//------------------------------// // New Friends meet former // Story: The Light Beyond Despair // by Ultimate Mayhem //------------------------------// Sunset went to check on the security guard followed by Sugarcoat. Other than him being unconcious he seemed to be fine. "We better go. Otherwise we'd have to explain things and it's less than likely they'd be understanding of the dangers we're fighting." said Sunset. The others nodded and they left out the back. Once outside Sunset turned to look at Sugarcoat. "You want to know why I have the Mega Ulorder?" asked Sugarcoat. "Who sent it to you?" asked Sunset. Sugarcoat pulled out what appeared to be a badge which had an image of a cricket's face on. "I figured." "Perhaps you could explain?" suggested Octavia. Sunset looked at her and then turned away and lifted her hand up with a finger raised. "Rider Systems and Drivers.....choose their users." "What do you mean?" asked Lemon Zest. "There's not much I can really say since there's weren't many details on record. What I can say is that the belts seems to choose who uses them. Something about them retaining an echo." explained Sunset. "So the belts choose people and...what? They get kidnapped?" asked Lemon Zest. "No. It goes one of two ways. If the chosen user is just a civilian then someone is sent to explain things to take them to the Agency to train. However if there's a Rider in the area on a mission then they'll have someone or something deliver the equipment to the Rider who will then deliver it to the Rider-to-be and from there they'll explain things and start helping them." "So any of us could become a Rider?" asked Lemon Zest excited. Sunset nodded. "Alright, so what do we do now?" asked Vinyl. "You guys go home. I'll keep investigating." replied Sunset. "Come to my place tomorrow after school and I'll brief you on what I found." Sunset turned to leave but was stopped when Sunny grabbed her arm causing her to turn. "Sunset listen. I know we don't know each other but I think I can speak for my friends when I say what happened to you was entirely unjustified and that we hope you're willing to give us a chance as friends. We're not all that experienced with friendship because at Crystal Prep we were forced to compete to be the best but we transfered because we wanted the chance to be able to have friends without having to suspect they'd have ulterior motives." Sunset looked at her and then at the others before smiling. "For a while I was afraid to trust anyone but someone told me that even though we're strong as Riders even we need the help of others." she explained as she held out her hand. Sunny smiled and took Sunset's hand but was surprised when she pulled her hand back and fist bumped her before bumping the top then the bottom of her fist. "That friend of mine calls this the friendship handshake." The others smiled. "I better get going. Like said before come over after school and I'll inform you what I've found." "Understood." said Sugarcoat with a smile. Sunset smiled at the eight of them, nodded, and left. "Well then, let's go." said Vinyl. The following morning Celestia sat at her desk with some coffee when a folder with some papers dropped onto her desk. She looked up and saw man with somewhat messy mid length black hair with a visible earing who had a light red skin tone and wore a red trench coat with a fuzzy black collar. "Mr. Heart. What can I do for you?" asked Celestia. "I've noticed quite the change in demeanor of the teachers and quite a few of the student and I'd like to ask what it had to do with the girl who showed up after the Friendship Games." said Mr. Heart. Celestia sighed. "They're feeling guilty." she replied. "What happened?" "Last Christmas we had to take down the school's social media website, MyStable. This is because during december some students made an account named Anon-A-Miss from which they began posting the secrets of others. They used this to frame that girl." "Who is she?" asked Heart. "Sunset Shimmer. Up until last fall she was bully but she started trying to change. She became friends with the five girls you first talked when you arrived. Unfortunately when anon-a-miss appeared the account used a picture of Sunset's silhouette so everyone, students and teachers, took this to mean that Sunset had gone back and everyone turned on her." "So this is why I was asked to evaluate the teacher's?" asked Heart. Celestia nodded. "Due to my personal relationships with the teachers I can't get involved." "How is miss Shimmer?" "I tried to find her during the weekend but I came up empty." replied Celestia. "So the teachers are afraid this will ruin their careers and the students feel guilty about what they've done." "Most, not all." replied Celestia. "There was a small group of students who did not believe she was guilty. I gave them my permission help investigate and informed them of anything we found but Sunset disappeared before anything could be proven." "I imagine it wasn't long after that the three girls confessed." "Just a few days after Sunset disappeared." replied Celestia looking at her coffee. "I see. This explains why Fluttershy comes to see me so often." said Heart. "Thank you for informing me Celestia." "Of course." she said with a nod. Heart turned to leave. "I still wonder if I could've done more to help her." "I don't believe it would've done much good." said Heart. "As Principal your duty is to remain impartial. You could have expelled her when the accusations started. Instead you decided to make sure there was proof rather than condemning her. You handled things as professionally as possible so you shouldn't feel bad." "I suppose you're right. Thank you Heart." "I'm always glad to help a friend." he said leaving. Once he got back to his office there were to other waiting for him. The first was a woman in a black nurse's uniform who had light pink with black hair tied in a bun. The second was a guy with short blond hair with glasses with light green skin in a suit. "So what did you find out?" asked the guy. "Well Brain, it would seem we might have to mediate a bit." replied Heart. "What should we do Heart-sama?" asked the woman. "For now we'll maintain our cover. Medic, has anyone said anything to you about the strange things that may have happened recently?" asked Heart. "I'm afraid not. Everything I've heard we already knew." replied Medic. "Very well. Then for now we'll continue as planned." said Heart. "Understood." said both Brain and Medic. Somewhat later in the morning students were arriving, among them were the six former Shadowbolts who had decided to walk to school together alongside Vinyl and Octavia. Since they did have homework they'd gone to Twilight's house and got to know each other while they worked on their assignments. Now they were walking together with the former Shadowbolts sharing their past experiences from Crystal Prep which, while most of them were rough, did include some fun. "So you actually planted a stinkbomb in Cinch's office?" asked Vinyl trying not to laugh. "And that wasn't even the best part." replied Lemon Zest. "It was so bad the smell wound up going through the vents to the rest of the school so we got a few days off while they tried to get the smell out." she added with some giggles. Sunny and Sugarcoat rolled their eyes. "It was a good thing though. I had report due the next day so I was able to turn it in without trouble." said Indigo. As they walked they noticed the Rainbooms looking guilty until Pinkie went up to them. "What do you want?" asked Sour Sweet with a glare. "I...I heard your conversation yesterday." said Pinkie as the others walked up to them. "We didn't think it would be good so follow you so we were wondering if you could tell us how Sunset is doing." Sour Sweet glared at the five, as did the other former Shadowbolts, minus Twilight who did look at them angrily but couldn't really pull off a glare. Vinyl sighed. "She's still hurting." "That's an under statement." sneered Sour Sweet. "You know Crystal Prep may not be the nicest school but we sure as hell never got close to someone just to treat them like trash." "Now hold on just a gosh darn minute!" declared Applejack. "We made a mistake...." "Are you serious?" interupted Sunny. "You're seriously calling it 'a mistake'? We met Sunset. We spoke to her and she said something that was completely true." "She said that if you had really been her friends you would've at least given her a chance. Instead you were just waiting for the first chance you could get to throw her away." added Lemon. "That's not what happened." said Rainbow weakly. "Sour's right about one thing. Back at Crystal Prep everyone was forced to always be in competition but at the very least everyone was straight forward." said Indigo. "At the very least we would've let her try to explain but you never even bothered considering the consequences of turning on someone who held you in such a high regard." said Sunny. "What do you mean?" asked Rarity. "You drove her to attempted suicide." said Sugarcoat somewhat angrily before covering her mouth. Upon hearing this the Rainbooms looked in shock while the other Shadowbolts looked at her surprised. "Y-You're kidding, right?" asked Rainbow. Sunny sighed and looked at Rainbooms. "Though it wasn't our place to say, I'm afraid to say Sugarcoat is right. When you turned on her Sunset felt she had nothing left to live for. That day she didn't come to school she'd decided to end it. Ultimately she was saved by someone who offered her what you took from her. She came to grips with the fact that you considered her nothing more than a charity case that you couldn't wait to get rid of." "That's not true. We care about Sunset." said Fluttershy. "If that's how you treat a friend I'd hate to see what you'd do to an enemy." said Sugarcoat. Upon hearing that Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity broke down into tears. "How could we have been so horrible to her?" asked Fluttershy looking at her hands. "Since it's out in the open I suppose I might as well tell you that you should stay away from her." said Sunny keeping her glare. "But we have to apologize to her." said Pinkie. "She won't believe you." said Lemon. "She has one of those module things that was made from the pain you five caused her. Even without it she seems to try to keep herself from hurting you. Not because she forgives you but because at this point her purpose is to protect everyone regardless of the issues she has with you. Do yourselves a favor. Just stay from her." With that the former Shadowbolts walked towards the school followed by Vinyl and Octavia. "That went well." said Vinyl. "Is there a reason your felt the need to disclose some else's personal information?" Sunny asked glaring at Sugarcoat who sighed. "I'm sorry. It's the first time I've ever felt this angry." "I'm not the one you need to apologize to." replied Sunny. "Well now. It seems you're getting more aquainted with the school." said a voice. They turned and saw Vice Principal Luna. "It's an interesting school." said Twilight. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourselves. Now if you'd be so kind I'm here to escort the eight of you the Principal's office." The eight looked at each other. "Are we in trouble?" asked Octavia. "No. We just need to speak to you." The teens shrugged and followed her. Once they were in the Principal's office Celestia looked at them with a smile. "So what's going on?" asked Indigo. "Yesterday we saw all of you with Sunset. We were hoping you'd tell us how she's doing." said Celestia. "She's....got her issues but overall I think she's doing pretty well since she found a purpose." said Sunny. "It's good to hear." said Celestia. "Though I hope you stay safe. It seems Sunset becoming a Kamen Rider means she'll be fighting." "Oh she's not the only Rider." said Lemon with a smile before being hit upside the head by Sugarcoat. "Ow! What?" "Someone came into my office yesterday claiming to be a Rider as well." This caused the girls to look at her surprised. "He said there would be other Riders at this school since attacks will be more likely to happen here. So which one of you is it?" "Me." replied Sugarcoat pulling out her Eyecon. "Very well. As this battle will likely involve the school you will have my support. If necessary you'll be excused from your classes should something come up but I hope you understand this won't excuse you from your duties as a student." "I understand." said Sugarcoat. "Thank you. I'd also like you to deliver a message to Sunset. Tell her if she ever wants to talk both my sister and will be available for whatever she needs." "You really care about her, don't you?" asked Sunny. Celestia smiled. "She always been a bright girl. That's why when the Anon-A-Miss fiasco started I did what I could to help the students who believed in her innocence. I wish I could've done more but I couldn't involve myself directly because of the chaos that was happening throughout the campus." "If that's all we should get to class. We may not be at Crystal Prep anymore but that doesn't mean we'll let our grades drop." said Sunny with a smile. "Very well. You're excused." With that the eight left. "Sister, are you sure it's a good idea?" asked Luna. "We don't have a choice but to trust them. It's clear the police wouldn't be able to handle these creatures." "I suppose you're right." Most of their day after was pretty normal outside of them witnessing the Crusaders being stuffed into a locker and as much as they felt the younger girls deserved it they figured it wouldn't do any good to act the way they would've back at Crystal Prep so they tried letting them out but saw the lock was a combination lock which resulted in Sugarcoat shocking them by releasing what looked like green lightning causing the lock to crumble but when asked how she was able to do it she replied by saying it was part of what allowed her to transform. During lunch, after they ate, the eight girls walked through the halls when they heard a buzzing sound. Sugarcoat pulled out her phone and saw she'd recieved a text message from an unknown number. She checked the message which read: This is Sunset. Connect your phone to a computer. They were a bit uncertain but went to the computer lab where they did what the message said. As soon as they did a program self-installed the screen opened a window that had a split screen where they saw two people. The first was Sunset while the second was a woman who looked like she could pass for Pinkie's mother because her skin tone and hair color were the reverse of Pinkie's but her eyes were a reddish pink color. "That was....interesting." said Sugarcoat surprised. "Sorry for the theatrics." said the woman. "My name is Mercy." "Nee-san show them the footage." said Sunset. "We needed a second opinion on the security footage from the museum." explained Mercy as both their images shrank and they saw some black and white footage of a person approaching a display before transforming into a creature that looked to be made of an armor which touched the display glass causing to dissolve. Then it took the item from the display but was struck from behind causing sparks from it. The creature turned and vanished just before a security guard arrived. That was where the video ended. "I don't get it. What did you need a second opinion on?" asked Indigo. "Under normal circumstances they would've likely been allies but this is clearly not the case." explained Mercy. "It kinda looked like the first monster stole that thing before the other one got there." said Lemon. "Which more than likely means the first one's either working alone or for someone else." said Sugarcoat. "Do you know what was stolen?" "It seems to be some sort of fossil. There's a legend tied to it that says writers who have it near them become inspired." "So the monster's a writer who wants inspiration?" asked Sour Sweet. "It's possible the monster knows something about it." said Twilight getting on another computer. After logging she opened the web browser and went to the museum's website to check the what information was available on the stolen fossil. "This is interesting." she said. "What?" asked Indigo. "According to this the fossil was on tour. They were setting up the display." "It's gotta suck that thing destroyed the display glass." said Lemon Zest. "I guess that's why there weren't people around." said Sunny. "So do you know where the creature went." "That first creature is called a Ganma." explained Mercy. "But as of right now we don't have any idea where it is. We currently have someone who's infiltrated the police getting data." "I'll text you any knew info that comes up." said Sunset right before they heard a ding. "Oh. That's my spongecake. Gotta go. Whip! Step! Jump!" she said as her screen turned off leaving the others a little surprised. "At least now I know she got the module." said Mercy. "In any case watch yourselves. There's always the possibility the school might be attacked." "Understood." said all eight girls. Mercy nodded and the screen turned off. The group stayed silent for a moment. "So...Sunset likes baking?" asked Indigo. "Not as far as I know." replied Vinyl still confused. "We should get going." said Octavia. The others agreed and they left. The rest of the day was unevenful other than getting more homework. As soon as they got out they headed to Sunset's where, to their surprise, they saw her waiting for them in front of the building. "Sunset?" asked Sunny surprised. Sunset turned and waved at them with an oddly sweet smile which made them cringe a little. "We've got a lead on a location." said Sunset. "How far?" asked Sugarcoat. It was then they heard screams. "I'm suppose we merely follow the screams." said Sunny. "Sugarcoat we better get ready." said Sunset putting on the Seiko Driver. Sugarcoat nodded and put on the Mega Ulorder. "I've got a pretty good idea of where they are but we'll need to get there as fast as possible so we'll take my Lock Vehicle which only holds two." she explained taking out the rose lock, throwing into the air causing it to transform surprising the others. "Catch up as fast as you can but be careful." The other nodded. "You be careful too." said Sour. Sunset smiled as Sugarcoat got on before taking off and were surprised when the motorcycle floated, spun, and vanished. "Am I the only one thinking how dizzy they'll be when they get off the...lock cycle thingy?" asked Lemon. "We don't have time to think about pointless things. Let's go. It might take us a while before we can get there." ordered Sunny. The others nodded and they got going. A few blocks away Sunset's modified Rose Attacker emerged from a rift but were almost hit by a plastic table that had been thrown only for Sunset to pop a wheelie causing the bike's front while to glow as it cut through it. "That was close." said Sunset. "Where are they?" asked Sugarcoat as they got off the vehicle and it returned to its lock form. "Look." pointed Sunset. Sugarcoat looked and saw the Ganma from the security footage on top of a broken plastic table clutching something to it's chest. They also saw the Ganma like creature from yesterday only now it had a big ass axe coming out of its chest while holding two small ones. Immediately the two kicked throwing it back. Then Sunset pressed the change button and inserted the card as Sugarcoat pressed the button on her Eyecon before insersting it and turning her Mega Ulorder and securing causing the Necrom Soul to be released. "Henshin!" called out both girls as their armors formed. "I guess I've got no choice." said the Axe Ganma holding up his hand causing shadow like zombie creatures to emerge. "I don't think so." said Seiko pulling out a module with a sunflower on it and she pressed the modify button. "Check on the Ganma while I keep them busy." she ordered pressing the button. "Pretty Cure, Open My Heart!" called out Seiko. "Cure Sunshine!" called out the voice as she inserted it causing the current armor she had to shatter as a golden armor with flowers formed and attached itself to her chest, forearms, legs, and caused the eyes on her helmet to become bright yellow. "Cure Sunshine! Hi no hikari abiru ichirin no hana!" "Let's see what you've got." said Seiko Sunshine moving her hands in a circle forming small balls of light. "Sunshine Flash!" she called as the light hit a few of the creatures dissolving them only for more to form. "It's just never easy." she said to herself bringing out her weapon in rifle form and walked towards them while firing. "Who are you?" the Ganma asked Necrom. "I'm Kamen Rider Necrom. Are you okay?" "That isn't what I meant." For a moment she was silent. "My name is Sugarcoat." "I see much of him in you." "Who?" "Protect this. They must not get their hands on it." he said placing the Eyecon in her hand. Then, to her susprise, the Ganma began to glow for moment before it turned into another Eyecon. She looked at it before hearing Sunset yell as she fell back. It was then she looked at the Eyecon which on the top had the number 14, a symbol similar to the Necrom Eyecon, and the word Grimm under that. "Oh good. You got it back." said Seiko. "Care to give me a hand?" Necrom stood up and took out the Necrom Eyecon causing the cloak and lantern like eye to shatter. Then she pressed the button on it and placed it in the Mega Ulorder. "Yes Sir." said the other voice as she pressed the side button releasing the soul inside which floated up revealing it's cloak to have what looked like old school pen tips for hand. It posed in the air and for a moment they swear they saw an out line of two men. One holding a pen while the other held a book. "Let's see what you'd got." said Sugarcoat pressing the eye drop. "Tengan! Grimm! Mega Ulorder." said the voice as it played mystical sounding music. "Fighting Pen!" it sang as the soul got on her with the pens becoming the shoulders of the hood and a new eye. "Looks good." said Seiko getting up. "So. Any ideas?" At that point Necrom Grimm looked at the creatures and extended the pens whipping all of them causing them to vanish. "Well....that's one way to do it." "Impossible!" said the Axe Ganma. It turned to leave as Sunset pulled out Sunshine's module, pressed it three times, and inserted it into her weapon causing several flower to form around them as her weapon began glowing yellow. "Gold Forte Burst!" she called out firing causing all the flowers to fly to the Ganma catching it by surprise as it was hit several times by the flowers which merged making it float by a giant sunflower which spun. "Your turn." "Got it." said Necrom Grimm rotating the Mega Ulorder and pressing the eye dropper again. "Destroy! Dai Tengan! Grimm! Omega Ulorder!" said the voice as a green eye symbol to formed behind her. Afterwards she jumped as the eye symbol became energy which moved to the Ganma's chest in the form of a giant pen which Necrom moved forward and kicked, going through it causing the flower and the Ganma to explode. After the two changed back as their friends arrived. "What happened?" asked Octavia. "Let's head back to my place. There's something I need to check." said Sunset. "Fine but give us a minute. We ran all the way here." said Lemon as most of them panted. "Come on. We'll need to hide while you rest." said Sunset leading them to an alley. 'Well brother. You were right. I did find new friends.' she thought to herself with a smile.