Apple Bloom opened her eyes slowly, the pain in her body had subsided considerably, but she still didn’t feel good. The youngest apple had found herself looking up at a white ceiling with halogen lights buzzing overhead. She glanced over to her right and saw her friends, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle, in hospital beds. Across from her was another person, his skin was a blue-green color, and had five o’ clock shadow, with sandy blonde hair. The young redhead turned to her left and saw a machine that looked like one of those things that monitored vitals, but it looked more like a computer game system.
“What…where am I?” Apple Bloom asked in confusion.
Just then the door to their room opened, and in came Kujo Kiriya. At first Apple Bloom didn’t know what to make of this man, he wasn’t dressed like she would normally see a doctor dressed, he had the white lab coat, and a stethoscope – as strange as it looked. But he was wearing a Hawaiian shirt and looked like was he was from Neighpon.
Kiriya saw that Apple Bloom was awake and walked over to her. “Hey there, little one, you’re the first to wake up.”
“What…What happened…?” Apple Bloom asked.
“You’re in the hospital right now, your older brother and grandmother brought you and several others in,” said Kiriya.
“Ah’m…Ah’m sick, with what? I feel bad all over,” said Apple Bloom.
“It’s a strange disease, you and a lot of young people were infected from playing that new game, Tirek’s Revenge. But don’t worry, myself and my colleagues are experts in this disease and we’ll beat it,” said Kiriya.
Apple Bloom turned to her friends and then asked, “Is this…somethin’ that Kamen Rider Unicorn is fightin’, too?”
Kiriya nodded. “Yes, she is, but she’s not alone, because she isn’t the only Kamen Rider helping out. You see…”
Apple Bloom turned back to Kiriya, her eyes widening a bit as she saw a strange belt wrapped around his waist.
“I’m also a Kamen Rider, along with two of my fellow doctor friends,” said Kiriya. “Now, Apple Bloom, I need you to help us out. What’s the last thing you remember when you were playing the game?”
Apple Bloom thought hard, trying to recall the last thing that happened before she knocked out and felt nothing but constant pain and discomfort. “The last thing Ah remember, Sweetie, Scoots, and Ah were in my room, we just put in the game and started playin’. We had just finished playin’ the game and crashed where we were sittin’. Ah remember hearin’ a voice…somethin’ bad, it said somethin’ like ‘Give yourself to Tirek’. The next thing Ah remember is hurtin’ all over and then just blacken’ out.”
Kiriya wrote some notes on his clipboard, nodding his head. “Thank you, this’ll help. Good news is that we’ve been giving you and your friends something to help with the virus, and it looks like they’re coming around too. It doesn’t seem to infect adults, your big sister seems to be a special case, she and her friends are immune to it, so we’ll be letting them in to see you.”
“Thank you,” said Apple Bloom.
Kiriya walked towards the door and opened it to allow a stream of people to come in. First was Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith. Following them was Fluttershy along with Mr. and Mrs. Shy heading to Zephyr Breeze. Hondo, Cookie, and Rarity huddled around Sweetie Belle, lastly, Scootaloo’s aunts, Lofty and Holiday, Rainbow Dash and her parents, Windy Whistles and Bow Hothoof.
Kiriya went back outside and found Taiga waiting for him.
“So, what did you find out?” Taiga asked.
“The same as the others, they played the game, fell asleep, and heard a voice say, ‘Give yourself to Tirek’. For now, the Gamedeus vaccine is working, but all we’re doing right now is buying time,” said Kiriya.
“Right now, we need time, the longer we can postpone their disappearance the better chance we’ll have of finding a vaccine,” said Taiga.
Both doctors began walking down the hallway, passing by several people who were still afflicted with the new Bugster Virus strain. It was becoming frustrating that the cure had been eluding them, with Emu stuck in the game world they couldn’t use the Reprogram power of Maximum Mighty X, at the very least it might help in breaking down the virus and figuring out how the two unknown codes merged into one. Just then, their stethoscopes beeped.
“This is Taiga and Kiriya, go ahead.”
[Twilight-chan figured out a way to contact Emu and Unicorn, hurry back to the office!] Poppy announced.
***____________<U> x [+]E[+]____________***
Sunset and company finally made it out of the Talsek Forest and had been traveling down the roads for a week at least. Now with their newest addition, Ambrosia, battles against the occasional monster was becoming easier, and now that Parado could join in on the battle, thanks to Mighty Brothers Double X, it was even easier. Leveling up and taking the odd side quest from time to time went hand in hand with RPG games, as much as completing this main quest to save the world was important, Emu stressed that completing a side quest or two might help them in the long run.
It was currently night time and the team had stopped in a town to grab something to eat, celebrating a victory in a side quest to liberate some dwarves from a horde of Orcs. The only one out of the group who could drink, didn’t. Emu had tried it once and found it wasn’t for him and considering his profession he felt that he needed all his wits about him for gaming, fighting, and doctoring. So that left them drinking a sweet nectar-based beverage.
“Wait, so you’re not that much older than me?” Sunset asked.
“No ma’am, I can understand why you’d think that. We Amazons generally grow taller and stand above most men and women, so determining our age by our height is never wise,” said Ambrosia.
“Same with me, harpies aren’t…” Spectra glanced over Ambrosia. “…well endowed, mostly due to the fact that we need to move fast and not have much weighing us down when we fly.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow at that. “But you managed to carry me just fine, armor and all.”
“It’s tied into the type of magic we use, we burn off a lot of our food, so we don’t gain weight. In exchange our slimmer bodies allow our magic to increase our physical strength and ride the winds when flying. That’s why I could carry you so easily,” said Spectra.
Huh, so it almost works along the same lines as pegasus magic, interesting, thought Sunset. “On that note, Midnight, if you don’t mind me asking, how old are you?”
“Oh, I don’t mind, I’m about – in human years – 150 years old,” said Midnight in a nonchalant manner.
Sunset nearly spat out her drink, forcing her to swallow the brew and cough from the action. “Y-You’re over a hundred years old?!”
“In human years, but by the equivalent of my people, I’m just as young as you or the rest of the girls are. Please don’t think I’m some all-knowing being, I’m still learning a lot, in fact, I’ve learned much more traveling these past few days than I have just reading my books and scrolls.”
Sunset couldn’t help but smile, Midnight was so like Twilight, it became hard for her not to see her girlfriend in this game character. It only made it worse when she thought about her real girlfriend, back on Earth, all their friends worried about how they were doing and if they were alive. But in a sense, Sunset was glad they weren’t here, the last thing she needed to do was explain why she was steadily and without any real effort, conscious or subconscious, creating a harem with game characters who resembled her friends.
“So, Ambrosia, what’s this I heard about you confessing to Sunset?” Spectra asked.
Midnight – ironically – was the one to spray her beverage. Emu just sat there and snickered into his drink, knowing when to not meddle in teenage love affairs was part of a doctor’s job.
“I said what I said, and I meant it. I’m not one for beating around the bush.” Ambrosia face started to tint red. “I just felt like Sunset should know how I feel, I’m not telling her to accept my feelings, that’s up to her. I’m a patient gal, I can wait for an answer.”
Spectra and Midnight blinked.
“Huh…well…I nuzzled her cheeks! So there!” Spectra shot back.
Ambrosia turned to face the harpy. “You did what?!”
“Yeah, so we’re pretty much together already,” said Spectra as she puffed out her chest and gave a smug grin.
The Amazon turned to the harpy and looked her in the eye. “Now wait a minute, ya can’t just claim someone like that, you all said Sunset and Emu aren’t from our world, so would she even know what that meant?”
Spectra blinked and then looked to Sunset. The fiery redhead then said, “Technically no, at least not until Midnight told me after the fact.”
“W-Well, I still did it, so it still counts!” Spectra stated defiantly.
“That can’t be called a proper expression if the expression is lost on the one it’s for!” Ambrosia argued.
Sunset slumped in her seat, her face burned in embarrassment as she listened to Spectra and Ambrosia argue about who confessed first. It did not make it any better when they looked like Applejack and Rainbow Dash, and sounded like them when they argued. It was essentially like hearing and watching her friends argue about who was to be her girlfriend. Any other day before she had met Twilight this would probably have been fun for Sunset, but right now it was just embarrassing and just awkward.
Suddenly, Sunset felt as strange warmth from her chest, and a pinging sound. She looked to Emu who seemed to be having the same reaction.
“Uh, ladies, we’ll be right back,” said Emu.
Both Riders went up to Emu’s room. Once inside, they pressed against their chests, and their menus opened. Among the options now there was a “chat” option listed. Emu and Sunset immediately pressed on it and their menus opened into a video window. The image was static-y for a few seconds, becoming clearer after a moment, there was also muffled sound but that too was getting better.
[E….Sun…can…this is Twilight Sparkle…Emu, Sunset, can you hear me? This is Twilight Sparkle!]
“Twilight!” Sunset exclaimed in joy.
[Sunset, and Dr. Houjo, you’ve both alright! And…uh…what are you two wearing? Is that knight armor?]
The video finally cleared up and now they were able to see who all was around Twilight. Assembled in the room was Taiga, Kiriya, Starlight – both of them, Hiiro, Shining Armor, Poppy, Kuroto-DEUS, and the girls.
[You managed to get yourself into another rough spot, Intern,] said Hiiro.
“Oi, Hiiro-san, do you always have to call me ‘Intern’, you know I’m a doctor now too,” said Emu.
[Only when you do things that remind me of your intern days, then yes, I do.]
Shining Armor came into view, now focused on Sunset. [Wow, so you got sucked into the video game world?]
Sunset glanced over to Twilight for a brief second and watched her nod her head. “Y-Yes, it happened when I tried to take the game out my console, I managed to do it, but I guess I set something off that got me sucked in. Luckily, I found Emu here, and we’ve been alright so far.”
Emu understood what was happening, this was the officer that did not know her identity as a Kamen Rider. “Yes, Officer Armor, I have been keeping her safe since I found her. But honestly, Sun-chan is a natural gamer, it’s only been together that we’ve managed to get this far.”
[And no sign of Unicorn?]
“I figured that she may be held captive by Tirek, or thrown to another part of this world that we haven’t made our way to, but I have a feeling she’s alright. Call it Rider Intuition,” said Emu.
Shining Armor nodded in agreement. [Yeah, I find hard to believe that that girl would be kept down that easily.]
Taiga interjected and said, [As much as we’re grateful that you’re okay, we need to brief you on the situation here, and I feel there’s some information you can provide in regard to that world.]
The next hour both sides traded info, with some omissions about Sunset transforming. A full rundown of the events in Canterlot City was given, and an account of the happenings in the game world was provided to the CR team. After a while, Sunset slammed her fist into her left hand and growled.
“So, Microchips was the one who made this game! When I get out of here…”
[Believe me, he knows Sugarcube, we’ll have some serious words for him when this is over,] said Applejack.
[I still can’t believe weeks have passed in there, and its barely been twenty-four hours over here!] Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
Kuroto came into view and said, [Most games run on an accelerated time table, in some of them that simulate day and night, hours won’t pass the same time as they do in the real world. For some games this is done for either ambience, scare factor, or due to certain events that require the dark of night. If games were on the same time table as was in the human world, you wouldn’t be able to progress as far as you can, you’d truly need to take a year or more to finish a game’s story. So, it’s not surprising that time for them is going faster than it is for us.]
Sunset sighed. “At least now we know that we’re on different time tables, I was so worried that each day that was passing that things were getting worse.”
Emu placed his hand on Sunset’s shoulder in comfort. “One less thing to worry about, now all we really need to concentrate on, is getting to the end of this game and defeating Tirek.”
“[I’m still skeptical about that.] Starlight interjected. [If the only threats to Tirek were Unicorn and Ex-Aid, why would he bring them to that world? If anything, it would make more sense to stay in that game world and build up his power, with this his attention is divided.]
Sunset wasn’t entirely trusting of this Starlight, but she did have a point, and it was one that was bugging the both of them since arriving. Why had Tirek tossed them into the game world rather than just finish them off then and there? Did he believe he stood a better chance of destroying them in the game world, like getting homefield advantage? Or was he hoping the perils of this world and the loss of their powers would do the dirty work for him? Whatever the case was, it was still the biggest mystery in this game world, with the other being how Tirek became one with the Gamedeus Bugster Virus.
[For now, concentrate on clearing the game.] Poppy instructed. [Twilight-chan and Micro-kun have made a patch that will hopefully keep Tirek from sending anymore Bugsters through into this world. And now that we can communicate with you, we’ll let you know if something bad happens so don’t worry so much about time.]
“Alright, we’ll be heading out in the morning, we still have a ways to go, but I feel like we’ll get there soon,” said Sunset.
[Now that we have an idea of the time, I can write an algorithm that will give us real time calculations of how much time has passed in the game world compared to the real world. I’ve also managed keep this communication option open on your menus, so you can contact us anytime you want to,] said Twilight.
“Thanks, we’ll keep in touch, do what you can,” said Emu.
The transmission ended, Sunset had a smile on her face knowing that the situation was being handled by Emu’s colleagues, and now they had a way to communicate between worlds. But now with the knowledge in hand of knowing about the dating sim aspect of the game, it was not a matter of being plausible, but inevitable that Sunset was indeed going to run into the remaining game versions of her friends, and by no fault of her own, would end up in a relationship that would evolve into something more.
Sunset slumped against the wall and groaned at that knowledge. “I’m going to end up with a freaking harem made up the fantasy versions of my friends!”
“As awkward as this is for you, Sun-chan, I still don’t think it is necessarily a bad thing. I feel as if they will be key in helping us in the end,” said Emu.
“But what will happen if I reach the max level of the relationship meter?!” Sunset asked with frantic eyes. “What if…if…please don’t make me say it!”
Emu’s cheeks tinted red. “Ahem, I don’t think it’ll go that far. Few games do and if they do…well…”
“Well what?!”
“It happens ‘off camera’, but since we’re in the game world, off camera may not be the option here. What was the age rating on the game?” Emu asked.
Sunset wracked her brain to remember the game cover. “I think it was T for Teen – no it definitely was a Teen rated game!”
“Okay, so more than likely that won’t happen. Possibly,” said Emu.
Sunset shot up and grabbed Emu by his cape. “Emu, every time I think you’re throwing me a bone, you’re yanking it back as if it was tied on a string! What do you mean by ‘possibly’?!”
Emu raised his hands in an attempt to bring down Sunset’s stressed mood. “All I’m saying is, even though that may be the rating, we’re in the game world. While some things thus far have operated under the game rules and programming, we can’t expect that everything will be the same. These game characters act and talk like real living people, and for all intents and purposes, they are and they believe that. Which means…”
Sunset let Emu go as she released a heavy sigh. “Which means those three back there are acting like any girl would who had a crush…and will take it a step further if things line up………. I’m going to punch Microchips in his–!”
*Knock*
*Knock*
“Um, Emu, Sunset, are you two alright?” Midnight’s voice asked. “You’ve been in there for quite some time.”
Sunset and Emu face palmed themselves, they left so suddenly when they received the transmission, who knows what that may have looked like to the others. Both Riders opened the door and found Midnight, Spectra, and Ambrosia waiting at the door. Spectra had her hands at her hips and looked up at Ambrosia.
“Told you they weren’t doing anything, they still got their armor on,” said Spectra.
And there’s that crude humor that is so reminiscent of a certain rainbow haired friend of mine, thought Sunset.
“We weren’t doing…whatever it was that you were thinking Spectra. We actually received a message from our home worlds,” said Emu.
The Elf, Harpy, and Amazon all had a look of surprise on their faces.
“Y-You did?!” Midnight asked.
“Yes, and it seems that Tirek isn’t just active here. He’s been sending monsters to attack my home. But thankfully, Emu’s allies from his world are in mine as backup, so they have the situation handled,” said Sunset with a smile.
Ambrosia grinned as she crossed her arms. “Well that’s certainly good to hear, figured someone as strong as you would have some strong friends. I wouldn’t worry too much.”
Emu nodded, but his face became serious. “That being said, Tirek has created a disease in Sunset’s world that is afflicting the young, and right now my friends are keeping it at bay. But if we don’t defeat Tirek here, we don’t know how long they have.”
Spectra, Ambrosia, and Midnight had genuine looks of concern on their faces.
“How much time do we have?” Spectra asked.
Sunset cupped her chin as she thought. “We don’t know exactly. Apparently, the flow of time between our worlds is different. While it’s been weeks here in your world, only about twenty-four hours or so have passed in mine. I’d like to say we have plenty of time, but I’d rather not risk it.”
The girls all looked to each other and nodded with affirmation.
“Then tomorrow we head out at the crack of dawn and make a beeline for Heaven’s Fall!” Ambrosia announced.
“Yeah, we’ll double time, since we’re fighting for two worlds!” Spectra stated.
“You’re both fighting to protect not just your worlds, but ours as well, we will see this mission succeed and defeat Tirek, for the sake of all worlds!” Midnight declared.
Sunset felt a strange warmth in her heart from seeing the determined faces of these girls, and she didn’t deny that the fact that these three were willing to help save not just their world, but her home, well, it moved her. Sunset then heard a ping sound and groaned inwardly, with stealthy movements Sunset managed to open her menu and checked the party status. The heart bar moved just to 31/2 bars now. Emu looked over her shoulder and patted in a comforting manner.
“It’ll all work out, Sun-chan,” said Emu in as sage like a manner as he could.
***____________<U> x [+]E[+]____________***
The group headed out as soon as a possible, trekking from the town and riding on horses the rest of the way. Sunset felt a tad uncomfortable riding a horse, considering she was a pony, but kept the fact that this was a game world and that this horse wasn’t a really real horse. Spectra stayed airborne, often flying ahead and scouting out the area to make sure that they weren’t about to get ambushed. Unfortunately, Spectra did find a few goblins and Orcs waiting for them at certain points in their travel. Not surprising since they managed to defeat two Envoy’s already. But it was nothing that they couldn’t handle since they were able to surprise them instead.
As they rode on, the group happened by a forest, a dark forest in the distance. Sunset stopped her horse and stared at this forest of gray barked trees and black leaves. It was an ominous place, a place that not even daylight could reach it. Ambrosia saw Sunset’s stare and had her horse pull up alongside the fiery redhead.
“Sunset, what’s wrong?” she asked.
“What is that place?”
Ambrosia looked towards the ominous woods and grimaced. “That place has no real name, it’s only been called Schwartz.”
That’s Germaneian for “Black Forest”. “Why is it like that?”
“Legend has it, it used to be a place where the fairies lived. It was a beautiful forest, practically a paradise. But it was the fall of the fairy king and queen that brought sickness and death to the forest. Without the light of the fairy rulers, the forest became a place hostile to any living thing. What it didn’t kill it twisted into something worse. Some say it was Tirek’s influence from the first time he arose, but no one’s braved it to find out,” said Ambrosia.
Sunset continued to stare at that forest, for some reason it held sway over her. A gust of wind came wafting from the woods, the direction was plain to see as the grass shifted and pointed towards them.
‘Help me…’
Sunset’s ears picked up a voice but denounced it as the wind howling. The yet again picked.
‘Help me…please…’
Sunset stopped her horse and looked around, this caused the others to stop and had Spectra lower to a hover above them.
“What’s wrong, Sun-chan?” Emu asked.
“I…I don’t know, I swear I hear someone calling for help,” said Sunset.
Midnight closed her eyes, her pointed ears twitched as she tried to pick up on any minute sound in the area. Midnight had informed them of the hearing acuity of the elves, how they could hear over vast distances and see just as far. After a minute Midnight shook her head.
“I can’t hear anything, other than the wind and the rustling of leaves.”
Sunset swore she heard someone, she wasn’t hallucinating. Just then, another gust of wind kicked up and blew towards her. This time grabbing her full attention as she heard, ‘Please help me, I cannot stop them!’
The mage knight cursed and turned her horse around, directing the beast of burden straight for Schwartz. Spectra, Emu, Ambrosia, and Midnight turned around and hurried after Sunset, all of them calling out to her to stop before she got there. But Sunset had already gotten a head start on them and was now nearing the tree line that marked the boundary between the field and the forest itself. Before she could get close enough, the horse suddenly stopped, it’s instincts telling it not to enter, the result of which threw Sunset out of the saddle. The girl sailed into the distance, about to plow face first into the ground.
However, before she could do a painful face plant into the dirt, another gust of wind blew in. It flipped her around so instead it was her rear facing the ground and acted as a buffer to slow her down until the impact was less severe than it would’ve been. Sunset landed on the dirt with a thump, groaning as her back and rear hurt from the impact against the unforgiving earth, but she figured it was a better tradeoff for the concussion she could’ve suffered.
Now Sunset stood at the edge of Schwartz, and it was even more ominous up close. The thick canopy of dark leaves kept any sunlight from penetrating, as if the leaves themselves were mini black holes that absorbed all light before it could touch upon anything inside the forest. It was a wonder the trees themselves weren’t shriveled up, unable to photosynthesis properly, they should all be dead. But, Sunset figured it was more than simple light conversation that was keeping this forest alive.
Steeling herself, Sunset drew her sword and ventured into the dark woods, determined to come to the aid of the one calling for help. The difference was literally like night and day, once Sunset entered Schwartz, it felt as if the sun had set and night had overtaken the day. Not only that, but all the color had been muted, making her appear in shades of black, white, and gray.
“SUNSET!” her friends called out.
When the mage knight turned around to see them, the roots and branches of the trees shot up and began to weaver themselves into a wall of sharp brambles, Sunset ran the towards the wall, but the wall lashed out at her, attacking with the brambles if she even dared too get close. Sunset watched as the wall continued to rise along the tree line, as of the forest itself was trapping her.
“Like a Venus Flytrap, and I’m the fly…”
With little choice but to go forward, Sunset pressed deeper into the forest known as Schwartz. It felt as if she was stuck in an old black and white movie, but in high definition. Despite the lifeless look of the wood, she could hear things moving about, stirring up the leaves on the ground as they rushed on by. The monochromatic coloring of this forest made it hard for Sunset to spot anything that looked like a monster or regular animal, and there was barely anything she could use a marker to show where she had been.
Despite this, there was a wind blowing through, and that wind felt like it was tugging at her. With little else to go on, Sunset followed the wind current. Deeper and deeper she went into the Schwartz, and further she went, the worse the environment became. The branches and vines had sharp barbs on them, skeletons of animals, monsters, and even some humans could be seen strewn about different parts, evidence that Sunset was not the first to have fallen victim to this place, but she did not plan on just being another victim.
Suddenly, something rushed out from behind Sunset. The mage knight quickly dodged to the left, letting the attacker keep going forward. Sunset gasped when she saw who, or rather, what attacked her. “Uh…Uh…Timberwolf?!”
The creature was indeed a Timberwolf but twisted by the darkness of the Schwartz. Its body was a mixture of wood, moss and dirt. Its fur was that of thin grass that covered the beast in patches. The eyes of this creature were the only thing that had color, glowing a lime green. The claws were not wooden, they were stone, but Sunset doubted it was ordinary stone, quite possibly it was of a stone substance that could damage her if she was not careful.
“Haven’t seen things like you since I was a filly,” said Sunset as she readied her blade. “But I’m not a filly, so come and get me!”
The Timberwolf snarled and rushed at her again. The emerald crystal blade began to glow, granting a luminesce that allowed color to return to the area. Sunset slashed at the Timberwolf as it lunged at her, cutting it in the side as it passed by. The beast yelped in pain, but it did not back off, it merely growled at her as it glared. Sunset resumed her stance but saw that the cut she had dealt the monster was stitching itself back together in a matter of seconds.
“Oh great, so you can regenerate.” Sunset placed her hand over her sword. “Let’s see how you deal with this, BLAZE BLADE!” The sword ignited and then fizzled out. “Uh, Blaze Blade!” Once again, the blade caught fire, and once again it snuffed out. “Blaze Blade, Blaze Blade, Blaze Blade!”
Each time Sunset cast the spell the fires would snuff out before the whole blade could catch fire, Sunset tried casting another fire spell, and even a lightning spell, but each attempt ended the same. It was if the forest itself was forbidding any fire from igniting in its domain.
“Well, this sucks,” said Sunset.
The Timberwolf had apparently had enough and gave a loud howl that echoed through the woods. It didn’t take long before Sunset heard the soft, thundering sounds of paws against the ground, in less than a minute, Sunset was surrounded by a pack of Timberwolves.
“And this sucks worse!”
The wolves circled her, caught in a ring of death, Sunset held her ground. But before the beasts could strike, a pink and yellow light zoomed towards her and shined bright. The wolves snarled and backed away from the light.
“Follow me, quickly, please!” the light spoke.
“Who, what are you?” Sunset asked.
“Please, I cannot keep them at bay for too long!”
Sunset decided to take her chances with the glowing light ball. The ball began flying, creating a path that Sunset followed. Both the light and Sunset kept weaving around the trees, and all the while she could hear the snarling and barking of the Timberwolves hot on their heels.
“It’s not much further! Up ahead!”
The fiery redhead looked straight ahead and saw green, actual greenery, and color. With one last sprint, Sunset crossed into the lighted area, her color returning. The wolves, however, stopped at the edge of boundary, barking and snapping their jaws at Sunset for getting away. The alpha Timberwolf barked at its followers and directed them, the wolves began to circle around the sanctuary, apparently biding their time until Sunset exited it.
Sunset, after dusting herself off, followed the light further into the sanctuary. As she did, she noticed many flowers and healthy trees, some seemed to be carved into tiny dwellings. She was then brought before a large cheery blossom tree, its bark was engraved with whimsical, swirly patterns, along with rune markings that glowed in a aurora pattern. The light settled before a rock and Sunset knelt before it.
“Thank you, for saving me back there,” said Sunset.
The light faded and soon revealed Sunset’s savior. She stood about six inches tall, wearing clothes stitched from sunflower leaves. Her hair was long and colored pink, with teal colored eyes, and glossy, see through wings. The wings had similar swirling, whimsical patterns, and glittered when the light hit them just right.
“It’s no trouble, I had to, I couldn’t save the others…but, I knew I could save you, and I did!”
Sunset blinked as she stared at the…fairy. “Fluttershy…?”
“Oh, um, that’s not my name. I’m Lightheart, a member of the Drasa Fairies…well…the last of the Drasa Fairies.”
Sunset sat down before the rock and looked upon Lightheart with saddened eyes. “What happened here?”
“This used to be a beautiful forest, the animals and fairies lived in harmony, it was a place that our King Oberon and Queen Titania ruled over, and with their magic, kept the forest safe from all who wished us and it harm. However, when Tirek arose, he sought to use the magic of our forest to make himself stronger. The king and queen fought him fiercely, all the way until the end…” Lightheart began to cry. “He killed them, and out of spite he cursed the forest, and turned it into this horrible place. All my friends and family knew of my prowess in the magic of nature and funneled all their magic and lifeforce to me, so I could keep this last haven alive.”
Sunset’s heart ached after hearing this from Lightheart, and yet again, another creature who resembled one of her friends. The mage knight disengaged her armor, instead adopting more leisurely attire of a red tunic, and black leggings. Sunset reached out and cupped the fairy in her hands, she then gently wiped her tears away with the tip of her pinkie. “You’ve been here all alone, keeping the last remnants of your people from being destroyed. You’re really brave, Lightheart.”
“I’m…not,” said Lightheart.
“You are!” Sunset insisted.
“If I was, I would’ve been able to save those others who wandered in here!” Lightheart shut her eyes as she held herself.
“You saved me, that took courage. Lightheart, I think it’s time you got out of here, you can’t just stay in this secluded place, surrounded by danger,” said Sunset.
“But…if I do, this place will be…”
“Yes, it’ll be gone, but I don’t think your people gave you the last of their power just to keep some empty houses and one tree alive, dying in this place would just be wasting their sacrifice.”
Lightheart knew this was true, she had protected the tree for years, but for the longest time she could feel the tree urging her to leave, it spoke of how precious life was, and it did not want hers to snuffed out. Just then, the howling could be heard echoing around them. Lightheart flew out of Sunset’s hands, freeing them to take up her sword.
“The wolves again, have they gotten inside this place?!” Sunset asked.
“It’s impossible, the magic of this area keeps the corruption, and anything touched by it from coming in,” said Lightheart. “Unless…”
Lightheart looked to the cherry blossom tree and saw that the magic was fading from it. Sunset looked up and saw a barrier form, it was once invisible, but now it was becoming visible with the naked eye. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, making many of the fairy structures topple over. The trees began to groan and snap as something pushed against them, made them bend and break. Sunset’s eyes grew wide as she saw a giant version of the Timbewolves she fought.
Sunset remembered this from the books she had read about the creatures, that the Timberwolves, when provoked enough, could merge their bodies into a single terrifying beast that stood as tall as the trees themselves. The giant Timberwolf gave a mighty howl that shook the area and made both girls cover their ears. Soon, Sunset saw an HP bar and the name that appeared, “Arbor Lupine Rex”. The beast raised its right paw and slammed it down on the barrier, causing cracks to appear on the surface. The tree began to look sickly at the same time the monster struck the shield.
The tree raised one of its roots, snaking its way towards Sunset. The tip of the root appeared before her and began to grow a flower, and from that flower and released a seedling into her hand. Lightheart flew over to Sunset and saw that the tree had entrusted its last seed to Sunset, a human. The root then moved to Lightheart and gave her one of its petals. Once she touched it, light flowed into her body and Lightheart knew what this meant.
“I’ll watch over this seedling, you have my word,” said Lightheart.
Unfortunately, that was the last of the tree’s strength as it lost all of its glow and the petals fell from the branches. The barrier shattered upon receiving another impact from the wolf’s paw. Now gone, the wolf began to stalk towards them, its back growing several tentacle brambles that were ready to tear them to shreds. The wolf shot its brambles towards the two, and Sunset readied to defend, but at the last second, a green light shined, followed by a powerful whirlwind that pushed back the brambles.
Sunset and Lightheart closed their eyes for a moment, but soon found the winds calming. When they opened their eyes, they found themselves in the eye of a mini tornado. The wind had a green hue to it, and it sparkled with energy. Sunset looked above them and saw a fairy-like creature descend, it had wings like a dragonfly, but was colored green from head to toe. The fairy creature had white eyes, pointed ears, and long hair that bellowed in the wind it created.
“Is…Is that a fairy?” Lightheart asked.
“No, it’s Cyclone,” said Sunset with certainty.
Cyclone nodded its head.
“Lightheart, it’s time to get you out of here! LIMIT BREAK!”
The Uni-Driver appeared around Sunset’s waist and the Unicorn Memory in her right hand. Cyclone flew over to her left side and began to glow. Within seconds, the fairy’s body broke down into light particles, and reformed into its true form, that of the Cyclone Memory. Sunset took the other Gaia Memory into her hand and pressed the buttons.
< UNICORN! >
< CYCLONE! >
“HENSHIN!”
> UNICORN! <
{< CYCLONE! MIMETIC DRIVE! >}
The wind wall burst apart, revealing Unicorn Mystic Cyclone. Her armor had slimmed down to match the aerodynamics of its wind-based powers, the twin tailed scarf flowed in the winds that whirled around her. The giant wolf growled at the new opponent and launched its brambles at her. Unicorn focused the air currents to flow around her right arm, she then slashed at a rapid rate, releasing cutting air crescents that chopped through all the brambles before they could reach them.
“Lightheart hurry to me!”
Lightheart shook of the shock of Sunset’s new form and flew to her. Once Unicorn had secured her in her hand, the Kamen Rider summoned the power of the wind. The magical laced air currents lifted Sunset up, taking her high above the monster. The cherry blossom petals followed after her, mixing with the green hued wind and adding the remnants of their power to Unicorn’s.
“We’ll lay this place to rest.”
>} CYCLONE! MAXIMUM DRIVE! {<
“SAKURA STRIKE!”
The cherry blossom petals transformed into light and multiplied as they spun around Unicorn to form a tornado. Unicorn flew up and then changed her direction so that she was heading straight for the monster. The buffeting winds kept the beast from dodging, having no choice but to take the incoming attack. Unicorn extended her right foot forward as the tip of the tornado glowed pink and green. The moment she made contact, the beast exploded into splinters, when her attack followed through and hit the ground, the impact created wave of green and pink energy petals that washed through the entire forest.
The wave continued on, erasing the dark leaves and gray bark of the trees, allowing the bright sunlight to come shining down upon the land once more. Unicorn rose up into the air again and opened her hands to allow Lightheart to see what was happening. The little fairy’s eyes widened with awe as her forest was stripped away of the curse that was laid upon it and was now colorful again. The trees looked weak from years of not having direct sunlight, and now their branches were bare. But now the forest had a chance to return to normal, thanks to her.
Lightheart looked up at the armored hero and asked, “I’m sorry, but what is your name?”
Unicorn chuckled. “Sorry, I forgot to give it. My name is Sunset Shimmer.”
***____________<U> x [+]E[+]____________***
Emu, Spectra, Midnight, and Ambrosia were all worried for Sunset, it had been an hour, at least, since they lost her. They had made several attempts to break into the forest, but each attempt only ended with the forest retaliating by creating another wall or lashing out with brambles. Midnight had tried several times to cast fire spells against the brambles and trees, but the moment any flame attack reached it the flames would be snuffed out. So here they waited, and waited, some pacing and others sparring to keep their edge should they need to spring into action.
“I can’t stand this, Sunset could be hurt in those accursed woods! Or worse!” Midnight exclaimed in worry.
Ambrosia stopped sharpening her spear and said, “Don’t fret Midnight, if Sunset’s half as strong as I know she is, the Schwartz won’t take her.”
“Yeah, anyone with Emu’s and Sunset’s power won’t let a little thing like a cursed forest off them,” said Spectra.
Despite their boasting of Sunset’s abilities, both women were just as worried as Midnight, and prayed their confidence in their potential lover was not misplaced. Meanwhile, Emu kept his eyes fixated on the forest, arms crossed as he tried to figure out a way in.
“Maybe we should transform, and enter the forest?” Parado suggested.
“If we do, we might use up all of our energy before we reach her. And there’s no telling if Sun-chan has used all of her Rider power to survive. Having two Riders who can’t transform in that forest would most likely end in a Game Over for all of us,” said Emu. “We just have to believe in Sun-chan.”
Suddenly, the forest began to rumble, causing the group to stand at the ready. A wave of green and pink energy burst forth from the forest in a shower of green leaves and pink petals, forcing the group to cover their eyes from the intense power. Once they opened them again, the Schwartz was no longer the dark hollow it once was. Now it looked like a forest in the middle of winter, bare of leaves. Emu spotted something in the distance and directed Spectra and Midnight to look as well.
“IT’S SUNSET!” Both girls announced at once.
“Thank the goddess,” said Ambrosia in relief.
Unicorn flew in and landed a few meters behind them. The others rushed to where she was as Sunset disengaged the transformation. When Sunset turned around though, the others stopped in their tracks when she noticed her holding a fairy in her hands.
“Hey guys, I’m back,” said Sunset.
“Is that…a FAIRY?!” Spectra asked.
Sunset blinked. “Um, yes, she is fairy, is that a problem.”
Ambrosia slowly shook her head. “Oh, no, no it’s not! It’s just, you never really get to see one up close, they’re rare to see even in these parts.”
“Greetings everyone, my name is Lightheart.”The little fairy stood on Sunset’s palm and bowed to the others.
“Nice to meet you, Lightheart-san,” said Emu.
The little fairy flew up and faced Sunset. “And thank you, Sunset, for saving me. And…if at all possible, I would like to travel with you all!”
Sunset rubbed the back of her head. “Well…Lightheart, we’re not exactly just traveling for traveling’s sake. We’re on a mission, to defeat Tirek before he has a chance to rise again. It’s going to be dangerous, and I don’t want to put you in unnecessary harm.”
“I quite good at nature magic, and I can provide additional support magic to increase your abilities during combat,” said Lightheart.
Emu sidled next to Sunset and whispered, “We could use another healer just in case.”
Lightheart flew up to meet Sunset’s gaze. “I want to help! The Great Tree gave you its seed to plant and start a new forest, and I must protect it, and the one who it was entrusted to! Also…I…I wanted to fight back, to use the power my people gave me to strike back against Tirek! If…If you’ll have me?”
Sunset felt torn about letting this fairy fight, even if it was just going to be for support. She could see the likeness of Fluttershy in her, and despite being a timid thing, Sunset knew that in her world, Fluttershy wouldn’t hesitate to help others if it was within her power.
“If I may, fairies are a sight, and others may be tempted to try and take if we travel to towns,” said Midnight.
“Oh, that’s not a problem, we fairies have learned a spell to help us move about with the humans.” At that moment, Lightheart’s body shined, in a matter of seconds Lightheart was standing the same height as Sunset, her sunflower petal dress had become a yellow cloth dress, and her wings were no longer there. Now at a full human size, Sunset and the others couldn’t help noticing how beautiful she was. “This way I can travel and not cause a stir, it’s a special glamour spell that perfectly mimics the body of a human.”
Sunset went to touch Lightheart on the shoulder and felt it as real as any of the others. “Wow, I guess that’s that then. So long as you want to come with us, we’ll fight together.”
Lightheart smiled and took Sunset’s hand into her own as she said, “Oh thank you, I promise, I’ll do my best for you!”
And at that moment, Sunset heard another chiming, pinging sound, which only meant one thing. Great…I have Rainbow Harpy, Elflight, Amajack, and now Fairyshy…two more potential girlfriends-to-be to go…I hate this game.