Twilight and Sunset had begun to take inventory of the T2 Memories in their position, after realizing that they may be in the endgame of Starlight’s plan, and with her recent show of force, there was no doubting that she may attack them when they were most vulnerable in order to take the rest of the Gaia Memories. The girls had laid them out on Twilight’s bed, with Spike resting at the head of the bed, he also saw them put down strips of paper as place holders as at least three of the Gaia Memories were with Rainbow Dash, and one was with Shining Armor.
“Okay, so in order…Accel, Cyclone, Fang, Joker, Metal, Nasca, Ocean, Queen, Rocket,” Sunset began.
“Skull, Trigger, Unicorn, Weather, and Zone. If my theory holds true, and there are indeed twenty-six T2 Gaia Memories in relation to the alphabet, then…” Twilight began writing out placeholders for the remaining Gaia Memories that were not listed and put them on the opposite side of theirs.
“When I fought Glitter, she used the Gene Memory, and an ice powered Dopant came and stole the Memory before I could get it. After that, there was that incident with Rara and her manager using the Puppeteer Memory, and that memory was stolen by a dopant with fire powers.”
“Then there was Gilda and the Violence Memory, and that was stolen by a bird Dopant. Those Dopant’s must work for Starlight,” said Twilight.
Sunset put the pieces of paper placeholders down, arranging them in alphabetical order. “If we assume those three Dopants work for Starlight, and since the letters correspond to the name of the Gaia Memory, we’re missing letters B, D, H, I, L, and Y. I’m going to take a stab in the dark here and say the ‘B’ Memory is Bird, ‘I’ for Ice, and…the other one was fire, sooo…Heat. ‘D’, ‘L’, and ‘Y’ we’re still not sure of.”
Twilight made a few more paper placeholders and arranged them for Starlight’s side. “So, they’re in possession of the Bird, Equal, Gene, Heat, Ice, Key, whatever ‘L’ stands for, Puppeteer, and Violence Memories. All but two, that must be why she closed off the city, to ensure that whoever holds those Gaia Memories will be locked in this dome and unable to leave.”
Sunset looked over their “game pieces”, for the most part they had the majority of the T2 Gaia Memories, but Starlight still had more of the T1s at her disposal. “In any case, it’s not a good idea to have them here, I’ll hide out somewhere and have Dash do the same.”
Twilight looked to her girlfriend as if she grew a second head. “Excuse me?! Why?!”
“The Memories are a big target, and Starlight knows that Dash and I have them. If she comes after them, I can at least draw her away from you and the girls,” said Sunset.
“But that’s–!”
“That’s no guarantee that she still won’t come after Twilight or your friends.” Both girls turned around and saw Shining Armor leaning against the doorframe.
“Shiny, you should be resting,” Twilight scolded.
Shining Armor grinned as she walked into the room. “Compared to what Sunset went through, she should be the one in bed resting.”
“I do agree with that,” said Twilight as she gave her girlfriend a scolding glare.
Sunset chuckled sheepishly as she tried to avoid the gaze of her lover, it wasn’t working all too well. “Still, the only other option we have is a full-frontal assault, which means we have to go through a horde of Dopants and whatever else she may have at her disposal. Without knowing Starlight’s plan, we don’t know if we’ll just be falling into her hands.”
*ding-dong*
Twilight, Shining, and Sunset each looked at each other in confusion, with the city on lockdown, there wasn’t many people going out. They could hear the door open, but not much else after that. After a couple of minutes there were footsteps heading up the stairs. Sunset reached behind her back and took hold of the Unicorn Memory, at the same time Shining Armor was getting ready with his Driver and Trigger Memory. Twilight quickly scooped up Spike and ducked behind the opposite side of the bed.
The footsteps grew closer and closer, until a figure turned the corner, and it was Cadence. Sunset stood up straight, while Shining Armor just released a sigh of relief.
“Are you guys alright?” Cadence asked.
“Babe, we’re supposed to be on total lockdown. Why are we still at ‘ding-dong’?” Shining Armor asked.
“Sorry, but there’s someone here to see you, says he’s an associate from the SCU?”
Shining Armor’s eyebrow rose in suspicion. “Huh, okay, I’ll be down in a minute.”
Cadence turned the corner and proceeded downstairs, Shining Armor turned around and said to Sunset, “Be ready, just in case.”
Sunset nodded and watched as Shining Armor went downstairs. “Let’s gather up the Gaia Memories while we have the chance, I’m getting a bad feeling.”
Twilight quickly collected the devices and handed them to Sunset, and not a moment later did they hear Shining Armor exclaim, “YOU!”, followed up by a crash of furniture and glass.
“SHINING ARMOR!” Twilight cried.
Sunset grabbed ahold of Twilight’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes. “You stay up here!”
“But…?”
“Twilight, it’s safer up here, don’t give your brother something else to worry about, alright?!” Sunset stated in a stern voice.
Twilight reluctantly nodded as Sunset rushed down the stairs and watched as a blast from the past was standing in the living room. The teenager that threatened Shining Armor and Twilight, and nearly killed them, her second opponent as Kamen Rider Unicorn, Garble.
The young man held a cocky smirk as he held his Gaia Memory in his left hand and his exposed right forearm with the Living Connector tattoo. “Long time no see, Armor!”
Shining Armor had crashed into a wooden table, snapping it in half and was currently dragging himself back up to his feet as he stared down his assailant. “What the hell are you doing here?! You were supposed to be transferred weeks ago!”
Garble chuckled darkly. “Yeah, I was, but then this chick with floating eyes and another in heavy metal came back and busted me out and gave me a ‘second chance’, and I plan to make good!” Garble announced as he raised his left hand and pressed the button on the Gaia Memory.
< BEAST! >
Sunset dashed towards Garble and tackled the teen to the ground, making the Gaia Memory fall from his hand.
“UGH! You bitch!” Garble growled.
Garble, shoved Sunset off of him and crawled towards the Gaia Memory on the floor, but Sunset roared as she ran and body slammed Garble, making the boy release a pained, “Oomph!” sound as the air was nearly knocked out of him. Sunset then hooked her right arm under his neck and got him in a headlock. She then rolled until she was on her back and gaining leverage as she choked him.
“LET! ME! GO!”
“Go to sleep now, go to sleep!”
Garble tried to pry Sunset’s arm, but he found the task to be more difficult than he anticipated, despite being taller and more muscular, Sunset was surprisingly, almost freakishly, stronger than him. Garble’s pride wasn’t about to let him get choked out by a girl, he raised left arm and began throwing elbow jabs into Sunset’s ribs. Sunset gritted her teeth and grunted with each painful strike, but every time he struck, she only increased the intensity of her hold in direct opposition to his protesting strikes.
In a desperate act, Garble threw his head back and struck Sunset in the face. Sunset cried out as her face erupted with pain that made her close her eyes. She flinched for just a moment, but it was all that Garble needed as he struck her again, making her grip loosen as he scrambled to his feet. The street fighting youth then proceeded to kick Sunset in her stomach a total of three times, making her cough in pain. Garble raise his left foot and prepared to stomp on her head to finish her.
Just then, Shining Armor’s fist collided with the left side of Garble’s face, throwing him against the wall. Shining didn’t let up as he pinned the gangster teen against the wall and began pummeling him with lefts and rights as he shouted, “DON’T YOU EVER!” left punch, “EVER!”, right hook to the ribs, “HURT MY LITTLE SISTER’S GIRLFRIEND!”
Shining raised his fists above his head for a hammer blow, but Garble yelled as he charged forward and threw them both into a cabinet filled with commemorative plates and assorted knickknacks. Meanwhile, Cadence was watching all this carnage unfold from around the corner of the kitchen, she tried to call the police but all she was able to get was an automated line stating that “All emergency services were currently busy”.
Sunset recovered enough to get back her feet, she hurriedly rushed to Shining Armor’s side as Garble was lying into him with several punches. The former pony mare threw a roundhouse kick into his face, throwing him off Shining Armor as he hit the wall next to the kitchen entrance. Garble wiped some blood from his lips and glared at Shining Armor and Sunset Shimmer. The latter helped the former to get back to his feet, both squaring up and ready to fight Garble again. Unfortunately, they didn’t notice that the Gaia Memory they were trying to keep him away from was already in his hands.
“Should’ve watched where you were kicking me, ya stupid redhead!” Garble proclaimed as he readied to connect the device to himself.
However, before Garble could even press it against his arm, a loud metallic ring sounded in the room. Garble paused and then slowly fell forward, face planting onto the floor as the Gaia Memory fell out of his hands and landed before them. Sunset and Shining looked down at Garble and then looked up to see that Cadence had struck the young man with a frying pan.
“Did I…Did I kill him…?” Cadence asked.
Sunset raised her right foot and stomped on the Gaia Memory hard, breaking it in half. Shining Armor went over to Garble and pressed two fingers against his carotid artery.
“No, he’s alive, probably have a concussion, but trust me, the alternative would have been worse, you were great honey,” said Shining Armor.
Cadence dropped the frying pan and leaned against the archway, the adrenaline that was coursing through her when she attacked Garble had left and now she was shaking. “I just saw him fighting you two, I called the police, but with all that was happening there was no I they’d make it in time! Then I saw an opening and I just, well, took it!”
“Hey, it was either him or us, and he’s still breathing – little turd doesn’t deserve to be – but at we’re alive.”
“Thank gods I told Twilight to stay upstairs,” Sunset limped a little as she walked towards the foot of the stairs and called up, “Twilight, it’s safe now, you can come down.”
There was no immediate answer, which made Sunset worry.
“Twilight?”
Again, no response.
“Twilight please answer me, I just got through with a fight and I’m really not in the mood to be climbing stairs right now!”
Sunset started to hear movement upstairs, but then her heart sank when she saw who came out of her room. The Eyes Dopant came walking down the stairs, with Twilight cradled under her left arm, completely immobile. Sunset’s fist tightened, and her teeth gritted as the fires of rage burned inside of her at the sight of her lover in the clutches of this Dopant.
“Ah, I remember you, you’re the ‘hero’ who tanked my last shot at this girl. Damn, I thought I killed you that last time, you’re tougher than I thought,” said Eyes.
Shining got into position, but suddenly, a beam of blue light shot across his left shoulder and whizzed by Cadence’s left ear to strike the window, and blow it out. An eyeball floated next to the Eyes Dopant, who wagged her right index finger back and forth.
“Nah-uh-ah, none of that. I can easily kill you all right now, but all I really need is her.”
“Why?!” Sunset asked.
“Officer Armor, if you want this little nerd girl to live to have her first drink, you’ll get Unicorn and Nasca to hand over all their remaining T2 Gaia Memories, yours included. You have two hours, and we’ll meet in White Tail Park, pretty open space so if you try anything, we’ll see it coming a mile away,” said Eyes.
Sunset flinched as if she was about to rush her, but another beam shot at her, and nicked her across her right cheek, causing her yelp from the pain.
“We were told we couldn’t kill you, but we can make sure that you don’t put up a fight. Although, she was a little vague on how exactly we were allowed to do that, she did say ‘non-lethal’, so as long as you don’t die, that means I do can whatever I want, like say…shoot out your kneecaps or maybe hit you in the spine to turn you into a paraplegic.”
The floating eye began to charge up, but before it could fire, the eyeball was whipped out of the air and down to the ground. The air began to distort close to the Eyes Dopant, and what was revealed was the Luna Dopant, its long arms coiling and ready to ensnare the Eyes Dopant.
“You have your hostage, there’s no need for more than this,” said the Luna Dopant.
At that moment, the sliding glass door to the backyard patio shattered, and from it swooped in the Bird Dopant. “Let’s go, now!”
The Eyes Dopant looked to her associates and sighed in disappointment. “Fine, I guess we’ll go! Can’t even have a little fun, nooo.”
“WAIT!” Sunset exclaimed as she lurched forward, only for quill to fly and land at her feet, penetrating the floor like a knife.
“We won’t hurt her, but that won’t be guaranteed if you slack around. You have four hours,” the Bird Dopant stated.
“But I said–!”
“I SAID FOUR HOURS! And you can keep that trash, and you have some explaining to do.”
The Luna Dopant released a flash of light, creating bubbles that filled up the room. And after a few seconds, all four of them had disappeared. Sunset’s fists trembled with anger as she struck the closest wall next to her, striking through the drywall as if it were made of wet tissue paper.
Starlight, why would drag her into this?!
Sunset looked back up, hearing a groaning sound from the top of the stairs. Spike had managed to make it to the edge of the stairs before collapsing, Sunset rushed up and took the young pup into her arms as she said, “Spike, talk to me, are you alright?!”
“Uh…I-I’m sorry, I couldn’t stop it…she hit us with some beam and everything went black.”
“Shh, it’s alright, you did your best. We’ll get her back.”
***_________EXE_________***
“You did WHAT?!” Starlight exclaimed.
“He had a beef with Armor, and we used it to our advantage. Besides, you got another one of those Beast Memories lying around down there,” said Clear Skies.
Starlight ran her hand down her face as she growled. “That’s not the issue here, I allowed you to take that girl hostage, but I specifically said NOT to harm them! That psycho would’ve killed them!” Starlight glanced to the unconscious Twilight Sparkle now lying on the couch in her large office and then turned her gaze back to the two women before her. “Just get ready for the exchange.”
Clear Skies and Sunflower shrugged as they left the room, leaving Starlight alone with Twilight. Starlight sat in the couch opposite where Twilight was, and after a few seconds, she could see the young teenager begin to stir from her slumber. Twilight slowly rose up, holding her head as she tried to remember what had happened to her. However, it didn’t take her long to remember what happened, and that recall instantly alerted her to the fact that she was no longer in her home. Twilight tensed when she saw who sat across from her, she wasn’t sure what she should do.
“Are you alright?” Starlight asked.
“Huh?” Twilight asked.
“Do you need any medical attention? I ordered them to bring you here safely, but I don’t put it past them to have roughed you up. So, if there’s something hurting you, please tell me now so I can have it treated,” said Starlight.
Twilight’s brow knitted as she heard Starlight speak. “You act like you’re concerned for my safety, and yet you do all of this! Dome the entire city, send someone to capture me, and now you have an army of Dopants?! I don’t get you! You caused all this mayhem, and yet you’re still acting as if we’re friends!”
Starlight smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I know…I honestly don’t have the right to call myself that, but that doesn’t negate the fact that I do consider you my friend, you, the girls, and even Sunset Shimmer. But I have my reasons for what I am doing, and to reach my goal, I must push everything to the limit now. Or else I’m afraid I’ll lose my resolve if I keep interacting with you all for much longer.”
“Maybe if you told us what it is you’re trying to do, maybe we could’ve either helped you or found a different way! But even now, your intentions are a mystery. Why do you need the T2 Gaia Memories, why did you create the T1s, and what is this all for?!”
Starlight reclined in the couch as she looked up at the ceiling, as if trying to pluck the answer from the air. “I’m honestly surprised you hadn’t figured out it by now. Considering you have access to the Earth’s Memories, same as me.”
Twilight’s eyes widened with shock. “What…What did you say?”
“There’s no way Sunset had the knowledge to create the Drivers, the mechanical animal weapons, and the power up items. She’s brilliant, but not like that. No, only someone with access to the Earth’s Memories could’ve possibly been able to manufacture those, and I’m very much confident that it wasn’t Rainbow Dash. That left the only resident genius among your friends, you, Twilight Sparkle. I’m sure you’ve seen it, the library with endless shelves and equally endless books, right?”
“You…know about the Infinite Library?! How?! Only my friends know about it, how did you know?!” Twilight asked in a panic.
Starlight leaned forward and tapped the side of her head. “You’re not the only one the Earth has bestowed such wisdom and knowledge, you’re the second, and I’m the first. It’s how I was able to build everything around you, the factory for the T1s, and my own Driver. The Earth seems to have chosen another to bear such knowledge, it can be a heavy burden, but at least you haven’t lived with it all your life.”
The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. stood up and walked towards the window looking out towards the enclosed city. Twilight looked at the doors, briefly contemplating the idea of running out now, but then again, a woman like Starlight would’ve already had them locked, or there was probably someone standing guard outside. And Starlight was a strong fighter, so Twilight knew she had no chance of overpowering her. With a sigh, she too stood up and joined Starlight as they gazed out into the city.
“You say you’ve had this ability for a long time now…ever since you were born?” Twilight asked.
Starlight nodded. “I didn’t know what exactly it was at the time, but even at my young age, I knew it wasn’t something I could share with anyone. They’d just think it was a metaphor for me to explain my genius mind. But I knew it wasn’t, all I needed was the right ‘keywords’ to whatever it was I wanted to know, and I would have access to it immediately, like my own mental internet. Ancient writings called such archives the ‘Akashic Records’, or the ‘Collective Unconscious’, have you ever heard of that?”
“Yes, the first is the myth that all knowledge, both past, present, and future, is stored in a type of archived record that exists on a metaphysical plain. It’s said that humans can access these ‘Records’ unconsciously, but those who are of a higher IQ are said to have a stronger connection to these ‘Records’ and that’s what allows them to come up with such innovative and sometimes fantastical ideas. The ‘Collective Unconscious’ is more or less the shared mindscape of every sapient being on the planet, how we’re all connected on a subconscious level.”
“Very good, Twilight. It’s gone by many names, but it is still called Gaia Memories. The very instruments that transform people into Dopants, and me and Sunset into Kamen Riders. They are the physical manifestation of one of the Earth’s memories, plucked from the essence of the world itself. But the Earth has its own version of the ‘Collective Unconsciousness’, as the knowledge of such devices did not exist in our world, but from another Earth in another dimension. I’m sure you’ve seen enough by now to know that there are other dimensions, where Kamen Riders live, and even where ponies can use magic and are intelligent beings.”
Twilight remembered, when she saw the Uni-Driver, when she made the items, she could sometimes see visions of other Riders. After discovering that there was a vast Multiverse of Kamen Riders, she wondered for a while now if her knowledge was somehow something she tapped into from another Kamen Rider world because of her magic once meddling with the fabric of reality? Now it made sense, she was connected to the Earth’s Memories, and through that, she could tap into the knowledge of another world where the Gaia Memories were possibly used by another Kamen Rider.
“But what does that have to do with now? What does any of this have to do with what you’re trying to do–?!”
“Tell me,” Starlight interrupted, “if you had to choose what the number one cause of violence, fear, and discrimination was in the world, what would it be?”
Twilight was not expecting such a philosophical question from Starlight, but if it would get her closer to the truth then she’d oblige with an answer. “If I had to guess…ignorance. When people don’t know about something, they fear it, when they fear it, they discriminate against it, and discrimination more often than not, leads to violence.”
“Very good, you nailed it right on the head. A person’s lack of knowledge can often make them feel frustrated, lashing out against those who know more than them, or had better access to the knowledge they were denied. And just the same, someone who knows more than others, labeled a ‘genius’, can be shunned and often hated because they were born smarter where others had to work harder for it. I know you know what I’m talking about, right?” Starlight asked.
Twilight frowned as her gaze turned downward. Indeed, she did know very well how others could treat those who were different from them. A girl like her, who was more interested in the pursuit of knowledge than personal relationships with others, was often shunned by others. They believed that she was so smart that she didn’t want to mingle with the “dumb people”, and saw everyone as inferior to her. But that simply wasn’t true, yes, she could’ve made a better effort to strengthen her social bonds with her peers, but when others made up their minds about you, it was hard to try and change their perspective. Even Crystal Prep’s students, they saw her as nothing more than a rival, someone to knock off the pedestal that her grades and hard work granted her. It was part of the fear that Twilight had when she started dating Sunset Shimmer, she had long ago accepted that her girlfriend was an alien from another dimension, and her friends weren’t bothered by it, and neither did most of CHS. However, the rest of world couldn’t be held to the same standard, she still, to this day, worried that someone would report that Sunset was not someone who existed in this world, and that she’d be taken in, and eventually found out as a not really human. They’d treat her as an invader because they knew nothing about her.
“You’re right, I know that pain, all too well,” said Twilight.
Starlight smiled sympathetically as she placed her hand on the young teen’s shoulder. “That’s my goal, Twilight, to eradicate ignorance at its source. And to do that, I require the T2 Gaia Memories. They are far stronger than the normal T1s, and they’re power is different, as they are not from our dimension, but rather, from another where the power of the Gaia Memories originated from. They were destroyed there, but the Law of Conservation of Matter/Energy states that matter and energy cannot be destroyed, it can only change form. As so it did, whatever power ‘destroyed’ them in their world, acted as a catalyst to cause their rebirth in this one. They are the keys to the lock of infinite knowledge.”
Twilight looked to Starlight, she looked deep into her eyes and could see it. There was an earnestness in those eyes, a great determination, Starlight’s ultimate goal, Twilight had figured it out. “You want to grant everyone access to the Gaia Memories, so that everyone has equal knowledge…”
“Yes, no one will ever feel stupid compared to others, because they’ll be just as smart as they are. And those who are geniuses will no longer feel alone because they’re smarter than those around them, because now they will have the same level of genius as they do! Do you see, a world with no ignorance, where everyone has equal access to infinite knowledge! There will be no more need for wars, no need to discriminate, no need for any of it! With ignorance eliminated, human beings can focus on bettering the world and humanity itself! It’ll be a bright and beautiful future, Twilight!” Starlight declared in an excited and giddy tone.
Twilight could hear the great sense of hope in her voice, the wish of a child, of every child, a world where we understood each other and helped one another, in a way, it was much like the ways of Friendship that Sunset and her otherworldly counterpart preached.
“So, yes, have I done a great many things, and committed some sins in the process. But, Twilight, you can see, the ends do justify the means, and I want you, Sunset, and your friends to survive to see it, a brand new world! At the end of all of this, I will gladly answer for the crimes I’ve committed. But I will do so gladly knowing that world from this point forward is a better one.”
***__________<U>__________***
After Twilight’s kidnapping, Sunset had gathered her friends together, sending emergency texts to them about what was going on and that they needed to come up with a plan. Shining Armor was busy getting together his SCU partners, and in a sense stalling for time. He told his fellow officers he didn’t know where they took Twilight, but he would inform them once Sunset came up with a plan to get her back. When they all arrived, Sunset was surprised to see Gilda among them, apparently she had paid Rainbow a visit to her folks’ place and left Gabby with them, since she didn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone at their apartment. However, as the hour went by, and with the deadline growing closer, Sunset was getting increasingly frustrated.
“Dammit, Dammit, Dammit!” Sunset cursed as she paced her loft back and forth.
“Calm down, Sug, we can’t save Twilight if yer all hot and bothered,” said Applejack.
“Maybe you forgot, but MY GIRLFRIEND WAS KIDNAPPED! How else should I react! I swore I’d protect her after what happened with the Key Dopant, and now…RAGGH!” Sunset shouted as she punched the brick wall of her living room.
The girls gulped when they noticed that Sunset actually left a dent in the brick and her hand barely any damage to it. The fact that they’re friend had become an alicorn was definitely showing in these little shows of strength.
“Starlight won’t hurt Twilight, she still cares for us a friends, otherwise Starlight would’ve just come and attacked us all or kidnapped all of us,” said Pinkie Pie. “She took Twilight because she knew you probably wouldn’t hesitate to give her the Gaia Memories in exchange.”
Rarity nodded in agreement. “Pinkie Pie does have a point, she knows you’re Unicorn, she could simply just attack you when you’re not ready for her and just take them from you. Instead, she’s bargaining with you.”
Rainbow Dash smacked her right fist into her left palm as she narrowed her gaze. “If she wanted the Memories, she should’ve just fought us both for them, probably afraid we’ll kick her ass up and down the city, even with that new form of hers.”
“Or,” Fluttershy interjected, “maybe she’s wanting to avoid having to do that. If you give up the Gaia Memories, you two won’t have any way to transform, and then we wouldn’t be able to stop her.”
Gilda cleared her throat, gaining the attention of the group. “Yeah, just putting this out there, but, don’t you guys still have your Magical Girl Pony Powers?”
Sunset shook her head in frustration. “They’re not meant for combat of this nature, even if our magic could give us an edge, we’d still have to fight through at least twenty or more Dopants, and then fight Starlight at the end who’ll be more powerful thanks to her Balance Breaker abilities! And no doubt she’ll have some of them there for the exchange, she won’t be expecting us to be in Rider form, because our Memories are also T2s…we’re outgunned and driven into a corner on top of it all…BUCKING HORSEFEATHERS!”
*knock, knock*
Everyone looked to each other, they were all assembled, and Shining Armor hadn’t texted Sunset about coming over. Sunset and Rainbow Dash summoned their Drivers and readied their Gaia Memories as they approached the front door, but when Sunset looked through the peephole, she was confused to see a person she hadn’t seen for bit. The redheaded girl unlocked the door and opened the door to show Juniper Montage.
“Jun, what’s, uh, why are you here?” Sunset asked.
Juniper rubbed the back of her head as she looked behind Sunset to see the rest of her friends. “Oh…well…this may be a bad time, but, with all that’s going on right now, I think there’s something you should see…”
Sunset nodded and allowed Juniper entry. Once inside, she was informed of all that was going on, and her worry seemed to increase. “Okay, well…the reason I came was…this.”
Juniper reached into her purse and pulled out a Gaia Memory, but this wasn’t a regular Gaia Memory, it was the T2 version of the one Juniper had once used, the Dummy Memory. The girls all shot to their feet as they bombarded her with a dozen questions.
“It’s not what you think, I swear! This wasn’t like the one that I used when I lost it. When this dome thing appeared, it just shot towards me while I was on set, it looked different from the one I used before, and looked more like the one you two use. I figured this might have something to do with the dome, so I came to see you, but I didn’t know that Twilight was…”
*knock, knock*
“Now what?” Sunset asked in annoyance as she walked to the front door to see who else was coming to see them. When she looked through the peephole this time, she was actually surprised. “Okay…wasn’t expecting them…”
Sunset opened the door and standing outside was Sunny Flare, but with her was also Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, Sour Sweet, and Indigo Zap. Sunset ushered them in as they joined the rest of the group, Rarity stood up and hugged her girlfriend tight and said, “Sunny, Darling, whatever are you all doing here?”
“Sunny Flare told us that Twilight was kidnapped, and that Sunset Shimmer was Unicorn, and Nasca is Rainbow Dash,” said Sugarcoat.
Sunset and Rainbow’s eyes twitched as they then turned their scolding gaze onto Rarity.
The violet haired girl chuckled in a sheepish manner as she said, “Well…honesty is a very important part of any relationship, and-and Sunny has proven trustworthy so–!”
“How long?” Rainbow asked.
“It was after that incident where Twilight went to the hospital,” Sunny answered. “Rarity gave me the details then, and of course, I’m grateful to you and Twilight for stopping me from becoming a full monster.”
“We’re here to assist in whatever efforts you’re planning to save Twilight, you helped me save my father, and I’ll return to the favor,” said Sugarcoat.
“Twilight may not be enrolled at CPA anymore, but that girl’s been through enough, besides, when you mess with one Shadowbolt, you mess with all of us!” Indigo stated.
“Yeah, so let’s go and save that cute nerd hero style!” Lemon added.
Sunset raised an eyebrow at that “cute” comment, but was happy to have the extra assistance. “I appreciate your wanting to help, but we don’t have a lot of options right now…”
“Actually, we do.” Gilda stood up and had a very scheming grin on her face. “We have all the pieces right in here, get me Red?”
Sunset looked around her, Juniper with the Dummy Memory, Sunny Flare and the rest of the Shadowbolt Five, the Gaia Memories. It clicked. “Gilda, I like the way you think. This might be dangerous, for all of us…”
All the girls stood up each gave a confident grin.
“Did you forget who you’re talkin’ to?” Applejack asked.
“What’s the plan SunShim?!” Pinkie asked.
Sunset’s grin grew as she took up the Unicorn Memory. “Listen up…”
***________???________***
The Silver Veil, the conduit for which the Destroyer of Worlds, Kamen Rider Decade, traveled through to the multiverse of Rider Worlds. Tsukasa found himself in one such world, a peaceful enough city with huge windmills and a pleasant breeze blowing through it.
Many Riders would see him as a leader, although he never saw himself a leader material. Shocker had brought him to be their weapon and to lead their forces against the Showa and Heisei Riders, but in the end, Tsukasa chose his own fate, breaking the shackles of Shocker and ending up taking them down. At one point he lost his memories, forgetting his origins, but after traveling through the different Rider Worlds, they came back, and in the end, he did Destroy the Worlds, in a sense that he ended up actually saving them instead.
He always said he was a “Passing through Kamen Rider”, because that’s he did, he passed through, not really having a proper dimension to call his home, well, except for one place, but he preferred to keep that world secret. Since he was seen as a de facto leader of the Heisei Riders, he had to have some place where the others wouldn’t bother him.
Nonetheless, being the de facto leader also meant that he had to step up and take care of incidents before they got too out of hand. Which what brought him to this world, a new Rider – well, actually there were two, but he was focusing more on Sunset – was about to enter a crossroads, one that could affect more than just her world depending on the outcome. That’s why he was here, fledgeling Riders like Sunset sometimes do better when they have a true senpai to show them the ropes. For the most part, Sunset had been doing good.
It was sometimes the curse of all Riders to be indoctrinated into this life without anyone to show them ropes. But that was mostly because there weren’t others with similar powers to show them how it was done, but in this case, Tsukasa knew that wasn’t true. The only real problem was that her senpai was another dimension away, and being the great leader that he was, Tsukasa decided it was time to get his kohai a proper senpai.
Tsukasa was leisurely walking through the streets, sometimes he didn’t need to actively look for someone to find who he was looking for, one of his uncanny powers at work. Not but a couple of minutes after entering this world did Tsukasa stumble upon a man in a black suit and a matching fedora hat.
The man was currently scaling a tree, with a few children watching him. Tsukasa looked up to see what the man was going after that made him climb the tree, and up on one of the branches was a cat, a orange tabby. The man continued to climb until he finally got to the branch the cat was perched on. The cat didn’t seem to like having someone come after it as it backed away from the man, the feline hissing as he got closer.
After a few more attempts, the cat lost its footing and began to fall, only for the man to jump off the tree. He caught the cat in midair and held it close to his body as he hit the ground back first. The man groaned in both annoyance and pain from the effort, which prompted one of the children to say, “Onii-san, that was crazy.”
“Yes, but everyone in this city is under my protection, even ungrateful cats. I will not allow anyone in my city to shed tears,” said the man.
“Ah, yes, the great half-boiled detective of Futo,” said Tsukasa.
The man shot up to his feet and turned to face Tsukasa, “I’m hard-boiled, HARD-BOILED!” he insisted.
Tsukasa patted the man of the shoulder. “Yes, yes, whatever you say, Shotaro-kun.”
Shotaro blinked as he finally recognized the man standing before him. “Tsukasa, what the heck are you doing here?”
“I have request for you and Phillip, and Terui.”