Battle 8: The Power of Earth! Viral Earth Rises!
Meanwhile at Solar and Omega's hideout, they saw that Viral had gotten another new power and while Omega was sulking about it, Solar was incredibly interested in what she saw. "Incredible, she has a new power like you said she was going to get," Solar said with interest.
"Yes, she did; now I know how you felt two days ago," Omega said as she had her head down.
"Hey, I have a proposal for you next time we come with a scheme. Right now, though, let me go get you a tub of ice cream," Solar said as she got up. As Solar left, Omega continued to sulk as she watched the video.
"I swear, I will defeat you Viral. I don't care what he says, you're my next target," Omega thought as a new found rage came over her.
Back at Ponyville, the groups of four were taking care of Zeronus and the Rhino Imagin with little effort. "Twilight, let's take care of this guy," Sugarcoat said as she ran off towards Zeronus.
"Got it," Twilight responded, feeling more energized than before. As the two charged towards Zeronus, Midnight and Lemon were fighting the Imagin and doing a fairly good job keeping him at bay.
"You know, this guy is actually fairly easy," Lemon said as she kicked the Imagin into the air. As she did, Midnight jumped up and drop kicked the Imagin back down to the ground.
"I agree, thought I did not think that you would be so strong," Midnight said as she landed on her feet.
"Trust me Midnight; there are a lot of things that seem deceptive about me," Lemon said as she ran forward. As she ran past Midnight, Midnight felt a malicious aura coming off of her.
"Ok, I may have underestimated her. Might want to ask about that aura later because that bothers me a lot," Midnight thought as she ran often her.
"Twilight, watch out," Sour said as she dodged another attack from Zeronus. Taking Sugar's case, she blocked a slash from Zeronus and retaliated with a punch.
"Thanks Sugar, I appreciate the warning," Twilight said as she stood next to Sugarcoat.
"Hey, it's what teammates do for each other," Sugar told Twilight with a slight smile. Twilight smiled at the comment as she and Sugar both knocked Zeronus back.
"Say, why don't you let me finish this?" Twilight said as she decided to try something.
"Hey, don't leave me out of this," Sugar said as she concentrated on her left gauntlet. Twilight simply nodded in response as she took out her IC card, flipped it to the burst side, and reinserted it.
"BURST MODE ENGAGED!"
As Twilight was doing that, Midnight and Lemon decided to finish up the Imagin as well. "Hey, try to keep up Lemon," Midnight said as she engaged her finisher.
"DESTROY!"
"I could say the same to you," Lemon said as she started to chant something.
"DAI TENGAN! KIVA! OMEGA ULORD!"
As the Mega Ulorder said that phrase, Lemon had water surround her left boot. Midnight on the other hand, jumped into the air while some blackish energy formed on her left foot. Lemon soon jumped up to join her and the two then aimed at the Imagine, who was being held in place by a giant eye.
Meanwhile with Twilight and Sour, Twilight had pressed the middle button three times and activated her finished. As she did that, Sour's left gauntlet became encased in stone.
"HISSATSU! VIRAL PUNCH!"
Zeronus, who was just getting up, saw what was happening and decided to do the same. He reached down at his belt, pulled out the card that was in it, and placed it into his sword.
"FULL CHARGE!"
"He activated his own finisher," Sugar said out of amazement.
"Of course he did, he isn't like your typical bad guy who just stands there," Twilight commented in response.
"What do you suggest we do?" Sugar asked as Zeronus charged forward. Twilight looked at the situation and quickly came up with an idea.
"Think you can cause a shockwave with that fist of yours?" Twilight asked. Sugar simply nodded as she understood what Twilight was suggesting. Twilight then quickly jumped into the air towards Zeronus, who was ready to slash at her. Thinking quickly, Sugar then punched the ground, which created a shockwave that staggered Zeronus. Twilight used the opening to deliver her own punch to Zeronus which him to be knocked back.
"Did we get him?" Sugar asked cautiously as Twilight landed. Zeronus seemed to recover before several sparks went across his armor and he exploded.
"Deletion Complete!" Twilight said confidently as the data from Zeronus floated over to her belt. As the data entered her belt, Twilight and Sugar turned to see that Midnight and Lemon had landed their finishing moves on the Imagin and landed before it exploded.
"Alright!" Midnight said happily as she took out her Eyecon. As the explosion cleared up a little bit, Lemon noticed something was off.
"Hey, isn't some blue, data looking stuff supposed to come out and go into your belt?" Lemon asked curiously.
"Well, I can think the reason for that would be because I would have to be the one to finish the target off or join in on the finishing blow," Twilight explained as she caught the two cards that came out of her driver.
"Wait, how did you figure that out if this is the first time we've encountered this problem?" Midnight asked as she undid her transformation.
"Well, since I've been finishing the enemies up to this point off either on my own or with someone helping, I've always gotten data immediately after they were destroyed. However, when you destroyed that Imagin, no data appeared," Twilight told Midnight.
"So, you just figured it out by observing the situation?" Sugar asked as she took off her gauntlets.
"That's right," Twilight said as she took out the IC card and canceled her transformation.
"Well, do you two want to head back to the theater and make sure everything is ok?" Lemon asked the two riders.
"I'll be willing to go back and help, but what about you Twilight?" Midnight responded.
"Well, I might join you later, but there is something I need to check on first," Twilight responded.
"Is something the matter?" Midnight asked.
"I just want to make sure that Sunset knows that the threat is done with," Twilight told the group.
"Ok, well then, good luck," Sugar said as she walked past Twilight. As she did, Twilight felt Sugarcoat put something in her hand. When she looked at her, Twilight saw that Sugar gave her a brief look before joining Lemon and Midnight.
"Well then, I guess we'll see you later," Midnight said.
"Right, see you later," Midnight said as she, Lemon and Sugar left to go to the theater. After they left her vision, Twilight looked at the paper in her hand that Sugar coat gave her.
"Where did you take that girl to Sugarcoat?" Twilight thought as she opened the paper up. When she opened it up, she saw a note on the inside.
"Twilight, I took the girl to the Castle. Sunset is taking care of her. From, Sugarcoat"
Without thinking about anything else, Twilight immediately went towards the castle at a leisurely pace.
After walking up to the castle, Twilight noticed that Starlight was standing outside looking for someone. "Starlight, what's wrong?" Twilight asked when she got close enough.
"Oh Twilight, I heard there was another attack. Is everything alright?" Starlight responded nervously.
"Everything is perfectly fine, me and Midnight took care of it with some help from Sugarcoat and Lemon," Twilight told Starlight in a reassuring tone.
"Oh thank god, I was worried for a second there," Starlight said. After letting Starlight calm down, Twilight decided to ask her something.
"Hey, did you see Sugarcoat come in here a while ago?" Twilight asked nervously.
"I did, why do you ask?" Starlight responded in a calmer tone.
"Was she carrying a young girl?" Twilight questioned in a slightly worried voice.
"She was, I took her up to a room and Sunset is looking over her at the moment. Why do you ask?" Starlight told Twilight as she opened the door to the castle.
"I was with her when we found the girl, I want to see if she is alright," Twilight explained.
"Uh, sure. Just follow me," Starlight said as she walked in front of Twilight. With that, Starlight led Twilight to the upper floors of the castle. After getting to the second floor, they walked down a hall that several doors with different symbols.
"If you don't mind me asking, what rooms does this floor of the castle contain?" Twilight asked out of genuine curiosity.
"Well, I've only been here for a few weeks, so I couldn't tell you what each room is. However, I can say that this floor has a lot of utility for Sunset, holding a private library and even a small hospital like room," Starlight explained. As Starlight was talking, Twilight couldn't help but notice that it felt like that they were being watched. "Ok, we're here," Starlight said, braking Twilight's train of thought.
"So, should I go in alone or you let Sunset know that I'm here?" Twilight asked.
"I'll let Sunset know you're here," Starlight said as she opened the door quietly and entered the room. As Starlight spoke to Sunset, Twilight put her hand up against the wall and felt it go through.
"This is…!" Twilight thought out of shock as she pulled her hand back from that effect. As she recovered from that experience, Sunset and Starlight walked out of the room.
"Twilight, I heard you wanted to see the girl?" Sunset asked curiously.
"Yeah, I did; do you have any objections?" Twilight responded.
"No, but I would like to speak with you about something in private," Sunset said in an oddly calm voice.
"Wait, you wanted to talk to me about something?" Twilight.
"I do, by the way Starlight, could you send Midnight up if she comes by?" Sunset responded in a calm tone.
"Sure," Starlight said as she walked towards the stairs.
"Now then, come in Twilight," Sunset said as she walked back into the room. Twilight walked into the room and saw that it looked like a small hospital room with various beds, cabinets, and hospital things.
"Wow, this place is nice. Did you do all of this?" Twilight asked in an amazed tone.
"I didn't do anything actually, the castle just had this room when it was created," Sunset explained. Twilight opened her mouth to say something, and then quickly closed it as she decided not to push the topic further. "Yeah, that's the best thing you can do," Sunset said with a smile on her face.
"Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?" Twilight asked.
"Well, I was examining the girl to make sure she was ok when I found something odd about her," Sunset said as they walked up to the girl.
"What did you find?" Twilight asked in a worried tone.
"Well, while I was examining her, I found this magical field around her that seemed to be protecting her," Sunset explained.
"A magical field that is protecting her? First off, how is that possible since she just looks like a normal girl? Secondly, why does she have that field around her in the first place?" Twilight responded. Sunset was about to say something when the girl started to wake up.
"We'll talk later," Sunset said as the girl opened her eyes. As the girl opened her eyes, both Twilight and Sunset noticed that her eyes were bright red.
"Ow, my head; where am I?" the girl said as she sat up in the bed and rubbed her head. Sunset looked Twilight, who took walked forward in response.
"Hello there," Twilight said in a clam tone.
"Oh, hello there miss. Do you know where I am?" the girl said in a slightly nervous tone.
"You're in a castle that is in the center of a town called Ponyville," Twilight told the girl.
"Ponyville?" the girl seemed to question in the same nervous tone.
"Do happen to know where you live? I imagine that your mom and dad must be worried about you," Twilight asked in a comforting tone. The girl seemed to think about that question for a second before clutching her head in pain. "Are you alright?" Twilight asked in a worried tone.
"I'll be fine, but I don't remember anything about my hometown or my parents," the girl said as she stopped clutching her head.
"Well, do you remember anything?" Twilight asked out of kindness. The girl seemed to think about that for a moment before remembering something.
"I remember my name," she said in response.
"Well, what is your name?" Twilight asked kindly.
"Chara, what about you?" she responded in a less nervous tone.
"My name is Twilight, it's nice to meet you Chara," Twilight said with a smile.
"Same to you Miss Twilight," Chara said, a smile starting to appear on her face.
"You can just call me Twilight," Twilight told Chara with a smile. The two would have continued to talk, but a cough came from Sunset startle Chara. "Oh right, Chara I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine," Twilight told Chara in a reassuring tone.
"A friend?" Chara asked curiously, a hint of nervousness returning.
"Don't worry, she is very nice and has been taking care of you for the past hour or so," Twilight said as she let Sunset come forward. When Chara saw Sunset, she got a little nervous, but trusted in what Twilight said.
"Hello there Chara, my name is Sunset Shimmer. It is nice to see that you are ok," Sunset said in a motherly tone.
"Thank you for taking care of me, Miss Shimmer," Chara said in a calmer tone.
"Sunset is just fine," Sunset told Chara with a smile.
"Hey Sunset, I have to go somewhere, do you mind taking care of Chara?" Twilight asked.
"Sure, go ahead," Sunset told Twilight.
"Chara, I have to go somewhere. Do you mind letting Sunset take care of you" Twilight told Chara. Chara seemed to think about that nervously before responding
"Ok, um, do you mind if we spend more time together after your done?" Chara responded nervously.
"I don't see any reason why we can't," Twilight said in a calming tone as she walked away. As Twilight opened the door, she heard Chara talking with Sunset happily. "She's a good kid," Twilight though, a small frown forming as she exited the room and closed the door.
"You know, you could have told me that you had some business at the castle," she heard Midnight say from behind her. Twilight jumped a little, and turned to see Midnight outside of her disguise.
"Don't scare me like that," Twilight said as she started to catch her breath from the slight scare.
"Sorry, I didn't think that you would be surprised by me being here," Midnight told Twilight as she walked towards her.
"Well, I thought that you would take a while at the theater," Twilight said as she calmed down.
"We actually finished up rather fast, so I decided to come over here," Midnight responded.
"Oh, then I imagine that you heard about the girl from Starlight?" Twilight asked curiously.
"I did, but I'm more curious as to why you didn't tell me about it," Midnight said in a curious tone. Twilight stayed silent after that and she thought about something. "Is there something wrong Twilight?" Midnight asked.
"Can we go to the room? I kind of want to talk in privacy," Twilight asked in a quiet but serious tone.
"If that's what you want, then let's go to the room," Midnight responded in an understanding tone. Twilight started to walk towards the stairs, but was quickly stopped by Midnight.
"I thought you wanted to go with me," Twilight said in a cold tone.
"I do, but I want to try something out," Midnight said, a smile slowly forming on her face. Twilight saw that smile and instantly went to thinking about various things that she could try.
"Did you learn how to teleport?" Twilight asked. Midnight just shook her head in response. "Ok, why the heck not. Go ahead and try it," Twilight told her other half, a smile forming on her face. Midnight grabbed Twilight's shoulder and concentrated her magic before teleporting the both of them to the room.
After appearing in the room, Midnight and Twilight both felt a bit dizzy in different ways. "Wow, that feels very weird," Twilight said as she shook the dizziness off.
"Tell me about it, that actually took a lot more out of me than I thought," Midnight said as she sat down in a nearby chair to regain her composure.
"You know, I'm going to guess that you just learned this spell because I know I didn't feel like this when Celestia did it to me," Twilight commented.
"You would be right in that sense, I just learned how to do it, but I would say that I did pretty well for my first time using the spell," Midnight said as she rubbed her head.
"Wait, this was your first time using it?" Twilight asked out of shock.
"I know it was stupid, but I was a bit too excited to care," Midnight admitted, a hint of sadness in her voice.
"I'm not mad at you Midnight, I am very impressed that you were able to cast a spell you had just learned your first time," Twilight said out of am amazement.
"You're proud of me?" Midnight asked, a bit of confusion in her voice.
"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be proud of my sister?" Twilight responded with a smile.
"You consider me your sister?" Midnight question out of surprise.
"Well, you and me are technically related by blood, so I consider you my sister," Twilight said happily. Midnight stayed silent as she let that statement sink into her mind.
"I appreciate that, Big Sis," Midnight responded with a smile on her face. Twilight simply hugged Midnight, which Midnight kindly returned. "So, you wanted to talk about something?" Midnight asked cautiously. When she said that, Twilight simply sighed and walked over to the window.
"Well, did Sugarcoat tell you anything about when I spoke with her earlier?" Twilight asked curiously.
"She mentioned something about your, technically our, brother Shining Armor. Why did you seem so hesitant to talk with her about that?" Midnight responded.
"It kind of has something that I consider very personal to me," Twilight told Midnight.
"So, what is it?" Midnight asked. Before Twilight could answer, a light started to come from the DecaBooker.
"I think that is our signal to talk later," Twilight said as she got out the Viral Earth Card. Seeing the card glowing, the two simply nodded and they were absorbed into the card.
When they arrived, Twilight and Midnight were in a wide open valley with a lot of greenery. "Wow, this place seems nice," Midnight said as she looked around.
"I can tell, but where do we go to find whoever we're supposed to meet?" Twilight asked. As if in response to Twilight's question, two lights came from a behind the two of them and floated in the direction of a mountain in the distance.
"Well, I'm going to guess that we follow those lights," Midnight said as she walked forward. Twilight simply stayed silent as she followed Midnight to the mountain. After a few minutes of walking, the two arrived at a small village by the base of the mountain.
"So, this is where the lights are leading us?"Twilight asked as she looked at the village.
"It looks like it," Midnight said. As they entered the village, they saw the lights going to the center of the village. Twilight and Midnight were about to follow them when an earthquake suddenly started.
"An earthquake?!" Twilight said out of surprise. Twilight and Midnight then heard the building next to them start to collapse.
"Let's get out of here!" Midnight yelled before quickly running out of the way. Twilight was about to follow when a piece of building started to fall, blocking her way. After that fell, the earthquake stopped and everything was calm.
"Midnight, are you ok?" Twilight called from the other side of the rubble.
"I'm fine, but how are you going to get over to this side?" Midnight responded in a worried tone. Twilight thought about a solution when she remembered what had happened in the Pegasus IC Card.
"I have an idea. I would recommend you stand back though," Twilight told Midnight as she got ready to try her stupid idea. Midnight did as Twilight told her and took a few steps back. Midnights then saw the piece of the house that was in front of her get lifted off the ground by Twilight.
"Wow, that is impressive," Midnight thought out of amazement. Twilight then threw the piece of building outside of the village. "Twilight, how did you do that so easily?" Midnight asked as she walked up to Twilight.
"Well, I think it might be because of this world," Twilight explained as she panted. Midnight was about to ask what she meant before making her own realization.
"Let me guess, this world is what gave you the strength?" Midnight responded.
"You figured it out fast. Apparently, these worlds seem to give me a different attribute depending on which one I am in," Twilight told Midnight.
"The Pegasus world gave you wings and the ability to fly if I remember correctly," Midnight commented.
"Exactly, and this world gave me enhanced strength," Twilight finished off.
"So, do you know exactly why you have special abilities in these worlds?" Midnight asked curiously.
"Not exactly, but for now, why don't we head in the direction the lights went?" Twilight responded. Midnight simply nodded and the two headed off towards the center of the village. As they passed by more buildings, Twilight noticed that the town seemed to be falling apart as they got closer to the center of town.
"You noticed the state of the town as well?" Midnight asked Twilight.
"I did, and I think it means we might be in a memory," Twilight told Midnight as they got closer to the center of town.
"It definitely is a possibility as it would explain the earthquake," Midnight told Twilight.
"Let's talk about this later," Twilight said as they arrived at the center of town. The center of the town was by far the most damaged of the areas they had seen with several of the buildings wither left barely intact or just plain destroyed. At the center of it all was a big stadium that was crumbled in several areas and a destroyed archway leading into the stadium. "Should we go in?" Midnight asked cautiously.
"We should, but keep your guard up. Even if this is a memory, you never know what to expect," Twilight told Midnight. As the two entered the stadium, they saw the lights from earlier go past them and into the center of the stadium. When they entered the center of the stadium, they saw a destroyed interior that looked like it had been worn down by time. The lights, which were now floating in front of them, took the form of two earth pony mares.
"You must be two of the founders of Equestria," Midnight said as she and Twilight bowed.
"You would be correct, my name is Chancellor Puudinghead and this is my advisor, Smart Cookie," the more regal of the two said.
"It is an honor to meet you two," Twilight said.
"Well, it is an honor for us to actually meet Kamen Riders in person," Smart Cookie said in an enthusiastic tone.
"Pardon me for asking, but you know of Kamen Riders?" Midnight asked curiously.
"Well yes, we have seen many Riders across the world of Equis. Though you two seem to be interesting cases since the two of you are from another world," Puudinghead told the two.
"This world has Kamen Riders?!" Twilight asked in a surprised voice.
"It does, but they like to keep themselves quiet and hidden, so we don't know exactly how many there are," Cookie explained.
"So, why do we interest you so much?" Midnight asked curiously.
"Well, we won't go into detail, but what I can tell you is because of a prophecy we have known of for some time," Puudinghead said with a smile.
"Let me guess, you don't have a lot of time to talk before we go back?" Twilight asked.
"Exactly," Cookie said in a serious tone.
"Ok, so I imagine you wanted to talk to us about something?" Midnight asked.
"Well, we just wanted to tell you two to always keep in mind that it is important to work together as a team," Puudinghead told the two in a caring tone.
"That seems like a logical thing to say, because I'm positive I know how I got this form," Twilight said. Before either Puudinghead or Smart Cookie could say anything, they started to fade away.
"Looks like our time is up. Before you two go, we should tell you where your next meeting is going to take place," Cookie said as she looked at the mountain.
"Wait, you know where we are going to meet next?" Midnight asked.
"We do actually, it's going to be in a cave that has a special place in our hearts," Puudinghead told the two with a smile on her face.
"So, what is going to happen there?" Twilight questioned.
"Just trust me, it'll be better when you find out for yourselves," Cookie said with a kind smile. Without another word from either of them, they faded away leaving Midnight and Twilight alone in the stadium.
"Well, how are we going get to get out of here?" Midnight asked. Twilight simply took out the Viral Earth IC Card from her pocket and lifted it up. To Midnight's surprise, the card then glowed and the two of them were teleported away before Midnight could do anything.
Back in the normal world, Twilight and Midnight reappeared back in the room. As Twilight picked up the IC Card from the floor, Midnight just looked at her. "How did you know that you could do that?" Midnight asked.
"Well, I felt the card in my pocket when the earthquake happened and when you asked how we would leave, I figured I would give it a shot," Twilight explained.
"So you just did that out of a hunch?" Midnight responded out of shock.
"That's right, sorry about not warning you," Twilight said with a smile on her face. Midnight stayed silent as she just looked at Twilight with a face of shock. "By the way, I'll tell you that story of mine in three days," Twilight said before turning around.
"Wait, why three days?" Midnight questioned.
"Because I have a hunch that in another two days I'll be getting another form," Twilight said as she walked to the door. Midnight said nothing as Twilight opened the door and got ready to leave. "If you need me, I'll be at the hospital room checking on Chara," Twilight told Midnight before closing the door.
"You know, I think I'm going to take a rest. I need it after what has happened today," Midnight thought as she went to her bed and laid down in it. As Midnight laid down, she didn't notice that there was someone watching her from a nearby rooftop.
"These two are really interesting to keep an eye on. I wonder on how they would feel about playing a match in our rider game," the figure said before walking away, twirling something in his right hand.