The ship finally pulled into a harbor, its horn blowing to signal its arrival to the crew below deck. The horn roused Wyatt and Spike from their Ogres and Oubliettes session. Wyatt was grateful for the interruption, his luck with the dice had not improved much. A series of critical failures had nearly cost his character’s death before he could even slay a single goblin. Spike meanwhile delighted in Wyatt’s close calls, quipping at the young man in his best over-the-top voice.
The pair quickly packed up their game and gathered the girls. They still weren’t back to full energy, but they could at least stand under their own power.
“I can’t believe you guys got to fight pirates,” Rainbow grumbled, stumbling her way down the gangplank. “That’s so freaking awesome!” She cast a glance over at the captured pirate ship, where the pirates were being handed off to the guard.
“Not as fun as you’d think,” Spike muttered, rubbing the scorch mark on his forearm. “Those eel arms hurt a lot.” reaching into the coin slot on his belt, he retrieved his newest trio of medals. “Worth it though.”
“Yeah, you’ve already made your first steps to collecting all the medals,” Wyatt agreed, nursing a bruise of his own in the middle of his forehead. “Not bad for your first monster fight.”
Spike grinned, making a show of tossing the medals in the air and catching them. “At this rate, I’ll have em all in no time!” He paused, looking down at himself. “Though, I think I might start wearing clothes. I uh... need pockets.”
Rarity grinned, her face brightening up as a bit of her energy returned to her. “Leave that to me, darling! I’ll make you the most fabulous clothes any dragon could hope for!” She started muttering design choices to herself as she examined Spike from head to toe.
Applejack laughed, weakly slapping the drake on the shoulder. “Looks like ya created a monster, Spike. Ah hope ya can handle it like ya did those pirates.”
A dreamy smile overtook Spike’s face and his tail swished slowly behind him as his mind started to picture Rarity taking his measurements. “Attention from Rarity? I think I’ll survive somehow.”
“Careful.” Wyatt reached out, poking Spike’s cheek. “You’re starting to drool, scales.”
Spike wiped at the corner of his mouth and shot Wyatt a pointed look. “I was not.” His look morphed into a pout as the group burst into laughter. “Yeah, yeah, yuk it up, why don’t you?” Turning on his heel, Spike gripped onto his medals. “I’m gonna go see about that pirate captain. I wanna know where he got these medals.”
“Spike, you know as well as I do that civilians aren’t allowed to talk to ponies in guard custody,” Twilight admonished, stepping up to his side and putting a hand on his shoulder. “But, we do know somepony that could. Somepony that lives in Canterlot.” A small smile spread across Twilight’s muzzle.
“Right...” Spike sighed, rubbing his neck. “You’re right, Twi.” Taking a breath, he shot her a smile. “We should probably check into a hotel; since we’re here we may as well make a vacation out of it.”
“Great idea!” Pinkie agreed, jumping to the front of the group. Her lack of her usual energy translated to what was considered normal. “Baltimare has all sorts of sights to see! Come on! The sooner we get checked in, the sooner we can explore!”
Everyone rolled their eyes, though they followed after Pinkie as quickly as they could. They stepped off the dock and onto the street proper, quickly getting swept up in the crowd. Unlike Ponyville, the citizens of Baltimare didn’t bat an eye at Wyatt or Spike. Especially when they had griffons, Zebras and minotaurs walking around. As they walked, they debated on what kind of hotel to check into. Rarity made her case for a five-star hotel, Applejack’s advice was for something comfortable but cheap, while Pinkie called out for water beds.
“Well, this is getting us nowhere...” Wyatt muttered, rubbing his neck. “Everyone, just calm down.” He made a lowering motion with his hands. “How about we see how much we have on us, and go from there?”
The girls all quietly agreed, rummaging through their things and pulling out all their money. They handed it all to Twilight, watching her count it all with rapt attention. “Looks like we have about... a hundred bits. That should put us in somewhere comfortable for a few days.”
“Did you take into account train tickets for the ride home?” Wyatt asked, gesturing vaguely in a given direction. “Last thing we need is to get stranded.”
Twilight smiled proudly, putting a hand to her chest. “Of course, there’s no way I’d let that happen. We can spend a few days in a decent hotel and still get home. Now.” She turned, almost striking a pose. “We have a hotel to find!”
“Looks like the girls are just about back to normal,” Wyatt whispered to Spike, pointing a finger to the rest of the group. “I was a bit worried that they’d have lost a bit of themselves.”
Spike scoffed, waving a claw at him. “No way, Grandpa wouldn’t do something like that.” Patting his belt, Spike shifted the topic of conversation. “Hey, so, I bet we could find a roof top to practice on.”
Wyatt nodded, a small smirk on his face. “Yeah, I think I could live with that. Think you can keep up with me?” Rubbing his thumb against his nose, his smirk grew. “Pink’s a dangerous color, ya know.”
Spike took a moment to shadow box before flexing one of his arms. “I’ll try to go easy on you, Pinkie.”
“Someone say my name?” Pinkie asked, suddenly looking over Spike’s shoulder.
Spike jumped, turning to face the pink mare. “Oh, uh, no Pinkie. I just gave Wyatt’s rider form a nickname,” he explained, waving a claw at the young man. “I could call it something else, if you want.”
Pinkie grinned, giving him a thumbs up. “No need, I wholeheartedly approve of the nickname.” With that she bounded back to the front of the group.
After some debate, and some groans from Rarity, they settled on a medium level hotel. After a brief conversation, the group checked into a trio of rooms, with half the girls in two rooms and Spike and Wyatt sharing the last. Deciding to take advantage of their accommodations, the girls left the boys to their own devices and went to wash up.
Meanwhile, Spike and Wyatt quickly put their things away and rushed to find out if they could gain access to the roof. After, a short chat in the elevator, they found the door that led to the roof.
Spike moved to the other side of roof, feeling a wave of giddiness filling his belly. “Come on, it’s just some practice, Wyatt’s not gonna make fun of you if you suck” Heeding his rational side, Spike let out a breath, sliding the Taka, Unagi and Wani medals into the belt. After a quick scan, accompanied by singing, Spike was in his armor, taking in the appearance of his new legs and arms.
The middle section of his chest emblem now displayed a stylized, blue eel, its head surrounded by lightning bolts. The arms’ shoulders, which had each sported a raised fin like projection, had long tendrils coming from them, connecting to the back Spike’s hands. Along the arms were white triangles along the sides that resembled fangs.
The bottom of the emblem displayed the profile of an orange crocodile, the animals identity having been confirmed by Wyatt. From the waist down, orange armor decorated his body, each leg resembling the upper jaw of a crocodile.
Spike did a few practice kicks and punches, adjusting to the new form. It was hard to imagine, in his eyes that these were the same medals that had corrupted the captain. ‘No wonder Grandpa sent me out to get these things. I don’t want anyone else to have to become a monster because they found a cool looking coin, or think it’ll make them stronger.’
“Alright.” Punching at the air, he nodded at Wyatt. “I’m ready when you are, Pink boy.”
Wyatt smirked, bringing out his driver and slotted a card into it. After his driver was done calling out his transformation, Wyatt took a fighting pose. “Then come at me, Scales.”
Spike didn’t know how he knew how to use his rider abilities, they seemed to just come to him. Drawing his arms back, the unagi whips charged to life moving into his hands. He lashed them out at Wyatt, electricity arcing over them. Wyatt rolled out of the way of the whips, stopped in a crouching position before pulling out his blaster and firing it at Spike’s chest.
Stumbling back, Spike hissed in pain. “Why don’t I get a cool blaster?” Spike grumbled, lashing out with his left whip, while swinging the right at Wyatt’s legs.
Wyatt responded by deflecting the whips with a couple well placed shots, the two weapons sailing past him. “You’ll get your own ranged weapons, just gotta find the right medals.”
“Right.” Spike lunged forward, swinging his leg out and kicking Wyatt in the arm. As his foot connected, a pair of alligator jaws made of orange energy appeared around Spike’s leg, proceeding to chomp down on Wyatt.
Wyatt hissed in pain, punching Spike anywhere he could reach with his free arm. After a few moments, Wyatt managed to wrench his arm from the jaws, leaping backwards to put some distance between them. He carefully moved his arm and pulled out a card from his blaster. “Looks like I need to step up my game,” he said, slotting the card into his belt.
“Attack Ride: Illusion!” The driver shouted. After a moment, several copies of Wyatt appeared, half holding blasters while the other half carried swords.
“Oh that is not fair!” Spike groaned, wishing he had remember to grab his sword. Grumbling, Spike lashed his whips again, following it up by kicking one of the clones in the chest. He couldn’t keep the smirk of satisfaction off his face as the gator head chomped down on it.
“Would you feel better if I told you that you’ll be able to make copies of yourself at one point?” The Wyatts asked in unison, creating an echoey effect all around Spike. Then, the copies holding blasters fired at Spike from all sides while the remaining sword wielder charged at Spike and slashed at his chest.
Doing the only thing he could think of, Spike grabbed onto the charging Wyatt, using him as a shield against the oncoming fire. “Com on, think!” Reaching into his medal container, he swapped the taka medal for the unicorn medal. “Here goes!” He ran the scanner over the coins, his helmet section changing. The helmet’s eyes shrank a bit and moved towards the side of the head, though they remained green. The shape changed to let a long horn sprout from the forehead and a muzzle grew out from the mouth portion. The color changed as well, a bright pink overtaking the helmet with small portions of black.
Pushing away from the Wyatt-shield, the horn glowed the same color as Spike’s fire, zapping the clone with a blue magic bolt. When it connected, the clone was flash frozen into a block of ice.
Wyatt winced, all his clones shimmering out of existence, causing the ice to fall and break on the rooftop. “Well, looks like harmony makes for good medal power,” he commented, taking in the new armor portion.
“Looks like,” Spike agreed, nodding his head. “So, who makes the next move?” He took a step back, lighting his horn again. Bracing himself for anything, he blinked when a rock fell out of the sky, landing on the floor between them.
The two looked down, finding a small stone lying on the ground. The center of the stone had a hole in it with an eye shape carved around it. Above the eye there were three triangles that served as lashes while a teardrop was carved below the hole. Wyatt put his hands in a “T” shape, calling for a time-out as he walked over to the stone and picked it up.
“The heck is it?” Spike asked, letting the power drain from his horn. “Another rider thing or what?”
Wyatt paused, a tone started to sing from within the stone’s eye. It was familiar to him; he instantly recognized it as the Sun Song from the Zelda franchise. Part of him wanted to hum along, but he decided against it.
“Nope, not a rider thing,” Wyatt said, undoing his transformation. “This is a displaced thing. Just got a token from another one. This time from the Legend of Zelda franchise.”
“I dunno what that means but uh.” Spike undid his own transformation, eyes locked on the stone. “We gonna summon someone? Could use a third person to spar with.”
“Uh, considering the fact that we don’t know what exactly this person is displaced as, they’re not exactly someone you’d want to spar with,” Wyatt said, pocketing the stone. “I think we’ve done enough for now. Might as well walk around the town.”
“Right.” Spike replaced the medals back into their container, moving over to the elevator. “You wanna go anywhere in particular?”
“No idea,” Wyatt said, pressing the button for the ground floor. “Not like I know anything about this town.” The ride down to the lobby was quiet, with the two of them discussing various theories on Spike’s unused medals. “I bet the pegasus medal gives you wings,” Wyatt suggested, stepping out of the elevator.
“Oh totally,” Spike agreed, pulling out the medal in question and holding it up to the light. “I can’t wait to try it out and fly around for the first time.” He pantomimed the act with one of his claws, even making whooshing sounds. Staring at his claws for a moment, he chuckled. “Just wait until everyone back in Ponyville gets a load of me. I ain’t so tiny anymore.”
“Yeah, those cell medals really did a number on you.” Wyatt looked over Spike, rubbing his chin. “Are you going to try using them again at some point to grow even more?”
“Nah.” Spike shook his head. “I get the feeling this is where I should be now. I’m gonna try out Twi’s idea and see about getting a part time job. I don’t wanna have to keep using concentrated greed to grow, ya know?”
Wyatt smiled, putting a hand on Spike’s shoulder. “How very mature of you. Good luck finding a job, considering you have experience working with Twi, it should be a snap for you to land one.”
The two didn’t have a chance to talk about it any longer, screams from outside catching their attention.The two rushed out the door, finding a crowd of ponies running away from something. Spike and Wyatt pushed their way through the crowd, miraculously not getting separated as they found what the source of the commotion was. Calmly walking down the street were half a dozen Undead.
At the center of the group was a bulky Undead with a head like a bull’s. Its horns looking sharp enough to stab through someone easily. Around half of it was what looked like a long coat, hanging down past its knee. The other half showed off a series of metal loops and a set of chains hanging off its waist.
Beside the bull was an insectoid undead. It was less bulky than the bull, but it seemed just as dangerous. Its top half was broad, red markings running along its chest that vaguely resembled a heart. Along its legs and stomach were yellow markings. The ones on the stomach resembled antennae that connected to ones on the pelvis there was another heart. From there more markings spread out along the legs, becoming more erratic looking. The top half of the undead’s head was dominated by it red eyes that took the shape of a heart while the bottom half was a gray mouth portion.
“The heck is that?!” Spike shouted, his eyes going wide at the sight. “We fought something like that before?” Retrieving a trio of medals from the container. “And we just untransformed too.”
“Yup, and now we’re taking on more monsters at once than we ever have,” Wyatt said, pulling out his driver. “Good times.” He slotted a card into his belt. “Henshin!” After a moment, he was in his Decade armor, charging at the Undead.
“Right.” Spike took a breath, placing the medals into his belt. “Henshin!” he cried, running the scanner over the medals. Running forward, Spike was transformed back into OOO, using the three he had used previously. “Hey! Horny!” He shouted, lashing the bull with his whips.
The bull let the whips wrap around his arm, the electricity not seeming to faze him as he pulled Spike towards him using the whips. Spike let himself be pulled, running forward and kicking the bull in the side. The bull stumbled slightly as the energy jaws chomped down on it, swinging its arm down and slamming Spike in the back.
“Gah!” Spike cried out, falling to his knees. Charging his horn, he sent a blast of magic into the bull, staggering it. “Hey, Wyatt! Use the damn token!”
Wyatt didn’t respond, an Undead that resembled a mantis slashed him in the chest. He jumped back, reaching into his armor and pulled out the stone. The tune played again, a little louder than before. “I would, except this thing doesn’t have any instructions! Wyatt called back, barely parrying a strike from the mantis undead. He mustered up his strength and pushed the monster away by driving his shoulder into its chest. “All it does is play music at me!”
“Well try doing something with it!” Spike hissed, his whips laced together and barely holding back one of the bull’s horns.
Wyatt glanced between the stone and the undead. His mind continued to draw blanks as he dodged every attack that came his way. After a few moments, he started to hum along with the stone as he thought.
A melody played through the air soon followed by a wolf’s howl. Wind started to swirl around the stone’s eyes when suddenly, a strange red, green, and grey glowing wolf leaped out and tackled the nearest undead, biting wildly at its shoulder.
“It summoned a wolf!?” Spike shouted in exasperation, digging his heels into the street. “Are you kidding me?! That's it?!!?” His complaints were cut short as the bull tossed it’s head and sent him flying into a street lamp.
“That’s not just a wolf!” Wyatt called out, blocking an attack from the mantis Undead, his legs buckling under the strength. “That’s the Hero of Hyrule.”
The undead that the wolf was biting had managed to pull him off and throw him, however it did not stop the wolf from attacking again, his fangs suddenly ignited with fire as it leaped toward the undead’s neck, biting hard and igniting it aflame.
Wyatt mustered up the strength to throw the mantis off and slashed at its chest. The mantis cried out in pain, stumbling back a step and clutching where Wyatt had struck it. Wyatt capitalized on the moment of respite, pulling out a card from his case and slotting it into his belt.
“Kamen Ride: Blade!” Wyatt’s armor changed, becoming silver while the unarmored portions appeared to be made of leather. The chest portion had a stylized spade in the center and a single horn curled back on the helmet from between the circular red eyes.
With his intended target taken down, the wolf continued his pursuit, attacking each undead with fast leaps and savage intent, each time Wyatt could see the wolf, it used different elemental bites fused with either fire, electric, and light. Thus far of the beast’s effort’s, its last attack had managed to cause them to begin burning away, although slower than it usually did. The wolf appeared a little confused by this, as if expecting the attack to be a lot more effective.
Spike picked himself up, ignoring the pain in his back. “Right, gotta show my stuff.” Cracking his whips, he lashed out at a zebra based undead, using one of the whips to up it off its feet. Charing his horn, he sent a blast of magic into its chest, cracking the ground. The zebra undead let out a distorted cry, lashing out at Spike wildly with its arms.
Jumping back, Spike swore as the zebra undead’s body spasmed, and two copies emerged from it. “Oh, that is really, really not fair.”
The two zebra undead rushed at Spike, attacking him from the front and back. One managed to slash him across the chest before Spike stepped around in and kicked it into the second. Cracking his whips, Spike wrapping them both around the waist, sending as much electricity as he could muster into them. The two zebras writhed in pain, mangled cries escaping them as electricity arced around their bodies.
The wolf let out a cry as the jaguar undead’s claw raked about its face, he clawed it in annoyance before exhaling a fireball at the creature. The jaguar undead moved in a blur, raking it’s claw weapon along the wolf’s back. Due to it’s speed, the wolf’s fire spell, the fireball ended up exploding upon impact on the nearest building.
The jaguar undead itself was a strange mix of man and cat, it’s lower half clad in black leather while it’s upper half sported gladiator armor with the bare portion of its body displaying skin sporting a leopards colors. It’s head was a bizarre mix of helmet and jaguar. Attached to its left hand was a set of black metal claws, dripping with the wolf’s blood. The jaguar dropped into a crouching stance, dashing towards the wolf as its claw dragged across the ground, creating a trail of sparks.
Once it reached the wolf, it brought up the claw in a wicked arc, aiming to slice the wolf from chest to muzzle. The wolf leapt over to the side, avoiding the deadly slash. The wolf lunged onto the jaguar’s back and bit onto its neck, there was a sudden chill as ice began to form around it. The jaguar undead hissed in pain, trying to pry the wolf off its neck. Its movements became more and more sluggish as the ice spread.
The wolf let go and leapt off to put some distance between them. The jaguar undead clawed at the ice, desperately to free itself. The wolf stood up onto his hind legs as magic began to course within its front paws. He slammed them down, causing electricity to travel through the ground toward the jaguar, the ground shook with its energy. The jaguar roared in pain, falling to the ground and exploding in a burst of energy. The wolf looked toward the other two to check up on how they were fairing.
Wyatt squared off against the mantis undead, getting into a low stance. The undead charged, swinging its claw down at his head. He sidestepped the attack and slashed upward at the undead’s chest and arm. The mantis spun around, punching Wyatt in the side of the head and causing him to stumble a bit.
The wolf snorted in annoyance before dashing off to help Wyatt, just like before he lunged onto the mantis’s back, biting down onto its neck and letting loose his ice spell.
Wyatt capitalized on the distraction, letting loose a flurry of strikes against the undead. He was careful to avoid the wolf, doing his best to hit every vital area of the monster. With the ice encasing the undead, the wolf leapt off of the monster. He landed on his paws, and took a look around to see how many undead were left.
The bull undead let out a bellow, charging at the wolf and Wyatt with its horns lowered at them. The wolf let out a fierce howl, causing the wind to turn cold at his command. Under the wolves command, the freezing air blew toward the bull. The bull’s charge faltered for a moment as the wind buffeted against it, his momentum slowing under the onslaught.
“Okay, that’s pretty cool,” Spike admitted, kicking a zebra undead in the face, sending it to the ground with a chomp from the crocodile jaws. Despite his best efforts, they kept multiplying, and now he faced five of them. “I really need more coins...”
The zebra undead cried in pain, its body distorting and creating yet another set of clones.
“I’m never gonna be able to look at Zecora the same way again...” Spike groaned, wishing he had brought his sword once more. “Okay, new plan!” Reaching into his medal container, he retrieved the pegasus medal and replaced the unagi medal. He ran the scanner over the set, bracing himself.
“Unicorn! Pegasus! Wani!”
Spike’s chest piece, the unagi’s blue replaced by the pegasus’s pink. The central image now displayed the profile of a pegasus, with wings spread out. On his back were a pair of wings, the metallic bones matching his armor, while the feathers were a bright pink. The gauntlets matched the wings, lightning designs etched into their sides.
Spreading his new wings, Spike took to the air. Smiling under his helmet, he gave himself a moment to enjoy the sensation. “Alright! Time to send this guy back to where the heck he came from!” He shot up into the air, finding the largest cloud he could and brought it over the group of clones. He punched it several times, lightning arcing down on the undead. “Ha! Take that!”
Glancing at his wings an idea came to him. “Lets see if I can’t do some weather managing of my own.” Flapping his wings, he flew in circles, keeping up a current around the zebra undead. After a few revolutions, Spike created a small cyclone. Each of the zebra undead were pulled in, slamming into each other. “Perfect!” Flying up to the top of the cyclone, Spike ran the scanner over the medals once more.
“Scanning charge!” the belt called out, the three coin slots lighting up. Three rings of light then appeared in front of Spike, each of them matching the colors of the medals he was using. With a flap of his wings, Spike launched himself high into the air, only to let himself fall. Getting into a kicking pose, an energy crocodile head formed around his lower half, opening its jaws wide. The jaws closed down on all the undead, chewing a few times before there was nothing left.
With the bull slowing down, the wolf looked like he was about to use a fire spell, but the flame died off in his maw before it could get enough charge. The wolf let out a tired pant of breath, it looked like he had run out of magic to cast.
Wyatt slotted another card into his belt as he stared down the bull. “Attack Ride: Metal!” Wyatt’s body glowed for a moment and a metallic sheen covered his body from head to toe. The bull charged, heading straight for him. Wyatt braced himself, digging his heels in the ground as he caught the bull’s horns. He grunted, straining as he slid back.
Doing what the wolf did best, he ran around the bull, leapt onto its back and tried to bite onto the neck as a distraction for Wyatt. Wyatt let out a yell, lifting the bull up and tossed it into the nearest wall. During its mid-flight, the wolf dropped off before the bull crashed into the concrete structure.
“I think it's time I go all in,” Wyatt said, pulling out two cards and inserting them into his driver.
“Attack Ride: Thunder Slash!” Wyatt held his sword out in front of him, electricity arcing around the blade. He charged while the bull was still trying to get up, swinging it at its head. The bull roared in pain, electricity coursing through it. The undead seized up, its hand outstretched towards Wyatt as its body crumbled away. The wolf let out a relieved sigh. Wyatt took in the scene around him, wincing at the collateral damage they had caused. He silently hoped that the princesses wouldn’t admonish him for it.
With the battle over, the wolf turned his attention toward Wyatt, slowly making his way over to him. Its back and face were bleeding, staining it’s fur.
Wyatt looked down at the wolf, nodding at him. “Thanks, you were a big help in that fight.”
“Man, he looks pretty bad.” Spike flew over, landing next to Wyatt. “Should we take him to the vet or something?”
Before Wyatt could respond, the wolf suddenly leapt toward his face, only to vanish. Wyatt’s vision started to blur, but it left just as quick as it came. In a gentle flash, someone had leapt out of his head. Standing in front of them was a pointy eared hylian Wyatt already knew as Link, however there were a few key differences; He didn’t have the green cap, instead it was a red hood and cloak. He lowered the hood to reveal his face, which was already bloodied from his previous from, there was an old scar on his left cheek and a damaged right ear from a Timberwolf attack. Any other old injuries could not be seen due to the green tunic he wore.
Wyatt shook the blur out of his vision, letting one of his hands rest on the side of his head. He shot a smirk at Spike. “Still think we should go to the vet?”
Spike frowned, crossing his arms. “How was I supposed to know he could do that?” Spike tilted his driver up, powering down. “I just thought he was a magic wolf or something. Like that Okami game you showed me.”
“Fair enough,” Wyatt relented with a shrug, turning his attention back to Link. “What was up with that jumping into my head thing by the way?”
“When someone summons me the first time, I’ll appear as wolf. I’ve made it to where I can leap into anyone's mind to link them to mine to create a temporary mindscape. During this time, I would speak to them to see how they react, how they would treat me, to see if they are good or evil, it’s pretty much a precaution so that I know who I can trust.” Link explained as he placed a leather gloved hand on his chest. “Regen.” He spoke, causing the armor under his tunic to let loose enchanted magic, slowly healing up his back and his face, but the blood stains still remained.
“I don’t remember any mindscape,” Wyatt commented, rubbing the back of his neck. “I take it that I passed your test?”
“Actually, It’s because I stopped the mindscape from forming as I was in dire need of a healing.” Link explained as he pulled down the top part of the tunic to reveal brigandine armor underneath. “Gift from Ash, enchanted with spells that work when I say the word.”
“I don’t know who that is,” Wyatt said, chuckling weakly. “But that’s some pretty handy armor.”
“Neat.” Spike gave a thumbs up before looking around. “We really did a number on the street though.” He winced, noting the building Link had hit with a fireball had a fire spreading through the interior. “I hope Celestia set up that kamen rider fund she was talking about.”
Wyatt nodded in agreement, undoing his transformation. “Yeah, I’m just hoping we don’t get scolded for the damage.”
“Sorry about the stray Din’s Fireball, I didn’t know what I was dealing with when I arrived, I didn’t have time to use my Wide Angle ability.” Link said as he rubbed the back of his head.
“Don’t worry about it,” Wyatt told him. “Keeping the undead from killing anyone was the most important thing.” He took in the bloodstains on Link, nodding a bit. “Do you want to come back to the hotel with us? Can’t imagine you want to spend a lot of time covered in blood.”
“That would be for the best, I’d hate for somepony to get paranoid.” Link said as he reached under to lift and remove the cloak. He then reached up to check on his face, it had managed to heal up before the armor lost its temporary charge. “Just another reminder to add to the collection.” he said before placing the cloak into his pouch, it shrinks down in size to fit in easily.
“Right.” Spike nodded, pointing over his shoulder to the hotel. “Let’s get you inside. The girls probably saw the fight from the rooms. Best not to make them worry too much.”
“Great, I’m sure we can expect an earful from Twilight,” Wyatt said, sighing as he made his way to the hotel.
“Shouldn’t we call a fire department?” Link reminded Wyatt as he glanced toward the flames. “I don’t have anything in my inventory to clear that out and I doubt Ice or Wind would help”
“We were fighting out there for a while,” Wyatt responded, pausing at the doors to the hotel. “I imagine the local guard will show up soon, along with the fire department. Spike doesn’t have Shauta yet, so, not much we can do to put it out.”
“At least everypony cleared the area.” Link said as he looked across the street. “Unless something happened before I arrived, I didn’t hear any screams coming from my end when you failed to use my token’s summoning method.”
“I didn’t see any bodies in the area,” Wyatt replied, relief evident in his voice. “I think we stopped the undead before they could hurt anyone.” A frown slowly formed on his face. “It doesn’t make any real sense though.”
“What do you mean, Wyatt?” Spike asked, glancing back at him.
“Well, the whole deal with the undead is that; they’re supposed to be fighting each other battle royale style. Not once through that whole fight did they ever do that. They just attacked us and everything else around us. Not only that but, we shouldn’t have been able to destroy them.”
“That wasn’t their strongest?” Link asked curiously.
“It’s not that they’d be stronger,” Wyatt dismissed, shaking his head. “But the Undead are supposed to be immortal. The only way to put a stop to them would be to seal them. At least, under normal circumstances. Kamen Rider gets weird, with all the multiverse stuff.”
“And how would we have sealed them?” Spike inquired, putting his hands behind his head.
“But were they the real undead? When I channeled my light arrow spell into my fangs to bite them with, they didn’t burn up instantly.” Link pointed out as he stood beside Wyatt near the hotel doors.
“‘God’,” Wyatt began as he lead them into the hotel, air quoting. “Made them all immortal. They were made so that each one represents a species, and fight for that species in the Battle Royal. The winner’s species would then rule the world. The joker undead represents death, and if they win, everything dies.” Wyatt pushed the elevator call button, turning to his companions. “As for sealing them, I’d have to assume Blade’s form to do that.”
Spike nodded, a grim look on his face. “Sounds like something we should look into. That Joker sounds like something we should avoid right now.”
Link let out a gentle groan. “Grand. Are they immune to your world’s elements of harmony?” the hylian asked.
“I would imagine so,” Wyatt replied, rubbing the back of his head as the elevator doors slid open. The trio stepped inside and Wyatt hit the button for their floor. “Rider monsters have immunity to all other forms of magic native to Equestria.”
“That zebra didn’t seem to like it when I zapped him.” Spike grinned, tapping his forehead. “And did you see those wings! It was amazing! No wonder Dash does stunts all the time!” He closed his eyes, recalling the feeling of air rushing past him and through his feathers.
“The unicorn medal is linked to rider powers, so I think it’s a bit different,” Wyatt replied, leaning back on the wall. “You know, I have been wondering something actually...” He summoned up his belt and card carrier. “I’m wondering if you becoming OOO got me an OOO card.” He was silent for a few moments as he looked through his cards. Then, he clicked his tongue and let the items fade away. “Nope, no OOO cards.
Link blinked in confusion. “Medal? Rider powers? Cards? Could you explain what you’re talking about?” he asked.
Spike grinned, puffing his chest out and pointing a thumb at himself. “See, Wyatt and I are kamen riders. I’m OOO and he’s Decade. My power comes from these medals.” Spike held up the medals he had previously used. “While Wy’s comes from cards. In fact, he should have a card based on you now.”
Wyatt summoned up his rider booker, flipping it open and looking through it. After a moment, he seemed to find what he was looking for, pulling out a card and displaying it for the hylian. “Yup, looks like I’ve got thirteen forms to choose from now.”
“So… it allows you to assume some sort of aspect of me?” Link asked as he stroked his chin in curiosity. “What would it do for you?”
Wyatt pulled out a pair of cards from the booker, one showing a clear diamond with an orange orb in its center while the other showed the sword at Link’s waist.. “Well, I’d be able to take on a rider form based around you. I’d also have access to a lot of your abilities and equipment.”
Link let out a weak chuckle. “Not.. all of it, right?” he asked in a slightly nervous voice.
Wyatt held out the cards to Link. “Why don’t you tell me if this is all of it?”
The hylian took the cards and looked between them. “The diamond that allows the user to become a wolf and my Master Sword, but.. Does your copy have the same blade’s bane?”
“I would think so,” Wyatt replied, taking the cards back.
“While it is two of them, its not all of them. I have quite a lot, you will know them if you’ve played Ocarina Of Time, Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess, and A Link To The Past.” Link explained as he crossed his arms. “And it would take a long time to show them all.”
“If you’re worried about me having the fierce deity mask, don’t be,” Wyatt told him, a small smile on his face. “I can’t assume someone’s final form.”
The hylian frowned at that last comment. “Hardy Har har,” Link said jokingly, thinking it was some sort of jab at Dragonball Z.
“I’m being serious,” Wyatt said with a roll of his eyes. “While I can take alternate forms riders and now displaced have, their strongest or final form is something I can’t use.”
“So at the moment, you can only turn into a wolf and wield one of my swords, nothing else or will you access more as you get stronger with that form?” Link asked just as the elevator dinged to signal it had arrived at their desired floor.
“Well, I should be able use your equipment and things like that, but I might need to adjust to the strain they put on my stamina,” Wyatt explained, pulling out a room key as they walked down the hall. “Kuuga is an example of that. I just used that form to stage photos and it left me drained.”
Link smiled. “You’re going to have a lot of fun once you access the form.” he said.
“Wyatt!” Twilight’s voice called out, making the young man cringe. Peering out of one of their rooms was Twilight, her hair wrapped in a towel. “I can’t leave you two alone for ten minutes, can I?”
“It’s not my fault that monsters attacked the city,” Wyatt retorted, rubbing the back of his neck. “Spike and I were just trying to sight see.” He laughed nervously as the sound of sirens reached them. “We uh, didn’t mean to light that one building on fire..”
Twilight sucked in a deep breath through her nostrils, closing her eyes as she put a hand to her temple. “Were you even trying to be careful? How are ponies supposed to see you as their protector if you cause collateral damage?”
“We were outnumbered,” Wyatt replied, sighing. “We did our best to not cause any damage, but our first priority was making it out alive.”
Her eyes softening, Twilight nodded. “Please try to be more careful.” Glancing at Link, she brightened up. “Oh, I didn’t see you there! Er, give me a minute or two and I’ll join you in your room.” Twilight pulled her head back in, shutting the door behind her.
“Remind me not to get on her bad side…” Link said.
“Twilight’s harmless,” Spike assured, taking a moment to rub his back. “At least until she starts getting manic.” A shudder passed through him as he recalled a particularly manic episode. “Don’t tell anyone this, but I’ve been trying to get her to see a doctor about it.”
Wyatt arched an eyebrow at the drake as he unlocked and opened the door to their room. “I mean, I know she can come off like she has OCD sometimes, but I’ve never seen anything that would need immediate medical attention.”
Spike ushered them in quickly, shutting the door behind him. “Yeah well, you weren’t here when she went crazy because she couldn’t send Celestia a Friendship report. She enchanted a doll so anyone who saw it would fight over it. It was out of control!”
“...How often does that happen?” Link asked as he took the master sword and it’s scabbard off of his belt.
“Not often, closest she’s come recently was that weird time loop.” Spike scratched his arm, flopping down onto his bed. “Time travel makes my head hurt.”
“I remember that. I mean back in my world when that happened, I had to give Starlight Glimmer a lashing about it.” Link said with a shake of his head. “Of course after chasing her down through time using my Ocarina.”
“Who’s Starlight Glimmer?” Spike asked, tilting his head at Link. “I was talking about when Twilight travelled back in time to tell herself not to freak out. Which only served to cause her past self to freak out. I wanted to stop her but, Wyatt said we might have broken time if we did.”
“Oh then your Twilight hasn’t yet-.. Ok, I accidently just told you future knowledge.” Link said with a nervous chuckle.
“Hasn’t yet what?” Twilight asked, stepping into the room, the towel no longer around her mane. She wore the same clothes she had been wearing, though now they seemed perfectly clean.
“N-not important.” Link said as he leaned his Master Sword against the nearest wall. Reaching behind his back, he removed his shield and laced it down with the sword.
“Okay,” Twilight replied, quirking a brow as she sat down in a chair in the corner of the room.
The hylian took a glance, noticing the lack of wings. “Yea, she hasn’t…” Link thought to himself. He held out a leather gloved hand. “My name is Link.”
Twilight smiled and accepted the gesture, giving his hand a shake. “I’m Twilight Sparkle, nice to meet you, Link.”
“I’m sorry about earlier, I was the one who set that part of the building on fire.” Link said before explaining to her on what had happened.
Twilight sighed, her head drooping slightly. After a few moments she gave a small nod. “Okay, I guess I can’t be too upset with you three. I’m just glad nopony was hurt.” Reaching into her pocket, she held a scroll out to Spike. “I realize you’re tired, Spike, but would you mind sending this letter to Princess Celestia?”
Spike waved her off, getting up and taking the letter from her. “Don’t worry about it, Twi, sending a letter is easy.” He took a deep breath and blew a plume of flame onto the scroll, the charred bits swirling up and out of the room. “There!” he gave a thumbs up.
Twilight flashed him a smile. “Thank you, Spike. I’m glad I can always count on you.”
“By the way, where could I get my clothes cleaned?” Link asked, gesturing to himself.
“Ah, that’s easy.” With a bit of effort, Twilight lit her horn up, casting a spell on Link. The stains on his clothes shimmered before fading away. “There.” Twilight smiled, letting the spell die. “Should be all clean
“Ha, that is something my tw-.. Friend would like to learn when I get back.” Link said with a smile, he then took a suit before reaching back to his pouch, he pulled out the cloak before resizing back to its original size. “Could you do the same for this too, please?”
“Of course!” Twilight smiled and cast the spell once more. It had the same effect, but she swayed a little in her seat. “Whoa, guess repeated spellcasting after just recovering wasn’t the best idea.”
“Er.. sorry about that, what were you recovering from?” Link asked as he placed the cloak into his pouch,the article shrinking down to fit in easily.
“You don’t have to apologize,” Twilight assured, waving him off and gripping an arm of the chair to keep herself stable. “I’m the one that chose to exert myself.” Once she was sure she was able to, Twilight stood up straight. “As for what I’m recovering from, my friends and I gave up a bit of of essences to help Spike.”
“Yeah, my grandpa used it to make medals for my belt!” Spike added, patting his medal case.
Link’s long pointed ears perked up at that bit of information. “Your grandpa?” Link asked.
“Yeah, I met him at the dragon migration,” Spike replied. The hylian nodded, deciding to file that information in his mind. “He’s a shaman and he can do magic too,” Spike added.
“Did you learn some things from him? I mean Shamans are capable of healing, it’ll be handy for you to have.” Link said
Spike’s expression fell a bit and he scratched the back of his neck. “Unfortunately, he only had time to teach me about the medals and my parents.”
“Perhaps later he can?” Link guessed before looking at Twilight. “By the way, Twilight. Are you the only one who with Spike and Wyatt?”
“Oh no.” Twilight giggled, taking a seat on Spike’s bed. “The rest of the girls came along. They’re just getting cleaned up. We haven’t been able to for the past few days. What with the ship and being zonked out.”
“Just asking incase we run into them, however long Wyatt needs me for.” Link said.
“I can only imagine how long Pinkie’s mane takes to get clean,” Wyatt commented, lying back on his bed. “Especially after not getting washed for a few days.”
“Considering how much she can store items in it? A long time.” Link said with a soft laugh.
“Not as long as you might think actually!” Pinkie chirped, popping up from the side of Wyatt’s bed.She looked like she had just stepped out of the bathroom, a layer of suds covering her body. “The longest part is brushing it, the teeth always get caught in the curls.”
“Pinkie!” Twilight cried, levitating the covers off of Spike’s bed and wrapping it around the mare. “There are stallions in this room, you can’t just pop in without clothes on. The action caused Spike to tumble off the bed, landing with his neck bent at an uncomfortable looking angle.
“BY NAYRU’S LOVE!” Link exclaimed as he fell backwards in his chair, hitting on the floor hard. The hylian’s face was beet red from what he saw.
“Whoops!” Pinkie said with a giggle, holding the sheets to keep them from falling. “Looks like I just reacted when I thought I heard somepony talk about me.”
“Ow...” Spike grumbled, rubbing his head. “That was not cool, Twi.” He blushed when his eyes landed on Pinkie, and he quickly looked away. “Er, maybe you should go back to your shower, Pinkie. You might uh... get soap on the floor.”
“Good idea, Spikey!” Pinkie replied, hopping out of the room, the sheets somehow not moving at all. “I’ll be sure to give your sheets back!” She called out as she disappeared from the doorway.
Link slowly climbed back up, he raises his hand to his chest and took this moment to calm down.
Wyatt’s face was still beet red, staring blankly at the ceiling. “Well, Pinkie is officially Beetlejuice. Talk about her and she shows up,” he muttered.
“I haven’t been that surprised since the day I was once ambushed by a large Timberwolf back in the Everfree forest.” Link commented.
Spike opened his mouth to speak, only to sit up right and burp up a scroll. “I really hope that doesn’t happen when I have my helmet on...” Grumbling to himself, he got up, holding it out to Twilight. “Here, Twi.”
Twilight grabbed the scroll, grateful for a chance to distract herself from what had transpired. Her eyes roved over the page, taking it in before looking up at the group. “Princess Celestia said she’s going to have somepony meet with us about what just happened.”
“How long have these attacks been going on?” Link asked with concern.
“A couple months,” Twilight answered, rolling the scroll. “At least, that’s when they started again. The first time monsters showed up was a thousand years ago. Now that we have Wyatt and Spike fighting them, things shouldn’t get too bad.”
“Don’t forget the Displaced such as me. Wyatt will be coming across their tokens as long as they’re the good kind.” Link pointed out.
“Yeah, between you, Cassie and Mira, I’d say I’ve already met a few good displaced,” Wyatt said, pushing himself into a sitting position. He turned his attention to Twilight. “Did Celestia give you a time or name for this person meeting us?”
“Tomorrow at noon, here at the hotel,” Twilight replied, retaking her seat.
“No name?” Wyatt questioned, arching a brow.
“She said I’d know who it was.”
Spike pulled the sheet off Wyatt’s bed, climbing onto his own. “Well, I’m sore and more than a little tired.” Giving a drawn out yawn, Spike curled up under the stolen sheets. “So, I’m gonna take a nap. Lemme know if anything important happens.”
Wyatt snickered as snores filled the room. “Never even bothered to take his belt off.” Wyatt sighed, glancing at his own bed. “Wish I could fall asleep that quickly...”
“Maybe you’ll be able to tonight?” Twilight offered with a small smile. “I’m sure you exerted just as much energy as Spike did during your fight.”
“I would offer to play a lullaby but I doubt you’d fall asleep to the Goron’s or Zelda’s Lullaby.” Link said with a shrug.
Wyatt chuckled, shaking his head. “No, but you might uncover some secrets if you played Zelda’s Lullaby.”
“In your Equestria? I don’t think so. Well, unless you-know-who suddenly pops in and makes it happen.” Link said as he looked around the room.
Wyatt craned his head around, looking around the room before checking under his bed. “No sign of her, it really must be using her name.”
“I’m not going to be able to get that image out of my head. I mean…” Link decided to stop right there before he said something insulting.
Wyatt nodded, his eyes drifting to the spot where Pinkie had appeared. “Well, do you want to stay to meet the person the princess is sending?” he asked. “I’m sure they’re gonna want to ask questions about the monster attack.”
“Might as well since I was here too, I’m also curious of how they’d help with your undead problem.” Link said as he picked up his scabbard and lay it across his lap, he proceeded to slowly unsheath the master sword so that he could inspect it.
“Alright, then you can take my bed for the night,” Wyatt said, getting up. “I’ll figure out something else for sleeping arrangements.”
“Waitwhat? You sure about that? I mean you and Twilight paid for it, not me.” Link said with a raised eyebrow.
“Yeah, consider it my way of thanking you for all your help during that fight,” Wyatt said, smiling at Link. “We’re gonna be here for a few days, one night on the floor or something won’t kill me.”
“Alright.” Link said as he placed his sword back into its sheath. He looked toward Twilight “You’ve been awfully quiet.”
“Hm?” Twilight asked, taking her eyes off Spike. “Sorry. I’m just still trying to get my head around the idea of Spike putting himself in danger like this...” She reached over, putting a hand on Spike’s back. “He’s my little brother, I can’t let anything bad happen to him.”
Wyatt stood up, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Twi, there’s no way I’d let anything happen to him.” He chuckled weakly, giving her a nervous smile. “Mostly because I know you’d kill me if I did.”
“It’s a path a hero must take, we all start off small and work toward our goal to protect others, much like you and the elements of harmony.” Link said as he smiles. “Besides, he’s got powers and allies to help him out if things turn sour, I swear on my title.”
Twilight sighed, her head drooping. “I know he has to do this, but it’s a lot to take in. I mean, a couple weeks ago he was half the size he is now, binging on ice cream and reading comics. Now he’s fighting monsters with super powers.”
“Happened too suddenly for ya, huh?” Link asked as he started to remove the pouches from his belt.
“I never imagined him taking something like this on,” Twilight agreed, frowning as Spike’s snoring grew louder. “But I know nothing I say would be able to stop him from doing this.”
Link removed his leather gauntlets and placed them into his pouch, shrinking down to size to fit in thank to its magic. The hylian crossed his arms and thought for a moment. “...I bet your parents would say the same thing.”
“The difference being that I was legally an adult when Celestia sent me to Ponyville,” Twilight replied, sighing. “But I see your point.”
“Just trying to help, I’m not exactly good at comforting others considering I used to live alone in my world’s Everfree for most of my Displaced life,” Link explained.
“I appreciate your efforts,” Twilight said, offering him a small smile. “But I think this is something that I’ll need to adjust to with time.” She let out another sigh. “I just wish my magic wasn’t useless against those monsters. I’d give anything to help Spike and Wyatt fight them.”
“Considering how Spike got his powers, there may be others who can get it too, including yourself.” Link gave her a reassuring smile. “That’s just my guess so far, I’m no future seer and it’d be far too risky for me time travel to see it.”
“You don’t need to fight monsters to help us out, Twi,” Wyatt assured. “When it comes to everyday life, I’d be lost without your lessons considering the differences in culture.”
“Thank you, Wyatt,” Twilight said. “Just keep my little brother and yourself safe, okay?”
Wyatt gave her a thumbs up and a smile. “I was going to do that even if you didn’t tell me to.”
“If there is nothing else to discuss, it’d be best for us to sleep, we don’t want to miss the meeting with our mystery guest.” Link suggested.
Twilight nodded, reluctantly getting up from the bed and striding towards the door. “Alright, goodnight, I’ll see you in the morning.” She opened the door, making sure not to close it too loudly for Spike’s sake.
Link let out a gentle sigh as he finished up getting himself ready for bed, clad in just his white pants. He climbed into bed, drifting off not long after.
Wyatt stretched out, looking around the room for a suitable replacement for a bed. Nothing jumped out at him, the chair being the only thing coming close to doing the job. Nodding to himself, he softly clapped his hands together. “Well,” he whispered, “I think I’ll just grab a soda from the vending machine for the time being.” He crept his way out of the room, making sure he had his room key on him.