//------------------------------// // Brave new World // Story: Fanfic War 2019 - Alchemy x Justice: Alchemical Sword // by Layton13 //------------------------------// Scootaloo groaned a little as they exited the portal, for a moment she didn’t think that anything had happened. They were still in front of the statue at the school, it was a little cooler, but that was about it. “Weird did we…” She started to say before she raised her hand to her face and realized that it was no longer the darker skin she had been used to, it looked more light orange. “What the heck?” “Oh, so you noticed? Quite a shock, am I right?” Phoenix called out to her from behind, trying his hardest not to burst out laughing. “Everything is a bit more colorful here.” “Uh, then why am I like, really white?” Sweetie Belle asked as she looked at her extremely pale hand. “I mean, this is more like going in the opposite direction… I look like a Marshmallow!” “Well, I always thought you…” Scootaloo started to say before Apple Bloom interrupted her. “Don’t yah dare finish that sentence, its bad enough Ah have ta hear ya’ll every night,” she said with a deep blush. “I don’t know, I think it suits you,” Phoenix added with a chuckle. “And oh boy I’m glad that we have back our color, especially you Ocean, you just look perfect with it.” “Oh, there you are! Where in the name of Tartarus have you all been? You were gone for an entire day, and then this thing came back here instead of you. I was worried sick you kn-” A voice called out to them, one that was very familiar to Phoenix and Ocean, Shining Armor! “What are you three doing here? And why do you look so much older?” He quickly added with a confused expression. “Hey Shining, good to see you! Nice that you wanted to play the reception committee for us. Let me introduce you to Scootaloo Dash, or if you want to go by her more known name Kamen Rider Justice,” Phoenix returned with a big smile on his face. “What?” Was all Shining could say, staring at them in even more confusion. “I think I’m missing something.” “Just a little bit, but right now we need to know where the monster went,” Ocean interrupted them before they could waste any more time. “We’ll tell you about everything when we have time.” “I think that’s the Police Officer who helped me after my first encounter with Diamond Tiara when she was possessed…” Scootaloo muttered to Sweetie and Apple Bloom. “Huh, really?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked at Shining Armor curiously. “Eh, it's probably just a coincidence.” “Alright, we need to get your former Corrupted secured or whatever you do with ‘em,” Tempest Shadow said as she nodded to the secured Suri Polomare. She reached into her pocket and took out her badge. “I’m Agent Tempest Shadow, there’s been a crossover event involving a monster from our universe coming here, any information would be helpful.” “Well,” he returned, still trying to get the thoughts in his head in order. “That is a lot to take in, but I think we can help you, as long as agent Skies is ok with it.” Ocean just gave him an amused smile before he continued: “Right. So, I ordered a few of my colleagues to follow her, but she quickly disappeared, we don’t know if she just teleported somewhere else or if she just went invisible-” “Invisible!” He looked at Ocean for a moment before continuing with a shake of his head. “Right, invisible, got it. We lost her sadly, and even Light Bulb can’t find anything on her through our scanners; apparently, she isn’t magical. Right now we are watching everything for any sighting of her, but until we didn’t get anything. That is about all I can offer, sorry. But at least I can get our little friend here to the headquarters, I think she has a lot to talk about, right?” “Yeah, apparently her punishment from last time didn’t tell her that messing with magic doesn’t end well. Maybe she will learn this time?” Phoenix chuckled. “On another note, anything attacked the MRG building in the time we were gone? I mean seriously, that happens on a weekly basis.” “No, we had nothing, no Chrysopoeia, no Alkahest or any other Corrupted, just that cat-thing, whatever it is,” he returned with a slight groan. “But apparently this little trip didn’t improve your sense of humor, it’s still awful.” “Hey, my comedy is great, tell him Ocean!” Phoenix snapped back, crossing his arms with a smug grin on his face. “It’s cute,” she just returned, a bright smile on her lips before she gave him a kiss on the check and headed off towards the parked van on the sidewalk. “Cute? What do you mean with cute? Hey, I’m talking to you!” He shouted after her, she just widening her grin and continued. “Luckily we brought handheld scanners for this eventuality,” Sweetie Drops said as she raised the device in her hand. “Not nearly as precise or accurate as a satellite, but it’ll do the trick.” “So, where to now?” Scootaloo asked. “We’ll take a quick detour to our labs. I’m sure Light Bulb might be able to make some adjustments to our own scanners so we can have a better idea where our little monster is hiding and we might even get to look into our little artifact, something seemed off about it, and I don’t know what. And after that, we will head straight to our local headquarters, I’m sure Onyx would love to hear about you all,” she shouted over her shoulder as she continued to approach the van. “I hope you all aren’t claustrophobic, because we have to cram a bit to get you all into this one,” she chuckled while opening the rear door of the van. “Great…” Scootaloo said with a groan. “Well, I guess if we have no choice, let’s get going then.” “Well, you could just wait here till the van comes back for you, but I’m not sure how some people would react seeing you just standing around a school, especially since you two can’t keep it in your pants,” Phoenix snickered before rushing towards his girlfriend, leaving the others behind, Pinecone just shaking his head and trotting after him. “Hey, we’re not that bad!” Sweetie protested as Apple Bloom just laughed a little at that. “Come on, we’re going!” Scootaloo rolled her eyes as they headed to the van after them. 00000 “Oh, oh, this is so interesting. I would love to strip you all down and analyze everything about you,” Light Bulb said with a childish glee in her voice, a small white woman with long blond hair who was right now extremely close to Scootaloo and stared at her through some strange high tech glasses. All while she was completely oblivious to the fact that everyone was giving her a few funny looks. “All the data I could gain from all of this, especially from your Drivers and these cards. Oh, the possibilities.” “Yeah, I’m sure you will have time for that, but right now we have to get the scanners to work with our one if that is possible,” Ocean sighed, her cheeks clearly red. “Oh, right agent Skies, shouldn’t be a problem. Seems the scanners work on similar technology than ours, just have to plug this in her and then…” she muttered to her self as she tinkered around with the device. “And that should do the trick!” At that moment the computer beeped something. “Should only take an hour or so to calibrate, nothing more I can do from here,” she continued with that big grin on her face. “Now, about that examination-” “Hey, no one’s stripping Scootaloo!” Sweetie protested quickly before muttering something to herself. “Yeah, look, Light Bulb, right? I’m not some test subject to be poked and prodded,” Scootaloo said as she shifted uncomfortably. “So could you please stop staring at me like that? It’s freaking me out.” “Oh, right right,” immediately jumped back, almost bumping into Ocean before continuing. “I’m sorry. Won’t happen again. Still, sad that you won’t let me examine you,” she added with a depressed tone. “But it’s not like there aren’t any other test subjects that I could turn to…” she glanced over to Sweetie Drops and Lyra, a hopeful smile on her lips. “Oh heck no,” Lyra said with a shake of her head. “I’m only here because we weren’t sure if she could transform with me in a separate reality. I did not sign up for being poked and prodded either.” “Is she always like this?” Sweetie Drops asked as she looked at Ocean. “She can become rather… excited when she discovers something new, otherwise she is rather shy… even if you don’t really see that right now,” she returned with a flustered expression on her face. “I’m sorry.” “Aww, so sad… And I thought I finally had the chance to research a Rider,” she sighed, picking up the strange Scfi-glasses, revealing her golden eyes. “We should make sure we don’t let her follow us back home,” Sweetie Drops muttered to Scootaloo who chuckled a little at that. “Look, I get it, not exactly a lot of subjects around here to poke and prod,” Sweetie Belle said with a shake of her head. “But she’s my fiance, and she’s not comfortable with that. But you’ve got a monster who can turn invisible at will and will hurt who knows how many people in this city trying to…” She paused a moment and thought about that. The monster was building on Suri Polomare’s anger towards her sister, so what would she do here? If she had a counterpart then… “Where’s Rarity Belle in this universe?” She asked. “I don’t know, but I’m sure I know exactly the person who might know that just give me a minute,” Phoenix returned, having already pulled out his phone and left the room. “Hey Thunder, how is it going?” That was the last they heard from him before the door closed behind him. That was until loud, incomprehensible screaming started. “What the…” Scootaloo said as she opened the door and went to see what was going on. She could see Phoenix holding the phone a good distance away from his ear and on occasion could make a few words out: “Idiot… worried sick… you get home…” and a few more. Without even saying as much as a word she closed the door again. “Uh, yeah, I think I’ll leave him to that…” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head as she looked back at the others. “Anything else we should know about this universe while we’re here?” “Well, Like Phoenix already said, we have evil Kamen Riders here, almost as long as he was around. One of them is a serial killer that murdered people because they were in the possession of artifacts to power up his own Magic Discs. The other one…” she started only to stop mid-sentence, her expression filled with guilt and sadness. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” Sweetie Belle said with a slight frown. “Unfortunately this kind of thing is not that uncommon where we come from,” Sweetie Drops said with a sigh. “I swear it’s like we live in a weird superhero universe sometimes.” “Yeah, I know what you mean, but I’m not sending you out there unprepared, especially since Chrysopoeia is by far the most dangerous out of all of them. He is… it’s complicated,” she sighed again, ordering her thoughts for a moment before continuing. “He is the spirit of a unicorn that has been assumed dead for six hundred years. He came here hunting for Phoenix’s family and stole some of the Magic Discs a few hundred years ago. Alkahest is his descendant. Alkahest kidnaped one of my closest friends, Ivory Diamond, the one that developed my Driver and now his ancestor is using his body like a puppet. If you see someone in armor that looks like Phoenix’s just run, they are extremely dangerous. I know Phoenix already told you that, but don't attempt anything. We are only alive at this point because of a mix of luck and the fact that Chrysopoeia wants to destroy our lives before killing us…” she finished with a low voice, her hands had clenched into fists. “Oh geez…” Scootaloo said with a flinch. “I’m sorry, that can’t be easy on you. If there’s anything, we can do to help…” “No, I’m not dragging you into this and neither would Phoenix. He has no reason to go easy on you two. He doesn’t know you and probably would just kill you for being in his way and to hurt us. This is our problem, and we aren’t getting you killed for it,” she returned with a firm expression. “In the end, we just have to pull this off ourselves, we are Kamen Riders after all. It’s our job.” “Yeah,” Scootaloo said with a soft smile as she placed her hand gently on Sweetie Belle’s. “The most important thing is that we keep the people of our cities safe. Especially those closest to us, it’s not an easy job, but someone has to do it. Especially given what the alternatives are…” “Yeah, exactly. I hope you can prevent anything like that from ever happening to you. And seeing you fight, and what Phoenix said about your partner, I’m sure you will manage. Just don’t let your identity get know, that is quite annoying. I tell you,” Ocean chuckled. “Seriously, how long is Thunder gonna chew out Phoenix? You know what, I’m gonna look what they are doing, you play nice with Light Bulb. Oh, and Light Bulb, don’t make our guests uncomfortable, I’m sure when everything is done and wrapped up, they will let you have a look at their gear, just don’t overdo it, ok?” The white woman nodded eagerly with a bright smile. “Good!” Ocean continued before leaving the room, the rest able to see Phoenix still holding the phone a good distance away from his ear before the door shut close again. “He’s gonna be like that for a while isn’t he?” Scootaloo asked. “Probably, I don’t really know much about his brother beside that he is his brother,” Pinecone mumbled back, his arms crossed and staring at the monitor that showed the calibration. “By the way, sorry for before,” he added, almost too quiet to hear. Scootaloo nodded and sighed a little as she sat down. It felt like her life was just getting weirder and weirder ever since she had found that Justice card in Canterlot. Her life was just getting more and more difficult, first the Order and now they were here in this weird alternate universe with magical monsters and people with weird skin colors. She had to admit that if it wasn’t for Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom she probably would’ve gone insane a long time ago. She smiled a little as she looked at her fiance and friend. She was lucky to have them right now in this situation. “Look, Light Bulb, I’m not comfortable with being poked or prodded, but is there some equipment you could use to study it while I’m transformed during the fight with the monster or something?” She suggested. “I mean, there has to be a way to do that without being so, intrusive, right?” “Oh, definitely,” she burst out and grabbed the strange glasses again, put them on and stared at Scootaloo. “It will be less effective, but we had to study Alchemy this way, so it shouldn’t be a problem. Thank you very much,” she smiled at her. “I wonder what I can gather from you and who knows when it will be useful. But there is still one request I might have, please, please, pretty please let me have a look at this Justice Card you have or any of these cards, the data I could get from them could be invaluable,” she begged with large golden puppy eyes, the glasses resting on her forehead. “Look, uh, I don’t really know how these things actually work beyond some sort of spirits within them, but we’ve had our scientists go over them already,” Scootaloo said as she placed her hand on her deck for a moment. “Plus if we find the monster I’m going to need all my cards just in case, same with Sweetie Drops and Lyra. I’m sorry, it's just not something we can spare right now.” With a deep sigh, she let her arms hang down like some kind of wet blanket before dragging herself over to one of the tables with several cables and other things, but what stood out the most was a small bracelet with a bug on it. It looked completely out of place next to a metallic boxlike object that looked only half finished. “Oh well, shame really. Hope agent Skies sees you a bit during your next fight, I would love to analyze your fight data. Until then, I have some stuff I have to finish anyway, this has taken up far too much of my time anyway,” she sighed and picked up a small pen-like device with a small gem on its end that she quickly pointed at the strange device. “I think they should be about done out there, why don’t you take a look, I would prefer it if I could work in private,” she absentmindedly added, tinkering away at her table. “Ya’ll know tha most interestin’ people, yah know that right?” Apple Bloom asked as she looked over at Ocean after they had left the room. “Comes with the job. Really, most people that go hunting or are interested in the supernatural are in some way… let's just say special,” she chuckled, Phoenix finally ending his call with Thunder. “So, with this over and my ear surprisingly still intact, I think I know where your sister is… sister from this universe… Rarity, where Rarity is. She is apparently still working at her job at Carousel Boutique, so we probably should get going. I have the feeling your agent might find her sooner rather than later,” he said, still rubbing his ear. “Just have to pick up the bikes from the MRG.” “Alright, we should move out on the double then,” Tempest said with a nod. “Though I’d still keep an eye out for other possibilities. We’re simply working under one assumption here, and we shouldn’t put all our eggs in one basket. This isn’t a good situation to be in right now, so let’s move out and see what we can find.” “Agreed. Still, getting the bikes would probably be the most important thing right now. If we are mobile we can act far faster,” Ocean returned, leading them towards the exit. “Bikes? Uh-oh…” Scootaloo muttered to herself. Forseti, her bike back in her home reality, was outfitted with a limited AI system that compensated for her driving, and she was if she was being honest with herself, not that great on the bike without it. “Uh, maybe I’ll take the van instead.” Phoenix turned around with a rather puzzled expression. “Didn’t you have a bike back home? So, what is the problem?” “Yeah, I have a bike… with an AI system,” Scootaloo admitted as she rubbed the back of her head a little. “I’ve only got a basic idea of how to actually run one of these things on my own…” That was when Phoenix couldn’t hold it anymore. “Wait, you are telling me, the Kamen Rider can’t ride a bike? It’s even in the name?” He was already leaning against the wall, holding his side, all while laughing. Or at least he was until Ocean gave him a quick slap on the back of his head. “Ouch!” “You deserved it,” she simply stated. “So, what are we gonna do about this? I think we could drive you around in the van, it’s just far slower than the bikes,” she muttered, being a bit taken back by the situation herself. “Yes, unfortunately, the bikes were reverse engineered from tech developed by a group called Gorgom from the 80s,” Sweetie Drops said with a sigh. “Scootaloo, first thing when we get back, you’re taking some proper lessons with Stone Breaker. The onboard AI is supposed to compensate in battle.” “Got it,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “Sorry, I guess with everything that’s been going on it slipped my mind. I’ll talk to Stone Breaker as soon as we get back.” “Alright, then we’re down one Rider, can any of you give her a ride there?” Tempest asked as she looked between the three of them. The three looked at each other for a moment before Ocean returned: “Well, my bike is not very passenger friendly, Pinecone could pick you up, but well…” She gave the Rider a glancing look before shaking her head. “Phoenix, are you ok with-” “Sure, why not. Just hold on tight, the thing goes very fast,” he chuckled in return. “Hey, it's not like I’m not used to it on my bike, I once had to break through a window in a factory with it to fight a monster,” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. “That was a crazy moment…” “Also are you sure all Riders ride bikes? Because I found a report about this one guy called Drive who had a car,” Sweetie said thoughtfully. “Well, technically Chrysopoeia rides a chariot, so not even in this world every Rider has a bike,” Ocean added, a smug smile on her lips, Phoenix just rolling his eyes in return. “Hey, he can at least ride it himself.” “Okay, if you’re done comparing vehicles I think we should get going,” Tempest said with a shake of her head. “May I remind you that Rarity could be in danger if we don’t hurry up? Let’s get going.” “Right, right,” Phoenix returned, quickly overtaking Ocean and rushing to the van with her not far behind. 00000 After a quick stop at the MRG to pick up their bikes as well as one spare one for Sweetie Drops they were on their way towards Carousel Boutique, Scootaloo holding onto Phoenix as they passed through the streets of the city. Phoenix had activated the police radio and listening to everything that was currently happening, a robbery on the other end of the city, a traffic accident and a noise complaint, nothing special, so no Agent or Corrupted yet… yet. Their bikes stopped right in front of the shop, still intact and no sign of any crazy doppelgangers anywhere. Seems they had arrived in time. After removing his helmet and jumping off his bike, Phoenix looked at the shop with a smile on his lips. “Been a while since I last saw this place, ah memories.” Scootaloo climbed off the bike and took a deep breath as she looked around. “Kinda reminds me of her old boutique back home before she moved to New York actually. Constants and variables indeed.” “Yeah, the universe is funny. I tell you. But this is as far as I know just a side job for a student, not like she owns the thing. That would be quite impressive indeed. I’m sure she would be delighted if she found out that in your world she has been so successful,” he chuckled as they walked into the boutique. Inside rows upon rows of clothing laid out for everyone to admire, well everyone who actually cared about that stuff. Thunder would probably have a field day with this, but that was beside the point really. A few seconds passed as the two scouted the shop, their eyes falling on the white girl with the purple hair. “Ah, there she is!” “Hey, Rarity!” He shouted through the entire room, gaining a few confused looks as he did so. Rarity meanwhile turned as well, looking at him like he was out of his mind for a moment before putting on a resigned smile and walked over to them. “Phoenix, darling, what are you doing here? Did something happen? And who is your new friend there, she kinda reminds me of someone…” Rarity muttered quietly, occasionally looking over her shoulder to see if anyone was staring, which they obviously were. “Yeah Rarity, how do I explain this the best way… Uhm, well…” Phoenix returned, stumbling over nearly every word and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. “This isn’t going to be easy to explain…” Scootaloo muttered to herself as she rubbed her temples lightly. “Phoenix, given the situation maybe we should explain it quickly.” “Yeah, ok… Here goes nothing. So in short, there is a version of that girl Suri Polomare from another dimension that wants to kill you, and she can turn into a monster as well,” he finished, looking somewhat unsure of the whole thing. “Oh, and that is Scootaloo Dash, aka Kamen Rider Justice, also from another world,” Phoenix added, with an awkward smile. She looked at him for a moment with a raised eyebrow before returning: “Ok, if you say so. I might not understand everything perfectly, but it seems to be important. Let me just get a few things and tell miss Hemline that I have to leave early today, and I will be right with you. My car is just down the street,” she sighed, before walking off and towards the older lady with the grey skin. “Well, she took that quite well…” Pheonix said after a few seconds of silence. “And I thought my universe was going to be the weirder one…” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head. “Do you have bloggers and news reports on your fights too? I think my Canterlot just ran out of things to talk about and latched onto me as the next big trend. Still, beats the alternative.” “Well, something like that. I was the local attraction when I first showed up, quickly swept away the previous weirdness that even brought, me to this town. Never really cared much about the news and so on, well until a few weeks back. To make a long story short, a local crime boss captured my two comrades and forced me to reveal my identity to the whole city. Let’s just say that I have made far more of an effort to stay under the radar from then on. With rather varying success. Sometimes I wonder when they will leave me alone,” he sighed with a rather flustered groin. “I like the limelight, at least a bit, but this is just kinda way too much. But maybe when everything dies down, they will lose interest.” “The Order already knows my identity because they had an Agent possess a friend of mine, which is why they tend to go after me and my friends,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “I’m starting to see the value of secret identities in comic books though.” “Yeah, keeps the reporters off your back. Thankfully none of them ever got in the way of fighting a monster yet, so there is that,” he chuckled. “Well, no use to complain about spilled milk, it happened, and I have to make the best out of it.” “Sometimes I wonder if it might be better if the public at least knew about the Order’s threat,” Scootaloo said thoughtfully. “Oh they know about the monsters, but they don’t really know about how they work. Maybe that would help a bit, or maybe it would just incite panic… then again we did use the internet during the recent encounter with the bat thing.” “Probably not a good idea, there are just some things better left buried,” he returned with a low voice. “Oh, look, I think she is coming back!” He pointed at Rarity who had grabbed her purse and was on her way back to the two. “So, I got everything I need. I also warned the rest. So, where are we going next? The MRG right?” She nonchalantly returned, showing no sign of worry or nervousness. “Wow, you are taking this very well.” “After what I went through one gets used to it. And worrying is bad for my skin anyway, so no thank you,” she returned with her usual smile. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. Come on, we’ll get you to the MRG in no time, and after that, we will deal with that monster as soon as possible.” Phoenix returned with a nod. “I can ride with you if it helps,” Scootaloo offered. “In case something happens on the way, you know?” “What, don’t want to ride with me again?” Phoenix chuckled. “Maybe a little, but we need to be careful anyway in case you get separated,” Scootaloo pointed out as she placed her hand on her Driver in her jacket pocket. “Really, with everything that’s going on and because she’s a target we should probably have someone in the car.” “Thank you, I appreciate it. But don’t be mistaken, I’m not by any means helpless,” the girl returned with a confident smile on her lips. “Oh right, the Geode, how could I forgot,” Phoenix added, rubbing the back of his head rather embarrassed as he stared at one of the walls. “Oh, sorry,” Scootaloo said a little embarrassed too. “I just thought it might be a good idea is all… we don’t have to do that.” “Oh, no, no, no darling. I wasn’t against the idea, just didn’t want to look like the damsel in distress,” she smiled back at her with a familiar smile. “You are very much welcome to drive with me. And if it’s true that you are from another world, I would love to know if you met my counterpart in it.” Scootaloo exchanged a look with Phoenix for a moment before chuckling a little. “Yeah, I’m sure I can tell you a few things. So, shall we get going?” “Oh, this is gonna be so interesting!” Rarity almost squealed out before shoving both Riders out of the door of the boutique. 00000 As the car started up, Scootaloo looked out the window at the city for a long moment. It was amazing how much this Canterlot reminded her of home, even if it was a bit more colorful in places. She smiled a little and looked back at Rarity. “I, uh, probably should preface this by saying the Rarity in my world is about 25,” she said with a chuckle. “Oh, really? Still so young? I hope I managed to achieve most of my dreams already, wouldn’t want to do that when I’m old,” she chuckled as the girl pushed the gas and the car started to move, past the shops of the street, Phoenix close behind them. “Well, she’s pretty successful actually, she started her own boutique in our Canterlot before hitting it big and moving to New York City with her friends,” Scootaloo said with a slight smile. “I haven’t really seen the place up there yet myself, but Sweetie’s visited, and she brought back pictures, pretty nice set-up.” “Oh, that is lovely. I would love to see that, even if I never heard of that New York place. That brings me hope that my own dreams will also flourish just like hers,” she was smiling brightly, an aura of satisfaction radiating off her. “On another note, anything else that is noteworthy, like, oh, I don’t know, like a handsome gentleman?” She spared a quick look over to her, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. “Uh… about that…” Scootaloo said as she rubbed the back of her head a little. This was going to be a weird one to explain. “She’s married, to Jaqueline Apple, or, Applejack as we usually call her.” In a split-second, she hit the breaks like a champion, the car coming to an abrupt halt, Phoenix just barely managing not to crash into the back of the car. Rarity’s head shot around in an instant, her cheeks crimson red and she stammered: “What? Can… Can you repeat that again please!” “She’s married to Applejack…” Scootaloo said she was a bit frazzled from the sudden stop. “They live together with Applejack’s daughter Honey.” “Da… Daughter? With Applejack? Me?” She was still completely out of her mind, stammering simple words like they meant anything specific. “I mean, she doesn’t look bad, but… Me! She is… So rustic… Unbelievable… Pain in my… Applejack?” As unbelievable as it was her cheeks turned even redder, her head now more resembling Alchemy’s helmet than anything else. “I have pictures on my phone… assuming my phone still works…” Scootaloo said as she reached into her jacket pocket and took her phone out. “We took one after they came to visit yesterday.” She held her phone up to show the picture to Rarity. They hadn’t been able to do much together, but they had at least gotten in one as sort of a family picture before all the craziness started up. “I mean, I don’t know how accurate this thing is, and remember its an alternate universe…” Scootaloo said sheepishly. “I know it’s probably weird to you, but it’s the truth.” Rarity shook her head for a moment before returning: “Yeah, a bit. Not the different universe thing, that is pretty much normal. One of my friends comes from another universe actually. But that is beside the point. Let me have a look.” She stared at the screen for a few moments, it was cute, even if strange at the same time. That was until something else caught her eyes. She took a glance at Scootaloo’s hand as well and chuckled. “Oh, and who is your special someone?” “Uh…” Scootaloo said as she paused a little. “I think I should probably wait until you recover from the shock of you being married to Applejack first.” “Ah, I’m sure it’s fine. It’s not like it’s Sweetie Belle,” she returned with a chuckle, her cheeks having already returned to a somewhat flustered pink, all while she let the car start to drive once again. “Uh, about that…” Scootaloo started to say as she blushed a little, she had no idea how she was going to explain this one either. This was worse than actually telling her world’s Rarity she wanted to date Sweetie Belle somehow. Before she could even think any further she was interrupted by a loud screech of delight. “Uhhh, that is so adorable! I approve! Always thought you two would make a cute couple but until now nothing! I have to show you to them, maybe that will get them into it?” “Okay… I certainly didn’t expect that,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle. “Yeah, we’ve been dating for a few years now and I proposed to her the other day. Given everything that has been going on, I felt it was time.” “Oh, tell me everything! I need to know, I need to know!” “Well, Sweetie was my first real friend after my parents died,” Scootaloo said as she smiled a little and brushed her purple hair back. “When we started high school together, I started to realize I was into girls like that, and Sweetie in particular. I finally worked up the courage to ask her out, though I talked to your counterpart about it first. Well, long story short she said yes, and we’ve been a couple ever since. After the Order started attacking, well I couldn’t risk losing her or her losing me, so I scraped together the money I had saved, borrowed money from family, and got down on one knee and proposed. She makes me happy, probably happier than anyone else I’ve ever known and I’d do anything for her.” She blushed a little when she realized she had said all of that out loud. “Sorry, I rambled a bit there…” “Oh, don’t worry, it’s cute, really,” Rarity chuckled playfully. “Maybe I have to talk to this world’s Sweetie.” “Maybe, but if they don’t feel that way about each other wouldn’t you be kind of forcing it?” Scootaloo asked with a shrug. “But who knows, maybe they do feel that way and are just unsure about how to tell one another. I know I was certainly nervous when I wanted to ask Sweetie out.” “I know, I know. But as a big sister, you kinda think about that sometimes,” she returned with a sigh. “They would be so cute together.” “Really that’s about all to report, except the weirdly large amount of monsters that tend to attack our world…” Scootaloo said with a slight shake of her head. “Seriously it goes back to like the 70s, I’m amazed we’re all still alive.” “That does not sound reassuring…” she returned with a shake of her head. “But I’m sure Phoenix and the others can handle it.” “Hopefully, then again we’ve got so many Riders and everything in my universe, who knows it might be someone else,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “I just hope that we’ll be able to stop the Order before anyone else gets hurt or worse.” “Yeah, I know what you mean. Things always turn worse before they get better,” Rarity returned. “Let’s hope this new monster is dealt with soon.” “Yeah…” Scootaloo sighed. “Between this and the last universe we ran into, my life is starting to feel like a bad comic book plot.” “Tell me, darling, I lived through evil highschool-demon-girls, horse-fish-hybrids, twice I might add and so much more and then all of this. If I wouldn’t know any better I would assume I live in a TV-show,” Rarity chuckled back, taking the next turn. “Or at the very least a series of movies with weird plots,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle. “Not that my universe is any better, oh the things we’ve dug up on the internet about past Kamen Riders and their enemies. Things are just weird sometimes.” “Yeah, but so is life, am I right? You never know what lady luck throws your-” Before Rarity could finish her sentence, she quickly spun the wheel around like a madwoman, crashing into the lamppost on the side of the road, bringing her car to a sudden halt, knocking the young girl out cold in the airbag. Scootaloo, on the other hand, was still concise, her face just buried in the airbag. “I’m starting to wish I had taken the bike after all…” she muttered as she fell back. While the smoke was coming off from beneath the hood, she was still somewhat dazed by the whole ordeal, unable to make out the footsteps that were heading her way, footsteps that came closer and closer with every passing moment. When she finally managed to push herself out of the white cushion her head had been forced in she stared into a quite familiar face, the face of a cat with a symbol of six swords on its chest. “Really?” Scootaloo said with a groan as she reached for her Driver. “You couldn’t just wait until we weren’t driving anymore? Are you okay Rarity?” Before the cat could answer both of them heard the roaring of an engine from behind and within mere moments the monster was thrown to the side by a bike that stopped just before the door. “You're ok?” Phoenix asked, holding his hand out to her. “Hope so, because it’s time to get a bit of payback on Kitty over there.” “Right,” Scootaloo said as she took his hand and managed to stumble out as she raised her Driver and set it on her waist as the belt formed. “Let’s take her down.” “Perfect,” he returned, putting on his own Driver and accompanying Magic Disc on while dismounting his bike. With both Riders standing next to each other the Agent had managed to stand back up again and was already dashing towards them as both of them activated their Drivers. \ MAGIC DISC DETECTED! / “Henshin!” \ FLAME DISC ACTIVATED! / “Henshin!” “TIME TO TIP THE SCALES!” To the Agent’s surprise, she ran right into Alchemy’s flaming whirlwind and thrown back once again and right against the wall. When the fire finally died down both Riders stood before her, taking a good look at the scorched monster. “Hey, Kitty, didn't anyone ever tell you to not run head first into fiery whirlwinds of death?” Alchemy chuckled as he removed the Disc from his Driver once again. \ Flame Disc Attack Mode! / \ Flame Saber! / “Oh, and I have the feeling no one ever told you not to attack my friends as well. Well, tough luck, because I can be rather resentful when it comes to that,” with that he dashed forward and swung his sword at the monster, Kitty being able to block the attack with her katana. “You talk a lot for a Rider,” the agent said with a sneer as she kicked him back. “And I’m not about to let you stop me!” “I’m not about to let the Order attack another universe,” Scootaloo said as she rushed forward, stabbing forward at the Agent with her rapier which the Agent barely managed to stop. “And you don’t stand a chance against the two of us!” “Exactly! You’ll fall before us like any other monster before you and believe me, there were a lot,” Alchemy added, thrusting his sword forward, piercing the side of the monster who jolted to the side. “You little…” The agent said as she swung her sword down at Alchemy only to be caught in the side by the Rapier. “Stay still!” “Oh, you want me to stay still? How about this then?” He chuckled as he returned his weapon into Disc mode and pulled out an orange one before putting it into the Driver and spinning it. \ EARTH DISC ACTIVATED! / With the agent standing right beside him she was once again caught off guard by the whirlwind of stone that formed around Alchemy and thrown to the side, all while the Rider emerged in an orange armor with red eyes. \ Earth Disc Attack Mode! / \ Boulder Shield! / With his orange shield now in his hands, he wasted no time and threw it at the monster, knocking her down again just as she was about to stand up from the ground, the shield bouncing back right into his hand. “How about this? Didn’t move an inch!” The cat monster snarled as she raised her katana and pointed at them as she eyed the two of them. “If you’re going to play like that, I’m not playing fair,” she said with a wicked grin as here sword shimmered for a moment before she vanished. “Crap… not this again,” Scootaloo said as she gripped her sword’s hilt and looked around. “Where did she go?” “Again? Oh, right, Ocean said something about invisible monsters. So, how did you find her last time?” He asked Scootaloo, all while holding tightly onto his shield. Scootaloo took a card from her deck box and slid it into her Driver as a shield appeared in her other hand. “ARCANA CIRCLE SHIELD!” “We sent up a bunch of dust to find her, but that’s not necessarily going to be an option here,” Scootaloo said as she backed up against Alchemy. “What I would give to have Death here right now… a ranged weapon would be useful right about now.” “Huh, so you found her through a trick like that? I might have an idea, you wouldn’t mind covering me for a moment?” He chuckled, still letting his eyes dart around the street while they spoke. “Alright,” Scootaloo said with a nod as she gripped her sword and shield and looked around for any sign of the monster. “Well then, try to keep her off of me,” he returned, all while deactivating his weapon and returning it to the side of his belt as he switched the Disc out with another one. That was when he heard a footstep right beside him. Within a split-second he rolled out of the way, Scootaloo striking at the point where she suspected the monster and indeed the sound of metal against metal could be heard. While Justice was busy keeping him save Alchemy just plucked in the new Disc and started to spin it. \ WATER DISC ACTIVATED! / With a water-hose swallowing the Rider, he completely lost track of where the monster could have ran off to after her short exchange with Justice. The Rider now clad in his dark blue armor now stood wide in the open, no sign of the monster anywhere. The moment he grabbed ahold of the Disc once again he felt it, sharp pain in his back. Thrown forward by the unexpected force he landed on the ground. His first attempt at getting back up was once again met by a sharp pain, but this time in his side, sparks flew off as the katana once again struck him only for the agent to disappear on the wide open street once again. But this short moment of time was all he needed, slamming his fist on the ground, seemingly to help himself back up. Just like he had expected he felt the pain once again, this time again on his back, but instead of scream in pain he simply chuckled and flicked his fingers. Within seconds the entire street was quickly covered in a thin layer of water streaming from a small blue magic seal where he had slammed his fist on the ground. “Gotcha!” He groaned out, a pained smile under his helmet, a smile Scootaloo joined in just mere seconds later as she noticed what he had done. “Hold her there, I’ve got this,” Scootaloo said as she glanced at her shield, she knew she couldn’t use it very long so she had to make this count. She gripped the objects in her hand and ran at the cat-woman, slamming the shield into her as she kicked her hard. “Guess cats don’t like water, huh?” Scootaloo said with a grin as she stabbed forward with her Rapier only to have it be caught by her sword. “This is far from over,” she said with a snarl as she swiped at Scootaloo, her claws slashing at Scootaloo’s chest. “I’m not about to let you two freaks stop me from getting my revenge!” “Revenge, revenge, revenge, really, you sound like a broken record,” Phoenix sighed as he dragged himself back up to his feet, all that accompanied by pained groans. “Seriously, revenge will never satisfy you. Your life is already shit, so what would ruin the life of another change about that?” With that, he changed the Disc once again as well as activating his weapon. \ FRIENDSHIP DISC ACTIVATED! / \ Friendship Disc Attack Mode! / \ Connect Protector! / Charging forward he slashed across the back of the agent, throwing her off Scootaloo, the Rider stepping next to her and pointing his sword at the monster. “I’m getting really tired of this. I miss the time when there were monsters that had something else driving them instead of revenge.” “This… isn’t… over… not by a longshot…” The agent said as she got to her feet and smirked as she spotted something behind the two Riders. She held her own sword out and gripped it tight. “Here comes a new challenger.” “Wait, what?” Scootaloo said as the two Riders turned their heads, only for Phoenix to see an armored fist flying and hitting him across the face. Standing there was an armored woman dressed in silver armor with golden overlays. The helmet had a design on it that resembled a scorpion’s claws wrapped around the glowing red eyes of the visor. She had a Driver in the same design as Scootaloo’s, but she held no weapons, instead taking a fighting stance. “Kamen… Riders…” She said in a distorted voice that neither Rider recognized. Phoenix just held his jaw before returning: “Ok, so you figured out who we are, good for you. Now that you did that how about not hitting us, we are the good guys! Damn, that hurt like Tartarus,” he quietly added, taking a fighting stance as well, his weapon pointed at the new opponent. “You… will… PAY!” She screamed as she rushed forward punching hard at both Riders before coming to a stop in front of the Agent. “Must… destroy… Riders…” “Who are you?” Scotaloo demanded as she steadied herself, holding her sword upright. “Why do you want to destroy us? And why are you talking like Captain Kirk?” “He’s… telling me… to…” the Rider said. “The… man… in black… his voice… is in… my head…” “Ok, consider me officially freaked out,” Phoenix muttered, carefully eying the strange figure before him. The strange Rider finally screamed and grabbed the Order Agent before the two vanished into thin air. Scootaloo blinked a little in surprise at that before she reached to her driver and removed the two cards as she powered down. “What in the name of everything that is holy was that about?” She asked. “Hey, she had one of your Drivers, so don’t ask me. On a different note, I don’t know if I should be happy or angry about the fact that she escaped,” Phoenix returned, deactivating his own Driver. “I know… but I’ve never seen a Rider like that before,” Scootaloo said as she thought about it for a moment. “But Apple Bloom did, she saved her from a monster during the time we were fighting that Fangire/Order Agent hybrid monster. Something about all of this is weird… we should go check on Rarity.” Phoenix stared at her for a moment before his expression shifted to one of worry. “Oh fuck, you are right!” Without wasting any more time the two rushed over to the wrecked car and lifted Rarity out of it. “Give me a moment, I’ll call an ambulance.” “I’ll take her,” Scootaloo said as the petite woman helped keep Rarity steady as she nodded to Phoenix. “Probably better you call for help, I doubt my phone plan includes alternate universes… it’ll be okay Rarity, we’ve got you.” “Good, good. Come on…” He muttered all while pacing up and down the road. “Ah, finally! Yeah, here is Phoenix Feather…” While the two Riders were busy with Rarity two figure had watched the whole ordeal play out. The one with the pale skin and labcoat muttering in an annoyed voice: “This is troubling.”