//------------------------------// // N: Nobody's Perfect / The Choices We Make // Story: Kamen Rider Unicorn // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// Sunset laid in her bed, tossing a bet back and forth. She hadn’t divulged the info to Starlight about what she saw, knowing that her counterpart was evil and knowing herself to have changed from that path, would probably be too much to take in. Sunset also decided to keep this from the girls until she could confirm it, especially since this new ability had appeared. Is the Unicorn Memory evolving like our magic? During the Friendship Games, Sunset learned that their magic appeared when they showed the truest part of themselves, in other words, their elements. Loyalty, Generosity, Honesty, Kindness, and Laughter, Magic…well, for a little while, Sunset believed she represented the sixth Element of Magic. But with the appearance of Earth’s Twilight Sparkle, and her exposure to magic, Sunset felt that that wasn’t her Element. In actuality, it probably never was. But the rainbow that formed when they defeated the Sirens, there was a seventh ray of light, a Seventh Element. Could that be her Element of Harmony? It’s not as if she had ponyed up like the others, she still needed her guitar for that, at least, until the fight with the Rocket Dopant. “Ugh, so confusing!” After Princess Twilight had come by and scolded Starlight for recklessly bringing a magical amulet into Sunset’s world, and about just going on whim to a parallel world. Princess Twilight told Starlight she could stay for a few days, so long as Sunset was okay with it, and she was. Sunset had Princess Twilight stay the night, not wanting to have her go all the way back to the school, and because she was tired from the day’s adventure. That proved to be an awkward situation for herself. Once Starlight informed Twilight that she was free to walk around Sunset’s home in the buff, the Princess of Friendship did not hesitate in the slightest. Sunset found it hard to look at Princess Twilight that day, even though her girlfriend and the princess were different, seeing the nude form of her girlfriend was… Hot, Sunset thought. Now that I think about it, I’m not entirely sure that Princess Twilight was joking about becoming my mistress…Two Twilights… Sunset Shimmer then slapped her herself in the face. Stupid sexy Twilights! With Sunset still thinking, she looked over to her right and saw Starlight sleeping contently, with the blanket covering most of her neck down, and below that was a clothes-less Starlight. In some ways Sunset regretted letting her walk around her home with no clothes on, and sleeping in said bed with none. While ponies were naturally nude, and sleeping in the same bed had about the same connotations of a brother and sister sharing the bed, it was only when attraction was felt did it feel awkward. But thanks to being a human for some years, and adopting most of their customs and norms, Sunset was starting to feel flustered with Starlight sleeping like that. Don’t make it weird, Sunset! Don’t make it weird! Sunset got out of the bed and went downstairs, taking the Unicorn Memory with her. She sat in her couch and looked at the device, which was both the cause and solution to their Dopant problem. Sunset thought more about how Earth’s Starlight was connected, if she was indeed Equal, then did that mean she was the one responsible for the creation of the T1 Memories? Was the whole company of PhoenEXE in on the creation of the Memories? Was…Was Shining Armor in on it? The fiery haired girl shook her head. “No, no, Shining Armor can’t be in on it. Most likely, they want a Rider they can semi-control…and if PhoenEXE announces that they’re the ones responsible for creating Trigger, if anyone afterwards comes out and says that the company is also responsible for creating the Dopants, then they can dispute it with their funding of the police.” Sunset had to admit, it was good, a plan worthy of the old Equestrian Starlight Glimmer. And that’s the problem, this one was acting like the Starlight Glimmer of Equestria was. Maybe there was a chance to stop this before it got worse? If Starlight, her Starlight, could convince this one to stop what she was doing, then the Dopant threat would end. Well, aside from the T2s but that was a different matter. Celestia knows, if the human version of herself was on a similar dark path, Sunset would’ve done anything to stop that from happening. Because no one deserves to go through all that pain and anger, and isolation. Having friends was a wonderful thing, and having a girlfriend was even better. Speaking of which. Sunset took out her cellphone, she thought against it at first, but decided to take a chance. The phone rang a couple of times before Twilight answered. [Hi, Sunset!] “Wow, you sound chipper for someone I’m calling in the middle of the night,” said Sunset. [It could be because I’m working on something amazing! That Rocket Memory opened new information in the Infinite Library, and it’s like I’m possessed! I think I know how to make you and Rainbow Dash stronger! If I’m right, you won’t have to worry about a timeout with your Shining Memory!] Sunset’s eyes widened, she didn’t know what to say to that. Oh wait, yes she did. “How long have you been working on this?” [Um…what do you mean?] “I mean how much sleep have you been getting?” [………] “Go to sleep, Twi.” [B-B-But I’m so close to a breakthrough and –!] “Go. To. Sleep.” Sunset put emphasis on each word. She loved Twilight, very much so, but her egghead of a girlfriend would no doubt work herself into exhaustion. It may be Summer Vacation, but that was no excuse to run herself ragged. There as a long sigh on the other end of the phone before Twilight said, [Alright, I’ll go to bed. Sunset, thank you, for thinking about my wellbeing like this.] Sunset smiled and blushed a little. “I always do, and flattery isn’t going to get you a time extension.” [Worth a shot. But I do mean it! Well, good night.] Sunset ended the call and smiled, being with Twilight made her feel warm inside, and she hoped they would stay like this for as long as they could, until…well…that may be thinking too far into the future. ***___________\\\N///___________*** A couple of weeks had passed and things have been…semi-quiet. A string of robberies had been taking place in Canterlot City, but what had been making authorities weary was how the robberies were occurring. The robbers appeared to be a bunch of young adults, either in their late teens to early twenties. They wore black sweats, gloves, ski masks, and hoodies, except for one that wore hard hockey mask with a griffon painted on the front. There were eye witness reports that one of them turned into a monster, a Dopant, in some of the robberies, but never saw an actual transformation. Rainbow Dash headed out that morning to drive around the city. Both Sunset and Rainbow had been debating whether or not to get involved, the last bank robbers they stopped had a Gaia Memory, but that one was outright attacking cops, these robbers were in and out quick. Cops handle cop things, and Kamen Riders handle Kamen Rider things, that’s how they worked. Trigger, Shining Armor, was a different case, but essentially, Sunset and Rainbow try not to get involved with police work unless it involves Dopants. Or if it got too out of control and a Rider was needed. Still, Rainbow thought they should check it out and went out to do just that. She had Twilight draw up a map of the banks that were hit so far, and some possible ones based on the level of security and amount of money they would be holding at that time. It was almost scary how good Twilight was at that. It was almost noon, and so far, Rainbow Dash hadn’t heard or seen anything suspicious, yet. She stopped by a hotdog stand to grab something to eat, while she ate, Rainbow’s phone went off. “S’up, Sunset?” Rainbow asked. [Just checking in. Everything alright so far?] “Boring and quiet, maybe they got enough and skipped town?” [For some, enough is never enough. I doubt they’re gone, with their streak so far, they’re probably overconfident that they can get away from anything, and can get all the money they want. While that’s not necessarily a good thing, it can make them sloppy and mess up. You tend to lose your edge if you start to think it’ll be easy……And I feel as if I’m speaking from personal experience.] “Hey, don’t start that again. We’re not doing this whole ‘I was a horrible person and’ blah, blah, blah. You’re not that girl anymore.” There was some chuckling on the other end of the line before Sunset spoke, [Thanks, Dash. And sorry I can’t help out, I have a suspicion about something that needed looking into.] “Must be pretty big if you’re sitting out a Dopant stake out,” said Rainbow. [Well…] Rainbow Dash looked across the street to Haywood’s Bank, and watched as six people in black outfits filed out of it, with a seventh in a mask exiting behind them. “Sunset, gotta hang up, bad guys showed up!” [Wait, what –?!] Rainbow Dash hung up the phone and dialed the police, informing them of what was happening. The prismatic girl got on her bike and found a secluded alleyway to transform in. Once she had, Rainbow summoned the N-Driver and the Nasca Memory. < NASCA! > “Henshin!” > NASCA! < A blue electrical field formed around Rainbow Dash, transforming her into the speedster hero, Kamen Rider Nasca. Nasca flared her fiery electric wings and took off for the bank. ***___________\\\N///___________*** The robbers had handguns, shotguns, and automatic rifles, the seventh member, presumably the leader, had a black leather jacket with white feathers around the collar. Black jeans, combat boots, and leather gloves. The leader of the group glanced about, seeing the many terrified faces of the patrons and bank tellers. Most of them were on the ground, with the exception of the bank tellers who were being held at gun point with their hands in the air. What passed as a security guard in the bank had already been subdued. The guard, a man in his thirties, glanced about as if trying to figure a way to stop the robbers or call for help, one of the robbers walked up to him and shouted, “What’re you lookin’ at?! Thinkin’ about bein’ a hero or somethin’?!” The robber placed the shotgun right on the guard’s head and cocked it once, making everyone gasp. “You wanna know what heroes get? They get dead!” Before the robber could pull the trigger, the leader swiftly punched out the subordinate, sending her to the floor. “Are you stupid or something?! We’re here for the money, hostages are hostages, they’re worth more alive!” The leader scolded, her voice gravely and rough through the mask. “Now get off your ass, watch them, and don’t shoot them unless they make for the door or something!”The leader moved to the center of the room. “Understand this! We are in control right now, so long as you do what we say, you’ll all go home alive! Okay?!” She was met with silence. “Okay.” The leader and one other robber took the bank manager to the back of the bank where a huge vault was locked. “Y-You won’t be able t-t-to open it!” he stammered, “When the silent alarm is activated, t-the vault shuts for seventy-two hours and can’t be opened until then,” the manager stammered. “Yeah, let me worry about that,” said the leader. “Take him back with the others.” The other robber did so, pushing the man along. Once alone, the leader unzipped her jacket, and pulled out a golden Gaia Memory with a letter U on it. This has to be done… Just before the leader could activate the Memory, the sound of glass shattering, along with some screams could be heard coming from the lobby. The leader rushed towards the edge of the open door, and cursed under her breath as she saw Kamen Rider Nasca standing there. Her subordinates had already been disarmed and were groaning on the floor. “…No choice now…” < UTOPIA! > The leader rolled up her right sleeve and pressed the Gaia Memory into her arm. The device shined and zipped into her arm, her entire body glowed with golden light as she released a primal roar. In the lobby, Nasca glanced towards the open vault door, but before she could make a move, the door was blasted apart. A cloud of dust wafted through the air, but was quickly dispelled with a wave of the Utopia Dopant’s hand. This creature looked female, its forearms had golden gauntlets, each tipped with three, long, large talons, and all five fingers were claw tipped as well. Her legs were covered in the same golden armor, with unprotected parts colored white with silver lines. Her chest plate was also gold, with a wing design sculpted into it, and a ruby at the center. Utopia’s shoulders had large pauldrons on it, with amethyst jewels embedded in them. On her back were large, metallic wings, the front of the “feathers” were red, but on the back of the wings, it was colored gold. The Dopant’s head had a helmet on it the resembled that of a griffon, with a protruding beak, gleaming read eyes, and feathery frills on either side of its head. Its mouth plate was white, with thin silver sculpted lips. Something about this Dopant made Nasca edgy, it exuded domineering power. It was different from the Terror Memory, that one instilled fear, this was one was intimidation. “The power to wreak havoc, and you settle for bank robberies? Jeez, you criminal types think small.” “Probably not very hero-like to give pointers to the criminal with powers,” said Utopia. Nasca flinched at hearing that voice. It was distorted thanks to the transformation, and no one would recognize it if they didn’t know, but Nasca recognized that voice. And she didn’t like that she did. Sirens could be heard in the distance, making Utopia growl. “Get your asses up and out of here! I’ll deal with her!” Utopia’s subordinates didn’t waste time and quickly gathered their weapons and ran out of the bank, and to their waiting getaway van. Before Nasca could even make a move, she was wrapped in a field of crimson energy, it froze her in place, seizing her muscles and preventing any kind of movement. Utopia’s right hand was glowing with that same energy, and before Nasca knew it, she was tossed out the window of the bank like a rag doll. The winged Kamen Rider smashed through the glass and bounced on the street before smashing into the side of a building. Nasca groaned in both soreness and annoyance as she witnessed the robbers getting away. She broke free from the wall and unfurled her wings to give chase, but at last second, Utopia appeared before her again, blocking her way. Nasca growled angrily as she summoned her Nasca Blade. The winged Rider slashed at Utopia, only to be blocked by her golden talons. Nasca drew back and slashed to the left, but was blocked yet again, she quickly disengaged and zipped around Utopia, using the three-hundred and sixty-degree environment to her advantage. Nasca flew in from behind to slash at her wing, but Utopia dropped just as Nasca was about to strike. Utopia looked up as Nasca looked down, in that moment, Utopia uppercut Nasca in her abdomen. Utopia’s golden talon gauntlets grinded against Nasca’s armor, sending sparks flying from the impact. Nasca managed to roll off the attack, going into a fall and stopping once she flared her wings. She’s really strong, and fast…but I’m faster! Nasca switched the N on her driver so that it now showed the orange half. \_/ NASCA! VERMILLION MODE! \_/ The blue coloring of Nasca changed into a vermillion orange color. Nasca wasted no time and disappeared from sight, using the super speed boost from Vermillion Mode to overtake Utopia. The Kamen Rider zipped around in a barely visible blur, closing in on Utopia and preparing to deliver a flurry of blows. However, Utopia’s eyes shined and in a surprising feat of speed, blocked Nasca’s blade attack before it could hit her. Nasca floated there in a stunned state, no Dopant had ever been able to match her speed in Vermillion Mode, it was the one thing that always caught them off guard. But Nasca was undeterred, she disengaged and tried again, Utopia, however was keeping pace. Both Dopant and Rider appeared as blurs in the sky, with thunderous concussive “BOOMs” echoing through the city from high above. Unfortunately, time was up, and Nasca returned to normal form. Utopia took this opening and rushed Nasca, striking her from all directions at super speed, and causing sparks to fly from her armor. While she was disoriented, Utopia gathered her energy into a golden sphere of power and threw it at Nasca. The ball exploded upon contact and Nasca went into a nose dive. Utopia flew at Nasca, grabbing her by the throat and dragging her all the way down into the roof of another building, kicking up a cloud of dust from the impact. Nasca struggled under the grip of the Dopant, her glowing red eyes gleamed down at her, and at that moment, she could only think to say, “Do it…!” Utopia sighed and released Nasca. “Please don’t get in our way again.” Nasca watched as Utopia took off into the air and flew away, leaving Nasca on the rooftop. Under her helmet, Nasca gritted her teeth and struck the roof with her fist. She hoped it wasn’t true, she really did, but Rainbow had to know. ***___________\\\N///___________*** After filling in Sunset and the girls on the attack, Rainbow Dash went to go and visit a friend. She pulled up to an apartment complex for wayward kids, it was a place that Rainbow’s parents had helped a certain friend of hers find. Rainbow, walked up to the door that had “16A” on the front. Rainbow raised her hand to knock, but she hesitated. “Maybe I should’ve called first…?” “Probably should’ve,” said a gravely, yet familiar, voice. Rainbow looked over her shoulder and saw Gilda walking up to her. “What’s up G?” Gilda walked up and fist bumped Rainbow Dash. “Not much, I……I was stopping by to pick something up.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “You get another part time job?” “Yeah, boss is kind of a bitch, but…the pay’s good,” said Gilda. “C’mon in, we can talk for a little bit.” Gilda opened the front door and Rainbow Dash walked in. It wasn’t the fanciest apartment, it had a small kitchen, a little living room, and a bedroom in the back. The couch was black leather, a bit worn, but still comfortable. Across from it sat a flat screen tv, a small one, but nice enough. Gilda came back from her bedroom and went into her fridge, taking a soda from it and tossing it to Rainbow. “Glad to see you, been a while since we hung out at all,” said Gilda. “Yeah, sorry, I’ve been busy with school, the sports teams I captain, but now that it’s summer, we can hang out a bit more, if you want?” Rainbow asked. Gilda’s gaze faltered for a moment before she said, “That sounds great, Dash, but we’ll have to take raincheck on that. My new job’s got me on a short leash and hopefully it won’t be for much longer.” “Huh, alright.Hey G, remember when you said you had a crush on me when we were at camp?” Rainbow asked. Gilda had sprayed her can of soda out into the air as she took in a breath. “W-What the hell – what brought this up?!” “Nothin’ just asking if you remember?” Gilda’s face burned crimson as she released a frustrated sigh. “Okay, yes, I remember. It was a stupid little kid crush; can we please not talk about it?!” “Huh, too bad, ‘cause I was willing to give it a shot,” said Rainbow Dash. Gilda spat a second time. “SAY WHAT?! Uh…Dash, what are you doing?” Rainbow Dash started to move closer to Gilda, making the tough girl back away until her back was pressed against the opposite end of the couch. Gilda felt her heart race, face heating up as she watched her best friend approach her with a predatory gleam in her eyes. Rainbow’s hands slowly reached out and began to feel up Gilda’s left thigh, surprisingly, Gilda didn’t make her stop, perhaps too frozen in shock that this was happening. “What am I doing? I think the real question is G…” Rainbow’s hand brushed against something in Gilda’s pocket, a familiar shape that made Rainbow Dash move forward and enter Gilda’s pocket. “What are you doing with this?!” Gilda snapped out of the trance she was in and realized that Rainbow had just palmed the one thing she was trying to hide from her. It was a Gaia Memory, gold in color, with a U in the shape of two people clasping hands. Rainbow Dash’s face was a mixture of betrayal, anger, sadness, and disappointment. “D-D-Dash it’s not what you think!” Gilda pleaded. “After what happened to you with that Violence Memory, you go and take one of these street Memories?! Again?! Gilda, you promised me you were turning over a new leaf!” Rainbow shouted with tears in her eyes. “I told my friends, I told them that they could trust you – I thought I could trust you!” Gilda hugged herself, shaking. “Rainbow Dash, please listen, let me tell you why first! Because I was going straight, but someone’s making me use that thing, and I have no choice!” Rainbow gave her friend a dubious look. “What do you mean, ‘no choice’?! We all have a choice G!” “Not when someone else’s life is on the line!” Gilda stated. Rainbow went lax at hearing that. “Wait…who’s life? Yours?” Gilda shook her head. “No…it’d be easier if it was, but…no. I had a friend…back in Griffonstone, well, to be honest she’s more like a little sister than a friend…” *~*~* Gilda walked the streets of her hometown, Griffonstone. She kept the hood of her hoody up, where she was going, it was better to keep her face as low key as possible. Gilda had always been a loner, running away from Griffonstone was probably the best thing she had ever done. After her incident with the Violence Memory, Gilda stayed in Canterlot City at a wayward house for runaway teens. She got a part time job, it was mind numbing, but the pay was good. The biggest upside was that Gilda could spend time with Rainbow Dash again, and was able to get to know her friends a bit better. Out of the seven, Gilda gravitated more towards Applejack, Sunset, and surprisingly, Pinkie Pie. Rarity was okay, in small doses, Twilight was nerdy, but she was a cute kind of nerdy. Fluttershy, well, Gilda felt like a total a-hole remembering how she yelled at the kind girl, and in the end Fluttershy forgave her. Once upon a time Gilda would’ve called her a doormat for being so forgiving, but she had come to appreciate Fluttershy’s kindness, even if she didn’t always know how to help, Fluttershy was there to at least try and help. They were all good people, probably the best she’d ever met in her life. But, if she was honest, there was one other person in Griffonstone that wasn’t like everybody else, she was kind like Fluttershy, helpful, hyper as hell, and always smiling. Gilda kicked herself, she was practically her little sister. Gilda knew these streets all too well as she made her way past some of the more dilapidated buildings. Griffonstone was once a nice place to live, communities actually gave a crap about each other, and the crime rate was almost zero. Under mayor Guldo, Griffonstone prospered and was on its way to becoming as big a city as its neighbor, Canterlot City. However, corruption was soon found out at the highest level of the government, exposing Guldo and eventually ousting him from office. Since then, Griffonstone has had a string of bad or lesser corrupted mayors and officials, allowing the city to fall into despair and poverty. Many stay because they have no choice, and some are just looking for a chance to leave the city. And then there are others who look to rule the streets of Griffonstone. Many street gangs appeared, selling and doing the usual cliché gang things. Selling drugs, robbing, starting turf wars, and some…other less notable activities. One of those gangs, probably in the top three worst, was the Talons. A gang that Gilda used to be affiliated with before obtaining the Violence Memory and separating from them completely, along with Griffonstone. She had power, and no one could tell her what to do. But that was months ago, Gilda wasn’t sure if they knew she had the Violence Memory still, but she could use that to her advantage. Soon Gilda arrived at the Talons’ hideout, an abandoned warehouse that was supposed to be an auto parts shipper. Like most new businesses that didn’t have what it took, they rolled up out of town quick, leaving their trash behind. Gilda walked up to the back of the building, already she spotted the lookouts, wearing bandannas or shirts that had three red claw marks on it, or just blatantly had it tattooed on their faces or arms. One the Talons members walked up to Gilda, a big burly guy. Gilda chuckled at the display of bravado. “What, am I supposed to be scared or somethin’?” “It’s either that or ya got a serious death wish coming to see us,” he said. “Look, either you get out of my way or I make you. Greta called me and told me to come here to this gods forsaken crap hole. So, unless you wanna explain to her why I’m late getting here, you’ll move your ass, NOW!” The large Talons member flinched at the ferocity in Gilda’s voice, he then looked over his shoulder to another lookout who was on the phone. After a minute, the other lookout nodded an “okay”. The burly guard let Gilda pass as the rusty gate of their base screeched in open. Gilda walked through the yard, spotting several Talons members who were either just talking, groping their lovers, or getting into fist fights for the hell of it. Gilda sneered at the sight of this place, happy she had left this life behind, and at the same time, angry at herself that she so selfishly did so without thinking it through. Gilda continued on until she was inside the main building. The inside was vastly different, part of the building had been setup as a chop shop, another part was where they kept most of their drugs stored, and another housed their more lethal weapons. Most of the Talons members who were inside gave her suspicious looks, while others regarded her with a level of hate. Gilda stopped when she saw Greta looking down at her from the rafters above, eyeing Gilda with her mint green eyes, and sharp same colored eye shadow. Her white hair stood out against the dark corners of the warehouse. Once she descended down to ground level, she was able to get a better look at her. She wore her trademark green scarf with a crescent moon pinned on it. She also had on ripped jean pants, and a sleeveless leather jacket. Greta sported tube top, allowing more of her olive colored skin to be seen. This was the leader of the Talons, and although she the same height and age as Gilda, she was more than fierce enough to make sure no one disobeyed her. Well, almost no one. “Gilda, glad to see ya back,” said Greta. “Can’t say the feeling’s mutual,” spat Gilda. “Ah, don’t be like that. We’re old friends after all.” Greta moved closer to Gilda, and slowly removed the hood to reveal Gilda’s face. “You always had intense eyes. Oooh, gives me chills every time.” Gilda gritted her teeth, and tightened her fists inside the hoody’s pockets. “Would you quit with the damn flirting, I didn’t come here because I wanted to…” Greta narrowed her eyes and smiled a wicked smile, she then motioned for Gilda to follow her. Greta’s bodyguards followed close behind until they were at the back of the warehouse, the leader of the Talons told her guards to wait outside and to not come in unless otherwise told to do so. Once the door was closed, however, Gilda wasted no time in grabbing Greta and throwing her to the ground. Gilda pounced on Greta, placing a knee right on her sternum, and at the same time, grabbing her throat. Gilda cocked back her left fist in preparation for a punch, and asked, “Where is she?” “Ugh, G, I know you’re into rough play, but this is a kinkier than I was expecting,” said Greta. “CUT THE BS! Where is Gabby?! If you’ve hurt or done anything to her I swear I’ll –!” “Relax, Gilda, it does me no good to kill my bargaining chip before I get what I want. As for harming her, thankfully she’s be cooperative, so no harm has come, yet.” Greta watched as the fire in Gilda’s eyes still smoldered, but Greta knew she was in control, despite her current position. “Now, if you wanna mess around on the floor, I’m up for it. If not, then get the hell off me and we can talk.” Gilda kept her fist cocked back, trembling with barely contained rage. In the end, Gilda relented and let Greta back up, who seemed a bit disappointed at the same time as relieved. “What do you want, Greta, I’m out, or did I not make that clear the last time I was here?!” “Oh no, you were very clear. So clear, in fact, that I got a little something-something after you left.” Greta reached into her pocket and pulled out a T2 Gaia Memory, much to Gilda’s dismay. “Thought you’d recognize it, it’s called Zone. Gives me the power to teleport anyone or anything to where I want it.” Gilda was now on edge, she didn’t have her Violence Memory anymore, but hopefully, Greta didn’t know that. “So, what? I have one of those too.” “Tsk, tsk, tsk, it’s not good to tell a lie, Gilda. If you did have that device, you’d have transformed and rolled on in here wrecking everything and demanding to know where Gabriel is. So, let’s not play this game, I want something from you, and if you want to see that girl alive, then you’ll do as I say!” Greta threatened. Gilda tensed up, she was right. “What do you want from me?! I don’t have that Memory thing anymore, I’m just me now! So…whatever you want to do, just to it to me! Don’t hurt Gabby…!” Greta wagged her finger in the air as if to dismiss that thought. “Oh no, Gilda, I don’t want to do anything to you. Well, maybe a couple of things in private. No, I need you to use this.” Gilda watched as Greta pulled out another Gaia Memory from her pants pocket, the Utopia Memory. “I bought this off a girl, cost a pretty penny too, but it was worth it to have two of these bad boys. Catch.” Greta tossed the device to Gilda, quickly catching it and staring at Greta in disbelief. “I want you to pay me back. I need money, money enough to get the Talons out of this rat hole of a city, and expand into Canterlot where the big game is. To do that we need to knock over a few banks, and I need someone who knows how to use one of these things, and has lived there a bit,” said Greta. Gilda looked at the Utopia Memory and back at Greta. “What’s stopping me from using this thing right now and tearing this place apart to find her?” “Oh plenty, for one thing, with Zone, I teleport her to a different spot every two or three hours. Safe places that only I know about, and only I can get to. You can use that thing to hurt me all you want, but I won’t tell you where she is. And because I’m only the one who takes her food and drink, and if I die, she dies starving and alone in an unknown place with only rats and maggots feasting on her corpse.” Gilda looked at the Gaia Memory, she swore she would never use these again, not after what it almost did to her, and what she almost did to her best friend. Gilda had started to make a life Canterlot, with actual friends that she liked, other than Rainbow Dash. Doing this would ruin everything she built up back in Canterlot City, but if she didn’t, Gabby would die and it would be Gilda’s fault, the one genuinely good person in Griffonstone would die because of her, the one person whom she’d regarded as a little sister. “Give me your arm, Gilda,” Greta ordered. Gilda rolled up her left sleeve. Greta walked over to a desk drawer and took out a gun-like device. She approached Gilda and pressed one end against Gilda’s skin and pulled the trigger. Gilda yelp as she felt a pinch, and suddenly, a tattoo in the shape of circuit board appeared on her arm. “Place the stick at the center, and you know the rest.” Gilda pressed the button on the Memory. < UTOPIA! > *~*~* Rainbow Dash stared at the floor with narrowed eyes and clenched fists, while Gilda was slumped over, arms resting on her thighs as she sighed heavily. “That’s the whole story, Dash. If I don’t do this, Gabby’s dead…and I can’t let that happen!” “G, why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve…you know…” “Without knowing where Gabby is, there’s no point in having you or Sunset save her. No doubt she’s being kept somewhere where there’s no electricity, so Twilight can’t hack track her or anything,” said Gilda. “This is something I have to do, I’ve made sure that they haven’t hurt anyone during the robberies. I may be on a short leash, but I’m the one who turns into a monster, so they don’t question me.” Rainbow Dash shot up from the couch and paced around growling. “This isn’t right! There’s gotta be something we can do?! Something we haven’t thought of?!” Gilda stood up as well. “There’s no we in this, Rainbow. I should’ve taken Gabby with me when I left Griffonstone, but I was too wrapped up in my own crap to remember her! I won’t let her pay for my mistakes!” “But the longer you use that thing, the more it’ll mess you up! It’s not like the ones I use, or the on you used before! It screws with your head worse than the last one you used!” Rainbow warned. Gilda snorted and swiped the Utopia Memory from Rainbow’s hand. “I got a handle on it, so long I focus on what I’m doing, who my real friends are, I’ll be fine. I promise no innocent people are going to die, I’ll make sure of it. I gotta go, if I’m gone too long they’ll get suspicious. Don’t follow me, Dash.” Gilda reached into her other pocket and placed a key in Rainbow’s vacant hand. “It’s an extra key I meant to give you, in case you ever just wanna drop by and crash here, or just hang out. See ya later.” Rainbow watched as Gilda walked out of the apartment and left Rainbow Dash standing there, feeling helpless, a feeling she did not like in the least. ***_________\\\\N////_________*** Later that day, Rainbow Dash called Sunset and Twilight, telling them they needed to have a team meeting right away. Once Rainbow Dash arrived at Sunset’s home, she gave them all the details about Gilda, Gabby, and the robberies. As expected, Sunset became furious at the situation, Starlight shared the same reaction, and Twilight had a sad expression on her face. “We have to help her,” said Starlight. “I know, but with that Greta girl moving her around, we won’t know where she’ll be!” Rainbow stated. Twilight rubbed her chin as she thought about the situation. “Maybe can’t track Gabby, but we can track Greta.” “How?” Sunset asked. “Like Gilda told Rainbow, Greta is the only one who knows were Gabby is and is the one who teleports her around, and goes to give her food and drink. If that is the case, then we can track Greta by her cellphone,” said Twilight. “There’s another way as well. Teleportation leaves behind energy, no matter how long it’s been,” said Starlight. “Are you sure? This isn’t magic, it’s something else, Gaia Memory magic…power…whatever,” said Rainbow. Starlight scratched at her head for a moment, but then shook her doubts away. “It shouldn’t be a problem, it’s still a type of distortion that can be tracked, I just need to feel out her energy and I can help narrow the search.” Sunset nodded. “That part we can both do. If I drive around Griffonstone long enough we can find the energy signature, it’ll go by faster with both us, and I can protect Starlight from the Griffonstone thugs.” Starlight blew a raspberry. “I don’t need protection, I have my magic.” “Uh-huh, says the girl who still jumps at the sound of a car or my bike,” said Sunset. Rainbow Dash was starting to feel confident about this, they had a plan, and hopefully soon they could get Gilda out of the mess she was dragged into. It was then that Twilight raised her hand, grabbing everyone’s attention. “One small problem…for the cellphone tracking, I need to be within five meters of Greta to ping her cellphone.” And then Rainbow face palmed. “Well there’s no way that’s happening. They’d eat you alive if you got anywhere near there Twi, no offense!” she added. “None taken, but I do know how I can do it remotely. I can build a device that will scan all cell signals in the area, the closer to Greta the device is the better.” “Yeah, that still requires us to get close to them,” said Starlight. Sunset began to think about their options. “We can’t ask Gilda, Greta would naturally be suspicious about her. We need…” “An inside girl,” said Rainbow. ***_________\\\\N////_________*** Greta kept a close eye on her subordinates as they counted the money from the previous heists. It gave Greta great satisfaction to see so much green, in such vast piles, and all the possibilities that would come with its use. The leader of the Talons glanced behind her and saw Gilda just leaning against the wall, looking just as peeved and sullen as always. “Aw, don’t worry Gilda, I don’t blame you for the botched heist. Up till now we’ve been able to stay under the Kamen Rider radar, but luck like that eventually runs out. But it looks like you were able to handle Nasca pretty well, guess that Utopia was a good buy,” said Greta. “How much more do I have to steal before you let Gabby go?” Gilda asked. Greta tapped her chin as she pondered, “Well, had this one gone according to plan, I’d say today. But now we’ll need to knock over one or two more to break even.” Gilda raised her head to look Greta in the eyes. “And after that, we call it debt paid and Gabby and I go free.” Greta smirked. “I’m a girl of my word. You’ve delivered so far, so I will too. So long as you don’t go and snitch to the cops afterwards. The beauty with teleportation, you can pop up anywhere, and be in and out before you knew what hit you.” “I won’t, all I want is for you to leave us alone,” said Gilda. Greta nodded and went back to watching her underlings count the copious amounts of green. Just then, one of the Talons girls entered the counting room and shouted, “Boss, there’s someone outside!” Greta turned around, the Zone Memory in hand. “A cop?” “No, some chick rode in on her bike and said she wanted to talk to the person in charge.” Gilda’s eye widened with horror. Oh please, gods, no… Greta put the Zone Memory back in her pocket and motioned for Gilda to follow her. Every step filled Gilda with dread, she hoped, she prayed, silently begging every deity that existed in the past and present that the “chick” in question was not who she thought it was. After what seemed like the longest walk of Gilda’s life, she and Greta arrived at the front gate where the guards were at the ready. It was night time, and the bike’s light shined bright, obscuring the features of the girl who had called Greta out. “You the girl in charge here?” the mystery girl asked. “I am, what do you want?” Greta retorted. “I want in, I heard the Talons are getting up in the world, and I wanted a piece of the action.” Greta smirked. “Easy to say, when you’re shining a damn bright light in our faces. And not just anybody can be in the Talons.” The bike shut off and the light with it. She wore a violet colored hat with the rim turned backwards, a navy-blue jacket, and violet colored sweat pants. She had a blue tank top on, and gold chain around her neck, as well as a gold lightning bolt earring, but what stood out was the girl’s rainbow-colored hair. Gilda had to use all of her willpower to keep from screaming her head off, and from lunging at the girl. “Oh, you’ll want me, name’s RD.” Gilda’s left eye twitched. I am going to kill you, Dash!