//------------------------------//
// Chapter 17: Keep Moving Forward 
// Story: To Build the Winning Formula 
// by Snow Fire 
//------------------------------//

Canterlot Morgue…

The room was silent as a grave, which was not too far off in a sense. The smell of chemicals, alcohol, and rotting flesh filled the room, but the sole living occupant did not mind.

Night Light stood over a bench that carried a corpse, charred beyond all recognition. Limbs have been blown off. The body was as black as charcoal. Not even the lower half of its body remained intact.

In his hands was a series of documents detailing the identity of the corpse.

Based on the DNA tests and dental records he was reading, the dead body was his son, Shining Armor. His hands trembled as his gaze shifted between the corpse and the papers. His face twisted into a furious scowl.

He threw the papers away before storming out of the room.





Well then, that’s all the time I have for now. See you all again in the next log.” Gizmo wearing the Build Armor waved as the video ended.

Micro closed the laptop that played the video as he, Sandalwood, and Sol stared at their friends.

The day after the CHS Takeover and the police van bombing, Night Light and Twilight Velvet arranged a meeting for Team Build, Misty, Cadence, and the Rainbooms in order to explain everything. After everything that had happened, it was time for answers.

They were located in a meeting room inside the Canterlot Research and Development Center. At one end of the table sat Micro, Sandalwood, and Sol. Seated in front of them were the Rainbooms, Princess Twilight, Twilight Velvet, Cadence, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, Spike, and Misty Veil. Flash sat off to the side, slumped against the wall.

Even the police chief, Blood Oath, was present. He was a tall, middle aged man with black hair and alabaster skin. He stood next to Velvet with his arms folded. His expression was stoic. 

On the table in front of them was the laptop that showed the video, the Build Drivers, and all of their Fullbottles. Even Crozz was present, seated on Sol’s head. After the incident, Pandora’s Box was secured and stored in a different room. 

Everyone stared at the items silently, processing what they just learned from Gizmo’s video tutorial.

The Rainbooms, Cadence, Spike, and the young girls couldn’t believe someone actually made the Driver and Fullbottles from their research on Pandora’s Box. Furthermore, they were unable to believe that the process involved human experimentation that no doubt cost people their lives, if what Gizmo said was to be believed.

Misty wordlessly stared at the Driver and Fullbottles. She had worked with Gizmo before while they were researching the Box. She knew how intelligent he was and what he was capable of. But she had no idea he capable of making such a device.

He essentially made a weapon for people to use. But for what purpose?

The only one who wasn’t surprised was Velvet, who stared at the devices solemnly.

“…I believe all of you have questions.” Micro finally said, breaking the silence.

“That’s putting it mildly.” Sunset murmured as she rubbed her temple. They were all astounded and horrified by what they just learned.

To think that Gizmo Poindexter, the man that had been missing for months, and prime suspect of the murder of Knuckle Blaze, created the Build system. Even more so, it all started with Pandora’s Box.

Who knew that the strange gas the girls saw turn people into Smash was made by the very Box that was under lock and key?

“Ah just…can’t believe it.” Applejack murmured. She saw no sign of deception in the video or Gizmo’s words. And what she saw the other day cemented the truth. She stared at the Driver and bottles. “People…really died cuz of these things?”

“It was never my brother’s intention.” Micro said adamantly. “He was trying to discover the cause of why some people turned into Smash while others died. He concluded it was the result of a person’s Hazard level.”

“Hazard Level?” Rainbow questioned. “What’s that?”

“It’s essentially a person’s innate resistance against Nebula Gas’s transmutation properties. As he explained, people with a Hazard level of 2 and above are safe from transformations, but they are rare instances. People with an innate level of 3 are even rarer.”

“But what causes a person’s level to be like that in the first place?” Scootaloo questioned.

“I don’t know. My brother never specified.”

“Then why not ask him? He’s at the police station, right?”

“That is not my brother!” Micro exclaimed, to the shock of the others. Seeing this, he immediately calmed down. “…sorry. What I meant to say is that the man locked up…isn’t my brother, Gizmo. Just a proxy Stalk made.”

“What?!” The girls and Spike exclaimed.

“A proxy?” Rarity asked. “How can that be?”

“It’s because Stalk has the power to change a person’s face.” Sandalwood added. “We saw it happen ourselves. The guy in jail…was just another unfortunate victim of Stalk. He was a scientist of this building. He doesn’t even have any memories.”

“Which is another side effect of Nebula Gas.” Micro continued. “It can alter or erase memories. We don’t know exactly how though.”

“You don’t think he’s actually an alien Prince dead set on destroying planets like Earth, tricking everyone to kickstart his plans, right?” Pinkie Pie wondered aloud. Everyone stared at her.

“…No idea where you got that from, but I hope not.” Sol deadpanned.

“This is getting crazier by the minute…” Rainbow groaned.

“Believe us. We had long gone past crazy months ago.” Sol murmured.

“…what I want to ask is why…” Misty finally spoke as all eyes shifted to her. “You four…you’re all just children. You have futures. You have lives. You have people who care for you.” She didn’t notice Sol twitch. “…why would you risk it all just to fight those monsters?”

“…All of us have a stake in this, Mrs. Veil.” Micro explained. “Admittedly, it was my fault. Ever since my brother went missing, I desperately wanted to know what happened to him. Sandalwood and Flash wanted to help. I ended up dragging them into my search, and we eventually found my brother’s lab and everything inside it. And you pretty much know the rest after that.”

“Given that it was my dad found dead in that apartment, I wanted answers too.” The fighter added. His resolve was unwavering.

“But how?” Velvet finally spoke. “…how were you able to find your brother’s lab? Not even my husband and I were able to do that when we tried to locate him.

“You probably didn’t know where to look.” Sandalwood pointed out. “It was inside his electronics store…kinda surprised it was still standing after everything.

“So that’s where he stored the Build System.” She murmured, catching everyone’s attention.

“Wait, you knew about the Build System?!” Micro voiced their shock. “You knew this whole time?!”

“…it was a project Gizmo worked with my husband’s permission.” She admitted. “With the phenomenon of these Smash transformations and the danger they posed to civilians, we decided that we needed a way to protect the people from them. Gizmo was the one who came up with the idea. We provided the funds and materials to make his work possible.”

“This…this is the first I heard of it…” Misty claimed.

“Mrs. Veil.” Micro spoke. “…you worked with my brother with Pandora’s Box. Did he really not tell you with what he was working on?”

“I’m afraid not.” She shook her head. “All I know was that he would take many readings and samples from the Box. He never divulged what it was, saying it was for a classified assignment Night gave him. But now that I know what it is…one thing is clear.” She stood up from her seat and turned to her son. “Flash…as of now, I forbid you from using the Build System.” Misty ordered.

“WHAT?!” The other members of the team cried while musician merely inclined his head to look at his mother.

“Mrs. Veil, please reconsider!” Micro pleaded.

“Yeah! We need Flash to use to Build System!”

“I will not place my son in Danger!”

“But mom! Flash has been doing this for months!” Scootaloo argued. “He even saved me and Twilight before!

“Don’t get me started, young lady! And that is because he went behind our backs to do this!”

“He’s able to handle himself, Mrs. Veil!” Sol reasoned. “Heck, he’s been doing this before I was even able to transform!”

“That is still not a proper excuse! Just find someone else to use it! Flash is not going to fight in this war of yours!”

Everyone else in the room could only stare back and forth between the arguing sides. Flash remained quiet while Night Light finally slipped into the room.

“We need him to beat Stalk!”

“He’s not going to be a soldier in this!”

“Do you really think he’ll just be okay with it?!”

“…okay…” The musician obediently complied.

“….eh?” All heads turned to the seated teen.

“…I’ll stop being Build. I’m done…” Flash stood up and walked out of the room. Everyone stared after him as the door swung shut. Silence filled the air.

“…what just happened?” Sweetie Belle asked.  The rest of Team Build stared in concern. After the explosion, Flash had been much quieter and withdrawn. They too, felt guilt for what happened to Shining Armor, but Flash took it much harder.

He promised that Shining would be safe…and that promise was broken not even ten minutes later.

“Well…okay then.” Misty said, surprised that her son agreed so easily. Although, she did notice how disheartened he seemed, likely for a completely different reason. She would have to speak with him about it later.

“…So I guess it’s up to me then…” Sol said as he plopped down in his seat.

“I’m afraid not, son.” Blood Oath finally spoke. “I’m sorry, but I can’t allow that.”

“What? What do you mean?” The fighter questioned. The others wondered the same thing.

“She’s right, kid.” Blood Oath finally spoke. “This stuff’s too dangerous for you boys to handle. Let us adults take care of things from now on. We’ll Stop Blood Stalk. Which is why as of now, the police will be holding jurisdiction over the Drivers and Fullbottles.”

“WHAT?!”

“I understand that you kids want to protect the city. It is admirable, truly. However, you have also been acting around the law doing so. Your fights have caused a lot of collateral damage. The only reason why you haven’t been brought in for acts of vigilantism is because you kids saved many innocent lives.”

"You can't do that!" Sol cried. "Sure, Flash's mom might not be letting him continue by my parents haven't said I couldn't."

"Kid, your parents are either dead or in a coma!" Blood reminded him. Everyone looked at Sol is shock. They knew about his father, but this was the first they were hearing about his mother. "Besides, you're a minor. You really think I'd allow a child to wield such power?"

“I’m the only person here that can use it!” Sol snapped, irked that the chief decided to bring up his parents like this.

“Not for long.” He replied. “We’ll find someone more suitable on the force to use it. I’ll have my best officers on the job. Sorry son, but your time as a hero is over. Let us take care of things.”

“So you’re gonna just take them for yourselves?! Is that it?!” His rage escalated. He simply couldn’t stand the man in front of him. He was just going to undermine everything they have done!

“We’re going to use them to protect the people and do our job!”

The onlookers could only sit quietly as the argument continued. Micro and Sandalwood worried for Sol. He was reaching his boiling point.

“Let’s not be hasty, sir.” Night Light finally interjected. His face was stern and betrayed no emotion. “You see, the Drivers and the Fullbottles are still property of the Research Center, despite their previous ownership. We need to analyze them further. We may be able to find some connection to Stalk and Faust to an extent if we do.”

“…alright. But when you’re done, please start production on multiple Drivers. That way, all police officers can use the armor.” Blood allowed.

 “…well, if you’re really gonna go through with this, here.” Micro slid the Hazard level scanner across the table. “The Drivers won’t work unless your Hazard Level is at least three. Just point it at someone and press the button. Their level will show.”

Sol and Sandalwood snapped over to their friend in shock. Why would he do that?!

“Thank you.” The chief said as one of his subordinates entered. He handed the scanner over. “I want you to make a list of any and all officers that have a Hazard Level of 3.”

“Yes sir.” The man saluted and left the room.

“…I’m done with this!” Sol exclaimed before he barged out of the room. He was unable to tolerate any more of this crap. No one made a move to stop him.





Later...

The blue haired musician trudged through the streets aimlessly, having no set destination in mind. He had been listening to the entire conversation. But his heart wasn’t into it. 

His mind kept replaying the same image over and over. 

The fire. The burnt remains. The entire Sparkle family distraught and mourning. 

All of it….his fault. He made a promise...but he was unable to keep it. And now Shining Armor was dead. 

“Flash!” Sol yelled out, causing him to stop and turn. The fighter jogged up to him.

“Sol?”

“...What was that back there? Why did you just agree so easily?” He frowned. 

“...It’s as I said. I’m done with this. I quit being a Rider.”

“Don’t give me that crap! Didn’t you tell me you wanted to help people? To protect them from Faust? Then why are you giving up?!”

“Because my mom’s right.” Flash shrugged. “...we’re just kids. We didn’t know what we were doing. All we did was screw up in the end.”

“...So that’s it, isn’t it?” Sol said in realization. “...it’s about Shining Armor, isn’t it?”

“Sol…”

“Flash, I know you’re feeling guilty about this. You’re not alone, the rest of us feel the same way.”

“You don’t get it.”

“What don’t I get? Look, I know what we did end up being bad, but none of us could’ve known that Stalk would bomb the van!”

“Sol…!” The musician felt the agitation grow. 

“But that doesn’t mean you should just throw it all away! Sure, Shining died, but we still saved everyone else!” Sol tried to reason. 

“No one should’ve died!”

“We can’t save everyone!”

“But we could’ve!”

“Why are you so hung up about this?!”

“It’s because of me that he’s dead!” Flash finally snapped.

“...what?” Sol questioned dumbly. Crozz stared in silence. 

“It’s my fault...he’s dead…” He choked. “I promised him...I promised he’d be safe...but he’s gone...all because of me!”

“Flash you…”

“It’s because of me that he’s gone...that Twilight lost her brother!”

“...Idiot!” Sol smashed his fist into Flash’s face, throwing him off of his feet and on his back. 

“Ow! What was that for?!” He cried indignantly. 

“That was for you being a complete idiot!” The fighter yelled back. “How the heck is it your fault he’s dead?!”

“I...I promised him that-!”

“That doesn’t make it your fault! So what if you couldn’t keep your promise? None of us could predict what Stalk would’ve done! You’re not the one who activated the bomb! That was him! It’s not your fault! It was his!”

Sol grabbed Flash by the collar and lift him up. “And you’re just gonna throw in the towel? If you do that now, then Stalk is gonna keep toying with lives and taking them like this! Is that what you want?!”

The blue haired teen was stunned by Sol’s words. He finally noticed the unshed tears in his eyes. 

“...I know you’re hurting. Believe me, I am too. I haven’t felt this helpless and lost since I lost my dad. But you know what I did? Instead of stewing in regret...I found a way to push forward. I know my dad would’ve wanted that. So let me ask you...what would Shining want from you?”

The words slowly sunk into his mind. It was a good question. What WOULD he want? 

What would Shining say? What would his dad say if he were here right now?





Meanwhile…

“Uh, Mr. Light, where are we going?” Micro asked. After the officer left, and Sol Burner stormed out of the room, Night Light had invited Micro to see something in the lab. 

The boy was hesitant to go, still worried about his friends. But that hesitation ceased when he was informed that the matter pertained to his brother. 

“You’ll seen soon, Micro.” The man informed as they turned a corner. They came across a locked door. Night pulled out a key card and swiped it. The lock deactivated, allowing them to enter. 

The room was dark and smelled of dust. Night turned on the lights, allowing Micro to see where they were. 

It was a large, white room. Even larger than the secret lab his brother had in his store.  There were several more devices and computers then there were in the lab. But other than that, it seemed….empty. As if the room itself was incomplete. He also saw that there was a chamber that resembled the one Faust had. 

“What...is this place?”

“This was your brother’s lab.” Night answered. 

“His lab?” Micro gawked. 

“Yes. My wife already explained that I allowed Gizmo to work on the Build Project, correct?” 

“But...why would you? I know Mrs. Velvet said it was a means of defense. But going through everything, they seemed to be more like weapons.”

“In a sense, they are.” Night explained.

“Huh?”

“...Tell me, are you aware of the true face of Tirek Heavy Industries?” 

“You mean that they manufacture weapons, right?” Micro asked with trepidation. He had learned the truth from Flash and Sol when they returned with the Box.

“So you do. Then that makes things easier to explain.”

“Easier?”

"You see Micro, I've never trusted Tirek. He's always had a hunger." Night frowned.

"Hunger for what?"
"For everything. Power. Wealth. Anything he can flaunt over someone else. The more he gets the hungrier he becomes. I always knew he'd one day try to take something too dangerous for him. By any means necessary, no matter who he had to sacrifice. That's why, when your brother showed me his plans for the Rider System, I allowed him to develop them. I feared that if we didn't have the technology, then someone like Tirek might get his hands on them."

"How?"

"Tirek has eyes and ears all over Canterlot. I wouldn't be surprised if some of my own employees were spies for him. He'd have gotten specs for the Rider System, if not from Gizmo then from somewhere else. I needed a way to deter them. To show that if they used their system, we had ours to defend against them."

"You really think that would have worked?" Micro asked with a quirked brow.

"Let me put it this way, there's a reason the Neighpanese never retaliated when we dropped Little Colt on them."

"M.A.D," he whispered with Night nodding.

"I hoped the Rider Systems would make it so there'd be no need for them. But it looks like I was wrong. Now all I can do is clean up the mess I helped create. Before it costs anyone else anything important." Micro realised he was talking about Shining. How guilty might he feel right now? 

"Anyway," he sighed, 

“Me? You...really want me to continue working on my brother’s inventions?”

“I could think of no one else. You know his technology better than anyone. As much as it pains me to admit it, my son was right. I should’ve taken a more proactive stance over what is happening. Now...I can’t even hear him say ‘I told you so’, so I plan to do things right. That is...if you want to.”

“I...of course I do.” The bespectacled teen nodded. “Now, I feel like I’m getting closer to understand what happened to my brother. So I’ll do whatever I can to help. Not just you, but for my friends as well.”

"Thank you, Micro. I am truly grateful.” Night smiled. It was a small, tired one, but a smile nonetheless. “Take some time to get settled in. We'll work on transferring all the equipment from your brother's lab as soon as we can." Micro nodded and Night headed out, leaving him to look around.

He placed his laptop on a table and just stood there, trying to imagine his brother working one the Rider System in here.

Shaking his head, he opened up the laptop and pulled up the most important file. The Sclash Driver was nearing completion. A few more tweaks and it would be ready for prototype building. "Time to get to work."





After her father stepped out of the room with Micro, Twilight Sparkle excused herself as well. 

She didn’t know where her destination was. She just wanted to be alone. She had been able to hear everything that was discussed, but her heart wasn’t in it. Everything she saw, every time she blinked, the only thing that she could see was the flaming wreckage. 

Even now, all she could think of was that. The remains of the explosion. The explosion that took the life of her brother. Her Best friend. Ever since they were kids, he always protected her, watched out for her. 

But now...he was gone...forever. The tears welled up in her blank eyes as her feet moved automatically. She had no idea how long she walked. Time had stopped moving for her.

“...it’s okay…” A voice, barely audible, reached her ears. It was soft and quiet, but it was enough to make her stop. She looked around, only to find herself alone in the halls. There was no one else to say those words. 

She shook her head. Great...hallucinations. She continued onward.





Flash and Sol had finally reached the site of the explosion. The two had finally cooled off, the latter apologizing for the punch. They were just in time to see the extinguished wreckage being towed away. 

Flash didn’t know why his feet led him here. Sol simply followed him to keep an eye on him. But the site was enough to churn his stomach. 

The explosion kept flashing back in his mind. The explosion. The flames. The burnt corpse. All of it was a reminder of how he failed. They may have stopped Faust, but they lost a life in the process. 

Just...just what was he fighting for anymore?

"Flash?" He looked back at Sol, "you okay?"

"No," Flash said honestly, "not really."

"I know it's hard," Sol told him. "But you can't let this stop you."

"Stop us from what? Getting more people killed. That's what I did Sol, I'm the reason he died."

"That's not true."

"If I hadn't beaten him. If I hadn't knocked the mind control out of him, he would be alive right now."

"And still be Stalk's slave."

"But he'd still be alive. We would have had another chance to save him, especially if we beat Stalk before rescuing him. That would have meant he'd be free and safe from Stalk's vengeance." His whole body shook as he thought about how he could have done things differently. All he'd cared about back then was beating Rogue, with no thought about what would happen after that. All because he wanted to play hero.

"Flash?" Sol wanted to help him, but couldn't really come up with any counter to his logic. Dang it, he wasn't good with these kind of things.

"Save it," Flash turned to walk off. Sol wanted to follow him but had no idea what he'd say. He needed some real help, from someone who knew Flash better than him. But who?





Back at the research centre, Twilight had headed to the bathroom. There, she splashed water on her face. "Get a grip." She told herself, her face dripping wet. "Come on Sparkle." She suddenly remembered back to when she was suffering from her Midnight Sparkle fear, the same hallucinations now returning to plague her. She wanted someone to talk to, like her brother.
But she couldn't. He was gone.

“...please…”

Her head shot up, looking at herself in the mirror. The voice was louder and clearer than before. Was she going insane?

She seemed to get her answer when her reflection moved while she remained still. The Twilight in the mirror placed a hand on the mirror, Twilight's eyes going wide at the sight as she started panting.

“...find me…”

"Who...Who are you?"

"Twilight!" The girl screamed when she looked around, seeing Sunset and Princess stepping into the bathroom. They both had worried looks on their faces. "We've been looking all over for you."

Twilight stared at them for a moment before turning back to the mirror, seeing her reflection was no longer moving on its own. Princess and Sunset both raised an eyebrow when they saw her touch the mirror. "Are you okay?" Princess asked, the two moving closer to her.

"I...I don't know. I'm...I'm seeing things." She turned to Sunset, "It's like after what happened with Midnight Sparkle. I'm seeing this that aren't real." That did worry them.

"Twilight," Sunset pulled her into a hug, "It's okay. You've been through a lot. You're tired, overstimulated and your stress is starting to get to you."

Princess nodded, "you need to relax."

"Relax?" She looked at her like she'd grown a second head, "how can I relax? After what happened. How can I ever relax again?"

"Twilight," Sunset pulled away from her, "we know how you feel."

"No, you don’t," Twilight almost yelled. "How could you possibly know how I feel?"

Princess was the one that replied, "you're forgetting who I am. Shining...he might not have been my actual brother but he was still him. Seeing that van...the flames...it made me forget for a moment which world I was in. It made me think it was...I understand. I felt the same pain you're feeling right now.”

"But you don't feel it anymore," Twilight's eyes began to break out into tears. "We may look alike, but we're not the same and neither were they. He wasn't your brother, he was mine. I lost my brother while you'll get to go home and see yours whenever you want." She pushed her glasses up and wiped her eyes, "I'll never get that chance. He had his whole life ahead of him. He was gonna get married, have a family, maybe one day be chief of police. But now...it's just gone."

Princess and Sunset both looked at her worriedly, unsure how to comfort her.

Twilight then headed for the door, the two going to follow. "Please, just leave me alone." With that, she was gone and left the two transformed ponies standing there.





Later...

Blood Oath stared wordlessly as the officer he sent off with the scanner came back with a blank sheet of paper. “...what is this?”

“I...I’m sorry sir.” The cop apologized. “I used the scanner on everyone as you said, but no one had a level of three.” When he scanned everyone, himself included, the available range was between 1.4 and 2.1. There was nothing higher than the upper limit. There were also only a handful of those with a level 2 and above.

“What? How could that be?” He whipped around to Micro, who shrugged apologetically whilst taking the scanner back from the cop. 

“I-It’s as my brother said. Having a level of 3 is really rare. As far as I know, only Flash and Sol have levels that high.”

“But your brother was able to transform.” He pointed out.

“He probably had a level that met the requirements too.” Micro refuted. 

“This can’t be!” Desperately, Blood pointed the scanner at himself and blinked at the results: 0.9

No one on the police force had a high enough hazard level. 

“...It seems that none of you have the required level.” Night Light stated the observation. “I suppose we won’t be making those extra drivers any time soon.”

“Director, please wait, maybe there’s some other way…”

“I’m afraid not. I’m sorry. But with Faust on the loose, it seems our only users are those kids.” 

“You are NOT dragging my son into this, Night!” Misty had to be restrained by Velvet and Cadence in her agitated state. “He’s already suffered enough!”

“You think I want to put them through this, Misty?” Night frowned. “I just lost my son...I don’t want you and Knuckle to lose yours. But what other choice do we have?”

“Well, there is one way to increase one’s hazard level…” Micro chose to bring up the change of subject. 

“Really? What is it?” Blood asked almost too eagerly.

“My brother only mentioned it. He didn’t explain the exact process through his videos. But he emphasized that the process he knew was incredibly risky. That simply by increasing it by 0.1 has a low chance of surviving.” He explained morbidly.

“Oh…” He slumped over in dejection. “I-I see. Well, sorry for taking your time.” With a nod, Blood and the other officers left the room and building. 

“...whew…” Micro sighed as he sat down. “Glad that’s over.”

“But dude, what are we gonna do now?” Sandalwood asked. “Flash is pretty much grounded from being Build, and all we have is Sol. Can we really stop Faust with just him?”

“Maybe I can do it.” Rainbow stepped up.

“R-Rainbow?” Fluttershy spoke. 

“You wanna be a Rider?” Applejack questioned. 

“Why not? With my speed and the Build armor, I can take care of those Smashes AND Stalk like cake!”

“We need to check your hazard level first. If its too low, you risk turning into a Smash or the Driver rejecting you. Believe me. It happened to Sol when he first tried out.”

“Wait, he couldn’t use the Driver at first?” Spike asked. “But how was he able to transform?”

“That’s the odd thing. We don’t really know.” Micro said as he scratched his head. “It wasn’t until we fought against Stalk the first time did we learn that Sol was able to somehow increase his Hazard Level. It seemed like the angrier he got, his level would spike before leveling out, increasing overall. It’s likely thanks to using the Dragon Fullbottle in tandem, but we don’t know for sure.” 

“Well, let’s just see how I do. Scan me!” Micro complied with Rainbow’s order. A second later the number popped up. “Well? What does it say?”

“Hazard Level...0.” Micro deadpanned with wide eyes. The rest of the people in the room had similar expressions. “...how are you not dead from Nebula Gas exposure yet?”

“Wh-what?” Rainbow snapped out of her stupor. Her level was really that low? But how?! 

“He’s right…” Sandalwood said as he scanned the rest of the Rainbooms present. The result was the same. Level 0. “...How did all you stay safe until now with the Faust attacks?”

“I...I don’t know…” The animal lover shook her head. 

“Sure is strange. Back on the farm, Ah know for sure dat some of dat gas touched us, but we stayed normal.” Applejack recalled. 

“Maybe something protected us?” Pinkie suggested. 

“What protected us?” Sunset asked as she and the princess entered the room. “What were you guys talking about?”

“Hazard levels...and how you girls seem to be protected by something to shield you from nebula Gas despite having levels of 0.” Micro answered. 

“Did you two happen to find Twilight?” Velvet asked. It had definitely been a shock for the Sparkle parents and Cadence first meeting their daughter’s counterpart from another world. But after everything that’s happened these past several months, they are becoming less likely to be surprised anymore. 

At first Night questioned how her daughter managed to clone herself when their daughter brought her home before the school takeover. 

“We did...but she wanted to be left alone. She’s still taking the loss pretty hard.” Sunset explained. 

“I’m sorry. We couldn’t get through to her.” The princess shook her head. 

“Well, do you know where she is?” Night asked, worried for his daughter. 

“Don’t worry guys.” Spike spoke up. “We can find her. I’m worried for her too.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” Pinkie spoke up. “We have a Sci-Twi to find!”

The group nodded and split up to search the building. They were separated into the following groups:

Sunset, Night, Micro, and Rarity searched the west wing. 

Cadence, Misty, Scootaloo, and Applejack searched east. 

Princess Twilight, Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Spike took the north. 

Sandalwood, Velvet, Pinkie Pie, and Sweetie Belle searched the south. 

The four groups split and combed through the building, trying to find the missing girl. It wasn’t until minutes later, that Sunset noticed something amiss with the hallway they were in. 

“Uh, Mr. Light, has that door always been open?” The Director turned to see one side of a double set of doors cracked open and panicked. 

“Oh no! That’s where Pandora’s Box is!” He rushed and slammed the door open. He grew relieved when he saw the Box intact, but promptly panicked again upon seeing his daughter lying in front of it unconscious. The others filed in and saw the scene. 

“Twilight!” They rushed over. 

“Is she okay? Is she breathing?!”

“She’s breathing, but she’s unconscious!”

“Quick, get her to the infirmary!” Sunset and Rarity gingerly supported her while Micro contacted their friends that they found her while Night organized the Infirmary to get prepared. 

While they moved her unconscious form, they failed to notice the golden bracelet on her wrist. 





Undisclosed location...

While the people at the research center tended to Twilight, another incident was occurring. 

Many people thrashed and screamed helplessly as they were dragged along by a group of Robots that put the previous Guardians to shame. They resembled their predecessors greatly. But these models were colored green and had blocky sections of armor on their shoulders. Their left hands were equipped with clamp-like claws while the other hand was a gatling gun. 

The ones that were dragged grew terrified by these robots as they were brought into another room. 
Within the room was a plethora of chambers and computer monitors and controls. Standing in the middle of it all was Blood Stalk, leaning against a railing. 

“Good work everyone.” Blood Stalk clapped as the Guardians and their bounties filed in. “You all got done sooner than I expected.”

“Wh-what do you want from us?” One of the captives trembled. He, along with everyone else, was scared of what could potentially happen to them.

“Such a simple question. But I have a simple answer. You see. You fine ladies and gentlemen are here for one reason and one reason only.” Stalk announced as he held up a finger. “You are to become our little guinea pigs.”





Several minutes later, the group of sixteen regrouped in the building’s infirmary, standing by the unconscious form of Twilight Sparkle. 

“Oh...I hope she’s okay.” Fluttershy said worriedly. 

“I’m...I’m sure she’ll be fine.” Rainbow did her best to reassure her. 

“What do y’all think happened?” Applejack wondered. 

“Was she really found like this next to the Box?” Velvet asked her husband.

“Yes. I don’t know what could have caused this.” Night shook his head while rubbing it. 

“Maybe the stress was too much for her?” Cadence suggested. 

“It’s possible. But I don’t know why she was with Pandora’s Box of all places.” 

“Well, maybe she-” Sunset stopped when her phone went off. She read the message sent. “It’s Sol.” Sunset said. “He said he and Flash are back.”

“Where did they go?”

“He said they went to the scene of the wreck. Flash was still torn up about it.” 

“I see…” The Princess murmured. She was worried. She never saw Flash so dejected before. She really wanted to help him, but she had no idea how. 

“He also says that you and I should probably talk to him.” Sunset added. 

“U-us? Really? But what can we do?”

“I’ll explain on the way.” The two left the room as they tried to find Flash. 

“What do you think is going on?” Rainbow asked Pinkie, who simply shrugged. 

“No clue. I just hope they can help him.”

“...nngh…” All heads snapped over to the source of the groan. Twilight Sparkle’s eyelids cringed before they blearily blinked open. “Wh-wha….?”

“Twilight!” Night, Velvet, Cadence, and Spike knelt beside her. “Are you okay? Please answer!”

“Mom? Dad? Cadence? Spike? What’s going on?” She sat up, rubbing her eyes. “Where am I?”

“In the medical bay, sweetie.” Velvet answered. “We found you unconscious in front of Pandora’s Box. What happened?”

“Pandora’s...Box…?” She blinked. Then she remembered.





Earlier...

After leaving Sunset and her counterpart behind, Twilight continued to wander the halls of the research center. She knew they were just trying to make her feel better...but she couldn’t at the moment. It was all just too painful for her to deal with. 

She just wished her brother was here...but it was a futile wish. He was gone. Forever. 

Her eyes teared up again at the realization. She blinked away the tears and wondered what she should do.

“....it will be okay…”

“Oh great, it’s back…” She murmured. Where was the voice coming from? 

“Over here…” The voice seemed to come from a certain direction. Curiosity filling her being, she moved to pursue it. She needed answers. She followed the voice through a series of turns until she came across a set of double doors. 

“What is…?”

“...inside….” it called out again. 

“So it’s in here? Well…” She pulled out the access card her parents gave her to enter any room within the building. She just hoped it still worked. She swiped the card and the green light came on. The doors unlocked and she opened it. 

She entered the room, realizing what it was. Sitting in the center of the room was Pandora’s Box. For some reason...it seemed to be glowing. 

“...come closer…” it called out again. 

“What? But this is…” Despite her protests, she found that her feet were already moving on their own. She drew closer and closer to Pandora’s Box. 

The moment her hand made contact, a blinding light flood her vision before she blacked out. 





Twilight blinked as the memories cycled in her head. Was that what really happened? That didn’t make much sense. Was that really real? Or some stress induced hallucination?

For that matter, what was this feeling? This strange sense of calmness? She still mourned for the loss of her brother and missed him dearly. But strangely...it doesn’t hurt as it did before. 

“Honey?” Night asked. 

“I...I’m sorry. I guess I’m just out of it…” She apologized. Everyone glanced at one another in concern. 

“Maybe it’s best if you rested some more.” Cadence suggested. “...I understand how all of this is stressful. Perhaps you just need a break.”

“Maybe…” The girl nodded half-heartedly. She tried to process her memories and whether everything was real or not. She then noticed a couple of people missing. “...Where’s Sunset and other me?”

“Oh yeah.” Rainbow decided to speak up. “Sunset got a text from Sol. He and Flash returned from their walk.”

“Walk? Where are they now?”





Upon turning to the research center, Flash made his way up on the roof, telling Sol that he wanted to be alone. The fighter was worried about the musician. When he finally reached the building, he remembered just the right people to help Flash and shot them a text when he already left. 

The blue haired musician stood on the roof of the building. His head swiveled around, taking in the newly repaired surroundings. 

It was as if the fight he had with Night Rogue back then never happened. But it did happen. Flash remembered that fight, that pain well. He sighed. He wanted to get away from the others and be alone. 

But he just couldn't escape what happened. What he had done. 

“Flash?” his thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice. “ He turned around to see Sunset Shimmer peering through the door. The fiery haired girl and princess stepped onto the roof. “Thought we’d find you here.”

“What...what are you doing here?”

“...Sol told us what happened.” Sunset said. “He wanted us to talk with you.”

“That meddling…” He was cut off as his ex punched him in the face. 

“Ow!...why?!” 

“...he also wanted us to do that too. I would’ve done it even if he hadn’t asked.”

“...and I repeat, why?” He groaned as he rubbed his face.

“You’re too hung up over this. Yeah, what happened was a complete tragedy and affected all of us. But none of us could’ve known what would happen.”

“But I still could’ve done something!”

“There’s no use for what-ifs. It’s already happened and we have to accept it.”

“But why should I? If I just did something differently-!”

“Because it doesn’t matter, Flash!” His ex-girlfriend cut him off. 

“What? But...why not?!”

“Because it’s all in the past, Flash. And your past is not today.” She answered. “Take it from me. Before, I was nothing but a bully who wanted to rule and get more than I deserved. I hurt and humiliated people for my own gain. But now? Thanks to the Princess here and the others, I’m nothing like I was back then. The past doesn’t define who you are.”

“Well, good for you Sunset. But that doesn’t mean what I did will ever change. It’s because of me that Shining Armor is dead. It’s all my fault.”

“No it isn’t!” Princess Twilight refuted. “None of that was your fault. You saved him from being a slave to Faust.”

“But if I didn’t, then he’d still be alive.” He argued. 

“What kind of life is one of subjugation and deprivation of free-will?” She replied rhetorically. “You saved him from becoming a monster.”

“Maybe...but it still hurts.”

“The past can hurt. But here’s the thing. We can either run from our pasts, or learn from them. I learned from mine.” Sunset made a point by swiping at Flash, only to miss as he sidestepped. “See? What will you do now then?”

“I...I don’t know. I just can’t move on that easily.”

“...Well, for now, why don’t you see the other me?” Princess suggested. 

“I think that’s the last thing on my mind right now…”

“But I’m sure she’d need your support. She collapsed earlier and-”

“Wait, collapsed?!”

“Yeah. We found her unconscious. Pinkie texted us that she just woke up before we got here. But I think she’d appreciate it if more of her friends were there.”

“Pft. After what I did...am I even really a friend anymore?”

“Flash…”

“Of course you are!” The princess said adamantly. “That is precisely why she needs to see you now.”

Flash shut his eyes and took a deep breath. He truly didn’t want to see her. But...if she really collapsed, the least he could do is make sure she was okay. “...alright.” He walked past them and down the stairs. 

“I hope we got through to him.” Twilight said worriedly once he was out of earshot. 





“We have scanned practically everyone. But none of them have the necessary hazard level to use the Drivers unlike you and Flash. If we’re going to put a stop to Faust, then we will need able fighters. So I ask you...are you still willing to be Cross-Z, Sol Burner?” Night requested.

Sol had entered the room where Night Light and the others were in. While he wanted to see how Flash was doing, the Director requested his presence. Once he arrived, the Director explained to him how he and Flash were practically their only options to use the Drivers and fight Faust as the Masked Riders. 

“...Oh, so NOW you want my help.” The fighter spoke.

“I’m sorry. But the chief was insistent that we follow protocol under normal circumstances, we could not allow minors to fight our battles for us. But now the situation has changed. You are the last hope for the people.” Night bowed his head. “I know this is a lot to ask given how much you’ve been through, but will you consider taking up the mantle again?”

The rest of the occupants fell silent as they watched the exchange. Sol’s face betrayed no emotion as he was deep in thought. Finally, he answered. 

“...I’ll only do it under two conditions.”

“And what would those be?” Night asked with a hopeful glint. 

“First, I want the research center to help cover the costs of my mom’s medical bills. While I fight for you, I want her to receive the best care as possible so she can finally wake up.” Everyone was then reminded what they learned earlier. How Sol’s mother was in a comatose state. Many sympathized with him. His father died while his mother was in a coma. It must’ve been hard for him for months. Yet he still found the strength to move onward. 

“It can be arranged. And for the second?”

“I want you to tell me everything you know about my dad and Pandora’s Box. My friends and I learned that he was the one that found it. But we want to know more.”

“Of course.” The director complied. 

“Well, now you got yourself a deal.” The two shook hands in agreement. The others smiled at the agreement, and soon enough, Sunset and the Princess walked in. Their friends filled them in on what they missed. They were happy that they came to an agreement, but they were concerned for Sol due to his first request. They wondered how he was holding up during that situation. 

“Thank you. Thank you very much, Sol Burner.”

“No problem. Now all we need is to convince Flash to join in!” Sol grinned.

“You are NOT dragging Flash into this!” Misty protested. 

“And why not?” Sol questioned. “If he had the Driver, he can fight and help people!”

“I don’t want him to go around playing hero like this! It’s bad enough that he’s been doing this for months, but I won’t let him fight a war with Faust any longer!”

“So you’re just gonna force him to sit on the sidelines?!”

“If that’s what must be done, then yes.”

“Are you serious?! Keeping him away from the Driver will only make him vulnerable to Faust!”

“He won’t need it! We’ll protect him from this conflict!”

“Are you even listening to yourself?! In case you forgot, you got kidnapped by Faust because Flash didn’t transform that time!” Sol reminded. “Him without a Driver will just make him an easy target!”

“He won’t be a target if he can’t find him in town!” She retorted, eliciting gasps from some of the room’s occupants. 

“M-Mom?” Scootaloo asked. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the next chance we get, we’re leaving Canterlot City.”

“WHAT?!” 

“So you’re just gonna run away?!” Sol demanded. “You just don’t get it! Stalk already marked him as a target! You won’t be able to shake him off, and you can’t even protect yourselves from him!”

Before the argument could escalate further, a researcher rushed into the room. “Director!” 

“Yes? What is it?!” Night stood up. 

“Q-Quickly!” The man panted. “Turn on the news!”

Curious and alarmed by the instruction, Night Light obeyed. The monitor within the room flickered on. What was shown elicited sharp gasps. 





Twilight's room.

The girl simply sat there, staring out the window while still trying to figure out why she'd collapsed and why she felt this new sense of calm. A knock at the door broke her focus, "Come in." The door opened and Flash stepped in, appearing to take great focus not to look at her.

"Hey, Twilight."

"Hey." Flash shuffled over to her, still refusing to look her in the eye

"You okay?"

"I think so," Twilight said. "I'm...still not sure why I collapsed."

"You've been through a lot," Flash sat in the chair beside her bed. "Makes sense you'd probably be overcome and your brain would shut down."

"Maybe." The two sat in silence for almost a full minute, the tension in the air so thick you could cut it with a spoon. "Flash," his eyes flickered up at her, "You came here for a reason."

Flash's body shook, tears threatening to break free from him as he looked at the ground. "I'm...I'm so sorry." Twilight stared at him in confusion, "Nothing I can possibly say or do will ever make up for what happened. Shining Armor." Twilight looked shocked at this.

"Flash," she whispered, "What happened..." She took a deep breath, talking about this being hard. "It wasn't your fault. You have nothing to blame yourself for."

"If I hadn't beaten him, freed him from the control..."

"He'd still be under Stalk's control."

"But he'd still be alive!"

"Flash, look at me." Flash didn't seem able too, forcing Twilight to use her magic and make him look at her. The two locked eyes, Flash's teary eyes locking onto Twilight's and seeing how serious she was right now. "You didn't know Shining as well as I did." Her serious look faltered for a moment, Twilight quickly stealing her nerves again. 

"If you gave him a choice between what happened and staying as Stalk's puppet, he would have yelled at you to beat him. He would have rather died than be forced to hurt innocent people." Flash tried to look away but Twilight used her hand to grab his chin and make him look at her. "You didn't kill my brother. You freed him from a fate worse than death. You gave him back to me and I can't thank you enough for that."

Flash nodded and saw back in his chair, blinking away tears. "I just wish I could have done more."

"There was nothing you could have done," A somber expression appeared on her face. But then it was replaced by another serious one, "but there is something you can do for Shining now." This got Flash curious, "Don't let his death be in vain. Fight for him. Fight to bring the ones that did this to him to justice. Don't let Stalk do what they did to him to anyone. Be the one. Be Build."

Something inside Flash stirred at those words. If Shining was here, would he tell him to do that? If Twilight, who knew him best, was telling him that, then it must be true.

"Thank you, Twilight."

Twilight smiled, "No problem." She looked out the window. "I don't know why, but since waking up I've felt this...inexplicable calmness was over me. Like something in the back of my head's telling me everything will be okay." Flash nodded, only to notice something.

Twilight was subconscious holding her left wrist. Actually, what she was holding was a golden bracelet he didn't remember her ever wearing before. Something about it gave Flash an unusual feeling. Like it was almost...alive.

"Twilight," she looked at him, "Where did you get that bracelet?" Twilight looked at him in confusion before looking down, appearing to only now notice she was wearing it.

Wrapped around her wrist was a golden bangle with strange, circuit-like patterns on the sides before they converged to a quarter-sectioned circle with lined arrays. 

"I...I don't know." The bracelet was a perfect golden look that hung loosely around her wrist, though wasn't loose enough to fall off her arm. There appeared to be no latch or means to remove the bracelet, shown when she tried to pull it off but couldn't. "It...it won't come off."
"What?" Flash was about to try himself, but in that minute the door opened and Rainbow rushed in.

"Flash!" She cried, "There you are! Sorry Twilight, we need Flash!"

"Rainbow-" Flash didn't get to finish as in that moment, the girl zipped over to him before racing them both out of the room with a rainbow blur.





Rainbow zoomed back into the conference room, Flash in tow. 

“Ow...okay, what was that about Rainbow?!”

“Look at the TV!” She grabbed his head and turned it towards the screen. The news was turned on. The story featured was a horde of robots attacking people. They resembled Faust Guardians, but they were green had had several upgrades to them. 

Flash felt a pit form in his stomach as he watched the disaster. People fled in terror. Some were already down. And he was here...just watching. He then noticed someone else missing from the group in the room. 

“Wait, where’s Sol?”

“He went on ahead.” Sunset answered. “He grabbed his Driver, the Build Phone, a pair of bottles and left.”





As the people screamed in terror and ran through the streets, the army of Guardians slowly advanced. With their right arms, they shot out projectiles that stunned people they hit. With their left arms, they fished out and dragged those immobilized civilians towards them for capture. 

As they fled, the populace wondered where their protectors were. Where were the Masked Riders?

Their silent pleas had been answered then the roar of an engine filled their ears. Speeding along in the Machine Builder was Sol Burner. The rider steered the motorcycle towards a slanted piece of rubble that resembled a ramp. He drove on it and flew into the air.

The fighter kicked off of the Machine Builder, back flipping into the air whilst donning his driver. The motorcycle descended and crashed into a section of the Guardian army and destroyed them in a fiery explosion. Fortunately, the motorcycle remained intact. 

Sol landed in a crouch as Crozz flew around him. He shook his Dragon bottle while the dragon transformed in his hands. He stood up and inserted it. 

“WAKE UP!”

He inserted Crozz into the Driver and cranked the handle. 

“CROSS-Z DRAGON!”

“ARE YOU READY?!”

“Henshin!”

“WAKE UP BURNING!”

“GET CROSS-Z DRAGON!”

“YEAH!”

Donned in his armor, Sol Burner charged into the Guardian horde head on. 

He grabbed the nearest one and let himself fall backwards. He noted that it seemed heavier than the usual ones, but he was still able to throw it behind him. He ducked as another swung at him with his clawed hand. He tried to counter as it over extended, but it quickly drew its arm back to block it. 

Sol was dumbfounded. How did the robots know how to block like that? He didn’t have time to ponder as he ducked and rolled under a hail of gunfire from the surrounding Guardians. Thinking quickly, he figured out how to get through their line of fire. Fortunately he took it when he had the chance earlier. 

“DRILL CRUSHER!” 

He summoned the Drill Crusher from his Driver and let the spinning blade deflect the projectiles away once he swung it in their path. With the spinning shaft protecting him, he charged into the group and swung at the nearest one. It tried to lean away from the attack, but he managed to graze its main camera. Once it was blinded, Sol spun and stabbed the Drill Crusher through its torso. 

Another Guardian tried to pounce on him, but he dragged the broken body of the one he just destroyed as a human shield. Once the robots collided, he kicked the Guardian off of his weapon and slashed through both of them with the spinning drill. 

Once the robots fell bisected, one of his arms was grabbed by another Guardian’s claw. The robot stood meters away and tried to reel him in with the cable extended from its gauntlet. He grit his teeth as the claw started to apply pressure and crush his arm. His grip on the Drill Crusher was starting to go slack. 

“BEAT CROZZER!” 

Summoning his main weapon, he sliced through the cable and freed himself. He quickly changed the modes of the Drill Crusher to its ranged form. Once he was equipped with a sword and gun, he rushed at the nearest Guardian. It tried to gun him down, but Sol quickly returned fire. The lasers burned through the bullets and punched through the metal plating. 

Once he drew near, Sol swung and decapitated it. 

His victory was short lived as another robot tackled him to the side. His grip fell loose, letting the weapons clatter as they rolled around the ground. The Guardian was mounted over Cross-Z as it tried to bash his head in with its claw arm. Sol moved his head to dodge it before he gathered power into his hand and delivered a flaming punch into its helmet. The plating caved in as it sparked before exploding. He shoved the heavy body off of him and backflipped away from the bullets peppering where he just was. 

He looked up and saw the few remaining Guardians. Seeing their close proximity to one another, Sol decided to end this in one shot. 

He turned the crank of his Driver for the big finisher. 

“READY GO!”

The dragon appeared as power surged through him. 

“DRAGONIC FINISH!”

He was launched forward by the flames and sliced through the remaining robots with a well-executed, blazing kick. Once he landed, the Guardians behind him exploded. 

He stood up and gazed at the remains of the robots, noting how different they seemed to the previous ones. It was almost as if these ones knew how to fight properly. 

“It’s over…” He sighed as he picked up his weapons.

His statement was refuted as a group of Smash popped out of the alleyways. Their numbers consisted of the Strong Smash, Flying Smash, Ice Smash, Mirage Smash, Rotor Smash, Press Smash, and Shell Smash. 

“....well crap.” As one unit, the Smash charged at him.





On the screen inside the lounge, they all saw the Smash appear before Sol before they rushed at him. At first, he did fine fighting them one at at time using hit and run tactics. But they grew to coordinate their attacks. While the Strong Smash kept him locked in close quarters, the Shell, Rotor, and Ice Smash’s bombarded him with their respective projectiles. The Flying Smash took to the skies and kicked him from the air with each pass. The Mirage Smash made clones of itself and attacked Sol from multiple angles. 

The fighter tried his best, but it was too much for him. 

“This is not good. Totally, totally not good…” Pinkie said worriedly.

“Is he gonna be alright? He’s getting his ass kicked!” Rainbow exclaimed. 

“Rainbow!” Fluttershy frowned in admonishment. 

“Sorry, but do you even see this?” The Flying Smash kicked him in the face, knocking him down and allowing the Press Smash to body slam him. 

“We all can, darling.” Rarity replied, concern etched all over her features. “This is absolutely terrible.” They all winced as the Rotor Smash blasted him with a tornado and flung him into a wall. 

As the others watched their friend getting overwhelmed, Flash kept silent as he had to watch his friend getting beaten down by an army of Smashes, sorely outnumbered and out matched. Yet even against impossible odds, he continued to get back up and fight. Every time he gets knocked down, he still fights. 

It had been the last straw once they saw the Strong Smash ram him into the side of a building. 

“...I need to help him.” Flash murmured. “I can’t let this happen!”

“Oh no you’re not young man!” Misty refuted, realizing what he was going to do.

“I need to! If I don't, then they could kill him!”

“I’m not letting you out there!”

"Please, mom, this is a matter of life and death!"

"The only life I'm concerned about is yours!" Flash frowned, looking out the window knowing Sol was in trouble. "Don't look out there, look at me!"

This did it. Flash's fists clenched as he turned towards her, the previously extinguished flames of determination reigniting in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he smiled at her. "I love you, mom. I know raising both me and Scoots alone hasn't been easy. And I know that ever since Dad died, you've been worried about losing us. But you raised me by example, and time after time I've seen you put other people's needs first. I can't obey you know without disobeying everything you and Dad ever taught me about the world, life and responsibility." Flash rushed over to the table and grabbed the Driver, slapping it on his waist while getting all the Fullbottles.

"Flash," Misty rushed over to him, "I forbid you-"

"So when I get back, feel free to punish me however you want." He turned back to her before slotting the Hawk and Gatling bottles into the driver. "But right now, I have a friend who's in trouble." He started cranking the handle of his driver, everyone stepping back as the runners appeared around him. "HENSHIN!" In a flash of light, Flash was decked out in the orange and silver armour.

Before anyone could stop him, he turned and ran towards the window before leaping through it. The glass shattered as he spread his wings, taking to the sky to fly off towards the battle.

As they watched him go, Princess looked around the broken window and raised an eyebrow. "What is it with him and breaking through windows?”

“No idea. But we should help out on our end.” Micro said before he released the drone after their friend. 





Sol had his arms crossed as the Strong Smash continued to pummel him to the ground. The hits were too fast and too powerful for him to counter or get away. The Flying Smash circled him above in the air while the Mirage Smash had him surrounded on the ground. The other Smashes continued to pelt him with shells, ice, and air projectiles respectively. 

The damage levels of his HUD were blaring critical levels. Another minute of this continuous abuse and it’d be broken. 

Just when the Strong Smash was about to slam both of its arms down on him one last time, a flock of energy hawks impacted the Smash and threw it off of his body. 

The Flying Smash was also bombarded by these weaponized avians and crashed into the Smash. The hawks then flew around and attacked the Mirage Smash clones and Shell, Ice, and Rotor Smashes. 

While the Press Smash was spared from the assault, a familiar orange and gray blur struck it hard and sent it tumbling. Flash backpedaled and landed next to his friend. 

Up above, a news helicopter flew to capture the fight. 

“Heh...took you long enough…” Sol said jokingly. 

“Sorry I was late. You would not believe the traffic.” He quipped in return. He held out his hand and Sol grabbed it. He helped the fighter onto his feet before staring down the group of Smash. “Any idea what’s up with these guys?”

“No clue. They just popped right out of the woodwork.”

“Any idea Micro?” Flash asked his intellectual friend. 

“Not much I can say. But they definitely seem stronger than the ones you fought before. I’m detecting large quantities of infused Nebula Gas in their bodies.” He answered. 

“So we’re facing seven, upgraded powerhouses.” Build nodded. 

“By the way, here.” Sol handed him the Drill Crusher. “Borrowed this earlier.”

“Thanks for not losing it.” He said as he stowed it away. 

The Flying Smash was the first to rise back up. It flapped its wings and soared into the sky for a dive attack. Flash took to the air to meet it head on. He fired the Hawk Gatlinger to pepper the Smash with energy bullets. The two clashed through the skies, but Flash had the advantage in ranged weaponry. 

He spun the barrel five times.

“TEN!”

“TWENTY!”

“THIRTY!”

“FORTY!”

“FIFTY!”

A swarm of energy bullets shot out from the gun and tore into the Flying Smash, causing it to disrupt its flight and send it careening to the ground. While still in the air, the Rider fired additional shots at the Smash on the ground. But he took notice of the Mirage Smash and its clones rising back up. 

Just as he was about to shoot them, he saw that there were still civilians left behind. They had tried to escape, but had been unable to during the chaos. And the horde was right by them. Thinking quickly, Flash dropped to the ground and replaced his current Fullbottles. 

“TURTLE!”

“WATCH!”

“BEST MATCH!”

After transforming into the Clockwork Defender, Flash turned the crank of his Driver four times. 

“ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR SECONDS!” 

From the outside view, Flash moved faster than even the Mirages Smashes through dilated time. With the time he bought, he moved the civilians to safety before returning to the fight. Once time resumed to normal, he threw his shell shoulder pad like a discus and struck the Mirage Smashes clones. It rebounded off of their bodies repeatedly before it returned to his shoulder. 





“Whoa…” Rainbow gasped in awe. Even now, she couldn’t believe how fast Turtle Watch was. “...I so wanna race that form!”





Once the Mirage Smash clones were subdued, the remaining Rotor, Ice, Strong, Shell, and Press Smash ran at him. Build simply replaced his Fullbottles again. 

“PANDA!”

“ROCKET!”

“BEST MATCH!”

Once he transformed, he pointed his rocket arm and let the projectile fly. It struck the incoming Smashes repeatedly, altering its flight path with each hit, pushing them back to the downed forms of the other two Smashes. He then charged and struck the nearest Ice Smash with his clawed up before kicking it away. The Rocket looped around and landed back on his other arm. 

As soon as the Smash had been grouped together, Flash switched to another combination. 

“NINJA!”

“COMIC!”

“BEST MATCH!”

Once he was in Ninnin-Comic form, he took out the Sketch Saber and pulled the trigger three times. 

“WIND SKILL!”

“TORNADO SLASH!”

He swung up, creating a massive tornado that swallowed the Smash and hurled them into the sky. Once they were airborne, Flash saw fit to finally end this fight. 

“Let’s end this…” Flash removed the Fullbottles from his Driver and pulled out a familiar can. He shook it a few times before popping the tab. 

POP! FIZZ!

Flash then raised the can up before slamming it into the Driver.

"RABBIT TANK SPARKLING
 
He turned the crank as the circular runners appeared.
 
“ARE YOU READY?!”
 
“Build up!” He cried before the runners converged on him. In a mass of light and energy bubbles, he was donned in his newest form. 
 
THE EFFERVESCENT BURST!
 
"RABBIT TANK SPARKLING!”
 
“YEAHHH!”

“Now, I’ve got the Winning Formula!” He turned the crank of his Driver while he jumped into the air, heading toward the airborne Smash. 

“READY? GO!” The singularity formed around the group of Smash, sucking them in and holding them in place. The Rider extended his tank foot as he flew into the Singularity opening. An endless mass of energy bubbles shot through the portal, tearing through the trapped Smashes. With a final cry, he shot through the portal, delivering devastating damage to the monsters as they fell to the ground in motionless heaps. 

Flash landed in a crouch before standing up. “...man, hope I have enough bottles for this.” He took out as many Empty Bottles as he had on hand, and was relieved he had enough. But before he could move to extract them, someone had beat him to it. 

Standing across the street was Blood Stalk, holding seven bottles newly filled with Smash Essence. “Thanks for doing all the work, Sentry.” He called out. 

“Stalk!” Flash roared angrily. The source of all this madness was right in front of him. The one who manipulated Shining and killed him. The one that made so many suffer. 

“Sorry, can’t stick around to chit-chat. I have an appointment to keep. Ciao~!” 

“Wait!” Build ran to Stalk to stop him, but he was too late as the red armored man transformed into steam and vanished.

“Damn! He got away!” 

“We’ll just get him next time, buddy.” Sol said as he hobbled over. “But...what are we gonna do about this?” He gestured to their surroundings. 

Flash looked around and saw all the people still in the area, all of them having seen their battle and had been terrified before they arrived. Flash couldn't let that happen. He needed to show them they didn't have to live their lives in terror. They needed...a symbol.

"That's it," Flash whispered with Sol turning to him.

"What's it?" Sol didn't get his answer as his fellow rider turned away before using his rabbit jump to leap into the air, everyone seeing this and watching as he landed atop a nearby rooftop that overviewed the area. He went to his belt and turned the speaker on his helmet to max before speaking.

"People of Canterlot, hear me!" Many people had been filming the fight and were now filming this, including the news helicopter. "By now you all know who I am under this mask. I'm Flash Sentry, a normal high schooler who's gotten in way over his head. Over the last few months, my friends and I have been fighting from the shadows to protect the city from Faust."





Back at the Research Center, everyone was watching Flash's declaration.

"But now our time of hiding is over. From this moment on, you'll know exactly who's keeping you safe. Me, Cross-Z and all our friends will fight and protect you, no matter the cost." Misty, hearing this, was suddenly flashing back to when she was young and first getting to know Trail Blazer. Their son was so much like him, not just in appearance.

"Flash." She remembered the words she'd once told Sol about Trail's philosophy about responsibility. If he was here right now and knew that their son was the only one that could use the armor, no doubt he'd give Flash his undying support. Flash was right, she couldn't stop him from doing this. To do so would betray everyone principle of Trail's that she'd fallen in love with.





Back at the battlefield, Flash looked directly into the news camera. "Stalk, I know you're listening to this, don't think you can hide. Everything you've done, everyone you've hurt, you'll pay the price for. I won't stop until I find out who's under that mask and bring you to justice. Because..." Flash looked back at everything he'd done and everything he'd experienced. When he first started, he was just a kid using powers and abilities he had no clue about. But now, now he had become more. "I am the Masked Rider...BUILD!"

The people below cheered and clapped as Flash leapt down. "Nice speech!" Sol told him as he landed, "does this mean you're back on team Build?”

"Just sorry I left." Flash turned towards the remains of one of the Guardians, trodding over to it while looking it over. "We these things any different from the others we've thought."

"A little," Sol told him. "They don't fight the same, almost like someone else taught them how to fight. Whoever made these things, they're not the same guys that have made the ones we thought before."

"Micro, you getting this?"

"Yeah," the teen replied through the radio, "and Sol's right. These things might have the same basic appearance, but their inner design is almost completely different."

Flash nodded as he took a closer look, noticing something in the robot's wreckage. "Wait," he reached inside the destroyed machine's chest. He felt around for a second before finally pulling out his target, a machine part whose purpose he had no idea about. But what he did know was the image on the part, which was an image he knew all too well. "ChangeMaker?"





Once the battle had ended, the victims of the Smash sent to the hospital, and the remains of the Guardians had been retrieved, Flash and Sol returned back to the lab. There they were greeted by their friends and family. 

“You two were awesome out there!” Rainbow cheered as she and the others greeted them. 

“Yeah! You were all like, wham! Bam! Zoom! Fwoosh! Kablam!” Pinkie sounded out. 

“Are you two alright?” Fluttershy asked as she approached. 

“Good heavens Sol, you scared us to death back there.”

“Sorry...I thought I could take them.”

“Didn’t seem that way to us.” Sunset pointed out. “You’re lucky Flash showed up when he did.”

“Flash?” Misty spoke as she approached. Trailing behind her was Scootaloo, who was relieved to see him alright as well. 

“Mom…” He sighed, ready to face the music. “Look, I know I broke my promise and I’m sorry, but I had to-”

What he didn’t expect was for his mother to immediately wrap her arms around him. “I’m the one who should be saying sorry.” She apologized. “...all this time, I’ve been trying to protect you and your sister. You two were all I had left. But in doing so, I desperately tried to forget about the loss of your father. I willingly buried the memories I had of him to numb the pain. But when I did so, I practically betrayed all what Trail stood for.” 

She held him out at arms length and looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry, Flash. I know it was wrong for me to have stopped you like this. But I was worried I’d lose you forever.”

“I’m sorry too, mom. I just..I just wanted to help my friends and others. I wanted to be more like dad…”

“I know you do. In fact, I believe that if were here with us, he’d support you all the way as Build. I know I do.”

“Do...do you really mean that?” The musician’s eyes widened. They grew misty from the welling emotions. 

“Of course. I love you Flash.” 

“Love you too, mom.” The two hugged again, and soon felt someone else wriggle their way between them. 

“Don’t forget me.” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Of course not.” Giggling, Misty wrapped her arms around her too. 

“Group hug!” Pinkie cheered as she practically grabbed everyone present and pulled them in for a hug around Flash. They all stayed that way for about a minute. Finally, they broke off. 

“I’m glad that the two of you were able to make up.” Night gave a small, relieved smile. “And with Misty’s approval, Flash and Sol are now officially the city’s Masked Riders and defenders. However, I’m afraid things will be a bit more...strict in a sense.”

“What do you mean?” Sandalwood asked. 

“Since Flash and Sol are the only two people with the known capabilities of using the Drivers, they are our main line of defense against Faust. Since there’s no one else capable of fighting the Smash, they’ll need to work with the city’s police force and additional law enforcement. Now that they are publically known, they have to abide by the same code as the police. They simply can’t do as they please anymore lest they become outed as vigilantes.” 

“Aw man...so now we gotta follow the orders of that douche?” Sol said in distaste. In all honesty, he did not like Blood Oath. Something about him seemed off to the fighter. Maybe it was because he brought up his parents before. 

“I know he may seem a bit too strict and overbearing, but Blood Oath cares for the well-being of this city and its people. At times, he’s had to make difficult decisions.” Velvet reasoned. 

“That’s right.” Night nodded. “If it makes you feel better though, we and the research center will be providing you support. Your friend Micro now has an official lab to work on any further gadgets you need for the upcoming battles. This also includes additional amenities that you may need to remain in top form for the war against Faust.

“I know it may be too much to ask for you kids to fight for us. But you four are the only hope this city has to stop Faust once and for all. Will you please fight for us?” 

The four members of team Build glanced at one another, as if coming to a silent agreement. They turned to Night Light and in unison responded. 

“We’re in.”





ChangeMaker Incorporated...

Chrysalis was in her office, sitting on a large couch watching a rerun of the battle. The footage finally arrived at Flash's speech, "because...I am the Masked Rider...Build!"

The woman smirked as she sensed another presence appear behind her. "Looks like our friends are declaring war. We shouldn't make things anti-climatic."

"Indeed," Stalk agreed as he stepped around the couch to face her. "The real game is finally afoot. It would be rude of us to make things boring for them."

Chrysalis nodded, "but all we've got are pawns. How long until we can get the real pieces on the board."

"Soon," Stalk assured her, "very soon. Everything we need will be in our grasp soon and we'll have our own enemies to thank for it."

"How are you so sure you'll be able to get the plans? They're hardly going to just give them to you."

Stalk began to laugh, almost hysterically. "Oh...but that's exactly what they're going to do. After all," the armoured warrior was suddenly consumed by mist. When it faded, it revealed a tall and lanky man with a pale complexion, dressed in a pair of tan slacks with the legs rolled up to show his ankles and a pair of loafers. He also wore a white buttoned down shirt with a dark suit jacket over it. His dark brown hair was slicked back and face had acne and facial hair on his upper lip. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of round glasses, which he placed over his eyes. "Why wouldn't they give them to their creator?"

The two smiled at one another, knowing the coming days would decide the fate of almost every living thing on earth. But would that fate be a good one...or a bad one?

To be Continued...