The Canterlot High gardening club was a previously unknown group in the school. Being made up of three members, Sandalwood, Sweet Leaf and the president, Wallflower Blush.
Recently the club had had a boom in both popularity and new members joining, thanks in no small part to Sunset Shimmer and her friends. With the additional members the club was able to complete their big project. Turning a patch of land the school owned in the forest into a beautiful garden for everyone to enjoy.
Wallflower herself owed a lot to the magical girls. She was so shy that it was hard for her to make friends. Her anxiety was so bad, that she ended up using Equestrian Magic to erase any bad first impression she has ever had with anyone. Unfortunately this backfired and resulted in no one being able to remember her to begin with.
In her misguided frustration, she ended up using her magic to destroy the friendship between Sunset and the other. Fortunately for them, things worked out and now Wallflower is back on the right path with all the friends she could ever ask for.
It was getting to the time of season where the flowers were about to bloom and Wallflower wanted to show the girls that helped her the fruits of her labor before anyone else. “Come on girls, we’re almost there,” Wallflower, the green haired girl in the in a sweater, said. The seven girls were all present as they followed close behind.
“We can't wait to see what you've done,” Sunset said.
“I’m sure it'll be awesome,” Rainbow followed.
“We even packed a picnic for afterwards,” Pinkie added as she presented the basket she was holding.
“Well it won't be too far now,” Wallflower said. After a minute the girls got to a clearing. “Here we are girls. The garden we all worked so hard for." The seven were amazed at that they saw. Flowers of all kinds of colors and species were all collected in one place. Once the girls got a closer look, they were able to see just how beautiful they really were.
“Oh these Hydrangeas are absolutely lovely,” Rarity said as she examined the blue and white clusters of flowers. “Oh, they are actually giving me a dress idea. Oh where's my sketch pad.”
“You have Sweet Leaf to thank for those," Wallflower said. "They're her favourite flower."
“You guys sure did take good care of these little fellas,” Applejack said as she inspected the soil. “Ya'h could expand to planting produce if ya'h really wanted to.”
“Sandalwood would be happy to hear that,” Wallflower said. After a few moments, she noticed that Fluttershy seemed to be staring out into space. “Um...is something wrong?”
“I just noticed that there aren't any animals around. I hope you didn’t use any pesticides,” Fluttershy said with concern.
“Of course not,” Wallflower said with a smile. She then led Fluttershy to a patch of flowers. She pulled some of the plants away to show a bushel of green leafy plants. “We planted mint all over the place. The herb may smell nice to us, but most animal can’t stand the smell. It won’t hurt any of them or the plant life,” She explained.
Pinkie then came in to give the mint plant a sniff. “Mmmh Minty,” She said.
“That’s good to hear,” Fluttershy said with a smile.
“Yeah, but what about the insects?" Rainbow asked. "My dad can’t stand it when bug eat up his lawn."
“Ah, that’s where our own personal Garden Guardians come in,” Wallflower said. She then put her hand into another patch of plants before pulling out something held in her cupped hands. Opening her hand she revealed a praying mantis with a few ladybugs.
“EEEEEEEEEEEE!” Rarity yelled out as she saw the insects.
“Clever. Introducing natural predator insects to take care of the ones that will harm the plants,” Twilight said as she took a closer look. “That way you won't have any negative impact on the environment.”
“We do our research. We try to use as little artificial chemicals as possible for our garden,” Wallflower said as she set down her Garden's protectors. “Come on girls, I’m really proud of the rose bush we planted.” She moved over to that area, the girls following behind her.
Unknown to the humans, the praying mantis crawled back into the patch of plants. Soon out of nowhere a single strange flower sprouted up. The insect looked up at it for a moment before the flower moved on it’s own and ate the praying mantis.
A few minutes after the girls had arrived, a new sound of footsteps could be heard. The girls all turned around and were surprised to see that it was Trixie. “No need to keep waiting, Trixie has arrived!" The magician exclaimed in her spectacular way.
“Well this is unacceptable,” Rarity said.
“Who invited her?” Rainbow asked.
“Um...I did,” Wallflower said sheepishly. “She did help out during the whole incident.”
“Yeah," Sunset agreed, "without Trixie, we may not be standing here together as friends right now."
“Yes Rainbow, you owe me big time. So why don’t we all get along,” Trixie said.
Rainbow was not pleased with the tone Trixie was using. She was about to say something before someone else joined the group. “Jeez Trixie, why did you have to run off so fast?” Flash asked, slightly out of breath.
“Because the Great and Powerful Trixie always needs to make an entrance,” Trixie said in a dramatic way.
“Of course you do,” Flash said with a roll of his eyes.
“What brings you here Flash?” Twilight asked.
“I’m her ride,” Flash answered while jerking a thumb in Trixie's direction.
“Well this garden is for everyone,” Wallflower said. “Come on Flash, why don’t you take a look at the daffodils.”
“Oh my gosh are those orange lilies?" Trixie said as she got distracted by the flowers. "They're my favourite flowers."
“They sure are pretty looking,” Applejack said as she joined her.
“I’m going to go set up for lunch," Pinkie said before turning to the newcomers. "We packed extras, so you two can join us.” They gave their thanks before Pinkie skipped away.
Sunset and Wallflower continued to walk around and enjoy the beautiful day. “I still can’t believe you were able to organise something like this and still have time for the yearbook,” Sunset said.
“It can’t be any harder then you managing everything on your plate,” Wallflower replied with a laugh. “The one thing that is kinda hard is that everyone wants at least one picture of the Rider in the yearbook. He has kinda become the new you girls and I would be lying if I’m not a little bit of a fan myself. The problem is I don’t think I could ever get him to stop to pose for a proper picture.”
This statement caused Sunset to frown. “Um...Wallflower, I don't think you should go near the rider.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everyone may think the rider is good, but I don’t trust him.” Sunset crossed her arms. “Even if he has good intentions, we've all seen what could happen if Equestrian magic is used irresponsible. No offence, but you should know that first hand.”
Flash couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. A part of him wanted to come out and say the truth but he had already made his decision to keep it a secret. Even if he couldn’t say who the Rider was, at less he could ease her fears. “Sunset, I think your worrying for nothing. Achilles has done nothing but good for everyone.”
“For now," Sunset turned towards him. "But what about when he lets the magic go to his head? We don’t know who he is and everyone who has ever gotten their hands on magic has kept it a secret. Judging from past experiences, it’s only a matter of time before Achilles ends up going mad with power.”
Flash wanted to reply, but he couldn’t. Sunset was one of the smartest people he knew and she had every right to think this way. Sunset and her friends have been through a lot, so she knew what she was talking about. At the same time Flash didn’t want to see her like this, Somewhat paranoid and so distrusting. “I know you're just trying to keep everyone safe but maybe you should just give him a chance. Maybe he’s hiding his face to protect the people he loves.”
“You sound just like Spike,” Sunset said as she turned around. “I’ll trust him once I know his face. Till then, he’s just a magical time bomb waiting to cause chaos for everyone.”
“If you say so,” Flash said. He didn’t know what else to say to Sunset. All he could do was bite his tongue and hope she would come around eventually.
The day went on as normal, until Twilight noticed something odd. “Hey, shouldn’t Pinkie be back already?” She asked.
“Yeah," Rainbow followed, "how long does it take to set up a picnic?”
“If you want I’ll go see what she’s up to,” Trixie said.
“I’ll go too,” Flash said. Trixie agreed and the two went down the same trail Pinkie went down.
After a little while Flash and Trixie made it halfway to where Pinkie planed the picnic. “Now this is strange,” Flash said. He crouch down to see Pinkie’s basket on the ground with no Pinkie.
“I know," Trixie said as she picked up one of the cans of sweet topping. "Twelve cans of whipped cream and no strawberries." This made Flash sweat-drop, Trixie completely missing the point.
“Where could Pinkie have gone?" He asked while looking around. "She wouldn't just disappeared in thin air and leave behind the basket."
Trixie was looking around before her eyes went wide. “LOOK OUT!” she yelled. Both of them ducked down as something moved fast to try and attack them. When they looked up, they saw what looked like a large Venus Flytrap, growing out of the ground. It was green with red streaks on top and thorns coming out of the stem.
“Can't I enjoy one day without a monster attack?” Flash yelled as he put on his driver. As he pulled out the Rider card, another Flytrap grow out of the ground. Soon after a large plant body grew between the two monstrous plants. The bulb that acted as its head bloomed into a purple and green flower. “Henshin!”
One of the Flytrap head aimed for Flash, who dived into the magical circle to transform into Achilles. The Rider pulled out his spear to block the second Flytrap. He slashed the plant several times with the spearhead before he had to jump to avoid another attack from the other one.
As the rider was busy with the two Flytraps, he didn’t notice the flower head turning towards Trixie. The flower shot seeds out at the girl like a machine gun, which Achilles saw and acted quickly. He ran towards Trixie and picked her up before jumping out of the line of fire. Once The two were out of range, they looked back and saw a large mass of veins grow out from the seeds.
“that was close one,” Trixie said.
"No kidding," Achilles replied before running at the overgrown weeds.
“What on earth,” Sunset’s voice said as. She came into view. To say she was shocked to see a giant plant monster was a understatement. “Trixie are you ok?” She asked as she ran up to the other teenage girl.
“Yeah, I’m fine thanks to the rider,” Trixie said.
‘What is that thing?”
“Don’t know," Trixie replied. "I was hoping you might know, since I can't tell if it's just normal Equestrian magic going crazy or a Magi-Beat.”
“Yeah, I’m going to have to get back to you on that.”
Achilles managed to jump onto of one of the Flytraps. “I am not going to be on the menu for a salad!” He then raised up his spear before plunging it into the plant. Green slime burst out of it and covered the rider, "ah!" The plant slammed to the ground and became lifeless. This caused the rest of the monster to become enraged.
The plant took notice the two girls and shot seeds at them. Achilles saw this and sped into action. He intersected the attack and blocked it, using him back as a shield. Achilles dropped to his knees, as the vines began to sprout out of his back. “Quick, run! I’ll be fine,” he said as it was getting harder to move. “You got to make sure the others are safe.”
“Er...right,” Sunset said as she grabbed Trixie’s hand and ran away.
“Are we just going to leave him?” Trixie asked.
“You herd him, we need to make sure the others are safe,” Sunset said. "And for all I know, he may have lured that thing to us but at least we can agree on that."
The seeds grew around the rider, until he was nothing but a pile of vines. The flytrap’s mouth started to open up as it approached the downed rider. Acid was coming out of its mouth and dissolved the grass under it.
“G-G-G-GLAMOUR!!!”
The loud announcement caused the plant to stop as three diamond shaped drones flew out of the vines. The took positions around the stem of the flytrap before shooting their lasers and cutting the head off the body. The rest of the drones flew out and cut away the vines to free the rider, now in his Glamor form. “Talk about a thorny situation,” Achilles quipped.
The loss of the second flytrap sent the center plant into a frenzy. It was shooting seeds all over the place, which Achilles were able to dodge. “Time to prune this oversized garden weed!” Achilles yelled as two of the drones took positions at the palms of his hands. Lasers extended out to blade which the rider use to slice up some the the seeds heading towards him. He the jumped up to get close to the main body before swinging his arms to cut up the plant. In a matter of seconds the monster was nothing but green chunks left on the forest floor. “Whoever said gardening is suppose to be relaxing is a total liar,” he said as he turned around and transform back to normal.
Flash looked over the remains before he noticed the root part starting to move. “What’s that?” He said as he started to walk towards it before something jumped out and rushed into the trees. “Oh man, this is only the beginning isn’t it?”
Flash rushed back as fast as he could back to the garden. Thankfully Sunset and Trixie got away safely. As soon as the girls got back they both described the events that unfolded. As soon as they were don’t, they tuned to see Flash was alright. “Oh Flash, thank goodness you’re alright,” Sunset said as she ran up to him.
“Yeah," Flash said, "that killer plant threw me into the woods." Due to his battle, the young man had sustain some cuts on his body, so it was a believable lie. “I’m just happy no one else got hurt. Any clue on what that thing was?”
“None," Sunset replied. "I mean, it could be some rough Equestrian magic. This isn’t the first time it caused plants to go out of control."
“Yeah but is could also be a Magi-Best,” Rainbow injected. “I mean, that would explain why Pinkie would be kidnapped.”
“If it was a Magi-Beast, what would it be after?" Twilight asked. "None of us could be the host."
After a moment of everyone looking at one another, the group seem to come the the same conclusion. Soon, all eyes were on Wallflower. “What? No. I can’t be the host. I mean, I’m sure I would remember a monster coming out of me,” She defended.
“Wallflower," Sunset stepped up, "even if you are the host, we wouldn’t hold it against you. You would have no control over it.” She placed her hand on Wallflower’s shoulder. “But what I’m about to do, I’m doing for your own safety.” She grabbed both of Wallflower’s hands, right before her eyes glowed a solid white as the girl’s memories flash within her mind. After a moment, Sunset Let go.
“Did you find anything?” Flash asked.
“Not really. But if Wallflower is host she didn’t seem to notice the monster form."
Trixie spoke up. “Speaking from experience, you don’t really feel anything when the magi-beast links to you. It’s mostly just the shock from seeing it. I guess it’s possible that if it wanted to, the monster could form then hide without anyone noticing. You only feel it if it drains a large portion of your life force.”
“Well this is just exquisite," Rarity said as she crossed her arms. "We’re dealing with something we can’t be sure what it is."
All of a sudden a dark aura filled the air and sent chills down everyone’s spines. The group looked around as the healthy brown tree bark turned black before their eyes. The leaves started to turn more blue and grew out to block out more of the sunlight. Roots were becoming overgrown and sprouting out from the ground.
“I’m getting some really bad feeling now,” Fluttershy said as she hugged herself.
“Yeah I can feel it too,” Flash followed as he closed his open jacket. “We need to find whatever's causing this before things get creepier.”
“We should spit up to find what’s causing this,” Twilight said.
“No no no no no,” Rainbow said. “Haven't you ever seen a horror movie. There's something out there, so if we split up it'll be asking for that thing to pick us off one by one.”
“Then why don’t we just go in two large groups,” Fluttershy suggested.
“That sounds good," Wallflower agreed. "We can draw lots to decide who goes with who." Everyone agreed, and so the group prepared to form teams. All the while, they were being watched by a set of glowing blue eyes.
Team A was made up of Trixie,Twilight, Applejack, And Fluttershy. So far, they hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary besides the already mutated forest. Fluttershy couldn’t sense any animals nearby, unsure if they ran away or suffered the same fate as Pinkie. The spooky atmosphere of the forest wasn’t helpful her anxiety. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, we won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Twilight said as she conferred her friend.
“This reminds me way too much of my O and O campaigns,” Trixie said as Applejack took the lead.
“Really, cause it’s reminding of the last time we had to deal with killer plants,” Applejack said as he cleared away a wall of branches with her strength.
“Do you mean the time during the Friendship games or when we went to Camp Everfree?” Trixie asked.
“both,” Applejack responded as the group walked deeper in the woods. “Pinkie are you around!?”
“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight followed. All the girls called out to there friend with no response. Soon everyone had a sense of uneasiness. “I don’t like the looks of this,” she said.
Something began moving in the the trees. “Oh!” Fluttershy yelped as she heard a nose. “Is anyone there?” She said, slowly walking towards the sound. In the darkness she could see two round glowing eyes looking at her. Out of pure curiosity Fluttershy extended out her hand. Just when she was inches away from the eyes, a vine came out and wraps around her arm. “AAAHAHHHHH!!!” She screened out at the top of her lungs.
“Fluttershy!” All the girls yelled out as hey rushed to their friend. More vines began to cover Fluttershy’s body.
“Don’t worry sugarcube, we’ll get you out of this!” Applejack said as she tried to get the vines off. Once she ripped off a few of the plants, a purple and green flower bloomed right in front of her face. This cause Applejack to stop for a moment before the flower shot seeds at her. The girl flew back as the seeds sprouted and vines started to restrain her now. “Dang nabbit these things are tougher then grannies meatloaf!"
She tried to break through the vines, but they kept growing back thicker. Soon she was covered head to toe like a mummy. Fluttershy soon suffered the same fate, as the vines spread over her whole body. More of the monstrous vines fell from the trees and aimed for Twilight and Trixie. Twilight tried to use her own magical powers to restrain them all. “It’s no use. There’s too many for me to stop at once,” Twilight said as she gave up on keeping the plants at bay.
“Just run!” Trixie said as she pushed Twilight down the path away from danger. She then held out her arm towards the plans before flicking her wrist up. A small fireball came out of her sleeve, keeping the vines at bay. This only lasted for a few moments before the vines went back on the. “Haha! I knew it was a good idea to bring my mini fire ball launcher today,” the magician said before joining Twilight in running away.
“That was some quick thinking there,” Twilight praised as Trixie caught up to her.
“Yeah. Too bad I only had the one shot,” Trixie replied. The two managed to get a good distance away before before Trixie tripped. She looked down to see a root, which was the cause of her fall. The root then came to life and wraps around her leg, with other following. “Get off!” She yelled as she started to stomp on the plants with no effect.
“Trixie!” Twilight yelled as she turned around to see Trixie fighting back.
“Keep running! No need for both of us to be caught,” Trixie said as the vines made there way up to her waist.
Twilight was conflicted for a moment before following Trixie orders. “Don’t worry, once I find the other we'll save all of you!” Twilight yelled back as she ran away. Trixie gave a nod before her whole body was covered.
“Once I meet back up with the other we will sort this whole thing out,” Twilight said as she ran off.
Team B was made up of Flash, Sunset, Wallflower, Rarity and Rainbow.
Rarity was lighting the way with a crystal she'd formed as Rainbow scouted ahead with her speed. After a few seconds, the athlete returned. “This place is so distorted that I've got no clue where to go. I ether ended up at a dead end or right back where I started.”
“Any chance of getting airborne?” Flash asked.
The teens looked up to see the vines beginning to move on their own. “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Sunset said. “It’s clear that whatever is causing this doesn’t want us to get out.”
Wallflower was taking up the rear of the group, not really saying anything. One would think she was trying to imitate Fluttershy with the way she carried herself. Flash saw this and knew what he had to do. “Hey, Wallflower. Are you holding up alright?” He asked next to the girl.
“I don’t know how well I can when I’m trapped in a dark domain of a magical monster,” Wallflower answered. After a few moment she calmed down. “Sorry Flash, I’m not use to people actually asking me if something is wrong. It’s just that this whole situation is way to scary for me. I love the forest and my garden, I never expected them to attack me and my friends like this,”
“Wallflower you need to know something,” Flash said as he brought her to the side. “We're all scared right now. I’m guessing Rainbow is freaking out because of how cramped it is in the forest. I’m sure Rarity is afraid of her hair getting messed up. And Sunset is scared of going agents something we know nothing about. So your not alone Wallflower. We just need to stick together and carry on."
“And what are you afraid of?” Wallflower asked.
Flash sighed as he looked around, a worried expression dawning on his face. “I’m afraid that all my friend will be trapped and I can’t do anything to help."
“Hehe," she couldn't help but giggled, "that’s such a you answer. Thanks Flash,” Wallflower said as she calmed down and let out a smile. “So what will you do if you can’t do that?”
“Well," Flash replied with a smile, "I'll just have to hope the rider comes in to save everyone."
“We can’t be sure that he will,” Sunset said as she walked up to the two. “He may be long gone by now after defeating the plant monster. He may not even know we're trapped here.”
“How can you say that?!” Rainbow yelled as she ran up behind her. “If there is a Magi-Beast here, then Achilles will come running to kick its butt.”
“We’re not even sure it is a Magi-Beast," Sunset replied. "We can’t rely on someone like him."
“Hey," Rainbow said, "you're the last person to be denying people changes."
Sunset looked annoyed by this. Obviously, she did not like being compared to the rider. “Hey, I laid everything out there for all to see. We don’t even know this guy's face, his name, if he goes to school or is an adult. We don’t even know if he’s a him and not using a voice modifier.”
Flash wanted to say something, but he had to bite his tongue. Sunset didn’t trust the rider, so that mean she didn’t trust him. At less, that’s the conclusion Flash came to. She would trust him even less if she found out he was rider. He knew Sunset was just looking out for everyone, but so was Flash. Flash thought there has to be some way to get Sunset to at least give the rider a chance. To see that he was on their side.
“Um guys,” Wallflowers spoke up.
“Not now,” Rainbow replied.
Flash looked up to see what Wallflower was seeing and his eyes went wide. “Um guys...you should really look at this.”
“What!?” Rainbow yelled as she saw them pointing upwards, she and Sunset following their fingers and seeing vines come to life. “Oh...that." One of the plants attacked, but Rainbow used her speed to move out of the way.
Flash grabbed onto Wallflower before dogging another attack. Sunset followed, jumping over the plants that tried to grab her ankles. “Rarity, we could use some help here!”
Rarity turn to see her friends were in trouble and sprang into action. “Don’t worry. All they need is a bit of a trim,” she used her magic to create a crystal hexagon with sharp point on them. The crystals began to spin as Rarity controlled them to cut down the attacking plants.
A rainbow blur passed by Flash, Sunset and Wallflower before they were thrown into a pile behind Rarity. “Don’t worry," Rainbow told them. "Not a signal weed is going to hurt any of you."
“Maybe a heads up next time,” Flash said.
The vines were regrowing faster than Rarity could cut them down. The fashionista soon gave up on this method and created a domed shield instead. “This should of hold them off,” she said and the vines covered the construct in no time.
Sunset picked herself up. “Come on, we need a game plan."
Things were starting to get to the point where Flash was considering transforming right then and there. Keeping his secret wasn't going to mean anything, if they were all trapped in vines. Flash reached for the driver in his jacket, but stopped short.
“AAAAHHHHHH!” Rarity yelled. Everyone looked at their friend to see the vines growing out of the ground under the dome and around Rarity’s body. Once the vines got up to her torso the dome broke. “OHHH NOOOOO!!!”
“Rarity!” Flash yelled.
“Take this!” Rainbow cried as she kicked the plant at such a high speed, that she broke the vines surrounding them. With a way open, Rainbow grabbed her friends and ran them out of harms ways. Sunset was about to say something. but another scream filled the air.
“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
“Twilight?” Flash asked as he got up. “The others must be the same trouble.”
“We should go help them but we can’t leave Rarity behind,” Wallflower said.
“You guys go ahead. I’ll take care of Rarity,” Rainbow said.
Flash was about to say something, but Rainbow ran off before he had the chance. “Looks like we’re going to have to trust Rainbow on this one,” he said before he ran off to the scream. Sunset and Wallflower followed as Rainbow ran head first into the monstrous plants.
“Nonono,” Wallflower said. With two more friends gone now, her fears were being realised.
Looking at her, Sunset was starting to see part of her body fading away. “Crud," she said, "it looks like it is a magi-beast behind all this."
“If that’s the case, then what are the odds that we will see it when we get to Twilight?” Flash asked.
“I'd say pretty good,” Sunset replayed.
Flash and company ran as fast as they could back to the garden. When they arrived, they saw Twilight do her best to fight off the vines. She wasn’t alone, as what could only be the culprit behind this horror filled forest was standing over her. Most of its body was a dark green with purple vines running all along it. It’s torso was covered by a cloak of leaves with thorny vines wrapped all along its neck. It’s right arm looked to be made of wood with the left just being a mass of free moving vines. It’s head was a dark shadow with glowing blue eyes covered by a hood. “Darn it, you are a slippery one,” The monster said.
“We...won’t let you...win,” Twilight panted as she struggled to keep the vines at bay.
“What do you mean 'we'? I've already captured most of you,” The monster said. “And once I’m done, that stupid weakling will be at my mercy. I am the mighty Dark Hollow, and nothing can stop me!" He swinging his vine arm at Twilight, hitting her directly and throwing her back.
Fortunately, Flash and Sunset were there to catch her. “I guess you already found out about the Magi-Beast,” Flash said.
“Yeah,” Twilight said as she stood herself up. “He has already captured Applejack, Fluttershy, and Trixie.”
“Yeah," Sunset followed, "same with Rainbow and Rarity."
“T-that means Twilight is the only one that can fight,” Wallflower said.
Twilight turned to Sunset with a worried look. “She’s right, my powers aren’t really battle oriented,” She said.
“Which means it will be easier for me to capture you all,” Dark Hollow said as he held his arm out and made the vines attack the group. “Soon my host will be all alone. Trapped in my dark domain forever.”
“NO!” Flash yelled as he ran forward to take the attack. The vines wrapped around his body before pulling him into the dark forest.
“A Noble endeavour but ultimately...useless,” Dark Hollow said. Twilight levitated a few rocks to throw at the monster, but they were ineffective as the beast wildly swung its vines around to shatter them. “Useless!”
Meanwhile, Flash was fighting back against the vines. “I need to get back there,” he said. He managed to break out of his trap to pull out the driver before placing it around his waist. “Henshin!” Flash said as he slotted in the card, right before his entire body was surrounded by the vines.
“OK!”
“A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”
“R-R-R-RIDER!”
The vines suddenly found themselves being cut to shreds, as Achilles used his spear to slice them up. Once free, he started running back towards the battle field.
Back with Sunset and the others, thing we’re not looking good. Dark Hollow was holding Twilight my her wrist. “Don’t be so sad girl," the monster told her. "Your about to reunite with your friends."
Twilight was just about to fight back, but was interrupted by a slashing sound. In a second, the monster's arm was severed and Twilight landed on the ground. Turning to the side, the girl saw Achilles’ spear with the blade planted in the ground. The rider came in from the side and kicked the monster in the waist, making him cry out as he staggered away from Twilight.
“Looks like we have a bit of a weed problem here. but it seems like I got to the root of it,” The rider said with a laugh at his own joke. He then extended his hand to help Twilight up.
“I knew you would come back,” Twilight said with a smile.
“I bet you feel real proud of yourself ,” Dark Hollow said as he stumbled a bit. “But remember, your on my turf now.”
“Yes," Achilles said while picking his spear up, "I’m real scared of an “unarmed” opponent. Hehe," he chuckled again, "I’m getting good at these.”
“Oh," Dark Hollow said, "you’d be surprised just how dangerous I can be." He swung his vine arm and had them extend towards the rider. Achilles spun his spear to block the attack, quickly getting close enough to strike. He then performed several punches to knock the magi-beast back.
“Ahhhhhh!”
“Twilight!” Sunset’s voice yelled. Achilles turned to see the severed monster arm had somehow grabbed onto Twilight and had vines coming out of it. This took all of them by surprise so, they weren’t able to fight back. The rider turned back to the monster who had vines growing out of the stump of his arm. The then stretched to reconnect the two severed parts before pulling Twilight towards him.
“He-He can regenerate,” Twilight warned.
“Let her go you coward,” Achilles said as he charged. The vine arm started to move again and attacked the rider from multiples angels. He used the blade of his spear cut them up as he got closer. As he got ready to bring the weapon down, Dark Hollow held Twilight out like a shield. This caused the rider to stop mid attack before he was smacked away.
“You hero types are so easy to play,” Dark Hollow said.
“What do we do now,” Wallflower said. Both the rider and Sunset turned to her to see that she was starting to fade away.
“I don’t know what to do,” Sunset said as she turned back to the monster.
“I have an idea,” the rider said as the two looked at each other. “I'm just guessing here, but if you share your power with me then I think it'll be just what we need to stop him.”
“No way,” Sunset snapped back. “I would only do something like that with someone I know wouldn’t harm my friend. And ever since you showed up we have found out nothing about you.”
Achilles knew where Sunset was coming from. Ever since she embraced the power of friendship, she had only wanted the best for everyone. The rider shared that line of thinking and knew that the only way to save their friends was to work together. “I know you don’t trust me, but I don’t think we have any other choice. It may be hard to put your faith in someone you know nothing about, but if we don’t at least try to work together then we already lost."
Sunset looked back to see just how much distress she was in. She then look to Wallflower who was in the same position. That she was paralysed as her brain worked overtime to make a decision. She was so distracted that she didn’t notice the monster glowing green and launching a hail storm of seeds at her. Achilles saw this and grabbed Sunset to get her out of the line of fire. When the seeds hit they grew into a huge mass of thorny vines, more menacing then the ones before “We’re running out of time. The longer we wait the stronger he gets,” Achilles said. “I promise I will save you and all your friends.”
Sunset looked over at Twilight, seeing the vines around her growing tighter and beginning to cut off her air supply. Who knows what was happening to the others right now, while she was standing their having an inner debate.
“Fine," she turned to him, "but this doesn’t mean you have my trust.” Sunset put her hand onto the necklace and produced an orb of light. Achilles took the orb and brought it to his driver, where it transformed into a red and orange card with the word 'Blaze' written on it. “This is your one chance to earn it.”
“I won’t let you down,” Achilles said as he put Sunset down next to Wallflower. He then stepped forward towards Dark Hollow before slotting the card onto the driver, while yelling out a familiar phrase. “Element Change!” A magical circle made of fire appeared before passing over him.
“OK!”
“PASSION BURNING AT 100 DEGREES, CONSUMED BY THE FLAMES OF REBIRTH!”
“B-B-B-BLAZE!!!”
The riders body was consumed by flames. Two lines of fire came out from either side of him forming a ring around the battlefield. The rider crossed his arms and the ring turned into a tornado of flames the spiralled skyward. The flames soon came off of him to reveal that his armor had changed to a black and red colour scheme with a fire motif. His eye plates were now orange and his head crest being shaped like flames. "Grab your sunblock-" He crossed his arms, "It's gonna get toasty." Before he swung them around, causing the tornado to explode outwards and fry the closest vines. The fire then collected in the rider’s hand before turning into a new weapon. It was a long single edged blade with a handle almost equal in length. They were red lines that stretched the full length of the weapon.
“SOLAR SONIC!”
“By the time this battle is over, you’re going right to Tartarus,” Achilles said as he grabbed the handle with both hands. His anger had finally been unleashed, personified by the fire coming off the blade. “And for using Twilight as a shield, it’s going to be an extra warm trip.”
“Looks like your power got him pretty steamed,” Wallflower said.
“Honestly," Sunset replied, "I’m pretty mad as well."
“Hehehe what are you going to do now, start a wildfire?” Dark Hollow asked before holding Twilight up next to him. “Not a bad idea, but you run the risk of hurting her and destroying your other friend's garden.”
“Oh," Achilles said, "I don’t need a monster to tell me fire safety tips.”He charged towards the magi-beast, weapon raised to strike. The monster attacked with his vine arms, but the rider countered by slashing the plants with the Solar Sonic. The blade left behind a charred mark on the stubs where it had been cut, which caused the monster visible pain.
“AHH!" Dark Hollow yelled out, "my arms!” He retracted his limb, but soon found that something was wrong. “Why-why aren't they growing back?”
“It's actually quite obvious,” Twilight said as she looked up at the monster. “Achilles used the fire to cauterise the parts of your body he cuts off, preventing you from regenerating.”
“Well keeping my distance won't be a problem,” Dark Hollow said as he fired off a seed attack.
Achilles responded by turning his weapon upside down revealing its true nature. The Solar Sonic was an electric guitar and the rider pointed to the end of it towards the monster. Achilles played a few notes and several balls of fire shot out. The fireballs intersected the seeds and turned them all to ash. “You better watch out, cause the weather man predicted a heatwave!” Achilles raised his arm up, then played a power cord that sent a small pillar of fire below him and propelled him high up. The rider flew over the monster’s head before playing another cord, which sent a wave of flames towards the monster’s back. When Achilles landed, the attack hit taking, Dark Hollow by surprise and causing him to release Twilight.
“Twilight!” Sunset yelled as she ran over to her friend.
“I’m fine,” Twilight responded as she got up and the two got out of the way.
“Now that everyone is safe I can really heat things up,” Achilles said as he charged towards the monster. He performed several fire charged under handed slashes before turning his grip around again and knocking the monster back. “A weed like you has no place in a beautiful garden like this!”
“Hahaha," Dark Hallow bellowed, "you can’t beat me? I’m almost complete. The girl will vanish and I will be at full power.”
“Not happening cabbage face. Cause you're about to be nothing but charcoal!” Achilles held the Solar Sonic as a guitar, then opened a slot on the body before he inserted the Blaze card into it. A magical circle appeared on the body of the guitar with fire covering both his hands
“ROCK ON!!!”
“BLAZING FEEDBACK!”
The rider raised his hand before he started to perform a pulse pounding guitar solo. As he played, fire constructs of musical scores with notes began to come out of the weapon. The constructs surrounded the monster before they attached to its body. Dark Hollow was confused by this before each note burst into flames as Achilles played them. The blast knocked the Magi-beast around before the final cord was struck and the monster exploded into flames. Leaving behind nothing a green aura that quickly returned to Wallflower. “Ashes to ashes,” Achilles said as he gave his guitar one last strum.
Soon after the monster’s defeat the forest began to turn back to normal. The leaves turned back to a lush green and sunlight can shine threw again. Everyone all seem to have the same thought that their friends are safe now. “Are you girls ok?” Achilles asked as he stepped towards them.
“Yeah,” Wallflower said as she got up, "thanks to you."
“That’s good to hear,” Achilles said before turning to Sunset. “I hope this proves that we can work together. Though if you don’t trust me now then…” He trailer off as he held out his hand.
Sunset looked at the hand with a confused look. “I know about your power to look into people’s minds. I don’t want to take off my mask, but if it will show you I’m on your side you can take a look.”
There was a moment of silence between the two. After a few seconds Sunset smiled and slapped his hand away. “I think I’ve seen all I needed to. You kept your promise and saved my friends. I feel that’s worth giving you a chance,” Sunset said as she held out her fist. “But you're only getting one chance. If at any time I feel you starting to be a danger, me and the girls will rainbow blast you.”
“Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Achilles said as the two fist bumped.
“Um mister rider,” Wallflower spoke up as she approached Achilles. “I was hoping If I can get a picture of you for the yearbook? I know it would mean a lot for the students.”
Achilles smiled under his helmet. “No problem just let me change,” the rider slotted the Rider card into his driver. The magical circle appeared and he transformed back to his default form. He then made a pose with his spear resting on his shoulder and flashed a peace sign. Wallflower took out her phone and snapped a picture of the rider. “Did you get my good side?”
“Yeah,” Wallflower said with a smile. The rider said his goodbyes and ran off. Once the girls made sure that Twilight was ok, they headed out to find their friends.
Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack and Trixie were all found where they were captured, completely unharmed.
Pinkie was found sitting under a tree east of the garden. She needed to be told what had happened and was bummed that she missed everything. Flash was the last to be found with the girls finding him in a random spot in the forest. Unbeknown to them, he was faking being unconscious to avoid them knowing he was just in a dangerous fight with a magi-beast.
When the group was back together they all sat down for the picnic Pinkie planned. “If I have to see another magical plant again it will be too soon,” Rainbow said as she laid down on the grass.
“That monster doesn’t know the efforts I go through to look my best each day,” Rarity said as she finished fixing the makeup the monster ruined.
“Even with this pie, I still think you pack too much whipped cream,” Trixie said taking a bite of dessert.
Pinkie smiled. “In my experience, you can never have too much whipped cream.” She sprayed the topping directly into her mouth.
Wallflower was showing the girl the picture she got. She was very happy that she got the chance and knew the yearbook club was going to flip. “That is a great picture,” Fluttershy said as she looked over Wallflower’s shoulder.
“Thanks, but this is was the less Achilles could have done,” Wallflower said.
“I’m sure he was more than happy to help,” Flash said with a smile
“And Sunset finally warmed up to the guy,” TwilightI followed. Sunset could only roll her eyes at that comment. Dispite the Magi-Beast attack, it was a lovely outing for the group of friends