//------------------------------//
// Ride 6: Another Brick in the Wall 
// Story: Kamen Rider Achilles 
// by Axle the Cobalt Exorcist 
//------------------------------//

Ride 6

The students of Canterlot High were all wound up tightly.

It was exam week, and the students were stressing out over all the tests their teachers were assigning. To the student body, it was as if they were going through a war zone. Lunch time was the only time the students were able to relax, and Flash took full advantage of it.

“I can’t take all this studying anymore,” Flash groaned, as he pushed his grilled cheese away, and hit his head on the table. An action everyone else on the cafeteria seem to imitate.

“I thought you would be happy about this," Trixie said as she filed her nails calmly. "You get to be tutored by Twilight."

Her comment made Flash go red for a moment. Luckily his face was still planted on the table, so no one saw it. “I’m grateful that Twilight is helping me out, but that still doesn’t make exams (or that can of worms) any less stressful.” Flash spun his head around on the table, allowing him to look up at his friend. He shot her a quizzical look. “Why aren’t you tired? All these tests are exhausting.”

“Haven’t you been paying attention?" Trixie responded arrogantly. "I’m amazing."

“What about trigonometry?” Flash asked with a smirk, which grew when Trixie froze and donned a panicked look.

“This may come as a shock, but even the Great and Powerful Trixie has flaws."

Soon, out of nowhere, Fluttershy came to sit at their table, before setting her head down on it, right next to Flash’s. “Are the tests draining the life out of you too Fluttershy?” Flash asked.

“You don’t know the half off it,” Fluttershy remarked. She rose up, revealing that she was holding a purple and green puppy. “It’s so bad that I needed to ask Twilight if I could borrow Spike, to help calm me down. My other animal friends are trying to help as well, but it's not enough." As soon Fluttershy said that, her bag opened to let out her pet bunny, Angel, along with a few birds that landed in her hair.

“Glad to see you guys,” the talking dog greeted Flash and Trixie.

“Hey Spike,” Flash greeted, before returning his attention to Fluttershy. “I’ve never seen you so stressed out. Well, I actually have, when your on stage sometimes, but not with something like a school test.”

Fluttershy pouted, hugging Spike closer. "Well... it’s not just my tests that I'm worried about. It’s my brother’s."

“Ufff," Trixie groaned, knowing full well the extent of Fluttershy’s situation. "Zephyr. Now I understand why your so worried,”

Fluttershy prospected to hug Spike tighter to calm herself down, almost cutting off his air. “He's already failed one of his exams, and he can’t fail his makeup...” She stopped. She didn't want to think about that.

“What’s wrong?" Spike asked as he pushed Fluttershy's arms open, enough for him to breath. "Can’t you guys just help the guy study?”

The three gave him an 'are you serious' look. Flash, incredulous, asked, “You haven’t met Zephyr, have you?" Spike responded with a shake of his head. “There are only two things Zephyr has ever worked hard on- ways to slack off and flirting with Rainbow." Fluttershy sighed, and placed Spike onto the table as she laid her head down again. Angel and her birds moved to comfort her.

“Well, if your so worried about your brother, why not try to help him study?” Spike suggested.

“I really do want to help Zephyr out," Fluttershy explained. "But unfortunately, being around him tends to bring out a nasty side of myself." Spike raised an eyebrow at this, obviously unaware that Fluttershy even had a nasty side.

“Well, what if you had some help?” Flash offered. “We may still be whipped from our exams but at least their over for us.”

Fluttershy thought about this for a moment. “Well, it couldn't hurt. And I really want my brother to not fail." One of the birds in her  hair tweeted, and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “Beatrice thinks it’s a good idea too.”

“Hey!” Trixie yelled out in protest. “I didn’t volunteer to help that bum out.”

“What happens with you being amazing? Odds are we going to need all the help we can get,” Flash said with a mischievous smile. At this point in the two’s friendship, Flash knew just the right words to say to hey Trixie to assist him.

Trixie knew this as well and was not happy about it. Still, Flash challenged her pride, and that was something she was not going to take laying down. “Fine, but I take no responsibility if the guy blows it.” She then turned to Fluttershy, "And you have to help me with studying for trigonometry." Fluttershy smiled, before she nodded, agreeing to the terms.

“Alright," Flash stood up, "now where is he? We don’t have much time to prepare for make ups."

Fluttershy thought again, going over her brother's schedule in her head. “I think he’s in the back courtyard for his midday meditation."

“Then let’s go,” Flash declared as he picked up Spike. However before the three left the cafeteria, a loud growling filled the air. The two girls turned back to see Flash with a goofy smile, rubbing his head. “Sorry, mind if I finish my lunch first?” This made the other three burst out laughing at his antics.





On the roof of the school, Terra was in his human form while pacing back and forth.

He was staring furiously at the Magi-Beast card he was holding. The card portrayed a group of spherical looking insects with wings. “Why can’t you just tell me who your host is!?” Terra yelled at the card. The card did nothing but glow the same way it did when he entered the area. “One in a bunch of stressed out teenagers are the perfect host for making a completed Magi-Beast in no time. But you won’t tell me who your best host is. Why?! I'm trying to help you!”

Soon, the noise of an opening door caught Terra's attention. Looking over the edge, the young man saw Trixie, Flash, Fluttershy, and Spike walk out of the building. “Ooh," Terra told himself, "this may be interesting."

The three teenagers and talking dog moved to the back courtyard. It wasn’t long before the met up with Fluttershy’s little brother. The young man was currently 'meditating' under a tree. When he heard footsteps, he opened his eyes and saw four heading his way. “Oh hey big sis. Here to chill out with me?” Zephyr asked as he shot finger guns to the group.

“No," Trixie told him, "we are not here to 'chill out'."

“Um...yeah Zephyr, If you don’t mind…” Fluttershy started, before Flash tapped her on the shoulder.

“More assertive,” he suggested.

“Right,” Fluttershy nodded as she put on a more serious face. “Zephyr, we are taking you to the library and helping you study for you makeup exams.” This time, her tone was completely serious...but that faltered when Zephyr stared laughing.

“That’s a good one, Flutters,” Zephyr said as he got up.

“I’m serious!" Fluttershy cried “we will help you study! As your big sister, I won’t let your fail a second time.”

“Relax, Fluttershy. I know exactly what I’m doing,” Zephyr said with a cheeky smile.

“Really?” Flash questions the other boy, full of skepticism.

"Yup," Zephyr said. "I’m going to wing it." This statement caused the four to almost anime fall. Fluttershy was the first to straighten up and glare at her brother.

“That’s what made you fail in the first place!” Fluttershy was really losing her cool now. Luckily, after a few deep breaths, she regained her composure. “I’m sorry, but you can't just drift through life without putting in any effort.”

“But studying is hard,” Zephyr whined.

“That’s why we’re going to try to help you,” Fluttershy said.

"Emphasis on try," Trixie said, while Zephyr tried to come up with an excuse.

“Jeez," Spike said, "now I see what you guys were talking about."

As the two siblings were talking, Terra continued to spy on the group. The two going back and forth got boring very quickly, and Terra was about to leave- until he noticed the Magi-Beast card was glowing brighter. “So... that loser is the lucky winner. That'll work nicely,” He said, a nasty grin taking over his face. He then took aim, before throwing the card towards the teens. The card flew through the air until it hit Zephyr in the back of the neck. The teen fell to his knees while his sister stepped back, as a mass of energy emerged from Zephyr’s body.

The mass of energy soon formed into an oval-shaped insect like creature. It was cyan with pink horizontal stripes. It had an extra set of arms, as well as a pair of compound eyes covering the top part of its body. “Buzzzzzz, I’m hungry for destruction!” The monster announced as he raised his two right arms.

Flash acted quickly, giving Spike to Trixie, before dashing towards his other friends. He tackled Fluttershy and Zephyr to the ground before the monster swooped down, narrowly missing them. “You guys need to get out of here, fast. I’ll buy you some time,” Flash ordered.

Fluttershy stared up at him. “But... We can’t just leave you alone Fla-”

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Zephyr interrupted, before he made a mad dash towards the building.

“I’ll be fine. Just go and get help." The monster tried to attack again, but Flash rolled out of the way. “ GO!” He yelled, causing Fluttershy to run away. Trixie gave Flash a nod. which he returned, before she followed Fluttershy in her escape. Once they were safe, Flash slapped on his driver and slotted the card in. “Henshin!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!!!”

Once the transformation was complete, the monster rushed up, ready to strike Achilles. The Rider dodged the attack easily, before pulling out his blaster. He began firing at the monster. “There’s no way I’m going to get beaten by a bug,” Achilles declared.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, buzzter. You won’t be able to swat me away.” The monster raised his top set of arms. All of a sudden, some of the stone benches began to levitate. He then thrusted his hands forward, launching the floating objects towards the Rider.

"WOW!" Achilles acted fast, and used his blaster to break up the benches. Unfortunately the debris kept moving forward, causing the rider to jump and avoid them. “Dang," Achilles said, "I didn’t think an insect would be telepathic." The Rider then went on the offensive, getting close to the monster to deliver several punches to its oval body. He then fired off a few shots point blank, to push the insect back. “I’m guessing that ability was the only trick you had,” he said, continuing to bombard the monster with his blaster.

Back on the roof, Terra was enjoying the fight. “ Looks like Pixybob needs some help,” he said as he rose from his perch. He jumped off the roof and landed three floors down, unharmed, with a bang. “Oh, I’ve have been waiting so long for this.” He rubbed his large hands together.

“What the?!” Achilles yelled as he took notice of the new arrival.

“Oh please," Terra said, smirking. "Don’t stop playing on my account."

Between the fact that this strange man doesn’t seem to flinch at the sight of the Magi-Beast, coupled with his impossible descent from the roof, Flash quickly came to a conclusion. “Are you connected to Cypher?” Achilles asked, as he avoided another attack.

“We’re besties. Of course, he would never admit it,” Terra said with a smile. "You know him, all business. I like to mix work and play, you know?" He then pulled his stylized buckle and placed it around his waist as well as a card. The card had the image of a normal house ready to attack. He slowed the card into the buckle with an unnatural smile. “And I have been looking forward to this fight.”

"EARTH PONY!”

The ball of lights came out and took their position on his body, before Terra was transformed into his monstrous form.

“So, your the same kind of Magi-Beast as Cypher?” Achilles said.

“HAHAHAHA!” Terra bellowed out so hard that he had to bend over. “Oh man, that’s funny. But I can’t blame ya for thinking that. The change is pretty similar, I'll give you that. But if I’m going to send you over to the next world, I want you to know just how hopeless it is to fight us.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” The Rider asked.

“First off," Terra took a step forward. "We like to call ourselves The Advanced.” His heavy, armored hoof hit the ground with such force that the ground shook beneath him. “We are the powers that a Magi-Beast unlocks when it becomes whole. After all we’re still human within these bodies, and that’s where a Magi-Beast’s power comes from. All the fights you’ve had so far are peanuts compared to us.”

This revelation caused Achilles to think back to his fight with Cypher. "He’s not all talk. I only made it out of that fight through pure luck."

“Hey Buzzz, I’m the one that’s going to take this guy out!” Pixybob said, as he hovered up to Terra.

“Come on" Terra said with a wave of his hand. "Let's all play nice here." Before anyone could have responded, the Advanced lunged towards Achilles, delivering a powerful blow to his chest. However instead of being sent flying, there was no real force at all. Achilles remained stationary, with no damage at all. Though the Rider couldn’t tell what was stranger: The lack of force in the attack or the fact that Terra seemed unphased by the anomaly.

After a second, Achilles decided to take advantage of the situation and grabbed onto Terra’s arm. In one swift motion, the Rider tossed the monster over his shoulder, and onto the ground behind him. “I can tell you're hiding something. A special power. No way someone who claims to be anything like Cypher could have such a weak hit. And you're the tank, aren't you?”

“Very perceptive of you, Mr. Rider,” Terra said, rolling over onto his stomach. “Well, no point in keeping you waiting. Here's the surprise,” he said before making a clicking sound with his mouth.

Out of nowhere, the Rider was blown right off his feet by an energy construct of Terra's arm coming out of his back. Achilles was speechless of the studded force in his chest. Achilles couldn’t even react, and he hit the ground. “Ufff! What was that? It felt like getting hit by a bus."

“Yeah, my powers aren’t as flashy as Cypher’s, but the look on a target’s face when I activate it? Priceless."

“Thanks pal, Buzzz. Now it’s my turn,” Pixiebob lifted all four arms, levitating any loose objects nearby. “Now it’s time for you to get crushed,” The monster laughed as he launched his attack.

Achilles barely had time to recover from the delayed attack. He quickly pulled out the Storm card and placed it into his spear.

“CHARGE!!!”

The rider then slammed the butt of his spear to the ground, forming a tornado around himself. Pixiebob’s attack was flung in all directions, before the tornado cleared- and the Rider was nowhere to be seen.

“Buzz!" Pixiebob almost yelled, "that buzzing Rider ran off!"

“I know," Terra followed,  standing next to the Magi-Beast. "That wimp ran off before I even got warmed up. But I’m not too worried. Your host is still well, he's bound to be stressed out. You’ll be whole in no time. Now, why don’t we go have some fun?” He suggested as he led the lower Magi-Beast away.





Flash escaped the fight, managing to regroup with Trixie in the building. He didn’t get away unscathed since he had to stop by the nurse’s office to get an ice pack. “I’m telling you Trixie, this guy was crazy. It only took one hit to knock me off my feet,” Flash said, holding the ice pack on his head.

“Yeah, well, sounds like you have the better end of the deal here. I rather have to fight a crazy strong monster then help Zephyr study,” Trixie complained as she pulled her peanut butter crackers out of the vending machine. “I’m pretty sure he never read a book without pictures in it.”

“Oh man!" Flash face palmed, only to almost cry as he'd accidentally hit his injured spot. "I didn’t realize it, but Zephyr's the host. A teenager preparing for exams is probably the best thing for those Magi-Beasts. Specifically a slacker." Trixie sat next to him against the lockers to enjoy her snack. “Can you think of anything more stressful?”

“No," Trixie said as she opened her snack, "you have a point."

“By the way, how are things going?” Flash asked. As soon as he asked, the doors to the library flew open with Fluttershy stomping out. “Never mind.”

She walked over to the two, before resting her head on the lockers. “Uhhh. I'm sorry to say this, but my brother is really peeving me off.” The two went wide, unable to believe she'd use such language...through it wasn't exactly illegal to say.

“I know Zephyr can be hard to interact with, but we need to help him.” Flash stood up before patting Fluttershy on the shoulder. “You’ve never been one to deny help to anyone.”

“I know," Fluttershy replied. “But even I have my limits."

"Okay, that's fair," Flash nodded, "When you start using language like that, you're kinda counterproductive. Got it. Why don’t you take a break, and let me and Trixie take a crack at it?"

“Hey," Spike said as he walked up to the teens, "I can help too."

“And what would a dog know about world history?” Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m Twilight’s dog,” Spike answered simply.

There was a silence among the humans. After a moment, Flash cracked a smile. “Well, can’t beat that argument.” This made everyone laugh.





Flash sat Zephyr down with stacks of books all around them. Flash decided to start with the Roman Empire. "So tell me what you know about Julius Caesar? He’s always a good subject on essays.”

“Well," Zephyr leaned back in his chair, "I know must have been great if he has an amazing salad named after."

“Um...no. The guy actually is the reason why the whole empire fell."

“Ya know, all this talk of salad is getting me hungry. Want to take a break?

“We haven’t even started yet!” Flash yelled, flabbergasted.

“All the more reason we should make sure we have full stomachs,” Zephyr said. It was at this point that Flash was already starting to regret his decision to help.





“Ok Zephyr," Trixie said as she flipped through the history book. "Let’s try Portugal during the age of discovery. That should help you stand out.”

“Wow that sounds so cool!” Zephyr said.

Trixie was smiling that she now had his attention. “Okay, this was where a lot of major advances in seafaring were made. New forms of navigation, boat construction and trade routes.” However as soon as she started to get into the politics of Portugal and Spain, she suddenly heard snoring. She looked around, and saw Zephyr had fallen asleep. This caused Trixie’s right eye to twitch. “Flash," she said calmly, "hold...me...back.”

Flash reacted to her words quickly, and grabbed onto the magician’s arms “LETMEATHIM! LETMEATHIM!” She yelled out as she attempted to attack Zephyr. “No one ever falls asleep during one of Trixie’s performances. Even if it’s a history lecture!”





“...And through his vicious, yet brilliant tactics, Oda Nobunaga was able to take over the Kansai region. This was all before his eventual downfall at the hands of one of his generals, Mitsuhide,” Spike explained, using a pointer stick on a war map. The dog then turned to Zephyr, who looked to be interested in what he was saying. “So...any questions?”

“Um...yeah. You're a talking dog,” Zephyr said, clearly not paying attention to the lecture. This resulted in Spike face-pawing.

Flash looked at Trixie. “I think we can actually give him this one.”

Trixie opened her mouth to refute that- before shutting it, and nodding thoughtfully.





Later, Flash, Trixie, Fluttershy and Spike all met outside of the library. It was clear that none of their attempts to help Zephyr was working. Despite their efforts to relieve Zephyr's stress, they were the ones that were a nervous wreck. “Jeez, can you believe this guy. It’s like he wants to fail,” Spike said as Fluttershy petted him. The petting seems to calm both of them down.

“Fluttershy," Flash spoke up, "you have to be a saint if you can live with a guy like that."

“Eh," Fluttershy shrugged, "what’cha gonna do. He is my brother after all. I really wish he would apply himself. He wants to be a hair stylist and he’s really good at it, but he’s never going to get where he needs to if he fails. That’s why I want to help him so much. No matter how frustrated I get.”

The others nodded, agreeing with her and proud at how much she'd go through for Zephyr. “I know he may seem hopeless, but as his sister I need to support him....at least with his hair styling dreams." She shuddered, "I really wish he would take the hint from Rainbow." Everyone let out a laugh at that last part.

Once they stopped laughing, Flash spoke up. “Well the bright side is that he doesn’t look too stressed out. That means that the Magi-Beast won’t be draining him as quickly.”

“Yeah," Trixie agreed, "looks like his laid back manner is helpful for once." The Rider now has time to squash that bug.”

Flash then stood up. “Come on, why don’t we all reward all our hard work at Sugarcube Corner. My treat.”

“Now we’re talking,” Zephyr said out of nowhere. The slacker walked over to Flash, and draped his arm around his shoulder. “You're such a nice guy, Flash,” he said with a cheeky grin.

Flash groaned at Zephyr suddenly inviting himself. He’d no clue that Zephyr was within earshot, now regretting his words. Fluttershy and Trixie shared in his feelings of not wanting to spend any more time with Zephyr. Unfortunately Flash was a kind spirit, and had no choice but to let Zephyr tag along. However, Flash was gonna see to it that he wasn’t the one that was going to pay his bill.





“Batter up!” Terra yelled out in the middle of the wrecked Main Street. The monster was carrying a stop sign which soon held up like a baseball bat. “It’s so nice playing around with a new friend.”

“I must agree, buzz,” Pixiebob said, a good distance away. The Magi-Beast was using his powers to lift a car up over his head. He then threw his hand forward to launch the car at Terra. When the car was close enough, Terra swung the stop sign, and sent it flying.

“Dang," Terra said as he watched the car fly a good mile away. "foul ball, You need to aim right down the middle.”

“Got it buzz,” Pixiebob replied, using his powers to pick up another car. He repeated the process and threw it at Terra. Terra gripped his “bat” tightly as he hit the car away.

“There we go!” Terra cheered as he watched the car go flying. “Though, if I’m being honest, that's only a double.”

“Buzz, would you want to try again for a home run?” Pixiebob asked.

“Nah. This game is fun, don’t get me wrong, but something’s bugging me.” Terra threw the stop sign into a store window. He then turned to the Magi-Beast, an angry, thoughtful look on his face. “Why aren’t you getting stronger? It’s exam week, so why isn’t that loser host of yours stressing out? You should be almost whole now.”

“Buzz, buzz, buzz!” Pixiebob yelled, panicking. “How am I supposed to know something like that?”

“Well, if we can’t use stress to make you stronger, we'll just have to try a dose of good old fashioned fear instead. Now, can you sense where he is?”

“Yeah. Yeah, he’s really close,” Pixiebob said, intrigued at the luck as he led the way to his host.





Not too far away, Flash, Trixie, Fluttershy, Spike and Zephyr were all walking towards their favourite cafe. Zephyr was the only one of the group not still stressing out, the others considering this a failure in preparing Zephyr for his test. The group were hoping to drown their sorrows with some chocolate milk shakes, organic berry smoothies, and Dog Treat parfaits.

However their journey to the cafe was interrupted by a car crashing in front of them. “You don’t think?” Trixie asked Flash. He sighed. “What did you expect?”

“Hello again buzz,” Pixiebob greeted as he and Terra came into view. “We were in the neighbourhood, buzz, and thought we’d drop by.”

“Ahhhhh!" Zephyr yelled, "that ugly bug is back!”

Fluttershy understood his reaction, but tried her best to keep him calm. “Zephyr, please don’t be scared. You're feeding that thing and if you do that, you might disappear forever."

“You really shouldn't be scared," Trixie tried to help ease the situation. "They need you alive or the bug-face will disappear.”

After a few moments, Zephyr took deep breaths to calm down. “That’s a relief. For a moment there, I thought that thing was going to suck my guts out.”

“True," Terra said, stepping forward, "we can’t really harm him." He cracked his knuckles, "But that luxury doesn’t apply to the rest of you.” Everyone gulped, even Zephyr, as they realized he had a point. “Now tell me, which one would the bum care about most?”

“The pink haired one, Buzz!” Pixiebob cried, pointing towards Fluttershy.

“Good," Terra smiled, "Now do me a favour and take out the others." He wasted no time as he closed the distance between him and Fluttershy. In the blink of an eye, Terra had picked up Fluttershy by the front of her dress. “From what I hear, you're the weakest of the Magical Girls. If it makes you feel better, I don’t take joy in pummeling someone that won’t give me a challenge." He raised his fists, as Fluttershy flailed her legs around in an attempt to kick the Advanced. But it was no use, and her reflexes kicked in to just close her eyes, and hope help would come.

“Big Sis!!!” Zephyr yelled, before he froze up. All he could focus on was how his sister was in such a helpless position. Small wisps of energy started to come out of his body and into Pixiebob, who giggled maliciously.

“Fluttershy!” Flash yelled.

“Don’t ignore me, BUZZ!” Pixiebob yelled, making a dumpster float before throwing it on top of Flash. The young man pushed Trixie out of the way, before quickly putting on his driver and sliding in the Knuckle card.

"K-K-K-KNUCKLE!!!”

Once he was transformed, the rider caught the dumpster in his large gauntlets. “That was a close one,” he said before throwing the dumpster back at the Magi-Beast. “Time to go back to your natural habitat.” The dumpster landed, trapping the Magi-Beast and giving Achilles a moment. He fired both his fists at Terra, hitting him in the back and knocking him back a good deal while, with the added effect of dropping Fluttershy.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Zephyr said, running up to his sister to hug her. "I really thought you were about to eat it.”

“Well you don't need to worry, ‘cause she’s safe now,” Achilles said, standing ready. “But we’re not out of the wood yet. There’s still…” The Rider started before he was thrown forcibly to the side.

The dumpster slowly floated up to reveal that Pixiebob wasn't as trapped as Achilles had thought. One of his four hands was now clenched into a fist. “I bet you thought that was real funny, buzz. Well, let’s see how funny it is when you experience my power first hand!” The monster declared before swinging his fist around all over the place. This caused the Rider to be thrown in whatever direction, smashing into the ground, street posts, and buildings.

This caused a great deal of damage to the rider, who moaned as he was lifted back into the air.

“Oh man, the Rider is getting creamed!” Zephyr shouted, right before Achilles landed right before him. “Come on man, you have to throw in the towel. That bug thing is kicking your butt. Not to mention you have the big guy over there to deal with after. There's no way you can beat them.”

Achilles moaned again, rolling onto his stomach, “I...I can't just give up." He slowly picked himself up, managing to get onto one knee as he panted. “It’s my job to protect everyone. If I quit when things got tough, I wouldn't be much of a hero." He managed to push himself up onto his feet, though he was obviously struggling to find his balance. "Even if failure is certain, I still need to give it my all!” He rushed forwards once again, while his words struck a chord with Zephyr.

“That's really touching," Terra said as he stood up. "But it won't change the fact that you're on your last leg."

“YOU SHOULD LEAVE NOW,” Fluttershy spoke up. This caught Terra’s attention, as he saw the teenage girl with burning fury on her face. “You tried to hurt me, my friends, and worse...my baby brother. I think you’ve caused enough pain for today.”

“Pfff," Terra replied with his arms crossed, "and what is a weakling like you going to do about it?” It was then that he noticed an almost sinister looking smirk appear on the girl's face, which strangely filled him with an odd dread. He flinched.

“Me? Nothing. I'm not that much of a fighter like the other. But-" It was then that Terra began to notice something strange. Birds of all breeds and colours began to show up, surrounding him. He was suddenly reminded of that horror movie he'd seen a while back, as they stared down at him. “My friends here don't mind helping me out.”

“I...I’m not scared of some rats with wings,” Terra said, while trying, and failing, to hide the fear in his voice.

Fluttershy’s expression did not change, as she simply pointed at the Advanced. “Get him!” She commanded. At her words, all the birds flew towards Terra, swarming around him until he was nothing but a mass of feathers.

“Ahhhhhhhh! Get them off, get them off!” Terra yelled as the birds all attacked him. The constant pecking and feathers in his face sent the monster running away.

“Wow,” was all Trixie could say as she watched the event happen before her. “I’m just going to say, I’m sorry for every mean thing I have ever done to you.” She shot Fluttershy a frightened smile. Fluttershy replied with a much more cheerful smile, assuring Trixie that she was safe.

Back with Achilles, the Rider continued dodging the monster's attack. After a moment he took a large leap into the air before firing his fist at the monster, scoring a direct hit. “What's wrong?" He mocked as he landed, retracting his fist. "Can’t catch my fist with you telekinesis?"

“Oh, you've done it now, buzz. I’m going to buzzing crush you!” Pixiebob clenched his fist again. Out of nowhere, Achilles was suddenly suspended in the air. He then raised his arms and every object not bolted to the ground started to float up. He then put his four hands together and all the objects were pulled together with Achilles at the center. Once everything formed a large ball, the whole mass fell. “Hahaha, buzz, how do you like being squashed!?”

“Oh no!” Everyone said at the same time. Fluttershy was so shocked by the crunching, that she didn’t notice the ball of pink light come out of his necklace. The orb flew towards the mass of objects while Pixiebob danced with joy, then seemed to phase through it. After a moment a yellow light flashed from within the ball.

“DEFENDER OF CREATURES BIG AND SMALL!!!”

“B-B-B-BREEZE!!!”

It went silent as everyone’s attention was now on the giant mass. After a moment, Achilles managed to dig his way out of the mass in his new form. Everyone was shocked by what had emerged. The form itself wasn’t too different from his normal rider form. The colors were now two tones of yellow with pink eye plates. His head crest now extended out to resemble a butterfly’s antenna. The thing that set this form apart from all the others was the fact that Achilles now stood at a mere six inches tall. “Whoo," Achilles said casually, "it was getting cramped in there."

“He’s so small!” Trixie, Zephyr and Spike all yelled out in shock.

“He’s so cute,” Fluttershy followed, with a much more happy demeanour.

“Well,” Achilles looked himself over, "I didn’t think I’d be turned into an action figure today." Once he took stock of his surroundings, he noticed something crawling out of the collected mass as well.

Coming out was what looked like a squad of tiny versions of Pixiebob, each one being a different color and having different wings. “Hey, buzz, what are you doing here?” One of the copy’s asked in a high pitched voice.

“Yeah, buzz, we crushed you,” another one followed.

“You crushed me?” Achilles repeated. He then worked to figure things out, unbothered as the Pixiebob copies started to close in. “Oh so that's your trick. You're not telekinetic at all.”

“What is he saying?” Spike asked.

The rider pointed at the large Magi-Beast. “Your telekinesis is just these bugs, lifting things around and carrying them. We just didn’t notice, since they're so small. That's why you couldn’t catch my fist. It was moving too fast for these things to grab onto,” Achilles explained.

“Well you know my secret now. You still can’t beat me. Especially since you're such a short fry now,” the big Pixiebob gloated.

“And now you have us to deal with,” one of the small bugs mocked. The bugs all began to close in on the lone Rider.

The first one charged right at Achilles, to which the Rider smacked it away. The hit sent the small bug flying a great distance away, with very little effort. Achilles just blinked at this, then looked to his fist and realised what must have happened. “Wow!" he said. "My size may be small, but all my stats seem to be the same."

“Get him, Buzz! He can’t take us all down,” one of the bugs screamed- and in response, a huge swarm formed.

“You're right," Achilles agreed. "I can’t take on a swarm on my own, but I don’t have to. I just got to take one out." The rider then jumped the height of what would proportionately be the height of a building into the swarm. He then landed on the head of one of the flying bugs, before jumping onto the next one. Achilles made it through the swarm in no time, and was now falling towards the big Pixiebob. “Eat this!” He yelled, as he performed a drop kick on the monster.

“Buzz, buzz!” Pixiebob cried, flying backwards. The moment the monster recovered, Achilles jumped up to deliver a punch to the head from the ground. The Rider kept jumping around, delivering attacks to the monster, from all directions. Thanks to his small size, it was difficult for even Pixiebob to see where the attacks were coming from.

“This has to be one of the most ironic monster take down ever,” Achilles laughed, as he pressed the button on his driver.

"BREEZE FEEDBACK!!!”

Achilles’ body glowed with pink energy, before he jumped high into that air at insane speeds. A magical circle appeared and the rider clung to it sideways like a wall. He then turned his head towards the monster before launching himself. The rider got into position for a kick, before his body accelerated like a bullet. Like a beam of light, Achilles flew right through the monster and landed on the other side, only leaving behind a tiny hole in Pixiebob’s chest.

“BUUUUUUZZZZZZZ~!” Pixiebob yelled before falling backwards- and exploding.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” Achilles said before he pulled out his Rider card. “Element change!” He cried as he slotted the card into the driver, changing forms and returning to normal size, before running over to the others.

“Are you ok now?” Fluttershy asked as she helped Zephyr up.

“Y-yeah I think so,” Zephyr said.

“Good. A few more minutes and you would have been a ghost,” Trixie said.

Zephyr dusted himself off before turning to the rider. “I still can’t believe you never gave up. Even on a slacker like me.”

“It’s just what heroes do,” Achilles replied with a thumbs up. “Overcoming hardships is the only way you can get stronger.”

“That’s a pretty corny line,” Zephyr said, lightly waving at the rider. “But ya know, it sounds cooler coming from a guy like you.”

“Thanks for saving my brother,” Fluttershy said.

“It was no problem at all,” Achilles said.

“Now we don’t have to worry about Zephyr disappearing into nothing. Now all that’s left is getting him through his make up exams,” Fluttershy said.

“I can tell you have your own battle to fight now,” Achilles replied. He held his hand, and clenched it into a fist. “Hold strong. I know you can do it somehow. You just have to put effort in.”

“I hope so,” Fluttershy said, letting out a long breath.





Night soon fell upon the town.

At home Fluttershy was cosily laying on her bed filled with so many stuffed animals, it was a miracle she was able to lay on it at all. Her bunny, Angel, was munching on his late night snack at the foot of her bed.

“Oh, Angel, I’m still worried about Zephyr. I still don’t think he understands how serious this situation is,” Fluttershy said. Angel paid her no mind as he ate the last bit of his carrot. Fluttershy let out a sigh, seeing that talking to her fluffy companion wasn’t going to help this time. “Maybe some tea will help me relax.”

Fluttershy got out of bed, and left for her drink. On her way to the kitchen, she noticed a light was still coming out of her brother’s room. Curiosity got the better of her, she decided to peek inside.

To her surprise, she saw Zephyr at his desk with a textbook open and his pencil writing notes. “Let’s see, the one that had the biggest impact on the hundred year war of France was…” Zephyr said out loud before pausing. He taped his pencil on his desk as he thought. “It was Joan Of Arc,” he answered to himself.

“Wow. I never thought I would see you actually studying,” Fluttershy said as she walked into the room.

“Yeah well I have to at least give it my all. Even if I end up failing,” Zephyr said as he turned to his older sister. “If the Rider didn’t give up on me even when the monster had him on the ropes, then I can give up when the test hasn’t even started. It’s not fair to you guys who helped me study either.”

Fluttershy smiled at the kind of impact the Rider had on her brother. She also noticed a distinct aroma in the air. “Hmm what’s that smell?” she asked.

“Rosemary,” Zephyr answered as he brought the air defused. “It’s supposed to help with focus and memory.”

“Wow. You're really pulling out all the stops,” Fluttershy said as she started to walk out of the room. “Well, don’t let me interrupt you then.” She closed the door behind her and let out a smile, silently thanking the Rider once again.





Fluttershy, Flash, and Trixie all waited outside the classroom for Zephyr to finish. It has been almost two and a half hours, but eventually he came out. “So," Flash asked, "how'd you do?”

“Prepare to be amazed,” Zephyr said, pulling out his test papers. Written in red ink was the score of seventy-eight. “I passed it”

“That’s great!” Fluttershy said, bringing her brother in for a hug.

“Way to go,” Flash followed.

“This is unacceptable!” Trixie yelled out in anger, surprising the others. “With me helping you out you shouldn’t have been getting at least an A-!”

Flash just rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. “Trixie, this is Zephyr we’re talking about. You’re not a miracle worker." Trixie crossed her arms as the other teens all joined in a group laugh.





Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a few birds flew by an abandoned back alley. A normal looking pile of trash began to move before Terra stood up in his human form.

The young man was covered in feathers and totally out of breath. “Stupid birds," he grumbled. "That’s the last time those dumb animals get the jump on me." Up on a power line, a few birds began to chirp. This caused Terra to flinch- before he realized that they weren’t going to attack.