Shining Armor balked at the sight of Starlight Glimmer, although, this version seemed a bit younger than the one he had met. For one thing, the one he met was dressed in business attire, not like this version before him who had a punk street kid look. It made Shining Armor wonder more when he was told that the ambulance Dr. Kagami and Nasca were in got attacked by another Bugster.
Shining Armor shook off the confusion for a moment and rushed to embrace his little sister, who was happy to have the comfort of her big brother. “I’m just glad your safe, Twily.”
“You don’t have to worry, Nasca and Dr. Kagami protected us,” said Twilight.
Shining Armor glanced to see where the second Kamen Rider had gone. “Where is Nasca?”
“She said she was going to check on her family, and would be back soon,” said Rainbow Dash.
Shining hummed for a moment in contemplation. “Can’t fault her for that, probably a good idea if she has any siblings.” It was then he turned his attention to Starlight Glimmer. “Still, uh, ma’am, has anybody told you, you bear a striking resemblance to the CEO of PhoenEXE Corp., and share her name?”
Starlight became a bit nervous as she rubbed the back of her head. “Well…you see…there’s –!”
“There’s a perfectly logical explanation, Officer Armor.” Everyone turned around and watched as Earth’s Starlight Glimmer came walking in through the front doors of the hospital, an action that stunned even Rainbow Dash. “She’s my cousin, she was born a couple of years after me, and well, let’s just say there’s a lot of family drama concerning that. Right Glimmer?”
Glimmer understood what Starlight was doing. “Oh, yeah, major drama. But just refer to me as Glimmer, and her as Starlight, since she was the first to have the name, so it’s only fair to let her be referred to by her first name!”
Shining Armor and Hiiro looked back and forth between the two, eventually they just shrugged and let it be, there was already enough craziness with the disease and Bugster monsters popping up out of nowhere. Suddenly, Hiiro’s stethoscope began to ring, Hiiro pushed a button on the device and said, “This is Dr. Kagami, go ahead.”
[Thought you should know, the kid’s awake,] said Kiriya.
“Okay, we’re coming up to see him,” said Hiiro.
The team arrived at the room, where Kiriya and Taiga were standing guard outside the room.
“Poppy’s inside, he was a bit freaked out when he came to so she’s trying to calm him down,” said Taiga.
After a minute, a woman excited the room, she looked like Poppy, but she was wearing a nurse’s uniform, and had brown hair. “He’s calmed down for now, but it’s best that he sees some familiar faces to help with his anxiety.”
Rainbow and Shining Armor blinked, and in unison asked, “Who are you?”
“Oh?”, the woman then face palmed herself, “I forgot, you haven’t seen me in this form. I’m Poppy, but when I’m like this you may call me Asuna.”
“It’s easier to just go with it,” said Kiriya.
“Noted,” the group said in unison.
The girls entered the room, spotting Microchips sitting up in the bed. A few wires were connected to him, all of which were connected to a machine that read “CR” on the side. The girls looked to Asuna for an explanation on the strange medical device.
“We normally have a larger unit to monitor for any sign of the Bugster Virus, but in this case, we managed to make a portable unit. It’ll alert us if the virus shows up in Mr. Chips here,” said Asuna.
“Hey, Microchips, how’re you feeling?” Pinkie asked.
“A bit freaked out, I mean, I was attacked by a monster, and saved by Kamen Riders! Why would a monster attack me?!” Microchips asked.
Applejack spoke up, “Well, we were kinda hopin’ you’d tell us. Ya heard about the virus that’s attackin’ kids and teens, right?”
Microchips nodded. “How couldn’t I? It’s been blaring on the news all day.”
“Yes, well, it would appear that the disease was traced back to a game,” said Rarity. “More specifically, the game Knightmare Studios made, Tirek’s Revenge.”
Microchips looked at the girls in the room, and then gave a little chuckle. “I’m sorry, I know that CHS has dealt with some strange and magical based phenomenon in the past year, but that’s a little farfetched. A video game causing a disease?”
“It’s not actually.” Asuna stepped forward. “In my world, Kamen Riders battle against a virus that has taken sentience and infects others through cyberspace and into the real world. We call it Game Disease or the Bugster Virus. We have found a way to quell the virus and develop vaccines to stop it from spreading and end the infection. However, somehow, the virus has jumped worlds, now appearing in your world. Infecting the game that that company made.”
At this Microchips’ eyes widened, and he visibly began to sweat. Signs that did not go unnoticed by Starlight. “Microchips, what were you doing at that company? Do you work for them?”
“Um…I…Well ‘work for’ is a broad term…”
“Then we’ll make it simple. Did you help make the game?” Rainbow Dash asked with a piercing gaze.
Microchips felt the accusatory gazes of the girls around him, bearing down like a lead wait. Out of the assembled, the one that made his will weaken was that of Fluttershy, her gaze was not like theirs, no, it was way worse. Fluttershy’s eyes were pleading, not a hint accusation, just a plead for him to say something. Fluttershy then reached out to Microchips and held his hands, making the bespectacled boy blush.
“Please, Microchips, our brothers and sisters are sick! We need to help them, and you may know something that can help stop this,” said Fluttershy.
That was it, that was the last straw, Fluttershy’s near teary eyes were something that no man or woman could withstand and not breakdown. “Okay, okay! I work for Knightmare Studios! I’m a game designer and programmer! I’ve been working for them – off the books – for a couple of years now!”
Twilight adjusted her glasses as she pondered that information. “Wait, you’ve been working for Knightmare for two years, but I assume not in an official compacity. Hiring a teen for a company like that while still in high school is breaking a few laws.”
“I-I-I know, that’s why I said ‘off the books’, I get a little stipend and work under an alias. It’s been mostly here and there work, but Tirek’s Revenge was the first game I designed from the ground up, everything from the story, the coding, the battle mechanics, the characters, all of it! I mean, I wouldn’t get any real recognition for it, but I would know.”
Applejack shook her head. “Hold on, you were waitin’ in line, for that game yesterday. Why the hey would ya buy somethin’ that you’d could just pick at that there company for free?”
Rarity cleared her throat. “Speaking from a designer’s perspective darling, he wanted to see how excited everyone is for his game. While I make it no secret that I made my fabulous clothes, someone who works anonymously can move freely and see the unbiased look of excitement on the faces of so many people, I can think of no greater joy for a creator.”
“Huh, well, that makes, some sense, I guess.” Rainbow Dash turned her gaze back to Microchips. “So, you’ve been working on this game all the way through, did anything weird happen with it? Anything magical or otherworldly?”
“I still don’t think I have anything to do with it!” Microchips insisted. “I don’t possess the knowledge to for that kind of thing.”
“The facts speak for themselves,” said Starlight. “A Bugster came after you, and you’re the only other teen who hasn’t gotten sick from the virus.”
“You guys aren’t either!” Microchips pointed out.
“Yeah, but we also have Equestrian magic in us that gives magical pony ears and tails, and we can shoot rainbow lasers. Guess that counts as an immunity against this bad bug,” said Pinkie Pie.
“So, what’s yer excuse?” Applejack asked.
Microchips opened his mouth to protest but stopped. He really couldn’t pose any explanation. True, the girls assembled in this room have used magic powers to save not only his life, but the lives of the faculty and students in CHS, along with the world on two occasions. But what has he done to warrant an immunity to a disease that has made all the children and teenagers in the city very ill and near death. Why was he not infected?
“Mr. Chips, we’ll need your help to figure out what happened in the development of this game that could’ve caused this. To that end, we would like you to work with our team to help find a cure to this latest strain of the Bugster Virus,” said Asuna.
Microchips rubbed the back of his head, he then sighed heavily and said, “Okay, I’ll help you guys out.”
The girls smiled.
“But…um…Ms. Asuna, could you leave the room, there’s something I need to tell them…”
Asuna nodded and proceeded to step outside of the room. Now alone, Microchips had a flustered look on his face. “Okay…so…don’t get too mad, but the game…is kind of…maybe sorta…based on you all…”
The girls all blinked and went silent for a moment.
Applejack broke the silence by saying, “Beg pardon?”
“Well…with all the magical mishaps, and the she-demons, Sirens, and um…ahem…dark angels…” At this Twilight grimaced. “It just served as fuel for the creative fire…you could say.”
“Hold on, are you saying that there are characters in the game that look like US?!” Rainbow exclaimed.
“NOT EXACLTY LIKE YOU!” Microchips stated quickly. “Just based off of you…personality wise…and aesthetically in some cases, with some minor tweaks.”
Twilight stood up, the light in the room cast a glare on her glasses that obscured the look of her eyes, so it made it hard to tell what she was feeling. “So, allow me to understand this. You not only created a video game, but a game that is based on real life occurrences, and on people it’s happened to, and turned it into a game built in a fantasy land. Microchips…I need you to be very honest with me when I ask you this question.”
Microchips gulped, and so did the rest of the girls.
“Did you add a dating sim system into the game itself? In other words, since this is an RPG, you gave the main character the ability to either befriend or romance certain key characters in the game itself?!”
Microchips nodded very slowly.
“Okay, so is it also safe to assume, that the key characters needed to beat the game, are also those whom you based our likeness and personalities on?” Twilight asked.
Once again, Microchips nodded, albeit slower and with a hint of regret.
Twilight walked towards the door, stuck her head out and asked for something that the others couldn’t hear. She then closed the door with a pad and pen in hand and shoved them into Microchips’ hands.
“I want you to write down the names of each character, because I’m going to help you and Mr. Dan –”
“THAT’S DAN KUROTO-SAMA!” came a voice.
“– figure out what happened to the game, and I’m also going to see what flags you’ve set up that trigger romance events!”
Microchips began writing quickly, while Rainbow scooted over to Twilight and whispered, “Um, Twi, why is this important?”
In a surprising move, Twilight managed to twirl her body around while hooking her arm around Rainbow Dash’s neck to bring her into a makeshift huddle. “Because, if I can find a way to contact Sunset in the game, I can get her this information. If characters based on us are key characters, then that means they can help her and Dr. Hojo escape the game world. Also…”
“Also…?” Rainbow asked.
“If there’s really a game version of me…I…I…”
Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Are you worried that Sunset’s going to fall for a fantasy version of you?”
“Have you ever played games with a dating sim system?” Twilight asked.
Rainbow thought about it for a moment, and as she did a blush overcame her. “Well…yeah…kind of, but don’t tell my folks alright?!”
“And in those games, how many of them ended up with…you know…”
“It’s done, I also included the races for each character –!”
“GIVE ME THAT!” Rainbow ordered as she snatched the pad out of Microchips’ hands. “Twilight’s game character is called ‘Midnight Moonshadow’, and she’s an elf?”
“That’s a pretty name, and I could see Twilight having cute elf ears,” said Fluttershy.
“Ooh, ooh, lemme see what I am!” Pinkie exclaimed.
The girls gathered around Rainbow and Twilight, and each had a varied expression. Their names they had no problems with, but their races on the other hand.
·Midnight Moonshadow – Elf
·Spectra – Harpy
·Ambrosia – Amazon
·Surprise – Cat Girl
·Lightheart – Fairy
·Countess Rori Adamant – Enchantress
“Imma what?!” Applejack asked.
“A fairy sounds nice,” said Fluttershy.
“Harpy? Aren’t those, like, those half-human bird monsters?” Rainbow asked.
“Ooh, I’m a cat girl! That’s super cool!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“A countess? My, my, that does sound fitting,” said Rarity.
Twilight looked back at Microchips, his face looking as red as a rose at this point. “I can pretty much figure out who is who based on these names and race types, but I don’t see one for Sunset Shimmer.”
“Well…that might be because…” Microchips gulped. “The MC technically is…Sunset Shimmer…”
“I see.” Sunset please don’t fall for elf girl me! “We should have Ms. Starlight and Mr. Dan –!”
“GOD DAN KUROTO!” the voice echoed.
Twilight groaned. “‘God’ Dan Kuroto, and myself start on dissecting the game and finding out how a Bugster corrupted it.”
***___________<U> x [+]E[+]___________***
Sunset and Emu waited at the main gate to the kingdom, their armor equipped, items collected, and destination set. After a day, Headmaster Aster had assigned Emu and Sunset the task of eliminating the threat of Tirek at its source. The site of The Pillars’ final battle with the dark centaur, the forsaken land known as Heaven’s Fall. According to The Pillars, it was an ancient city where the demon king, Grogar, once ruled in his city known as Tambelon. However, the gods grew angry at the demon kings affront to the good and pure in this world, and so smote him from on high with a meteor-like attack that burned white, gold, and blue, and steaked with holy lightning, and roared with heavenly thunder.
The land became desolate and uninhabitable, despite the divine power of the gods, they could not purify the taint of Grogar’s power. And it was there that Tirek rose, drawing power from the unholy site to make himself stronger in his first campaign and most likely would try again. It was going to be a lengthy journey, over different terrain, and through different perils, but The Pillars believed that Sunset and Emu would be the best ones to bring an end to the dark one, well, them and one other.
Sunset tapped her foot on the ground repeatedly, her arms crossed, and her brow was furrowed as she thought hard. Parado appeared and floated over to Sunset, asking, “Wondering what’s keeping Midnight?”
“Not so much that, Parado…I’m still unsettled about the fact I can advance my relationship with her,” said Sunset.
“Well, no one’s saying you have to, Sun-chan. Some games don’t allow time for you to advance relationships with every character, sometimes you’re stuck in the ‘friend zone’ with a few of them, and then you have the one you do wish to advance your relationship with,” said Emu. “Not that I have anything against girls dating girls.”
“Glad to hear it, and I am by the way. It’s just…I have a girlfriend back in my world, and I…”
“Don’t want to feel like you’re cheating on her,” Emu finished.
“Yeah,” said Sunset.
Emu took a moment to ponder her conundrum, normally such a thing wouldn’t be a problem if one was not in the game world and instead behind the monitor holding the controller. But considering that they were, and that, in a technical sense, the characters here were alive, it did pose a bit of an ethical issue. “I hate to say this, Sun-chan, but the only thing I can say is to try and keep the level at ‘friendship’, however, you must be careful to not let it decline, or it could affect how the rest of the game progresses.”
Sunset smacked her forehead and groaned loudly. “UGH, I swear to Celestia, when I get back I’m going to find the person responsible for this game and give them a good smack upside the head for putting me through this grief!”
“Now, now…” Emu consoled.
Just then a magic circle appeared a couple of feet from their position. The rosy-violet colored ring of runic symbols glowed, and from the center emerged Midnight Moonshadow, with a satchel hanging off her shoulder, and a staff in her left hand. The staff itself was a light brown color, possibly enchanted oak. At the top of the staff was a clear diamond-like crystal.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, it took me a bit of time to cast the right spell on my satchel,” said Midnight.
“It’s no problem, but what spell were you casting on it?” Sunset asked.
“Oh, it’s pocket space spell!” Midnight opened her satchel, and then proceeded to place her entire mage staff into the satchel until it was completely gone.“See!”
“Wow, a pocket dimension spell! Now that’s impressive, good thinking Midnight!”
The praise made Midnight blush, she quickly composed herself, but her smile didn’t fade. “Thanks, now we can store some items that we might otherwise can’t carry on our own, or if we want to keep something safe. Only I can take things in and out of the satchel, so we don’t have to worry about someone pickpocketing from it. Also, while it is a near infinite space, if I can’t fit it into the satchel, I won’t be able to store it.”
“Noted,” said Emu. “Anyway, we’d better get going, we have a long journey ahead of us. The Pillars have given us the task of defeating Tirek before he’s risen!”
***___________<U> x [+]E[+]___________***
The three companions traveled by dirt road for almost four days. They arrived at a village that was a bit on the seedy side. The people appeared to be in a constant state of agitation, their shifty eyes glancing at the trio as they entered the village, knowing that they didn’t belong, and probably sizing them up to see how they could loot them. Sunset knew this feeling, the roving eyes of a predator, it was the same way she was long ago.
“Be on guard,” said Sunset. “Keep a look out Parado.”
“Got it.” Parado whispered as he maintained his ephemeral form.
“I…don’t mean to be rude, but why in world are we stopping through this town?” Midnight asked.
“We need a guide through Talsek Forest, according to Sage Amber Glade, we can find one, for a price,” said Emu.
Midnight glanced about the people, there weren’t just humans in this village, but also Demi-humans. “It’s quite odd to see this many humans and Demi-humans in one village.”
“How so?” Emu asked.
Midnight gave Emu a confused look, but then remembered they were not originally from their world. “Sorry, I forgot you are not native to our world. Humans and Demi-humans don’t always have that he best of relationships, some see Demi-humans as lesser beings because of their animal parts, some Demis can keep their traits hidden since their subtle. Others can’t, like…”
“HEADS UP!”
Sunset looked up at the last second and suddenly found herself getting bowled over. The mage knight went tumbling on the ground for a few seconds before finally coming to a stop. Sunset groaned as she rose up on her hands, the world seemed to spin for a few moments until it finally stopped. Below her was a girl, she wore a black tank top-like shirt that covered most of her upper body but kept her midriff down exposed, if Sunset had anything to compare it to, it was like a sports bra. She had light colored skin, but her arms, from her hands up to her biceps were covered in sky-blue feathers. She had white shorts on, and her legs were like that of a hawk’s, covered in blue feathers until halfway down where it gave way to yellow feet and black talons. Sunset’s eyes moved up to the girl’s face, her eyes were rose colored, her hair however was black with one side painted in seven different colors, like a rainbow.
“Rainbow…?” Sunset gasped.
“Spectra, but close enough.” The bird girl looked down and then back up to Sunset. “Ya done getting a good feel for me, ‘cause I really need to get out of here.”
Sunset looked down and saw that her hand had somehow found its resting spot atop of Spectra’s right – “WHOA!”
The mage knight quickly stood back up, allowing the harpy to rise up as well, dusting herself off as she did so.
“I am so sorry!” Sunset stated.
“It’s no big deal, I just –!”
“HEY!”
The Emu, Midnight, and Sunset turned around and watched as a Demi-human girl walked towards them. She wore leather straps around her forearms, she had leather wraps around her forearms, dark brown boots, a leather coat that could double as armor, and an armor chest plate. Her white hair was frosted, with the tips colored purple, and intense yellow eyes.
“That harpy’s my property,” said the girl.
“‘Property’?” Sunset said with venom. “You can’t own another person.”
The older girl chuckled. “Of course, you can’t, but she ain’t a ‘person’. She’s a Demi-human, and Demi-humans aren’t people, they’re animals who look like humans. So just mind your own business and move along!”
Sunset glanced over her shoulder to Spectra, she seemed not too fazed by this, but she could see it in her eyes. Just like her friend, Rainbow, she couldn’t really hide how she felt, not to someone who knew her. “Sorry, but she’s coming with us.”
Midnight, Spectra, and even the older girl were shocked by this. Emu and Parado only nodded and grinned in agreement. The older girl growled in anger as she slowly approached Sunset, however, Emu stepped forward and brandished his hammer, using it as a metaphorical stop sign. “Now I wouldn’t go and do anything rash, we’re Guardians, and it wouldn’t be very good to get on The Pillars’ bad side if you impeded our mission.”
The older girl flinched at the mention of The Pillars, even for a thug, being in their sights was never a good thing. “Fine, take her! Plenty more where she came from.”
Sunset, Emu, and Midnight watched as the older girl walked away, Sunset still kept a hand rested on her sword just in case. “You okay, Spectra?”
“Y-Yeah, I’ve never seen anyone stand up to Gora before!” Spectra exclaimed. “That was great!”
Sunset rubbed the back of her head bashfully but tried to retain her air of “cool”. “It’s no problem and listen, I know I said you’re with us, but in all honesty, you’re free to go and do whatever you want.”
Spectra crossed her arms. “Oh, I’m going with you, after that display, I definitely want in on a Guardian quest.”
Midnight strolled over. “Um, Miss Spectra, you need to be aware, we’re going on a very dangerous mission. A life threatening one, and it would be irresponsible of us to include a civilian in such matters.”
Spectra blew a raspberry. “Please, I’m not defenseless, I do have skills. Plus, I know the Talsek Forest, and you will need a guide to get you through. And it never hurts to have a ‘bird’s eye view’ of your surroundings.”
Sunset looked to Emu for advice. The MD Kamen Rider thought this over for a moment and said, “We do need a guide through the forest, and something tells me this young harpy does indeed have some skills. But, you are party leader, Sunset, I’ll leave it to you.”
“ME?!” Sunset shouted as she zipped over to Emu. “Why me?! You’re the veteran Kamen Rider, you should be leading this, not me!”
Emu raised his hands up in a stopping motion as he said, “Calm down, Sun-chan. I know I’m the more experienced Rider, but my experience and gaming skills will only carry us so far. This enemy is one you’re familiar with, and this world is somehow modeled after the world you yourself know. And…as you pointed out, there are some uncanny likenesses between these characters and your real-world friends.”
Sunset glanced over her shoulder, her eyes darting between Midnight and Spectra. “Very uncanny.”
“So, that’s why you need to be the one to lead us. Plus, Tsukasa would probably not consider me a good veteran Rider if I just did everything for you,” said Emu.
Sunset thought back to Tsukasa, and how she could just hear him say in that superior tone of voice, “Stand on your own two feet Sunset, or hooves in your case.” The fiery haired girl face palmed herself, she then turned around and faced Midnight. “This isn’t just my decision, Midnight, what do you think?”
Midnight fidgeted from being put on the spot, but quickly composed herself. “Um, well, as I said, it wouldn’t be good to bring in civilians into our quest. She may get hurt, but…I cannot deny that we do need a guide through the forest, and it would be good to have the knowledge of another added to ours. But, I will agree with Emu, you are our leader, and I’ll respect your decision.”
Sunset now turned her attention to Spectra, standing before her as she looked her in the eye. “Spectra, I cannot make you join us, you’re free now, and you’re free to join us or to go and do whatever you please. Just know that, where we’re going, it’s dangerous, and the foe we’re going to face at the end of the journey will be what I can only describe as the worst evil that evil itself can conceive. Knowing that, do you still want to go with us?”
Spectra thought it over for a moment, and then smirked. “Let’s see, fly around free – which does sound like fun – and possibly end up in someone else’s birdcage? Or go on a once in a lifetime quest to…save the world?”
“Pretty much, yeah.” Sunset answered.
“Then I’m in, anyone who can stand up to Gora like that, and stick their neck out that far for me is definitely someone worth following, and just to make it official…um, ya mind coming closer?”
Sunset stepped forward and before she knew what was happening, Spectra nuzzled the left side of Sunset’s face and then the right. Sunset pulled back with a crimson blush on her face, and Spectra with a wide grin on hers.
“You’ll never find a more loyal harpy than me. Well let’s get some supplies, we’ll need ‘em if we’re trekking through the forest.”
Spectra began walking off towards a local shop with Emu following close behind her, Sunset was still stunned by the nuzzling, her hands resting on one her cheeks as if trying to make sure that that did indeed happen. Her gaze fell on Midnight who also sported a stunned expression, probably even more so than Sunset.
“W-What, what is it, Midnight?” Sunset asked.
“I…I know you’re not from our world, so, I’ll just explain this to you. What Spectra did there, is – for a harpy – the showing of loyalty and affection!” Midnight stated.
Sunset’s eye twitched. “Say……what?!”
“When a harpy nuzzles another person’s cheek, they’re essentially rubbing their scent onto you. This is a sign that shows not just how much trust she’s placing in you it’s…it’s…more or less like courtship,” said Midnight with a blush.
Sunset quickly pushed on her chest and opened the menu, she swiped through it and found her party status window. There she saw Spectra added on, and with her, the heart meter was already filled to friend level, and about three quarters of the third level. At the same time, Sunset looked at Midnight’s level, and it too had risen a little.
Celestia help me…