Rainbow Dash whistled to herself as she cruised down the street on her bike. The town had been relatively quiet the last few days, with not a single Dopant attack since the incident at the bank. With the weekend right around the corner, her and her friends had decided to hold a movie marathon tonight at Pinkie’s and Rainbow was abuzz with excitement.
Coming to a stop outside a convenience store, Rainbow took a second to park her bike before removing her helmet and tucking it under her arm as she strolled into the store. Making a beeline for the snack aisle, Rainbow scanned the shelves as she tried to decide on what snacks to bring with her. “Let’s see… BBQ, Ketchup, Sour Cream and Onion…”
While perusing the aisle, Rainbow’s phone went off in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw Sunset’s name on the screen and brought the phone up to her ear. “Hey, Sunset. What’s up?”
“Where are you? You promised you’d be here by now and everyone’s waiting for you.”
“I took a bit of a detour, okay? I’ll be there in a tick, just grabbing some snacks.”
In the background, Rainbow could pick up Pinkie Pie screaming, “Tell her to pick up Cheese Puffs!”
“Pinkie wants me to tell you—”
“I heard, I heard. Jalapeno or Crunchy?”
“I’d go with the Jalapeno.”
“Got it. Sit tight, I’ll be there in a—”
SKREEEEEEEE!
Rainbow’s phone and helmet clattered to the floor, a massive crack splitting across both the visor and phone screen as a shrill shockwave rebounded through the air. Clamping her hands over her ears in an attempt to block out the noise, Rainbow grit her teeth as the front store window shattered into a million pieces, glass shards raining down from the taller buildings as the upper windows also shattered under the force of the shockwave.
Scooping up her phone, Rainbow fought through the noise and raced outside. The streets were utter chaos, people running back and forth as cars careened into one another as their windows blew out, the klaxon of car alarms adding to the already deafening noise.
In the midst of all this, a massive shadow passed over the street as something soared overhead. Looking up, Rainbow gasped at the colossal beast that flew by, its wingtips almost brushing against the buildings lining both sides of the street and creating a buffering gust of wind from the beating of its wings.
A Dopant! No way I’m going to be able to deal with that thing from down here!
Glancing around, she spied a fire escape running up the side of a nearby building straight up to the roof, breaking out into a run towards it. Praying her phone still worked, she pressed it against her ear as she ran. “Sunset, you still there?”
There was a brief hiss of static before Sunset’s voice came through the line. “Rainbow, what in Equestria was that noise!?”
“We’ve got a Dopant on the loose! And he’s a big one!”
“What!? Where?”
Bounding up the fire escape ladder, Rainbow grunted as she hauled herself up and over onto the scaffolding. “East side of town! I’m tailing him now. Gonna try and cut him off at Fairview and Main!”
“I’ll be right there! Don’t engage him until I get there!”
“Fat chance, that jerk owes me a new phone!” Ending the call before Sunset could argue further, Rainbow bolted up the fire escape at breakneck speeds. Reaching the top, she broke into a flying leap and grabbed onto the roof’s edge, pulling herself up. From this height she had a decent view of the city, easily spotting the huge Dopant soaring above it.
“You picked the wrong day to mess with me, buster.” Calling forth her Nasca Driver, Rainbow slapped it across her waist as she pulled out the Nasca Memory.
< NASCA! >
“Henshin!” With a twist of her arm, Rainbow slotted the Memory into the Driver.
< NASCA! >
In a whirlwind of blue energy, Rainbow Dash transformed into Kamen Rider Nasca. Her electric yellow wings shot out of her shoulder blades as she took to the sky, creating a mini sonic boom of her own as she streaked towards the escaping Dopant.
Down below, people ran about in a panic, covering their heads to try and protect themselves from the still raining glass. During all this, someone pointed towards the horizon and shouted loud enough to be heard, “Look, it’s Kamen Rider Nasca!”
A cheer rippled through the streets as others caught sight of the blue armored Rider barreling through the sky on electric wings. Up above, Rainbow was swiftly gaining distance on the monster, coming within a dozen feet or so of it in a matter of seconds.
Now up close, she could finally get a good look at the beast. It looked to her like the outcome of a one-night stand between a turkey and a dragon, covered head to talon in dark golden-brown feathers. A massive beak stretched outward from its face, with a literal crown of feathers perched atop its head. Its wings were actually devoid of any feathers, instead consisting of a leather membrane stretched across its arms, scales covering the skin of its clawed arms and talons. A long serpentine tail dragged behind its tail feathers, a curved blade attached at the end.
“These things just keep getting uglier and uglier,” Nasca muttered as she swooped in closer. As she did, the beast tilted its head in her direction, its massive eyes passing over her.
Uh oh, I think it saw me!
Instead of attacking, however, the monster banked sharply and steered itself towards the far side of the city, seemingly ignoring the buzzing pest fluttering by.
“Hey! Where you going?! Get back here!”
Keeping a bead on the beast, Nasca streaked behind it as the clean streets of Canterlot gave way to more dilapidated and decrepit sections of the city. Multiple campaigns had been made over the years to clean up this section of the city, before either running into financial trouble or stalling out before even getting started.
Barely any people around here… Why do I get the feeling this turkey is leading me somewhere? Though irritated with herself for flying right into a trap, Rainbow nonetheless plowed forward. “If this thing wants a fight, then I’ll give it one!”
As the monster banked towards a courtyard flanked by crumbling buildings and chain link fencing, it wrapped its massive wings around itself and glowed with a golden light as it plummeted like meteor towards the ground, creating a smoking crater at the impact site. Following behind, Nasca swooped down and dropped onto the ground, her electric wings vanishing once her feet were on solid ground.
“Alright, you turkey! Come out with your hands up!”
A female voice came from within the crater. “Turkey? How rude.” As the smoke cleared away, a much smaller, humanoid form of the Dopant stepped forth. Its long beak jutted from its face like before, the crown of feathers looking even gaudier up close. A coat of feathers clung to the Dopant’s body, draping across it like a fur coat complete with a fluffed up collar. Its claws and talons were still covered in thick navy scales, but the leather membrane of its wings now hung from her arms like long flowing sleeves. The length of its serpent tail was wrapped around its waist like a belt, the bladed end flicking behind it. Held between two claws on the Dopant’s right hand was a slender black cigarette holder, a thin trail of smoke rising up from the lit end.
Sauntering forward, the Dopant took a long draw of her cigarette, exhaling a puff of smoke as she cast her gaze over Nasca’s form. “A pity…” She muttered, looking away from Nasca with thinly veiled disinterest. “I was hoping to encounter Unicorn, but I suppose you will have to suffice for now.”
“Oh, I’m more than enough to deal with you, ya peacock.” Summoning her sword, Nasca pointed it at the Dopant. “I’ll carve you up in ten seconds flat!”
The Dopant chuckled, unfazed as she raised her cigarette holder to her lips once more. “We shall see…” Taking another long draw of nicotine, she exhaled as she said, “Do try to entertain me, would you?”
Without bothering with a response, Nasca dashed forward, slashing her sword in a downward diagonal slash at the Dopant.
The Dopant barely flinched. “1…” Holding out her left hand, she caught the blade of Nasca’s sword in the palm of her hand, stopping it cold.
“Wha—”
“2…” Grabbing Nasca’s arm with her other hand and twisting it painfully until she released her grip on her sword, the Dopant jerked her leg upward and kneed Nasca in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs and send her reeling.
“3…” Grinding her talons into the ground, she whipped around and kicked the reeling Nasca in the chest, sending her flying back into the nearest building before coming crashing down onto the ground with a hard thud. Several bricks came loose from the impact, peppering the ground around the prone Nasca.
“4…” Holding up Nasca’s sword, she tossed it aside like a piece of trash as she took another puff of her cigarette. “5… 6… 7...”
Nasca grunted as she picked herself up, clutching a hand to her abdomen. Damn, feels like I just got hit by a truck! Who is this lady? Now back on her feet, Nasca spread her electric wings as she charged at the Dopant, her fist sparking with electricity as she blitzed across the courtyard.
“8… 9…” Rolling her eyes, the Dopant easily sidestepped the attack with speed identical to Nasca. Flicking her cigarette holder behind her, the Dopant whipped around and grabbed Nasca’s face with her right hand, pushing her down and forcibly slamming her head into the concrete. A deafening thud echoed through the area, the impact ripping a foot wide crater in the ground beneath Nasca’s head.
“10.”
A pained groan left Nasca’s throat as the world spun around her at dizzying speeds. What… what just happened? Before the world could fully right itself, Nasca felt the Dopant’s claws wrap tightly around her throat, grunting as she was hauled up by her throat. Grabbing onto the Dopant’s arm, she struggled desperately to free herself, but to no avail.
“Well, that was a bore,” The Dopant muttered, sounding even more disinterested than before. “Ten seconds and you couldn’t even touch me. How pathetic.” Pulling her arm back, she tossed Nasca bodily across the courtyard, sending her rolling across the ground.
“Now…” Retrieving her cigarette holder, the Dopant twirled it idly between her claws. “I think you’ve wasted enough of my time as it is. Summon your partner already so I can deal with her as well.”
Grunting, Nasca rolled onto her side as she tried to pull herself back to her feet. Such power… She’s tougher than any of the Dopants I’ve faced before. Getting to her feet, she drew panting breaths as she steadied herself. Right then, no more fooling around. Time to get serious!
“Hmph,” the Dopant scoffed as she watched Nasca stand back up on shaky feet. “Seems that last hit must have rattled your brain if you’re even considering the notion of taking me on after the thorough beating I just gave you.” Shaking her head, she muttered, “Some people just refuse to learn their place…”
“Sorry to disappoint you, but it’ll take more than that to make me bow out. Besides…” Pulling out a red Gaia Memory, Rainbow grinned behind her helmet as she held it up. “That was just the warm-up. Time for the main event!”
< ACCEL! >
“Let’s shake things up!” In a flash, Nasca slotted the Memory into her left hip port and slammed her hand against the trigger.
{< ACCEL! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}
A cascade of crimson energy flowed around Nasca, forming a sphere of power around her that shattered to reveal her new form. Crimson armor overlaid atop her own, flaming wing decals extending from her shoulders with ridged silver armor resembling car grills covering her abdomen. Silver armor atop red ran down her arms and legs, with six silver tailpipes lining the sides of her legs, three on each leg. A silver crescent arced up her now red helmet, her winged visor having changed from a yellowish-orange to a dark blue. Lying flat against her back was a tire connected to a pair of spokes. ,
“Nasca: Full Throttle!”
Now surging with power, Nasca held her hand out at her side, palm facing outward as if expecting something to appear…
… Only for nothing to happen after several awkward moments. A cricket chirped loudly in the distance.
“... Huh?” Waving her arm around, Nasca kept expecting something to suddenly fly into her hand, and yet still nothing happened. “Oh, come on!”
The Dopant cocked her head to the side at the odd display, not quite sure what to make of it. “Is this supposed to be an attempt to make me laugh? Because I’m not laughing.”
Growling, Nasca clenched her hand into a fist as she pulled her arm back, shifting into a fighting stance. “Whatever! I’ll fight you without it!” Flames spewed from the tailpipes on her legs as she raced towards the Dopant.
“This again?” The Dopant muttered with a shake of her head, sidestepping Nasca’s punch like before…
… Only to suddenly receive an elbow across the jaw as Nasca streaked passed.
“Score!” The soles of Nasca’s feet squealed against the concrete like tires as she spun back around and came in for another strike, elbowing the Dopant across the face a second time and sending her spinning. Making a third pass, she held her arm straight out and clotheslined the Dopant in the back of the head, knocking her to her knees.
“Ha!” Nasca gloated as she came skidding to a stop. “Not so high and mighty now, are you?”
A low growl resonated from the back of the Dopant’s throat, growing louder by the second. “How… how dare you…” Whipping her head up, she glared at Nasca with pure hatred in her eyes. “How dare you strike a GOD!”
Throwing her head back, the Dopant unleashed a deafening cry that rang through the air. Nasca pressed her hands against her helmet, twisting in pain as she felt the shrill scream penetrate into her skull.
In a blur of feathers, the enraged Dopant came hurtling at Nasca, ramming her in the chest with her beak. As Nasca stumbled back, a massive bulge began to form in the Dopant’s throat, making a sickening gurgling noise as she reared her head back and hurled a soccer-ball sized fireball from her gullet at the Kamen Rider and sending Nasca crashing back into the chain link fence behind her.
“Ok... Ow.” Nasca winced as she propped herself up, the Dopant stalking towards her. The sound of an advancing engine caused the Dopant to glance to the side, squawking as a riderless motorcycle came barreling towards them.
“What the…?”
“About freaking time!” Taking advantage of the Dopant’s surprise, Nasca leapt to her feet and vaulted over the Dopant’s head, skidding against the ground as she held her hand out in front of her.
Using a chunk of debris as a ramp, the motorcycle launched itself into the air, flipping end over end as it emanated a crimson aura and folded in upon itself with each flip. In an instant, it had transformed into Nasca’s Engine Blade, a long-sword type weapon with a hilt formed from the bike’s handlebars and a speedometer attached at the base of the blade. A pair of wheels extended outward from the centre of the blade.
The sword practically flew into Nasca’s outstretched hand, who swung it in an arc with the ease of lifting a feather, yet the blade’s true weight showed itself by digging a groove into the ground as the tip of the blade scraped against the concrete.
With another shrill shriek, the Dopant tilted her head back as another bulge formed in her throat. Whipping her head forward, she launched another fireball straight at Nasca, who responded by swinging her sword in a forward arc and batting the fireball aside, sending it careening into a nearby building and exploding harmlessly against the vacant building.
Now armed with the Accel Memory’s signature weapon, Nasca gripped the hilt with both hands and revved it twice, causing the needle on the speedometer to spike.
>>> SPEED OF HEAT! <<<
The wheels in the centre of the blade quickly started rotating, smoke radiating off the blade as it became engulfed in intense flames.
“Eat this!” Swinging the Engine Blade in a downward arc, a crescent-shaped burst of pure heat shot out of the blade, smashing into the Dopant and engulfing her in a fiery explosion that reached several feet into the air.
“Fried chicken, anyone?” Bringing up the Engine Blade and resting it on her shoulder, Rainbow chuckled as she stared at the tower of fire where the Dopant had once been. Wait till Sunset hears about this! Now all I have to do is collect what’s left of the Memory and I can— “Hmm? What’s that noise?”
Nasca perked her ears as a strange noise began to fill the air, which sounded almost like… gulping? Suddenly, the tower of flames started to flow into itself, as if being drawn towards something. As the flames parted, Rainbow’s eyes widened at what greeted her.
“No freaking way!”
Standing in the eye of the flames, completely unharmed, was the Dopant, her head tilted back as she sucked the fire down her gullet, making loud gulping noises as the flames poured into her stomach. Nasca could only stand aghast, disbelieving at the sight of the Dopant literally eating the flames.
Sucking in the last streak of flame like a loose spaghetti noodle, the Dopant loudly swallowed before tilting her head forward and wiping the back of her claw against her beak, moaning contentedly. “Ah, that hit the spot. All this fighting was beginning to make me a touch ‘peckish’.”
Clearing a puff of smoke from her throat, she patted her now full belly with her left hand as she rested her right on her hip. “Sadly, it is unbecoming of someone of my stature to partake in any sort of roughhousing so soon after a meal, so in the meantime…”
Raising her right hand, she loudly snapped her claws, summoning four balls of light to her side, two on each side that morphed into humanoid constructs. The ones closest to her took the form of adult males, both dressed in fine suits that made them look like butlers while the outer spheres morphed into two adult woman, both wearing maid outfits with knee-high white socks. All four wore golden bird masks that completely covered their heads and faces.
None of them would have looked the slightest bit threatening if not for the fact the men were each carrying a halberd taller than their body and if the maids weren’t wielding crossbows, a quiver of spare bolts strapped to their thighs.
“... I’ll have my toys deal with you first.” Pointing at Nasca, the four servants took up their weapons and charged Nasca with murderous intent.
Swinging her Engine Blade up, Nasca blocked one of the butler’s halberd, shoving him aside before feinting to the left as the second halberd whizzed by her face. Grabbing the halberd with her free hand, Nasca used it as leverage to flip the butler over and onto his back. As she did, a crossbow bolt pierced into her shoulder, sending her stumbling from the impact and forcing her to drop the halberd still in her grip on the ground.
Whirling around, she spotted one of the maids just as she loaded another bolt into her crossbow. The moment Nasca charged towards her, she let the bolt fly, only for it to be deflected by a swing of Nasca’s blade. As Nasca swung her sword in an effort to destroy the crossbow, another bolt blindsided her in the centre of her back from the second maid, causing her to cry out and allowing the first maid to cartwheel out of her reach.
Keeping her footing, Nasca whirled around as the still armed butler came charging towards her. Bracing the end of his halberd against the ground like a pole vault, he launched himself forward and slammed his feet into Nasca’s chest, her armor spitting sparks as his kick managed to push her back. Before she could recover, the butler grabbed his halberd and swung the axehead across her chest, sending her reeling further back. Two more bolts striking her from behind halted her movement, sending her to her knees.
Using the Engine Blade as a crutch, Nasca struggled to get back on her feet, panting as she watched the constructs circle around her like sharks having caught the fresh scent of blood from a wounded animal in the water.
“Alright, that’s it!” Nasca shouted as she got back on her feet. “No way am I about to get my ass kicked by the serving staff!” Grabbing the hilt of her blade, she revved the handlebars three times in quick succession.
>>> SPEED OF SOUND <<<
With in-human synchronicity, the four constructs acted as one, the butlers hefting their halberds as they charged their foe, while the maids each launched three bolts in rapid succession at Nasca, aiming for her head.
In that moment, Nasca became a crimson blur, like a comet streaking through the sky. With speed on par with her Vermillion Mode, she caught three of the bolts out of the air before swinging her sword up and splitting the remaining three straight down the middle. Spinning on her heels, she whipped all three bolts towards the butler in front of her and the two maids, nailing all three in the shoulder and sending them reeling against the pavement. As the three went down, she sidestepped to the right, creating a momentary after image as the remaining butler lanced his halberd through where she’d been previous, only to then receive a kick to the chest that sent him flying back and his halberd clattering to the ground.
The four constructs flopped against the ground for a moment before disappearing in a shower of gold light. Gasping, Nasca thought she heard the telltale sound of clapping behind her, spinning around to face the Dopant once more. Sure enough, the feathered Dopant was clapping her scaly claws at the display.
“My, my… that certainly was an entertaining performance. Although I am a bit miffed that you had to go and break my toys like that. Now I’ll need to go to the trouble of making more.”
“Screw you!” Nasca shouted back, her blood beginning to boil. “I’m not here to entertain you, you stupid bloated turkey!”
The Dopant jerked back, a growl building in the back of her throat. “Bloated?! Turkey!? Oh, you have finally worked my last nerve!” Her tail unwound from around her waist, slithering behind her like a cobra poised to strike. “I was considering letting you off the hook, but it seems you need to be taught a lesson on respecting your superiors!”
>} UNICORN! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<
“Hmm?” A flash of green out of the corner of her eye caught the Dopant’s attention, glancing aside as a cone of turquoise energy came barreling towards her.
“SPIRAL BREAKER!”
Extending her leather wings, the Dopant shot into the air like a missile, milliseconds before the attack struck the spot she had been standing in previously and smashing the pavement into dust. Perching herself atop the chain link fence, a smile spread across the Dopant’s beak at the sight of the newcomer.
“Ahhh… Unicorn,” the Dopant practically purred at the sight of the horned heroine. “How nice of you to finally join us.”
“You’re late!” Nasca complained as she ran up and slapped Unicorn on the shoulder. “What happened to ‘I’ll be right there’?!”
“Save it,” Unicorn cut in irritably, glancing at Nasca over her shoulder and muttering, “We’ll talk about this later,” before turning her attention back towards the Dopant staring down at them. “Right now, we have a Dopant to deal with.”
“Fine! Careful though, this feather duster’s got some nasty tricks up her sleeve!”
“Lucky for us…” With a flick of her wrist, a purple Memory seemed to materialize between her fingers.
< JOKER! >
“... I have a few tricks of my own.” Flipping the Memory in her hand, Unicorn slotted it into her left hip port and slapped her palm against the trigger.
{< JOKER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}
Purple energy wrapped around Unicorn, curving her shoulder armor upward as patches of black armor with purple stripes formed on her forearms, biceps, lower legs below the knee and thighs. A black stripe ran along the centre of her helmet from the base of her horn to the top of her head, a similar purple stripe running down the back of her head and neck.
“Unicorn: Ace High!”
Leaping down off the chain-link fence, the Dopant snapped her claws once more, summoning four more orbs of light in front of her that morphed into a row of four maid archers. “Fire at will, my toys.” At their mistress’s command, the four maids all took aim and let fly a volley of crossbow bolts at the two Riders.
Using the innate abilities of her Ace High Form, Unicorn sprinted forward like an Olympic sprinter on a direct course with the flying crossbow bolts. With her reflexes and reaction time augmented by the power of the Joker Memory, the bolts appeared to be flying at a snail’s pace to Unicorn.
In a flurry of movements, Unicorn punched one bolt out of the air, caught the second in her left hand and crushed it in half, kicked the third one into splinters before whipping around and spin kicking the final bolt aside.
Before the row of maids could reach for their quivers to reload, Unicorn barreled through them, scattering them like bowling pins as she reared her arm back to punch the Dopant in the face. Before her fist could connect, the Dopant jumped back, spreading her wings wide as she launched herself into the air, hovering several feet above Unicorn’s head.
“As much as I would love to play with you, Unicorn,” the Dopant taunted her, glancing across the courtyard, “I have a little annoyance to take care of first!” With a shrill screech, she launched herself like a missile, her feathers igniting with golden flames as she hurtled through the air.
“Nasca, look out!” Unicorn shouted, dodging to the left as one of the maids swung her crossbow like a bludgeoning weapon.
Seeing the golden missile hurtling towards her, Rainbow grinned behind her helmet. “Bring it on, ya turkey!” Switching the Accel Memory to her right hip port in a flash, she slammed her hand against the button before gripping the hilt of her Engine Blade and revving the handlebars until the needle spiked into the red.
>} ACCEL! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<
>>> SPEED OF HEAT! <<<
A maelstrom of fire engulfed Nasca’s body, a corona of flames swirling around her that were bright enough to be seen for miles. Gripping the Engine Blade with both hands, she roared as she swung it forward, meeting the Dopant in an explosion of pure power. Nearby flora disintegrated into ash as a massive wave of heat swept through the area, a tower of flame shooting into the air from the collision.
In the midst of all this, Rainbow grit her teeth as she poured all her strength into pushing the Dopant back. Her feet dug into the pavement, trailing a groove as she was gradually repelled back. The struggle lasted for several agonizing seconds, during which neither side were willing to yield to the other.
Then, one side finally won out, the golden flames wreathed around the Dopant reaching a crescendo as she broke through, knocking the Engine Blade clear from Nasca’s hands and sending it shooting into the air. With nothing to hold her back, she slammed into Nasca with the force of a freight train, driving her back into the wall of the bordering building and engulfing the structure in a fiery explosion.
“NASCA!”
For a moment, all was silent before the flames parted to reveal the aftermath. The entire outer wall of the building had been demolished, partially melted bricks raining down onto the pavement. As the smoke cleared, Nasca was revealed to still be standing, a massive scorch mark burned into the front of her armor. On unsteady feet, Nasca took one shaky step forward, then another, before dropping to her knees and collapsing face first onto the ground. In a burst of crimson light, Nasca’s armor vanished, leaving Rainbow Dash lying exposed on the ground.
Nearby, the scorched remains of what had once been Rainbow’s bike smashed into the ground in a twisted heap of warped metal.
“A child?” The Dopant muttered dismissively as she landed back on the ground, strolling up to the teenage girl. “Kamen Rider Nasca was but a child? How pathetic,” she scoffed. “To think she hoped to oppose me. Such misguided ambitions.” Turning around to walk away, she stopped when she felt something grab onto her leg. “Hmm?”
Glancing down, she was met with the sight of Rainbow’s arms wrapped tightly around her leg, holding on for dear life. Several bleeding cuts covered Rainbow’s face, but a small sparkle of determination still shined brightly behind her eyes as she refused to release her grip on the Dopant.
“Where…” Rainbow sputtered, visibly struggling to remain conscious. “Where… do you think… you’re going?”
“Know your place, mortal!” With her tail, she whipped Rainbow across the face, forcing her to release her grip as she flopped over onto her back. A choked gasped was forced from her lungs as the Dopant drove the heel of her talon against Rainbow’s chest, pressing her against the pavement.
“This is where your kind belongs. Trapped beneath the heel of a god!”
>} JOKER! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<
“JOKERS WILD!”
From behind her, a burst of purple energy came crashing into the Dopant, knocking her back and sending her rolling to the ground. Though several sparks leapt off her body, she still retained her form as the Gaia Memory still remained intact within her body.
As the purple energy subsided, Unicorn kneeled down next to Rainbow in a panic. [b]“Rainbow!” she cried out, grabbing the front of her friend’s shirt. “Rainbow, say something!”
“Sun… set…” Rainbow gasped, her head rolling to the side as she gasped for breath.
Grabbing Rainbow by the arm, she slung Rainbow’s limp arm over her shoulder. “Hang in there just a little longer!” Unicorn desperately pleaded. “I’m going to get you somewhere safe.” A swell of magic radiated outward from Unicorn’s horn, enveloping the pair in a bubble of magic.
The Dopant looked up just as the two vanished in a flash of turquoise light, leaving her alone in the battle-torn ruins. “So, they ran? No matter, they’ll both meet their end eventually. None can escape the will of a god.”
***
“Ugh…” Rainbow Dash groaned as she regained consciousness. The first thing she became aware of was the fact that everything hurt, almost like her whole body was just one big bruise. The second thing she noticed was the dim fluorescent light hanging over her head, along with the steady beeping of a heart monitor next to her.
Struggling to sit herself up, she glanced around the room, taking in the sterile grey wallpaper and the medical charts littering the walls. “Is this… a hospital?” Looking herself over, Rainbow saw that both her arms were covered from her palms to her elbows in gauze, an IV sticking out of her right arm. Wincing as she reached her hand up to her face, she felt a similar band of gauze wrapped tightly around her head, along with bandages on her right cheek and left side of her face.
“How… how did I...”
The sound of the door opening made her glance over as a man in a pair of scrubs underneath a white doctor’s jacket stepped into the room. A stethoscope was draped around his neck and he carried a clipboard tucked under one arm. Noticing her looking his way, he smiled. “Ah, you’re awake. Good!”
Rainbow Dash recognized the man. “Dr. Forceps?”
“Yep!” The doctor said with a smile. His skin was a light orange color and his reddish-brown hair was cut short and slicked back. “Glad to see you remember me. That’s a good sign.” Strolling up to her, he took a small flashlight out of his pocket and shined it in her eyes, making her flinch back from the bright light. “Hmm… your optical response is normal, another good sign.”
Shaking the spots from her eyes, Rainbow Dash asked, “How did I get here?”
“Your friend carried you here, a Miss Shimmer, I believe.”
“Sunset did?” At that moment, it all came flooding back. Her fight with the Dopant, Sunset coming in to save her and finally the thorough beating she’d received from the Dopant. “Right…”
“Now, Miss Shimmer said you two were out motorcycling, correct?”
“Y-yeah, we were racing to see who was faster.” Rainbow lied, trying to keep her expression neutral as to not give herself away. “I… I remember pulling off some wicked trick and then… everything goes black.”
Dr. Forceps hummed in thought as he jotted something down on his clipboard. “That is largely consistent with Miss Shimmer’s story as well. I must say, this might have been your most spectacular crash yet.” Flipping through his notes, he muttered, “Fractures to both arms and wrists, minor fractures to your right leg, a twisted ankle, a minor concussion to the right side of your skull, a split lip, various cuts and scrapes…” He whistled as he scanned further down the list, eventually letting his notes drop back onto his clipboard. “You were in pretty rough shape when you arrived, but considering how worse a crash like this could have been, I’d say you’re lucky you’re not in a body cast.”
Pointing at the bandages wrapped around her head, he added, “And this is why you’re always told to wear a helmet. It likely saved you from needing a new skull plate.”
Rainbow just nodded her head silently.
Tucking the clipboard back under his arm, Dr. Forceps stuck his hands in the pockets of his doctor’s coat. “Well, we’re still going to need to run some more tests, so sad to say you’re going to be stuck here for a while. Now, I have other patients to attend to, but I’ll check in with you again later. Until then, try and get some rest. Doctor’s orders.”
“Kay…” Rainbow muttered, only partially listening to what he was saying.
“Right, I better leave you to get some sleep. Au Revoir!” With a final parting wave, Dr. Forceps slipped outside into the hallway. As the door closed behind him, Rainbow flopped back onto her pillow, sighing as she stared up at the ceiling.
“What a mess…”
The door handle rattled as the door was pushed open, allowing Sunset to slip into the room before closing the door behind her. “Hey, Rainbow.”
“Hey, Sunset…” Rainbow replied, still staring up at the ceiling. An awkward silence settled over the room.
“How you feeling?” Sunset asked after a moment.
“Like I just got run over by an eighteen wheeler. Twice.” Sitting up, Rainbow set her hands in her lap as she glanced at Sunset. “Give it to me straight, Sunset… how’s my bike?”
“Totalled,” Sunset replied bluntly, walking up next to Dash’s bed. “Be glad that the same can’t be said about you.”
“Yeah, Dr. Forceps said as much.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow. “You know him?”
“We’ve met,” Rainbow remarked, grinning. “He stitched me back up after I fell out of a tree when I was six. Then, when I was ten, I was going top speed down an incline on my bike and ended up hitting a rock and flipping clear over my handlebars. I must have skidded halfway down the street before I finally stopped. Skin was hanging off me in chunks, and my left arm was bent all the way back—”
“I think I get the picture…” Sunset interjected, suddenly looking a tad green around the gills. Swallowing back a rising tide of bile in her throat, she crossed her arms over her chest. “Why am I not surprised this isn’t your first time being in the hospital?”
“Oh yeah, I’m a regular at this point.” Any mirth in her voice quickly vanished as Rainbow hung her head, unable to meet Sunset’s eye. “Look, Sunset, I—”
“What were you thinking?” Sunset harshly reprimanded her, beginning to pace the room. “I told you to wait for me, not run off and pick a fight with that Dopant alone! Me and the girls could hear that thing’s screams from miles away, which should have indicated just how powerful it was.”
“I know, I know!” Rainbow shouted, flopping back against her pillow. “Geeze… I really dropped the ball on this one. Sheesh, some partner I am…”
Sighing loudly, Sunset sat down at the foot of the bed. “What you did was reckless, I won’t lie… but you did manage to draw the Dopant away from the city, which meant she wasn’t able to cause as much damage as she could have. The problem was you underestimated her.”
“What was I supposed to do, then?” Rainbow asked in frustration.
“Always assume your opponent has an advantage over you from the start,” Sunset replied, resting her hands on the bed and gazing up at the ceiling. “Whenever I fight, I go in with the mindset that my enemy is fully aware of what I’m capable of, while more often than not I’m left in the dark as to what they can and can’t do. That way I can avoid being caught off guard by their abilities and instead focus on coming up with a counter strategy.”
Gazing over her shoulder, she added, “While I’m not expecting you to go full out from the get-go, I do advise exercising some caution until you can get a proper gauge on your opponent’s strengths and possible weaknesses. That way, you can avoid further injuries in the future.”
“I’ll keep that in mind…” Rainbow muttered, her mood still soured despite the sound advice.
“Look, don’t let it get you down too much,” Sunset replied in an attempt to cheer her friend up. “The important thing is that you’re alive and now we have a better idea of what that Dopant can do for next time.”
“Damn straight!” Shooting up, Rainbow clenched her fist. “We’ll show that turkey a thing or two next time!”
“Oh no, you’re not going anywhere!” Standing up, Sunset crossed her arms as her gaze bore into Rainbow. “You’re in no shape to take on that Dopant. Just sit tight and focus on getting better. Twilight and I’ll figure some way to deal with the bird lady.”
“But—”
Rainbow’s protests were silenced as the door to the room was nearly thrown off its hinges and a blue blur came barreling into the room and bear hugged Rainbow. “Oh, Rainbow! My poor, sweet baby!”
“Ack! Mom! That hurts!” Rainbow winced, trying desperately to wiggle her way out of her mother’s vice-like grip. Windy Whistles largely ignored her daughter’s pleas as she cradled her in her arms.
Sunset snickered, holding a hand to her mouth to hold back her laughter. Rainbow’s father, Bow Hothoof, hobbled into the room, using the doorframe for support as he panted from trying to keep pace with his wife.
“We… came as… soon as we… heard…” He gasped, out of breath.
“Oh, I almost forgot…” Dr. Forceps popped up from behind Bow’s shoulder, glancing into the room. “I contacted your parents already and they’re on their way here now.”
***
Twilight sat on the edge of her bed, kneading her hands nervously in her lap. After Sunset had called them from the hospital regarding Rainbow Dash’s injuries, she and the others had wisely agreed to postpone their plans and returned to their respective homes for the night. Twilight had tried working on her latest mech-animal in an attempt to take her mind off of everything, only to give up after she blew out its primary circuit while distracted.
Staring blanking at the wall, Twilight bit her lip as her ever-increasing worry continued to build, especially since it had been over an hour since she’d last heard from Sunset regarding Rainbow’s condition.
“I hope they’re both alright…”
A sudden knock on her bedroom door snapped her from her thoughts and nearly sent her tumbling off her bed in surprise. “Y-yes?” she called through the door.
“Twilight, it’s me,” came Sunset’s voice from the other side of the door. “Can I come in?”
Rushing the door, Twilight threw it open and embraced a very startled Sunset.
“Tw-Twilight! What—”
“I was so worried!” Twilight cried, tears running down her face as she clung to Sunset. “Af-after you called saying Rainbow had been hurt, I couldn’t help but think about the same thing happening to you. I… I…” Twilight hiccuped between sobs, burying her face into Sunset’s arms.
“Oh, Twilight…” Guiding the distraught girl back into the room and closing the door behind them with her foot, Sunset led Twilight back to her bed and gently urged her to sit down. Running her hand comfortingly through Twilight hair, Sunset held her friend as her sobs slowly lessened.
“I’m sorry for making you worry like that,” Sunset said once Twilight’s sobs had mostly subsided. “I guess I’ve been so caught up in all this Kamen Rider stuff, I didn’t stop to think about how seeing me put myself in danger like that might affect you.”
Sniffling, Twilight pushed up her glasses to rub at her eyes. “I… I know you can take care of yourself just fine, but it’s just… I can’t help but worry sometimes. You’re my best friend, Sunset, and I can’t imagine what I’d do if I were to lose you.”
“Hopefully you’d continue living your life freely with the rest of our friends instead of isolating yourself in grief.” Lifting Twilight’s head to gaze into her eyes, Sunset smiled reassuringly as she brushed a stray tear from Twilight’s cheek. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on checking out for a very long time, that I promise.”
“Pi… Pinkie Promise?”
Sunset couldn’t help but chuckle. “Cross my heart, hope to fly…”
“Stick a cupcake in my eye!” They both finished at once, breaking out into cheerful laughter.
Pulling away from Sunset, Twilight’s mood had noticeably improved, her frown sliding into a smile. “Thanks, Sunset. I needed that.”
“Anytime, Twilight,” Sunset replied, placing her hand on Twilight’s head and ruffling her hair. “Anytime.”
“Oh!” Twilight flinched, her mouth creasing into a frown once more. “I almost forgot! Is Rainbow… is she…?”
“She’ll live, thank Celestia,” Sighing, Sunset shifted atop Twilight’s bed. “Her parents are keeping an eye on her back at the hospital so she doesn’t try anything stupid, but it’ll be a while before she’s back to fighting shape.”
Twilight sighed in relief. “That’s good to hear.” Standing up, Twilight clenched her fist tightly with renewed resolve. “Right, time to stop moping around! We need to figure out what Memory that Dopant you two fought was using!”
“Are… are you sure you’re okay accessing the Infinite Library?” Sunset asked, a hint of concern in her voice. “If you’re not up to it, we can wait until tomorr—”
Twilight gave a firm shake of her head. “I’ve wasted enough time as it is, time I started contributing my part in protecting this city from the Dopants!” Stepping into the centre of her room, Twilight held both arms out at her side as she closed her eyes, entering a trance as her consciousness momentarily left her body.
When next she opened her eyes, she found herself floating in an expansive white void that stretched outward into infinity, containing an innumerable sea of bookshelves flying around her, each filled to the brim with books containing knowledge on any and everything. The tricky part about this Infinite Library was finding one particular needle of information in a haystack of knowledge. Luckily, Twilight knew how to do just that.
“Ok, I’m ready to start the look-up. First Keyword?”
---“Try ‘Bird’.”---
“Keyword: Bird.” At Twilight’s command, hundreds upon hundreds of bookshelves flew off into the void, greatly cutting down the number of possible options. “Next?”
---”Leather Wings.”---
“Keyword: Leather Wings.” Again, the number of bookshelves were greatly reduced, leaving only nine left. “Anything else?”
---”Serpent.”---
“Keyword: Serpent.” Once more, the number of bookshelves dwindled until only one remained, ejecting a dozen or so books from its shelves before flying off into the void. “Still not enough to find an exact match. I need a little more to narrow it down.”
“Hmm…” Sunset paced the room, tapping her chin in thought as she thought back to her encounter with the Dopant. “Hold on, there was something the Dopant said that struck me as odd…”
This is where your kind belongs. Trapped beneath the heel of a god!
Snapping her fingers, Sunset said, “Try ‘God’.”
“Keyword: God.” In seconds, all but one of the remaining books flew back to their shelves. The spine of the book glowed as its title appeared in gold font, an image of a beaked serpent with large wings curled up in the shape of a Q emblazoned on the cover.
“Jackpot!” Plucking the book out of the air, Twilight flipped it open as she skimmed through its pages. “The Dopant was using the Quetzalcoatlus Memory.”
---“Quetza-what-a?”---
“Quetzalcoatlus,” Twilight repeated, running a finger along the words on the page. “It was an ancient deity worshipped at the height of the Aztec culture. They described it as a feathered serpent, similar to a dragon in size and power and with a massive set of leather wings on its back.”
---“Yep, that sounds about right. Any info you can give on how to deal with it would be nice.”---
“Checking now. Let’s see… Uh oh.”
---“It’s never a good sign when someone says ‘Uh oh,’ is it?”---
“It says here the Quetzalcoatlus Memory is an incredibly powerful, but very unstable Gaia Memory. Its ideal match would be an equally unstable individual, prone to random bouts of anger, intense delusions of grandeur and extreme possessive tendencies.”
“And the good news just keeps on coming!” Sunset muttered sarcastically, walking over to Twilight’s window and staring out at the city in the distance. “Now we need to find her even more than ever… before she levels Canterlot to the ground.”
***
“You daft imbeciles!” A shrill voice echoed through the dwelling, followed by the sound of glass smashing against the wall. “You call this wine?! This is cheap grape spit not fit for a toddler! Get me some real wine before I toss you all out into the street!”
Several floors above, a young girl barely old enough to attend Canterlot High cowered beneath her covers, her pillow pressed over her ears to try and block out the horrible sound from below. She always hated when Mother drank. It made her even meaner than usual, sending the girl running upstairs to hide under her covers like a child fearful of the monsters lurking under her bed or in her closet.
Honestly, she would have preferred the imaginary monsters under her bed and in her closet to the very real monster downstairs.
Another smashing of glass sent her retreating further under her covers, trembling in terror. Clutched tightly in her hand was her phone, the light of the screen her only source of illumination in the darkness of her room. Tapping her thumb against the screen, her phone replayed a video for possibly the hundredth time, one that brought with it a minuscule glimmer of hope during nights like this. Though the video quality was awful, there was no mistaking the armoured figure in the video.
“Time to restore Harmony!”
“Unicorn…” the girl whispered, clutching her phone against her chest. “If you can hear me… Please… Save me…”