//------------------------------// // Shimmering Sunset Arc 4: What Lies In The Professor's Past? // Story: A Golden Drive Through Equestria // by Psyga315 //------------------------------// I continued my pondering of whether or not to go behind Celestia's back and steal the crown from under her nose. On one hand, the crown is a very powerful weapon and the sooner it's under lock and key, the better. On the other hand, I worried about becoming a villain in the process. I still reeled over what happened yesterday with the traffic accident. Suddenly, I heard a scream. Good, I thought. I'd take some anger out on the Roidmudes... That's usually what people tend to scream at, right? Monster attacks? I ran outside the school grounds to confront the Roidmude... Only to see no one there... Well, except for a purple skinned girl in a light blue shirt and a purple skirt running towards me on all fours... Wait what? "Uh, Banno? The fuck kind of Roidmude did this to someone?" I asked. "I don't know! You should start my engine anyways!" Banno said. I got ready to fight... Only for her to stop. "Yeah, I don't think that's how the new you is supposed to..." A purple dog with green tufts of hair spoke up as the girl sprang up. Wait... Did the dog just... talk!? The girl then began to wobble on her legs, almost losing balance. I rolled my eyes, groaned, and walked over to help her up. "Alright, what the hell's going on?" I asked her. "A-ah! Um... I... Erm..." The girl began to stammer. I merely shifted my glare towards the dog. "You. What's going on?" I asked the dog. "Well... Erm... How do I best put it lightly... Well, you see..." The dog also began to stammer. I recalled back to when I met the Space Marine and the Spartan. "You guys from Equestria too?" I asked. As if I had blown their minds, the girl and dog both shut up and nodded their heads rapidly. "W-wait... Too? You mean there's others here?" She asked me. She then struggled to stand up, holding her hands against the railing by the stairs. "Did you see someone with red and yellow hair?" She asked. I blinked. There was only one person I know who had yellow and red hair... Sunset Shimmer entered the garage where she unveiled an orange dirt bike with a blood red engine embedded right into the hull. "Woaaah..." Ross stood next to her. "Hop on. You're a student at CHS, right?" She asked him. "Y-yeah... But..." Ross then took out the Rose Attacker and unfolded it into its own dirt bike mode. "I got my own ride." Ross asked. "Now that's what I'm talking about." Sunset Shimmer smirked as she got on her bike. She then put on her helmet. "Try to keep up, alright?" She asked. Ross nodded as the two rode off. "I see..." I said. In the span of five minutes outside the school ground, I managed to learn a lot more about Sunset Shimmer than I could ever do in a nightly binging of her MyStable posts. As it turned out, Sunset Shimmer was originally from Equestria as a former pupil of a princess by the name of Celestia. She had come back to Equestria and failed in stealing the Element of Magic. I figured I'd tell her what I knew about it. "So, basically the thing my Celestia is touting as some sort of cheap trinket." I said. "Yeah. It's... Wait, what!?" The girl shouted, though I barely flinched. "Apparently, that's what it's been all this time. Some sort of stupid prom night crown waiting to be bathed in pig's blood." I said. Her eyes widened and backed away. "N-nonononononono!" She said. "Well, you and I have a pretty common goal then. I want that trinket out of here, you want it back at Equestria." I said. "Y-yeah." She said. "So, why not just steal it back?" I said. "W-what!? Are you crazy? I may want the crown back, but I'm not gonna stoop to Sunset's lows!" She said. As she said that, I froze. What the hell did I just say? Steal it? I casually said that right to her face. I looked down at the belt. The more I'm with Banno... The more I'm dressed up as Ryoma... The more willing I am to commit a sin. Won't be long now before I actually practice what I preach. I nodded. "Of course. Sorry about that. It was just a suggestion." I said. "It better be." She muttered. "I guess we have a common enemy too. I've been on Sunset Shimmer's case since a couple of days ago. Had her on the ropes too. I'd be happy to help you out with this. Name's Kel... Professor Silverbolt..." I said. "Twilight Sparkle." She said. I recognized the name from the MyStable group petitioning Silverbolt's return to Crystal Prep. However, this Twilight lacked glasses and wore her hair straight. The fact that she didn't stutter from Silverbolt's name or even recognized my appearance is enough of an indicator that Silverbolt's counterpart in Equestria hasn't met her. Speaking of... "So... Equestria. I'm guessing horses are a major thing in your world?" I asked. "Erm... Yes, but the term you're looking for is Ponies..." Twilight said. I froze. "Professor?" Twilight waved to me, though I couldn't respond. "Come on, Twi! We might be able to find the Element in here!" The dog then got up and pushed the door open. Twilight got up and followed him. Meanwhile I just sat there, leaving only the ringing bell to snap me out of it. "What the hell was that?" Banno asked. "... Ponies... Why did it have to be Ponies?" I asked. Somewhere in 2010, someone had the right idea to remake a show in the seventies called My Little Pony. What would have been a moderate show for little girls turned into an internet monstrosity that infected the entire web. Not even Henshin Justice, a forum I frequented, was immune to the pastel colored cat-like beings. It slowly made sense now that I had thought of it. I remembered a cyan colored Pony with rainbow colored hair... Almost exactly like Rainbow Dash. Pieces began to click in and as they did, I began to growl. "I haaaate ponies..." I said. Thankfully, I had a phone call break my concentration. "Bill Nye the Science Guy! Bill Nyyyye, the Science Guy... BILL! BILL! BILL! BI-" I then pressed answer. "Hello?" I asked. "Heeeeey!" I knew the voice and I got up, looking around for Niko. "So, you just met Twilight, huh?" He asked. "How do you know her!?" I shouted. "... Let's just say I've seen many iterations of this universe to know right down to the point where people come and go." Niko said. "You..." I growled. "The true enemy you want to fight isn't Sunset Shimmer. No. It's someone else." Niko said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I think it's time to give you some answers. Head over to the following address. You'll soon realize what answers you're looking for." With that, Niko hanged up and a second later, I got a text. I pulled it out and read the text: '108 Somerset Street'. I sighed and got to the Tridoron. Seemed I have some snooping to do. Ross and Sunset stopped at the parking lot of Canterlot High. Ross could see the Tridoron pull away and drive off. He then turned to Sunset. "So, you come to CHS too?" Ross asked. "Yes, I do." Sunset Shimmer said. "Cool! I just transferred here yesterday! Principal Celestia insisted I come here as per the Headmaster's recommendation." Ross said. "The Headmaster?" Sunset Shimmer had only heard of him in passing. A man who runs the Academia School Board, a board pertaining to four schools, each with a different learning curve. Canterlot High was just one of the four, as was Crystal Prep. What made Sunset raise her eyebrow was the Headmaster's insistence for Ross to be placed in high school. If you got a recommendation from the Headmaster of all people, it would be for a school more prestigious than, say, high school. "Yeah. Not sure who he is though." Ross shrugged and walked into the school. "So, what classes do you take? I have PE, Science, Math, and then Music to end things off at. You?" He asked. "Mostly the same. Though I have Computer Art instead of Music." Sunset Shimmer said. "Ah, so how good are you at it?" He asked. "Erm... I'm still getting used to things." Sunset bit her lip. This Ross person was being way too nice for her. She couldn't act like herself around him and still expect to be her personal slave. She sighed, then patted Ross on the back. "Hey, speaking of, PE's gonna start soon. You should go get ready." Sunset Shimmer said to Ross. "Okay. See ya later, Sunny!" Ross then ran off at a blurring speed. Sunset Shimmer blinked. Well, that's one way to get rid of him. Sunset Shimmer can now begin her search to where the Element of Magic went. Her eyes went to a girl with long pink hair tending to her locker. Perhaps she knows just where to look. I parked the Tridoron outside of a burnt out shack in the middle of a desolated urban neighbourhood. I got out of the Tridoron and walked towards the door. I looked at the text, then compared the numbers on the door. I reached my hand over to the doorknob and opened it. I hacked up a nasty cough upon inhaling the dust bunnies that had built up inside the shack. There was so much dust that I had to transform in order to get a better breathing space. I turned the ignition twice, enabling me to get Shift Technic. Plugging it in, I looked around to see anything of importance. That's when I noticed a computer in front of me, sitting on a mahogany desk with a black swivel chair on it. It seemed off. I walked closer and pressed on the power button in the monitor. After I heard the computer hum to life, I heard a very familiar tone. DUUUUUUUUUUUUN! This tone was most definitely the old Macintosh computer tone. The BIOS phase of the start-up went by pretty quickly, for a Mac, before it landed me on the desktop. What unnerved me was that the GUI was basically the same as a newer Mac, with a lack of a taskbar and rather a series of icons. On the desktop was just a folder labeled 'Entry Logs'. I clicked on it. The window that opened blew me away. The files that were in there were in the hundreds. I clicked on one file and looked at its stats. It was well over thirty minutes with about half a gigabyte of data. Out of curiosity, I clicked and dragged a box around all of them. A chunk of twenty six videos totalled to about nine hours and clocked in at 14 gigabytes. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the first one, titled "Oct-10-2010, Mere Potions". It opened up a media file. It was a broadcast of two kids over a bubbling beaker. One of the kids announced and welcomed the viewer to a show called Popular Science for Kids. This was the show that Soarin' told me about. I let the show play as I cracked open some windows, just to get the dust out as I cancelled the transformation. The show was alright, just showing the kids doing experiments related to baking soda and how awesome it is. It wasn't until after a brief, animated sketch about a bald man and his dog getting into comical hijinks as a deep voiced narrator talked about baking soda's many facts and details that I was glued to the screen. Here, they introduced a new character for the show, announcing him to be a professor from Crystal Prep Academy, Professor Jetstorm Silverbolt. He was standing in a pastel colored lab with overblown chalkboards saying ridiculous stuff like "2 + 2 = Fun!" "Greetings!" His voice was eerily similar to Ryoma's, and while he was dressed like him and even had the same hair as him, his face did not match his. It was blockier than Ryoma's. He had a smile stretched across his face and spoke in a very happy tone. "I'm sure you guys are curious to know what kind of wacky potions Old Starswirl left behind when he left the show, well, allow me to show you!" He then took out two glass bottles holding oddly colored liquids. One contained green liquid while another one contained purple liquid. "These are special identity changing potions! Watch and learn!" He took the green bottle and flicked some liquid over his arm. "Woah! Look at that! My skin changed color!" It was clearly just paint sprayed onto his hand to make it look like his silver skin was now green. "The properties of this are also the properties found in paint, but with an added ingredient: Dihydrogen Monoxide!" He said as a dramatic sting punctuated it, as if H2O was the deadliest chemical in all of Earth. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I said out loud. I then stopped the video, only for the video to black out. "Wait, what?" I then pressed play again and the video came back up, now showing Silverbolt without his smile, hands on the table, and glaring at the camera. The lab he was in was also changed. It was now a muted brown with a desk that I found spookily familiar. "If you had managed to stop the episode around my part, it can either mean one of three things. One, you're an idiot who came across this, two, you're me, or three, my clients who have hired me. If you're the former, please stop this video now and kindly leave the house before I find out who you are. If you're the latter two, then you have got the right guy. My name is Professor Jetstorm Silverbolt. Formerly, I was known as Professor Argent Silverbolt, but circumstances have left me to live in this world under a new identity, as instructed by you, the client. I have observed the area and this makes for a great testing bed for experimenting the products you fund. I'll also showcase you potential ventures for you to invest in, if the need arises. For now, let this be a preview of what's to come." Professor Silverbolt then took out a red crystal and held it in between his hands. "This, is Dust. You requested me to show you a piece of my world, and here it is. Now, you may be wondering, why do I have a silly little diamond? What does this diamond do? How much is it worth? Well, to answer those questions, this diamond contains a powerful energy that is given the poetic moniker of Nature's Wrath. It can do many things, but we mainly use it as fuel." He took out a pistol and loaded in the crystal like a magazine. He then cocked the gun. "How so? Like this!" He then flicked the gun as two large, flaming blades popped out of it. He held it up as he fired a couple of flaming bullets. "This is worth the entire world to us and unfortunately, it's a finite source. Though, if your many worlds theory proves true, it won't have to be... Silverbolt, out." With that, the screen blacked out and the words 'END TRANSMISSION' showed up. I closed out of it. Clients? Dust? Already there's some more questions here. Out of curiosity, I scrolled down to the last video in the folder. It didn't have a date like the others, but I saw its creation date being on August 28th, 2015. Exactly one month prior to me being Displaced. I clicked on the file. It didn't have a show with two kids like the other one, but the location was vastly different. It was out onto what seemed to be old streets, like a medieval European town. The camera I saw was shaking as I heard tons of panting. "Get this on camera!" Silverbolt barked as I could hear people screaming and the sound of crushed buildings. "W-we can't! They'll see us!" The cameraman shouted. "JUST GET THEM ON CAMERA! WE NEED TO SEE WHAT KIND OF FIRE WE'RE PLAYING WITH!" Silverbolt shouted. The camera tried to turn, but the cameraman suddenly tripped over something. The camera was now on the ground, filming the brown dirt with what appeared to be a bit of red. I heard someone, the cameraman, off-screen. "Wh-what did I trip ov... OH GOD!" This was soon followed by retching noises as the camera was picked up by another person. "Come on! We gotta go!" He said. Soon, there was more running. I hit fast forward, skipping a part where they went into a building and ran upstairs to a higher ground, until I stopped at a scene where they were catching their breath inside of a building. Silverbolt had stepped in front of the camera and counted up the people. When he counted to four, he muttered out a 'Shit'. "We lost one!" He said. There was a bit of panic before Silverbolt went over and took the camera away from the holder. "Give me that!" He shouted. As he looked through the camera, he went to a window and tried to catch some footage of something going on outside. As he did, something crashed right into the window. "HOLY SHIT!" One of them shouted as the camera was knocked out of Silverbolt's hand from the shockwave. There was a bit of silence before I heard some screaming and someone shouting "MOTHER OF FUCK!" before the camera began to jostle around and got picked up. I only saw a brief blur of what appeared to be a huge face, but I presumed that it was just because of how close the camera was when it was picked up. There was more running. I hit fast forward as it skimmed past a couple of clips, such as them getting into a building that a blonde haired teenage girl was hiding in to eventually the camera being dropped one too many, beginning to actually skip itself. When the footage wasn't busy messing up, it finally focused on Professor Silverbolt, in a tattered labcoat and a bleeding forehead. "We're the only two left, huh?" He asked the cameraman. The camera shook up and down before it froze for a bit. When it resumed, Silverbolt was already in a speech about something. "-damn monsters! You think you can control them? You can't! We lost four scouts right now! These are too dangerous for humanity to have!" Silverbolt shouted. "Professor... We were told that you requested the expedition into this world..." The person said. "... No. I was under the assumption that your Foundation wanted these monstrosities." Silverbolt said. It took a moment for him to realize something. "Damn it... He set us up, didn't he!? Damn you... Damn you-" Before he could say anything else, a giant hand crashed through the roof and grabbed Silverbolt. The debris that fell crushed the cameraman, from what I could tell from the sound of rock smashing flesh. Silverbolt gave off a loud, uncharacteristic scream before it was abruptly cut with a sickening crunch. I could only assume what ate him was whatever that giant hand was. I froze for a moment, watching the camera on the ground yet again. Then the camera was picked up and turned to face its new holder. As I saw his face, I immediately filled myself with rage, especially with a comment made directly towards the camera, as if it was towards me: "Welcome, to the true man's world..." Niko Zoloto said. The footage then cut off. I heard someone close the door behind me and I spun around, seeing Niko. I had no hesitation for what I did next. "Henshin!" I shouted. Ross had just finished putting on his gym shirt. He sighed as he put his cape away into his locker. While he would want to wear it to gym, he does acknowledge that he'd be able to trip up with it, as the memories of Ruby getting her cape caught on a Nevermore's feathers had showed him. And yet, why did he feel so obsessed with wearing it? At first, it just seemed to be his own insistence that he complete the Ruby Rose cosplay, but over time, it became more and more apparent that he adored the cape. Perhaps as much as Ruby did. Ross sighed. He could feel like he could become Ruby at any minute. He walked to the school halls before he heard someone. "I can speak to anyone any way I want." It can't be... That was Sunset's voice. But... He never heard her with that tone of voice before. It sounded so... aggressive. Ross gulped before he saw Sunset Shimmer turn the corner and saw him. "Oh, hey, Ross!" And like that, her tone switched. "Sorry about that, I was just talking to someone, so I'm gonna have to take a while with the gym clothes. You go on ahead, okay?" She said, not letting Ross answer before she went to her locker. Ross simply watched her leave. Was there another side to her that he just can't see? His hands trembled as he uncontrollably shed a few tears. He had felt this before... No. That's not it. He remembered how, in the second volume, the villains ended up being false friends to Ruby Rose. Guessing from what the vision he had when he was talking with Rainbow, he was safe to say that the façade didn't last long. No. The doubt that Sunset Shimmer was actually a true friend was definitely something that Ruby had felt before. As soon as I was right in his face, I fired the Door Gun at Zoloto's face, though he used his hook shots to skid away while he shot two bullets into my chest. My armor took most of it, but it still felt like I had been punched in the gut by a potato. Banno laughed. "Yes! Let the hate flow through you! Tag out, perhaps we can go into Overdrive and take him out!" For once, I decided to do what Banno instructed and I turned the ignition. My body became Banno's as he ran, with the Zenrin Shooter in his other hand. He fired the two at Niko. He sidestepped the bullets while he swapped out the smoking barrels with some spares he had strapped to his thighs. "Perfect! Good! This is exactly how I expected you to be!" Niko chuckled as he soon fired some of the hook shots towards Banno, impaling him right on the waist. "But, I'm gonna need you to calm down." He said. "Like hell I will! You're the one who set up Professor Silverbolt to die, didn't you!?" I asked him. Niko smirked and tilted his hat. "See, this is why I need you to calm. Anger's good... but it also blinds you." He reeled in the hooks, pulling Banno in as he pointed his two guns to Banno's head, or at least the area where his head will be pulled to. At this time, Banno switched out to me as I grabbed the Steering Sword. I cut myself loose from the strings, leaped up and turned the wheel three times. TURN! TURN! U-TURN! I spun around with the sword as I descended upon the cowboy wannabe. Niko simply fell to the ground and fired at me, knocking me off and blasting the sword out of my hands. Niko then grabbed it and as soon as I landed, he crouched and leaned the sword against his shoulder. I got up and saw him... Was he charging something? I turned the ignition and hit the button on my Shift Brace. "THE FINISHER! FULL THROTTLE!" Banno shouted as I ran towards him, my fist glowing gold. As I threw the punch, I almost expected to hit him. That's when I felt a sharp blade pierce at my stomach. I backed away, holding the wound. Niko twirled the sword around before planting it on the ground. I keeled over as my transformation cancelled. "And they say video games don't teach you anything." He chuckled as he walked closer to me. "Rule number one about being a Displaced. Never pick a fight with your Displacer. It's just... messy." He then patted me on the head before going to the console. "To answer your question, no. I didn't tip off Silverbolt. Someone else did." He said. "Heh... So what the hell was with that true man's world bullshit?" I asked. "That? Well, it's more of a cautionary warning to people like him. People who think they're beyond the worlds they're tied to." He said. "Beyond the worlds?" I asked before I grunted in pain. "I'm sure by now you found out where Equestria is in the multiverse." He said. "Y-yeah... Why did you stick me into some girly show?" I asked. "Well, that is what I'm about to show you." Niko then clicked on a video and did the same trick I did to summon the Silverbolt message. The clip showed a battered and beaten Silverbolt, leaning against a chair. "You were right..." Silverbolt let out a cough. "They were strong and they tried to stop me." He then leaned into the camera. "But don't worry. I stopped them... However, not all of the product survived." The way he said it made be widen my eyes. I shook my head. No. He couldn't have meant... And as I thought of it, he turned the camera to show my fears confirmed. It was a Spider-Type Roidmude. The number on its plate was 108. It seemed dormant, especially when Silverbolt stroked the skull-like forehead of the Roidmude. "But the ones that did have become stronger. I did it... I brought back Banno's work. Just like you asked." He said. "No! It can't be!" Banno shouted. "In exchange for his inventions, I'll give you the genius behind them." Silverbolt then held up the black Banno Driver and laid it on the table. "This Driver contains his data and memories, as well as his personality. Consider this a... backup drive of sorts. I recommend against using him as a Driver, but if you're eager to, I have made modifications to the belt to mitigate the damage he does. See, I am unable to invent a means to contain him in the belt without him taking over the user, but I have been able to limit his time transformed, as well as invent a means to switch over to the user if he ever gets the idea to use his powers against you. In short, you now have one of the most deadly professors on a leash." He smirked. "YOU BASTARD!" Banno shouted as I could feel the belt rumble on my waist. "As for what I'll do with these inventions of his? Well, I'll be using them to experiment with this world. I am really looking forward to their ability to replicate human appearances, right down to their personalities and core emotions. Perhaps I'll even find a means to earn my happy ending. Hope you enjoy your gift, Foundation X. Silverbolt, out." With that, the video ended. "Now you see why I recruited you?" Niko asked. "... You got the belt? How?" I turned around and asked. "I hate to say it, but it was a coincidence that I came across the belt during a travel of mine. Along with that belt, I came across my client." Niko said. "Foundation X?" Banno asked. "No. Someone else. She wouldn't give me her identity, but don't worry. She's on the Kamen Riders' side." He said. That's when I realized something. "Wait, the Riders... is that who he stopped?" I asked him. "I guess so. According to the woman, the Riders were all scattered across the multiverse after the battle. Not dead, but rather..." "Displaced." I replied. "Exactly! So now I must bear the duty of giving out belts to people in the hopes that they become the Riders who will stop these Roidmudes." Niko said. "..." I looked away from Niko and pouted. "I understand you don't trust me. I wouldn't trust me either." He laughed. "But now you know what side I'm on." I couldn't help but agree with that. I turned around. "I kept a close eye on Silverbolt after the incident. Believe me when I say I'll help you when you need it." With that, he patted me on the shoulder then walked off. "I'll start by cleaning up this place a bit. Think of it as your headquarters. It also has a nice living space..." He said before he flew off with his hook shots. I sighed before I looked at the time. 10:30 AM. "Crap! I'm gonna be late for Science class!" I shouted as I ran out and got into the Tridoron. I managed to get back to CHS in time for me to deliver the day's science lesson. However, I did realize that, at some point, I might need a teacher to fill in for me if I were to ever do this digging around again. As I was going to the cafeteria for lunch, I bumped into Twilight Sparkle. "Ooh!" I said. "Oh, Professor, how are you?" Hearing myself be called Professor after I had found out that Silverbolt was the Recreator made me shudder. "I'm... fine." I said. "Well, I found out how to get the crown back." Twilight said. "Oh good! ... Erm... how?" I asked. "I'm going to run for the Princess of the Fall Formal!" Twilight said. "... What?" I asked in the flattest tone I can use. Ross went to the cafeteria with Sunset Shimmer. The two ordered pretty much the same food and sat on a table, seated parallel to each other. Sunset Shimmer smirked. She knew exactly how Ross could help her out. "Ross..." Sunset held Ross' hand. Ross felt a bit of a spark on his back as her warm hand touched his. "There's something I need some help with..." Sunset Shimmer knew there'd be competition for the Fall Formal. There usually is going to be a dumb schmuck who thinks they could outclass Sunset. First it was Rarity, then it was Trixie, it's soon going to be someone else. She couldn't rely on two dummies like Snips and Snails all the time and she needed someone more... gullible. Ross, meanwhile, looked into Sunset's eyes. For a moment, her shimmering blue eyes soon changed to a fiery orange, at least in his mind. "I can speak to anyone any way I want." He couldn't get that out of his head. How could someone as nice as Sunset say something in such a cold tone? "Sure, what is it?" Ross asked. "Can you help me win the Princess the Fall Formal award?" She smiled. As she did, Ross' entire body jumped. Sunset's eyes widened as she backed a bit. "I-is something okay?" She asked. Her heart skipped a beat. She didn't want this kid to freak out and be a useless tool for her ambition. "I-it's fine. Yeah, I'll... I'll help." Ross said. He wanted to say no and confront her on what he heard, but despite every sense in his body screaming no, he chose to agree. Ross' upper arm muscles trembled as he recalled the image he just had in his head. It was brief, but it was short enough to make him jump. It was the image of an arrow piercing into someone's heart.