Ryusei Sakuta was not known for his patience, when it came to the nonsensical. That being said, while he had little patience for stupid things, he also had built up a considerable immunity to friendship-based punishment.
That being said, he doffed his helmet as he looked at the intel that had been given to him by his partner, who still doggedly teased her fellow master in Shooting Star Ryu how he had chosen Tomoko over her.
Ryusei replied that Tomoko was scarier than her, and they left it at that.
It was here that Ryusei got off his bike and headed towards the Camp’s main lodge, the brand new sign labeled Camp Everfree looming overhead. The sound of students getting ready to leave was noted, and a muffled bang that came from the docks was heard. Ryusei identified it as an explosion, and deemed that he didn’t need to check it out. Gentarou was here after all, and he would handle things.
“Gentarou,” called out Ryusei as Gentarou looked up. His friend was dressed in an old worn orange Ama High jumper and it brought back old memories. “What happened?”
“Ah, Kengo called you didn’t he?” said Gentarou sheepishly. “Don’t worry, everything’s under control.”
”What. Happened.” Deadpanned Ryusei as a woman in pink and green ran up in a hurry. “Three times is a thing but four times…!”
“Gentarou? Who is this? A friend of yours?” asked Gloriosa Daisy, worried. She looked Ryusei up and down for a brief moment, taking in his official looking outfit.
“Ah, Gloriosa, this is a school friend of mine, Ryusei Sakuta.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Ryusei with a slight bow. “Are you the Camp director?”
“Yes, I am. Oh this is about the incident yesterday isn’t it?” Fretted Gloriosa. “Gentarou you said it would be all right!”
“It’s okay, really! Ryusei’s just a friend. So, what’d Kengo say?”
Ryusei rolled his eyes. Clearly he would get the answer later from Gentarou. “Kengo discovered the beginnings of The Hole over Camp Everfree and Canterlot High School. Kengo sent these over to make sure that all of them are monitored.”
Reaching over to the cycle, Ryusei pulled out a suitcase and opened it up. Inside was a spread of Fast Food items, all mechanical in nature along with their corresponding Astroswitches. “He’s worried that certain people might take advantage of the influx of Cosmic Energy in the region.”
“Ah, good thinking! Kengo was thinking ahead.” Pulling out a Burgermeal and a Softconya, he handed the Softconya to Gloriosa who looked bewildered before following Gentarou’s lead in activating the Foodroids. One by one, they leapt to life as Gentarou laughed.
“They’re just like the originals! I’m going to call them the Foodroid II.” Turning to Gloriosa who was poking the Softconya who sprinkled a spray of cool mist at her, Gentarou added, “I’ll explain everything later.”
“I hope so,” said Gloriosa. “I need to get back to setting up with the next wave of Campers. You uh, have a good time with your friend, Gentarou.”
Hurrying away, Ryusei trained the Burgermeal on her as he said, “She’s been touched by Cosmic Energy.”
“Yeah, like I said, it’s a long story.” Said Gentarou. “I’m just glad my students were able to deal with things.”
Ryusei rolled his eyes. “I’ll meet you back at the school Gentarou. I’ve got more Foodroids to set up around town.”
“Kengo’s not getting any sleep, is he?” At Ryusei’s smirk, Gentarou rolled his eyes. “I’ll talk to him later.”
“What a vacation,” groaned Sunset as she leaned back in her chair. She, like the others had come back from Camp Everfree, and the girls were too wound up to go home. So, piling all into Flash’s car for a lift, they had gotten to Pinkie Pie’s place for some relaxing movies.”
The girls were all in a state of semi exhaustion as well, with only Pinkie Pie seemingly energetic as she was ordering pizza. Rarity had commandeered the shower for a long soak, while Applejack and Rainbow Dash were in the middle of squabbling over which movie to rent from Pinkie’s TV service. Twilight was still fiddling with one of the Foodroids that she had basically kept as a second pet. Fluttershy had dozed off on the couch, leaning against Pinkie who chatted with the pizza place.
“That wasn’t a vacation at all,” remarked Twilight, pushing up her glasses. “But… I can admit that in the end I did have some fun.”
“That’s good to know,” said Applejack as she had decided on the movie with a game of rock paper scissors with Rainbow and won best five out of seven. “Even if we gave up on the dock, ah think we’re going to be all right from now on.”
“Yeah, I think so.” Said Sunset, as she slouched further into the comfy armchair. “Pinkie, how much longer for pizza?”
“Twenty minutes,” said Pinkie, getting off the phone. She noticed the Softconya that Twilight was working with and made an ooh noise. “What’s that? It looks delicious!”
“I found it a while ago at the school,” said Twilight. “Gentarou said it’s a Foodroid.”
“It looks delicious,” said Pinkie with a little grin. “Can I have a taste?”
“Pinkie it’s not edible,” replied Rainbow Dash as Pinkie made a half-hearted grab at it.
“Yeah, but Cosmic Energy’s got a taste to it!” Exclaimed Pinkie.
“So when did we go from calling it Friendship Magic to Cosmic Energy?” asked Applejack. “Ah mean it’s the same thing, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but Cosmic Energy sounds so much cooler,” said Rainbow with a smirk. The door rang and she got up. “Pizza’s here!”
Pinkie blinked as she looked at the phone even as Rainbow Dash ran to the door. “Funny, I just ordered less than a minute ago. It can’t be them.”
The group didn’t have to wait long before Rainbow’s voice cut through the air. “Hey! What are you three doing here?”
Reluctantly getting up from her couch which had a sizeable indentation into it from her slouch, Sunset tiredly went to the door and paused at the sight of the sirens standing there, in varying degrees of uncomfortable; only Adagio looked remotely interested in standing at the door, which she soon pushed into the room. “Look, I don’t like asking you people for help,” she said quickly, pushing a small black device rimmed with gold into Sunset’s hands. “Take this, and keep it away from us as much as possible.”
”What is this?” asked Sunset, as Sonata and Aria handed over the black devices. “They look like…”
”They’re called Zodiart Switches,” explained Aria. “And they’re bad news.”
”Some weirdos in white came over to our house and tried to get us to join them,” said Sonata. “They said it would give us power beyond belief.”
“So we said we’d think about it, and immediately came over here to loser-town,” snorted Aria. “I don’t know what it is, but anything that looks like a bomb switch is probably bad news.”
“These aren’t Astroswitches,” said Rainbow Dash, plucking one out of Sunset’s hand and looking over it cautiously. “Man, but they’re giving me the creeps.”
”I don’t care if it gives you the creeps, just lock them away from us, far, far, away from us.” Said Adagio. “I don’t know about you losers but don’t press the button on that. At all.”
“Let’s get these to Gentarou,” said Sunset, taking the Switch back from Rainbow Dash. “He’ll know what to do.”
There was an awkward silence as Sunset passed the Switches over to Twilight. “So uh… what have you three been doing?”
“Oh not much, just getting on with life,” said Sonata airily. “I’m working at Taco Taco now!”
“Oh… that’s nice. Did you girls want in for pizza?” asked Sunset, Rainbow Dash giving her a look. “What? They came all this way from uh… where were you three living again?”
“Small house on the outskirts of Canterlot,” said Aria. “What’s it to you?”
“I dunno, maybe I could just TP your house before you can blink,” said Rainbow, trying to get a rise from the girls. Aria glared at Rainbow who answered it with a evil smirk.
“All right you two now’s not the time,” said Sunset. Turning to Adagio, she asked, “Anything you can tell us about the people in white?”
“Sure, but it’ll cost you,” said Adagio. “Three pizzas in exchange for our information.”
“We haven’t had a decent meal since Tuesday,” said Sonata, her stomach growling. “I can only buy so much taco with my minimum wage.”
Sunset sighed. “Come on in.”
In short order, extra Pizza had been ordered and soon, Adagio and her two friends were opening fresh boxes. “I have to say, this is one of the joys of this human world; being able to get pizza whenever you want.”
“Well enjoy it, it’s all I could afford at this point,” said Pinkie, a little upset that she had to spend even more money. Her dad was going to kill her for ordering more pizza.
“So these white wearing people, who were they?” asked Twilight, tapping at the keyboard. There had been a moment of awkward introductions to the very human Twilight as the Sirens had immediately bristled at the thought of the princess one being there. “Any descriptions?”
“Expensive,” said Aria, catching a dripping cheese string from her pizza slice. “Tailored suits, Neighponese. They called themselves Foundation X.”
“There’s a obvious badguy callsign if I’ve ever heard of one,” said Rainbow Dash bluntly. “Anything with X in the name usually means secret organization.”
”You’re not wrong,” said Rarity, checking on her end via phone. “I’m checking the database that our friends in Neighpon set up for us, in case there was trouble and the news isn’t good. Twilight?”
“Foundation X is a bank, it funds illicit projects such as Gaia Memory distribution and Zodiart Switch creation,” said Twilight, her fingers dancing across the keyboard as she read up on the information available. “It’s lucky you have a name for them, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to get anything on them. They don’t have an online presence as far as I can see. It’s only due to Professor Utahoshi’s contacts resources that I was able to find anything of the sort on them. They’re very bad people.”
”More reason to worry then,” said Fluttershy nervously. “You’re looking at the site Professor Utahoshi sent you, right Twilight?”
“Yes I am, and the information here is not good.” Said Twilight. Turning to Sunset, she asked, “Were you able to call Gentarou?”
”He said he’s busy but told me to keep those Switches locked up. Pinkie and I put it in the safe in the house.” Said Sunset. “He said a friend of his will be by later to pick them up.”
The three sirens exchanged glances as Sonata asked, “It sounds like you all have had experience with this sort of thing before. I mean, more than usual. I mean, don’t you seven just sort of blunder into things usually?”
“Well it’s not like we haven’t had our world become much larger than usual,” said Applejack crossly. “It’s mostly due to our new teacher being some kinda superhero.”
“Former superhero,” corrected Fluttershy. “He’s retired now.”
“You people are so weird,” said Aria.
“Takes one to know one,” retorted Rainbow Dash as she took a bite of her own pizza slice.
“I got it, thanks.” Gentarou hung up his MagPhone and turned to Ryusei. “That was Pinkie Pie. She said that three girls came over to their house carrying Zodiart Switches.”
Ryusei frowned at the statement, as the two men were sitting in a sushi cart, attending to their supper after Gentarou’s long “vacation” at Camp Everfree. “Then it’s exactly what INTERPOL was worried about.”
“That Foundation X was moving in on overseas territory?” asked Gentarou. Ryusei nodded as the other man sighed.
“I’ll try to handle damage on my end then.”
Ryusei frowned a little as he took another bite of his sushi. It was really good sushi and Ryusei wasn’t going to waste a masters food. “You trust your students that much to keep things under wraps while we eat here?”
”I trust them a whole lot, Ryusei. It’s why I stayed on as a teacher instead of going back to Ama High.” Said Gentarou, taking a sip of his chilled coffee. “Master, another round.”
“Gentarou,” grumbled Ryusei as the man in the mismatched outfit made their food. “We don’t really have time to waste here.”
“I’m sure there’s plenty of time when you need a meal,” said the old man, a Neighponese national with white hair, a scraggly beard and wearing a chaotic looking outfit of classic Neighpon fabric, his sleeves wound up to his elbows. “After all, young men like yourself need your nourishment, hmm?”
“Thank you, Ranma-san,” said Gentarou in Neighponese. “I was surprised when Sunset said her Sushi Master was an actual master of the craft.”
“Well it took over 1000 years to perfect the recipe,” said Ranma with a twinkle in his eye. “You two eat up now!”
Placing twinned multicolored sushi platforms in front of them, the men ate before Ryusei finished his food quickly. “Thank you for the meal,” he said, hands folded and bowing politely. Getting up, he said, “Gentarou, where does Pinkie Pie live?”
“Oh its,” and Gentarou rattled off a number, Ryusei nodding. Fitting on his helmet, Ryusei kickstarted the Meteorstar and rode off.
”Your friend is pretty worried,” said Ranma as he prepared to close his cart. “Anything I can do?”
”Just stay off the streets tomorrow,” said Gentarou. Switching back to English, he added, “And please, tell Sunset she’s got a fine master.”
“I taught her well, you take care now!”
As Gentarou left, the cart vanished once out of sight. “Well now,” said “Ranma” as his clothing changed from a Neighponese sushi seller’s outfit, to a mismatched suit with gloves, different colors of pants and different shades of brown and chaotic plaid. “You’ve got quite a road ahead of yourself, Gentarou.”
Snapping his fingers, he vanished from the very world itself as the echoing laughter rebounded off the walls.
Foundation X was in town. This was bad news all around.
After phoning in the information to his superiors at INTERPOL, Ryusei had picked up the Zodiart Switches from Pinkie Pie’s house in a hurry. Kengo had been correct in that the formation of a small The Hole atop CHS was attracting attention, and if so, Zodiart Switches could already be distributed across the town.
Turning the corner, the ground in front of him lit up with an explosion. Ryusei threw his belt on as the ground around him erupted in flames, the Altar Zodiarts standing at the opposite side of the road.
“METEOR READY?” proclaimed his belt as Ryusei leaped off his bike, the bike immediately slamming into the Altar Zodiarts who oofed in reply. “Henshin!”
A brilliant beam of light lanced down from the sky, engulfing Ryusei in a single blast as he careened into the Altar Zodiarts with a hearty thump. It went rolling along as the motorcycle skidded to a halt, and Ryusei stood up.
“The one who will decide your fate is me,” said Ryusei as he kept his momentum going, charging in with a flurry of punches and kicks. The Altar Zodiarts fought back as hard as it could, but their movements were sluggish from surprise, and clearly inexperienced in combat. It was clear that this was probably some poor kid who got a taste a power due to Foundation X spreading Switches like candy.
“WATCHA!” Exclaimed Ryusei, punching hard as the Altar Zodiarts flew backwards with a feminine cry, landing hard on the ground. Without preamble, Ryusei flipped his Meteor Switch and spun his belt, crouching low.
“METEOR ON, READY? METEOR LIMIT BREAK!” Proclaimed his belt as he kicked out and slammed headlong into the Zodiart in a corona of blue flame. There was an explosion followed by a switch flying upwards as a green haired girl collapsed onto the ground.
Picking up the device, Ryusei peered at it for a moment, confused at the coloring of metallic blue and silver; a clear difference from the Switches that he had just picked up from Pinkie Pie’s place which was rimmed with gold. Switching it off, Ryusei sighed in relief as he went over to the fallen Lyra Heartstrings. “Hey, you okay?”
Lyra groaned as she turned over, flicking her eyes open. “Who? Hey, who are you? What happened?” A pause. “Why am I laying on the ground?”
Helping her up to a sitting position, Ryusei asked, “You turned into a monster. Who gave you the Switch?”
”Gave? It’s all fuzzy,” said Lyra, holding her head. “I remember coming home from camp, and then this person in white grabbed me. The next thing I remember is waking up from whatever happened. I think they forced me to press that Switch…”
“That’s unlike their MO,” muttered Ryusei as he helped Lyra to her feet. “Get on the bike, it’ll take you home. I have some work to do.”
Lyra nodded. “Thanks, whoever you are.”
“Kamen Rider Meteor,” replied Ryusei. “Now go, the bike will protect you.”
As Lyra rode off, Meteor de-transformed as he pulled out his Meteor Switch. Connecting, he said, “Yeah, it’s me. Yes. I think I’m going to need some help.”
“Gentarou, can I see you in my office?” asked Luna as she gestured to Gentarou who was preparing for the day ahead.
Following Luna to her office, she shut the door behind them as Luna turned towards Gentarou. “There’s been an alarming amount of students playing truant today, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.”
Gentarou frowned for a moment, tilting his head. “Alarming amount? How many are we talking?”
”Seven, maybe eight students. All from the same year too except one,” said Luna. “One of them was briefly seen on the school grounds, a Miss Babs Seed, Applejack’s cousin. She seemed rather agitated, and was clutching onto this. Featherweight got a picture of it.”
Passing over the photograph, Gentarou peered at it for a moment, before realization set in. “That’s a Zodiart Switch, but the colors are all wrong.”
“What do you mean? What’s a Zodiart Switch?” asked Luna. “Gentarou, please, tell me.”
Gentarou sighed a little as he said, “A Zodart Switch is a device, empowered by Cosmic Energy. It can turn the Switcher, the one who presses it, into a kaijin, a monster. Each one of them is based on a Constellation. Ryusei called me last night; said that he encountered a Switcher on the way home.”
“Did he take care of it?” asked Luna curiously.
“He defeated the Zodiart, and turned it off. It’s the same color as these Switches. If Switches have gotten into the student body, we’re looking at another possible Ama High incident.” Said Gentarou with a serious expression on his face.
Luna sighed heavily. “I won’t say that our school hasn’t had an incredibly short history with monsters, Gentarou, but we need to find out where these students are. And if anyone besides Miss Seed has a Switch.”
Looking over the files, Gentarou read off the names. “Gilda, Snips, Snails… three problem students even with the overall pleasant mood CHS stands for now. Spitfire? That’s a new one on me. She’s usually well behaved.”
“She’s a military kid which might stand to reason why she was targeted. If she even was I mean,” said Luna.
“A lot of children can have authority problems with overbearing families. Lyra Hea… oh, she’s taking the day off, I signed off on her. She was the Switcher from last night. Said she was attacked. Ryusei’s looking after her right now.”
“Okay, that crosses off one of them. And there’s Babs Seed who is a third year now, and two younger students, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.”
“Both have trouble sometimes, but to be honest, a Switch brings out the worst in people.” Closing up the file, Gentarou nodded. “I’ll go looking for them.”
“Please do. The last thing we need is another incident at school.”
Gentarou paused at the door. “You might want to keep all the students indoors, just in case.” And then he was gone.
“I don’t know about this,” said Sonata as she and Pinkie Pie walked to school together. “I know that you girls are looking after us but do we gotta go to school? They kinda still hate us!”
“Meh, that’s Tuesday for us. It’ll blow over!” Exclaimed Pinkie with a grin. “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay.”
“If you say so,” said Sonata. “At least this gets me out of work right now. As much as I love tacos, the thought of eating lunch there every day lessens the novelty.”
“Oh don’t worry bout that, Granny Smith’ll make lunch for us. At least this isn’t a mandatory day, but everyone said to meet up there.”
Sonata shrugged as she looked over at the road ahead. Peering down at a girl in a brown jacket with white hair, she asked, “Hey, is she your classmate?”
Pinkie looked up and nodded. “Well, kinda. She’s Rainbow Dash’s old friend, Gilda. I wonder why she’s on this street?”
”Waiting for you, nerd,” replied Gilda, holding up a Switch. The pair froze in surprise as Gilda smirked. “And here I thought I would have to hunt you two down.”
”Hey look, if this is about the brainwashing, I totally just wanted to apologize for that,” said Sonata, backing up.
Gilda cackled in a way that hadn’t been heard for a while, the girl having mellowed out a while ago. “Too late for that. Taste Cosmic Energy, loser!” And she threw the Switch, a halo of dark energy and stars appearing as she resolved into a bird-like form. “Cool huh?” said the altered voice of the Cygnus Zodiart. “Looks like you ain’t the one with magic anymore, huh Pinkster?”
“Run,” said Pinkie suddenly, and the pair turned on a heel and bolted.
“Hey, come back here!” Exclaimed Gilda, taking chase.
Ranbow Dash oofed as she was diverted into a trash can, where she bounced off into the road. “You’re so cheap, Snails,” she snapped, the younger man having transformed with a Switch.
Snails scratched his head a little as he said, “Well gee, I’m kicking your butt better than ever, Rainbow CRASH.”
“Get up, dork, before we both die out here!” Exclaimed Aria, hiding behind a light post. “Don’t you have super speed now?”
”Kinda hard to use it when he’s able to redirect the way I’m moving!” Exclaimed Rainbow.
Snails had used the Switch as well, seemingly competent in his power. The dimwitted teenager had obtained the power of the Pyxis Zodiart, and was able to redirect things, people and items towards Rainbow Dash. She grunted and speed at him again with her super speed, but Snails simply redirected her motion. “You know that redirection crap is really getting on my nerves!”
“Well gee, it’s not like you can hit me,” replied Snails, a menace to his normally doofy tone. “All I was told was to keep you busy after all.”
“Busy? What are you on about?” retorted Rainbow Dash. “Who gave you that Switch?”
“I uh… dunno actually,” replied Snails as he scratched his head.
Aria slapped her forehead. This was the guy who was giving them trouble? He was so dumb, it baffled her. “Can you handle him?” she called out to Rainbow.
“Sure, as soon as I figure out an angle. Where are you going?”
“I’m worried about Adagio, I can’t reach her on the phone. I’m going to go look for her.” Said Aria, holding up a phone.
Rainbow nodded. “All right, you’d better be safe out there!”
Nodding, Aria ran off towards the school while Rainbow continued to lead the Pyxis Zodiart away.
Fluttershy was afraid of Dragons. This much was certain. As such, she carried Rarity away from the Dragon Zodiarts which was stomping after them. “Oh I hope we can find the others soon,” she said, straining as she tried to fly the pair away.
“Hey, get down here where I can hit you!” Yelled Snips as he waved a metal hand at Fluttershy and Rarity.
“And get hit by those steel balls of yours? No thank you!” Exclaimed Rarity. A ball whizzed by their head like a shotput thrown out of a cannon and she yelped. “Fluttershy, be a dear and fly faster?”
”Oh, you know I’m not the strongest ever,” whimpered Fluttershy as she tried to carry Rarity away as fast as possible.
Down below, Snips was getting irritated. Why in the world was this so hard? All he had to do was… uh… Snips paused in confusion, giving the pair a lead. Why WAS he chasing them again?
Applejack grimaced as she held her shoulder. It was definitely bruised, but not broken as her own cousin, Babs, stood in front of her as a monster. She had ambushed them outside of Sweet Apple Acres, and the Chameleon Zodiarts was her power. “Told you, I’m just better at not being a country hick like you are.”
“This is what it’s about?” replied Applejack, letting magic reinforce her strength as she stood up. “All that over a first year grudge?”
”No, I just…” Babs held her head for a moment, trying to clear it. “It doesn’t matter, I’m just here to beat you, cousin.”
And with that, the Chameleon Zodiarts vanished as Applejack readied herself for another attack. With her invisible, she could be from any direction.
Something’s wrong, realized Applejack as she defended against a few more invisible blows. This isn’t how Babs acts. Sure she’s snobbish and uptight, but…
The wind whistled through the air as Applejack grabbed behind her and pulled Babs over her shoulder in a textbook judo throw. “Ah’ll bring ya back to your senses!”
Babs hit the ground with an oof.
Running through the streets, Gentarou noticed the familiar head of Spitfire standing on the corner. Before he could call out, she pressed her own Switch, changing into the Unicorn Zodiarts. Drawing her horse head off into the fencing foil, she slashed into the street, causing cars to swerve away from the energy slash. “Oh crap,” remarked Gentarou as he ran up.
Looking up at Gentarou, Spitfire seemed out of it, her movements sluggish. It was the same as Lyra then, he realized as she wasted no preamble and started slashing at him.
“Spitfire, snap out of it!” he exclaimed, grabbing her hand with the sword and trying to force it out of her hands. In response, she knocked him to the street and brought it down, moments before a bullet sprang off her chest, knocking her back.
Gentarou looked up at the person who shot it and grinned. “Haruto!”
“Yo, Fourze,” replied Haruto Souma, the wizard leaning on his bike with the WizarGun smoking in his hands. He fired several more times, the bullets curving around fleeing pedestrians and slamming into the Pegasus Zodiart. Spitfire yelped as he added, “Glad to see you’re still having adventures.”
”Yeah, but this time I don’t have a driver to borrow from my past self,” said Gentarou as Haruto grinned. “You got this handled?”
“Don’t worry, after all…” Haruto put on a red ring on his hand, “I am the final hope.”
“DRIVER ON, PLEASE!” Exclaimed his belt as he activated it. “Henshin!”
In a blaze of magic, Haruto changed form into the coat-wearing Kamen Rider as he changed the WizarGun into the WizarSword. “It’s Showtime.”
Gentarou patted Wizard on the shoulder. “Handle it. I’m going to try and find the last two unaccounted for.”
Wizard nodded, and charged in, clashing swords with Spitfire in a dazzling display of Wudang Sword techniques. She ducked and weaved back, meeting sword to sword, their weapons spinning about another as Wizard flipped forwards as she danced backwards.
“Oh? Pretty good,” said Wizard as he slipped on a ring and activated his belt. “BIND PLEASE!”
Magic circles appeared around Pegasus as she blocked and avoided the chains that erupted from the circles. Cutting an arc into the air, she sent a crescent blast at Wizard who was forced to dodge and roll away.
“Slippery one, well I’ve got a ring for that.” Placing a blue ring on his belt, he activated it. “WATER PLEASE!” chimed his belt as a magic ring appeared in front of him. Charging through it, the gemstones and design of his helmet changed to blue as he threw another ring in front of the belt. “LIQUID PLEASE!”
Leaping over two more crescent strikes, Wizard transformed into water as he grabbed her, making Pegasus struggle against the liquid body that Wizard had turned into. She flailed around before running headlong into a wall, where Wizard disengaged. “The finale!”
“Very Nice, Kick Strike! The Best!” Leaping into the air, Wizard spiraled several times before coming down in a torrent of liquid, slamming into Pegasus.
Pegasus flew backwards, and the Zodiart switch bounced from her hand, as Wizard landed next to it. “Whee,” he said, slightly disappointed the Zodiart didn’t explode, but he knew it might hurt the girl as he picked up the Switch and turned it off.
Groaning, Spitfire shook her head, trying to clear it. “What hit me?”
“A Kamen Rider,” said Haruto, keeling down next to her as he returned to normal. “Can you stand?”
Spitfire nodded, sitting up groggily as he said, “Take a moment.” His belt chimed, “CONNECT PLEASE!” As he thrust his hand through it, and stole someone’s drink from the serving tray, dropping yen on the startled server’s tray. Offering it to Spitfire, she sipped at the cool liquid carefully. “What’s the last thing you remember?” asked Haruto.
“A girl… white jacket, purple, red hair. She jumped me. She said it was important to keep Twilight’s friends busy while she secured The Hole.” Spitfire frowned. “Whatever The Hole is, it’s above CHS.”
“Do me a favor and only tell your teachers later. When you feel up to it, we’ll head on over to the school.” Spitfire nodded as he helped her to his cycle which appeared in a circle of magic.
“No one’s here yet,” said Twilight, fidgeting nervously as she stood in front of the school with Sunset and Adagio. “I hope they’re all right.”
“Knowing them they’ve got it handled,” said Sunset, trying to reassure her friend. Adagio snorted.
“Please. It took you girls three whole days to get your act together to beat us. Are you really seriously thinking you could handle actual monsters?”
Sunset opened her mouth to reply as Gentarou ran up and she looked up at him. “Gentarou, where’s the others?” she asked the man who was breathing slightly hard at running across the town.
“I haven’t found them yet, but I did find Spitfire. She got a hold of a Zodiart Switch, but a friend of mine is handling her,” replied Gentarou. “Looks like Ryusei called in backup.”
“That’s good and all, because I think we have trouble coming,” said Twilight as she backed up nervously.
Across the yard stood the two missing girls, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, their eyes dull, as if they had no light of their own. And a woman stood there, barely out of her teens with long hair in red and purple and dressed in all white. She wore thick glasses in a style familiar to Twilight and her friends.
“Foundation X,” said Gentarou standing up. “What are you doing?”
“Fourze,” replied the girl evenly. “This is just business. Get out of the way.”
“These are my students,” said Gentarou. “If you want to get to them, you have to go through me.”
“That is not my intention,” replied the girl as she held up a new switch, this one a Commander Switch that was silver and blue in color. “All I care about is securing this town for Foundation X.”
“But you’re harming innocents to do it!” Exclaimed Sunset hotly. “This isn’t just a takeover, it’s an attack!”
“I know,” replied the girl.
“Please, it’s clear you don’t want to do this,” snorted Adagio. “Give me that Switch, and I’ll get rid of it.”
“NO! This is my work, and I won’t let you destroy it. It’s important that I make sure it works!” Exclaimed the girl. She brandished it in front of herself. “It’s important that I prove it works, otherwise…!”
”Otherwise… our town is in real danger, isn’t it? Moondancer?” said Twilight softly. All eyes went to her as she stepped forward. “Moondancer, it’s really you isn’t it?”
Moondancer nodded, tears forming in her eyes as Twilight stepped forward another step. “Why? Why are you part of an evil organization, Moondancer? You were my classmate, my friend! You went to Everton before I did, even before I went to Crystal Prep! So why…?”
Moondancer was silent for a moment before she said, “Do you know what it’s like, to have no friends? I was the youngest prodigy in Everton. But due to my age, and my study habits, I had no friends. That’s when I discovered it: Professor Utahoshi’s research on Cosmic Energy. I thought… that with its power, I could make new friends. More friends.”
“Kengo…’s research…” said Gentarou softly.
“PROFESSOR Utahoshi. Kengo’s father’s research,” corrected Moondancer. “I followed the research, until I discovered something; a power that would infuse the user with Cosmic Energy, and allow them to reach the Presenters. The work of Mitsuaki Gamou. I worked tirelessly on recreating the Zodiart Switches, and then, I discovered something even more powerful – another secondary evolution past it. But that wasn’t enough. I needed more Cosmic Energy than before, and that’s when I was discovered: by Foundation X.”
“They approached me, offered me funding to work to my hearts content. I was happy, I had colleagues, friends! But it was all empty, once I discovered Foundation X was trying to use my research for their own purposes. They were trying to ensure, that their own people could obtain Last One, and the final evolution into a Commander Zodiart; a unique Commander Zodiart, loyal to Foundation X before they used it for mass production.”
“Then why are you trying to spread the use of Switches across the town? Moondancer, why?” asked Twilight.
“Because I had no choice in the matter! Once The Hole was discovered atop the school, I had to convince Foundation X I could handle it; because I traded the protection of this town for my research. I love Canterlot City, and I love everything it!” Moondancer’s hand tightened around the Switch as she looked up. With tears in her eyes she held her thumb over the Switch. “And that’s why I have to beat you, Twilight, before you stop Foundation X and they come in force!”
“Moondancer, no!” Cried out Twilight as Moondancer pressed the Switch.
Dark energy wrapped around Moondancer as the constellation for the Southern Cross bloomed on her body. With a cry, she stood there, a black knight with brilliant hues of blue and gold rimming its body. She drew a large sword and slammed it into the ground as the two controlled girls next to her threw their own switches, changing into the Comb and Fly Zodiarts. “Get out of the way Twilight, we don’t have to do this!” Boomed the Southern Cross Zodiart.
“I won’t, I can’t run,” said Twilight as her hands glowed and wings burst from her shoulders. “Because I want to be your friend again Moondancer, and I’ll stop you and Foundation X!”
“We’ll do it together, Twilight,” said Sunset as she stepped forward, throwing her jacket off as she slid into a fighting stance. “I might not have the sheer offensive power of Twilight, but together, we can do this.”
Adagio, who had remained silent, sighed as she stepped up and tying her hair back. “You losers better not lose. Not while I’m here.” She shifted into an unfamiliar fighting stance. “Three on three, this isn’t bad odds at all.”
Southern Cross, in response, summoned a group of Dustards and Adagio exclaimed, “Oh come on!”
“I’ll handle those,” said Gentarou with a grin. “Twilight, Sunset! And uh…”
”Adagio,” replied Adagio.
”Adagio, be careful. But bring your friend back!” With a yell, Gentarou charged into the pack of enemies as the girls followed suit.
“How is this possible?” grunted the Chameleon Zodiart as Applejack smirked. She was heavily dusty and her clothing ripped, but Applejack had Babs in an impenetrable arm bar.
“Y’all forgot one thing while livin’ in the city, Cuz: we Apples are scrappers too! And it ain’t like you’ve done much of that on the city. Also your attacks are quick and too light. They ain’t nuthin’ like anything an Apple would throw. Lemme show you how its’ done!”
With a powerful throw, Applejack heaved Babs over her shoulder as she slammed her into the ground again and again until Babs coughed and lay still. The Switch rolled from her hand and came to a rest in front of Applejack.
Exhausted, Applejack grabbed the Switch and turned it off, reverting Babs to normal as she crushed the Switch in her hand. “Hey, cuz, you okay?”
Babs’ eyes flickered open as she groaned. “What? What am I doing out here? Applejack? Why are you half naked with huge tears in your clothing? And why am I embedded into the ground?”
Applejack grinned as she pulled Babs out of the ground. “Hey, I’m just glad you’re okay cuz.” And she gave her a hug. “C’mon, lets’ tell the others that we’re okay.”
“Sure. Wow, I don’t remember much at all, just this girl in white grabbing me…” Babs shivered. “You can keep your adventure cousin, this isn’t my thing.”
Applejack nodded. “Foundation X. Best keep far away from them partner. Now then…” Picking up her phone which had survived the fight, she dialed a number. “C’mon, come on, pick up. Consarmitall, pick up!”
With no answer, she said, “Ah need to get into town.”
”You can take my moped,” said Babs, gesturing to the bike which had sat to the side. “Go save your friends. I’m going to go inside the house.”
Applejack nodded, running over and throwing on her helmet as she did. With a roar of the engine, the moped sped off down the highway towards the middle of town.
“This is really getting annoying!” Exclaimed Snips, as he continued pummeling Rarity’s shields with lobbed steel balls in each hand. Fortunately for the two girls who were crouched behind Rarity’s shields once Fluttershy’s exhaustion had kicked in from flying them everywhere, Snips wasn’t very good at being a Zodiart.
“I can’t get any shot in,” said Rarity, as she maintained the shield, sweat beading down her neck. “Fluttershy, can your animal friends do something? Anything?”
“I’m sorry Rarity, but there are no bears or anything larger than Angel Bunny here,” said Fluttershy as the rabbit had deemed not to come out of Fluttershy’s backpack. “I think we’re stuck.”
Another wave of steel balls slammed into the diamond shields and they cracked. Rarity made a whimpering noise as her knee buckled. “Well, I guess we’re going to need saving then. Oh what I wouldn’t give for a Knight in Shining Armor right about now!”
“Excuse me, but can you hold this?” said an unfamiliar voice as a stick with underwear was planted to the side of Fluttershy who took it hesitantly. The pair looked up at the man who grinned. “I’ll go deal with your problem.”
As Eiji Hino walked past them, strapping his Driver on, Rarity weakly exclaimed, “That… color combination. That fashion sense.” And she swooned for a moment at the atrocity of it all as Eiji proclaimed, “Henshin!”
In a swirl of coins, Eiji transformed into a Rider, as he gestured with two fingers, a motion of rubbing coins together. “Kamen Rider OOO,” introduced Eiji to the group. “Eiji Hino.”
Charging in to meet Dragon, Dragon fought back clumsily. OOO’s claws popped and he slashed across Dragon, causing him to stumble but not fall over. A few more strikes pushed the young Zodiart back as Eiji made an “Oh” noise.
“He’s made of steel,” called out Fluttershy. “Do you have anything good against that?”
“I do actually.” Changing his medals for grey ones, Eiji slashed his belt again with the scanner. The belt chimed out, “Rhino, Gorilla, Elephant” in Neighponese as his armor changed to a steel-grey suit. Armed with Sagozou Combo, Eiji ran in, smashing his fists against Dragon who stumbled back from the heavy hits.
Recovering quickly from her swoon, Rarity shook off her dismay at the way Eiji had been dressed as she and Fluttershy moved to the side. Looking up at a flock of birds, Rarity gestured to them. “Can you get them to help?”
”I’ll try.” Said Fluttershy, moving over to quickly talk to the birds as Rarity took a deep breath.
She had been practicing with her gemstone creation, and while flat disks and shields were easy to make, using it offensively was different. Holding out her hand, a large diamond mallet appeared and she exclaimed, “Mr. Hino, catch!”
OOO looked up at the thrown hammer and caught it, bringing it down upon Dragon with a massive crash. “Thank you!” He called out, smashing at him again and again.
Dragon buckled, unable to retaliate as he stumbled backwards, trying to get his bearings. But then, a swarm of birds covered him in a flurry of feathers and pecking beaks as Fluttershy had convinced the birds to swarm Dragon. Dragon flailed in surprise as he exclaimed, “Get them off, get them off, I hate that Hitchcock movie! Fluttershy please!”
“That’s enough everyone,” said Fluttershy as the birds retreated back to their perch. Going over, she knelt by the fallen Dragon. “Now Snips, I know this isn’t what you want, so give me the Switch and I’ll be on my way.”
”You mean it? No more diamond hammers and big guys with armor hitting me? No more birds?” asked Dragon.
Fluttershy nodded, and Dragon handed the Switch over. Fluttershy clicked it off and Snips lay there, dazed for a long moment before he looked up. “Hey uh, what’s with the guy in armor?”
“You don’t remember?” asked Rarity, coming over. “Why is that?”
“I just remember throwing the switch and everything was a haze,” said Snips as Eiji de-transformed in a flash of light.
“Can I see that?” asked Eiji, asking for the Switch. Fluttershy handed it over and he said, “This’ll take a moment.”
Carefully removing a panel, he frowned and plucked a red thin microchip out of it. “Banba,” he said with a frown. “This is worse than we thought.”
“Who is Bamba?” asked Rarity. “And more to the point: who in the world made those clothes, they’re hideous!”
Fluttershy fought the urge to roll her eyes as Eiji replied, “An international criminal, and was brought to justice a year and a half ago. He was the ringleader of a group of human traffickers who sold Psychic Soldiers to criminal organizations. This is a brainwashing chip; I heard about it through one of my contacts.”
“Gentarou?” asked Fluttershy. Eiji nodded. “That means you’re one of his friends.”
”That’s right. We’ve known each other since he was in high school,” said Eiji. “More to the point, now we know the cause of why these kids are acting that way. The addictive properties of Cosmic Energy and Banba’s brainwashing technology are a match made in disaster.”
“We’d better call the others,” said Rarity as she pulled out her phone. “Snips, head to the hospital. There’ll be people who can treat you there.”
”I’ll take him,” said Fluttershy as she lead the younger student away. “Be safe you two.”
“Did we lose her?” asked Sonata as she leaned against a wall, panting heavily. Looking over her shoulder, the sight of the swan Zodiart was nowhere in sight.
“I think we lost her after I threw that cake at her,” said Pinkie, taking a moment to breathe. “I wonder if—oof!”
Pinkie went down in a heap of tangled limbs as Rainbow Dash smacked into her. “Ow hey, sorry I… Pinkie Pie? What are you doing here? Aren’t you and Sonata supposed to be going to the school?”
“Us, what about you?” asked Sonata looking up at the Pyxis Zodiart who was advancing. “Oh please don’t…”
Rainbow got to her feet, pulling Pinkie Pie up with her. “It’s Snails. He’s not himself, but he’s able to divert all of my attacks with those things on his wrists.”
”Yeah I don’t know what they’re called either,” replied Snails. “But I gotta delay you guys.”
“There you losers are!” Exclaimed a voice from above as the Cygnus Zodiart stood overhead. “Oh well, well, if it isn’t Dash.”
“I know that voice. Gilda too?” exclaimed Dash. “Gilda, throw that thing away!”
“Like I would? It’s given me so much power,” snickered Gilda, swooping down in a flurry of feathers. “Step aside Dash, I’ve got business with the pink one.”
”I have a name you know,” said Pinkie, popping the top of a can of sprinkles.
”Yeah and that name is mud!”
Cygnus unleashed a storm of feathers at Pinkie Pie as she met it with a handful of sprinkles which exploded noisily with popping noises. At the same time, Sonata grabbed a nearby trash can lid and threw it at Cygnus, only for it to be diverted with a twist of Pyxis’s wrists into Rainbow Dash’s shoulder. Rainbow Dash cried out as she growled. “Okay, you two teaming up isn’t fait at all!”
“Two against three? Seems pretty fair to us,” replied Pyxis as he grabbed a car from the side of the building and started it rolling towards the trio who scattered.
“Okay, this is getting really dangerous,” said Sonata, holding up the fallen trash can lid as a shield as Cygnus unleashed another storm of white feathers at them. “We need to call the others.”
“What we need is a plan,” said Rainbow as the girls darted to the side to avoid another salvo of thrown feathers. “We’re getting our butts kicked!”
Pinkie nodded. “Yeah, but what do we do?” she asked, pausing to throw a volley of sprinkles at Cygnus who blocked it with a salvo of feathers. “They’ve got powers to counter OUR powers!”
“Yeah I know I just… wait… Pinkie Pie you’re a genius!” Exclaimed Rainbow. “Follow my lead.”
”Okie dokie lokie!” Exclaimed Pinkie, before pausing. “I am?”
Taking off down the road, Rainbow circled around, accelerating as she did. “That didn’t work before!” Exclaimed Pyxis as Rainbow charged him. Dowsing rods out, he swung Rainbow around as she bounced off several buildings and with a loud cry, kicked Cygnus out of the air. Gilda squawked in surprise as she landed hard. “Oh, sorry!”
”Dash get off me!” She exclaimed as Pyxis paused in his attack, seconds before Sonata rushed in and slammed the trash lid against his face. A whole cake was hurled from Pinkie as Pyxis stumbled back, dazed and it detonated, sending him flying back first onto the ground.
“Yeah!” Exclaimed Pinkie and Sonata, high-fiving as Pyxis got up.
“Now I’m really mad I…!” Looking down at the smoking stumps of his dowsing rods, he exclaimed, “No, I don’t… how did you?”
”You can’t divert what you can’t see!” Exclaimed Sonata, spinning the lid as Gilda threw Dash off her who backflipped to her feet. “Just give it up already!”
“Now I’m really mad!” Exclaimed Gilda, rushing in to fight Dash one on one. “I didn’t want to have to hurt you Dash, but you’re frustrating me!”
Dash dodged around the attacks, her movements a streak of rainbow as a pair of cupcakes exploded against her back. Furiously, she whirled around as Gilda formed a heated ball of energy in her hands. “Pinkie Piiiiiieee I--!”
Suddenly, Gilda collapsed in a heap as Dash stood there, panting. Her hand smoked and was bright red. Pyxis backed up in shock as he exclaimed, “What’d you do to her?”
“I’ll explain it later,” said Dash as she rushed in, and with what looked like a single blow, felled Pyxis.
Pinkie was immediately at her friends’ side as Sonata retrieved the Switches, turning them off. “Rainbow Dash, are you okay? Your hand!”
”Its okay Pinkie, just something I thought of. I guess it worked.” Rainbow winced as she held her hand and arm which was bruising, turning an ugly shade of purple. “I realized a single punch wouldn’t stop a Zodiart, so I threw over a hundred in an instant. I might have hurt myself though.”
“Here,” said Sonata, checking Rainbow’s arm over. “It’s not fractured, but you’re going to need a sling.”
Taking her belt off, she looped it around Rainbow’s arm. “You’re going to have to train a lot if you’re going to do that again.” Said Sonata.
“Let’s hope not,” said Rainbow with a shake of her head and a pained grimace. “That was mega cool but I’m not ready to do that again.”
“Let’s get Gilda and Snails to a hospital, and then meet up with our friends,” said Pinkie, dialing her phone which had miraculously survived the incident.
Suddenly, from the direction of the school, a energy beam lanced into the air as the constellation of the Southern Cross appeared overhead, and slammed down into the ground, rumbling the ground as the three yelped. “Oh what NOW?!” Exclaimed Sonata, pulling at her hair in dismay.
Spitfire and Haruto arrived at the school, the moment the attack hit the ground as with Aria who ran up as well. There was a large burnt patch of dirt in front of them as he called out, “Anyone in there?”
“We’re okay!” Exclaimed Gentarou as he got up, and so did Twilight, Sunset and Adagio. “We just need a little help.”
The three remaining Zodiarts seemed all right, despite Southern Cross dropping a massive energy attack on the group, and Sunset brushed dust from her face. “Where is everyone?”
“We’re here!” Exclaimed Rarity and Fluttershy, running up with Eiji close behind. Somehow, Rarity managed to get Eiji into a new set of non-hobo-chic clothing in the process. He looked super uncomfortable in it. “Oh goodness…!”
“Three left huh,” said Applejack, driving up on Babs’ moped as Pinkie, Sonata and Rainbow limped into view. “We’re not missing anyone are we?”
”No, but Southern Cross is a commander level Zodiart,” said Twilight, nursing her shoulder. “And my old friend Moondancer.”
“You should all just stay down,” said Southern Cross, holding out her sword. “If I succeed here, this place will be protected from Foundation X.”
”I wouldn’t bet on that,” said Eiji. “We’ve done some digging. It seems Foundation X has been planning on taking this town for itself for the last month and a half.”
“Eiji and I were tracking them for the last three,” added Haruto. “Your technology’s been used for other purposes. And with The Hole overhead, you’re just walking into their trap.”
“Foundation X doesn’t follow anyone’s rules,” said a newcomer, as Ryusei walked into view, adjusting his gloves. “They’re only interested in how much profit can be made from it.”
“It can’t be…” said Southern Cross, her weapon lowering to the ground. “I was protecting this city!”
“Then protect it by giving up your research,” pleaded Sunset. “If you’re Twilight’s old friend, you know how much it means to be alone. How much you need friends, you said it yourself!”
“I hate to agree with the dork, but she’s right,” said Adagio. “Now stop this nonsense before these girls hit you with a giant horse laser.”
“Please Moondancer,” said Twilight, walking forward. “I know you don’t want to do this.”
Moondancer trembled for a moment, and with a thud, drove her weapon into the ground as she sunk to her knees. “I’m sorry,” said Moondancer, whispering as she produced her Switch. Clicking it, she returned herself to normal. Like a switch was thrown, Comb and Fly deactivated their own and blinked, unsure of what was happening.
”What just happened?” asked Diamond Tiara.
“I don’t know… but I bet it’s big,” said Silver Spoon as she and her friend edged away towards where Spitfire was standing.
“Take care of them,” said Haruto to Spitfire, who nodded and lead the girls away.
Kneeling down next to Moondancer, Twilight embraced her friend, letting her lean her head against her shoulder. “It’s okay. I’m your friend Moondancer. Please, let me help you. I’ll catch you when you fall.”
Moondancer reached up, and embraced Twilight, tears running down her cheeks. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “I was just…”
”You are sorry, and that’s what matters,” said Twilight. “Moondancer, I’ve never stopped being your friend, even when I didn’t mean to. You wanted to protect our town from these people, and in the process you lost sight of what was important. But you never stopped believing in friendship deep down in your heart.”
“You mean it?” asked Moondancer. “I did so much to your friends.”
”They’ll be all right,” said Applejack. “Babs is okay.”
”So are Snips and Snails, and Gilda too,” said Rainbow and Fluttershy nodded.
“See? Everything’ll be fine. Just hand over the Switch and we’ll get rid of it,” said Twilight.
“Okay.”
Looking up at Gentarou, Moondancer offered the Switch to him and he reached out to take it, but suddenly, it sparked and floated up into the air. “Oh that’s not good,” said Gentarou as it pressed itself and formed into the Southern Cross Zodiart once more.
“You ignorant mortals,” Sneered the Zodiart. “Foundation X knew of Moondancer’s wavering heart, so they gave me life. Did you really think such a weak willed woman like her could control MY power?”
“A fully independent Zodiart,” said Eiji with a little surprise. “No, it’s something else.”
”How quickly you Riders forget that Foundation X funded many technologies! This included… Medals! Gaia Memories! Lock Seeds! Magic Stone Research! Games! Viral Cores! Even if the funding did not take hold, Foundation X took what was rightfully theirs!” Exclaimed Southern Cross, gesturing in a grandiose manner like a supervillain would. “And now, Switches, the most powerful form of Cosmic Energy, will be ours to command.” Southern Cross spread its arms grandly as it floated into the air. “And now, with The Hole at our command, nothing can stop us!”
With a yell, it unleashed a bolt of power which exploded around the group, sending them hurling to the ground. Twilight covered Moondancer in the explosion, buffering her from the wind and heat of the explosions as Sunset and Adagio covered her. The Riders took the brunt of the attack, the heat and wind licking at them as they protected the students who ducked behind their protectors.
“I am the culmination of all of Foundation X’s technology,” said Southern Cross. “Now The Hole above Canterlot High School will grow, and with it, our power increases!”
Throwing up a arm, The Hole ripped into being, a swirling black energy that thrummed with power.
“It’s true,” said Moondancer quietly as everyone looked at them. “The Hole will empower Southern Cross, until it has the power to turn this city into a crater. But a shockwave of good-empowered Cosmic Energy will reverse the effect. I built a failsafe into the Switch, just because I had my doubts.”
“What do we do then?” asked Sunset.
“You have to combine your powers, all of you.” Said Moondancer. “It’s the only way you can stop it!”
“Children playing with Cosmic Energy,” Sneered Southern Cross. “What is your response?”
“Our response? Our response is that we’re going to kick. Your. Butt. Girls?” Exclaimed Sunset as she held out her hands.
Interlinking their arms together, the seven’s gemstones flared to life as their full outfits transformed them in a halo of energy. With a simultaneous cry, they loosed a torrent of rainbow light into the Zodiart who held out a hand. Light crashed against darkness and the rainbow exploded outwards. For a moment, all seemed like the Zodiart could defend against the attack. “It didn’t work?” gasped Sunset as the magic of friendship spread across the battlefield, seemingly undone by Southern Cross’ might.
But then, something happened as well as the three Sirens glowed with respective lights as the magic rained down around them. “This light…!” Exclaimed Adagio, cupping her hands in front of herself. “What’s this strange feeling, it feels familiar…”
“I’ve never felt this warm before!” Added Sonata with a cheerful grin, sticking her tongue out to taste it. “So this is what friendship actually tastes like…”
“It’s… pretty cool actually.” Finished Aria as their bodies flared with energy. In a flash of light, translucent wings appeared on them as ears formed, and they joined the seven who grinned at them.
”Magic of Friendship y’all,” said Applejack with a grin as she opened a hole in the group for the three Sirens to take hold of. “You ready to fight the good fight?”
“Yeah, we’ll take that when we can,” said Adagio with a smirk. Turning to the Riders, she added, “Get in here.”
Eiji, Haruto and Ryusei shared a look and in a chorus of belt chimes, joined the group. Standing in the middle of the crowd, Ryusei looked over at Gentarou. “Gentarou, get in here.”
“I thought you’d never ask!” Exclaimed Gentarou, grinning widely as he joined the group, standing at the front of the four Riders as he linked hands with them, much to Ryusei’s dismay at the most magical sparkly way they could stop them.
High above, Southern Cross flared with brilliant light as The Hole empowered it with Cosmic Energy, but down below, everyone joined hands in a circle as the Riders flared to life with the brilliant energy of Friendship. High above, The Hole grew larger and larger, as Cosmic Energy swelled into the living Switch. “I have the power here; Cosmic Energy is the ultimate source of energy in the universe!”
“You won’t win,” said Sunset. “It takes more than raw Cosmic Energy to win a fight!”
“It’s because we have the Magic of Friendship, and it is all around us!” Added Twilight.
“With it, we’re strong,” said Rarity. “And we’ll never fall to the likes of you!”
“Our friends are here by our side,” said Rainbow. “And we’ll defeat you no matter what!”
“And none of us will abandon one another,” said Pinkie. “We’ll always be there to prop each other up.”
“With our friends guiding us,” added Applejack. “The seven of us found what we were looking for in each other.”
“And we will stand against the darkness!” Finished Fluttershy. “There’s nothing we can’t do without friends!”
A ring of rainbow energy flared from each of them, as Adagio added, “We never knew true friendship, until we worked together with these girls. Even with our differences, we set aside them for the greater good.”
”They’re pretty cool, in a dweeby way,” added Aria as she added her own power to the mix. “I think I can stand to be around them.”
“And Pinkie Pie and Rainbow are super cool. They promised to teach me how to make cake later!” Added Sonata with a grin.
“We Riders won’t give up either,” said Ryusei as his belt activated on its own. “METEOR ON, READY? METEOR LIMIT BREAK!” proclaimed his belt. “We will be the one who decides your fate.”
“We Riders are also, the Final Hope,” added Haruto. “VERY NICE, KICK STRIKE! THE BEST!” Exclaimed his belt. “The depths of sorrow will be penetrated by the light of Hope.”
“We will not fall, as long as we can reach out a hand to another,” added Eiji, swiping his belt with his scanner. “SCANNING CHARGE!” yelled his belt.
Gentarou, the last to speak, held out his hand to Moondancer, making a grasping motion. “When we reach out to grab hold of the future, it’s in our hands! Kamen Rider Fourze! Let’s do this man-to-man!” For a brief moment, the white suit appeared around Gentarou like an outline as the faint outline of his belt activated. “ROCKET! DRILL! LIMIT BREAK!”
The energy exploded upwards as Southern Cross struggled against the maelstrom of rainbow magic. “No, I will not lose this fight!”
Moondancer looked into the maelstrom of power, at the outstretched hand, and realized everyone was holding out their hands with warm smiles. And with a smile, Twilight drew her into the group as everyone came in for a hug. “Friendship is Magic,” whispered Moondancer as her own body flared with brilliant light as ears popped onto her head and a tail formed from her hair. “Thank you for being my friends.”
The energy spiraled into the center of the group, and in a brief quiet moment, was sucked into the Fusion Switch.
“FUSION ON!” Exclaimed the Astroswitch around Twilight’s neck as it shot into the sky, plunging into Southern Cross. And then, the torrent of rainbow light ripped into Southern Cross who wailed loudly. Images of each person’s symbol slammed into it, one after another until the final symbol of a Moon and Stars crashed headlong into the Zodiart who was hurled up into the sky.
The energy traveled into The Hole, and for a brief moment, the sky was illuminated with a million stars before it closed up once more, and slowly, the Fusion Switch floated to the ground in the center of the group, landing in Moondancer’s hands with a gentle thump.
“I’m sorry for all the trouble I caused!” Exclaimed Moondancer, bowing in apology. The damage to the school was still extensive, but clean up crews was on the scene thanks to some quick string pulling from both Gentarou and Ryusei’s contacts. Men with the symbol of the Kougami Foundation on their backs were busy cleaning up the yard, scrubbing away the damage as fast as possible while students were let out of the building with the crisis over. “I really am…”
“Moondancer,” said Twilight, going up to her and hugging her. Pulling back, she asked, “What are you going to do now? Foundation X will be after you.”
“I don’t know. I just know I can’t stay here, not for now.” Said Moondancer. “I don’t want to leave and yet…”
“I can help with that,” said Ryusei. “Seems like INTERPOL is looking for someone to cooperate with them on the innerworkings of Foundation X and bring them down for good.” He looked over to where Inga Blink had arrived, the woman in black leather leaning against an INTERPOL car with an amused expression on her face. “My partner is willing to take your statement, and we’ll set about hiding you in Amanogawa High School.”
“Also,” added Gentarou, “Kengo’s looking for an assistant. If you’re up for that.”
“To work with the son of Professor Utahoshi… and to have protection from INTERPOL? I don’t know what to say…” said Moondancer softly. “Do I really deserve it?”
“It’s better than being in jail,” remarked Adagio, and several eyes narrowed at her. “Just saying.”
“We’ll bring you to Neighpon when you’re ready,” said Eiji. “Riders look after people, and after their friends.”
Moondancer nodded, and held out the Fusion Switch. “I think this is yours, Twilight.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, you take it. And give it to Professor Utahoshi. From all of us, okay?”
Moondancer smiled brightly and nodded. “Okay!”
As the girls said their goodbyes, Haruto turned to Gentarou. “You keep being pulled in. You know I could just tell Kengo to make you Fourze. Right?”
”No, it’s fine.” Said Gentarou, shaking his head. “Fourze will find its way back to me when I need it. He’s my bud.”
Haruto grinned and did the handshake with Gentarou before walking away as Eiji smiled at him. “So what are you going to do? You still got another couple of months before you return to Neighpon.”
“Well…” said Gentarou thoughtfully. “I was thinking… I might finish another school year here. I mean, Friendship isn’t just limited to Amanogawa High, and I’m thinking of starting a club here. They need an advisor for the Friendship Club after all.”
Eiji grinned, a wide, sunny smile as he shared the handshake with Gentarou. “Never change, Gentarou. You know when to call us. Okay?”
“Got it. Say hello to everyone in Neighpon for me.”
The last to approach Gentarou was Ryusei, and without preamble, shared the handshake. “Don’t forget to call Shun and Miu when they get settled,” he reminded Gentarou. “I’ll send over some supplies, and let Satake know you’re taking on another year here in Canterlot.”
“You know it. Say hi to Miyoppe and tell her and Saburo and his friends that I’ll be there for their graduation.”
Ryusei nodded, and without preamble, walked off to his bike where Inga was standing, waiting for him to give his report.
Sunset pulled away from the hug as she turned to Adagio and her two friends. “So what now?”
“Well… it’s been a while since we’ve been in school,” said Sonata. “And I really wanna try gym class. And Home Ec. And Music Class. Maybe not Physics.”
“It’s not so bad,” said Aria. “Maybe we’ll learn how to sing again.”
Sunset nodded. “And you, Adagio?”
“You girls are still trouble magnets. But better we stick around the trouble magnets than actually getting INTO trouble ourselves.” Said Adagio with a smirk. “We’ll enroll too.”
Sunset smiled at that. “Glad to have you on board.”
Days passed, and the new status quo was starting to settle in.
With the front yard repaired of damage, the Sirens were settling into the school quite well as they were each finding their niches in settling in.
Rarity had found some common ground with Adagio, the most fashionable of the group. Between the pair, they were working on a new clothing line for the girls. “And I’m saying we don’t need this punk style,” remarked Rarity with a scowl.
”Studded accessories are always in, right Gentarou?” asked Adagio, looking at the teacher who rubbed his head.
“Well I…” said Gentarou as Rarity fumed. “Oh, I think I hear Luna calling, one moment!”
“Gentarou!” Chorused the two girls as he fled out of the room towards Luna who met him with a smirk.
“Girls driving you crazy, Gentarou?” teased Luna.
“I’m not the first person to ask about accessories,” said Gentarou with a sheepish grin. “So, what’s the verdict for the students?”
“No one is in trouble, and we’ve received no complaints so far linking the school to the Zodiart incident,” said Luna. “Your team does good work, even from overseas.”
“It helps that Shun and Miu are “sponsoring” the reconstruction, it makes it look good for the prospective school funding,” said Gentarou. “And that JAXA has its eyes on some students, as well as Kengo. I should be thanking you for going along with all this nonsense.”
“Believe me, it’s not the first time, nor will it be the last something like this happens at our school. You should go and deal with your students,” said Luna, pointing down the hall as Rarity and Adagio advanced with a new suit for Gentarou.
Gentarou fled as they took chase.
“Okay, that’s good for now,” said the coach, a burly man named Iron Will. “Come get your test results.”
As the students crowded around the post-it board, Sonata exclaimed, “Look, I got the highest on athletics!”
”That’s impossible!” Exclaimed Rainbow Dash hotly. “Why did you get first place?”
“Because you used your super speed on track,” said Pinkie with a grin. Rainbow blushed and rubbed her head. “C’mon, Home Ec is next.”
“Oooh, I’m so hungry, let’s go!” Grabbing the pair, Sonata dragged them along.
Kengo leaned back in his chair, holding the Fusion Switch which had been returned to him. “Kisaragi,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Gen-chan sent presents?” asked Yuuki from behind Kengo as he held up the Fusion Switch in response. “I see it returned to us.”
”Yes, and just in time too.” Kengo looked over at his project; a sleek blue metal and plastic driver in the half-finished stage. Wires jutted from it, and the diagram entitled “Fourze V2” was on the screen in front of him. “With this new data, I can complete a new Fourze.”
“You think Gen-chan will need it?” asked Yuuki curiously. “I mean, he seems to be handling just fine.”
”Like I said: Fourze is his bud. It’ll make its way to Gentarou when he needs it the most.” Reaching over, Kengo plugged the AstroSwitch into the terminal. “Thanks for bringing food, Yuuki.”
“No problem. Even scientists need to eat.” Said Yuuki, placing a bowl in front of him.
“Sorry I’m late!” Exclaimed Sunset as she ran up to the cart for her job that evening. Behind her were Gentarou and Ryusei who followed close behind. Switching to Neighponese she exclaimed, “Ranma-ojisan, I brought customers!”
The man looked up and grinned toothily, waving a wrinkled hand into the cart. “Irasshai Irasshai! Come in, come in! Ah… it was… Gentarou-kun and Ryusei-kun, correct?”
“Yo! Ojisan!” Exclaimed Gentarou. “Glad you remember us!”
”Ojisan, thank you for the meal last night,” said Ryusei, “it was delicious.”
”Ah… last night? Saa, you must be dreaming young man! I never open Monday nights. Come in though, and have some fresh food. I have sweet sake for the two of you. Come come, it’ll get cold, although the sushi is always cold! But the sweet sake is warm.”
Glancing at each other, puzzled, Sunset chuckled as she washed her hands. “What’s your pleasure? It’s on the house today.”
”Aaaah?” Exclaimed Ranma, bonking Sunset lightly on the head with two fingers. “You little rascal, that’s obviously coming out of your paycheck!”
“It’s the least we can do to pay, Ranma-ojisan,” said Ryusei, even though he was surprised. Maybe Sunset’s sensei was just old?
The old man grinned toothily before setting to work. After all, a customer is a customer.
“Excuse me?” said Moondancer, sticking her head into the room. “I’m here about signing up for the Kamen Rider Club?”
Miyoppe looked up, a wide grin on her face as she waved Moondancer in. “Hi, I’m Miyoppe! Welcome to the Kamen Rider Club and Youth League.”
Miyoppe held out her hand in the shake and Moondancer smiled, returning the famous Gentarou handshake to which Miyoppe exclaimed, “You’ve met Gen-chan?”
“I have. He and my friends saved me,” said Moondancer with a blush. “They’re great friends.”
“You need to tell me all about it,” said Miyoppe, drawing up a chair as her friends piled into the room. “Oh, you guys are early! We’ve got a new applicant to the Kamen Rider Club this year.”
“I’m Moondancer,” said Moondancer, holding out her hand and Saburo smiled, as she shared the handshake with everyone.
“Saburo, and this is Ruby, Kong and Nezu. And you’ve met Miyoppe. Welcome to the Club. So, Gentarou-sensei saved you huh?” said Saburo.
“Not just him, but my friends too. I miss them, but it’s safest here.” Said Moondancer. “I hope to be working with you five well!”
“We should take a picture then to commemorate this event!” Exclaimed Miyoppe as she set up a digital camera. Piling in front of it, the five posed. “And… cheese!”
Haruto took a bite of plain sugar donut. “It’s good!” He exclaimed, much to his surprise. “It’s on par with Hungry. No wait… this taste is too familiar…”
“You know the manager of Hungry?” asked Mrs. Cake as she set another plate of Plain Sugar donuts in front of Haruto. “She’s an old friend of mine in the baking community. We swapped recipes, when we were both struggling bakers.”
”That’s why these donuts taste so similar…” mused Haruto. With a smile, he continued to eat to his hearts content.
Eiji looked over his shoulder at the receding skyline of Canterlot City. He was already high into the mountains as he said, “Friendship and Bonds, huh?”
Reaching into his pocket, he held the broken halves of Ankh’s medal with a wordless promise, before pocketing it, not noticing the ghost of Ankh’s arm floating behind him, ever-present in Eiji’s eternal journey.
“Not bad,” said Applejack as Aria put down the microphone. “You’re re-learning at such a fast rate.”
”We are pretty musical, it’s just our sense of tune and harmony was lost,” replied Aria as Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack lowered their instruments. “It’s like riding a bike.”
“Well I’m glad this bike is easy to get back onto.” Said Applejack as Twilight’s cellphone chimed. “Email?”
“It’s from Moondancer,” said Twilight with a smile. “She said she’s settled into Amanogawa High as a student, and works for Professor Utahoshi. It’s the safest place for her to be right now.”
Showing off a picture Moondancer took with the other students, Twilight said, “She hopes we’re all doing great, and she joined the Kamen Rider Club and Youth League there.”
“Speaking of which, what about the Friendship Club here?” asked Fluttershy. “Did Gentarou set that up?”
“Still can’t believe you talked us into this, Dash,” said Gilda, trying to be all tough and failing miserably. She, and the other affected former Zodiarts were in the room as Gentarou was bustling around the room, setting up the club.
It was a work in progress, giving them more time and attention. Gentarou had come to the conclusion that most of them had problems and he, as the Guidance Councilor, was set to help them with it. And that meant bringing them into the Friendship Club. The room was packed with bodies, as they mingled around, some more open than others but it was working, slowly, and surely. That’s what friendship did after all.
“YOSH!” Exclaimed Gentarou, putting up the flag in front of the school door where his Guidance Room was. The image was of several cutie marks arranged the symbol of Fourze. Turning around to everyone, he exclaimed, “The first meeting of the Friendship Club is now in session!”
“Gentarou, what’s our goal for this club?” asked Twilight curiously. “I mean, we’ve befriended CHS, me, Gloriosa, Moondancer… what’s next?”
”That’s easy.” And he whirled towards the fourth wall and pointed at you. “We’re going to befriend you next!”
“YEAH!” Exclaimed Pinkie Pie, pressing her face up towards the fourth wall. “Get ready, cause it’s going to be wild!”
In a darkened alley, the glint of gold and blue could be seen.
The Southern Cross Switch lay on the ground as a figure picked it up. For a moment, he considered the Switch before walking away, leaving the streets of Canterlot City. “Emu, I wonder what you’ll think of my new game to play with you?”
And with that, the form vanished into a halo of digital energy as a man on a white bike watched him leave. Lowering his camera, the man frowned before kick starting his bike and riding away.
SEE YOU NEXT GAME?