, and Terui summoned the Accel Driver. All five Riders took up their individual Gaia Memories and pressed the buttons.

< CYCLONE! >

< JOKER! >

< UNICORN! >

< NASCA! >

< ACCEL! >

“HENSHIN!”

{< CYCLONE! JOKER! >}

> UNICORN! <

> NASCA! <

{< ACCEL! >}

Philip suddenly collapsed, prompting Bow to quickly catch the young man before he hit the concrete. At the same time, Shotaro was enveloped in a dual field of green and purple energy, along with a spiraling wind, needless to say it was not the best time those of the group who decided to wear skirts. Sunset was surrounded in turquoise energy, Rainbow in blue, and Terui is blazing red energy. The energy fields collapsed, all four were now in their alter egos, Kamen Rider Double, Unicorn, Nasca, and Accel. As if on que, the Riders’ motorcycles appeared from around the corner and rode up beside each of their respective Riders.

Suddenly, a bird shaped object came swooping in and hovered over Philips body. The device emitted a green light that transformed Philip’s body into particles, particles which were drawn into the device before it flew away. Double turned around and the right side said, “Don’t worry, that just keeps my body safe in a kind of extradimensional storage.”

Everyone nodded, not really sure what to say to the fact that Philip’s voice was coming out of the dual colored Rider and a the fact that a flying metal bird came and digitized his body.

“Wait, so you guys always become one person when you transform?!” Nasca asked.

“That’s the power of our bond,” said Shotaro.

Unicorn and Nasca looked to each other for a moment, the workings of an idea possibly forming. But with that answer, all four Riders revved their engines and took off down the street. In the empty downtown district, the engines of the four Riders echoed far and wide, they weren’t planning on any kind of sneak attack, no, they were going to take the fight right straight to the Dopants. They looked up and saw that the Quetzalcoatius had perched itself on the neighboring building of PhoenEXE Corp. and gave a loud caw like an alarm.

“Well, they know we’re coming!” Nasca stated.

“Then let’s not disappoint them!” Unicorn replied.

“Remember to be careful with your other Memory, we don’t know if the T1 can handle the power of your Final Form, only use it if it’s an emergency,” Double warned.

“We’ll tear right through as many Dopants as we can, Unicorn and Nasca, this is your fight, so we’ll make sure you two get inside,” said Accel.

The two youngest Riders gave a thumbs up to the plan. It wasn’t an overly good plan, but it was the best they got. The building was fast approaching, and in their way was a large assortment of Dopants, one of which was the T-Rex Dopant who roared mightily as it charged straight for them.

The Riders revved their engines once again, going full throttle as the debris dino swung at them with its tail. The Riders diverged and drove on the sidewalks before going back on the street. The T-Rex Dopant roared again and chased after them, stomping down the street. Up above, the Quetzalcoatius Dopant spread its wings and came flying down right at them. The giant bird-dragon opened its maw and fired a huge fireball, the roaring sphere of flames shattered the glass from the buildings around it from the sheer heat it generated as it approached.

“BRAKE!” Double shouted.

All four Riders came to a screeching halt as the T-Rex Dopant came barreling past them and tried to do a quick turn to face its opponents, however, it was not fast enough to dodge the fireball, which immediately struck it, causing a huge explosion and consequently incinerated the T-Rex Dopant. The Quetzalcoatius Dopant hovered in midair, waiting to see what the Riders would do.

Nasca and Accel burst forth from the flames, the younger Rider was flying on her electric-fire wings, while the veteran drove on the side of the building in his bike form. Accel jumped off the building, spinning in the air as he got closer to the large bird monster. Once he was close, he returned to a humanoid form and drew his Engine Blade, at the same time, Nasca summoned her sword, and the two of them stabbed into the back of the Quetzalcoatius Dopant. Nasca flew straight, while Accel sped forward, both of them dragging their blades along the Dopant’s back until they jumped off.

The flying Rider dove down and caught Accel, slowing his momentum. Once he was at a good rate of speed, she released him, and in the fall, Accel transformed back into bike form and continued onward.

{< LUNA! TRIGGER! >}

Double switched into his LunaTrigger form, he took his blaster in hand and began firing shot after shot into the now falling Quetzalcoatius Dopant. At the same time, Unicorn was launching mana bolts alongside Double, pelting the bird-dragon as several explosions went off before it finally fell to the ground, and plowed into a building.

The Riders continued forward until they finally came to a wall of Dopants coming their way. Unicorn and Double stood atop their bikes and jumped straight up, Accel returned to humanoid form and jumped up as well, brandishing his Engine Blade. All four Riders landed in the thick of the Dopant horde, Unicorn harnessed her energy and released a mana wave that pushed several of the Dopant’s away, granting them some breathing room.

“Sun-chan, use this,” said Double as he tossed her a Gaia Memory.

Unicorn grabbed the device in midair and smiled when she saw it was the T1 Joker Memory.

< JOKER! >

{< JOKER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Unicorn’s armor shifted, transforming her into Unicorn Ace High. With the added booster effect of Joker, Sunset was able to feel a bit close to the power she had with the T2.

“On that note, time for more close quarters combat.”

< HEAT! >

< METAL! >

{< HEAT! METAL! >}

Double’s armor changed, the right half was red, and the left half was silver, this was Double HeatMetal form. The two in one Rider took hold of his Metal Shaft weapon, both ends extended outwards as he twirled it around and got into a fighting stance. All four Riders glanced to each other and broke off to battle their opponents

Unicorn took on the Magma Dopant, who was lobbing molten fireballs at her, one after the other. The magic Rider back flipped several times, avoiding the burning spheres as they came her way, but in her path of retreat, the Smilodon Dopant waited with electrically charged fur. Unicorn performed one more backflip and jumped over the Dopant, the Magma Dopant lobbed another fireball, only for the sphere to strike the unsuspecting feline, causing sparks to fly from its chest.

The superheroine landed gracefully on the asphalt, and then dashed forward into a dropkick, sending the Dopant flying until it collided with the Magma Dopant. The built-up electrical energy discharged upon contact, electrocuting the Magma Dopant as sparks flew from both of their bodies. A mini explosion ignited and separated the two, but not before a lot of damage was sustained. Without missing a beat, Unicorn struck her left hip port once.

\ HAT TRICK! COUNT IT! /

Unicorn’s right forearm glowed bright purple as she engaged the still dazed Smilodon Dopant. Once she was close, Unicorn slashed at it once.

\ 1! /

The second slash came from the left, creating an “X “made of purple light.

\ 2! /

For the last attack, Unicorn balled up her fist, and struck the center of the X, sending a concentrated energy burst straight through the creature.

\ 3! /

Unicorn withdrew her fist and upon doing so, the Smilodon Dopant exploded in a haze of purple smoke. From the smoke, the Commando who used the Gaia Memory fell onto the ground and disappeared as the Smilodon Memory shattered.

\ JACKBOT! /

The former Equestrian quickly took out the Joker Memory and placed it into the right hip port and pressed the button on it.

>} JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“Jokers Wild!”

Unicorn jumped into the air, creating four clones of herself that mimicked her movements. Their left feet blazed with purple energy as they each delivered a spinning Rider Kick straight across the Magma Dopant’s chest, leaving large purple gashes in their wake as they landed and reformed into one Rider. The Magma Dopant exploded, causing the Magma Memory to jettison and the Commando to disappear.

Double was already busy fighting the Injury Dopant, using the Metal Shaft to keep the Dopant from getting anywhere close enough to touch him. His strikes were heavy and strong, causing sparks to fly from each blow he landed against it. The Jewel Dopant came up behind Double, its right arm had transformed into diamond blade and prepared to strike, but Double spun the Metal Shaft around and blocked the sneak attack. Double balled up his right hand, making plasmatic flames surround his right fist.

The two-in-one Rider struck the Jewel Dopant in the chest, creating a mini explosion to go off, making Jewel back off a bit. That bit of width was just enough for Double to thrust the Metal Shaft forward and strike the same spot where he hit, causing the diamond armor to crack.

“Let’s turn up the heat, Shotaro!”

“Got it!”

Double removed the Metal Memory from the Driver and placed it into his right hip port and pressed down on the button.

>} METAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Both ends of the Metal Shaft caught fire, blazing with intense heat and power. Injury and Jewel weren’t deterred and charged toward Double without fear, their mistake.

“Metal Branding!”

Double swung once to his right, striking the Injury Dopant with a blazing blow, the Jewel Dopant was next, as Double spun his weapon around and thrust forward, sending a burst of fiery energy straight through Jewel at the same point where he struck originally. When he withdrew, both Dopants exploded at the same. But Double’s work was not done as he was suddenly fired upon by multiple attacks at once, he twirled the Metal Shaft around to deflect the attacks, at the same time, he was able to see who was attacking him.

Anomalocaris, ClayDoll, and Arms were currently barraging the hero from a distance, but Double was nowhere close to a disadvantage. Double struck the ground with Metal Shaft, sending a plume of dust and debris into the air that obscured him completely. The three Dopants stopped their attack, not sure where their opponent had gone.

< LUNA! >

< TRIGGER! >

{< LUNA! TRIGGER! >}

A flash of yellow and blue was all the warning the three Dopants got as Double burst forth from the dust and fired on them with the Trigger Magnum. Beams of blue and yellow flew out of the weapon and pelted the three Dopants repeatedly again and again. Double rolled along the ground and got into a kneeling position, then took out the Trigger Memory from the Driver and placed it into the right hip port.

>} TRIGGER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Blue and yellow energy gathered at the open barrel of the Trigger Magnum, more and more power gathered, creating a sphere of swirling blue and yellow light.

“Trigger Full Burst!”

Double pulled the trigger and immediately the sphere broke apart and released several beams of blue and yellow. The two dozen or so shots all weaved and curved through the air, bending and rotating as they made their way to their targets. Anomalocaris, ClayDoll, and Arms had no way to defend themselves as they were struck with beams from every possible direction at once, creating a big explosion that disintegrated all three Dopants and shattered their Memories.

Meanwhile, Nasca was on the business end of three familiar Dopants, Taboo, Spider, and Bat. “Huh, déjà vu, but the only good thing about all this, is that I don’t have to hold back!”

Spider shot out its webbing to capture Nasca, but the blue-sky Rider shot up into the air and dodged the first attack. The second came from Taboo as she too went airborne and began launching power spheres at the aerial Rider. Nasca used her sword to deflect the attacks, one after the other as she sped towards Taboo to strike it down, but Bat blindsided her and body slammed into the heroine, throwing her into a tail spin.

Nasca flared her wings out and stopped her momentum before she could crash into the side of a building. With a cocky grin, Nasca dismissed her sword and flew high into the air, with the Bat Dopant in pursuit. Up above Nasca was the silhouette of a bird, a bird that was quickly approaching her.

“HAWK, ARCHER MODE!”

The mech-animal gave a screech as it transformed into a bow. Nasca reached out and grabbed the bow, took out her Nasca Memory, and inserted it into the weapon.

>} NASCA! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

A bowstring made of blue light appeared, and as she drew back on the light, the mouth of Hawk glowed brighter and brighter as it gathered energy.

“Blue Sky Piercer!”

Nasca released the bow string as a blue, sparkling arrow construct flew from Hawk’s mouth and struck the Dopant right in the chest. A blue explosion erupted in the air as the Bat Dopant was completely annihilated. Nasca released Hawk after it ejected the Nasca Memory and let it return to its animal mode as she headed back down the ground, before she hit the ground, Nasca quickly switched her N-Driver around to the orange side.

\_/ NASCA! VERMILLION MODE! \_/

“`DILLO!”

The mech-animal `Dillo rolled down the street at a rapid speed as it met Nasca, the high-flying heroine hit the ground in the classic “superhero landing” pose. She then petted the little armadillo machine and said, “Let’s do this, boy!”

`Dillo shook its head and entered ball mode. Nasca took out the Nasca Memory and inserted it into `Dillo’s Max Drive port.

>} NASCA! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The mech-animal glowed bright vermillion as Nasca flared her wings. Both of them shot forth straight for the Spider Dopant, encircling the monster and creating a ring of vermillion light around him. Suddenly, Spider was struck from the back, and then from the front, and then the side, head, arm, leg, another leg. A sphere of vermillion light was assaulting the Dopant from every angle. In reality, Nasca was kicking `Dillo, and when he bounced off the Dopant, she reappeared at another spot and kicked it again.

“VERMILLION BLITZ!”

The attack continued for three more seconds before the Dopant exploded. The speed-demon Rider stopped and so did `Dillo as he ejected the Gaia Memory back to Nasca.

“And then there was one! R0V3R!”

The sounds of a dog barking echoed through the empty district as the third mech-animal entered the battle.

“Sword and shield mode!”

The robot canine began to separate its body, transforming into a sword and shield. Taboo fired off more power spheres in an attempt to overpower Nasca, but Nasca raised up the shield, which created a light screen barrier that allowed the spheres to explode harmlessly against. Nasca, once again, removed her Nasca Memory and inserted it into the sword portion of R0V3R.

>} NASCA! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“X-Saber!”

The blade of R0V3R blazed with vermillion and blue plasma as she dashed through the air. Taboo kept on firing, but to Nasca they might as well be moving as slow as a sloth. In a matter of seconds, Nasca appeared before the Taboo Dopant and slashed it twice, once vertically from the left, and the second hit was from the right. Nasca reappeared behind the Dopant, leaving behind a blue and vermillion colored slash mark in the form of an “X”. The result was a third explosion, and the end of another Dopant.

On the ground, Accel was dealing with another batch of Dopants. Money, Beast, Dog, and Lightning surrounded Accel, but the red Rider was not fazed by these numbers as he took up his Engine Blade and inserted the Engine Memory.

{< ENGINE! >}

The Lightning Dopant attacked, firing a lightning bolt straight for him. Accel quickly pulled the trigger of his sword, activating one of the three elemental modes of his weapon.

}E{ ELECTRIC! }E{

The sword’s blade sparked with raging electricity just as the Dopant’s lightning bolt drew close. Accel swiped the air with his sword, catching the lightning as it mixed with the electricity of his own sword, and released it back at the Dopant on the back swing. The bolt sailed back at the Lightning Dopant with twice the power as the first shot, hitting it square in the chest and causing sparks to fly from its body as it hit the ground.

Accel pulled the trigger once again, switching to another element.

}E{ JET! }E{

Beast and Dog came running towards him, fangs and claws bared to tear him apart. The Engine Blade ignited as the blade caught fire, Accel attacked the Beast Dopant first, slashing it across the Dopant’s chest three times before turning on a dime and delivering an upwards slash to the Dog Dopant, forcing the canine monster back as it tried to lick its wounds.

The Money Dopant began firing gold coins at a rapid-fire pace, but Accel pulled the trigger a third time and pointed the tip of the blade right at Money.

}E{ STEAM! }E{

An intense jet of steam blasted from the blade, hitting against the coins and deflecting them as they continued. Accel thrust his sword forward, causing the steam to bellow and roar towards the Money Dopant, when it hit, sparks flew from all over its body, putting him in a daze.

“All of you, your goal is despair.”

>} ACCEL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Accel’s sword glowed with bright red light, and in the next second, he took off, the sound of squealing tires resounded as he suddenly moved at a high rate of speed. The red Rider struck Beast, leaving behind a large red slash hanging in the air, he then turned right around and slashed at Dog from behind, and in his final turn, he pierced through Lightning. The entire attack had formed a glowing red “A” between all three Dopants before they exploded.

Accel ejected the Engine Memory and re-inserted it and pulled the trigger once more and twisted on the handlebar of his Driver.

>} ACCEL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

The red Rider slashed the air three times, creating a glowing red “A”. Accel thrusted his sword forward, striking the glowing “A”, propelling it towards the Money Dopant. The portly looking creature didn’t have time to counter or dodge as the attack hit its mark, causing another explosion to ring out on the battlefield. All four Riders gathered together, now facing off against the two remaining Dopants, Terror and Utopia.

“Time for a different approach.”

< METAL! >

{< LUNA! METAL! >}

The left side of Double’s body changed to a sliver color, now they were Double LunaMetal. Double and Unicorn engaged Terror, both Riders attacking the monster from different angles. Terror summoned its own monster servant from its headdress, making this fight two-on-two. Double took out the Metal Shaft and began striking at the flying monster.

The staff extended as if it was made of rubber and struck the side of the creature with the force of a steel girder. The monster recoiled from the initial strike but recovered and snapped its jaws at him. However, Double was the quicker, rolling to the side of the creature as he thrust the shaft forward, the rubber-like metal acted as a lasso and wrapped around the monster’s midsection, allowing Double to dig his heels into the ground and toss it straight into another building.

Unicorn was busy dodging Terror’s fear inducing ooze as it surrounded him, keeping Unicorn from getting too close. She tried firing mana blasts at Terror, but the ooze was proving to be just as effective at defense as well as offense. The magical hero’s horn glowed, and immediately, she vanished. Terror looked around, utterly confused as to where its opponent went. Terror didn’t have to wait long as Unicorn reappeared behind it and gave the Dopant magically infused kick to its back before teleporting again. Terror turned to attack, but she was no longer there, instead she appeared on his right as she flew at it with a magic infused punch across the face.

On the other side, Nasca and Accel were in a high-speed battle with Utopia, the sound of blades clashing rang in the air was Utopia blocked the two Riders’ blades with its claw gauntlets. Utopia flared its wings and pushed them back as it took to the air, however, Nasca also flew up and began their duel again, Nasca’s speed proved be a bit more than Utopia could handle, forcing the Dopant to retreat to the ground.

But, the onslaught wasn’t over, when Utopia touched down, it was set upon by Accel as he came down with one heavy sword blow after the other, causing the ground to shake slightly from each blocked attack. Nasca swooped in from behind and slashed at the Dopant’s back, causing sparks to shoot out. Utopia flinched, giving Accel the opening he needed to swipe both claws away and strike at the Dopant’s chest, sending it flying away as it rolled across the ground.

Double used the Metal Shaft to ascend to where the monster was, and gave it a swift strike to the face, making it fly right towards its creator. At the same time, Unicorn performed an aerial roundhouse that also sent the Terror Dopant flying at its creation. The two struck in midair, making the conjured creature return to the Dopant’s headdress as he fell to the ground next to Utopia. Unfortunately, the Quetzalcoatius Dopant broke out from the building it was sent into and was now heading their way.

“We’re going to need our Memory back, Sun-chan,” said Philip.

Unicorn nodded and disengaged her Ace High form as she tossed the Joker Memory back to Double. The two-in-one Rider replaced the Metal Memory with the Joker Memory, and at the same time, replaced the Luna Memory with the Cyclone Memory.

< CYCLONE! >

< JOKER! >

{< CYCLONE! JOKER! >}

Double’s form completely changed back to the original CylconeJoker combo, as all four Riders looked to each other and nodded in understanding. Three of the Riders took up their Gaia Memories and placed them into their right hip ports, while Accel twisted the handlebar of his Accel Driver once more.

>} ACCEL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

>} NASCA! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

>} JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

A green ethereal wind swirled around Double, Unicorn was enveloped in a sparkling, turquoise aura. Nasca’s wings flared as blue energy wrapped around her, and Accel’s body was set ablaze with angry orange flames. All four Riders jumped into the air at the same, each one picking a target. Double’s two halves separated, the left sided slanted downwards as its foot was wrapped in purple energy, and the green half propelled them with its control of the wind, aiming for the Terror Dopant as Double struck the Dopant in the chest.

A spiral cone formed over Unicorn’s right foot, at the same time, Nasca’s body began to shimmer with a rainbow aura as both of them aimed directly for the Quetzalcoatius Dopant. Both Riders flew straight at the bird as it shot off one fireball after the other, but Unicorn and Nasca pierced right through them as they got closer. Accel jumped into the air and spun a few times before striking the Utopia Dopant with a spinning heel kick, leaving a red, glowing skid mark across the Dopant’s body.

All three Dopant’s exploded at the same time, creating a powerful, concussive sound that resonated throughout the block, shaking the windows and what cars that still remained nearby. Once Unicorn and Nasca landed they rejoined their seniors, all four Riders took this time to look around the battlefield, making sure that they had cleared the board of their first line of defense.

Nasca fist pumped into the air as she said, “We are so AWESOME!”

“Don’t get too excited, Rookie. That was just the warm up,” said Accel.

Unicorn looked up the building and narrowed her gaze at the top. “The real fight’s about to begin.”

“Then let’s not keep them waiting,” said Shotaro.

“We have a princess in a dark tower to save,” said Philip.

Unicorn blushed and fidgeted at the comparison, and Nasca noticed as she gave a good-natured punch to Unicorn’s shoulder. The four heroes ran towards the entrance of PhoenEXE Corp., but before they got in, Nasca stopped, she looked down at her Driver and saw that the Nasca Memory was giving off electric sparks.

“Rainbow, you okay?” Unicorn asked.

“Y-Yeah, just fine, c’mon we gotta keep moving!”

***__________=E=__________***

(3 minutes ago)

Starlight was still making adjustments to her machine, she had to make sure everything was perfect, there could be no mistakes, she was not about to lose another friend because of a careless miscalculation or faulty part. As much as Twilight may be mad at her, as well as Sunset, Starlight was not going endanger her and see another life taken before her eyes like that.

Twilight had long ago stopped struggling, mostly because the restraints were starting to dig into her skin, and partially because even if she did manage to do so, there was still an army of Dopants waiting for her downstairs. But the thing that really made her stay, was the fact that just a few feet away was Shining Armor, still in his Kamen Rider form, the eyes of helmet had turned gray, a stark contrast from their original color.

This whole time, he hadn’t said a word to her, he just stood there like a robot sentry. Twilight glanced over her shoulder towards Starlight and said, “I figured you had a something in Shining Armor’s Driver that would bring him under your control, I just didn’t want to believe it. On that note, what’s your plan to get his Gaia Memory? The moment he changes back you won’t be able to control him, and last I checked, he’s armed.”

Starlight nodded. “I do have a contingency for that as well. I can use the same device to create an electric shock that’s just strong enough to knock him out, which will give me plenty of time to take his Gaia Memory from the Driver. I’m surprised you’re taking the fact that your brother is under my control so well.”

Twilight looked back at her brother with lament. “It’s not as if I didn’t think you would’ve done something like that, I suspected it ever since you gave him that Driver. I’m just sorry I didn’t get to finish my own device to take back control.”

“Don’t worry, soon he’ll be back to normal, well, better than normal. Everyone will be,” said Starlight as she continued her work.

Suddenly, a loud explosion went off down below, Twilight and Starlight looked in the direction that the noise came from, and both already knew who it was who had come to attack them. Not a few seconds after the explosions went off did one of Starlight’s subordinates came bursting through the door, Night Glider if she wasn’t mistaken.

“Starlight, we got a problem!”

Starlight turned to her asked, “What?”

“Unicorn and Nasca, they’re back!” Night Glider stated.

Twilight and Starlight’s eyes went wide with shock. Starlight turned her attention back to the halo device and took out the Unicorn and Nasca Memories, checking them over to verify that they were not fakes. After looking them over, she was sure, no she was positive that they were the real ones, otherwise the machine wouldn’t be reacting as strongly if they were fakes.

“How is that possible?! Their Memories are right here,” said Starlight.

“That’s…not all. The other two Riders that Party Favor talked about, they’re using Gaia Memories too, and from what I was watching down there, some of them are the same as the T2s!”

Starlight looked back at her device, her mind putting the pieces together, but it was Twilight who gave them a voice.

“Then that means that these two Riders are from a world that also uses Gaia Memories.” Twilight turned to Starlight. “And that means they must’ve brought copies of the Gaia Memories Sunset and Rainbow use to transform with.”

Starlight took a calm breath as she walked towards Night Glider. “Get the designated floors ready, four Riders, and two of them or more than likely veteran warriors, the army may slow them down, but it won’t defeat them. I need four to try and stop them.”

“Got it, and don’t worry, I won’t kill those two, but I’m not going to go easy on them either,” said Night Glider as she headed downstairs.

Starlight sighed heavily and went back to the device.

“Please give up now, Starlight. You’ve seen first hand how powerful Riders from another universe are, and with Sunset and Rainbow having access to their powers again, you’re not only outnumbered, but overpowered,” said Twilight. “And not mention, you still require your subordinates’ Gaia Memories, if they’re defeated downstairs, you won’t be able to recover their Gaia Memories to complete your device.”

Starlight stopped next to Twilight and patted her on the shoulder before saying, “Oh, Twilight, you really ought to not underestimate me like that.”

***____________________***

The four Riders were currently in the lobby of the building, keeping an eye out for any sneak attacks that may come their way as they progressed further in. They soon faced their first challenge in the form of how they were going to reach the top of the building, stairs or elevator.

“We could take the stairs,” said Unicorn.

“But then that’d take too long,” said Nasca.

“How about the elevator?” Shotaro suggested.

“They could easily cut the cables as soon as we were at a high enough altitude and let us drop straight down. Even in our Rider forms, we’d still sustain some significant damage,” said Philip.

“Take one way, we waste time. Take another, we’re risking a trap. At this rate, we’re better off splitting up,” said Accel.

*Ding!*

The elevator opened up, all four Riders peered inside, looking for any hidden bombs or anything that looked like it could kill them.

“Guess she’s inviting us up,” said Shotaro.

“We can take the elevator. If there’s one thing that I can count on right now, it’s that Starlight doesn’t want me or Rainbow dead. Her subordinates were ready to stop Commander and Eyes from killing us twice already, so I can’t imagine she’d want to do that now,” said Unicorn.

The former Equestrian entered the elevator and stood still, waiting to see if her theory was incorrect. After a minute, nothing happened. With heavy caution, all four of them piled into the elevator. Once all of them were inside, the elevator began to rise, inside Unicorn, Double, Accel, and Nasca just waited in awkward silence as the elevator music played in the background, which made Nasca slightly annoyed.

After few minutes of riding, the elevator stopped on the twentieth floor. The doors opened up and revealed a vast floor that had frost and ice covering most of everything. Double, Accel, Nasca, and Unicorn exited the elevator and readied themselves for a fight. They didn’t have to wait long as steps echoed in the empty floor. A figure approached them, and stood about ten feet away, their opponent, IceAge.

“I have orders to detain Unicorn and Nasca, but you two Riders, I have been given permission to eliminate you,” said IceAge.

“That a fact? And you’re just willing to go along with whatever Starlight’s going to do to the world?!” Nasca asked.

“I know you can’t understand right now, but trust me, the world will be better.”

Accel stepped forward from the group and said, “Why, because this Starlight Glimmer says it will be? Who is she to decided what’s best for people? What is her plan?”

IceAge sighed, a fresh wave of frosted air flew out as he did this. “I guess there is no harm in telling you. Maybe then you’ll appreciate what is she’s trying to achieve and stop fighting and help us.”

So, IceAge told them, explained why Starlight was doing what she was doing, and how she planned to achieve this goal. The power of the Gaia Memories, the infinite knowledge that the Earth possessed, all of it would be at the beck and call of the people of the world in order to bring about true peace and equality to all.

“Seriously…that’s…that’s what she’s been trying to do?!” Unicorn exclaimed.

“Yes, now you understand. Ms. Glimmer holds you in high regard, Sunset Shimmer, she considers you worthy of being called her friend. She seeks to make a world where you and others can live without strife and fear. Can you truly say you want to continue fighting now knowing what she’s setting out to accomplish?”

“If I may interject.” The right side of Double – Philip – began to speak. “While that does sound good, on the surface, it is not without its dire consequences.”

IceAge looked at Double with a narrowed gaze. “What do you mean?”

“I am the Avatar of the Earth’s Memories back in our world. And I can guarantee, that opening the door to all that knowledge will only destroy the world. Everyone will be one, yes, but all individuality will be erased, secrets will no longer be secret, everyone will be equal in the way that they are connected to each other, not knowing where one person ends and the other begins. You couldn’t even call that a hive mind, since, by Starlight’s design, no one will be in control of this.”

“LIES!!!” IceAge shouted as he fired a wave of ice straight for them. Unicorn and Nasca dove to the right, while Double and Accel went to the left just as the wave struck the back wall and turned the elevator into brittle ice that crumbled down the shaft. “Starlight has thought of everything! We trust her completely! What she’s doing is for the good of all!”

Accel stood up and walked out ahead of the others. “You guys head up, I’ll take care of him.”

“No way, we should take him together!” Unicorn stated.

“Wasting time with him will only ensure that she gets a bit closer to her goal, and at least down here, it will be one less Gaia Memory she can get ahold of. I’ll give you time to destroy her machine and save your lover,” said Accel.

“Terui…”

IceAge growled as he raised his hands, subzero ice energy gathered to him as he prepared to fight the arrogant Rider before him. “I’ll take that overconfidence of yours, freeze it, and shatter it!”

Accel reached behind his back and took out his trump card, a new Gaia Memory device. It looked like a stoplight, but more like a Japanese stoplight, with the green color replaced with blue. The entire device was blue in color and its symbol was a “T” that was shaped with a speedometer needle and a tire mark for the top of the “T”.

< TRIAL!>

“Time to shake off those delusions!”

Accel removed the Accel Memory and put the new Gaia Memory in its place, he then twisted the right handlebar of the Driver twice, activating the Trial Memory.

{< TRIAL!>}

The red light flashed, and then it switched to yellow, at the same time, Accel’s armor changed color to yellow as well. Upon the device reaching the blue light, the yellow armor, and the previous armor form was shed off, allowing Accel to transform into his Final Form, Kamen Rider Accel Trial.

“Impressive, but let’s just see–!”

The sound of a racing motorcycle was all that was heard before Accel dashed across the room and appeared right before IceAge, the Dopant was noticeably shocked to see his opponent had reached his position in such a short amount of time. Accel delivered rapidfire punches to IceAge, causing sparks to fly from every blow landed, Accel finished his combo with an uppercut, sending IceAge flying backwards until he hit a pillar.

“Get going! I’ll handle this and join you!”

Unicorn and Nasca were reluctant to leave Terui alone, but after seeing what he just did, and knowing he had a lot more combat experience than the both of them combined, Unicorn and Nasca complied and joined Double as they ran across the room. IceAge managed to break himself free from the pillar as he fired an ice wave in the direction of the fleeing Riders, however, Accel quickly intercepted the attack, wielding his Engine Blade and blasting the ice wave with the intense heat of the sword’s Jet elemental power.

“You need to focus on the opponent in front of you!”

***__________________________***

Unicorn, Double, and Nasca managed to find another elevator and began their ascent yet again. There was more than likely another opponent waiting on the next floor the elevator stopped on, and no doubt with the intention of stopping them.

“I can’t believe that was Starlight’s plan all along! Philip, is there any way you could be wrong?” Unicorn asked.

“Unfortunately, I’m not. I know better than anyone how powerful the Memories of the Earth are, and if your Earth operates anything like ours, then unleashing all that power, uniting the minds of every single person, will be the end of everything.”

“Although, I can’t deny that this Starlight has good intentions. Going to such extreme measures…what could’ve happened that would cause her to have set this all in motion?” Shotaro pondered.

Nasca looked to her friend, they both had an idea, Sunburst. The first and only friend Starlight Glimmer had growing up, his death must’ve changed everything in her life. Despite not being able to see her friend’s face, Nasca could tell what Unicorn was thinking.

“You still want to save her, don’t you?” Nasca asked.

“I…”

“Look, I get it, you crawled out of a hole that you dug yourself into all those years ago, and someone reached out to help you. I get that you want to be that someone to Starlight too, you were for Twilight, but, Sunset, she’s not like Twilight was. And, as much of a tyrant bitch – no offense – as you were back then, you yourself told us that you never wanted to take over Equestria, and that the magic you took in warped and amplified your worst parts. Even at your worst, you didn’t have that kind of drive. Starlight does have the drive, and has proven that she’s willing to do what she thinks is necessary to ‘save the world’. I don’t like saying this…but if it comes down to it–”

“Don’t say it Rainbow!” Unicorn snapped. “I know, but if I gave up, truly gave up on her, then what’s the point of what I’ve become? What’s the point of my ascension back home? How can I be an example of the Magic of Friendship to any future lost soul if I’m not willing to do what Princess Twilight did for me?! If that’s how she saw it back then, then the Elements of Harmony would’ve just flat out destroyed me or imprisoned me somewhere where no one could reach me! But they didn’t, Princess Twilight didn’t, and neither did any of you. I will do what I have to…I’m sorry, but that’s all I can promise.”

Double placed his hand on Unicorn’s shoulder and nodded. “Sometimes it’s hard to follow the path you’ve set out on, even when you know that it may not always allow you to make easy decisions.”

“But for the ones you love and care about, you do what you must. Kamen Riders always find a way, and you’re no different, Sun-chan. As your senpais, we know you’ll find a way to save everyone, even the unsavable.”

Nasca sighed, she couldn’t help but agree with Shotaro and Philip, and yes, even Sunset’s argument had a lot of merit to it. “Alright, as always, I’ll back you up, partner.”

Nasca held out her right fist, and Unicorn met it with a fist bump. Just then the elevator dinged, stopping on the fortieth floor. The doors opened and this time the floor was very much different from the previous one. This one had a wide area, about five meters across and seven wide. When they looked up, they saw that more of the floors were gutted to form a high ceiling that went up too high for them to see. After taking a few steps into the new area, they were greeted with a cascade of feather quills that rained down from high above. Unicorn quickly formed a mana barrier that protected them, but just barely as the sharp as blade quills pierced through the barrier and lodged themselves in it.

From up above, the Bird Dopant flew down, graceful, and yet deadly, she landed on the floor and stared down the three Riders. “Weren’t there, like, four of you?”

“He’s busy taking on your icy friend. I remember you, you were the one who swooped in and took the Violence Memory when we saved Gilda!” Nasca stated.

“Oh, yeah, that angry chick. It was nothing personal, okay, it’s just something we needed to do. Of course you and GlimGlam up there weren’t exactly friends yet, so I apologize for all that. But, honestly, you don’t have fight us,” said Bird.

“We know all about what she’s planning on doing, and Double here said that she won’t save the world, she’ll wind up ending it by mistake if we don’t stop here!”

The Bird Dopant flapped her wings as she rose into the air and looked down upon them. “Maybe, but then again, maybe he’s wrong. Sometimes, you gotta take a risk if you want to change the world, or even save it from itself! I’m willing to take that risk, to bet on Starlight! I owe her that much!”

“Seems we’ve reached an impasse then, right Shotaro?”

“Unfortunately, yes, Philip, we have. Let’s do this together then!”

Double pushed up both sides of the Double Driver, and both the Cyclone and Joker Memories released twin lights of green and purple that shot upwards. There was a faint sound of something breaking through concrete, a lot of concrete. After a minute, an object came bursting through the floor, it was shaped like a bird, but had a golden “X” pattern to it. The device aligned itself with the two lights the Memories emitted and docked with the Double Driver. The Driver then opened up, activating the new Gaia Memory.

}X{< XTREME >}X{

The silver strip that separated both halves of Double began to glow bright white, and seemed to open up as it spread out to both sides. Rings of light appeared around the two-in-one Rider until a bright flash engulfed him, making Unicorn, Nasca, and even the Bird Dopant turn their eyes away. When they managed to look back, they were now bearing witness to Double’s most powerful form. The silver strip had vanished and now there was white, sparkling strip that ran down the middle of Double’s body, the Crystal Server. Both halves had large shoulder pauldrons, the right side had a golden, sideways “W” on it, the left side had one as well, but its color was purple. The helmet had four, horn-like protrusions that formed a crude “X” shape. In his left hand was a shield, and sheathed in the shield was a sword. This was the ultimate power of both halves of Double as one, this was Kamen Rider Double Xtreme.

“Sunset-chan, Rainbow-san, find another way up, we’ll take care of this,” said Double.

They were past the point of asking if he’d be alright, even Sunset and Rainbow could tell that this form of Double’s was powerful, if that wasn’t enough, both Shotaro and Philip were speaking at the same time in perfect unison. Unicorn and Nasca hurriedly made their exit, not wanting to get in Double’s way. Bird saw this and fired off more quills, however, Double dashed across the room and drew the sword from the shield, their weapons of defense and offense, the Prism Bicker. Double slashed at the quills with nearly lightning speed, and for the ones he wasn’t able to deflect, he used the shield to block. Unicorn and Nasca finally made it to the far, far side of this floor and immediately entered the elevator.

“We have to ask, are you going to stay up there all day and shoot quills at us?”

“Yeah, they ain’t just sharp.”

The quills all began to glow bright as the seconds ticked, and it was then that Double understood what their other function was. “Oh…”

***__________________________***

Several explosions rocked the elevator, all of them felt like they came from far below. Unicorn and Nasca had already resolved to letting their “senpais” take care of the other Dopants, but as things were progressing, they were more than sure that the next stop would bring them face to face with either the remaining members of Starlight’s “Elite 4” or the Commander and Eyes Dopants.

Unicorn was fairly certain they could take on those two, but if it was the other two with the T2 Gaia Memories, then they were going to be at a disadvantage. But if it was just one, then they had a chance of doing a one-on-two. The elevator dinged at the sixtieth floor, and opened up to yet another wide-open floor plan, and unfortunately, the worst of the scenarios was before them. The Heat and Luna Dopants were standing there, awaiting their arrival. The two remaining Riders stepped onto the floor, staring down their opponents who were bent on keeping them from rising higher.

“Just so you know, we know what Starlight’s planning,” said Unicorn.

“And you should also know that there’s a huge chance it will end the world,” Nasca added.

Heat and Luna flinched at hearing that, and even exchanged glances.

“How do you know that?” Heat asked.

“Because Double and Accel come from a world that has the power of Gaia Memories, and it was them who warned us about what would happen if her plan succeeds! You have to see that what Starlight’s doing could end up hurting a lot of people rather than save them!”

“Starlight has been doing everything she can to try and make sure her plan doesn’t hurt anyone, she wants to save the world, and because of that, not everyone will appreciate that,” said Luna.

“She saved the four of us, and now we’ll make sure she can save everyone.” Heat ignited both her hands at once. “She ordered us not kill you, but we’ll do everything else short of that to make sure you don’t reach her!”

Unicorn didn’t know what to do, if it was one T2 she and Nasca could’ve stood a chance of beating it, but now two-on -two? Their odds were not looking good.

“Sunset.” Unicorn turned to Nasca. “I think we should try ‘that’ again.”

Unicorn fully turned to Nasca, and asked, “What ‘that’ are you talking about?”

“You know, ‘THAT’, with that whole Diamond Tiara thing?”

Under the helmet, Sunset’s eyes widened with realization. “I thought you said you didn’t want to do ‘that’ again? And, are we even sure it will happen again while using these T1s?”

Nasca shrugged. “Won’t know until we try, and considering what we’re up against, combining powers may be better.”

Unicorn looked back at their opponents and sighed as she nodded to her partner. “If you’re sure, then I’m in.”

Nasca took a few steps back and changed back to her civilian form, much to the confusion of both Dopants. She propped herself up against the wall as she held the Nasca Memory in her left hand, concentrating on the device. Please, I know you’re not the same Gaia Memory I used when it happened the first time, but please, if you’re connected at all to the one I used, let me combine my power with Sunset’s.

Rainbow’s body began to glow, her inner magic flowing into the T1 Nasca Memory as it answered her call. An excited and cocky smirk formed on Rainbow Dash’s face as she pressed the button on the device.

< NASCA! >

“Henshin!”

Rainbow slotted the Memory into the left hip port and hit the button. The Nasca Memory glowed a bright blue, lifted off, and then flew straight to Unicorn. Rainbow’s body slumped over to the floor, completely knocked out.

Unicorn snatched the Memory out of the air as a strange, ethereal wind blue through the room, making even the Dopants wonder what was happening. A ghostly image of Nasca appeared beside Unicorn, and with synchronized movements, Unicorn inserted the Gaia Memory into her own left hip port at the same time as the Nasca image.

< NASCA! >

{< NASCA! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

A tornado kicked up within the room as the image of Nasca broke apart and wrapped around Unicorn, at the same time, vermillion lightning began shooting off from the tornado, each bolt shot out indiscriminately, but for the two Dopants, those bolts were very much aiming for them as some of them hit and caused some damage to Heat and Luna.

“Hold on…this is familiar, didn’t this happen with Spoiled Rich?!” Luna asked.

“Wait, does that mean?!”

The tornado ceased as a streak of silver cut through the wind and launched a silver blade of light straight at both of them. The blade cleaved through the concrete and mortar like a hot knife through butter until it struck the wall on the far side of the floor, leaving a seven-inch gash in it. Both Dopant’s looked back at the one who launched the attack, what they saw was no longer just Unicorn, or Nasca, but a being combined of both powers, two souls in one body, much like their predecessors.

“We are Kamen Rider Unicorn: Nasca Cross!” Unicorn assumed a fighting stance as her electric wings flared from her back. “It’s time to restore harmony at sonic speeds!”

Y: Yearning / To Save the World

View Online

The Winter Games Olympic tryouts were upon Canterlot City, all of the would-be competitors had gathered at the nearby mountain resort to tryout for one of the coveted spots in the prestigious games. There were a lot of favorites who came in for the qualifiers, but there were only two spots left for the Olympic Snowboarding team, and among the hundreds who came out to compete, there were three who were the top contenders for the spot.

One of which was a young man, eyes as blue as ice, hair and skin pure as the driven snow, and his name was Double Diamond, or DD for short. He felt most at home in the cold, the winter time was his favorite and one he looked forward to all year, not just because of the holidays, but because he felt more alive during this time of year, as if winter itself was a part of his soul.

He had been practicing all year, conditioning and prepping for the course, familiarizing himself with the different ins and outs, and even re-watching old Olympic Games footage of the snowboarding contestants, figuring out what they did right and paying attention to what they did wrong.

At last the day of the competition arrived and Double Diamond was up.

“Mister Diamond.”

Double Diamond turned around and was shocked to see the head honcho of the company who was sponsoring him come out to see him. He had heard it was a young woman, but he had no idea how young she was, they were practically the same age. She wore a purple parka, violet mittens, black pants and boots to match. Her head was covered with a violet beanie that had a star on it.

“I’m Starlight Glimmer, the CEO of PhoenEXE Corp.,” said Starlight.

Double Diamond immediately straightened up, trying to present himself in a proper fashion rather than the normal lazy look he had. “M-Miss Glimmer, sorry I-I didn’t know you were coming!”

Starlight chuckled at Double Diamonds reaction. “Please don’t act that way, I’m not that much older than you, so it’s better to keep this casual and eliminate the awkwardness, so just Starlight.”

Double Diamond’s nervousness began to fade as he looked upon the smiling face of the woman before him, she then offered her gloved hand to him for a handshake, of which Double Diamond obliged. “In that case, Starlight, call me DD. Easier on my bros than having them say my entire name. And thanks, again, for sponsoring me!”

“Hey, I like what I’ve seen. And I know you’ll do great, good luck out there and don’t think you have to do anything fancy to show off for me. I already know you’re good, you just need to do this for you now,” said Starlight.

And so Double Diamond did, he shredded with all he had, beating out a large majority of the other competitors, and it all came down to the top three with the best runs, and only two could go to be representatives in the Games. Double Diamond sped through the other two competitors, putting himself ahead, but one of the others were close on his heels.

It was during their last jump that brought everything to a screeching halt. The other competitor, during the jump, bumped into Double Diamond, throwing him off kilter when he landed. The force of the landing made him snap something in his leg, making him grit his teeth to the point that he thought they’d all shatter, but he endured it, he endured it all the way down the slope and came in first place regardless.

It was only after that did he fall to the ground in pain. It was later determined that he did fracture his right leg, the slight collision in midair was deemed an accident, and the man who did bump him was given his slot. Starlight had argued on his behalf to the committee that his leg wasn’t completely broken, and that it would heal in time for the Games.

However, they couldn’t take the risk, she even argued that they should at least make him an alternate in case one of the others got hurt during the Games. Again, they were denied, as they already had at least four others from the qualifiers today who would be able to fill that role.

This was Double Diamond’s shot at his dream, and now it was gone. The young man felt defeated and heart broken, he had worked so hard to get here and now it was all taken away.

“It’s not fair, right?” Starlight asked.

“Whuh…?”

“That’s what you’re thinking, isn’t it? I wouldn’t blame you, I wholeheartedly agree. PhoenEXE Corp. has made major strides in the medical field. With our facilities your recovery time would be reduced by eighty percent at best, least, sixty. If you want, I’d be more than happy to have you at one of our facilities to expedite your healing.”

“No…it’s…you’ve already wasted enough money on me, there’s no need to throw anymore away,” said Double Diamond.

“I don’t see it as a waste, and to be honest I have more money than I know what do with, which is why I put some of it towards charity. But you’re an investment, the Olympic Games would’ve been great, but we can still work on your image, we can build you up in the leagues and then next time, you’ll make them look like fools for denying you.”

“It’s not just that…It’s everything, I mean…nobody really saw me as good for anything, but I found my niche in snowboarding and skiing, and now…I mean, I’m not dumb or anything, but…”

Starlight eyed the young man they sat in her limo on the way back into the city. “My sources say there’s another reason, they probably went with those other two because they’re more well-known and figured that a newcomer wouldn’t draw as much attention. Such a world is in need of reform.”

That caught Double Diamond’s attention. “What do mean?”

“I mean, this world is filled with such things, people who can’t see what’s in front of their own faces and see the potential. What makes you less than those two? It’s not just you, DD, there are others, and my plan is to rectify the world of these kinds of prejudices and shortsightedness. I won’t lie, it will require sacrifice, and we may be doing some things that are illegal, but I have no intention of hiding away after it’s complete, I’ll face my punishment after I’ve brought peace to the world.”

***___________ AccelTrial v. IceAge ___________***

The entire floor was coated in a layer of frost and ice, although, there were some areas that were completely melted. This was a battle of ice and speed, between IceAge, Double Diamond, and AccelTrial, Ryu Terui. During their battle, Accel had been moving at super speed, his steps were so fast that they actually made the ice melt wherever he went.

IceAge had created a barrier of frozen winds and ice as sharp as diamonds, making it nearly impossible for Accel to reach IceAge and deliver any kind of decisive blow to him, unfortunately, this defensive strategy didn’t hinder IceAge at all, for he was still able to fire off ice waves and frost blasts at Accel. So, now, Accel was only left with running around his opponent, switching between the Jet and Steam elements of his Engine Blade to fight off the cold attacks from his IceAge.

“Starlight is going to bring the world together, to be truly equal! What would you know of her grand design!” IceAge accused.

“I know that there’s always someone wanting to do something good but are going about it in a bad way! That doesn’t mean her goal isn’t noble, but there are better ways to do that!” IceAge fired off an ice blast, but Accel fired off a steam blast to counter, the result was an explosion that shook the entire floor. “I’m an officer of the law, I know that not everything is black and white, the world doesn’t operate like that, but going to extremes like that would only bring more pain than salvation!”

IceAge growled as he brought his hands up and then slammed them onto the ground, making the floor rise with incredibly sharp ice glaives that rushed towards Accel. The other world Kamen Rider dashed across the room, the glaives were hot on his tail, but then he angled himself and ran along the walls, allowing the glaives to smash into them, but the glaives weren’t done, they followed him along the edge, forcing Accel to jump off and make for the other end.

However, IceAge quickly made even more glaives rise up from the floor and now he was being chased by two lines of glaive waves. It took a minute, but Accel realized that the two waves were herding him right towards IceAge, creating a narrow passageway. IceAge focused his ice energy and blasted it straight ahead. Accel was struck with a beam of cold energy that slammed into him and caused multiple sparks to fly from his armor.

Accel flipped in the air from the blast and landed hard against the icy, unforgiving floor, his Engine Blade having fell from his grip and lodged itself in the floor about twenty feet from where he landed.

“The world will be made into a better place, and I’ll gladly help Starlight achieve her goal! She believed in me when nobody else did! I won’t turn my back on that!”

Accel slowly got up into a kneeling position as he caught his breath. “I understand, you don’t want to let someone down and break a promise. You’d do anything for that person no matter what, it’s the same for me, when I believe in something, I follow my gut all the way. Sometimes it leads me astray, when I was consumed by vengeance, but I shook off that hatred.”

The speed Rider stood up to his full height as he stared down IceAge and said, “You believe you’re doing the right thing, and maybe the utopia you’re wishing for is not a bad one, but doing so may erase every sense of individuality that people have, that which makes a person a person, can you really say you’re willing to sacrifice that which makes you, and everyone, human?”

IceAge’s flurry lessened in that moment, could they be wrong? Was it possible that Double’s warning could come to pass? But Starlight had checked, double checked, and triple checked everything, there was no way she was wrong, right?

Accel saw the hesitation and decided to end this now. The speed Rider detached the Trial Memory device and changed it into its Timer Mode, he then pressed the button on the device and tossed up into the air in IceAge’s direction. The orange visor of AccelTrial glowed bright as he dashed at blinding speeds towards IceAge. The Dopant snapped out of it and began launching ice javelins at Accel, but each one that came at him was sidestepped as if they were just frozen in time.

[1.5]

[2.7]

[2.9]

When Accel finally got in close, her unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks at IceAge. The blue blur then switched to rapid fire kicks, one after the other in quick succession.

[4.2]

[4.5]

[5.6]

[6.2]

[8.3]

The kicks came faster and faster, and with each kick, a blue “T” began to form in the wake of each kick, the IceAge Dopant had no way to counter, no way to defend, not against this incredible speed and power of this Rider from another world. Accel gave one last kick to the center of the “T” as he turned around, reached up, and grabbed the device as it finally reached him and clicked the button on its side as the readout on the device showed “9.8”.

>} TRIAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

“9.8 seconds until your despair.”

As if by delayed reaction, the Dopant’s body exploded with dozens of sparks from its body, until, IceAge finally just exploded. The ice and frost that had covered the entire floor evaporated instantly now that its creator had been defeated. Accel turned around and walked towards the young man who was now on the floor, beaten and weak from his battle with the veteran Rider. The IceAge Memory was lying beside him, and in his current condition, there was no way Double Diamond could use it again.

“Stay here and rest, this’ll be over soon.”

“You’re right, it will be over soon…just not for us.”

Suddenly, the IceAge Memory rose up, covered in a hazy blue aura. The Gaia Memory then shot off like a bullet into the distance, Accel gave chase, trying to catch up to it, but it was no use, the IceAge Memory smashed through a glass window and zipped straight up the building. Accel stopped just before he went over the edge, then dashed back to Double Diamond and asked, “What was that?!”

“Now that the majority of the T2 Memories have been assembled her Memory Ring can act as a magnet to draw the remaining T2 Gaia Memories to it. However, they can’t go to the Ring while they are still connected to their hosts…so…”

“Defeating you essentially allows her to regain the remaining Memories, whether you win or lose,” said Accel.

“Like I said, Starlight has thought of everything.”

***___________Night Glider___________***

Night Glider wasn’t always a suit wearing kind of girl, no, before she met Starlight Glimmer, she as a girl running free. She had been moved through the foster care system so many times that she had lost count, she was abandoned, forgotten, she had birth certificate, but the parents’ names were not listed.

That was fine, if they didn’t care enough to stick around to make sure she was okay, then who needed them. She was always alone, and that’s how she liked it. She grew up in Canterlot’s rougher neighborhood, it didn’t exactly come close to the level of bad that Griffonstone was, not by a long shot, but it was still bad.

Night Glider had run away, from what she could remember, the tenth foster home she had been put in. Not like they were bad people, they were pretty decent and probably were better than other nine. But life wasn’t easy, and Night Glider’s stubborn personality wouldn’t let her take the easy way.

She began roaming the streets and later joined a local gang, she was a runner, she always liked to run, especially at night, her name was fitting, there was something freeing about the night and just running through it, especially on a full moon night. So, she became a kind of “stealth runner”. Needed goods delivered fast at night, she was the girl, needed to teach some punks a lesson under the cover of darkness, Night Glider was the one to ask.

It was like that for a number of years, it wasn’t her ideal life, but it was a life. She had a couple of girlfriends along the way, but her relationships never lasted too long, she didn’t care too much for them, and their interest in her was superficial at best. Not like she as looking for love, despite liking being alone, sometimes she didn’t want to be completely alone either.

Her chance encounter with the young woman named Starlight Glimmer was one that would change her life, strangely, for the better.

It was a snowy December, and Canterlot was already in a festive mood. Christmas decorations hung from all the shops and light polls, and of course, the park had its big tree lightning gig. Night Glider always came to see it, of course only when it was late at night, she didn’t want to have to deal with the crowds.

As she waited for the crowd to thin out while on a bench, she was approached by a young woman, about her age, with lilac skin and long purple hair, she wasn’t half bad looking if she was being honest.

“Not a fan of crowds, huh?”

“Not particularly,” Night Glider responded.

“I understand, unfortunately, for events like this I kind of have to wade through crowds.”

Night Glider chuckled. “Why, you like being at the front?”

“No, I just have to make public appearances.” Starlight noted the girl’s confused expression. “My name’s Starlight Glimmer, I’m the owner and CEO of PheonEXE Corp.”

Night Glider’s eyes bulged. “Wait, the owner, as in you run that big ass company?! Seriously?!”

Starlight blushed a little and said, “Yep, I do. Please don’t make a big deal about it though, I just want to enjoy the scenery and you seemed mellow enough.”

Night Glider raised an eyebrow at that and gestured to herself. She wasn’t exactly hiding that she was possible gangbanger, her leather jacket had a crudely spray-painted insignia of her current gang affiliation, despite the cold weather, she wore ripped jeans, and sported some combat boots, and wore a red bandanna around her neck.

“You’re not scared? Most mothers steer their kids clear when they see me around, same for guys.”

“I can take care of myself, besides, if all you wanted to do was cause trouble, I’m sure you’d have come with a bigger ‘crew’ than just yourself.”

She wasn’t wrong. “Touché.”

From there, Night Glider and Starlight had begun a steady correspondence with each other, meeting at the park, being each other’s distraction from the daily grind. However, Night Glider’s world threatened to spill over into her little respite, as the leader of her gang got word that she was chummy with the big wig of one of the wealthiest companies in the city. Ideas of blackmail, kidnapping, and even requesting of favors through Night Glider were being thrown around.

It eventually reached a fever pitch when Night Glider refused to do any of it and was subsequently set upon by her own crew. She managed to get away, but they were hot on her tail, but she found refuge in the way of Starlight. Somehow, she was waiting for her, and took her away, and following that the police got an anonymous tip about the notorious gang and were put away.

While resting back at her mansion, Night Glider asked, “Why would come out there? Did you know they were going to do that to me?”

“You seemed agitated during our last few get-togethers, so I had my people look into you. You’ve lived a bit of a hard life,” said Starlight.

“So…? I’m alive, aren’t I?”

“You almost weren’t, so it leads me to ask, what happened that you were willing to lose your life over?”

Night Glider looked away, but Starlight walked over and sat across from her, her gaze was strong and made Night Glider gravitate her eyes back to Starlight. Their stare down went on for half an hour before Night Glider finally broke down and told her everything about what her gang wanted her to do, and what they had planned on doing. The whole time, Starlight kept her expression neutral as she listened to every word, at the same time, Night Glider felt as if she was signing a proverbial death warrant. If Starlight wanted to, she could probably make Night Glider vanish off the face of the Earth with her wealth.

‘Just as well,’ Night Glider thought, ‘I barely existed anyway.’

When Night Glider was done, Starlight stood up, which made the other girl flinch a little. She didn’t understand why, but Starlight gave off this commanding presence, despite the business woman being a bit shorter than her, and not as muscular, for some reason, Night Glider had no doubt that Starlight could probably snap her neck if she wasn’t careful.

Starlight stood before Night Glider, but, much to her surprise, Starlight sat down next to her and patted her on the shoulder saying. “You risked a lot for someone who doesn’t seem to care about anything, but no one is worthless. Despite what the world may say, despite what you yourself may think, everyone has worth in one form or another. I’m going to make a world where no is made to feel worthless anymore.”

Night Glider looked to Starlight and asked, “How? You gonna take it over with your business?”

“No, something much, much, much messier, possibly – most likely – illegal. But, if you want, I can find a way to set you up so that you wouldn’t have to spend the rest of your life on the streets, or you can join me and help in changing the world, for yourself and others like you,” said Starlight.

Night Glider could see it in this girl’s eyes, she wasn’t bluffing, lying, or anything, she was telling the truth, whatever she was planning was going to be big, and for some reason, that made Night Glider feel giddy inside. “Sounds like I’ll be trading one gang for another, what’re the perks?”

“Residence at my mansion, authority one tier below me, based on seniority, and enough money to do whatever you want. All I ask is that you follow me and my orders to the very end.”

***____________ DoubleXtreme v. Bird ____________***

The Bird Dopant maintained her aerial supremacy as she hovered above Double and rained down quill after quill at them. The two-in-one Rider was able to block and deflect most of them, but the problem was that the quills secondary ability was even bigger, each quill was like a small stick of TNT when it detonated, creating a buffeting blast that would throw the hero around. Sometimes she didn’t even aim directly at them, but at the floor and walls around them to cut off their escape.

“You really okay with what she’s doing?! The fact this could potentially end with the whole world becoming husks of their former selves?” Double asked.

“You say that as if it’s guaranteed what you said will happen! But life’s a gamble, and right now, I’m gambling on Starlight! She didn’t throw me away, she gave me a place to belong!” Suddenly, Bird’s body began to crackle with electricity. “The exploding-piercing feather thing isn’t the only trick I know, let me show you Thunder Bird!”

Upon declaring that name, the Bird Dopant’s body changed into living lightning. With a powerful screech, the Dopant flew straight down at super speed and struck Double across the chest with her wing, causing sparks to fly from their armor. The second attack came just as quick, as she appeared behind them and swiped her wing across their back, causing more sparks to fly.

Her blows were strong but not powerful, but her speed was incredible, all Double could do was hunker down and weather her blows as they came from all directions. Bird wasn’t done yet, she came to a screeching halt on the floor, her talons dug into the concrete, leaving a trail from her stop.

“Now here’s my next trick…!” The lightning disappeared, but in its place, embers began to rise from Bird’s body. “Fire Bird!”

The Bird Dopant’s body was completely engulfed in flames as she dashed towards Double. She jumped into the air and came down with a flying kick, but Double raised their Bicker Shield just in time to block it. However, upon contact, the flames erupted into a powerful explosion that pushed Double back. Bird did not relent as she closed in again and threw another kick, resulting in another explosion. Each blow made Double back away, and each explosion was causing sparks to fly from their armor.

Where the Thunder Bird form lacked in power it made up for in speed, and while Fire Bird didn’t have the speed, it certainly had – literally – explosive power. Bird took the air again and hovered there as she glared down at Double with a smirk. “You’re supposed to be some big shot Rider from another world with Gaia Memories, well I’m not impressed!”

“We were hoping you’d see reason, but I understand your loyalty. That being said, Starlight’s goals are noble, her methods however will end the world, whether by accident or through conscious effort, this can’t come to pass. Right, Philip?”

“Indeed, and nice stalling, I’ve researched everything I need to know about the Bird Dopant, and after those attacks, I have the solution.”

“WHAT? You were stalling?!”

“You failed to realize one thing, we are not just one person.”

“I am one half.”

“And I am another.”

Bird transformed into lightning, becoming Thunder Bird. The Dopant moved at lightning speed and was upon Double in no time at all, however, the Rider’s eyes glowed and at that moment, a gust of wind blew through the entire floor, the vortex gathered around Double, creating a wall of wind that made Bird back away. Just then, the Xtreme Memory began to absorb the wind, the “X” symbol glowed brighter and brighter until Double themselves shined.

When the light dimmed, Double had achieved their true form. The Crystal Server was no longer silver, but now shined a bright gold color. Six insectoid wings flared out from their back, allowing Double to take to the air and brought him level with Bird.

“We are the two-in-one Rider, Kamen Rider Double CycloneJokerGoldXtreme!” Double raised their Prism Sword and pointed it at the Bird Dopant. “Now, count up your crimes.”

Electricity crackled all around Bird as she shot off towards Double, at the same time, the Legend Rider flew straight for Bird. Both appeared as a bolt of lightning and streak of gold, both the streak and bolt struck several times in the air, parts of the floor, the pillars, and guardrails on the higher levels were getting wrecked during this highspeed battle between them.

Bird stepped it into high gear as she flew high above Double’s position and began raining down lightning charged quills. Double sheathed their sword into the shield.

Double raised their shield above their head as the four Gaia Memories of Heat, Cyclone, Metal, and Joker glowed. “Bicker Finallusion!” The Bicker Shield released multiple, multicolored lasers from it, each one crisscrossing and in different directions as the beams intercepted the quills and blasted into oblivion before they even reached Double. The beams were making it hard for Bird to get around as she was caught in a kind of laser cage, the beams all converged and struck Bird, causing sparks to fly from her body as she spun out in the air.

Bird managed to halt her descent, her eyes narrowed as she glared at Double with fury. “Don’t think I’m giving up yet!” At that moment, Bird entered her Fire Bird state and flew straight for Double.

“Unfortunately, we assumed as much.”

Double dismissed the Prism Bicker, he then closed the wings on the Xtreme Memory and then pushed them open again. An emerald whirlwind swirled around him, along with golden particles of light.

>}X{< XTREME! MAXIMUM DRIVE! >}X{<

Double flew up into the air, following the whirlwind as it looped them around and guided them towards their target. They flipped around and pointed their right foot in Bird’s direction, at the same time, Bird flared up and zoomed straight for Double.

Down below, Accel dashed onto the floor, finally making it, but once he looked up it was too late. “SHOTARO, PHILIP, WAIT!”

The two attacks collided and generated a powerful explosion that rocked the building and made the walls, balconies, and support pillars crack under the extreme power that both opponents generated, but in the end, the golden kick of Double hit its mark as they reappeared from the explosion on the opposite side of where Bird once was. A flaming silhouette of Bird fell straight down onto the ground, whereupon her form shimmered and reverted to her original human form.

The Bird Memory rose from her arm and fell to the ground. Accel dashed once again, heading straight for the Bird Memory, but just like before, the Memory rose up and shot off towards the window on the far side of the room. The sound of glass shattering made Accel curse as walked over to where Night Glider laid.

Double flew over and then asked, “Terui, what’s going on?”

“We’ve been played, Starlight Glimmer as a Gaia Memory magnet that attracts that T2s. They’ll only go to the magnet once the host has been defeated, win or lose,” said Accel.

“Heh, guess the jokes on you…” Night Glider commented.

“We need to head up to Sun-chan and Rainbow-san, if they’re facing T2s they’ll only play into her hands as well!”

Before the two Riders could make a move, multiple explosions occurred on the balconies above them, causing large chunks of debris to rain down upon them, following that were several more explosions that occurred below their feet, making the floor crumble.

***___________Party Favor & Sugar Belle___________***

Party and Sugar were close, they grew up together, played together, even did a little business together as a baker and party planner. They would never consider themselves to be boyfriend and girlfriend, far from it, but more akin to close siblings. Not say that they didn’t try it at first, but they found the whole experience completely awkward.

Party Favor was great at setting up parties, more specifically children’s parties, he was a natural at creating balloon animals. Often times he’d visit the local children’s hospital and create various balloon animals and sometimes structures, it was practically an art form with him.

Sugar Belle was really into baking, she loved everything about it, mixing together different ingredients to create something sweet and delicious that would never fail to bring a smile to someone’s face. She would sell her creations and whatever didn’t sell that day, she would donate to shelters. She was mostly self-taught but honed some of her skills when she worked part time at the sweets shop owned by Mister and Misses Cake.

The two of them were a dynamic duo, two of a kind, they sought to take Canterlot by storm as a party supplier and bakery. They first met Starlight a long time ago at a soiree for her acquaintance, a catering job in which Sugar Belle was helping as an intern and Party Favor as part of the hired help to setup the party itself.

They mingled with her but had no clue that she was the owner of one of the most powerful and wealthy companies in the city. The way she talked to them was casual and lighthearted, she never spoke as if she was superior to them. Unlike a few many of the other partygoers. She saw their potential and asked them to help put together a charity party. A lot of different companies were vying for the attention of a big company like PhoenEXE Corp., but here a couple of nobodies got such a coveted spot.

The other companies who were there to assist made their jobs, quite literally, hell. Missing supplies, spoiled ingredients, but the two persevered through it all, that is until one of the competitors decided it was a good idea to switch one of the helium tanks with a hydrogen tank and release the gas into the air. No one noticed right away, but by the time they did, it was too late.

The hydrogen reached the kitchen and the moment Sugar Belle turned on one of the burners, the air caught fire and led straight back to the tank of hydrogen and caused an explosion. Needless to say, their competitors managed to shift the blame to both Sugar Belle and Party Favor, a couple of novices who failed to check their equipment.

After their stay at the hospital, Starlight was waiting for them, she said to them, “I know it wasn’t your fault.” She then produced a newspaper. “I had my private investigators look into the matter, apparently the Fire Marshal was bribed by your competitor to try and frame you and blackball you from doing any more business. I’ve already got the necessary evidence and have turned it over to the police, anonymously, mind you, but from what I hear, they’ll be investigated.”

“You don’t sound too hopeful,” said Sugar Belle.

“Honestly, I’d rather not have to flex my ‘muscles’ too much or else it could be seen as a coverup. But just know, since I was the one who hired you, I’ll do whatever it takes to clear your names.”

“It’s okay…we’ll just start from scratch…even though it took us a while to get even this close…I can’t believe they’d do something like this! They could’ve hurt all those people just to get at us!” Party Favor fumed.

Starlight sighed. “Such is the way of the world, something of which I’m trying to fix. I can see that you two also want to change the world for the better, in your own way, bring smiles and happiness to others. If you’re willing to listen, I have a plan that will do just that. But I won’t force you to join me, this has to be your decision.”

Sugar Belle looked to Party Favor, and he to her, both of them had determined looks on their faces as they nodded to Starlight.

“Let’s hear what you have to say,” said Sugar Belle.

***____________Unicorn Nasca Cross v. Heat & Luna____________***

Heat unleashed a torrent of flames at Unicorn, a swirling vortex of flames surrounded the united Rider, making them enter a defensive stance. From the wall of flames the Luna Dopant popped in and came in swinging, but Unicorn sliced through the Dopant in one go, but upon doing so, their blade made contact with something at its center. The image of the Dopant faded away and revealed a fireball that had been sliced in half.

The fireball ignited and exploded, pushing Unicorn away and into the wall of flames. The power of the vortex caused sparks to fly from their armor as they were forced back into the center. Another Luna Dopant entered and began attacking, upon which Unicorn sliced through it, but this time there was nothing. Another copy jumped in and Unicorn slashed at it, but this copy did have a fireball inside it and detonated the moment Unicorn sliced through it.

‘Okay, this is getting really annoying now!’

“Agreed, let’s change that!”

Unicorn’s horn began to glow, the Nasca Blade glowed at the same time as Unicorn wrapped her left hand around the hilt and pulled back. As she did, the sword duplicated itself, Unicorn spun the duplicate around in her left hand until she held it in a reverse-grip style. She then pressed down on the left hip port once.

\ NASCA CHARGE! /

Unicorn held their arms stretched out to the sides, her right blade glowed turquoise and the left blue, and in the next instant, the dual heroine spun around in the opposite direction that the vortex of flames. A tornado of blue and turquoise colored energy began to form within the flame vortex and steadily grew bigger and moved faster with each second.

Heat tried to maintain the vortex but was finding it difficult to make the flames spin in the direction she wanted.

“What’s happening?!” Luna asked.

“I-I don’t know, I can’t control the flames!”

The dual colored tornado eventually snuffed out Heat’s flames, the tornado died down and left only Unicorn standing at the center. Unicorn took both of their swords and joined them at the hilts, their crystal horn glowed brighter as the weapon transformed into a dual-edged sword. Unicorn twirled the weapon around and then dashed towards their targets, their electric wings flaring out from their back.

Luna used his power to create multiple copies of both Heat and himself, littering the entire floor. Unicorn swiped through two of them in one swing, but only struck air as the images faded away. The Heat Dopant copies ignited their hands and lobbed fireballs at the hero, but Unicorn spun their sword around their body, drawing on Nasca’s sword technique and skill to deflect the incoming attacks.

Unicorn suddenly found herself struck from the back as if she was hit with a whip. When she turned around they saw that the Luna Dopant had energized its arms and turned them into twin beam whips. Four of the copies lashed out with their beam whip arms, two wrapped around Unicorn’s right arm, another two around her left arm, the two whips held her in place as the copies of the Heat Dopant got into position to roast her.

The dual heroine’s eyes shined in unison with her horn, and in the blink of an eye, she disappeared. She later reappeared on the far side of the room, and struck their left hip port again.

\ NASCA CHARGE! /

Unicorn spun the twin-sword around until it became a blur of blue and turquoise energy. She then tossed the weapon in the direction of the clones, the weapon made a sharp whooshing sound as it cut through the air and sliced through one copy after the other. Unicorn’s right index and ring fingers glowed as they swiped downwards with that hand. The weapon flashed and then separated into two spinning blades, one blue and the other turquoise.

“Dash, keep an eye out for the originals, we’ll mow down the copies until we find them!”

‘Roger that!’

The two whirling blades moved about the floor at rapid speed, as if they had a mind of their own as they cut down one copy after the other. Unicorn flared their electric wings and dashed into the fray, they punched a Luna clone across the face, and drop kicked a Heat clone, working in tandem with their still spinning blades to take out the clones one after the other.

As they continued to attack, the other half of Unicorn’s form, that which was Nasca kept a three-sixty view of the battle, watching for any signs that the originals were still around. It was then that she noticed one of the Luna copies glowing for a brief second before another one appeared from the one that glowed.

‘Sunset, three ‘o clock!’

“On it!”

Unicorn sped in the direction Nasca indicated, her two swords sliced through several more copies before they joined Unicorn, spinning vertically at her sides as she jumped into the air. They held out their hands and both blades stopped spinning and rejoined into their dual-edged form. Unicorn took hold of her weapon and descended with haste as they channeled their energy into the sword and brought their blade down on the Luna Dopant. Sparks flew from the Luna Dopant’s body as it was thrown back, slamming against the far wall and creating a cloud of dust from the impact.

The united Rider prepared to finish their foe but stopped as she gasped and dropped their weapon. From the dust emerged Twilight, now with a gash across her body where Unicorn's blade had struck the Luna Dopant.

“T-Twilight?!”

“Sunset…” Twilight held out her right hand, which was covered in blood as she reached out towards Unicorn. “…why…why did you…do this?”

Unicorn was about to rush towards Twilight, but her body suddenly stopped. “What the hell?! Rainbow it’s Twilight, we need to help her!”

‘That’s not Twilight, it’s another illusion! The Dopant made the switch as soon as we attacked! Trust me!’

Sunset stopped struggling and let Rainbow take control. Unicorn slashed the air in front of them, releasing a crescent wave of light that was aimed in the opposite direction of where Twilight was. The crescent struck something as sparks flew from out of nowhere, the air became distorted as the Luna Dopant appeared, now on the ground after sustaining damage. The illusion of Twilight faded away, as well as many of the copies.

“Thanks, Dash.”

‘No problem, partner!’

Sunset and Rainbow resumed joint control of their form, just in time for Heat to come up from behind them with a fire laced punch. But Unicorn swiftly dodged the attack, got behind Heat, and spin kicked Heat straight to where the Luna Dopant was.

“You two don’t understand what you’re risking. Starlight’s plan could potentially wipe out all individuality in the world! People won’t be people if she does succeed!”

Heat looked to Luna, she then turned to Unicorn and said. “How do you know that that will happen?”

‘The half-and-half Rider who came with us, his world has Gaia Memories too, and he’s connected with the Memories of the Earth, well, his Earth. Anyway, if Starlight manages to do what she wants, everyone will be connected, but to the point that no one will know when one person ends, and the other begins!”

“It will be a peaceful world, but one where no one will be who they are, just husks that live!”

The Heat and Luna Dopants looked to each other, their aggressive demeanor seemed to fade as they stood side-by-side.

“We joined Starlight because we believed in what she was doing, what she planned to do for the world…but…”

“But we had our…our doubts,” said Heat. “We knew how much she wanted this plan to succeed, to save the world, so we didn’t think it was our place to really tell her that this might be a bad idea.”

Unicorn dismissed their weapons as they became more relaxed. “I know it can be hard sometimes to speak up, especially when you don’t think you have the right to. But, as a friend, sometimes it’s better to tell your friend that there is something wrong, or that you have concerns. Maybe they’ll get mad, but if it ends up making them rethink their plan, to be safer or to seek further counsel, it’s worth it.”

‘Sunset’s right, if you guys feel that way, then there’s still time to stop all of this. Starlight may be doing something good, but it can end up hurting people rather than save them. Power down and we can go to her.”

Heat and Luna shook their heads at that request.

“It’s not that simple, if we power down, Starlight’s device will take the Gaia Memories back like a super magnet.”

“WHAT?!” Unicorn exclaimed.

“So long as we stay in these forms, the Memories won’t return to her. And you can stop her – we can stop her.”

“Touching, but we can’t have that can we?”

Suddenly, several missiles flew towards them, Unicorn saw that some of them were heading towards Rainbow Dash’s body and she immediately sped towards it. She held her friends’ body close as she flared her wings to try and give some extra protection. Several explosions took place as more missiles were launched towards them, accompanied by multiple blue ray beams that pelted the area.

The attacks finally ceased as a heavy dust cloud hung in the air. Unicorn could feel that they took some damage, but not as much as they was bracing for, they checked Rainbow’s body, and aside from being covered in dust, she seemed alright. However, when Unicorn looked back, they saw why Rainbow’s body and herself didn’t sustain much damage. Heat and Luna had used their bodies as shields, taking the brunt of the onslaught.

“You guys!”

“Starlight would be sad…if you two got hurt,” said Luna.

“Please…stop her…save her,” said Heat.

Both Dopants fell to the floor, their bodies glowed as the Luna Memory and Heat Memory rose up from their bodies and flew out like bats out of hell. Unicorn growled as their body released a blast of wind that blew away the dust, revealing the perpetrators behind the sneak attack. The Commander and Eyes Dopants were standing on the other side of the room, both looking smug as the Eyes Dopant hung off of the Commander.

“YOU TWO, WHY DID YOU DO THIS?! You know what’s at stake here, those Memories will complete Starlight’s device!”

“Exactly,” said Commander. “Which means she’ll have to give up her own Equal Memory to complete it. Which means she can’t use her Driver, and can’t fight back.”

“Leaving the two us the only ones who can use Gaia Memories, we’ll take control of her device, we’ll have the whole world in our hands with that thing,” said Eyes.

‘Oh that tears it! Sunset, let’s take ‘em down!”

“Yeah, and we’ll make it showy too!”

Unicorn pressed down on the left hip port twice.

\\ NASCA! VERMILLION MODE! //

Vermillion electricity flowed through Unciorn’s body, their blue armor parts shifted to the same color as their power and speed were amplified. Unicorn reached for the Nasca Memory, but the moment she touched it, it sparked. The Memory sparked again and again, releasing blue electrical arcs.

‘Sun…Sunset, something’s wrong!’

“What, what’s happening?!”

‘I think we pushed it with this Form, the Nasca Memory’s breaking apart!’

Unicorn looked down at the Nasca Memory, and indeed, the Memory had blue glowing cracks forming with each passing second. “Crap, Rainbow, get back to your body, NOW!”

‘We have to take them down first, it’ll be two on one if we don’t! Use the Maximum Drive while we still can!’

“We don’t know what’ll happen if you’re still merged when it shatters! You could disappear! I’m not taking that chance, Rainbow! I’m removing the Memory and cancelling this form, you need to return to your body!”

‘But–!’ The Memory cracked some more, and Rainbow could feel herself slipping when it did. ‘Dammit, I’m sorry, Sunset!’

Unicorn removed the Nasca Memory and flung it at Rainbow’s unconscious body. The moment it hit, a blue orb shot out of the device and straight into Rainbow Dash, and right after, the Nasca Memory shattered into pieces. Unicorn returned to her original form as well and quickly hurried to her friend.

“Rainbow, RAINBOW?!” Unicorn shouted as she knelt and shook her friend’s body.

It took a minute, but slowly, Rainbow’s eyes began to open. She blinked a few times and rose back up into a seated position. Rainbow looked down at the floor, to the remains of the T1 Nasca Memory and sighed. “Sorry, Sunset…”

“So long as you’re alright, that’s all that matters.” Unicorn stood up and walked towards the two Dopants. “Keep these two safe, I’ll take care of them!”

Rainbow hurriedly woke up both Sugar Belle and Party Favor, they were bruised, scraped up, and bleeding from the corner of their mouths, but they were alive.

“You don’t honestly think you can beat us? Do you? I mean, after what happened to Pride Parade’s Gaia Memory, how long do you think yours will last? And you still have to get to Starlight after this and her puppet upstairs,” said Eyes.

Commander pressed a few buttons on her wrist mounted device, and in the next second several Commandos appeared around them, twelve in total. While these ones didn’t have Gaia Memories, they would serve to further delay her, and make Unicorn have to work harder to keep the other three safe.

“So, what’s it gonna be, little girl? Fight us or give up?” Commander asked.

Unicorn didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. If Rainbow’s Nasca Memory shattered, who knew how much longer her Unicorn Memory would last. Maybe long enough to defeat these two, but that still left Shining Armor as Trigger, and of course, Starlight. She couldn’t afford to waste her energy with these two, but if she didn’t, Rainbow, Sugar Belle, and Party Favor will be killed, and these two would kill her and everyone upstairs.

Before a decision could be made, the Silver Veil appeared in the room about ten feet away. The Veil moved backwards and from it stumbled out a woman wearing a black trench coat. “Tsukasa you ass! Don’t go transporting me at random like that!” the woman shouted. “What godforsaken place has he thrown me into this…time…?”

The woman slowly turned around and revealed more of herself to the occupants in the room. She had a dark orchid complexion, rose colored hair that was combed to the side, while the other side had a buzzcut look. Her eyes were opal colored, and upon her right eye was a scar. She looked older, about twenty-one or so. She wore a kind of black armor chest over a purple shirt, black, faded jean pants that had some rips from several fights, combat boots that were steel toed, and fingerless leather gloves.

Right now, the woman looked less confused and more, well, Unicorn wasn’t sure what to call it. Mortified? Sad? Frustrated? Happy?

The young woman rubbed the back of her head as she sighed heavily. “Tsukasa you can be a real asshat sometimes,” said the young woman as she walked towards Unicorn, her eyes never leaving the Dopants or their summoned minions. “I take it these two are keeping you from whatever’s important on the other side, right?”

“Um…yeah…”

“Just to be clear, they’re not out of control, they’re fully aware of what they’re doing, right?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Good, no need to take it easy, I need to blow off some steam for that ‘passing through Kamen Rider’ throwing me in here without asking first.”

“Wait, you know Tsukasa?! Who are you?” Unicorn asked.

The young woman didn’t answer, at least not with her words. She reached into her trench coat and pulled out – what appeared to be – a Driver. The mysterious woman placed the device at her waist, upon which the Driver released a bright blue strap that wrapped around her waist and connected to the other side of the device. The young woman made a motion with her hands and two small bottles shot into her hands from the sleeves of her coat. She began shaking them for a little bit and inserted them into the device.

{=+=} HORSE! {=+=}

{=+=} STORM! {=+=}

{=+=} BEST MATCH! {=+=}

The mysterious woman turned the lever on the right side of the Driver, and immediately, clear tubes began to materialize from the two bottles that weaved around her. Some of the tubes splintered off and began creating, what looked like, pieces of armor. The tubes were then filled with purple substance of the Horse Bottle and the azure of the Storm Bottle. When the matrix was completed, the mysterious woman released the lever.

{=+=} ARE YOU READY? {=+=}

“HENSHIN!”

{=+=} GALLOPING THUNDER! HORSE-STORM! {=+=}

{=+=} YEAH! {=+=}

The matrix closed in on the young woman, the armor fitting upon her body as arcs aurora lightning were released from her body. After a few seconds, the lightning dissipated and finally revealed the newest Rider to join their fight.

Her armor was dark purple, with some of the plates colored azure, the armor also had black lines that were etched into the armor that pulsed with azure lightning. Around her chest plate it had the image of two azure colored lightning bolts that pointed to a red, diamond shaped crystal. Between the cracks of the armor was a black armor mesh, similar to that of Unicorn’s. The helmet had a similar look as well, but the eyes had an opal color to them.

The helmet also sported a raised crest from back, almost like a mohawk. It stopped halfway to allow for the horn-like device at the center of the forehead. The device itself was black in color, and had three extendable sections, with the top of the horn left open and jagged at the sides.

“The Guardian of Harmony, Kamen Rider Tempest.”

Unicorn’s jaw dropped, not just because of this new Rider, but the energy she as giving up, it was similar to magic. “Wait, your power is it–?”

“Get going, Sunset! If you got time to gawk at me, you have time to move your ass up those stairs!” Tempest stated.

“Uh…r-right, RIGHT!”

Unicorn’s horn glowed, and, in an instant, she was teleported to the other side of the room, away from the Dopants and Commandos. Unicorn took one last look over her shoulder towards Tempest, who then nodded in her direction. There was something familiar about this Rider, maybe it was because her power felt similar to her magic, but Sunset felt she could trust her.

Tempest watched as Unicorn disappeared up the stairs, leaving only herself, the Dopants, Rainbow Dash, Sugar Belle, and Party Favor. The new Rider rubbed the back of her head as she said, “Oh well…Hey, Dash, you alright?”

“Wait, you know my name?!” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, sorry, guess it’s a little weird to just spring that on ya.” Tempest looked away and whispered, “Still…it’s good to see you and Sunny again…”

Tempest began walking forward, but the Commandos were already starting to swarm around the new Rider. Tempest merely shook her head. “This is bad, you don’t have nearly enough guys for this fight.”

The first Commando swung at Tempest with his baton, but Tempest merely sidestepped and came around with a spinning roundhouse, sending the Commando flying into his comrade. The second tried to hit her from the left, but Tempest caught the Commando by the wrist, balled up her right fist, and punched him across the face, a flash of electricity went off upon making contact.

Another two came up behind Tempest, she merely jumped straight up, did a backflip, and landed right behind her attackers. Tempest swiftly closed in on them, striking Commando Three with several quick jabs, before spinning in place and nailing him across the face with an elbow jab. Tempest moved to number four, sweeping his leg to throw him up into the air. While he was airborne, Tempest laced her left fist with aurora lightning and struck him in the stomach. She followed through the blow all the way until she brought the Commando back down to the floor with a powerful thud that cracked the concrete beneath their feet.

“Let’s mix things up a little.”

Tempest took out two new bottles, one was colored golden brown and the other was white. Tempest shook both bottles and began replacing the ones in her Driver with new ones.

{=+=} WOLVERINE! {=+=}

{=+=} SWORD! {=+=}

{=+=} BEST MATCH! {=+=}

Tempest turned the Vortex Lever quickly, and once again the matrix of tubes appeared, creating a new set of armor.

{=+=} ARE YOU READY? {=+=}

“Upgrade!”

{=+=} RELENTLESS BLADE! WOLVERINE-SWORD! {=+=}

{=+=} YEAH! {=+=}

Just like before, the armor pieces latched onto Tempest, overwriting the previous Best Match with a new one. The sounds of a beast and streaks of light swiped through the air in pairs of three. When the light faded, Tempest was in a new form. Her armor was a mixture of golden-brown and white. On the left forearm, was gauntlet with a wide shield that had three claws coming out the front, and on the right forearm was a gauntlet that had a long white sword blade. Tempest’s helmet changed slightly, she still retained the horn and mohawk, but the mohawk had golden fur on the top. The shoulder pauldrons of her new form also had fur edges, and the lightning bolt symbols were now two white swords pointed at the jewel. This was Kamen Rider Tempest WolviSword

“Oh great, this one can change their armor too!”

“Yep, so you pretty much know what that means!”

Tempest got into a crouching position, the sound of a wild animal echoed in the room when she did this. Another Commando dared to attack her, the Commando swung its baton, but Tempest blocked it with her Claw Shield, and followed up with a swipe of the Ivory Blade across his chest. Sparks flew from the Commando before he disappeared into nothing. Tempest dashed straight for two more, jumped into the air, spun once, and slashed at two of the Commandos. Streaks of gold and white light were left in her wake as she appeared behind them, just as the two Commandos disappeared.

Three of the Commandos tried to attack her from all sides, she managed to block the first two, but the third hit its mark against her chest. Some sparks flew as the electrified baton attempted to digitize her, but nothing happened, in fact, the shield was glowing as she continued to take damage from the baton.

“Yeah, should’ve mentioned, the best thing about this Best Match, not only is my attack power amped up, but so is my defense. Passive regen, so any damage I take is nullified after a few seconds to a minute depending on the damage. Which means whatever this thing is trying to do to me, isn’t going to work!”

Tempest pushed off the other two Commandos and kicked the third away. She grabbed the Vortex Lever and began turning it once again, the two bottles in the Driver began to glow as energy coursed through them and into Tempest.

{=+=} READY, GO! {=+=}

{=+=} VORTEX FINISH! {=+=}

{=+=} YEAH! {=+=}

The Ivory Sword blade shined bright white, while the Claw Shield’s claws glowed gold. Tempest crouched low as her feet began to shine with the dual lights of white and gold. The new Rider shot off, moving through the remaining Commandos, as she crisscrossed through them, a streak of white and gold could be seen as she slashed through them at high speeds. Once she was done, Tempest came to a skidding halt. The claws and blade lost their glow, and all at once the Commandos exploded into nothingness.

“Okay…that was awesome!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Agreed,” Party Favor and Sugar Belle added.

Commander growled in frustration as she and Eyes prepared to attack. Tempest, however, wasn’t done just yet as she removed the Wolverine and Sword Bottles and took out two more. One was colored a bright purple and the other a bright green, Tempest inserted both of them and turned the Vortex Lever.

{=+=} CROW! {=+=}

{=+=} ARROW! {=+=}

{=+=} BEST MATCH! {=+=}

As Tempest turned the lever, the matrix appeared again, this time it was crafting new purple and green armor.

{=+=} ARE YOU READY? {=+=}

“Upgrade!”

{=+=} PIERCING SHADOW! CROW-ARROW! {=+=}

{=+=} YEAH! {=+=}

The matrix fitted the armor over her last form, and completely changed her appearance yet again. The armor was a mixture of purple and green, and now she sported a long cape made of black feathers. In her left hand was a green bow, the arms of the bow finely sharpened so that it could act as a close-range weapon if necessary, with some golden patterns etched into it. The symbols on her chest plate changed as well, instead of two whitr swords, now it was two green arrows. Her helmet was now green, with two sharp fins on the sides of her helmet that almost resembled pointed ears.

Tempest glanced at one of the shadows that was cast by the support pillars to the floor and smirked. “Time to vanish.” The feathered cape flared open, parting down the middle to form two large, black wings that wrapped around Tempest. She then aimed right for the shadow and dove into it as if it were a bottomless pit.

“W-WHAT HELL?!” Eyes exclaimed.

“Calm down it’s an illusion or something, probably still in here somewhere!” Commander stated.

I don’t think so, though Rainbow Dash.

As if on cue, a green energy arrow flew out of nowhere and struck Eyes in the back. The Dopant turned around and willed her two floating eyes to fire beams in that direction, but they hit nothing. Another arrow flew out and hit Commander in the side, causing sparks to fly from her body. Commander glanced in that direction, but again, they could see nothing. More arrows were loosed from, seemingly, out of nowhere, each one hitting their mark with remarkable accuracy.

“DAMN YOU! Fine, if that’s how you want to play it, HERO, then come out and save these chumps! Sunflower!”

The Eyes Dopant had her two floating eyes aimed themselves right at Rainbow, Sugar Belle, and Party Favor. Commander pressed a few buttons on her wrist terminal, and immediately after, missiles were launched from her back, at the same time, energy rays were fired from Eyes’ two floating eyes. The three civilians braced for impact, but just then, from the shadows behind them, two black wings fanned out and enveloped them, dragging them into the darkness just before the attacks hit.

A large explosion blew a hole in the wall, and both Dopants grinned in satisfaction that they took out three annoyances, but their mirth was short lived when the trio emerged from the shadows some ways away from where they once were. Tempest appeared next to them, and her eyes glowed as she looked at them.

“Okay, now I’m mad!”

The bow Tempest used generated a beam of green light that acted as the bowstring. Tempest pulled back on the bowstring, and as she did an arrow of green light appeared. Taking careful aim, the guardian Rider fired her arrow, as it sailed toward the Dopants it quickly separated into three different arrows. All three arrows sprouted wings, changing their trajectory as two struck both of the floating eyes and Commander’s wrist terminal. The terminal blew up, utterly destroying Commander’s ability to summon her Commandos or fire more missiles, and her partner could no longer fire beams along with the floating eyes.

“Let’s finish this!” Tempest declared as she removed the Crow and Arrow Bottles and took out her original Horse and Storm Bottles.

{=+=} HORSE! {=+=}

{=+=} STORM! {=+=}

{=+=} BEST MATCH! {=+=}

{=+=} ARE YOU READY? {=+=}

“Upgrade!”

{=+=} GALLOPING THUNDER! HORSE-STORM! {=+=}

{=+=} YEAH! {=+=}

Now back in her original form Tempest began to turn the Vortex Lever, causing both bottles to glow. At the same time, all three sections of the horn went from their retracted positions to fully extended. The opening at the top of the horn-device began to glow, releasing aurora lightning that raged and arced all around Tempest.

“Let justice be done!”

{=+=} READY, GO! {=+=}

{=+=} VORTEX FINISH! {=+=}

{=+=} YEAH! {=+=}

Tempest channeled the lightning into both her hands and shot it forward. A chain of lightning wrapped around both Dopants, lassoing them together. Tempest ran straight for Commander and Eyes, the aurora lightning wrapped around her body as she used its power to jump up into the air. The lightning gathered to her left leg, enveloping everything from the knee down. Tempest spun as she neared her targets, and once she was close, she threw out her leg and struck both at once with a flying spinning heel kick. The aurora lightning flashed as it struck both Dopants at once, resulting in dual explosion just as Tempest landed on the ground, horn and eyes still glowing as the remaining arcs of lightning died out.

When the dust settled, Clear Skies and Sunflower were now on the ground, both beaten and bruised, their T1 Gaia Memories rose from their bodies and once they hit the ground, they shattered like fragile glass.

Tempest looked over her shoulder at the two downed women and scoffed. “Didn’t even break a sweat. Hey, Dash, you guys alright?”

Apparently Rainbow, Belle, and Party were all staring with their jaws dropped at the display that Kamen Rider Tempest put on.

“I take back what I said, THAT was AWESOME!” Rainbow exclaimed.

“So, that’s what another Rider from a different world can do…wow,” said Party Favor.

“Ditto,” said Sugar Belle.

Tempest canceled her transformation; the intense young woman had an awkward smile on her face as she blushed. “It’s no big deal. Anyway, are there more of those guys around?”

“No, the remaining Dopants are only us, and our friends downstairs, but seeing as how they were battling those two other world Riders, I’m pretty sure they were beaten,” said Sugar Belle.

“That means the only thing left is a mind controlled Shining Armor and Starlight herself,” said Rainbow Dash.

“Sounds easy enough, you three get out of here, and I’ll –!”

Suddenly, a loud explosion went off behind them, the elevator and stairwell that led to the roof had just been completely destroyed, there was a follow up sound of the elevator falling from the sixty stories up and crashing down below echoing up the shaft. Everyone looked towards Clear Skies as she held a remote control in her left hand and sported a smug look.

Tempest rushed towards her and grabbed the woman by her collar, “You bitch, what did you just do?!”

“Just made it harder for you to help that brat…and you might want to hurry up if you want to save them…”

“What does that mean?!” Rainbow asked.

Sunflower managed to take out a device of her own and pressed a button. “Figured if we lose, then everyone loses, we rigged the roof to detonate in three minutes. You can either deal with us or try and help them, either way, there’s no way you’ll make it to the roof in time.”

At that moment, the windows lit up as a bright light began to shine from atop the building. Tempest released Clear Skies, but gave both her and Sunflower one last punch to knock them out and make sure they didn’t try anything else. All four rushed to the other end to look out the windows. Rainbow colored lightning arced towards the sky and appeared to be ripping the sky apart, and within those tears, one could see dozens of tiny dots of green light.

“What’s happening?” Tempest asked.

“It’s…It’s happening,” said Party Favor.

Rainbow looked to Party and Sugar in disbelief as she asked, “Y-You don’t mean…?”

“Gaia Impact…”

Z: Zenith / of the Final Battle

View Online

Sunset didn’t know who this who that other Rider is, but she was glad she was there to help. She would wish her luck, but something told her Kamen Rider Tempest was going to wipe the floor with those two, and the subsequent explosions she was hearing echoing up the stairwell was a good indicator. Sunset teleported one flight of stairs at a time, she had to get there as quick as possible, seeing as how Rainbow’s Nasca Memory shattered, there was no telling how much longer her T1 Unicorn Memory would remain intact.

Finally, Sunset made it to the entrance of the roof. With a long sigh, she steeled her nerves and kicked down the door, sending it flying off its hinges as it skidded to a halt on the ground. Unicorn emerged from the doorway, already in a defensive stance. Just as she predicted, Shining Armor, Kamen Rider Trigger, was acting as a sentry, standing at the halfway point between herself, Starlight and Twilight. The mechanism that was being used to gather the Gaia Memories, the proverbial magnet that Sugar Belle and Party Favor spoke of, was floating behind Twilight.

The ring was rotating slowly, and from what she could see, there were twenty-six nodes, and each node was glowing with the symbol of one of the T2 Gaia Memories, and unfortunately, she saw that out of the twenty-six, there were only three nodes left dim. Starlight still had her Equal and Xtreme Memories, a tactic to ensure that in case something went wrong, she could still transform, but with that being the case, if Sunset defeated Shining Armor, it would mean one more Gaia Memory would fly towards that magnet and complete the machine.

Twilight looked her way, her eyes were full of hope and relief, and Sunset couldn’t help but feel the same way, seeing that she was alright, for the most part. “What the hell is Twilight strapped to, Starlight?!”

Starlight raised her hands as she said, “Now, now, calm down, I assure you, she’s not in any pain and I haven’t hurt her. I just need Twilight’s help for the final stage.”

“The stage about opening the Earth’s Memories to all people of the world?!”

Starlight raised an eyebrow and then smiled. “I see, they must’ve told you. So, then you know that I’m doing is what needs to be done for the good of the world and the people in it. I can’t keep the doorway open and control the flow of energy at the same time, but with Twilight’s help, she can act as the key and I as the controller. Together, we’ll usher in a new world! Please, Sunset, you have to see the ultimate good that I’m trying to bring about!”

“If I had heard about this plan sooner, I’d probably be onboard, but not after what Philip told me,” said Unicorn.

“Who the hell is ‘Philip’?” Starlight asked.

“One of the Riders from another world, he comes from a world where they also use Gaia Memories and he’s the Avatar of the Earth, he’s like you and Twilight! And he told me, that if you do this, you will succeed, but it will be a world where no one is themselves, a world where individuality is erased, and what makes a person human is gone forever. A hive mind without anyone in control, we’ll all just exist, with no goals, no reason to go on. Part of a collective without any direction.”

Starlight looked shocked for a moment, but then her eyes narrowed into slits. “You don’t know that! HE doesn’t know that! Our worlds are completely different! Who’s to say that things won’t work differently here?!”

“Is that really a risk you want to take?! Do you really think THIS is what Sunburst wants you to do in his name, in honor of his memory?! There are other ways to help the world, with all your wealth and influence, you can make a bigger difference than most people are able to do! Look how you’ve helped Sugar Belle and Party Favor!”

Starlight sighed, she did remember, she remembered how she helped all four of them. “Yes, but only because they were within my reach, but there are millions upon billions of others who I can’t reach! For their sakes, I will do this, Sunset! For their sakes, I will bring true harmony!”

Sunset narrowed her eyes beneath her helm, there was no way she was going to talk Starlight out of this, no, the only way to stop her, was to defeat her. “Alright, if that’s how you want to do this, Starlight, then I won’t hold back!”

“I would expect nothing less from you, Sunset,” said Starlight as she took out the Equal Driver.

< EQUAL! >

“Henshin!”

> EQUAL! <

Equal didn’t move from her spot beside Twilight, she merely just stood there with her arms behind her back. Of course, why would she need to fight? She has full access to her powers and her Final Form’s powers and Sunset couldn’t use Day Dreamer form for fear that it would shatter the T1 Unicorn Memory. She was already at a disadvantage, this was just to show that even if she beat Shining Armor, she would still have to fight her, and her power.

The other unfortunate thing here was that Shining Armor was still in his SWAT mode.

Oh, this just keeps getting better, thought Unicorn.

However, she was not completely without a plan, the only real problem was how to get close enough to Shining Armor. Deciding to test her ability, Unicorn dashed towards Trigger, the mind-controlled Rider didn’t waste any time as he aimed the Chrome Ultimatum and fired several shots in Unicorn’s direction. The super heroine ducked to the right as the laser bolts flew towards her, missing the first round, the second volley came just as fast, forcing Unicorn to jump into the air to avoid a direct hit.

This had her where Trigger wanted as he fired a third volley into the air, Unicorn focused her magic and formed a barrier around herself just as the bolts impacted. Cracks formed along the barrier, spider webbing to form more, Unicorn clicked her tongue in frustration, her barrier with the T2 would’ve held up better, but such were the limitations of the T1.

/#\ GATLING! /#\

A blue construct Gatling barrel appeared over the Ultimatum’s barrel, and immediately began spewing hundreds of dozens of laser bolts in Unicorn’s direction. The bolts pelted her barrier like a never-ending hailstorm, chipping away at her barrier with each passing nanosecond. Before the barrier could completely collapse, Unicorn’s horn flashed, and, in an instant, she vanished.

Trigger ceased his attack and switched his Utility Memory power to another.

/#\ KNIFE! /#\

Another blue construct formed, this time a forming a long blade, Trigger widened his stance and quickly spun around slashed behind him. At that moment, Unicorn reappeared just in time for Trigger’s blade to strike her across her chest, sending sparks flying from her armor upon contact. Unicorn recoiled from the blow, but steadied herself, she then teleported again.

Unicorn appeared to his right, but once again Trigger was ready and slashed at her again, Unicorn barely missed the attack as she ducked under the blade and slid to a stop a few feet from his left.

Twilight watched this with bewilderment, Shining Armor was effectively countering Sunset’s teleportation attacks.

Equal saw Twilight’s reaction and said, “The SWAT Form has an analytical engine, it works with the Suppresser Memory to counter different situations, but it can also be used to help predict unpredictable movements. Like say, rapid teleportation. Based on past battle data, it recognizes Sunset’s most likely pattern of attack and directs Shining Armor as to where to strike. Her normal surprise attacks won’t work here.”

Unicorn fired several mana spheres in Trigger’s direction, but Trigger merely sniped them out of the air, causing them to explode before they reached him. Unicorn cursed under her breath, wishing she had one of her other Memories to at least give her an edge here.

There’s still the Shining Memory…no that could overload the T1. Guess I have no choice, I’ll trust Philip and Twilight on this one!

Unicorn steeled herself as she began running full speed towards Trigger, the mind-controlled hero began firing at Unicorn, each bolt hit its mark as sparks flew from her armor, but despite the damage, she kept running towards him, her momentum hadn’t ceased in the slightest. Unicorn fired a mana sphere straight at the ground before her and Trigger, causing an explosion that kicked up a dust cloud of debris. A flash of turquoise and blue light went off in the dust cloud, causing both Twilight and Starlight to tense up.

When the dust settled, Sunset was no longer in her armored form, she was on one knee before Trigger, with the latter having his weapon pointed at her. Trigger had his back to both Twilight and Starlight, and Sunset had her left arm extended towards Trigger, a blow that never connected.

“Sorry, Sunset, you fought valiantly, but now it’s time to begin the reformation of the world.”

“You sure about that?” Sunset asked. At that moment, something fell to the ground before Trigger’s feet, it was a small rounded device that had a circuit board pattern on it. “`Cause I think it just started!”

Trigger quickly turned on his heel, his Chrome Ultimatum now pointed directly at Equal, and revealing that the gray eyes of his helmet were now back to their original blue coloring. Trigger fired five shots, each one hitting Equal and sending her flying backwards.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

Sunset transformed back into Unicorn, just in time to close in on Equal and deliver a roundhouse kick to her head. Equal skidded back further but dug her heels into the ground to keep from crashing into her machine.

Equal growled as she looked upon this new development and shouted, “HOW?!”

“You can thank Twilight for that, she figured out that you were probably going to use the T-Driver to take control of Shining Armor, so she made a device to counter the mind-control!”

Twilight looked perplexed. “But, I-I never finished it! At best it was half ready!”

“Philip took care of that while I was having my pity party, he gave it to me before we came here. Now, let’s get you out of there babe,” said Unicorn.

Equal went to attack, but a laser bolt was shot at her feet, stopping her in her tracks. “I wouldn’t even think about it; I still owe you for making me into your puppet!”

“Sorry about that, but I can’t afford to let you take Twilight out of that chair, nor stop me when I’m this close!”

Equal dodged to the left, swiftly taking out the Xtreme Devicer and combined it with her Greater and Lesser Than Signs. Once completed, Equal brandished her Xtreme Memory.

< XTREME! >

“NO!” Unicorn and Trigger shouted at once.

{*X*} XTREEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMEEE! {*X*}

Scarlet, navy, and black energy surrounded Equal, and within seconds she had achieved her Final Form, Balance Breaker.

“Dammit, I really don’t have any choice now do I…”

Unicorn took out the Shining Memory, briefly glanced at her T1 Unicorn Memory, and then inserted the former into the Mimetic Drive port.

< SHINING! >

{< SHINING! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}

Golden light enveloped Unicorn, transforming her into her Pseudo-Final Form, Shining Day.

Equal looked upon this transformation with curiosity. “That’s not your strongest form, Sunset. Is this your way of saying you can beat me without having to get serious?”

“You guessed it, I don’t see the point in putting in the extra effort,” said Unicorn. “I can beat you in a couple of minutes, no problem.”

“Sunset…don’t mock my intelligence.”

“Worth a shot.”

\\\\\ LOYAL! /////

Unicorn’s body was wrapped in a crimson aura, immediately taking flight. Trigger fired several shots at Equal, but the empowered Rider barely registered the attack. Equal pressed down on the left button of the Xtreme Devicer.

[{X}] DIVIDE! [{X}]

Navy blue light appeared over both Equal’s hands, she fired a beam of that same light straight at Trigger, and the effects were immediate. The ground around him began to ice over, the ice then creeped up his legs until it incased his entire lower half in ice. The bad part was that he couldn’t move from beginning to end, the Entropy Field slowed his movements to near zero, so he couldn’t even dodge it or fire back. Unicorn looked upon this was surprise, to which Equal looked up and fired the beam at her, but thankfully, Unicorn was able to dodge it.

“The Entropy Field isn’t just an area of effect ability like my previous form, it can be directed as I wish. Otherwise I’d end up freezing Twilight, and I’d rather not have that happen,” said Equal.

Unicorn released a battle cry and flew straight for Equal, the dark Rider aimed both of her hands at the sky and fired one Entropy Beam after the other, trying to hit Unicorn in midair, unfortunately, as fast as Unicorn was, Equal was still faster. The beams were grazing Unicorn’s armor here and there, and it was only a matter of time before she was caught.

I can’t hold back, it’s all or nothing!

Unicorn placed the Shining Memory into the right hip port and pressed down on the button.

>} SHINING! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn flipped around and extended her right leg forward for a flying Rider Kick. A spiral horn formed before her, with blazing golden wings that gave one flap and propelled her forward. Equal fired her Entropy Beam right at Unicorn, the two attacks clashed in midair as they struggled for supremacy, ice was actually starting to form over the fiery construct wings, as well as over Unicorn’s body. But she wasn’t deterred, Unicorn was determined to stop this plan from coming to fruition, to save the world she had come to call her home, and to save the girl she loved so dearly.

The magical warrior released a fierce battle cry as she focused all her power into her attack. The ice melted and then evaporated as her aura blazed with renewed vigor. Unicorn’s attack began steadily piercing through the beam, inching her way closer and closer to Equal. She was closer now, so close that the tip of the spiral horn was about to touch Equal’s palms–

*crack*

Sunset’s eyes widened upon hearing that distinct sound, it echoed unnaturally loud amongst the roar of her attack and Equal’s. Sunset stole a glance down at her belt and noticed lines of glowing turquoise light were appearing on the Unicorn Memory, more and more cracks were forming, spreading rapidly all over the Unicorn Memory. Before Sunset could udder a word, the Unicorn Memory shattered, the result created a powerful shockwave that threw Sunset backwards into the air.

Unfortunately, this put her right over edge of the building. Sunset’s heart and stomach sank into a bottomless pit as she looked down and saw the long drop that awaited her, death looming just a few hundred plus feet away. However, that would not come to pass. Equal took a runner’s stance as she ran towards the edge of the roof, before she jumped, Equal pressed down the right button of her Xtreme Devicer.

[{X}] BOOST! [{X}]

A scarlet aura wrapped around Equal as she jumped off the edge, the aura flared and began to propel and lift Equal, granting her the power of flight. Equal reached out with her hand and immediately grabbed Sunset out of the air, Equal flew back to the roof and released Sunset back down. Sunset looked up at her with a bit of shock that she did that.

“I told you once before, Sunset, no one will die.”

Equal strode over to the still ice-covered Trigger, she balled up her fist and punched the ice near his waist. A hole was made from the attack, large enough that Equal was able to grab the Trigger Memory and deactivate Shining Armor’s transformation.

“My apologies in advance, Officer Armor.”

Equal hit Shining Armor with a palm-heel strike, shattering the ice and throwing the officer a good distance away, rolling next to where she dropped off Sunset. Equal walked over to the floating ring, she raised the Trigger Memory and the device immediately called to it, making it fly up and insert itself into its designated slot. The node for that slot shined blue and displayed the Trigger symbol. Equal deactivated her Final Form, taking out the Xtreme Memory and letting float into its slot in the ring.

“And then there was one.”

“Don’t do this, Starlight!” Sunset begged.

Starlight ended her transformation, now standing in her civilian form she raised the last of the T2 Gaia Memories to the ring and let it fly into its slot.

< ACCEL! >

< BIRD! >

< CYCLONE >

< DUMMY! >

< EQUAL >

< FANG! >

< GENE! >

< HEAT! >

< ICEAGE! >

< JOKER! >

< KEY! >

< LUNA! >

< METAL! >

< NASCA! >

< OCEAN! >

< PUPPETEER! >

< QUEEN! >

< ROCKET! >

< SKULL! >

< TRIGGER! >

< UNICORN! >

< VIOLENCE! >

< WEATHER! >

< XTREME! >

< YESTERDAY >

< ZONE! >

The ring began to spin at a rapid pace, blurring until it became a glowing aurora ring of light. The ring then fired that same light straight into the sky, and immediately after, the sky was torn open. Hundreds, upon thousands of lights were blinking in the white expanse on the other side of the tear, and each one was a Memory of the Earth, the infinite knowledge of everything that has ever existed or even will exist was now looking down on Canterlot City.

“It’s time,” said Starlight.

The chair that Twilight sat in began to engage, a head piece extended from the chair and fastened itself over Twilight’s head, as soon as this was done, Twilight screamed into the air in protest, but this process would not be stopped. All at once, her screams stopped as her eyes went wide, becoming pools of radiant white light. Starlight reached into her own pocket and pulled out a similar device, placing it on her head.

“Twilight will be the key that keeps the gate open, while I act as the conductor, I will be able to control the flow of information that streams from the Earth’s Memories and let them be absorbed by the people of the Earth! And the first to be enlightened will be Canterlot City!”

The lights in the sky began to rain down upon the city, everyone who was outside, or huddled in their homes for safety, could only watch as the emerald lights fell from the sky, piercing through concrete and steel as if it was air itself. But the light didn’t harm anyone, when it did hit a person, it rippled upon them like water, and with each hit, the people could slowly feel their minds opening up to the knowledge, all things were being shown to them, the beginnings of the world, the origin of the lifeforms of the planet, the ancient wisdom which had been kept locked away in an ethereal plane of existence was now with them, and being granted to them.

Sunset rose up to try and get to Starlight, but the effects of the Earth’s Memories were too strong, her already brilliant mind was being flooded with near infinite knowledge, all she could do was absorb it, revel in it, and with that, she just stood there, the color of her eyes changing to that of the same emerald color as the lights themselves. Shining Armor tried to resist as well, but not long after, he too succumbed to the knowledge, his own irises changing to the same emerald color.

“Soon, everyone, all over the world, will see the light of harmony and equality, goodbye wars, goodbye prejudice, ignorance, and greed!” Starlight stared up into the sky which continued to rain the emerald light like actual raindrops. “Can you see it, Sunburst? Can you see the new future I’m creating from up there?” Starlight asked as she reached up towards the sky, as if hoping to grasp her friends’ hand to receive some sort of acknowledgement of her accomplishment.

The Gaia Impact has arrived.

***______________???______________***

Twilight found herself floating in an infinite white space, the young genius curled up into a fetal position as she floated there, revolving like a planetoid, a directionless existence.

“Is this really all you’re going to do? Float around and be useless?”

“What else can I do…? Starlight’s won…everything that makes someone human, is going to have it erased and be nothing more than a directionless drone…”

“And you’re just going to float there and take it? This is the girl who beat me?”

Twilight finally peaked from her fetal position to see who it was that was speaking to her. To Twilight’s surprise, the person floating in front of her had raven black wings, violet colored skin, rings of blue fire around her eyes, and a face that looked exactly like hers. Twilight back peddled away from the apparition before her as she screamed, “M-MIDNIGHT SPARKLE!”

“Good, at least you haven’t forgotten my name.”

“W-What in the world are you even doing here?! I-I destroyed you months ago!” Twilight exclaimed.

Midnight shook her head. “True, you burned me. But I am part of you, Twilight, true your little burst of power severely weakened me to the point that I had to retreat deep inside your soul to recuperate. And recently, I’ve been okay with staying in the shadows, but now, I can’t, not after this pitiful display!”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about letting Starlight Glimmer win! Are you seriously just going to let her use you like this?!” Midnight asked with flared wings.

Twilight hugged herself as she looked away from her dark half. “What else can I do? I’m strapped to a chair, my mind is acting like the key to keep the floodgates open, it’s too much for me to push back! I’m not strong enough!”

Midnight sighed in frustration as she ran her hand down her face. “Seriously, I don’t get what Sunset sees in you? Between the two of us, I come with the whole package. Brains, edginess, and,” Midnight struck a sexy pose, using her wings to emphasize her exotic qualities, “I’m better filled out than you.”

“S-S-SHUT UP! And why would you care about Sunset?!” Twilight asked with a fierce red blush upon her face.

“Your feelings for her are mine as well. That being the case, neither of us want to exist in a world where Sunset’s a hollow shell, I could care less of those other girls, but I won’t have that for her,” said Midnight.

Twilight was actually relieved to hear that from Midnight, despite her dark origins, she still cared enough to assist in stopping Starlight to save the person they love. “Okay, but how are we supposed to stop this?”

“Not ‘us’, you.” As Midnight said this, her body began to slowly transform into particles of violet light.

“What’s happening?!”

Midnight looked at her hand and gave wistful sigh. “My plan…I’m going to use the last of the magic that allows me to exist within you and use it to help you reach out to those who can help you close the gateway to the Earth’s Memories. You said you can’t do it alone, fine, but isn’t relying on your friends what Sunset preaches all the time?”

Twilight couldn’t believe it; her dark side was actually willing to sacrifice her very existence to allow Twilight a fighting chance at stopping this madness. Midnight waved her hand and opened a view into the real world, the light of the Earth’s Memories was seeping into the people. But something else was happening. With each emerald light that fell upon them, their bodies would release some kind of shimmering sapphire particles.

“Those particles are their personalities, that which makes up who they are. Without that, they’re hollow shells. Existing, but not truly living, that’s just as bad – if not worse – than destroying reality. With one, it’s over in an instant, this would be just slow, torturous death. Do not let this come pass, Twilight!”

Midnight’s body began to break down faster, everything below her knees was gone, and it was creeping upwards with more of her disappearing. Twilight felt her eyes water as she floated towards her dark counterpart, reached out, and grabbed both her hands. Midnight was a little taken aback by this action, not understanding why Twilight would cry for her, or even touch her for that matter.

“You idiot…why are you crying for me? I thought I was the bane of your existence? A nightmare that you’d rather forget…”

Twilight sniffled as she spoke, “Yes…I thought that of you, but I must acknowledge one indisputable fact about you coming into my life, Midnight.”

Midnight gulped a little asked, “What’s that?”

Twilight’s face broke into a smile as she said, “If it wasn’t for you, I would’ve never met Sunset Shimmer, I would’ve never known how much more wonderful my life is for having her in it. You’re the one who helped spark our connection, I can’t imagine my life now without Sunset in it, and that I owe to you, Midnight Sparkle.”

Midnight’s eyes began to water as she held onto Twilight’s hands tight. “Please…Please don’t forget me…”

Twilight released Midnight’s hands and quickly embraced the dark angel, making Midnight release a gasp of shock. “I will never forget you.”

Midnight smiled as she returned the hug, the two halves of light and darkness continued to embrace each other, until the last of Midnight’s essence was gone, and Twilight was left hugging nothing but the empty air before her. Twilight cried for a minute, saying her goodbyes to her other half. The particles of Midnight began to swirl around Twilight, lifting up her chin as to make her look straight ahead. Before her were six lights, each one radiating a familiar glow.

“I understand, I won’t let you’re sacrifice go to waste!”

Upon declaring this, Twilight’s body shimmered as her human ears transformed into pony ears, and from her back sprouted two large, purple feathered wings. She gave the wings a flap as she began flying through the expanse of the infinite white. The violet particles wrapped around her wings, and transformed them into large, feathered wings of purple and violet light.

Fly to them Twilight…

And fly she did, Twilight flew straight towards the first orb of light, it was red, with a golden glow at the center. Twilight placed her hands upon the orb and rested her forehead against it.

“Sunset, please, if you can hear me, I need your help. Our friends need your help! We haven’t lost yet; we can still stop this! I know you’re never one to give up, so don’t give up on me now!” Twilight stated.

The red orb began to pulsate, Twilight backed away as the orb cracked and shattered, revealing Sunset, she too was in her Pony Up form, but this time, instead of just the ears, she also had wings upon her back, signifying her ascension as an alicorn.

“Sparky?” Sunset asked in a daze.

Twilight rushed towards her, embracing Sunset tightly and then giving her a kiss upon her lips. “Welcome back, we don’t have a lot of time, but I think we can stop this, but I need you and girls’ help!”

Sunset’s trademark smirk appeared as she said, “Then let’s do it!”

Both girls flew to each of the remaining orbs, awakening one friend after the other. Each of their friends were already in their Pony Up forms, and each had their questions as to how and why they were in the infinite white space.

“Short answer to everyone’s questions is this, Starlight’s plan is happening right now, but I believe our magic combined can close the gateway that’s allowing her to let the power of the Earth’s Memories to flow into everyone!” Twilight explained.

“Then let’s light it up ladies!” Pinkie declared.

Twilight led the way through the infinite white, books began to appear, sparsely at first, and then as they got closer, they began to appear more frequently. The books were open, the words printed upon the pages were rising up and flowing out towards the gateway. It seemed the concept of a gateway was given in the form of two large carved marble doors, and on the other side of that door was a swirling vortex of emerald light, upon which the words transformed into light and passed through.

“Do you really think we can do it?” Fluttershy asked.

“Only one way ta find out,” said Applejack.

“Anyone else noticing the blue sparkles coming in through the gate?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Upon further inspection, sapphire particles were coming into the white space, some of them passed over the girls, and when they did, they could sense the feelings of the people whose lights they belonged to.

Rarity reached out and cupped a few of the particles in her hands, she could feel all their shock and terror, the prospect of losing themselves amongst a sea of infinity. “This isn’t something that anyone should be made to suffer, we must set this right!”

All seven girls joined hands, the magic within them flowed freely between them, connecting them in both mind and spirit. But just before they could perform their next action, a flash of green went off behind them. All seven turned around and saw Starlight Glimmer floating there.

“What are you doing?” Starlight asked.

“We’re closing the gate, Starlight,” said Twilight.

“There’s no way for you to do that, so long as Twilight acts as the key, I can freely channel the power of the Earth’s Memories into the people, it’s impossible to close it on your own. Believe me, it didn’t work for me…” Starlight stated grimly.

“I’m sorry about Sunburst, he didn’t deserve that, but what you’re doing won’t set things right! It won’t bring harmony, just look at what’s happening!” Sunset exclaimed as she flailed out her arms and gestured towards the sapphire particles. “Do you see all of these?! This is what is being given up in exchange for the knowledge you’re giving to the people!”

Starlight looked upon the sapphire particles, she took a handful of them and was immediately flooded with the fear they all felt. She quickly released them; her eyes wide with the shock of what she had just felt. “What was that?! Those…Those were people!”

“Do you get it now?! This is the price of granting all this knowledge, they’re losing themselves! They’ll just be drones, alive but not living! Is this what you meant by harmony?!” Sunset asked.

Starlight was baffled, she didn’t understand this, why were they losing themselves? “This makes no sense! I ran through all the calculations, all possible scenarios, this…this was never supposed to happen! I’ll-I’ll figure something out, I can fix this!”

All seven turned to face the gateway, with Twilight taking point she concentrated on the gate. She was the key, and keys can open doors, but they can also close them. Twilight held her hands up before her, focusing the magic of her friends, the Elements of Harmony, that which each of them represented, was their only chance at closing the gateway and having everyone return to who they were.

“You were right, Starlight, I can’t close it on my own, but I’m not on my own!” Twilight declared as rainbow light fired from both her hands.

The blue essences that was once coming out of the gateway was now being sucked back into the gate. The words of the many books that represented the Memories of the Earth were now flowing in reverse. Starlight panicked and tried to stop the process, but it was no use, the combined magic of all seven of the girls was stronger than she had thought, no it wasn’t just that, thanks to the combined magical powers of those girls, Twilight could do the exact same thing as Starlight, direct the flow of knowledge.

The gateway was rapidly closing, the feelings of the particles that were returning through the gate, that which represented the people of Canterlot City, were changing from fear to hopeful.

“Wait, STOP! I can make this right! Give a me a minute! I swear I can make this better!” Starlight begged.

“Sorry, Starlight, but this isn’t the way! Twilight, do it!” Sunset exclaimed.

Twilight nodded her head and cried out as she crossed her arms in front of her, in reaction, the large marble doors slammed shut, the sound echoing through the endless void. The bookshelves and books all returned to their original state, becoming as orderly as any library.

“WE DID IT!” Pinkie Pie shouted in victory, grabbing Rainbow Dash and giving her a bone crushing hug.

Rarity sighed in relief that they were able to stop it, Applejack gave a triumphant “yeehaw”, and Fluttershy gave a small “yay”. Sunset and Twilight embraced tightly, overjoyed that they staved off a disaster, however, the job wasn’t completely done. All seven girls turned around and looked upon a still stunned Starlight Glimmer, apparently unable to comprehend how they were able to shut the door to the Earth’s Memories.

“I…I…”

Sunset floated to the front of the group and stared down Starlight. “It’s over, Starlight, we can do this over and over again, and we won’t stop. You are strong, but we are stronger.”

Starlight clenched her fists as she said, “That’s fine…That’s fine! We’ll do this dance as long as it takes, I’ll–!!!”

***____________________________***

Suddenly, everyone was brought out of the Infinite White Space, and brought back into the real world. Sunset snapped out of her stupor, along with Shining Armor, Starlight, and Twilight. The ground was rumbling fiercely, and soon after, a series of explosions went off again and again and again. All four occupants watched as explosions went off consecutively all around them, ending with one last, huge explosion that could be seen and heard throughout the city of Canterlot.

Nothing but the thundering echo of the explosion could be heard, along with the crash of several pieces of debris that fell from the hundred story building. Thick smoke bellowed up from the rooftop, but something was happening. An aurora glow came from the center of the smoke, and soon, the light released a shockwave that completely blew away the smoke cloud. Within the smoke cloud was a sphere of light, made of the same aurora light. The roof was completely wrecked, along with Starlight’s machine.

The light began to fade and revealed Sunset, Shining Armor, Starlight, and Twilight all safe. The four had closed their eyes earlier, awaiting their impending death, but when they opened them, they saw that remains of the Memory Ring were scattered on the ground before them. All around them they saw twenty-six points of light that surrounded them and made up the barrier itself, well not exactly, there was a twenty-seventh. Above them was a golden light at the top of the barrier, the bright lights began to fade until they were dim enough to show that they were all Gaia Memories.

“The…The T2 Gaia Memories…they saved us?” Sunset gasped.

“Is that…possible…? H-How?” Shining Armor asked.

Amidst the explosion, the restraints that kept Twilight bound had released, the young genius hurriedly rushed over to where her girlfriend and big brother were waiting, leaving a still shocked Starlight behind. Sunset embraced her girlfriend, this time for real, Shining Armor came over and did the same, thankful to have his little sister back.

The twenty-seven Gaia Memories dispelled the shield that kept them from meeting a fiery, explosive death, and divided themselves. Unicorn, Joker, Cyclone, Queen, Fang, Shining, Bird, Heat, Luna, Metal, Skull, Dummy, Gene, IceAge, Puppeteer, Violence, Ocean, and Zone all floated towards Sunset, and did so in a kind of orbit around her. The Trigger Memory floated to Shining Armor, who took the Memory into his hand. The Nasca, Weather, Accel, and Rocket Memories went off the side of the roof, no doubt returning to their original wielder. However, what was surprising was that the Equal and Xtreme Memories returned to Starlight.

Sunset dismissed sixteen of the T2 Memories, leaving only the Unicorn and Shining Memories. “It’s over, Starlight, for real. Even the Gaia Memories themselves are saying that. Your machine is destroyed, Twilight’s safe with us, and your subordinates have been defeated. Please, just surrender, Starlight.”

Starlight took hold of both the Equal and Xtreme Memories, and then, she began to laugh. It was a long, and quite frankly disturbing laugh that made all three of them take a step back. When Starlight was done, she said, “Sunset, I had hoped you understood me better than that? I’m not so foolish as to bet it all one plan, there is a backup, but it’s a little less refined, but it’ll have to do.”

“What ‘backup’ are you talking about?!” Shining Armor asked.

Starlight summoned her Driver and pressed down on her Equal Memory.

< EQUAL! >

“The Emerald Mountain, remember? It’s a direct line to the Memories of the Earth, plus, this barrier acts as a crudely large version of the same machine that was just destroyed. All I have to do now…is defeat you, Sunset, collect those Memories, and retake Twilight. Now that I know what will happen, I’ll just have be the guiding mind for humanity, if everyone’s just going to become directionless drones, I’ll be the one to give them direction.”

Sunset narrowed her gaze as she too summoned her Driver and activated her Unicorn Memory.

< UNICORN! >

“That’s not equality, that’s just control!” Sunset stated.

“Well…Whatever it takes to bring about harmony…right, Sunset?”

Both women inserted their Gaia Memories into their respective Drivers, this was their final battle, the fight to determine the future of the world, and the fate of its people. Nothing would be held back.

“HENSHIN!”
“HENSHIN!”

> UNICORN! <

> EQUAL! <

A flash of turquoise and silver light went off, and when it faded, Kamen Riders Unicorn and Equal stood fully transformed.

“Shining Armor, keep Twilight safe, no matter what,” said Unicorn.

“Wait, I’ll help you, we can take her down toget–!”

“No, Shiny,” said Twilight as she held out her arm, “this is a fight that only Sunset can end. Please, trust me.”

Shining Armor looked to Twilight’s serious gaze, and then to Unicorn and Equal, neither Rider broke their gaze, staring down the other’s opponent with unflinching resolve. Shining Armor understood what this was, this was the proverbial last battle between the hero and the villain, all his years of being a nerd of comic books allowed him to see the signs before him, as much as he would like to assist Sunset, he’d only get in the way.

“Okay, do your thing, Sunset,” said Shining Armor.

Unicorn nodded, she then raised her hand into the air and from the sky emerged a firebird. When the firebird landed in her right hand, the flames died out and revealed the Phoenix Ascender. Equal summoned her Xtreme Devicer and combined it with her Greater and Lesser Than signs. Both Riders took out their strongest Gaia Memories, for Unicorn, her Shining Memory, and for Equal, her Xtreme Memory.

< SHINING! >

\^/ PHOENIX! \^/

< XTREME! >

{\^/} AAAAAASCEEEEENNNNSIONNNNNN!!! {\^/}

{*X*} XTREEEEEEEEEEEMMMMMMMEEE!!! {*X*}

Two pillars of light erupted into the sky, slamming against the barrier and making it struggle just to keep itself together against the immense power of both Riders’ Final Forms. When the light dimmed, Unicorn had entered her Final Form, Day Dreamer, and Equal in hers, Balance Breaker.

“You ready for this, Starlight?”

“Are you, Sunset?”

Both Riders took a single step and, in an instant, dashed towards each other, Unicorn cocked back her right fist along with Equal. Unicorn and Equal threw their punches and connected, a shockwave erupted from their impact, making Shining and Twilight have to duck down to the ground to prevent themselves from getting blown off the edge of the roof.

Unicorn and Equal broke off and began throwing a flurry of punches and kicks, each one either parrying their blows or counterattacking. Unicorn jumped back and threw a roundhouse kick to Equal’s left side, causing sparks to fly from her armor. But Equal used her left arm to hook her leg and keep it close as she began to spin around at a rapid pace, faster and faster until Equal finally let go and tossed the hero into the air.

Equal pressed down on the right button of the Xtreme Devicer.

[{X}] BOOST! [{X}]

The dark Rider jumped straight up into the sky and threw an upper cut with her left fist. Unicorn didn’t react in time as Equal’s blow hit right in her abdomen, sparks flew from her armor as she tossed higher until she came into contact with the barrier, slamming up against it. Unicorn grunted as she tore herself free and flew straight down to meet Equal, Unicorn struck Equal across the right side of her helmet, did a quick turn, and gave Equal an uppercut of her own. Equal responded by releasing a burst wave of energy, forcing her opponent back several feet.

Unicorn drew a ring of light before her and reached into the center of the ring. Upon doing so, the ring transformed into her ultimate weapon, crying out, “HALO BLADE!”

Equal pressed down on both of the buttons on her Xtreme Devicer, before her a long strip of scarlet, navy, and black energy formed. Equal grasped the weapon, making it materialize the powered-up version of her signature weapon. The shaft was black as night, at the tip of the spear was an ornament that appeared as a pair scales, with one half colored red and the other blue. The spear blade was three feet long and was colored a glimmering silver. Equal twirled the weapon around as she pointed it at Unicorn and shouted, “SPEAR OF JUDGEMENT!”

The two Riders once again rushed towards each other, this time their battle taking place high in the sky above the city. Equal spun her spear around and slashed at Unicorn, but Unicorn parried the attack with her blade, and went in for a thrust. But Equal quickly spun, making Unicorn roll off her back and away from her. Unicorn flapped her wings and turned around, but Equal used the back end of her spear to strike and made Unicorn back away further from her.

Unicorn quickly took out two of her Harmony Gaia Memories and inserted them into the ring of the Halo Blade.

)O( LOYALTY! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( HONESTY! AWAKEN! )O(

A blue and orange aura wrapped around Unicorn as she received a great boost to her strength and speed.

At the same time, Equal pressed down on the right side of her Xtreme Devicer three times.

[{X}] BOOST! [{X}]

Equal’s scarlet aura flared up even more as she readied herself. The two warriors once again met in the middle, their weapons ringing out into the sky upon impact. The two broke off and began moving at even greater speeds than before, appearing to all as a streak of gold and scarlet that zipped through the sky and crashed into other with thunderous force. Unicorn used her magic to insert five more Memories into the sword.

)O( MAGIC! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( LAUGHTER! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( GENEROSITY! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( KINDNESS! AWAKEN! )O(

)O( EMPATHY! AWAKEN! )O(

Now Unicorn glowed with a rainbow aura, focusing all seven powers of Harmony at once. Unicorn swiped her sword through air and in the wake of the slash, beams of light, sparking comets, and energized diamond shards all flew out at once. Equal pressed the left button three times upon seeing this barrage coming her way.

[{X}] DIVIDE! [{X}]

Equal twirled her spear around and focused the blue Entropy energy into the tip, she then gave a single thrust, firing a large beam of navy-blue light that struck the incoming attack head on. An explosion took place upon contact, nullifying Unicorn’s attack. However, it was only a distraction, Unicorn teleported behind Equal and raised her sword to strike, but at the last second, Equal expanded her Entropy Field, making Unicorn feel as if her body was trying to push through the thickest molasses to ever exist. Equal chuckled, turned around, and then fired a scarlet beam from the tip of her spear, hitting Unicorn and sending her flying away.

But, yet again, it was only a distraction. The Unicorn that was blown away shattered into pieces, revealing itself to be only a construct made of diamonds. Unicorn reappeared in front of Equal and slashed upwards, making sparks fly from Equal’s armor, but not before Equal’s counterattack struck Unicorn in the chest with an energized spear blade.

The attack threw Unicorn off balance, but she wasn’t about to give up just yet. Unicorn took out the Unicorn Memory and inserted it into the Max Drive port and pressed down on it.

>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Unicorn flew up higher and formed an alicorn construct. The construct neighed loudly and flew straight for Equal. Equal took out her Equal Memory and inserted it into the Spear of Judgement.

>} EQUAL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<

Equal twirled her spear around gathering up energy until a sphere of scarlet and navy-blue energy formed around her. With a thrust of her spear she fired a double helix beam that roared towards the alicorn construct. The construct struck horn first against the beam, but it showed no signs of stopping, the alicorn construct kept going until slammed into the sphere, the two warriors began to plummet at an accelerated rate, both of which crashed straight through the ceiling, thankfully missing Shining Armor and Twilight.

The two kept crashing down through one floor after the next, again and again, until they finally reached the bottom, but that wasn’t the end. The two smashed through the floor and descended even further down, destroying several layers of steel and concrete. Unicorn and Equal finally made it to the very bottom of the facility, crashing right through the ceiling and ending up in the underground cavern of the Emerald Mountain.

Unicorn and Equal hit the ground with a powerful BOOM that shook the entire cavern, and from the explosion, two dust trails exited it. Unicorn flared her wings as she skidded to a halt, all seven Gaia Memories of Harmony having returned to their holster, while Equal expanded her energy to create a buffer to slow herself down until she stopped.

“This could go on forever, Sunset,” said Equal.

“Yeah, it could, but if it means that you don’t go through with your plan, I’ll do it! I made a promise to the other Starlight, to save you from the darkness that you’ve trapped yourself in! And I keep my promises to my friends!” Unicorn declared.

Equal looked away for a moment, the pony version of herself was worried enough about her to ask Sunset to save her from herself? “No offense to my other self, but I’m not going to be deterred, I’ll save the world!”

“As will I!”

Unicorn took out the Shining Memory and placed it into her Max Drive port, at the same time, she pressed on the wings of the Phoenix Ascender three times.

>}\^/{ SHINING HARMONY! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }\^/{<

Equal took out the Xtreme Memory and placed it into the Max Drive port, she then pressed both buttons of the Boost and Divide powers three times.

>}[{X}] BREAKER XTREME! MAXIMUM DRIVE! [{X}]{<

Unicorn widened her stance as the wings upon her back flared out with sparkling golden light. Rainbow light gathered around Unicorn’s entire body. At the same time, Equal’s body was wrapped in the three colors of her final form, red, blue, and black energy swirled around her entire body as she too widened her stance, both Riders preparing for their final attack.

Unicorn and Equal jumped up high into the air, flipped once, and extended their right legs forward for their strongest Rider Kicks yet. Both of their glowing feet made contact, creating an energy nexus that made the very air and ground tremble. Their two warring energies continued to clash as neither Rider was ready to give up, the convergence of the two warring powers continued to glow brighter and brighter as the shockwaves it generated escalated in direct proportion.

“STARLIGHT!!!”

“SUNSET!!!”

The convergence point of their attack reached its breaking point as a massive explosion went off, throwing both Riders back several feet. Equal managed to right herself, but Unicorn wasn’t. The attack propelled her straight into the Emerald Mountain, making her slam right up against it back first. But that’s when everything got worse. The Emerald Mountain began to react to Unicorn’s power, the entire mountain itself shined with emerald light that roared up into the sky, creating a second Emerald Pillar.

Unicorn screamed as she felt the immense power of the Emerald Mountain, the raw power of the Memories of the Earth was flowing through her, it was too much too fast, her mind was taking in all this information, but it was different than when she was in that space with Twilight, it felt as if the Earth’s Memories were trying to merge with her, but her mind wasn’t ready, not like Twilight’s and Starlight’s, she wasn’t chosen to be an Avatar of the Earth, so her mind wasn’t prepared to handle this.

IS THIS WHAT TWILIGHT FELT ON THAT DAY?! NO, IT HAD BE A FRACTION, THIS IS DIRECT CONTACT!!!

Equal saw all this happening, and her mind flashed back. She remembered how much Sunburst suffered before his mind eventually broke and was gone. Equal shook her head back and forth as tears fell from her eyes within her helmet, another person she considered a friend was about to die before her very eyes yet again.

“NO!!!” Equal screamed. “NOT AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN!”

Equal charged straight for Unicorn, but the power of the mountain was raging out, creating a lot of force for which Equal had to overcome as she approached the mountain. Her armor began to crack by the second, but she endured, she kept going, no one was going to die, and she meant it. Equal’s mask cracked and part of it broke off, showing part of Starlight’s face underneath. Unicorn’s helmet couldn’t take the strain anymore either as it cracked and dispersed into particles of light, revealing Sunset’s pain-stricken expression, her eyes glowing green from the energy that passed through her.

Starlight reached out with both of her hands and pressed them against the sides of Sunset’s head. The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. brought her forehead against Sunset’s, and in an instant, everything around them shifted.

Starlight was once again in the Infinite White Space, but this time it was different. The books were scattered about as all of them were opened up and releasing streams of emerald light that combined to create a tornado of green light that stretched as far as Starlight’s eyes could see, both going up and down. At the center of that tornado, Sunset Shimmer was trapped, her body looked like a porcelain doll that had numerous cracks all around it.

“SUNSET!!!” Starlight cried out as she floated towards the vortex.

Sunset seemed to recognize her voice as she stared right at her. “STARLIGHT?! Please help me! I can feel this power tearing my mind apart!”

I can’t believe she’s lasted this long against the strain…Sunset you are amazing, which is why I won’t allow you to die like this!

“Listen to me, Sunset, I’m going to take the full brunt of this power and knowledge! When I do, I’ll throw you out!” Starlight explained.

“NO! YOU CAN’T TAKE ON ALL OF THIS ON YOUR OWN!”

“I’m not arguing this with you! I will not let another person die in front of me! Do you understand?! NOW!” Starlight grabbed ahold of Sunset and began pull as hard as she could, “GET!”, she pulled harder and harder, the emerald energy steadily released her and began to latch onto Starlight instead, “OUT OF HERE!”

Starlight managed to toss Sunset out of the vortex, making her tumble about in the Infinite White Space before finally stopping. Sunset got her bearings and looked at Starlight, who was now grunting in pain as the power flowed into her unfiltered and continuously. She had never accessed this much of the Earth’s Memories all at once, it was too overwhelming.

Sunset continued to watch all this unfold, she didn’t want this to happen, her promise to pony Starlight, she couldn’t let her die. But she wasn’t strong enough to stay in that stream, she was nearly killed. Please, I can’t let her die…! I just need something, anything!

Just then, a golden light shined from within Sunset’s right hand. When she opened it, she saw that it was the Shining Memory, the power of the Memory, the fragment of the Miracle Magic, coated Sunset in a golden aura, transforming her into her Pony Up form, her wings flared from her back, pony ears appeared from atop her head, and her hair became a long ponytail.

Starlight watched as Sunset was slowly reaching out towards her, but Starlight wasn’t reaching back. “TAKE MY HAND, STARLIGHT!”

“NO, WE’LL BOTH DIE! AT LEAST THIS WAY YOU CAN LIVE!” Starlight yelled.

The vortex released a blast that made Sunset back away, but she wasn’t going to be stopped, no matter what. “YOU SAID YOU WOULDN’T LET ANYONE DIE! THAT INCLUDES YOU, TOO! NOW TAKE MY HAND!”

Starlight hesitated, as it stood, she would be the only one dead, but Sunset might just die along with her if she wasn’t careful. “W-W-Why would you?! After everything I said I would do, why would you risk your life?! For a promise!”

“NO! Because, you’re my friend!” Sunset stated.

Starlight’s green glowing eyes widened, not with pain, but with a sense of joy upon hearing those words. She didn’t know what would happen if she did grab her hand, but it was better than both of them dying, although if she was honest, she hoped that at the very least Sunset would make it out of this.

Starlight reached out with her hand and Sunset reached out with her right, the two powers of the Earth’s Memories and the Miracle Magic dueled against each other for a moment, but then the moment that both their hands touched, the entire space erupted with gold and emerald light.

Z: Zenith / of The End

View Online

The residents of Canterlot City were getting back to normal, well as normal as things get this city. Several construction machines were currently working on PhoenEXE Corp. headquarters, there was a lot of external damage, but even more internal damage thanks to the battles that were done inside. But now the threat was over, the barrier which had enclosed the city was gone, and good had triumphed over evil. Or so was the story the media and papers propagated.

Shining Armor was currently driving in his squad car, with Sunset Shimmer riding shotgun. The car pulled up to a building that read, “Canterlot City Psychiatric Institute”. Shining pulled into the underground parking lot and the two were escorted inside. Sunset and Shining Armor were taken to a special wing that was reserved for special case patients. A man in a white lab coat walked up to them, he had tan colored skin, and curly orange hair.

“Good afternoon, Doc Top,” said Shining.

“Oh, Officer Armor, must you use my nickname?” Doc Top asked.

“Eh, it works. So, how’s the patient doing?”

Doc Top walked the two them over to an observation window, inside was Starlight Glimmer, she was watching the TV, wearing a pair of jeans and violet tank top as she hugged her knees to her chest.

“Mind if I go in there?” Sunset asked.

“Of course not, she’ll be happy to see you,” said Doc Top.

Sunset walked to the door, knocked, and waited until she heard “Come in”. When the door opened, Starlight turned to see who it was that came to visit, and her face immediately broke out into a huge smile. “SUNSET!”

“Hey, Starlight, I came for a visit.”

Starlight got up from the bed and rushed over to hug the young woman, which Sunset promptly returned in kind. Starlight returned to her seated position while Sunset sat on the right side of bed, on the TV it was showing the news, a recap of the events of the last few days. The battle at PhoenEXE Corp. and the defeat of Kamen Rider Equal and the Dopant Menace.

Sunset glanced over to Starlight and said, “You really shouldn’t be watching this stuff.”

“That’s really me, right? I did all that?” Starlight asked.

“Yes, and no…that was you, but not the you now.”

Starlight placed her hand against her head, looking down at her knees in lament. “It feels like I’m watching a completely different person up there…I know it’s me, and that I should feel sorry and remorseful…but it’s like it all happened in a dream or to someone else. I hate this…!”

Sunset wrapped her left arm around Starlight’s shoulders, bringing her into a half hug. “Hey, don’t force yourself, maybe this is the universe’s way of giving you a second chance or something?”

“Maybe…” Starlight sighed and then a smile formed on her face. “So, how’s it going with Twilight, are you two excited for the end of your senior year coming up?”

“A little, yes, and no, kind of worried about the future and stuff,” said Sunset.

“Oooh~ wondering how you two are going get married and junk?”

Shining Armor turned off the audio, not exactly in the mood be hearing girl gossip about his little sister and possible lewd conversations to follow. “So, Doc, what’s the word. Is she really mind wiped or is she faking it?”

Doc Top took off his glasses and began wiping them as he spoke, “She’s not faking it, after numerous MRIs and CAT scans, I’ve noticed slight damage to her amygdala and hippocampus, whatever happened to her in her battle with Unicorn must’ve put an enormous amount of strain on her mind. Put quite simply, she has amnesia. She has basic memory and can still do some advanced mathematics and science, must likely be due to the fact that she is a certified genius. We’ve also determined that she can recognize her former associates, those four closest to her, as well as, her father, Miss Shimmer and your younger sister, Officer. Starlight has also developed a kind dissociative disorder, she can see that it was her as Kamen Rider Equal, but as far as her mind’s concerned, it was a completely different person. She may make a recovery, but it will take time. How long I can’t say for sure, a week, a month, a year?”

Shining Armor looked upon them again, they seemed to be having the usual girl gossip, something was making Sunset blush, no doubt some teasing from Starlight. “So, it’s safe to say that she can’t be put on trial for anything, right?”

“Good sir, if you did, it’d be tantamount to putting away a random person on trial and in jail for a crime someone else committed. And as her doctor I’d be obligated to testify as such,” said Doc Top.

“Relax, no one’s talking about doing that. The DA’s office would look like a bunch of assholes. So, let’s just all pray this is permanent, I’d really rather not have to deal with a genius supervillain again,” said Shining Armor.

“And, what of her four colleagues?” Doc Top asked.

“Can’t really prove that it was them, when they’re in Dopant form, you can’t tell who they are, and sometimes their voices get distorted to the point that they’re unrecognizable.” Shining Armor shrugged. “They claim that they were just unwitting accomplices, but of course some of us know better, but we can’t prove it, yet. We’ll have them under surveillance, for as long as possible anyway.”

Meanwhile, Sunset had just gotten through some embarrassing talks with Starlight, the slightly older woman hugged Sunset from behind as she asked, “Sunset, I know you’ve been coming to visit me, you and Twilight both…And, I know you may not like that I was once an evil woman, but I hope we can stay friends…”

Sunset thought back to that day, the day she reached out to Starlight Glimmer in the Infinite White Space of the Earth’s Memories. She wanted to save Starlight with all she had, and as it turns out she did manage to save her, but whether it was through the power of the Miracle Magic or because of the overload of from the Memories of the Earth, Starlight Glimmer was given a kind of second chance at life, but there will be people in the city that will condemn her, will see her as the villain she was once, or could possibly become again. Sunset knew all about that kind of hate, and if there was one thing that would help her recover, it would be friends.

“We will, Starlight.” Even if other people hate you for your past. “I’ll always be your friend, remember that.”

***__________________________***

Twilight was busy typing away at her computer, putting the final touches on all the “case reports” that she had written up over the past year regarding their Kamen Rider adventures. It still astounded Twilight how much can happen in a year, and yet it felt as if ten plus have gone by with all the harrowing, near death, and interdimensional incidents that have happened. But then again, something else happened along the way, she fell in love, and with the most beautiful and caring girl in the world, not to mention strong, in body and spirit.

Speaking of which, said girlfriend was finishing washing up, Sunset exited the bathroom, drying her hair as she did, dressed in her leisure clothes. She spotted Twilight sitting on her couch and smiled as she said, “So, how does it feel to have twenty-four access to your girlfriend’s home?”

Twilight leaned back and hummed in mock contemplation. “Hmm, it’s okay, I guess. Not as exciting as I thought it would be.”

“Oh, it’s excitement you want, huh?” Sunset put on a mischievous grin. “Perhaps I should instate that whole ‘no clothing in Shimmer’s home’ rule. Should give you plenty of excitement.”

Twilight’s face turned red as she tried to maintain her air of composure. “I-I would appreciate that you not do that! What if I came over with my parents or Shiny, or our friends?!”

Sunset walked over to the couch and sat next to her. “A: if I was to do that, you would most assuredly call or text me to make sure I wasn’t in the buff, and B: well, considering you lifted up my shirt and inadvertently flashed our friends a few months ago, I’m not too worried about them seeing me in that state.”

Twilight sighed as she said, “Why is it that I fell in love with such a pervert?”

Sunset cuddled up close to Twilight, wrapping the egghead in her arms and bringing her head to rest against her shoulder. “Because, I’m a pervert who loves you, and will do anything to protect you.”

“Oh yeah, I thought that there was something – Ow!” Twilight yelped as Sunset lightly bopped her head. “Should I tag on violent as well?”

Sunset rolled her eyes, just then she heard a knock at the door. “Huh, I wasn’t expecting anyone today, did the girls text you?”

Twilight checked her cellphone, no new messages. “No, and I haven’t heard your phone go off at all while you were in the shower.”

Sunset got up from her comfortable position on the couch and walked to the front door. After looking through the peephole she was a little shocked at who it was. Twilight noticed Sunset’s reaction and asked, “Who is it?”

“Uh…a couple of people was not expecting, at all,” said Sunset as she unlocked the door and opened it.

When the door was fully opened, Twilight understood why she was shocked now. Standing outside were two of Starlight’s subordinates, Double Diamond and Night Glider. The former held a thick envelope in his hands, while the latter had her hands tucked into her leather jacket.

“`Sup, Shimmer,” said Night Glider.

“Hey…uh, not that it’s not nice to see you guys, but what are you doing here?” Sunset asked.

Double Diamond looked at the envelope he was holding and cleared his throat. “It pertains to you, Sunset, and I think it’s best that we talk about it inside.”

Sunset glanced to both of them.

“Doubt worry, we’re not here to seek revenge or anythin’. Starlight’s alive, you saved her, and you’re her friend. That makes us friends too, right?”

Sunset nodded and ushered her guests inside, once inside, Twilight directed them to the couch they were sitting on previously.

Night Glider and Double Diamond entered Sunset’s home, taking a seat on her sofa. Sunset took a seat on the adjacent chair with Twilight standing next to her, and from there an awkward silence fell upon the room. It lasted for about a minute and a half before anyone actually started talking.

“Guess I should ask some obvious questions, have you guys managed to find out what happened to Clear Skies and Sunflower?” Sunset asked.

Night Glider crossed her arms as she sighed in frustration. “As much as I hate to say it, they’re underground, we haven’t been able to locate them, and even though we deep-sixed the data on the Gaia Memories and how they’re made, we found out that there was some data was copied. We can only assume those two bitches managed to take some data on how to make them, but without the proper facilities, it’s worthless.”

“That’s not to say we can take it easy, if they do manage to do that, we’re going to be having Dopant trouble, again,” Double Diamond added.

Sunset and Twilight groaned. With Starlight, at least she was concerned with mitigating as much of the damage as possible and having a plan to take down said Memory user later, but with those two, it was different. They were willing to blow up the entire roof to take down Starlight and Sunset, who knew what damage those two could do with that kind of knowledge.

“Guess my Kamen Rider work won’t be done any time soon,” said Sunset.

“I was really hoping for some time to relax and not worry about saving the world for a little while at least,” said Twilight with a sigh.

Sunset looked back at her guests. “Was there something else?”

“Oh yeah, something good, something that Starlight wanted to give you for your birthday. It took a lot of prep work to make it all as official looking as possible, but it was worth the wait, and we felt that Starlight would want you to have it,” said Double Diamond.

Double Diamond opened the envelope and took out its contents. It was a bunch of papers. The snow-white man handed the papers over to Sunset, who carefully took them and looked through them, but was still confused as to what they actually were, but then she stopped when she looked upon one of them.

“Is this…a birth certificate?!” Twilight asked in amazement.

“Yep, and everything in your hands now makes Sunset Shimmer officially exist in this world. Guess Starlight wasn’t kidding when she said you were from another world, she did neglect to mention what kind of world though,” said Double Diamond.

Sunset and Twilight reexamined the documents, immunization records, dental records, passport information, and various other pieces of paper that would show that Sunset lived and had always lived in Canterlot City, there was even a paper that listed Celestia and Luna as her legal guardians. All this time, Sunset had never officially existed in this world, she had no means to get a job that didn’t need a full background check, and now she didn’t have to lie about her driver’s license information anymore, but it was much more than that. It meant that Sunset had a future in this world, no more trying to fly under the radar, and more importantly, this meant she could go to college and university, she could go to any one of them, even the one Twilight wanted to go to.

“Oh yeah, before I forget,” Night Glider reached into her pocket and tossed a small rectangular object at Twilight, “Catch egghead.”

“AH!” Twilight quickly grasped the object and noticed that it was a flash drive. “What’s on this?”

“A copy of all the information you’ll need just in case you wanna make some adjustments to the digital information that was set up for Sunset. Starlight told us you were a genius, so I’m guessing you can,” said Night Glider.

“Sunset…this means you can…!”

“I can go with you; I can go anywhere! We can go anywhere! No more tiptoeing to make sure no one thinks I’m some alien from another world! I can live like everybody else here!” Sunset exclaimed in excitement.

Sunset jumped out of her seat and hugged Twilight tightly, tears streaming down from her face at the sheer joy of this gift that was given to her.

Twilight was tearing up as well, but she managed to say, “Thank you, both of you.”

“Don’t thank us, we’re just the messengers. Be sure and thank Starlight the next time you meet her,” said Night Glider.

Sunset sniffled and said, “We will, we definitely will.”

***__________________________***

After the news was given, Sunset and Twilight immediately called up their friends, and of course, Pinkie Pie wanted to throw a “Congrats On Getting Your Legal Paperwork That Says You Exist” party. It was truly a happy occasion, it was hosted at Celestia and Luna’s house, who were written down as Sunset’s legal guardians, Ms. Harshwhinny was in attendance, along with Namby Pamby, Shining Armor, the Shadowbolts, and their friends. So, pretty much all who knew the secret.

“Hold on, you’re telling me Granny Smith was the one who had the Yesterday Memory this whole time?!” Sunset asked in surprise.

“Eeyup, Ah was just as surprised as you were. When Ah went to go and get the archery stuff, Granny told me she found that Gaia Memory lyin’ around the farm one day. Considerin’ what we know about ‘em, it may’ve been seekin’ her out. Thankfully, she knew better than to use it after all that monster business.”

“I’m just glad you’re feeling better, using that Gaia Memory for the first time was probably like that was risky.”

Applejack sighed woefully, “Fer all the good it did, Ah couldn’t even save you guys when it counted most, just caused more of a mess.”

Sour Sweet walked up and patted Applejack on the shoulder. “Hey, if you hadn’t done that, then those other two Rider guys probably wouldn’t have gotten there in time. You gave them time to get to us and stop those psychos from killing us.”

Applejack smiled, gaining some comfort from the knowledge that she may’ve spared them all a worse fate that than what had happened.

The Silver Veil had not come for Shotaro, Philip, and Terui, so they were happy to join in on the festivities. Laughs were had, cake was smushed into other people’s faces, Celestia and Sunset’s faces to be exact, courtesy of Luna. The Vice Principal was surely living up to her role as a big sister, while also acting like an impish little sister at the same time.

“Oh, we’re getting her back for that,” said Sunset.

“Oh, absolutely, Sunset,” Celestia agreed.

And get her back they did. Sunset had borrowed one of Pinkie Pie’s party cannons, loaded it with some spare cake batter that Pinkie had for one reason or another, and had Celestia trick Luna into backing up into the perfect position. By the time she had realized it, it was too late, Sunset pulled the cord and fired the cannon, getting Luna covered head to toe in gooey brown and pink cake batter.

“Not…funny,” Luna groaned.

Celestia and Sunset looked at each other and then to Luna, and then proceeded to laugh hysterically. Luna got her revenge by tackling both her big sister and adopted little sister, pinning them to the ground as she made sure that they got a nice coating of cake batter.

“Rainbow Dash, what are you?” Rarity asked.

“What?” Rainbow asked. “I’m not doing anything.”

“Give it here. Cellphone, now!” Rarity ordered.

Rainbow sighed in defeat and handed over her cellphone, and as expected the scene of their principals and best friend rolling on the ground covered in cake batter was being recorded. “Honestly, Rainbow Dash, she’s our friend, and they’re our teachers for gods sake! And what would Gilda think if she saw you doing this?!”

Before Rarity could react, Gilda swiped the cellphone back and said, “She’d say, ‘Damn that’s hot’ and, ‘Can I get a copy?’”

“Damn right!” Rainbow exclaimed as she high fived her girlfriend.

“I am so sorry about my friend, Sunny,” said Rarity. “Sunny?”

“Lemon Zest, hand that over right now!” Sunny Flare ordered.

The neon green haired girl whimpered under the scrutinizing gaze of Sunny Flare and said, “Ahhhh, c’mon, it’s hot! Why can’t I film it?!”

“Because, I don’t trust what you’re probably going to do with that, that’s why.”

Lemon Zest sighed in defeat, but before she could hand it over, Indigo Zap swooped in and yelled “Yoink!” before heading off in the opposite direction. Sunny Flare groaned in agitation at her friends’ middle school level antics, it was then that Rarity came up behind her and patted her shoulders in a reassuring manner.

“Looks like we both have our share of problems,” said Rarity.

“In more ways than one,” said Sunny.

The three Riders were busy enjoying the food table, Philip most of all.

“How can this food taste so good?! Is it due to sheer skill or is it because of the metaphysical properties of this world?! This requires research!” Philip stated.

Shotaro bopped his partner on the head and said, “Philip, enjoy the food, don’t go analyzing it.”

Terui looked at Shotaro with concern. “Are you still thinking about what Shimmer-san told us?”

“There are still two people out there who might have the data on how to make Gaia Memories, it may not be now, but they might someday soon. I was wondering if we should stay a little longer to help and track them down,” said Shotaro.

Philip rubbed the top his head and then turned to Shotaro. “I would agree with that, but then again, we wouldn’t be good senpais if we did. We were called here to help them get on their way, and now Sun-chan, Rainbow-san, and Armor-san are all well on their way to becoming great Riders. This is their world, and we should let them defend it.”

Terui chuckled and nodded his head in agreement with Philip. “Still, they’re young, and it wouldn’t hurt to help them out once in a while.”

“We can’t come to help all the time, so we must put our faith in this team, this is their city, their world, and they must be the ones to protect it,” said Shotaro.

The festivities went on for a few more hours until it was late at night, the party began to wind down and everybody bid Sunset farewell and congratulations before heading home, the only ones left were Sunset, Shining Armor, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Shotaro, Philip, Terui, Luna and Celestia. The remaining partygoers gathered around the patio where a firepit had been set up, allowing the others to talk more intimately as the three otherworlders regaled everyone with the tales of their grand adventures in the World of Double.

“Bet you’re really happy about all this, Twily. Now Sunset can attend any school she wants, and it’ll be legit,” said Shining Armor.

Twilight hugged Sunset tightly as her face broke into a wide grin. “Of course, I am, now neither of us have to worry about what kind of future we can have, and what Sunset can strive for!”

“Although, I will need some help working on some applications, I know it’s kind of late in the year to be doing that, but, maybe you can help me Sparky?” Twilight gave a firm nod. Sunset turned her attention to her two guardians and asked, “Would you two mind helping me out, too?”

Luna put down her drink and said, “Well, we’d be sorry excuses for principals and guardians if we didn’t. Of course, we will! Can’t break up the lovely couple.”

“Luna,” Sunset groaned.

“Oh no, I quite agree, it would be a crime against the world to have you two break up over something as silly as distance. I’m determined to see this ‘ship’ all the way through to the end,” Celestia added.

Sunset face palmed herself, “Sorry, Twi, but you gotta deal with this now.”

“Hey!” Celestia and Luna exclaimed at the same time.

“Could be worse, they could have a Hall of Fame room dedicated to every little thing you’ve done since birth,” Rainbow commented.

Celestia’s eyes sparkled with mirth upon hearing that. “Oh, yes, Lulu, let’s start one of those!”

“Rainbow don’t give them ideas!” Sunset scolded.

“Hey, if I gotta suffer like that, then so do you, partner! HA!” Rainbow laughed.

Everyone began to have a laugh at Sunset’s expense, to which even Sunset had to join in on the laughter. Just then, a Silver Veil appeared in the backyard, everyone looked towards it, and as the Veil rippled, the sight of a city with windmills appeared.

“Fuuto,” said Shotaro.

“Looks like our ride is here,” said Terui.

The three Riders from the World of Double stood, along with the three Riders from the World of Unicorn. Each of them walked up to each other and shook hands.

“This world is in good hands, with you three,” said Terui.

“Keep close the bonds that you forge, for therein lies your power,” said Philip.

“And that the Riders stick together, no matter what, we’ll be there for each other when it counts,” said Shotaro.

“It was an honor fighting beside you,” said Shining Armor.

“Don’t worry, we won’t forget, bonds of friendship is kind of our thing,” said Rainbow Dash.

“And thanks, for getting be back into the fight, Shotaro,” said Sunset.

Shotaro tipped his hat to Sunset and all three World of Double Riders walked straight for the Silver Veil, and in the next moment, the Veil moved towards them until Shotaro, Philip, and Terui were gone, returned to their world.

“Ahem…yes, that’s going to take some getting used to,” said Celestia.

“Amen to that, Sister,” said Luna as she took a drink.

Rainbow Dash stretched and yawned and then asked, “Mind if we crash here tonight, Principal Celestia?”

“I don’t mind, Shining Armor, you’re welcome to do the same,” said Celestia.

Shining Armor shook his head. “No, thank you, but Mom and Dad are expecting us back, they’re still kind of skittish after this whole thing.”

“Awwww, I was hoping for some cuddles from Twilight,” said Sunset in a pouty voice as she wrapped her arms around Twilight from behind.

“Nice try, Sunset, you’re not going to do any ‘cuddling’ under our roof,” said Luna.

“Okay, but, uh, can you guys head inside, I wanna talk to Twi about something.”

Everyone nodded and headed back inside, leaving only the couple outside to look at the sky as it changed from sunset into twilight, and finally to night. The stars shown more brilliantly that night, as if saying “Good job, everyone, you did it!” Sunset held Twilight’s hand, making Twilight turn her head to look into Sunset’s gorgeous turquoise eyes, and for Sunset, she had pleasure of staring two beautiful amethyst eyes. The two shared a kiss, it wasn’t passionate, but it was loving, a calm and chaste kiss.

“Feels a bit weird to call it all over,” said Twilight.

“Well, we still got two fugitives on the run, so don’t jinx it just yet,” said Sunset.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Sunset looked away for a moment, as if thinking how best to tell her whatever it was she was going to tell her. “Hey, you can do a look up?”

“Really, for what?”

“Just trust me.”

Twilight was skeptical but shrugged and went along with it. The young genius focused her mind, and, in an instant, she was drawn into the realm of Earth’s Memories.

~*~*~*~

The hundreds upon millions of bookshelves appeared all around Twilight, the infinite wellspring of knowledge that was the Memories of Earth was all laid bare before her, awaiting Twilight’s command. “Sunset, I’m in, what did you want me to look into?” Twilight was met with silence. “Sunset?”

“Right here Twi.”

“YAAAAAAH!!!” Twilight screamed as she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around quickly and gasped as she blurted out, “SUNSET?!”

“Surprise,” said Sunset with strained enthusiasm.

Twilight stammered several times before she managed to get a coherent sentence out. “Y-Y-You can come in here! Sunset, you can access the Earth’s Memories, too?!”

“Eh, not quite.” Sunset reached towards one of the books but once she did, her hand passed right through it. Twilight did the same but instead of going through it, she was able to pick it up. “I can come here, but I can’t touch the knowledge here.”

“It must’ve happened when you and Starlight fought, you said you were exposed to the power of the Earth’s Memories, perhaps it granted you the ability to get this far, but not enough to get the knowledge. Perhaps this means the Earth believes you’re worthy,” said Twilight.

“Maybe, but I’m glad that this just one more thing I can share with you.”

~*~*~*~

Sunset and Twilight returned from the world of the Earth’s Memories. A thought came to mind as they remembered the parting of their friends from another world.

“Sunset, did you ever find out what happened to that other Rider?” Twilight asked.

The flame haired girl shook her head. “I don’t know, Rainbow said that another portal opened up, and when it did, she just said ‘See ya ‘round.’ And just after that she left.”

“That’s a shame, I really wanted to thank her for helping us,” said Twilight.

“Don’t worry, something tells me, we’ll see each other again.”

***______________[=+=] T [=+=]______________***

Fizz sat upon her bike, overlooking a city that hadn’t know a sunrise in many years. Clouds blanketed the sky, occasionally spitting out lightning, but always rumbled with thunder. The young woman swiped open her phone and looked through her photos, her eyes fell upon one in particular, one that brought a sad smile to her face.

“You gonna be okay?”

Fizz didn’t bother looking behind her, she’d recognize that raspy, yet melodious voice anywhere. “That depends if Tsukasa abducts me, again.”

“Was it that bad?”

“No, just made me remember some things.”

There was some silence for a few seconds, but Fizz was pretty sure that the young woman behind her was probably rubbing the back of her head awkwardly trying to figure out how to best comfort Fizz. The violet woman just chuckled at the idea of that girl trying to comfort her.

“Hey, don’t sweat it, Aria, I know you’re not the touchy feely type,” said Fizz as she turned around.

The woman who stood before her was dressed in black camo pants, a gun holster strapped her right thigh, and a combat knife sheathed on her belt. She wore a black vest that and sleeveless tanktop underneath it. Her complexion was a light magenta, her hair was purple with neon green streaks in it, cut short to where it was about shoulder length. Her fuchsia colored eyes had a kind of otherworldly glow to them, but that’s not unexpected considering her otherworldly origins.

“Tch, what, you sayin’ I can’t be sensitive?” Aria asked.

“Naw, just that’s it’s like pulling teeth,” said Fizz with a chuckle.

Aria rolled her eyes at that comment, but just then a ring came from her pants and Aria quickly took out her cellphone. “Uh-huh…Yeah…She’s here…Okay, got it.”

“What’s up?” Fizz asked.

“One of the Storm King’s Smashes are attacking again, think you can Rider Up?” Aria asked.

Fizz took one last look at her cellphone, to the picture of herself when she was a teen. Not much had changed about her, she still kept the same hairstyle, and choice of clothing. The picture showed her taking a selfie, her arm outstretched to capture her image, and another’s. The other person in the picture was a girl, she had her arm hanging off of Fizz’s shoulders, and her flame hair moved to get a good shot of her face, but not before said girl gave Fizz a kiss on the cheek and threw up a peace sign.

“Yeah, I can,” she said as she took out her Driver and two bottle shaped objects.

{=+=} HORSE! {=+=}

{=+=} STORM! {=+=}

{=+=} BEST MATCH! {=+=}

{=+=} ARE YOU READY? {=+=}

“Henshin!”

{=+=} GALLOPING THUNDER! HORSE-STORM! {=+=}

{=+=} YEAH! {=+=}

A flash of aurora lightning went off, and soon, Fizz had transformed into her alter ego, Kamen Rider Tempest.

“`Cause I’m the Guardian of Harmony.”

***__________________________***

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

“I was more sure about this before I entered the portal…”

A lot of things were finally getting back on track for Sunset, they still had to track down the two fugitives, but Shining Armor assure he’d take care of that. She now had official paperwork that made her a “real person” on Earth and could live a life without worry about others thinking she was an alien from another world. Well, she is, but at least now she didn’t have to work as hard to hide it. Sunset was also able to reconcile with her adoptive mother, Princess Celestia, and had a wonderful girlfriend that she’d do anything for.

So, with all that done, there was one last thing Sunset had to do in order to move on with her new life on Earth. And it turns out, she wasn’t as ready as she thought she was. Yes, the final task that Sunset had to do in order to shut the door on her past and look towards the future, was to finally confront her mother, her biological mother, Stellar Flare.

After confirming that Sunburst was in fact her younger brother, Sunset knew this was an inevitability. But, how to confront the mare who was really her mother? That was the question. Should she be angry at her for leaving her in an orphanage? Sad that she was given up so easily? Sunset didn’t know, the only thing she did know was that she was happy to have found a younger brother, and a little miffed that she missed out on so many opportunities to tease and mess with him.

Hence the current situation, Sunset stood outside of the gates to Sire’s Hollow, flanked by Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst. Although Sunset didn’t look like herself, she was given an amulet from Princess Twilight that would hide her identity while being worn. To Starlight and Sunburst, she looked like herself, but to everypony else, they just saw some random unicorn mare.

“You know, we can always come another day, you don’t have to force yourself to do this,” suggested Starlight.

“No…No, I-I need to do this now or I’ll just keep chickening out,” said Sunset.

“I don’t know how this will go, but I just want you know that I’m glad I found out I have a sister,” said Sunburst.

Sunset smiled and nuzzled the unicorn stallion. “Thanks, little bro. Wow, that’s gonna take some getting used to.”

The three chuckled before giving a sigh. With their resolve steeled, they walked through the gates and proceeded to Sunburst’s childhood home. Sunburst had lettered ahead that they would be coming, and that he was bringing someone that his mother should meet. The three friends eventually made it to Sunburst’s home, with the stallion knocking on the door. After a minute, the door opened, and Sunset had to fight to keep her voice from hitching.

There, in the doorway, stood a rusty orange unicorn mare, with white splotches around the lower halves of both her hind and forelegs, and wearing a string of pearls around her neck. Stellar’s mane was a moderate scarlet color, and her eyes were chartreuse green. The older mare lied eyes on the mare next to her son, and then she looked back to Sunburst. A wide smile broke out across her face as she released a high-pitched squeal of delight as she hugged her son fiercely.

“M-Mother, what are you doing?!” Sunburst croaked.

“I’m just so happy you finally found a mare to settle down with!” Stellar declared.

Starlight’s cheeks puffed out as she tried to contain her laugher, while Sunset was trying to keep her expression from displaying how wrong that idea was. Although, Sunset had to admit, had she not known that Sunburst was her brother, and provided she wasn’t already with Twilight, Sunset may have dated him. But that’s not case.

“W-Wait, how did you – what made you think that?!” Sunburst asked.

“Oh, now we’ll discuss that inside, come, come now all of you, come inside,” said Stellar in excitement.

“I’ll actually be visiting my Dad, Ms. Flare, but you three go ahead and visit,” said Starlight.

Stellar practically dragged her son into the house, with Sunset bringing up the rear. She looked over her shoulder and saw Starlight mouth the words “good luck” before closing the door. Once inside, Sunburst was plopped onto the couch and Sunset took the seat next to him, Stellar was prancing in place, still giddy as a school filly.

“Uh, Sunburst, what exactly did you say in your letter?” Sunset asked.

“Oh, I have that right here, hun.” Stellar used her magic to take the letter from a drawer and read it aloud, “Ahem, ‘Dear Mother, there is someone that I’d like you to meet right away. We’ve been meaning to come and see you, but circumstances have not permitted her do so. Thankfully, things have calmed down with her duties and we’ll be arriving to Sire’s Hollow the day after tomorrow. We have some important things to discuss with you, so please, keep an open mind. Love, Sunburst.’”

Sunset glanced over to her little brother, glaring at him with annoyance. “Well, now I know why she thought that! You couldn’t have worded it differently?”

“S-Sorry, it was the best way to convey the importance of this meeting, without giving too much away!” Sunburst defended.

“Yeah, I’m proofreading your letters from now on.”

Stellar used her magic once again to levitate a chair over, placing it in the middle of the room to sit across from her son and his “fiancé”. “Please, tell me, how long have you been seeing each other? What’s your profession dear? When is the wedding? How many foals do you plan to have–?!”

“WHOA! Slow down!” Sunset interrupted. “First off, I think it’s important that you see this.”

Sunset used her magic to remove the amulet, and the moment she did, Sunset’s true form was revealed. The moment it was, Stellar’s expression went from one of excitement, to one of shock. Sunset got off the couch and slowly approached the older mare and said, “Do you…Do you recognize me?”

Stellar raised her hooves to her mouth, and then nodded slowly.

“Do you know my name?”

“S-Sunset…and…y-you’re an…an alicorn.”

“Yeah.”

Silence hung in the room for what felt like several long hours, as if time itself had stopped to try and drag out this awkward, and somewhat painful moment. Sunset tried to figure out what was going through her biological mother’s mind right about now. Did she think that Sunset had come back to enact some sort of revenge for leaving her in an orphanage? Surely that would be part of what’s going through her mind, a long-lost daughter that you haven’t seen for years now suddenly appears to you but is now an all-powerful alicorn with the authority of a royal Princess. Many possibilities were running through her mind.

“Mom…it’s alright, Sunset isn’t here to punish you or anything, we just want to know why,” said Sunburst.

Sunset offered a hoof to Stellar and said, “It’s just like Sunburst said, I just want answers. Why was I put in an orphanage, were you disappointed in me…?”

Stellar finally managed to find her voice as she shook her head vehemently at that. “What?! No! I was never disappointed in you! It was never about that! It…” Stellar sighed heavily. “I wish it was something grander, or more profound, Sunset…but…the truth is we just couldn’t afford to keep you…”

Stellar Flare began the tale of a young couple living in Canterlot, even back then the cost of living was pretty high, even with a good job, which meant you had to be minor nobility, work for nobles, or have a high paying job in order to afford even a home. Despite their dual income, Stellar Flare and Sunspot couldn’t make ends meet, not for themselves, and especially for their young foal, Sunset Shimmer.

“It would’ve been a struggle to keep you fed, and eventually we all would’ve been homeless and you in a orphanage…We thought the best thing for you was for you to go to a family that could provide for you better than we could, especially for a young couple at that time…” Stellar ran her hoof through her mane. “I guess that’s where my obsession to have a plan really started…we eventually moved out of Canterlot and came to Sire’s Hollow, and were able to get back on our hooves, and after a few years, we had another foal, you, Sunburst.”

Sunset sat on the floor as she went over all this information, at least one of her fears was put to rest. She wasn’t given up because she was a disappointment, or because her parents didn’t love her anymore. It was just the best option they had to give their young foal a better chance at a better life.

“But what I don’t understand is, how you look so young?! You should be much older than this! Is it because you’re an alicorn? How are you an alicorn?!” Stellar asked.

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck nervously. “Heh, heh…well…that’s a bit of a long story.”

Stellar got off the chair and walked towards her daughter, she then sat before her and took her hoof into her own. “I haven’t been there…at all…for you. I had always meant to come back to Canterlot and find you, to reconnect and see how you were doing. But the orphanage said you were taken in to Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns, and I thought that everything was going well for you. But, now you’re here, and I’d like to hear that story. It may be too late to gain that connection that Sunburst and I have, but I’d like to try and connect to you, Sunset.”

Sunburst got off the couch and walked over to join his mother and big sister. “It’s the same as me, I only know a little bit about you from Starlight. I’d like to know a lot more. And…well…I’ve always wanted a sibling, and now I have one and I’d like to get to know you.”

Sunset smiled as her eyes watered, feeling like a lost piece of her past was finally falling into place. True, it would take a long time for Sunset to reconnect on a familial level, to Sunset, her real mother would always be Celestia, but Stellar was another mother she could have in her life, and a brother to go with it. Now, she was whole.

***__________________________***

Twilight waited patiently at the statue, the interdimensional gateway between Earth and Equestria. Despite knowing that Sunset was far more powerful over there than on Earth, it didn’t stop Twilight from worrying about the safe return of her girlfriend. After a minute, the portal rippled and out from it stepped Sunset Shimmer. There was something about Sunset that was different, not physically, but emotionally, as if she was lighter.

“How did it go?” Twilight asked.

“Really good, actually. She freaked out, of course, when I told her I was trapped on this side of the mirror for some years, and she wasn’t too proud of how much of a bitch I was. Both here and back home. And she bawled when I told her I nearly died, and then she said how proud she was of me, again, for saving Equestria and another world. Oh, and that she was proud to have two children who had accomplishment such great feats lately.”

Twilight hugged Sunset tight, happy that she was able to reconcile with her biological mother. “So, will she be attending the graduation?”

Sunset blew a raspberry. “Of course, when I invited her, she was bouncing around the room like a filly. You should’ve seen Celestia when I gave her the invitation, she did the exact same thing in the middle of the throne room, guess Moms are all the same in that regard. But that brings the total to Sunburst, Mom Stellar, Mom Celestia, Auntie Luna, Starlight, and Princess Twilight. And of course, Aunt Celestia and Aunt Luna from here. It’s going to be great in a graduation in a few months.”

“Not only that, but you were also picked to head up the Yearbook Committee! How cool is that?!” Twilight exclaimed.

Sunset sighed dreamily, happy that everything was winding down. No more Dopants, no more world saving events, the only thing she had to worry about right now was Equestrian magic, which hadn’t popped up in a long while, and of course, her future plans that involved herself and Twilight.

“Well, since it’s the weekend, you wanna head to the movies? I heard they released Alien Alicorns vs. Space Pirates 2: Lost Galaxy Chronicles~” Sunset suggested.

Twilight hummed with suspicion. “It wouldn’t be because Cosma happens to remind you of someone, does it?”

Sunset rubbed her chin as if seriously giving it thought. “I don’t know, but would I be incorrect in saying that you were eyeing Solara a little too much during the first movie?”

Suddenly, both Twilight and Sunset’s phones went off, and it was a familiar notification that made them both wince with trepidation. The girls whipped out their cellphones and sure enough, it was a Dopant Alert.

“Well…Clear Skies and Sunflower didn’t waste much time, did they,” said Sunset in a deadpan voice.

“A Rider’s work is never done, I suppose.” Twilight put her cellphone away and gave Sunset a kiss on the cheek. “I’ll text you when I’m at the theater, don’t keep me waiting too long.”

Sunset grinned as she took a look around and summoned her Uni-Driver and Unicorn Memory.

< UNICORN! >

“Henshin!”

> UNICORN! <

A turquoise electrical field formed around Sunset, materializing her armor and transforming her into the hero of Canterlot City, Kamen Rider Unicorn. A flash of her horn summoned her bike, which had already changed form to match that of its Rider. Unicorn mounted her vehicle, gave a little salute to Twilight and sped off into the distance. Along the way, she heard the sound of another motorcycle engine, and watched as Kamen Rider Nasca came riding up on Unicorn’s right. Not long after, another engine made its presence known, Unicorn looked to her left and saw Kamen Rider Trigger pull up alongside her.

All three Riders nodded to each other, a shared bond of comradery and friendship, a bond that was forged in the fires of battle and strife, this was the power they would carry into battle, and would see them through any evil. The three Riders had several police cars traveling behind them, their own escort as they ushered them straight into the city and to where the Dopant had dared to attack. The large triceratops looking creature snarled and roared but stopped when it finally noticed the three Riders arrive.

Unicorn, Nasca, and Trigger dismounted their bikes and walked towards the Dopant, yet another villain who would fall, this, or any other creature that threatened their city, their world, would have to contend with its defenders. That was Sunset’s role now in this world, and it was one she was born for, and would forever continue to be, a hero.

“You guys ready to do this?!”

“Always!”

“Born ready!”

The Dopant roared in a challenging way towards the trio of Riders, and they were more than happy to meet that challenge.

“The keeper of law and order! Kamen Rider Trigger!”

“Delivering justice at sonic speeds! Kamen Rider Nasca!”

“The Magic of Friendship unleashed! Kamen Rider Unicorn!” Unicorn then pointed her finger at the creature as her eyes and horn glowed. “It’s time to restore harmony!”