Twilight and Sunset were on the outskirts of town, with Applejack having drove them in Big Mac’s pickup truck in order to carry Twilight’s equipment. Today was a field test of Hawk and Dillo’s new upgrades. Another lightning bolt of inspiration came to Twilight during the night and like the mad genius she was started to work on the robotic animals. Her upgrades came in the form of an additional component that would allow Hawk and Dillo to act as weapons, so to speak.
“Alright little guy, let’s do it,” said Sunset as she looked down at Dillo.
The little robot rodent wagged its tail and immediately went into ball form, it bounced once off the ground and landed in Sunset’s hand. She removed the Unicorn Memory and inserted into the up lifted slot, and pressing it down back into Dillo.
>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<
Sunset released Dillo as it began to spin, the rolling ball of metal did a donut around Sunset, building up momentum, and at the same time generating an energy field. Sunset crouched low, channeling that energy into her legs as she jumped straight into the air, at same time, Dillo followed after her. Using the knowledge of all the times she watched Rainbow Dash play soccer, along with all the countless soccer games on TV she made her watch, Sunset spun in midair and waited for Dillo to get into position.
Once the robot rodent was lined up, Sunset aimed for a vacant spot in the distance and kicked Dillo as hard as she could. The kinetic energy of Sunset’s kick served as a catalyst to energize the Dillo Ball and sent it flying like a rocket towards the spot Sunset was aiming. The ball blazed with turquoise light, sparkling as it left a trail of light and particles in the air. After a few seconds flight time, the ball of light struck the ground with tremendous force, sending a cloud of dust shooting up into the air and caused a small tremor.
Sunset dropped out of the sky and landed smoothly on her feet. All three girls ran to the impact site, but there as too much dust to see what was happening. Thinking quickly, Sunset took out the Cyclone Memory.
< CYCLONE! >
{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}
Now in Mystic Cyclone form, Sunset generated a gust of wind with a flick of her wrist, causing the dust to blow away from them until the area was completely clear and visible again. The girls gawked at the five foot wide crater, and by Twilight’s rough estimates, the depth was at least four feet down. Although, the elation of the success was dwindled when they didn’t spot Dillo.
“Oh no…don’t tell me I destroyed him!”
“You couldn’t have, I-I made sure to reinforce his armor, the energy boost on top of that should have made it even harder for him to break,” said Twilight as she scanned the area.
“Uh, Twi, Sunset, ya might want to look my way,” said Applejack. Both turned around and saw that Applejack was holding Dillo in her arms. “Little guy musta gotten turned around in the dust cloud, probably was right behind us and we didn’t even know.”
Sunset and Twilight released a sigh of relief.
“I’ll have to readjust his tracking systems so that he can see through dust and smoke a lot easier. Probably install a GPS so that it will always know its location relative to where Sunset is,” said Twilight as she contemplated.
Dillo made a few robotic beeping sounds and jumped out of AJ’s arms. The little robot rodent walked up to Sunset and ejected the Unicorn Memory, allowing Sunset to catch it midair. After reinserting the Memory, Sunset disengaged her Rider form, returning back to normal.
“I think we should call it, if we’re out here too long after that display, we may be catching some attention,” said Sunset.
“Probably best we change up the spots y’all do these tests at, just to make sure that no one knows exactly where to find ya,” said Applejack.
“Good idea, and thanks again for driving us out here,” said Twilight.
Applejack walked back to the truck and opened the back. “Hey, don’t worry nothin’ ‘bout it. Ah’m just glad ya told us about this stuff.”
After loading Dillo into the back, all three girls filed into the pickup and drove back to the city proper.
“Well, to be honest, it would start to get harder explaining why we’re absent from the group, or when dangerous situations come up like with Glitter,” said Twilight.
“Yeah, couldn’t really break away to transform to save you and Dash, having Fluttershy there made it easier to move around the school, and to help you guys into the locker room,” said Sunset.
Applejack shuddered at that. “Yeah, Ah’d rather forget that Ah almost drowned.”
A wicked smirk befell Sunset’s face as she nonchalantly gazed out of the window. “Gotta say, I’d have never figured you for wearing striped underwear.”
The truck swerved a bit as Applejack shook her head at the comment, along with Twilight shooting Sunset a look as well. “P-Pardon?!”
“When we pulled you out, remember, your skirt was gone. And now that I think about it, it raises the question of if that was a matching se –?”
“HEY, WHY DON’T AH PUT SOME MUSIC ON!” Applejack suggested, loudly, and with a red face.
Twilight glanced to Sunset Shimmer, who was still sporting her smirk. It was then that the bespectacled girl made a mental note that Sunset had a bit of a pervy side to her. Meanwhile, Applejack quickly put on the radio and a song immediately blared out.
“Razzle dazzle
Glitz and glam
Turn it all up, it's a spectacle
Hear the applause
Here to impress
Not just a girl, I am the Countess!”
{And that was ‘The Spectacle’ by Countess Coloratura, everybody! A rising young star in the music world! Now listen up all diehard fans, Countess Coloratura’s giving a live performance here in Canterlot City!}
Twilight Sparkle’s eyes widened with excitement at hearing that, while AJ smiled a little. Sunset was aware of this girl, over the past couple of years, Countess Coloratura has been rising in popularity, matching that of Sapphire Shores fame in a short amount time. Sunset had to admit, she did like her music, but she had noticed a shift in her singing style, if one looked back when she was first starting, her style was less pop idol and more songstress. However, Sunset couldn’t deny that the switch has allowed her to gain much fame and recognition, plus the new style wasn’t all that bad, the majority of the people seemed to like it.
***_________<U>_________***
Upon returning to Applejack’s home, the girls spotted an unfamiliar car in the driveway. Curious, all three disembarked the pickup and entered Applejack’s house. Granny Smith was sitting in her rocking chair, and across from her, sitting on the couch was a girl in a blue-green hoody and jean pants who kept her face low as to not be seen. Standing next to the couch was a man with a white complexion and salmon colored hair, he wore a blue business suit with a red tie, expensive loafer shoes, and designer glasses.
“Um, Granny, were we expectin’ company?” Applejack asked.
“Well…eh…” Granny began.
“Hello Miss, you must be Applejack I take it?”
Applejack nodded.
“Fabulous, name’s Svengallop, and before we get to the matter of why we’re here I must inform that any and all matters that are discussed here are private and privileged between the parties here present and who dwell in this house. Any disclosure of this information will be met with legal ramifications, okay?”
Sunset, Applejack, and Twilight blinked, but nodded a yes.
“Good, you can go ahead now,” said Svengallop.
The girl rose up and removed her hood, revealing a teenage girl. Her skin was a beautiful grayish aquamarine, with silky black hair that had light opal and gray orchid colored streaks in it, all done in a spiral ponytail, and her eyes were a shimmering ocean blue. “Hi, AJ.”
Applejack shook her head in disbelief. “Rara?!”
Sunset and Twilight glanced to each other and said in confusion, “Rara?”
Svengallop did a slight role of the eyes at that name. “Please address her as Countess Coloratura, or Countess.”
“COUNTESS COLORATURA?!” Twilight shouted before quickly realizing how loud she was. “Sorry, but, she’s really the Countess Coloratura?!”
Sunset glanced at Applejack. “And you know her?!”
Applejack blushed as she rubbed her left arm. “Well it was wasn’t my business to go around and tell everyone, besides, if Ah did, people would be houndin’ me and my family about gettin’ an interview with Rara or tryin’ to get a favor by helpin’ us in return. Ah didn’t want to put us or Rara through that so Ah kept it quiet.”
Coloratura walked up to Applejack and gave her friend a long overdue hug. “And I thank you for that AJ, but I’m happy to see you again, really.”
Applejack returned the hug, having missed her old friend after all this time. “Ah’m glad to see ya again, too. But why are ya here? Don’t ya have a concert?”
“Ahem!”
Everyone looked to Svengallop.
“And that’s why we’re here. Due to Countess Coloratura’s growing fame, it’s becoming a bit of a problem finding private locations for her to be safe before and during concerts. I offered the Countess several options of the best hotels with the highest of security for high profile guests. However, the Countess believes that this…ahem…rustic domicile would be more than enough to keep the paparazzi and rabid fans from finding her.”
Coloratura looked to Applejack with a pleading gaze. “It would only be for seven days AJ, just until the concert’s over and done with. Nobody would think to look for me on a farm out in the country. Plus, I’d really like to catch up with you.”
Applejack couldn’t deny that she wanted to spend time with Rara again, but this wasn’t her decision alone. The blonde cowgirl looked to Granny Smith. “Granny, is it okay if she stays for the week at least?”
Granny looked to Svengallop, she already didn’t like him, but she did like Rara, remembering the days when the two would play together in the back of the orchard when the girl was little and wasn’t a music pop star. Plus, it had been a long time since the two of them had seen each other and being around a girl like Applejack might keep Rara grounded. “Ah don’t see why not, mind you the youngin’ will at least need to do one or two chores ‘round the house to not make people suspicious.”
Svengallop spluttered at the idea. “Unacceptable! Countess Coloratura doesn’t ‘do chores’, and what would happen if she injured herself here doing gods knows what?!”
Coloratura stepped away from Applejack and stood before Svengallop. “I’ll be fine, Svengallop, it’s just a farm. I used to play here when I was a little girl, I’m used to the country. Besides, it’d be nice to do something normalish for a change of pace.”
Svengallop looked around the house as if appraising all the ways that Coloratura would and could get hurt with. “Hmm, very well, but she’s only to do light chores! Nothing that would require her to exert too much, remember she has photo shoots and rehearsals all this week leading up to the concert and excess work would only exhaust her.”
Granny shrugged. “Fair enough twig boy.”
Svengallop’s eye twitched at that. “Humph, well, let’s go and get your things. We’ll have a busy day tomorrow so don’t stay up and I’ll call you when I’m on the way to pick you up.” The lanky man then got closer to Coloratura and whispered, “If you need me to save you from this place, find a safe place and message me!”
Coloratura rolled her eyes. “I’ll be fine, Svengallop, don’t worry.”
With that said, Svengallop and Coloratura went out to go and get her bags, while Applejack followed behind her. Sunset could hardly believe that a real popstar was staying with one of her friends, and that diva wasn’t as eccentric as the tabloids made her out to be, but then again she did do a lot of charity work, and knowing that she came from humble beginnings was nice to know.
“Guess we’ll be in the know about the Countess, right Twi…Twi?”
Sunset looked to Twilight, who was completely frozen, her brain somehow hadn’t fully processed that she’d met Countess Coloratura.
***_________<U>_________***
Since the arrival of Countess Coloratura, things had been going pretty well. Every day, Svengallop would come and pick up Coloratura in an unsuspecting vehicle and take her to wardrobe where she’d go through rehearsals and pose for the latest music magazine and interview at the local news agencies and some from out of the city. Later, after it was all done, she’d be spirited away by Applejack in their unsuspecting pickup truck and taken back to Sweet Apple Acres where the music star could rest in privacy.
Coloratura plopped onto Applejack’s bed and sighed heavily. The farm girl chuckled, seeing her friend in her exhausted state. “Ya look as worn out as Ah do during Apple Bucking season.”
“It can be exhausting, and a little maddening sometimes, but it has its moments,” said Coloratura. “Being able to come here and unwind even for just a little a bit helps out a whole lot. Don’t tell Sven, but I do sometimes miss the simpler times before I became a hit popstar.”
Applejack placed her Stetson hat on a rack and began to change, causing Coloratura to turn on her side, away from Applejack. “So why don’t ya just tell him to dial back the interviews and events? Ah mean, even Sapphire Shores takes a hiatus once and awhile.”
Coloratura felt her face heat up but ignored to it answer Applejack’s question. “I can’t, AJ. I’m still fairly new to the music scene, if I don’t get as much publicity and build up my fan base then I can easily be forgotten. The Music Industry is one big popularity contest, and if you you’re not at least on top eighty percent of the time, you’ll fall into obscurity and your career with it.”
Applejack paused midway through her changing and walked over to Coloratura, sitting at the edge of her bed. “Rara, that sounds like too much pressure to be puttin’ on yerself, especially right now.”
“It’s my dream AJ, it’s all I’ve wanted to do since we were little girls.” Coloratura dared to glance over her shoulder, spotting the broad back of her childhood friend and somehow feeling her heart race. “Of course…a lot has changed since then…I don’t remember you being that buff.”
Applejack grinned with pride. “Years of working on the farm will do that for ya. Ah’m just glad yer not skin and bones like some of those models, still got a little meat on the bones.”
To emphasize her, Applejack quickly pinched Coloratura’s side and made the singer release a cute squeal of surprise as she curled in on herself. “AJ!”
The farm girl chuckled and after a second, so did Coloratura.
Their laughter was stopped for a moment when a weird sound emitted from Applejack’s window. The farm girl glanced in that direction and put her hand up to signal to Coloratura for silence. Another weird sound emitted, like metallic rustling of some sort. Applejack was no stranger to weird sounds. Since her farm was pretty far from the city proper, the noises of the city she was familiar with after going to CHS for a while, and she was pretty well versed in the sounds that the farm animals and wild animals made at night. This one, however didn’t sound familiar.
Applejack inched herself to the window, approaching it from an angle so as to not make whatever was outside aware that she was there. Coloratura was getting a little concerned by this, seeing Applejack serious made her worry. When the farm girl reached the window she peeked through and scanned the outside, the fortunate and unfortunate thing about being so far out and having so much land, meant that neighbors were far. Meaning Applejack didn’t have to worry too much about modesty at this moment. Her emerald green eyes continued to watch for movement, the usual shadows and silhouettes of objects were there. However, there was something thin and shimmering in the faint light of the moon. Then, several objects began to glint from the moonlight, and Applejack noticed that several of those glints were starting to move towards –
“GET DOWN!” Applejack yelled as she ran toward her bed.
Coloratura quickly ducked on the side opposite the window just as Applejack dove on the other side and got low and under the bed next to Coloratura. At that moment glass shattered as the sound of several large objects came shooting through the window. Applejack looked back and noticed that several pitchforks, machetes, shovels, pickaxes, and axes were now lodged in her wall and door.
“Is…Is it over?” Coloratura asked.
“Not sure…”
Applejack dared to peek over her bed, with Coloratura doing the same. Both girls looked upon the ruined window, glass strewn on the floor, drapes shredded from the several sharp objects, and wood splintered by the speed and force of the objects flying through it. Coloratura squinted as she saw something else coming, there was a whooshing sound like something was flying through the air. The answer to the sound came when a scythe came crashing through the window and wall, Coloratura quickly rushed towards Applejack and pushed her down as the reaping tool embedded itself in the wall.
“Whoa…Thanks Rara!” Applejack exclaimed.
Coloratura’s heart was racing from the danger, and for some reason pinning Applejack to the ground while she was half naked was not helping matters. Still, the awkwardness of their positions was pushed to the furthest part of their minds considering how several farm tools were just launched at them.
The sounds of several footsteps came towards Applejack’s door, Big Mac carefully opened the door and entered with all due caution. “AJ, you alright?!”
“Fine, Bro, just damn near close to havin’ a heart attack after all that, but otherwise alright,” said Applejack.
“Granny, Bloom, stay back, and call the police,” said Big Mac as he dislodged one of the machete’s and inched his way to the window where they flew in through. “Ah don’t see anyone…but don’t mean they’re still out there.”
Apple Bloom stuck her head inside and quickly went to her big sister. “Applejack, you sure yer alright?”
Applejack, slowly got up with Coloratura’s help and mussed up her little sister’s hair. “Don’t start frettin’ sugarcube, Ah’m still standing, figuratively speakin’.”
“Ah called the police, they’re on their way, but considerin’ how far they are we’d best move inside the house and lock yer door Applejack,” said Granny Smith.
“Let’s move then.”
***_________<U>_________***
The next day was met with police and investigators going over the crime scene, considering the unusual nature of the incident, Applejack saw fit to call Twilight and Sunset over to see for themselves. After Applejack gave them a description of the attack, it sounded like another Dopant attack.
“Still, we can’t be sure. Then again, many other things I can think of that could throw dozen plus farm tools at your window with enough force to lodge them in the wall,” said Sunset.
Applejack looked up at her broken and sighed. “Yeah, well, Dopant or not, that Sven guy’s on a tirade now. Sayin’ that it ain’t safe for Rara here no more because of this.”
Twilight looked to Applejack with concern. “I’m so sorry this happened, Applejack.”
“Ain’t yer fault, but Ah guess a good thing don’t last forever…”
“ARE YOU MAD?!” Svengallop shrieked.
Applejack, Sunset, and Twilight glanced behind them and watched as Svengallop was practically pulling out his hair with Coloratura standing firm with her arms crossed. “I’m not Svengallop, I want to stay here.”
“But…But…you were just attacked! Someone knows where you are!” Svengallop argued.
“Look around you Svengallop,” said Coloratura.
The agent looked about, seeing cops and the normal amount of media that would cover an attack, but nothing like the rabid droves of cameras and paparazzi that would descend on the location of a star. “If everyone knew I was here, there’d be triple the amount of media, but it’s practically quiet.”
“But that doesn’t –!”
“Actually sir,” said Twilight as the trio approached. “I’ve been monitoring news and social media, and there hasn’t been any kind of leaks regarding, um, Rara’s presence here. If anything it’s just making the rounds on news outlets as a bizarre attack.”
Svengallop took out his PDA and smartphone, showing great ambidextrous movements and multitasking skills as he went through the sites to see this for himself. After a minute of searching, Svengallop concluded that there was no mention of Countess Coloratura’s whereabouts. “So then we can just rule this as some random attacker. Good…wait, no, not good! You definitely can’t stay then!”
“Sir.”
The group looked to the voice of someone familiar. Twilight’s eyes brightened up when she saw her big brother, Shining Armor walking towards them. “Shining Armor, you’re here too?!”
“Yep, anything freaky or out of the ordinary is now part of the Special Crimes Unit, or until proven otherwise,” said Shining Armor. “And due to this incident sir, we will be increasing police presence here for the next seventy-two hours, so you all can rest assured that you’ll be safe. ‘Sides, can’t let my lil’ sis’ friends be in danger can I?”
Twilight blushed but smiled at her brother.
“Well…if that’s that then we can move around some things to keep you on schedule, we’ll have that meet and greet with the school kids cancelled, so we can make the photoshoot,” said Svengallop.
Coloratura glanced to her agent with an incredulous stare. “Svengallop you know how important meeting the children is to me! I can’t break their hearts like that, and I’m not letting this get in the way of that. We have more than enough photoshoots lined up until the concert, so missing a few today won’t kill anyone.”
Everybody winced at that word, considering how close death was last night, jinxing it now was like asking lightning to strike you. With a reluctant, and somewhat disgusted sigh, Svengallop relented to Coloratura. “Fine then, we’ll meet the kiddies and cancel the shoots, but we must make that interview later!”
“That’s fine.” As Svengallop walked away, Coloratura turned to Applejack and her friends. “Are you sure you’re okay, AJ?”
“Like Ah said, don’t fret none over me. We’ll be fine, go and do your thing,” said Applejack.
With a bit of reluctance, Coloratura went to her day. Meanwhile Sunset took this moment to stand beside Applejack and nudge her. “So, how long have you two been a thing?”
Applejack and Twilight gawked at Sunset and said, “WHAT?!”
“Oh please, Applejack, I can see it, she’s got a crush on you.”
Twilight’s left eye twitched. “Countess Coloratura, has a crush…on one of my friends…!”
“Rara doesn’t have a crush on me!” Applejack countered. “She’s just worried is all! We did nearly get killed last night!”
Sunset shrugged. “True, but take this from a girl who’s been with a few herself, she’s nursing a crush on her long time childhood friend.”
Applejack grumbled and stomped off. “Ah’m goin’ to help with fixin’ my window, when yer done teasin’ y’all can come and help!”
Sunset chuckled a little, yes she was on the side of good, but every now again she couldn’t help letting that teasing side of her bad girl persona come out every once in awhile. “Alright, Twi, you mind sending up Hawk to tail…Um, Twi, you alright?”
Twilight’s face was bright red. “Um…Sunset…you said you’ve been with a few girls…what do you mean by that?”
Sunset blinked and then face palmed herself. “Oh right, translation error. Well back in my world, I was a bit older, and since I was older I dated a few mares. Remember, Princess Twilight and I are a bit older than you guys.”
“Oh…right, I forgot,” said Twilight suddenly feeling like a child before Sunset. “Um…about how much older would you say?”
Sunset thought about that for a moment. “Huh, well, I exited Equestria when I was twenty-one, and the last time I went back there I was relatively the same age. So I guess the portal saves what you last were, because when I entered here I was like fourteen or thirteen on or about, so like freshman age of AJ’s sister.”
Twilight managed to push the fact that Sunset was older and had dating experience to take in the information about the portal and at this point wanting to know more about crossing over from Earth to Equestria. But that could wait as Twilight reached into her backpack and pulled out the modified version of Hawk, which looked akin to a laptop. Twilight then pressed a button on the side of the device.
< HAWK! >
Twilight dropped the laptop, but before it could hit the ground, the portable computer metamorphed, spreading its mechanical wings and talons, craning its head as its mini thrusters kicked on and shot off for its target.
“Have I ever told you how cool those mech-animals you invented are?” Sunset asked.
“You could stand to mention it more,” said Twilight cheekily.
***_________<U>_________***
The day went on as Twilight and Sunset helped the Apple Family with the repairs, Rainbow Dash had texted that’d she’d come over and lend a hand once school let out. Twilight and Sunset were able to get out were for two reasons: the first was that both girls were pretty far ahead of their studies, Twilight especially, so missing a day wasn’t going to hurt them academically. Second: well, the Principals kind of owed them a favor after the Crystal Prep incident and recent incident with the doppelgangers. Every couple of minutes or so, Twilight would check her phone to see if Hawk alerted her to anything, but so far everything was running smoothly, and from the surveillance footage it seemed that the kids from the local middle school were having a good time.
What Twilight didn’t realize was that Sunset was walking up behind her with a cold water bottle and pressed behind her neck. The sudden chill made Twilight squeal and jump from her seat, looking back with a bit of an irritated expression on her face. “Sunset Shimmer that was…! Was…” Sunset had forgone her coat and blouse in exchange for a tank top Applejack had on hand. The image of Sunset’s sweat drenched body with that tank top was not helping Twilight’s composure in the least. “You…um…changed clothes?”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to get my jacket and blouse all sweaty, so I asked her for if she had a work shirt I could wear. Applejack’s got a few and lent me one,” said Sunset.
“Um…ahem…you’re not afraid it’s too revealing? I mean, I can see your…y-your bra and…and there’s a boy here too!”
Sunset shrugged it off like it was no big deal. “Hey, AJ’s wearing the same thing and she’s not skittish.”
Twilight crossed her arms. “Big Macintosh is Applejack’s big brother, and while I could say that having Shiny see me like that would be embarrassing it also depends on circumstance. They work on this farm a lot so it doesn’t bother them when their working like we are to fix that window. You and I, however, are two not related girls and as such Big Mac would naturally…well…look…at you.”
“We literally had boys and girls stare at us when we were wearing those cheerleading outfits, and comparatively, I’m showing less than we were back then,” said Sunset.
Fair point, Twilight thought.
*BEEP-BEEP!*
*BEEP-BEEP!*
Applejack walked past the duo hearing the strange noise. “What in tarnation is that noise?”
“It’s Hawk! He’s alerting me!” Twilight stated as she opened her phone to live feed connect to Hawk. “Oh no…”
On the phone, the girls were bearing witness to a Dopant attack. The creature looked to be made of wood, with an X shaped plank on its back, the creature had blue lederhosen and gloved hands. The Dopant had a long wooden nose, and sharpened wood teeth, and dark circles with eyes that bobbled about. The image of this new Dopant made all three girls cringe, it looked like a demonic puppet from a horror movie.
“Oh c’mon, why does it have to be a possessed puppet monster?!” Sunset groaned.
“Look, there are things floating around it,” said Twilight.
Sunset reluctantly looked back at the image and watched as several objects were floating in the air, some of the objects included street lamp posts, cars, and other objects that were heavy enough to kill or sharp enough to impale.
“Sunset!”
“On it!”
The fiery haired girl ran outside and went for her bike. She quickly materialized the buckle and fastened it, and with her right hand she pulled the Unicorn Memory from her pocket.
< UNICORN! >
Sunset placed the Gaia Memory into the slot before peeling away down the road on her bike. Once she was far enough away, she pushed down on the Memory and activated the driver. “HENSHIN!”
> UNICORN! <
A field of turquoise light enveloped Sunset and her bike, hitting them both with sparks of lightning that transformed them both. Sunset became her alter ego, Kamen Rider Unicorn. The bike transformed into is supped up form, taking on more power and speed as Unicorn blazed down the highway towards the city. Sunset concentrated, forwarding her energy into her horn and conjuring the image of where the Dopant was attacking. She could sense it, people in danger, chaos and the disruption of peace. Suddenly, both Unicorn and her bike disappeared down a tunnel of turquoise light, crossing time and space in an instant.
In the distance there was an opening, showing the attack on Coloratura and the school kids. Sunset revved the engine twice and sped down the tunnel, popping a wheelie as she exited the tunnel and struck the Dopant with the front tire of her bike, sending the creepy creature flying into a car and coming to a complete stop. Unicorn put on the kickstand and dismounted her bike, she then quickly made her way to Coloratura and the kids.
“Are any of you hurt?” Unicorn asked.
Coloratura shook her head. “No we’re all fine, thank goodness you came when you did.”
“You’re that masked rider!”
“She’s so cool!”
Sunset was blushing under the helmet, but tried not to let the praise of the children get to her that much. “Take them further back, I’ll deal with this guy! Go!”
Coloratura began herding the kids towards a safer area, with security now coming in to help. Unicorn turned around to face the creepy Dopant, who was now peeling itself off the car she had smacked it into.
“So who are you and why are you attacking Countess Coloratura?!”
“Heh, heh, heh…The Countess, the Countess will be mine…heh, heh, ha!” The Dopant uttered as its wooden head jerked back and forth.
Unicorn got chills just looking at the thing. “Yeah, you’re just too creepy, I’m ending this.”
The puppet Dopant began to wiggle its fingers, and soon the objects that were hovering in the air began hurling themselves at Unicorn. The masked hero looked up as a mailbox came flying at her, she quickly dove to the right, missing it as the mailbox crashed against the asphalt, but the Dopant didn’t let up as a second object, a four-door sedan, was dropped on her location. Unicorn’s horn glowed and quickly vanished from the spot as the car hit the ground, crunching the chassis and shattering its windows.
Unicorn reappeared some feet behind the puppet Dopant and fired several magic bolts at her opponent, however, the Dopant waved its hand and brought the lamppost it had upheaved earlier and swung it about like a baseball bat, hitting each of the bolts and exploding on impact. The Dopant released its hold on the lamppost, letting its smoldering remains rest upon the ground, it then waved its hand towards another lamppost, and in a matter of seconds it was ripped from the sidewalk with the electrical wires snapping.
A makeshift stage was nearby, a setup for Coloratura to pose with the kids and maybe sing a few songs with them karaoke style. The Dopant waved its hands towards that stage and began ripping out the poles that kept the stage up. The quick snapping and breakage of the pipes gave them sharp, pointed edges, turning them into makeshift spears that the Dopant readied to launch at Unicorn.
Right before the Dopant was about to attack with the pipes, Hawk came in screeching and struck the Dopant across its chest with its right wing, the damage was minimal, but it did hurt the Dopant enough to make it lose concentration and drop the sharp pipes. Hawk flew towards Sunset, who held out her left arm to allow the robot bird to land on.
[I believe now’s as good a time as any to try Hawk’s new configuration.] Twilight stated.
“I’m game, let’s go! Hawk, Archery Mode!” Sunset shouted.
Hawk’s eyes shined as it took off into the air. The mech-animal flared out its wings, bringing the inner feathers in and leaving just the tips to point outwards. Hawk scrunched its head in an inch and kept its mouth open, and brought in its legs to form a handle bar. Unicorn raised her left hand and grabbed Hawk, and in so doing, a string of turquoise light energy formed to create a bowstring.
Unicorn pulled back on the bowstring, and at the center of Hawk’s mouth a glowing orb of energy began to form. When the string was released, Hawk fired an arrow made of turquoise light that sailed through the air and struck the puppet Dopant right in the shoulder, causing sparks to fly off as he stumbled backwards.
“Oh yeah, Twilight you are a freakin’ genius!”
Unicorn ran and began firing one arrow after the other. The Dopant was now on the defensive as it called several objects around it to act as shields against the light arrows. Sunset placed all four of her fingers on the bowstring this time, and released. The result was a succession of three arrows shooting out and hitting in either a piece of the stage, pipes, or another car and causing mini explosions to erupt from impact. Sunset knew it was time to end this, so she pressed the button on the side of Hawk and made a slot open up. After taking out the Unicorn Memory from the belt, Sunset placed it into the slot on Hawk and pushed it back down and made Hawk’s eyes glow brighter.
>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<
The Dopant quickly brought all the debris it could to the front, creating as thick a shield as it could. However, Sunset could tell that that was not going to work.
“SAGITTA MAGICA!”
Unicorn released the string and fired a massive beam of turquoise light that had an arrowhead at the tip of the blast. One by one the shielding objects were pierced as of ripping through wet tissue paper. In a matter of seconds there as a great explosion from behind the debris, causing it all to fall and silhouetting Kamen Rider Unicorn as the energy from her body dissipated. The onlookers just stared wide eyed at the fight and quickly snapped pictures of the epic scene.
Hawk released the Unicorn Memory, allowing Sunset to reinstall it into the Driver. With the fight complete, Sunset released Hawk allowing him to transform back into his flight mode and perch on her arm. She then petted the avian robot on the head and said, “Good job.” Hawk raised its head proudly from the comment, but became alert when it detected the sound of police sirens. “Let’s get the Gaia Memory and head out.”
Unicorn rushed to where the defeated Dopant laid. When she arrived, Unicorn saw that it was a guy with a Countess Coloratura shirt on, but unfortunately, she could not find the Gaia Memory that had caused the trouble. Unicorn wanted to search longer, but the sirens were getting closer and with a curse, she ran towards her bike, saluted the crowd and drove off with Hawk flying into the distance and out of sight.
***_________<U>_________***
The incident at the middle school was all over the news, the one responsible for the attack was apparently a rabid fan of Countess Coloratura, bordering on obsession and stalker like behavior. The man didn’t seem to make mention of how he learned about where Coloratura was during her stay in Canterlot City, nor did he make mention of how he obtained the power to transform into a monster.
Unfortunately, Svengallop was able to spin this into enough of a reason to cancel her other charity appointments, much to Coloratura’s dismay. Currently both Coloratura and Applejack were residing in the same guest room, with Applejack in the bathroom talking on her cellphone with Twilight and Sunset.
[I can’t believe I lost track of the Gaia Memory! That was such a stupid mistake!]
[From what I was able to discern from Shining Armor, the police haven’t recovered anything suspicious other than the normal evidence. The Memory must’ve flew off somewhere after the attack hit.] Twilight stated.
“Hey, so long as Rara’s alright, that’s enough for me, if ya want we can go over that spot with the girls after school,” said Applejack.
[It’s been too long already, I’m afraid someone’s already got it……screw it, I’m heading back there tonight to look for it.]
[Sunset don’t do that it’s late at night, plus there may still be police around the area, what would happen if you got caught?!]
[Just send Hawk to watch over me while I’m there. I’m heading out now.]
“Sunset?!”
[Sunset?]
Applejack sighed. “Ah guess she’s on her way, better send that bird out to watch her.”
[Sunset can be so…ugh! I understand how bad it is that the Memory was gone, but she didn’t have to run of like that!]
Applejack removed her work clothes and pinched the phone against her ear with her shoulder. “Well, that’s Sunset. She’s fiery and can sometimes take on the weight of world, probably a bit of a carryover from the Fall Formal. Probably feels like she still needs to do more good to make up for her past.”
[…Has she…ever told you – any of you – about what she was like before coming here?]
Applejack stopped in her disrobing and actually took a moment to think about that. After mulling it over in her head for a silent minute, Applejack said, “Honestly, no, she never has. Ah mean, we all know she was originally from Equestria, the same place Princess Twilight was from. As far as we’ve been able to learn, it was something to do with an argument between Sunset Shimmer and the Celestia of that world, she was her magic teacher, but beyond that Ah’m not sure what exactly happened. All Ah knew was the Sunset Shimmer of CHS, the girl who ruled the school with an iron fist, as far Sunset Shimmer the pony? Not sure, Sugarcube.”
[It would make sense as to what’s driving her, beyond just meeting my counterpart. I know she still harbors guilt about the actions she’d taken while at the school, but before that…]
“Maybe ya should ask her?” Applejack suggested.
[W-W-What I-I can’t – I mean…]
“Look, Ah ain’t an expert Twi, but you and Sunset seem to have a connection, maybe it’s because y’all went through the same things, or maybe ya just click with each other, but whatever it is, if anyone, Ah’d think Sunset would tell ya about her past if you asked, it’s up to you, Twilight,” said Applejack.
There was silence on the phone for another minute before Twilight spoke, [I’ll think about it, I just don’t want to make her angry and lose a friend because I made her tell me about a sore subject of her past.]
“Sunset’s tougher than she looks, just ask, all she can do is say no and that’s it,” said Applejack.
[Thanks, Applejack.]
The line disconnected with Applejack feeling happy that she may have helped strengthen the friendship between Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle.
***_________<U>_________***
The following day saw the girls all gathered in the music room, with Sunset Shimmer looking tired and with bags under her eyes as she laid atop the grand piano that Rarity had brought in back when the band was forming.
“Sunset, you don’t look so good,” said Rainbow Dash.
“Thank you, for pointing that out…I was up most of the night searching the area for that Gaia Memory, but no luck,” said Sunset
“Maybe you’re attack was so super powerful that it destroyed the Memory thingy?!” Pinkie Pie proposed.
Twilight mulled that over in her head. “I suppose it’s possible, we have been encountering some Memories that shatter after use. We’ve been able to determine there are two types, the T2s that Sunset uses, and the ones that Gladmane and that horrible Garble boy used which broke when Sunset used a Maximum Drive.”
“Then isn’t possible like Pinkie said, that it just a breakable one?” Rarity asked.
Sunset opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a moment. “I don’t know, it felt different. It’s hard to explain, it may be due to my connection with the Unicorn Memory, but I can feel a difference between them now. This one, it felt stronger, it might just be a T2. In which case, it means that either someone picked it up, or it found someone else to be its user. In which case, the only thing we can do is wait and see what they do.”
***_________<U>_________***
Another day of rehearsal went on without a hitch. Knowing that the attacker from yesterday was behind bars put Coloratura’s mind at ease, even more so knowing of Kamen Rider Unicorn’s presence in the city. It was quite surreal for the popstar, seeing an actual superhero fighting to protect people’s lives, and going up against a monster. Such things she only saw in movies, she had even met the movie stars who portrayed those heroes during interviews and some guest appearances, but to meet one for real, was exciting. And inspiring for a new song in her head.
Unfortunately, the reality of the attacker hadn’t left her. After hearing that he was a fan of hers and had stalked girls before, it made her realize that there were fans like that, but she knew that. However seeing it and experiencing it were on a different level. Svengallop had managed to use it as an excuse to cancel some of the charity events that Coloratura had wanted to do during the week in between the rehearsals. She didn’t want to think badly of Svengallop, after all, it was thanks to him that Coloratura was able to become as popular and well known as she was when she moved to Manehattan.
Granted she did have to change her image and singing style in order to get to where she was, but Coloratura adapted better than she had thought. “I’m just glad after all this he didn’t make me move out of AJ’s place…” The singer’s heart thumped at the thought of her childhood friend, but the beat was silenced quickly. “Stop thinking about her that way, Rara. You don’t have a right to think about AJ like that…besides…she might not even…”
Coloratura decided it was a discussion better saved for when her life wasn’t as hectic as it was now. The music star thanked her backup dancers and went on to her dressing room to change out to her street clothes to return to the Apple household. As she got closer to her dressing room, she noticed the door was cracked, as she got closer, Coloratura began to hear a voice coming from inside the room.
“I can’t believe that slob! I only wanted him to scare her into stopping those stupid charity events! Not kill her! And to think he had something like this, and used it for that spectacle?”
Coloratura peeked through the crack in the door and saw that it was Svengallop, in his hand was a maroon colored USB device. Svengallop pressed the button on the device and was shocked when it spoke.
< PUPPETEER! >
Svengallop pressed the Gaia Memory against the skin of his left hand, and immediately the energy of the Memory transformed him. Svengallop was donned in a white tuxedo suit, with two long coattails with red lining. His hand had black velvet gloves upon them, monogrammed with a strangely designed “P” letter. His face however was a mask of white porcelain, with silver hair coming off the back, with both eyes that had red paint over them, styled like scars running down both eyes.
“Amazing, yes, I understand now. Fool didn’t know what he had.”
Coloratura put her hands over her mouth, stifling any sound that would come out to give away her position. The popstar slowly backed away, she had to call the police or somehow contact Unicorn about what she saw. But as she backed up, Coloratura bumped against a box of stage equipment, making the electronics tumble to the ground and clatter loudly. Before she could react, Coloratura felt her arms, legs, and waist being wrapped in something that squeezed against her tight. A great force dragged her forward and opened the door, and as she flew in, the door slammed shut. Now the popstar was face to face with her agent turned Dopant, starting into the black holes where his eyes should be.
“Well, well, well, Countess. I really wish you hadn’t heard all of that,” said Svengallop.
“I can’t believe you had that man come there! He almost killed me and the children!” Coloratura yelled.
“Trust me, I had called the police in advance to prevent him from doing that. How was I supposed to know he had a device that could turn him into some kind of monster?! But it all worked out, in fact, better than expected, because I’m the one with the device, and the power it grants me.”
Svengallop waved his hands and wiggled his fingers, all of a sudden, Coloratura could see thin wires shimmering all around them, and all of them came from either his hands or silver hair.
“Puppeteer, makes since. Someone who makes things dance for their amusement, who controls them.”
“What do you want…?”
“Everything that I’m owed! Do you think I don’t deserve the best, same as you? I’m the one who made you a star, talent can only get you so far, but you need to know how to weel and deal, you can’t do that! I can! And I’m the one who makes it all happen, the stage, the special effects, and your image, all of it! And because I do, I demand the best!”
Coloratura thought back to all her performances. She never understood why, but there were always whispers going around that she was a needy diva, how she was requesting things that were either outrageous or wasn’t satisfied with what she had gotten. Coloratura could never understand why that was, she didn’t feel she was requesting anything outrageous, but now. “It was you…you were the one making the demands at each concert! I always got a strange vibe from the coordinators, as if they felt like they had to jump through hoops! Now I understand!”
Svengallop raised his index finger and made the wires coil around Coloratura, forcing her arms back, and wrapping around her body tightly as if to crush her or slice her. “Again, I created the best, so I deserve the best too.”
“So…So what?! Are you going to kill me now or something?! It’ll only mean you having to look for someone else and work all over again! But go ahead, do it!” Coloratura dared.
Svengallop shook his head. “No, no, I won’t kill you, jeez what good does that do me? And I won’t hurt you, no, I don’t want to damage that face or body. We’ll have more shoots for swimsuit magazines and I’d rather not have any marks on you. But there are other ways to hurt you, like say…that hick friend of yours?”
Coloratura’s eyes widened with fear. “Don’t you dare hurt AJ!”
“I will, with this power, I could slice her pretty head off her shoulders and she’d never realize it until she found herself staring at her ankles from the ground. Afterwards, I might just take care of her siblings, and the old biddy, and raze the farm to ruins. With these wires, I can do all of that and no one would be able to trace it back to me! And don’t think I can’t hurt them from far away, I got contacts that could easily hurt them financially and have them living on the streets.”
Svengallop approached Coloratura and looked her dead in the eyes. The fear was there, he knew Coloratura cared for Applejack, probably more than he was comfortable with, and would do anything to keep her safe.
“What do you say? From here on you’ll do as I say. It’s win-win really, I get what I want, and you’ll become a bigger star than Sapphire Shores, and I’ll make sure anyone who tries to stop our progress in that will meet an untimely end.”
“But…” Coloratura’s eyes began to water, tears fell from her eyes as she sniffled. “…Applejack will be safe, you give me your word that you won’t hurt her or her family as long as I do what you say?”
“As your agent, I’m a man of my word. So, do you accept our new contract?” Svengallop asked.
The wires that held Coloratura went slack and released her from their hold, allowing the songstress to fall to the ground, her body was sore from being restrained. Svengallop held out his hand, a gesture to seal their contract. Coloratura looked at that hand, believing she was about to make a deal with the devil. But then again, this deal would keep her friend safe, as well as her family. With a great amount of reluctance, Coloratura reached out and took Svengallop’s hand and shook it, sealing their new contract.
“Excellent, now first order of business…”
***_________<U>_________***
“Yer movin’ out?” Applejack asked in confusion.
Coloratura was in her stage wear, with the black veil over her eyes, and her hair done in its long ponytail, and colored a pale pink with a dark violet streak in it. She wore her leather, hot pink, jacket, and leather boots as she walked about and waited for Svengallop to get the rest of her things. “Yes, Applejack, I am.”
“Oh…sorry, guess after that it’s probably best ya do stay someplace with more protection,” said Applejack with a bit of a somber tone.
Coloratura sighed. “No, it isn’t that it’s…” the popstar clenched her jaw as she looked away from Applejack. “…It’s because I’m over this Podunk farm.”
Applejack looked at Coloratura as if she had just slapped her. “Excuse?”
“You heard me! I’m a singer, Applejack! I’m one of the most popular music stars, I can’t spend my whole time playing around in some dirt clod of a farm, and being seen with…country people,” said Coloratura.
Applejack felt a bit of a stabbing pain in her heart, but was then replaced with anger. “Rara –!”
Coloratura turned sharply and flipped her hair as she cut Applejack off, “And stop calling me ‘Rara’! My name is Countess Coloratura! I’m not that little girl anymore, and you need to realize that! It’s been fun, really, but I need to start taking my career seriously instead of messing around here, that attack made me keenly aware of that!” Upon saying that she briefly glanced to Svengallop before relaxing her features. Coloratura reached into her jacket pocket and presented Applejack with an envelope. “Here, this is a check for boarding me these last few days, as well as additional compensation for the repairs to your house.”
Applejack glared at the envelope and slapped it out of Coloratura’s hand. “Keep yer money Countess, we don’t need it.”
“Humph, I figured you were bull headed, but stupid wasn’t what I expected,” said Coloratura. “Goodbye.”
Coloratura began walking towards the car, but before she could reach the door, Applejack called out, “RARA!” She stopped and glanced over her shoulder to her friend who scowled at her, but with tears in her eyes. “Is that how ya really feel?! Ah thought…Ah thought we were friends, Rara!”
The songstress turned her head away and said, “Once upon a time, but reality isn’t a fairytale.”
Coloratura entered the car and Svengallop drove away, she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a defeated and saddened Applejack walk back towards her house, using her forearm to wipe away the tears. Coloratura ripped the veil off her face and began sobbing into her hands. All the while, Svengallop just smiled.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep my end of our contract, I won’t hurt her or her family. So now you can focus on just being the star that you are,” said Svengallop.
“Just leave me alone…” Coloratura stated as she cried.
Svengallop rolled his eyes. “Fine, but make sure to clean your face up, you’re ruining your makeup.”