//------------------------------// // The Future Beckons // Story: Sigils of the Past, Summoned! // by KukriRyuTsukino //------------------------------// Nineteen-year-old Richard Shire exhaled softly, snapping the button on the kukri blades at either hip. He glanced at the case nearby, very aware of what was within. He knew most who saw it immediately thought it was the Iron Man suit from the initial encounter with Ivan Vanko a.k.a Whiplash in 'Iron Man II', which… it was not. It was merely a suitcase. What was within, however, was much more difficult to acquire. He scooped up the suitcase and went to exit his home before his ears twitched upon hearing an unfamiliar voice.  "My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!" On the last three words, a bluish fog gathered, coalesced, then contracted. His eyebrows rose as his head tilted as he felt a tug towards the shimmering dimensional rift. He opened the case, tugging out two items. He missed the fact that the items within the chest, including what he'd grabbed, were glowing as he latched the case. He did notice the tugging growing stronger as he pressed the item in his left hand to his waist before he and his case were pulled into the rift. Within the shimmering tunnel, he noticed the item he'd had in his right hand glowing before he dove at it, grabbing it and just managing to grab the case and secure the latch as it threatened to burst open. He tapped the button on the Memory. Accel!  Moments later, he slotted the Memory in and twisted the handle twice. "Henshin," he muttered gruffly. Equestria #1820-1212-1413  Seventeen-year-old Lyra Groază Heartstrings stared at the glowing arcane circle before, as usual, a large detonation of smoke and dust erupted. It was said that five centuries ago, her family had been all but royalty. As it was, they were, for the most part, nobility, yet in many ways, the 'black sheep' amongst the nobility. Her ears twitched at a heavy metallic clunk before her head tilted as she heard something odd. "Cyclone!" before an emerald-tinted cyclone scattered the dust and smoke, revealing what it hid. Her head tilted at the case it held before laughter erupted.  "Should have known the Heartstrings would snap and screw up like usual!" "She's utterly useless!" "Shut up!" One voice roared, the voice belonging to the personal Protege of Princess Celestia, the 25-year-old alicorn Twilight Sparkle. "Lyra you summoned something amazing!" She said, marveling at the hidden fighter's armor. "That armor is even better than Shining's! That's saying something considering his armor is a magical artifact in and of itself. Even if there's no one inside and this is just a golem this is an incredible summoning." The figure's free hand shifted before pulling the red… thing… from whatever was in his belt. A rush of heat heralded the armor disintegrating. "Bloody hell… that was a rush. Though I suppose I'm lucky I didn't break both legs on landing," he commented. His irises were a rich golden amber whilst his skin was a warm light copper tone. His hair was the deepest ebony, though Celestia's Sun revealed auburn, scarlet,  and copper highlights. He wore a dark forest green shirt with a black vest over it and blue jeans. 'I can't believe that actually happened… I actually transformed into Kamen Rider Accel… which implies that it's also likely the rest now have their power as well… makes me very glad that I indulged in a biometric lock keyed to myself,' he mused idly. The fact that he had the Joker, Heat, and Cyclone Memories in his vest, the last being what he'd used in the Engine Blade to blow away the dust, didn't escape his attention. He also had the Lost Driver and Double Driver in the suitcase. 'Hmmm… could be possible that other Riders might be here… Kuuga and G3 come to mind,' he thought. 'Though that means there's a chance a Decade may show up at some point as well,' he thought. He was unaware that the Familiar Summoning Ritual tended to be sealed with a kiss.  "Oh no he's hot!" Twilight murmured under her breath. "Well, Lyra, you gotta seal the deal." 'How will I top her summoning? Not that I really want to, I have to, otherwise, the princess could expel me! I mean even a young Alicorn like me can still fail. I'm only 25 years old and she's over 10,000! Experience has taught her much more than me. I'm just glad my turn is last.' Lyra took a deep breath, nervous as she stepped closer to the unknown stallion. She jumped as he offered his hand as she stumbled onto the Summoning plinth. Her hand instinctively rose, gripping his. "I'll bet the Zero just paid off a civilian desperate for gold," Richard heard one person comment arrogantly. "Luke, Chapter 6, Verse 35 - 'But love your enemies, do what is good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons and daughters of the Most High.'" he commented. "What is that supposed to mean?" the speaker snapped. Richard smirked as he helped Lyra straighten. "I'm sure you can figure it out," he deadpanned. As his gaze shifted, he was mildly surprised as lips met his.  "Now, Familiar, you're mine," she said softly. "Wish I could kiss him," Twilight grumbled softly after seeing the look of pure joy on her friend's face. "Still I'm glad for her."  Richard's ears twitched, just catching her last two words about kissing someone, but not the rest before he gritted his teeth as he felt an intense burning on the back of his hand. He blinked as the mare who'd snapped at everyone stepped closer to him with a curious look. "I doubt the civilian will remain once he has what he wants out of the 'zero'," one student snickered. "Even if she is a 'zero', it means she can't go anywhere but up, idjit," Richard deadpanned gruffly. "Zero as a number means 'nothing' or 'none'... yet, look at it mathematically, and it's the only number that is 'indivisible'. In terms of potential, there are two numbers that are best - zero and 'infinity' because both represent limitless potential. One by its nature is limitless, whilst the other implies that there is only more potential waiting to be revealed," he said softly. "That's the most beautiful thing I've ever heard when it comes to math." Twilight said before nudging Lyra "Introduce yourself after all he's your familiar. Bringing a Sapient one from somewhere else is incredible and that armor he wore."  Lyra blushed slightly as she took a deep breath. "I'm… Lyra Heartstrings, your Master," she said carefully. "Something that you can keep in the back of your mind is Proverbs Chapter 2, verses 6 to 8: 'For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up success for the upright; He is a shield for those who live with integrity so that He may guard the paths of justice and protect the way of His loyal followers.' Though if I'm honest, when I snapped at that idiot… I forgot a particular Proverb myself, Chapter 9, verses 7 to 9 - 'The one who corrects a mocker will bring dishonor on himself; the one who rebukes a wicked man will get hurt. Don’t rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will learn more.' Just goes to show that even I still learn from His Word," Richard commented thoughtfully. "I've read that before and I believe that not every part of that book should be taken literally," Twilight said with a frown, "as a few artifacts have shown up in conjunction with that book revealing that they were not written in first-hand accounts meaning that the gospel as some would call it is as good as fiction." "Oh excuse me?" A soft voice asked. "Is it my turn to summon?"  "I don't have a copy of that book, rather, most of it, I have up here. The fact that a good bit of it is found to be second or even third-hand accounts doesn't surprise me, yet what is faith but 'belief in what cannot be seen'?" Richard commented. "After all, the accounts within Acts, specifically Chapter 4, verse 13, claim that those such as Simon Peter were 'uneducated and untrained' so there's a real likelihood that Simon Peter knew naught of how to write," Richard commented thoughtfully. Lyra cocked her head. "What?" she said blankly, confused. "Acts Chapter 4, verse 13, says 'When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.' This was in reference to healing a lame man," Richard commented. "Excuse me?" The voice asked again. "Is it my turn to summon yet?" Lyra jumped at the soft voice. "Oh, I apologize, Abigail," she said, tugging her new Familiar off the Summoning Plinth. Richard cocked an eyebrow upon seeing the young woman. "Wonder if her outfit is hinting at something. Perhaps the religions here are very different," he mused, missing how Lyra stiffened as if she could hear his thoughts. "Perhaps that's for the best. Never was a preacher, nor did I feel that calling," he thought. "Thank you, Lyra." Abigail Fluttershy Breeze one of the few nonnobility do you use the familiar summoning ritual thanks to her high rank in the Solar Nights, an ancient religion that worship the Sun and Moon and the beings that represented them, said quietly before a little white slightly bipedal rabbit jumped onto the Summoning Plinth a red glow surrounded it as it began to grow into a demonic beastly form.  "You do not need to use the ritual you summoned me instinctually the day you fell. I was much younger so I cannot keep this form for more than a few moments. Still, I broke your fall taking the hit for you is only recently that I have remembered what I truly am." It said the revelation of instinctual summoning, an incredibly rare but known phenomenon almost on par with an interdimensional counterpart being your familiar, at such a young age caused Fluttershy to blush realizing that it was her own fault that her best friend besides Rainbow Dash head gained his head injury, and lost his memories for so long. "Oh my!" She gasped her hands over her mouth. "Angel, I'm so sorry!" She said hugging the 12ft tall bunny monster. Richard blinked at the large creature.  He exhaled softly as he shook his head. "Can't be stranger than becoming a superhero through a Dimensional Rift," he sighed. In his experience, he'd heard stranger things. He cocked his head, noticing something shifting in the bushes before something leaped out straight at him. His head tilted, his eyebrows rising as he caught the little creature. "Well, I'll be damned, Fang," he muttered.  He sighed softly as he set the little cybernetic dinosaur aside where it seemed content to be near him. "Funny how the Fang Memory was one of the few that I didn't have," he commented, flicking a tiny switch and sliding his thumb over the lock as it beeped and unlocked the case before he blinked, opening it. He knew it hadn't been opened, but one of the two Doubledrivers he'd had was missing. He exhaled softly as he depressed the tiny trigger beneath the Accel Driver, feeling the belt retract before he set the Driver in the case and closed it after touching the Lost Driver, the lock automatically engaging. Had he been able to look through the case to within, he'd have seen the Lost Driver fade away. "Fang Memory?" Lyra commented in confusion.  "Think of them as physical Embodiments of various things. Metal, probability, heat, illusion, the wind, weather, the ocean, amongst other things. I have all of them right here… though… there is a probability that they could be out there," he commented as he swiped his arm outward at the walls.  "And what 'memory' was that armor formed from?" Lyra said curiously. "The Memory of Speed, the Accel Memory. It is also linked to the Trial Memory and Booster Memory," Richard commented wryly. "Miss Sparkle is now time to summon your familiar." A member of the alicorn's guard escort said your son Spike must be present as well since the familiar will be in a similar place legally for him depending on if it's sapient or not." He reminded.  "I've been here the whole time. I just kept quiet since he showed up." the young dragon pointed to Richard. "There isn't anyone else using the ritual today?" Twilight asked, starting to shake as her anxiety took over... Richard touched her shoulder. "If you let fear overtake you, it could influence the Summoning. The last thing you'd want is to summon something that feeds on fear," he commented. "'There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love.' - 1 John,  chapter 4, verse 18," he said softly. That comment stuck with her as she calmed down. 'Love drives out fear. I love my son and I want him to know that. I want him to be able to feel that way all the time,' she thought as she approached the circle, speaking the words to activate it once more. "My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe, my divine, beautiful, wise, powerful servant, heed my call, I wish from the very bottom of my heart and add to my guidance and appear!" The portal opened once again this time the rush of a void sucking the atmosphere appeared before a figure stepped through one that looked eerily similar to Twilight herself from the silhouette. "Thanks to whoever pulled me out of that void. I haven't been able to see natural light in millennia." The figure said telepathically. Richard heard a whistling sound as a bolt of mystic green light shot out of the portal as he spun, his hand swiping across swiftly as he grabbed the bolt of light, hissing softly as it felt like he'd grabbed the burning end of a stick, though the burning receded swiftly. He turned over his hand to reveal the bolt's glow fading…. to reveal what he recognized as a T2 Gaia Memory with an 'M' with the uprights of the 'M' being quarter notes. "Music?" he read, not recognizing it. Lyra blinked as her Familiar spun abruptly before she heard him hiss in pain. She paused, half turning to watch him. She knew that in roughly two weeks there was the Familiar Showcase where Masters and Mistresses pretty much showed off their Familiars for bragging rights. She noticed the thoughtful look on his face. "Hmmm…. makes me glad that I have a memory for music, as I very much doubt that they've heard music that I'm familiar with," she heard him muse. "Oh?" she commented with a cocked eyebrow. She found how he jumped rather cute. "Now you have me curious," she commented with a smirk.  A slight smirk crossed his face as he shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm sure you'll find out," he commented teasingly. "So, these runes establish a telepathic link between us, eh? Hmm… I can feel them nudging me to a subservient mindset, but it seems like something is keeping it to a nudge and nothing more," he commented thoughtfully.  Lyra blinked as Ivory Scroll, the Headmistress of their Academy, stepped up, seemingly intrigued in Ricky's Familiar Runes. She walked towards her office quietly, however. His gaze shifted to the mare who'd summoned after Lyra. Unknown to him, for an instant, his coppery gold irises shimmered to a deep, rich crimson with a single pearlescent tomoe within a darker reddish copper ring before he blinked, his irises fading back to their natural coppery gold.  "So where am I?" The figure asked as she finally was revealed, causing those who knew her Summoner to stare, jaws dropped. "Uh?" Twilight asked as she walked up to the Alicorn in front of her. "Who are you?" Richard hummed. "I'd wager the odds of Summoning a multiversal counterpart to oneself is about as likely as someone being able to use a solid gold knife more than once… and considering that gold is soft enough that if you smashed a nugget of it with a big enough rock it would flatten and light enough for flowing water to carry," he commented, not bothering to finish his comment as it was rather obvious. A knife made of solid gold would be lucky to be used a single time, much less multiple times. "Huh I'm seeing double." The second Twilight said. "Guess I finally got another sister." The slightly taller Alicorn Mare held out her hand. "Call me Ayumi, Little sis." Richard snickered a bit, unaware that a part of him that had lain dormant, in the present magic-rich environment, was starting to awaken. He turned away, not aware of the outline of a crescent moon overlapping the corona of a sun shimmering in gold and amethyst upon his brow. "Little Sis?" Twilight asked, "I happen to be 25 years old!"  "Well I'm over 500,000,000,000!" Ayumi said. "Just because I'm technically your servant does not mean I'm not your elder!" Richard exhaled softly as he took a deep breath. "Not quite sure why his theme is stuck in my head," he murmured softly in thought. He followed Lyra, who was surprisingly quiet, though he did notice that other students were still chuckling and I'm muttering about how she was still a 'Zero' and 'how she was so desperate for attention as to pay off a Commoner'. His gaze flicked to one of the snickering students, his eyebrow rising dismissively. "What did you just call Agent Heartstrings?" Ayumi said as a low growl emerged from her throat. "I trust her with my vast magic and knowledge more than anyone else here save Fluttershy. Let's get out of here Sis. I need to talk to the humans, Lyra, and Shy privately." "Okay but why not report to Celestia first considering who you are and the fact that you're even older than our planet!" Twilight suggested. "Don't you think she should know about what you're going to say too?" "What I know pertains to future events. Celestia probably already has knowledge of them due to her prophetic dreams." Ayumi said exclusively to the group of five. "Besides I want to see the town before I get locked up for being considered a changeling." "Judging by the armor and outfits, I'd wager they're of a medieval style. Which, admittedly, I don't mind. I do have some experience currying horses… four legged variety, of course," Richard commented. "Though the Accel Memory does have a side form as a motorcycle," he commented wryly.  "I think that would be a good idea so we can meet with the rest of my party!" Fluttershy said a cute happy grin on her face, "I'm sure they'd love all of you!"  Quickly the Pegasus and her rabbit familiar led the group outside of the hall into the public square leading towards the local church where her party was staying while she waited for her summoning turn. "We're basically a full party, I'm the cleric and healer, my friend Rainbow Dash is the ranger, Applejack is our berserker, Rarity is our White mage, and Pinkie Pie is our Bard and thief what we need now is a fighter a black mage and a tank. Once we meet up with them we should get food." Richard blinked as his stomach grumbled rather loudly. He sighed softly. "Makes me kinda thankful I never took after Naruko or Usagi. One has a rather unhealthy obsession with ramen… the other has a sweet tooth that could probably rival that clock tower in size. I kinda lean towards… well… something else," he sighed. Suddenly a low rumble sounded out from around the group. "Damnit now I want Ramen with mayo!" Ayumi said as she rubbed her stomach. "Returning from biostasis sucks! After so long without needing anything now I'm hungry and thirsty, by the way I can't talk until I get that drink otherwise I might tear my vocal cords apart that growl hurt, and all of my joints are aching from stiffness!"  Richard blinked before he tugged out two half gallon glass bottles from his pockets, not really realizing that his pockets seemed far too small to hold the bottles. "Ramen with mayo?" "Don't make fun of me so I like college food, so what?" Ayumi said as Fluttershy, Lyra, and Twilight started discussing party Dynamics and who could fill in the missing roles.  Lyra hummed. "So… Fluttershy tends to be the healer when we go thin out the monsters and more antagonistic wildlife while AJ is more a heavy melee striker," she commented. She may not be known for expertise in magic, but she was a damn dangerous strategist. Richard shrugged. "Considering my father took me out regularly brewing moonshine whilst I usually prefer brewing mead as well as moonshine, I can't really comment. This is one of mine. Try it," he commented shyly. "So how come you're able to carry that kind of stuff your pockets don't…" Ayumi started as she opened the mason jar. "Oh right I forgot riders have a pocket dimension, though I am surprised that you picked up on that instinctually." The cybernetic alicorn mare took a quick sniff of the potent alcohol. "Smells like pumpkins," She muttered before opening her maw "welp down the hatch!" She quickly chugged the drink letting the liquid rehydrate her innards before clearing her throat. "Damn did that burn good!" She said, her double layered voice startling the others. "Celestia dammit" Twilight said as she turned to her elder counterpart. "How the Tartarus do you have such a creepy voice?!" While the others were creeped out Fluttershy was shaking for a different reason knowing exactly why she had a voice like that having heard another alicorn with the same effect when using their power to its fullest. "W-when an alicorn or other such beings use immense power or have immense power channeled in their physical form it causes a double layered voice effect. Celestia does have this effect right after raising the Sun. I've witnessed the phenomenon when she raises it at the times she visits the church. What surprises me is that your elder sister here seems to just radiate that power through her voice although it could be because she was just using telepathy meaning she was channeling a lot of power to restart her body and cast the spell." "You're quite close, actually this is just the result of the fact that I've stored power for over 1 trillion years since I didn't need to use it." Ayumi said as her voice slowly turned into Twilight's normal voice as she forced the power in her to speed up the waving of her Mane instead of leaking out of her voice. "It'll take some getting used to but I can manage the energy output in different ways."  "That  explains why Celestia wouldn't let me talk to her right after she raised the sun most days." Twilight mentioned now understanding her mentor a little better. Richard stumbled as she spoke, feeling something surge to the forefront as he held a hand to his forehead, unaware tendrils of silvery smoke were rising from beneath his fingers. He drew in a sharp breath, the sound hissing between his teeth. Lyra's head pounded as she noticed her new Familiar staggering with a pained hiss. Her eyebrows shot upward before she blinked as blurred images flashed through her mind's eye far too swiftly to grasp in any useful detail. Fluttershy noticed this and immediately went into a stance as the symbol of a sun appeared behind her. "Power of the Divine Sun, heal my allies' wounds, ease their pain, and allow them to go on!" She said as green butterflies swirled around both Richard and Lyra, her healing magic partially alleviating the headaches they were experiencing. "My healing magic can usually heal any headaches, the rare exceptions being those of mental strain or if they are of mystical origin." She said explaining her abilities to Twilight and Ayumi. "My order invokes the power of the sun itself to help with casting spells for non-unicorns. Journeymares such as myself are sent out with parties to strengthen our abilities in both healing and purification/light magic. A side benefit of this training is being able to cast buffs for physical and other abilities thanks to the purification/light magic and healing mixing together very well." "So you're a White mage then why did you call Rarity a White mage?" Ayumi asked. "I  can answer that!" Twilight said happily "A White mage uses typical spells without using anger to help empower them or any other negative emotion including lust! Black mages tend to use the same type of magic but allow their negative emotions to empower their spells. Black mages are far more dangerous because of this but the power they use can corrupt them if they do not have self control." Twilight looked thoughtful as she remembered something she once read. "It's rumored that there is a magic nature that is strictly Black because it does not use emotion at all. I've only found scant references to this so-called 'lost nature' in the canterlot archives and Celestia does not talk about it beyond dismissing it as nonsense." Richard grimaced as his fingers dropped, unaware of the sigil that had burned itself into his brow that looked as if its lines had been sprinkled with golden dust. "What if... this 'lost nature'... is something primal... yet easily dismissed?" he said slowly, wincing as his body felt sore and achy, almost as if he'd had the flu.  Lyra's eyes widened slightly as she saw the sigil. She got chills upon seeing it, as she could feel a strange, foreign sense of energy from it. She could feel echoes of his aches, yet they were muted. It was almost like her own destructive power, yet felt… distinctly different.  A slight snicker escaped Richard. "Though…. with your comment…. about those... two styles... of magic… I'm getting... a distinctive... Star Wars… Force reference… Light Side, Dark Side... kinda thing," he commented slowly. He could tell from their furrowed brows, none of them got the reference. "Light Side... Force users... tended to... eschew lust, hatred, fear, ecetera… to quote Grandmaster Yoda… “Fear is the path to the dark side… fear leads to anger… anger leads to hate… hate leads to suffering,” although... in his words... the Dark Side was "easier, more seductive, it is," he said slowly. He didn't realize that upon quoting Yoda, his voice and even his speech patterns changed into those of the diminutive yet powerful Jedi Grand Master. "It seems that you gained a unique ability to create exact replicas of voices. Does that have something to do with your talent, Lyra?" Ayumi asked, wondering if this version of her old Canterlot friend had slightly different talents than usual. Lyra blushed. "Nope. I don't seem to," she said shyly and softly. "Though that doesn't mean you won't pick it up… admittedly, some of the voices I use are rather… silly," Richard commented wryly, cutting her off. "Though I could see it being used for pranks… though it could also have uses in espionage… I mean, a spy hearing someone's voice and assuming they're there… even if they weren't?" he commented lazily. "Hey melon nose!" Came from behind the group, startling everyone besides Ayumi who was calm. Richard blinked, realizing that he'd drawn both Kukri blades and held them in a ready reversed grip.  Ayumi burst out in laughter, which was echoed by another female who was above the group. "You're good at that!" The voice said. Richard's head tilted, his eyebrow rising. "ROTC," was all he said in reply. He didn't say it was eleven and a half years of it. He also didn't notice the slightest hints of golden and silvery light that was gleaming along the edges.  Fluttershy looked up immediately recognizing the voice. "Rainbow Dash, was that you?" The Nun asked. "No, it was that mare there with the weird outfit that looks like the princess's student," Rainbow said as she leapt off the cloud busting it with a swift kick before landing next to the group with a flip. "I saw her move her lips right before that voice appeared."  Richard sighed softly as he sheathed the knives, slipping the loops over them and locking in the buttons with a soft click. His gaze scanned around before a low, screeching roar sounded as he half turned, the Fang Memory jumping up and landing on his shoulder. "You noticed it, too, eh? Something isn't quite right… like we're being watched by someone or something with less than friendly intent," he said softly, his tone cautious. His eyes narrowed fractionally as his gaze scanned around, unaware that if someone looked very closely, they would notice something different about his eyes: the pupils were slits. He wasn't sure what it was, but his instincts were roaring at him, and he rarely ignored them.  Ayumi tensed suddenly, that same growl from earlier returning this time more audible since her throat healed. This reaction was mirrored by Angel, his own growl joining in. *SNICKT* The two beastial fighters extended claws from their fingers.  "Something's coming." Angel said, placing himself between the empty plaza and Fluttershy. "Stay behind us, girls." Ayumi said as a low whining from her suit indicating that it was powering on joined in to the growling. "What can you sense, Rider?"  Richard's eyes narrowed slightly as he grabbed the Fang Memory, flattening it and folding it as he flipped the tail, tapping the button. "FANG!" it declared with a screeching roar as the Lost Driver formed around his waist as a glowing white outline that solidified into red and black metal. "No idea, but it's got my instincts ringing more alarms than a five alarm fire," he commented cautiously as he slitted the Memory into place as his armor formed in a burning pale blue light. It was a silvery white with gunmetal undertones and almost bug-like eye lenses that were a pale blue. "That won't do. I should put that fire out…. permanently," a cold whispery feminine voice rasped.  Richard's eyes narrowed slightly. "Chilla. She's a cryomancer," he warned as his thumb depressed the tail trigger once before he blinked as something unexpected materialized in his grasp. "You may be able to put out a fire," Ayumi started as the low whine of her suit shifted to a rumbling thump and a weird rifle appeared in her hands. "But are you able to stop nuclear fusion?"  "Stupid cunt. You really expect me to have come alone?" Chilla hissed as she spat out a shower of razor sharp icicle needles. Simultaneously, numerous bolts of crimson plasma flame and a bolt of prismatic lightning erupted, arcing their way. It was two more Lunataks… the short 3'4" thruster legged, mohawked heavy assault specialist Tugmug and the 6'7" lanky hypnotist Alluro. What caught Richard's attention was the weapon in Tugmug's grasp… a Laserkraftwerk from the Wolfenstein games.  "Yikes… though it could make sense if somewhere in the universe that games or anime might be real… though if the Lunataks are here… could Dopants, and by extension Mutants and Mumm-Ra? I'd wager that old mummified bastard would try to have the Dopants under his thumb," Richard thought warily. "Though if they're here…. why? If so…. the Sword of Omens," he realized, unaware his eyes widened as they shone gold for a second. Lyra blinked in confusion at her Familiar's thoughts. She had the distinct sense that he knew much more than he was telling. Twilight's eye's shifted as Ayumi's rage grew. "Sis whatever you're doing it's affecting me too!" She said as her eyes began glowing with power along her Mane and tail flowing with raw mana. "And it feels good."  "Fluttershy, I'm going to need your strength." Angel said before blocking the ice shards.  Fluttershy got into a stance quickly, casting a silent strength buff to all of the combatants including the rest of her party who had approached Pinkie leading them. Along with a 7 foot tall purple and green dragon carrying a massive blade almost as big as himself. Richard's eyes narrowed as he shifted the Drago Dagger in his grasp as he focused energy into the edge of the blade before swiping it through the air, an arc of golden flame edged with silver mist surging at a burst of Tugmug's shots before they collided with an echoing boom. His eyebrows rose slightly. "Those detonated with roughly half again the force of an M80, so anyone they'd have hit would have likely been taken out if not badly injured depending on the location of impact," he noted. He noticed almost everyone evaded Arturo's lightning blast, save Rainbow Dash and Ayumi who actually drew it in. "So I have another living lightning rod next to me, that's going to be fun!" Ayumi said as the electricity sparked over her form.