//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Kamen Rider: Equestrian Shade // by The Dark Brony //------------------------------// As Alex was dropped from the portal he suddenly felt himself begin to collapse again almost as if his entire body had suddenly changed. As this happened he heard a faint voice in the distance but was unable to make out what was said clearly as his back hit the ground below him as his vision blurred. It was at this point that he began to try to stand but somehow was unable to as he just lay where he landed as he looked up to see snow above him. Snow? How am I not cold? Alex thought in confusion his vision still slightly blurry. A few seconds later he saw a blurred dark figure standing above him before he heard it say “Sister we found somepony!” “Luna, are you sure you're okay, there's nopony there.” “But there's somepony right here!” the figure not assumed to be Luna argued back as he saw a hand point to him. “Sister, are you sure this isn’t just one of your imaginary friends once again?” the second voice asked. Luna just muttered something before Alex felt a strange sensation surround him as his vision gained clarity before he saw the figure in front of him. The figure looked humanoid in some ways however it looked to be covered almost completely covered in fine blue hairs along with having hair that seemed to shimmer in the light almost like stars from her head that reached down her back, it was at this point he realised that the creature had a strange horn on her head and wings on her back both sporting the same colour scheme as the hairs on its body. Seconds later Alex found that he was placed onto Luna’s back as he turned towards the other creature to see that its features were similar to Luna’s but instead of blue hairs covering her body she had white along with normal hair that seemed to be in five separate shades that like Luna reached down her back along with both a horn and wings both white like the hairs on her body. The second figure just seemed to look at Luna in confusion at her actions before she said “If you have found somepony alive that is still invisible from whatever Sombra did to the empire I’ll just need to trust your judgement,” with that she turned around before adding “We better get out of this cold, it seems nobody else escaped but us.” “We guess you're right,” Luna replied before I saw both her and the other figure’s horns ignite in different colours before the three of us were surrounded by a bright light that blinded him for a few seconds. When the light faded Alex found himself looking around a large room that looked to have wooden planks for the floors and ornate stone engraving on the walls and along some columns around the room, whilst at the very back were two thrones that each had a banner above them one depicting the Sun the other the Moon. Luna then looked towards the other creature before she said “I’m going to make sure the pony we found is okay he feeling he’s frozen through, there's no warmth coming from his body.” “Okay, Luna… have fun with your new friend,” the other creature replied before Luna walked away with Alex on her back. A few minutes later Luna reached a small room as the door handle was surrounded in a bright blue glow before it turned and the door opened before Alex was levitated of Luna’s back as she placed him on a nearby bed before Luna placed a hand against his neck as she said “you're still cold to the touch, how is it your still alive, and how long were you out there?” “A few seconds before you,” Alex muttered weakly. Luna then jumped back in shock before she stuttered out “Y... You're alive… but you must be frozen solid from how you are.” “In your defense you might have had a point there, but just today I was murdered, almost enslaved by the man that orchestrated the attack and sent to a new reality, on my birthday of all days, so honestly being frozen solid over what has actually happened would be more of a blessing than what I’ve had today,” Alex admitted as he sat up. Luna just stared at Alex in confusion before she asked him “I’m sorry we don’t understand?” “Miss… I’m not sure how to say this to you… you're talking to a ghost. I was killed just this morning,” Alex admitted as he reached his hand out to her as Luna did the same only for her hand to pass through his as she recoiled in shock. “But how did we carry you if your body moves through our own?” “You're more worried about that and not freaking out about the fact you're talking to the dead?” “If you wanted to harm us you could have instead of talking to us,” Luna pointed out. “And you trust me not to when I get up,” Alex asked as he tried to stand up only for his legs to give under his own weight. “We’ll hold that one till you are actually able to stand by yourself,” Luna suggested with a smile. Alex then muttered something under his breath before he said “For the record, I had no intention of harming you.” “We know,” Luna said as she placed something into my hand before she removed her own as I saw my own Eyecon in my hand. “I have a feeling that holds more significance to you than most things you own.” “...it does… miss… umm” “Luna… Princess Luna,” Luna replied. Alex’s eyes went wide before he said “Umm… I’ve been an idiot haven’t I.” “Yes, you have… but as you said earlier. You're not from this world… and I doubt you want the rest of the worst birthday in existence to be stuck in a bed.” Luna admitted as she suddenly picked me up again this time resting one of my arms over her shoulders as it somehow didn’t move through her shoulder. “It seems magic allows me to move you freely without you falling through me.” “I guess so,” Alex replied before he added “Princess… the only thing I want to see above all else is a clear view of the night sky.” Luna suddenly stopped dead at Alex’s statement before she said “I’m sorry… did you just say all you wish to see is the night's sky?” “I did… I know it may sound silly, or strange to most people but I feel safe when I look to the stars in the sky.” Luna just looked at Alex in surprise at the revelation of what he told her before saying “I know a place,” as she looked away from Alex as he swore he saw a smile appear momentarily on her face before she looked back to Alex “We’ll take you there.” At this Alex just smiled before he said “If your sure, I’ll try to not be a burden to you,” to this Luna only nodded back as we began to walk through the halls of the palace. As both Luna and Alex walked through the halls they passed many figures none of them looking like Luna or the other creature he saw before they all either bowed or said hello to Luna however as I soon realised none of that even noticed my presence I realised I was invisible to everyone around me, however by some miracle Luna was able to see me. Luna then looked at me before she whispered “Don’t worry we’ll sort this out,” before she turned a corner as they walked out a large set of doors. As soon as they were opened Alex saw a large open garden that seemed to be in bloom with many different types of plants, along with many types of animals walking freely around the gardens. “What do you think?” Luna asked. Alex then slowly took his arm off her shoulder as his legs shook but he managed to retain his balance if not weakly as his legs shook. Alex then looked to Luna before he said calmly, “Amazing, I can’t believe this place is here, it’s so calm.” “I’m glad you see it that way too,” Luna replied as she knelt down next to Alex before a small wolf like creature that seemed to be made of wood walked up to them before she said “This one’s one of the tamer Timberwolves.” Alex then knelt down before placing his hand out not expecting any acknowledgement from the Timberwolf in front of him. However, as soon as his hand went out the Timberwolf moved next to it and slowly rubbed itself against Alex’s arm before he said “Wait… this little one can see me?” “It seems so… we didn't expect that ” Luna admitted as she knelt down next to Alex and the Timberwolf as she rubbed her hand down its back. “I get the feeling you spend a lot of time here,” Alex replied. “We do… not a lot of our ponies visit us like they do our sister.” “Why not?” Alex asked curiously. “I’d rather not talk about it,” Luna admitted sadly. “Okay, but if you ever need to talk to anyone about it, I'll be there to listen to you anytime,” Alex offered. “Thank you… we’ll remember that,” Luna responded calmly as she stood up with Alex standing shakily seconds later, “You okay,” Luna asked as she looked to Alex placing an arm near to him if he needed. “I think I’ll be fine princess… but thanks for the offer,” Alex replied as he stood straight before stumbling back slightly as Luna suddenly placed a wing behind him steadying him as he regained his footing, “Uh… Thanks.” “No problem… We have to admit you're already mostly standing like a normal pony,” Luna admitted as she led Alex towards a small hill near the centre of the garden’s the Timberwolf following closely behind them. As soon as they reached the top Alex just look up as he saw a sight that was extraordinarily rare in his old home. The shimmering lights of all the stars in the sky, clearly visible in the night's sky even again the light being reflected off the moon. “This is incredible, I've never seen a night sky like this before!” Alex admitted in amazement. “I’m glad someone appreciates the work we put into the night sky, not many ponies do,” Luna replied sound extremely happy at the prospect of someone enjoying the night. “How can people not,” Alex pointed out before he realised what Luna had said first, “Wait… what do you mean by the work we put into the night sky.” “Well we do raise and lower the moon, and organise the night sky,” Luna admitted with a proud smile. “What? How? I have so many questions!?” Alex shouted with a smirk. “What you didn’t have someone do that where you were from?” Luna asked. “No… in my world the sun’s gravitational pull kept us circling it while the moon was trapped on the planet's gravitational pull keeping it from hitting the planet or floating away,” Alex admitted. “Really... Your world was so different to our own,” Luna replied before she said, “I just realised I never asked what your name was.” “My name... it’s,” however before Alex could answer there was a loud bang before they both saw smoke rising from just outside the castle walls, “What in gods name was that!” Alex shouted. “We don’t know!” replied in shock before she quickly ran off before Alex followed swiftly behind her. As the duo reached the castle gates they saw many of the palace guards sprawled out along the ground almost all of them sporting injuries of some kind, while there were smouldering craters in some places as well. Alex and Luna then looked up to see a large group of humanoid figures that looked to completely black apart from some silver marking on their hoods and silver rib cage like markings on their chests, they also had what looked to be a golden belt on their hips that had a large open eye at the centre, the creature had no face whatsoever as it was covered by what seemed to be a black mask with no features whatsoever. Along with that, each creature seemed to be holding a large silver sword in their right hands and some of the blades even looked to be dripping crimson blood from the ends. “What are those things!” Luna shouted out in both shock and fear at seeing so many of the castle guards both injured and from the blood that was on the creatures swords left them to assume that most were dead. “Gamma Commandos… but what are they doing here?” Alex both admitted and asked himself, he then looked to Luna before he said “Luna, get everyone inside.” “But what about you!” “I’ll be fine… trust me,” Alex said almost sounding calm. “Okay… just be careful,” Luna replied as she ran over to one of the guards that were still alive. Alex then turned to the Gamma Commandos in front of him before he said “It’s a good day to die,” before his looked down as black and red flames appeared on his waist before the Ghost Driver he had been handed by Andrew before appeared as they faded. Alex then looked towards the Gamma Commandos with a smile before he added, “no better time than the present to try.” Alex then reached into his Jacket before he pulled out his personal Eyecon before he quickly clicked the side inwards with it raised above the left side of his head as the large capital letters ‘SH’ appeared on the Eyecon momentarily before opening the Ghost Driver on his waist. He then inserted the Eyecon he was holding into the Diver before he closed it before the word “eye” was heard as an almost completely black hooded jacket with long crimson red lines running down the length of it flew out of the Ghost driver before it engaged the Gamma Commandos ahead of him. Alex then stood to the side slightly as he clenched both his fists, one brought close to his chest protecting his right side while the right was slightly farther in front of his left as his shoulder protected his left side. During this time the word “Bacchirimina” which was repeated three times in the background as on the second he shouted “Henshin!” before he pushed the handle on the side back in as a red symbol that looked to resemble a mask the majority of the symbol looked to be blacked out apart from too large red circles where someone's eyes would that almost looked to have streaks of red running through the black background from the eyes. Almost instantly after he’d done this red lines began to run down his body almost like they were trickling down from his head before the jacket attached to his back before he lowered the hood to reveal that the image that had appeared on the Eyecon was now on a visor outside his suit. As soon as this happened the sound and crackling flames were heard before a strange voice shouted out “Kaigan: Shade! Let's Go! Kakugo! Akuma-tekina Shade!" Luna just stood and stared at Alex before she asked in surprise “What are you?” Alex then stood up straight before he said “Luna, this may sound cheesy, but I am the one person that will stand and protect everyone and everything here… and while I'm like this… call me Shade.” “Shade?” Luna asked in confusion. “I’ll explain the rest later,” Shade replied as he looked to see the group of Gamma charging towards him as he quickly sidestepped one before punching it in the chest as it was knocked back dropping its weapon in the process. Shade then quickly rolled out the way of a second commandos attack as it swung its sword at him only to seconds later feel a burst of pain run through his side, but strangely the pain quickly subsided as the red along his jacket began to glow brightly before he quickly swept the leg of a nearby Gamma out from under it swiftly knocking it to the floor before rolling away from the downed Gamma. Once Shade looked back up he groaned in annoyance as he looked on the Gamma surrounding him, it was at this point he looked to the ground as he saw one of the weapons the Gamma was using on the ground before he reached for it one of the weapons the Gamma were wielding next to him on the ground. Shade then quickly knelt down and grabbed the blade before a almost demonic voice said “Weapon identified, Accessing Shade link,” as the voice said this black flames licked Shades arms before travelling through the sword as the silver shine on the sword began to burn away to be replaced by a black bladed sword with what looked to be glowing red lines running through it. “Shade enhancements accepted, new fighting style uploaded for analysis,” the voice said before the flames completely dissipated from the blade the weapon still white hot along the tip of it. Shade then turned to the Gamma that were ahead of him before taking a step forwards into the oncoming horde of enemies as he quickly swung the arm that held the blade upwards as the blade cut through the Gamma’s head before the blade exited the Gamma with its blade covered in what was assumed to be black blood before the Gamma turned into an Eyecon which then shattered into pieces on the ground. Shade then quickly span around the blade cutting the throats of some of the Gamma that surrounded him as black blood oozed from where the blade had cut them as they had each met a similar fate to that of the first. The remaining Gamma that seemed to only be about five then swung their blades towards Shade one after the other each failing to even touch him as their blades got stuck in the ground as Shade changed towards then as he cut through the head of four of the Gamma before the lasts head was impaled the Shades sword that had been thrown forwards towards it. Shade then walked over to the last Gamma he had killed and pulled his blade out of its head as the five dead Gamma’s body dissipated and their Eyecon broke apart on the ground as Shade turned back away from them walking back towards Luna who was staring at him in surprise as the demonic voice said “time for shuteye,” as his suit disappeared and he reverted back to his original form by removing his Eyecon from his Ghost Driver. He then quickly ran back to Luna as he asked her “are you okay?” “Umm…. yes we are,” Luna replied as she seemed to regain her composure but still seemed to be on edge. “Luna… Let's get you inside, I think you could use some rest, I’ll be around to deal with anything else that may show up,” Alex admitted calmly as he placed his hand out to her as she hesitantly took it as Alex helped her up. “Okay… but we need to know? Who and what are you?” Alex just smiled as he replied by saying “Well my names Alex… Alex Shade and I’m what's called a Kamen Rider.” “Whats a Kamen Rider?” Luna asked in confusion. “Basically your stereotypical masked hero or heroine,” Alex admitted. “And by those lengths, I’ll ensure this never happens again… okay?” Luna only nodded back to Alex as she said “Okay we’ll believe you.” “Thank you, Princess… you just get some rest, you’ve been through a lot today,” Alex admitted before Luna nodded back. They then both reached a room with a normal sized door before Luna turned back to Alex as she said “Alex…. Thank you for protecting those you could before, We’ll make sure to repay you for your actions.” “No need Princess, as long as everyone's safe that's all that matters,” Alex replied before he added with a bow “I hope you have a good rest of your night,” before he turned and walked away. Luna just looked at Alex as he walked away before she muttered “I just hope to find some way to help you.”