//------------------------------// // X: Xtreme Measures / Failure // Story: Kamen Rider Unicorn // by Michael_Ravencroft //------------------------------// Applejack had to make a quick stop to CHS before their plan could take place. She tired to make her movements as unsuspicious as possible, she didn’t need to draw any undue attention to herself. After a bit of sidestepping between the faculty that were called in and the police, she was able to make it to the gym storage room. Inside were various items that were left behind from during the Friendship Games, some items like the archery supplies. To this day, it still boggled the girls’ minds at how the school was able to build such an elaborate course. “Still, hopefully they kept the – aha!” The young farm girl found her prize, the bow she had used during the Friendship Games, along with a quiver full of arrows. It seemed a bit on the low side for what she may need, so she took the remaining arrows from the quiver that Fluttershy used. Thankfully, there didn’t seem to be anyone watching the back entrance, or if there was supposed to be someone, they were too busy doing something else. With the bow and quiver in tow, Applejack exited the storage room, only to skid to a halt as she saw who was standing before her. “G-Granny?! Wh-What the – why’re you here?!” Applejack asked. “They were lookin’ fer some extra help with the kitchen, so a brought Mac and Bloom with me so we can stick together. Ah knew ya were with yer friends, so Ah didn’t have much to worry about. Imagin’ my surprise to find ya sneakin’ around like a fox in a henhouse. And now Ah see ya takin’ that there bow and arrow set from the Games.” Granny Smith moved a little closer to the second oldest of the Apple Siblings, and Applejack gulped under her grandmother’s scrutinizing gaze. “Out with it, missy. Ah know yer up to somethin’ dangerous, and after all the hocus pocus Ah’ve seen ‘round here, Ah know that you and yer friends are plannin’ on doin’ somethin’ to stop whatever it is that’s goin’ on.” Sometimes Applejack really wished she wasn’t raised with such strong moral fiber and that she could spin convincing lies like Sunset. Then again, she was deemed the Element of Honesty, she couldn’t rightly hold on to such a title if she could so easily lie to everyone’s face. “Okay…ya want the truth Granny?” “I’mma waitin’ fer it,” Granny responded. “Alright…the truth is…One of my friends, Twilight, was kidnapped by one of them monsters! And the girls and Ah got a plan fer gettin’ her back, but it kinda involves some fightin’. If all goes well, we can stop this whole thing, the monsters, the dome, all of it! So please, Granny, don’t say Ah can’t go, meh friends need me, and Ah’m not about to let meh friends down, especially when one of ‘em’s in danger!” Applejack stared into the eyes of Granny Smith, her will was unwavering, she had hoped that that much was being conveyed to her grandmother. After whet felt like an intense hour-long stare down, Granny Smith sighed and said, “Sunset Shimmer’s that Unicorn gal, ain’t she?” Applejack’s jaw dropped and her right eye twitched. “Wha-What?” “It don’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out, Jackie. She’s a special girl, all a ya are, but that one, she’s somethin’ else,” said Granny Smith. “Y-Yeah, she is…used to Ah couldn’t stand her, but now…heh, she’s meh best friend, one Ah’d do anythin’ for, and someone who’d do anythin’ fer us. So, Granny, please, let me go and help her,” Applejack pleaded. Granny Smith sighed as she looked upon her grandchild and cupped her cheek. “Every bit the courageous woman yer mother was, and every bit the knucklehead yer daddy was, too.”  Applejack’s eyes watered upon being compared to her late parents, but she smiled nonetheless. “Well, go on and get, just promise you’ll be as safe as possible? Ah know that’s a tall order for ya’ll, but…” Applejack wiped her years and confidently nodded. “Of course, and thanks Granny!” As the young apple farmer rushed to the exit, Granny shouted, “WAIT!” Applejack stopped dead in her tracks and turned to face her grandmother. “There’s somethin’ Ah need to tell ya, since we’re bein’ this honest and all…” ***____________________*** Twilight was left alone in Starlight’s office, the CEO had stepped out, no doubt preparing whatever final steps were needed in her grand master plan. A plan that Twilight was having a hard time finding fault in. What Starlight wanted to do wasn’t necessarily evil, granting infinite knowledge to the whole world, to make it so that people no longer felt inferior to each other, equality on that level would bring about some level of peace. So then why, why couldn’t Twilight shake off the feeling that there was something inherently wrong with what Starlight was doing? Sure, she could see why she had to go to such extreme lengths to bring about the fruition of her plan, there was no way that governments, domestic or foreign, would allow such a thing to happen. They’d rather horde such power for themselves, and elevate the status of a single country, rather than all of humanity. An endeavor like that was worthy of pursuit, and as far as she could tell, Starlight had no intention of remaining in a seat of power after it was done. “That’s right…if she needs to use the T2 Gaia Memories, then she’d have to give up her own power to make it work, but then…the T1s…” Twilight had posed this question earlier to Starlight before she left the room and her response was, “The T1s have a built-in self-destruct, once the plan is set in motion, I’ll have the T1s disengage from their hosts and then shatter.” “She seems to have thought about everything…” But did she really? That was the thought that Twilight couldn’t stop from lingering in her mind. Heavens knew that Twilight has made mistakes in the past, even with her great intellect, she was still human, and so there was always room for human error in any calculation. “There may be a way to find out.” Twilight sat cross legged on the couch as she closed her eyes. Within seconds, her mind was transported to the Infinite Library, although, now she looked at it with a different respect. She was granted the privilege to be able to access the Memories of the Earth, she was more or less being allowed to delve into the mind and soul of the world itself. Twilight ran her hand against the books upon the shelves, each one filled with knowledge about every subject in the world, past, present, and future. Future…? “Look up: Starlight Glimmer.” The shelves shifted about, some disappearing into the endless white of the space. “Key word: Gaia Memories.” The shelves shifted again and released books that surrounded her. “Key word: Equality.” The books began to disappear until only three remained. Twilight thought about right keyword to use, she could just read all three, but who knew how much time she had, and if Starlight could access the same space, how long would it be before she noticed she was here? Before, Starlight had an inkling that she was able to access the Earth’s Memories, but now that she was sure, her presence might be sensed, if not already, so she had to choose the right word to get the right info. “Key word: Knowledge,” said Twilight. With that last word, the other two books vanished and the middle one remained. Upon touching this book, it immediately glowed, the cover changing to that of an equal sign, with a gray colored cover. Somehow, this was more foreboding then the previous books she’d had looked into. Twilight opened the book, and, to her surprise, it read more like a children’s storybook. “Once upon a time, there was a little girl…” This little girl was born with unique knowledge, for the Earth had chosen her to have access to its wellspring of knowledge. It was a wonderful gift, but in way, also a curse. The other children would shun her, call her strange, and freakish. With the ability to know all, it left more time for the little girl to do other things, to perfect her physical prowess, and in so doing, she was now stronger than most of the other children. All of this combined made them feel inferior to her, that no matter what they did, they would never be better than her. In truth, the little girl didn’t feel that she was better than anyone, in fact she was lonely. But that loneliness evaporated like a puddle on a bright sunny day, because she made a friend, the boy whose name was Sunburst. He was originally toted as the smartest kid in their class, a “nerd”. But somehow, the two got along swimmingly. The little girl had no need for others who saw her as just someone to beat, who shunned her before they even got to know her, so long as she had Sunburst, their pettiness was just as easily forgotten like a bad dream. Unfortunately, not even bad dreams can remain forgotten forever. The little girl’s brilliance had her accel straight through high school, into college, and graduated before she was sixteen. With her great knowledge and her father’s ties with some wealthy people, she was able to build a castle that reached to the sky, this castle was called “PhoenEXE Corp.” This castle was special too, she didn’t just build it on a random spot, no, she was cleverer than that. She found something, something that resonated with her mind and soul right underneath the city. The Emerald Mountain, a piece of the Earth’s mind and soul physically manifested in the world itself. When she found it, the little girl wasn’t so little anymore, she was a young woman now, she was twenty her friend twenty-one. Upon making this discovery, there was no one else she could think of to show it to, other than Sunburst. “This is amazing!” Sunburst said. “I know, it’s incredible, and I wanted you to be the first and only one to see it,” said the young woman. “But, I don’t get it, how can such a huge mountain be this far underground, and no one had noticed it?!” “It’s special, if it doesn’t want to be found, it won’t. Only those who sought knowledge and understanding can find it, can have a connection to it.” Sunburst looked at the young woman curiously. “What do mean?” The young woman sighed. “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you, I never new how to tell you because I never had any physical proof to backup my claim. But now that it’s here, a literal mountain of it, I can finally tell you why I am so smart.” The young woman placed her hand on the side of the mountain and it immediately glowed in response. “This is a physical manifestation of the Earth’s Memories, everything that was, is, and will be, all knowledge, this is the wellspring.” “Wait…you mean, but I thought you just found this?” “I did, but I’ve always had a connection to it. Think of it as an oversized server for the world’s collective information. All of that at my mind’s fingertips, a internet that exists in your mind.” Sunburst looked at the mountain, and in that moment, the young woman saw something in his eyes, something changed. “So…then, is it possible that I could have that same power as you? To access all the knowledge I want?” The young woman hesitated to answer, but obliged. “I’m not sure, I was born with it already, so I couldn’t tell you if you could gain it.” “But it’s right here, this mountain, if it’s here then it might be possible right?!” Sunburst asked in a almost a frantic tone. “Sunburst…” The ginger haired boy grabbed ahold of Starlight’s shoulders and looked into her eyes. “C’mon, Star, it’s gotta be possible, right? I mean, all things considered, this is way out there! Please, Starlight, can we at least try and do it!” The young woman blushed. “You, uh, could’ve chosen your words better…” Sunburst didn’t catch on, but then thought about what he said and then released the young woman and backed away, blushing just as much as she was. “S-Sorry…I didn’t mean for it come out that way! Oh, crap, no that sounds worse! I meant…sorry.”   Starlight looked to the boy she had considered a dear friend, her best friend, someone she’d do anything for. “I…I don’t know if it’s possible, but…with this stone, we may be able to connect you if I act as the conduit?” Sunburst turned to his friend with hope in his eyes. “Do you think so?” “It’s just an untested, unproven theory right now. And it could be dangerous, so I’m not a hundred percent sure what the backlash will be to you,” Starlight warned. Sunburst shook his head. “If it’s you, then I trust you.” A reluctant sigh passed through the young woman’s lips as she pressed her right hand yet again to the solid mass of emerald. The mountain glowed again, humming with power and warmth. Sunburst pressed his left hand against the stone, right next to her hand. A smile graced both their faces before Starlight concentrated, willing the knowledge held within this Emerald Mountain to flow into her friend. At first, it appeared as if nothing was happening, but that quickly changed. Green tinted energy began to seep into Sunburst’s body, and the affects were immediate. Soon, both he and Starlight were in the same infinite space, where all manner of books resided. “Are these…?” “Yes, each book contains information any and every subject on this planet, even some things that were omitted from history, both good and bad,” Starlight explained. Sunburst walked to one of the shelves and chose a book at random he then looked to Starlight and said, “Is this how you always see the knowledge?” “I think it’s how our minds most easily perceive a vast collection of knowledge, and what better representation of that than a library?” Sunburst continued to call books to him, more and gathered as he tried to read as many as he could, his eyes lighting up with fascination and thirst for more and more knowledge. But then, his eyes really did begin to glow. “Star…I…I don’t feel so good,” said Sunburst. “What’s wrong?!” Sunburst began clutching at his head as he groaned in pain. “My head, it feels like it’s going to burst.” “It’s too much, you’re accessing too much, we’re stopping this now!” Sunburst reached out with this hand and cried out, “NO! I need this, Star! I need this knowledge!” “I’m sorry, but I’m not risking your safety!” Starlight focused on severing their connection, but nothing happened, they were still in the infinite space. “What…What’s going on, I can’t stop it, I can’t take us back!” “AAAAH!” “SUNBURST–!” *SLAM!* Twilight shook her head feeling tears running down her face as she looked down at the lilac hand that shut the book. The young genius looked up and saw Starlight Glimmer, her own face streaked with tears. “You shouldn’t be peeking into other people’s private memories…especially painful ones…” Starlight stated in a hollow tone. Starlight took the book from Twilight, the latter made no attempt at stopping her, she was sure of what the outcome was, but wasn’t really sure she wanted to see it happen before her eyes. “I’m…I’m so sorry…” “That you were caught or for what happened?” Starlight asked. “For what happened…and for invading your privacy…” Twilight’s gaze was downcast as she spoke. “I can’t completely blame you, after all, I am your enemy, and it only makes sense that you’d want to see what my plans are. For the record, yes, I did sense you here, and yes, I could’ve done the same to you, but I chose not to out of respect.” Twilight felt a sting in her heart, which was strange, considering this woman before her was their enemy. Starlight sighed as she turned her back to Twilight. “All of what you saw, transpired in less than a minute, although it felt like minutes passed by in this world, it was less than that in real time. I had unknowingly opened up a floodgate for the knowledge to flow into Sunburst, but apparently, not all are able to withstand the power of the Earth’s Memories, as smart as he was, his mind and soul weren’t strong enough to withstand it all.” The CEO of PhoenEXE Corp. trembled as she recalled that day. “I tried to stop it, but it wouldn’t obey me. I had to watch as my friend writhed in agony as his body, which was, in this world, essentially his mind, shatter like brittle glass in front of me! The backlash was enough rip us both from the stone and end up on the ground.” “I tried everything I could think of to resuscitate him, but nothing worked. I dragged him to the elevator and got an ambulance to take him a hospital. He was pronounced dead not long after that…it was ruled as a brain aneurism death, a simple enough explanation, better than the alternative that his mind was shattered to pieces in a metaphysical world.” “I just didn’t understand…why he would beg me to do that, knowing that it was a risk to his life, he asked me…I met with his mother not long after, and I asked her if there was something going on in Sunburst’s life? Do you know what she told me?” Starlight asked. Twilight shook her head. “She told me…” Starlight opened the book and flipped to the page, changing the world around them and bringing Twilight back to the world of Starlight’s memories. The sky was ashen gray as thunder lightly rumbled, signaling the beginning of a rain storm. The wake had concluded long ago, and Starlight felt hollow, her best friend in this or any world was gone, and it was all her fault. Although, Stellar Flare never blamed her, she could never, she knew more than anyone attending, well, except for Starlight’s father, that Starlight would never hurt Sunburst. But it was true, her actions brought about his death, she could’ve said “no”, she could’ve just dragged him out of that place and never bring the subject up again. Yes, he would be angry, but at least then he’d have been alive so that they could talk it out later. Now, they would never talk again, her sun had been taken from her, by her own hands. Starlight had secluded herself in her friend’s room, surrounded by all the things that reminded her of him, even his scent still lingered in here. Stellar knocked on the door, announcing her presence as she sat on the edge of the bed, the two women remained silent for a long time before either spoke a word. “Auntie Flare, was Sunburst in trouble?” “He said something to you?” she asked. “He seemed desperate about something when we talked…he never said anything out loud, but…Please, tell me.” Stellar Flare sighed heavily. “I just recently found out myself…Sunburst’s scholarships were denied, and the school that he had applied for had…had utterly rejected him. They said he was a bright boy, but compared to a genius like Starlight Glimmer, they have to be sure that they are granting such opportunities to worthy scholars.” Starlight turned around to face her surrogate aunt with shock. “He never told me that!” “Me neither dear, but, you know Sunburst, he’ll just keep it to himself and try to figure out everything himself before he would ever reach out and ‘bother’ someone else.” “That’s crazy! After everything you and Sunburst have done for us, the least we could do is help you two out!” Starlight argued. “Had he told me all of this, I would have said the exact same thing. But I don’t think it was just the money, it was the rejection. The fact that others were measuring him to you, I think it made him frustrated, and that asking you would seem like he was admitting something…I swear that boy…” Starlight felt a pit grow in her stomach she never knew this, she never knew any of this about Sunburst. “And that’s why he was so desperate…he wanted the knowledge to be on par with me…I’m such a shitty friend…!” Stellar Flare wrapped her arms around her surrogate niece and held her tight. “Dear, don’t you ever blame yourself! He cared about you, and…this may’ve been wishful thinking on my part, but I think he may have had a crush on you.” Starlight closed the book, and yet again the world returned to its infinite white space. “That’s when I realized, how many others like Sunburst were turned away? How many others worked hard, just to be told you didn’t work hard enough, you weren’t smart enough? Sure, I could’ve started my own scholarship in Sunburst’s name, but that wouldn’t solve the real problem, it wasn’t just a localized scourge! So, my plan was hatched, I would bring infinite knowledge to the world, no one would be made to feel inferior ever again, because logic will win over such pettiness.” “But how do you know that it won’t end the same way as Sunburst?! If he wasn’t chosen by the Earth like you and me, then the same thing will happen to billions of people around the world!” Twilight argued. Starlight shook her head in the negative. “No, not with the apparatus I built, and I’ll have something that I didn’t have back then. The Gaia Memories. Why did you think I put these T1s out into the street? I was gathering data on how they affected the human body, the same for the T2s. I’ve collected all that data, so that I knew exactly how to direct the energy, so it doesn’t overwhelm the human mind and body, to facilitate the seamless melding of the Earth’s Memories and the human race!” Starlight released the book and let it return to the white void. She then turned around and walked towards Twilight. “However, I did find a flaw in my plan. The device I created still can’t do one thing, it does require someone with a connection to the Earth to act as the key. The problem before, was that there was no one to mitigate the flow of energy, I was basically having a hard time walking and chewing gum at the same time. But with you, Twilight Sparkle, you can act as the key, and I the driver. We’ll usher in a new world!” ***____________________*** Sunset stood alongside Kamen Rider Trigger, right in the middle of White Tail Park. The tree line was to their left, and to their right was the city, it provided a good amount of cover with the sporadically placed trees along the park proper, and hills. Trigger had his weapon drawn, his finger tapping against the trigger of his weapon, ready to fire the moment he saw their targets. Their waiting game soon ended, the Commander and Eyes Dopants arrived on the back of the T-Rex Dopant, following them was the Smilodon and Dog Dopants, along with Magma, Arms, and now Beast had joined their ranks. Commander had a hold of Twilight, and upon her was strapped a time bomb that bared the same color scheme as the Commander Dopant. “TWILIGHT!” Sunset screamed. “What have you done to her?!” “Simmer down, hero, the bomb won’t go off, provided you do as we say,” Commander stated. “Open the case,” Eyes ordered. Trigger nodded to Sunset. The fiery haired girl opened up the briefcase and revealed all the Gaia Memories that they had gathered, including Unicorn and Nasca. “They’re all there, with the exception of mine. I’ll give mine up when I have my little sister safely back,” said Trigger. “You’re not in a very good position to bargain,” said Commander. “Considering you out number me a hundred to one, I’d say the odds are in your favor. You really think I’m going to try something with her in danger?” Commander looked to the girl that was Twilight’s friend, and then back to Trigger. “Fine, give us the case.” “No, we exchange at the same time! And take that bomb off of her first!” Sunset demanded. “Fine.” The Commander Dopant pressed a few buttons on her forearm mounted device and the bomb on Twilight’s chest digitized and vanished. “Sunflower, escort the fare maiden to her hero and collect the payment.” The Eyes Dopant did as she was told as she escorted Twilight, with Sunset walking out to meet them. The two eventually met in the middle, with the Eyes Dopant keeping one hand on her while she held out the other for the case. Sunset reached out her left hand while holding out the briefcase with her right. Twilight carefully took Sunset’s hand, the Eyes Dopant put her hand on the briefcase. In a matter of seconds, the exchange was made, Twilight was drawn into Sunset’s arms while the briefcase was now in the hands of the Dopant. Both retreated back to the safety of their respective sides with their exchanges made. “Alright, officer, now it’s your turn, hand over your Gaia Memory,” Commander ordered. Trigger looked down at his Driver, and then back up at the Commander Dopant. “Yeah, about that…I LIED!” Trigger declared as he pointed his Chrome Magnum into the air and fired one shot straight up. A second later, arrows laced in pink energy came flying from the tree line, the arrows struck the area around the Dopants, causing several explosions to go off. The other Dopants were thrown from their spots and sent sprawling to the ground, the briefcase containing the Gaia Memories fell from the Eyes Dopant’s claw and slid across the grass. “I don’t…what’s happening?!” Twilight asked. “Sorry, Twilight, but I need to go to work, your girlfriend will give you a proper ‘welcome back’ kiss later!” Sunset winked as she dashed towards the Dopants. As Sunset ran, her body began to glow with blue light, and she transformed into an anthropomorphic cheetah girl. She dashed across the filed and scooped up the briefcase full of Memories, the Eyes Dopant looked up and saw the change and shook her head in confusion. “How?! What?!” “It’s called the ol’ double cross, classic movie trope,” said Not-Sunset. The cheetah girl ran back to where Trigger was, the other Dopants were ready to get up and fight again, but another volley of arrows rained down upon them, causing more explosions. The Magma Dopant raised its right hand slammed it against the ground, sending a surge of molten heat straight for the tree line. The molten surge struck the tree line with a powerful impact, setting it on fire. Trigger and the cheetah girl both looked at the tree line with worry as they saw the woods start to catch fire pretty quickly. < WEATHER! > {< WEATHER! MIMETIC DRIVE! >} Suddenly, clouds started to form over the trees, and released a torrential downpour that smothered the flames and cooled the molten earth. Within the black smoke, a turquoise light shined within. The same light washed over the smoke and pushed it away, revealing Kamen Rider Unicorn, but she was not alone. Beside her was the Queen Dopant and four of the Shadowbolt Five, who were dressed in their archery attire, and sporting a glowing “Q” mark. Along with them was Applejack, who was also sporting her archery attire from the Friendship Games, she too was marked with a glowing “Q”. Floating above them was Kamen Rider Nasca, but she was in a new Mimetic Drive Form. Her normal helmet was converted to a Romanesque helm, porcelain white, accented with gold etchings that depicted feathered wings and lightning bolts. Her helmet had a bladed gold crest plume, and the eyes were now bright green. The shoulder pauldrons had small statues of two pegasi facing opposite directions, the gauntlets on her arms had images, on the right was the image of the sun, on the left, the image of water. On the right boot, the image of lines that represented wind, and on left boot was a snowflake. Upon her chest was the same Romanesque armor, but it possessed the image of a horse head, with wings on either side of it, and behind her flowed a crimson red cape that flapped in the wind that was conjured around her. “Hey, whaddya think of my new form? It’s called Nasca Strom Breaker!” Nasca declared. “HOW?!! THE BRIEFCASE HAD THE UNICORN AND NASCA MEMORIES IN THEM!” Commander yelled. “Yeah, you can thank our resident, up-and-coming actress over there,” said Unicorn. At this, the cheetah girl morphed again, revealing herself as Juniper Montage with the Dummy Memory in hand. “They’re making a movie about me and Nasca, and so our friend here decided to borrow a few items from their props department. They look so real, don’t they?” Juniper opened the case and took out the Nasca, Weather, and Unicorn Memories, and then proceeded to snap them in half. “Don’t worry, they have a ton of these just in case of accidents during filming.” “But then…WHO ARE THEY?!” Eyes asked. Indigo stepped up and said, “We’re Crystal Prep students, and even though Twilight is not in CPA anymore, she’s still a Shadowbolt!” “We were pretty much real bitches towards her, but after what happened Friendship Games, we’re looking to change all that! Starting with saving our friend!” Sour Sweet announced. “I never wanted to see this Gaia Memory again, but to save her, I’ll gladly turn into a monster again, for our friend!” Queen stated. “Ya, mess with one of us, ya mess with all ‘a us!” Applejack stated. “GRRR! I’m not having this teeny bopper, superhero playtime crap! ATTACK!” Commander ordered. The T-Rex Dopant roared and began stomping towards them, on its back, Beast and Arms joined in as they headed right for them. “Remember, don’t engage directly! Sunny, I’ll leave it your discretion, Nasca, we need take out the Commander Dopant, if Gilda’s theory is right!” “On it!” Nasca confirmed. Applejack led the Shadowbolt Four one way, while Unicorn, Nasca, and the Queen Dopant went another. Queen proceeded to lob power spheres at the debris formed T-Rex, each sphere exploded against the beast’s body, pushing the T-Rex Dopant back. The Beast and Arms Dopants jumped off and proceeded to engage Nasca and Unicorn. Meanwhile, Smilodon and Dog came running at the girls. Sour Sweet and Sugarcoat notched an arrow each, their “Q” marks glowed as pink energy flowed into the arrowheads, setting them ablaze with power. The two released their arrows, the two projectiles blazed through the air as they fell just a few inches shy of their targets as the two animal Dopants moved out of their way. However, the resulting explosion did buffet them and made Dopants stagger. Magma readied to attack again, but Trigger immediately entered his Super Form, Trigger SWAT and fired on the Dopant, using his Suppressor Memory to keep the walking fire hazard from hitting them with another molten attack from shooting off. Unicorn threw a roundhouse kick to Beast’s head, sending the monster spiraling to the ground. But the Dopant quickly recovered and attacked again with its claws, Unicorn easily dodged, and charged forward. She gathered mana into her right hand and slammed it against Beast’s abdomen, discharging it as a mini-explosion went off and made sparks fly from it. The Dopant was thrown a couple of feet away, but even after sustaining that damage, it just got back up, its body healing quickly. “Right, you can regen fast…but still, you should at least be getting winded by now,” said Unicorn as she tried to make sense of this. Meanwhile, Nasca was flying around, conjuring lightning bolts and heat rays that she struck Arms with. The Dopant formed a blaster from his left hand and fired energy shells straight up at Nasca. However, her wind and lightning barrier helped to keep the shots from hitting her directly, but as she fought, she couldn’t help but notice the same relentlessness in this Dopant as the one that Unicorn was fighting. “It’s like we’re fighting robots or something, they don’t get tired no matter how times we put the on their backs!” “Clear Skies’ power must be that, at least one of her powers, creating soldiers that will follow any command she gives and will fight without relent! Then we really do need to take her out!” The Smilodon Dopant was quickly approaching the girls, but before it could get close, a minotaur came in and rammed itself into the monster cat, sending it rolling to the ground. The Dog Dopant sidestepped the minotaur and went straight for Applejack. The cowgirl balled up her right fist, channeled the energy that was coursing through her, and struck with an uppercut right to its muzzle. The creature recoiled at the blow, but then the minotaur came in and clotheslined the Dog Dopant, it spun in the air until it finally landed on its back. “Ladies, light it up,” said Lemon Zest. All five jumped into the air at once as they notched their arrows. In unison, they fired and struck the monster fives times with exploding power arrows. When they landed, a large smoke plume arose from the spot where they attacked, but before they could catch their breath, the Dog burst through the smoke and bared its fangs at them. But several blue energy blasts hit the Dog Dopant and made it go the other way before it could reach them. Trigger stood there, with a determined spirit and a smoking barrel as he tried to pick his targets among the chaos of the fight, while also protecting his little sister. “Don’t worry, Twily, I won’t let you get taken away again!” “I know…you’re the best big brother, probably the only one who would go to such lengths to protect their sibling. Which is why I feel bad about all this…” Twilight said. Trigger turned around to look at Twilight. “You have nothing to feel bad about.” “No, I do…” Twilight walked forward, reached into her skirt pocket, took out a remote-control device, and pressed the button. Electrical surges ran up and down Trigger’s armor, his systems blaring out warnings the whole time. After a moment, the eyes of Trigger’s helmet switched to a gray color as his body stood attention. Unicorn stopped fighting as she witnessed this and yelled out, “TWILIGHT WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Twilight’s body began to change, shifting as yellow light enveloped her. Her true form was revealed as she had transformed into the Luna Dopant. “Sorry, but you weren’t the only ones who did a double cross.” Commander and Eyes chuckled at the sight of the Kamen Rider’s surprise. “That’s IT!” Unicorn took out the Shining Memory and the Phoenix Ascender, ready to end this fight here and now. “UNICORN, INCOMING!!!” Nasca warned. A huge fireball came flying from the sky and struck the middle of the battlefield. Applejack, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, and Sour Sweet were thrown to the ground from the shockwave of the blast. Before they could get back to their feet, they were surrounded by the Smilodon and Dog Dopants, along with these fiery constructs of butlers and maids wielding weapons that were trained right on them. Trigger, in his brainwashed state, fired his Chrome Ultimatum at Queen and Dummy, making them back off of their targets and retreat back to where they were, but now they were in the crosshairs of the Arms Dopant. And to make matters worse, the Magma Dopant created a ring of fire to enclose them. Up above them, the Quetzalcoatius Dopant hovered, the giant bird-dragon cawed as it watched everything up above, its eyes roving over the battlefield for any sign to attack. “It was a good plan, Unicorn, Nasca, but ultimately, not good enough. Kid grab the briefcase and bring the puppet over here,” said Commander. The Luna Dopant huffed indignantly, he really did not like these two, but right now their mission was priority. The Luna Dopant did as he was told and now they had the Gaia Memories and Trigger. “Well, here we are, staring down the barrel. On the one hand you could transform into that super angel or whatever form you have and hope you both are fast enough to keep us from killing your friends. Or you give up the Gaia Memories and we let you all live, what’s your decision? Bear in mind, we still have our hostage, so you can factor that into your decision,” Commander held out her arms and asked, “What’s it going to be?” Unicorn looked to Nasca, and Nasca to her. They both glanced over at the situation with their friends, and then to their Dopant companions. If they gave up their Gaia Memories now, then there was no way for them to fight back against Equal or stop whatever it is she was planning. But if they didn’t, they’d lose their friends. Save her friends, save the world, save Twilight, save them all? There has to be a way to stop this, it’s up to me to keep everyone safe, to keep this world safe! C’MON SUNSET THINK! Sunset shouted in her mind as she tried to figure out a way out of this predicament. The Commander Dopant slowly walked towards them, chuckling in a mocking tone the whole way. “Poor heroes stuck between a rock and a hard place. Starlight Glimmer may not want those girls hurt, or the hostage. But in all honesty, I could give to flips about any of them. And if I have to, I will kill that nerd, and her pig brother. So, it’s up to you, can you live with that kind of blood on your hands? Are you willing to sacrifice all these lives to beat the Big Bad?” “STOP!!!” Unicorn yelled. “Just…stop…you win. Okay, you win, just don’t hurt them…” “Power down heroes.” Nasca floated down to the ground and stood beside Unicorn. Both heroines disengaged their Rider forms and revealed their civilian forms to Commander. The heavy metal Dopant just laughed out loud at what she saw. “Oh, crap, not only are they some snotty nosed brats, but one of them’s that girl you were telling me about!” The Eyes Dopant looked closer and gasped. “I’ll be damned, I was standing in front of Unicorn the whole time. Now it makes more sense how you were able to survive my blast all those months ago. Ooh, and you failed to save your girlfriend on top of all this, harsh.” Sunset looked away as she handed over her Unicorn Memory to Commander. Rainbow Dash, with much reluctance, put both the Nasca and Weather Memories in the monster’s hand. “Now tell them to give there’s up next.” “Jun, Sunny, power down and give them your Memories,” said Sunset in a defeated voice. Queen and Dummy looked to each other and sighed in defeat, they couldn’t do anything, not with their friends on the line. The heat from the lava the Magma Dopant made cooled immediately, allowing both girls to change back and hand over their Gaia Memories to the Arms Dopant, who rushed them over to Eyes to place in the briefcase. “Okay, you got all the Memories we have, now, please, give her back!” Sunset ordered. “Hmm, I wonder, should I?” Applejack reached into her pocket, and as she did she said, “When Ah tell ya’ll to run, you run, got it?” “What are you going to do?” Sugarcoat asked. The Luna Dopant came up to the Commander Dopant and said, “Hey, we got the Memories, and Starlight ordered that these girls not be harmed, this is NOT part of the plan!” The Commander Dopant turned her head and glared at trickster looking creature. “Ugh, she doesn’t see the big picture yet, and these girls are a distraction, and these two in particular are dangerous to her plans. Wouldn’t it be more efficient to remove them from the equation? To ensure that Starlight’s plans go off without a hitch?” The Luna Dopant tightened its grip around the briefcase handle as he heard this, and before he could blink, the Commander Dopant turned sharply and grabbed Sunset Shimmer by the throat, hoisting her up as she continued to squeeze harder. Sunset thrashed about, striking the Dopant’s arm and trying to kick her, but her attacks fell short and her air was running out fast. “SUNSET!” Rainbow yelled as she threw a punch at the Dopant. The punch landed, but it did nothing to her, the Commander Dopant backhanded Rainbow Dash, sending her straight to the ground and into a slight daze. The Luna Dopant swiftly wrapped his right arm around Commander’s left, coiling it like a snake as he tightened it into a near constructing squeeze. “Let her go, NOW!” “Or what?” “Or I’ll snap your arm in half, don’t think that because I do illusions that I’m not strong enough to do that much!” At that moment, two eyes floated on either side of the Luna Dopant, the pupils glowed with stored up energy, ready to fire. “You do that, and she blasts your head off, I’m willing to get a broken arm,” said Commander. < YESTERDAY! > “RUN!!!” Applejack shouted as she pressed the Gaia Memory into her arm. The device turned into energy, flowing into Applejack and morphing her body with bronze colored energy. In a matter of seconds, she was transformed into the final T2 Dopant, the Yesterday Dopant. Upon her head was a Stetson hat, with an hourglass strapped at the center. A poncho draped off her shoulders, green in color, and had roman numerals that looped around like those on a clock. Her body was charcoal black colored armor, accented with silver to show the segments in the armor. Wrapped around her waist was a holster, the built buckle had the letter “Y” stamped onto it, and in each holster was an eight-barreled revolver. The armor around her forearms and lower legs were bronze colored, giving the illusion that she was wearing gloves and boots. Under the hat, the Dopant’s mouth was covered by a bandanna, and her eyes were a gleaming yellow color. Yesterday took out her revolvers and in quick draw fashion, fired at the Dopants and constructs surrounding her and the Shadowbolts. The monsters that were hit with the yellow plasma bolts were then coated in a faint yellow aura and began to move in reverse fashion. Yesterday fired again, this time hitting the Dopants that were keeping Juniper and Sunny Flare from running, as soon as the bolts hit, those Dopants began to move in reverse too. Yesterday twirled her revolvers and fired a volley up at the Quetzalcoatius, and upon hitting the bird-dragon monster, it began to fly in reverse. Yesterday opened the revolver chambers, watching as yellow energy filled all eight chambers before she clicked them back into place and charged for Commander. }<^>{ GATLING! MAXIMUM DRIVE! }<^>{ A barrage of azure beams pummeled Applejack, causing sparks to shoot off from her body along with multiple explosions one right after the other. All blasts culminated into one single beam which caused a large explosion, sending Yesterday straight to the ground. The Dopant tried to get back up, but Trigger was already on her, stamping his foot on her stomach to pin her, and then he fired five shots at her chest before she finally stopped. Her body shimmered, and in less than a second Applejack was back to her normal form, clothes torn, bruised, and bleeding from her head. The Dopants that were going in reverse suddenly stopped, shaking their heads as if they were in a daze. The Yesterday Memory rose from Applejack’s body and fell onto the ground next to her. Trigger bent down and retrieved the Memory and began his walk back to Commander, Eyes, and Luna. “That’s the last T2, we’re done, let’s just go!” The Luna Dopant ordered. Commander looked to Sunset, and then released her, letting the former unicorn fall onto the ground in a heap. Sunset coughed violently as she gasped for air, Rainbow Dash rushed over to her to try and help her friend, all the time glaring up at the Commander Dopant and looking at her friend who was unconscious. The Commander Dopant sighed and said, “Fine, let’s go.” The other Dopants began to move away from the three remaining girls, and when they did the rest of the Shadowbolts hurried over to help. “But not before I leave a parting gift!” Commander pressed a few buttons on her wrist device, and soon after, missiles fired from her back, six in total, all aimed for the girls. Rainbow Dash covered Sunset with her body, while the Shadowbolts huddled together around Applejack’s unconscious body in an attempt to save her. The Luna Dopant began to move, but he knew there was no way he’d reach them in time. < LUNA! > < TRIGGER! > {< LUNA! TRIGGER! >} Before the missiles could reach them, blue spheres with yellow energy tails flew at them, the beams wound and curved before they hit all six missiles, exploding them in midair. The girls braced as the shockwave reached them, and when it was over, the sound of a motorcycle echoed in the silence. When they figured out the source of the sound, they all turned to the right and watched as someone drove up to them, skidding to halt between the two sides. The person riding dismounted, and there was only one thing to call him, a Kamen Rider. His suit had a silver strip that went down the middle, splitting both sides, one side was colored yellow, and the other blue, an elongated, silver, “W” crest adorned the middle of his helmet along with two round, red compound eyes. In his right hand was a blaster weapon with a “W” symbol on it.   But that wasn’t the only surprise, the strange, red looking bike began to transform, becoming a human, or rather, another Kamen Rider. His armor was bright red, with a blue visor and silver crest that rested in the middle of his face, splitting the visor into threes. In his right hand was a large sword weapon, it didn’t look all that heavy, but when the Rider let the sword drop, blade first, it sunk deep into the ground. Sunset looked upon these two Riders, the half-and-half Rider turned around to face Sunset directly, and it was then that she noticed the two Gaia Memories in his Driver, one yellow, and the other blue, she did not recognize the yellow one, but the blue was the Trigger Memory. “Who…Who are you?” Sunset asked. “Some passing through Kamen Rider said my kouhai needed some guidance and help, so he helped us crossover to give you a hand. We’re your senpais, Kamen Rider Double,” said the half-and-half Rider. “And I was told that your partner needed some encouragement too. I’m Kamen Rider Accel, nice to you meet you,” said the red Rider. “Shotaro, don’t forget we’re still in the middle of a fight now.” The right eye of Double’s helmet flashed when this new voice spoke.   Commander looked to Luna and took him by the ruffles and said, “I thought the were only these THREE! Why are there TWO MORE and why do they both have Gaia Memories that are the same as yours and the cop’s?!” “Hey, I’m just as confused as you are!” Luna stated. Commander released him and looked back at the two newest Riders, for some reason, she could feel it, these two weren’t like the children she had just fought, these two exuded the aura of veterans who had seen and lived through countless battles. Clear Skies wasn’t a fool, not after last time, she knew when to retreat. “Sky?” Eyes asked. “Let’s get out of here,” said Commander. The group of Dopants all retreated, with Commander, Luna, and Eyes riding atop the T-Rex Dopant as they made their way back to PhoenEXE Corp. Double holstered his blaster on his left chest plate and ran over to Sunset, and Accel over to where Applejack and Shadowbolts were. Double knelt and looked at Sunset and asked, “Are you alright?” “No…I’m not…my friend’s hurt…I lost my girlfriend…my Gaia Memories…I’ve…I’ve lost…”