Twilight gasped as the transformed monster that was once her boyfriend leapt at her, ready to tear her limb from limb.
Luckily, Achilles jumped in front of her. He raised his staff and blocked the claws, Splinter Hound's fangs biting into the metal and making him stagger back as the full weight of the beast overwhelmed him. "Augh!" He almost fell onto one knee, but kept himself standing and glanced back at Twilight. "Move!"
Twilight nodded and rushed over to the rest of her friends, as Achilles used all the strength he could to throw the beast away. As it landed, Achilles pointed his staff at the creature whilst still trying to get his head around the fact that the Advanced were the ones who turned him into a Rider and now into this monstrosity.
"Timber, you're gonna owe me one heck of an apology after I save your sorry butt." With that, he charged forwards.
Norman was trying his best to stay calm, not wanting to give over any more of his life force to the two-headed dog monster currently using him as a battery.
He was also trying to get out of Terra's grasp, but the Advanced's hold on him was just to strong. "That's it," Twice-Bite chuckled behind them. "Struggle all you like. All your doing is giving me more energy." Norman groaned as he kicked at Terra's chest and punched his shoulder, which only caused him to feel pain.
"Face it kid," Terra told him. "It's over. Just accept it and let yourself fade away. Trust me, you'll enjoy becoming part of the Magi-Beast." But before he or the other two could say anything, loud words filled the air.
“LAUNCHER ACTIVATE!"
"Huh?" Terra turned to the voice before seeing a bunch of missiles flying towards them, exploding at the ground and causing the three to be blasted into the air. Norman cried out until someone leapt up and caught him, the pair landing upon the ground and allowing him to see who it was.
"Argo!" He cheered, the Rider nodding and seeing he was alright.
"Go hide over there!" He pointed towards a nearby dumpster, Norman nodding and rushing over to it as Argo turned to the monsters. "I'm ending this now." He grabbed the lever in his driver and pulled it twice, causing the badge to close and open again two times.
“DOUBLE ARGO FEEDBACK!”
Argo slapped his glowing hands together and formed the energy shield, which he threw at Terra. As it shot forward, he repeated the process and formed another shield that he threw at Twice-Bite. As the two Magi-Beasts picked themselves up, the shields slammed into them.
"Augh!" Terra cried as he was electrically paralysed along with his buddy, the Advanced turning to see Twice-Bite unable to unleash a roar. "No!" He cried, as he saw Argo charge forward whilst his legs became changed with the same aura as the shields. "Don't do it!"
Argo leapt into the air and thrust both his legs forward, slamming them both into Twice-Bite. The Magi-Beast howled in pain as he was knocked backwards, the energy from the attack flowing into him. And as he crashed into the ground, he exploded and released the energy he had stolen from Norman.
The teen saw the lights flying towards him and smiled, the energy flowing back into him and making him feel better than ever. Argo, meanwhile, turned towards Terra. "One down."
Terra, clearly angry about the lose of his friend, used all his strength and managed to break through the paralysis. "RAAAAH!" He roared as the shield shattered off of him, the Advanced them leaping into the air before crashing down on the earth. This unleashed a shockwave that struck Argo and sent him flying, the Rider crying out as he was knocked into the side of a building. "I'll make you pay for this," Terra told him as Argo rolled to his feet and raised his blaster. "But not today." With that, he turned and ran off. He built up as much speed as he could before leaping into the air, clearing several building and disappearing behind them.
Argo sighed and powered down, panting as he got his breath back and looked back at Norman, "you okay?"
"I am now," Norman told him. "Thanks for saving me." He looked around and appeared confused, "where are the Rainbooms? And the other Riders?"
"Good question," Shining looked around. He was about to call the others, but before he could something shot down in front of him. "Wow!" He staggered back and saw it was Trixie's Jellyfish Drone. "What's up little guy!" The device created a hologram of Trixie, who looked absolutely terrified.
"Shining, things have gone south over here. If you've saved Norman, get over here!" Shining frowned at this, wondering what could be so bad.
Achilles grunted as he rolled away from Splinter Hound as it tried to claw at him, the Rider shifting his spear into blaster form and firing. The attack flew forward and struck the beast, blowing large holes in the sides of it whilst it whined.
"YEAH!" Rainbow cheered as the rest of the Rainbooms smiled, hoping Achilles could save Timber before it was too late. But as soon as Achilles stopped firing, the beast's body started to repair itself. The sticks that made it up started glowing bigger before snapping, creating new sticks that completely rebuilt the monster.
"Seriously?" Achilles asked as he fired at it again, but no matter how many times he blasted it the creature rebuilt its body. Achilles reached for his card case and took out his Blaze card, but stopped himself before he could use it.
"What's he waiting for?" Pinkie asked, "Blaze Form can burn that thing to a crisp."
"That's not just any old Magi-Beast," Sunset reminded her. "If he burns it he could kill Timber." Rainbow resisted the urge to say 'so' and they continued to watch the fight, as Achilles put the card away and ran forwards. "There's gotta be something we can do to help." As she said that, Achilles leapt at the creature and used his spear to try and cut it in half. "A way to stop that thing."
"Gyah!" Achilles was knocked backwards, hitting the ground and causing his staff to be thrown away from him. The girls frown and were about to attack, but before they could Splinter Hound unleashed a howl that caused pieces of its body to go flying towards them. They all screamed out and Rarity barely managed to shield them in time, but the sticks packed quite a punch and her shields slowly began to crack.
Achilles saw this and gasped, quickly pulling out one of his cards and slotting it. "Element Change!"
“A-A-A-ALCHEMY!”
He quickly morphed into his most versatile form and slammed his hands on the ground, causing it to glow before the ground rose up into a giant wall. "No, wait!" Twilight cried as she rushed forward, but the wall grew to five meter in height.
The Rider spun back to his opponent and hoped this form would help him, then looked around for his staff. But it was gone.
A growl made him turn back to the monster and too his shock, the beast had his staff in its mouth. "Oh, come on!" The beast spun around and launched several sticks from its tail, Achilles dodging and slamming his hand into the ground. Multiple blades flew out of the ground and started flying towards the Magi-Beast, slamming into it and cutting away large sections of its body. But everything that was cut away was quickly regrown almost instantly. Achilles frowned at this, really wishing he knew what this creature's limits were.
He quickly tapped the ground and focused, a spear quickly forming out of it. It wasn't his best work given the limited time he had to think up its composition, but he knew it was the best he would get at the moment and charged. Splinter Hound charged as well and actually swung spear he stole around, the two weapons clashing against one another. Achilles could move the weapon better, but his real spear was stronger so they were about even. For about a minute.
The wolf swung the spear around again and locked it with Achilles', then used its superior strength the throw Achilles' weapon into the air. The Rider gasped at this as Splinter Hound spun around and smashed its tail into him, hitting with enough force to send him flying backwards.
"Augh!" He cried as he slammed into the wall, the day's experiences being too much for him. He fell to the ground and his armor shattered off of him, the teen panting as he tried to pick himself up. All he could do was lean against the wall and stare at Splinter Hound, who growled around his spear which remained despite his Rider Form fading. The creature looked ready to end it and sure enough, it pounced with claws primed.
But before they could sink into him, a large chain flew down and wrapped around the beast's neck. It whined as it was suddenly pulled back, Flash just out of reach for it.
Flash looked passed the creature and saw who was holding the chain currently saving his life: Starlight. The Advanced smiled at him as she got closer, magically holding the chain so the beast couldn't overpower her. "Isn't he such a good boy. Quite an excellent fighter, wouldn't you agree?"
"Change him back!" Flash growled.
"Now why would I do that?" She asked, "he's so much more manageable this way. And face it, you still prefer this creature to the jerk he was before. Now, have you had any thought to what we discussed before?"
"What?"
"My offer to join me," Starlight reminded him. "This is your last chance to accept. I won't be making this offer again."
Flash frowned, unsure what to do. If he refused like he wanted too, he would be ripped the shreds before he could even hope to morph again. But there was no way he was gonna accept her offer. He could try and bluff his way out of the situation, pretending to agree. But he had a feeling Starlight would see through him within five seconds.
"Last chance to say yes," her magic slackened on the beast. Flash just glared at her, having chosen his answer. "Very well." But before she could let it go, they heard a voice.
“ARGO ARMOR FEEDBACK!!!”
Sirens filled the air as Argo shot out from one of the alleyways in his armored form, the Rider slashing at both Starlight and Splinter Hound with is claws.
Both leapt back and Argo turned to Flash, rolling forward on his skates and grabbing the kid. "You okay?" He asked, as he started racing along the newly built wall.
"I've been better!" He replied as they ducked into an alleyway, Starlight letting her pet go to chase them. But the alleyway was too small for it to get through, allowing the pair to race out the other side.
Starlight let out a sigh, "oh well. I'll deal with them next time." She turned to the wall and charged up her arm horn, firing a blast of magic that struck the wall and caused it to shatter. As it fell, it revealed that Trixie, Princess and the Rainbooms were all gone. "Decided to run off I see. Typical." She turned back to Splinter Hound and used her magic to grab him by the chain again. "Come along. I'm sure Cypher and Terra are interested in meeting you." And so the pair left, not caring if anything or anyone saw them. What could they do if they did?
Twilight frowned as she and the rest of the girls arrived at her house.
After Achilles had separated them, the Rainbooms had prepared to fly over the wall. But before they could, Twilight got a call from Shining demanding to know what happened. She had had a time explaining everything and Shining quickly told them to leave and go to her house, whilst he helped Achilles.
The girls didn't like this, but also didn't want to upset Shining when he was clearly already unhappy. So they all rushed off, leaving Achilles as much as they hated it, and headed to Twilight house.
When they got there, Twilight was relieved that her parents weren't there. Spike was a little surprised to see another Twilight, but he at least knew about Equestria so it wasn't hard to catch him up. Now the lot of them were in the living room, waiting to hear if Achilles and Shining could save Timber.
"I can't believe one of the people doing this is this world's Starlight," Princess stated. They had all agreed to call her that so things didn't get annoying when the others wanted to talk to the two Twilights. "I knew Starlight was a little warped when I first met her, but I never figured she'd actually try and hurt people." Stealing Cutie Marks and Altering the space time continuum might have caused a lot of harm, but it was never an intentional aim of her Starlight.
"That girl is so different from the Starlight we met," Sunset replied. "I knew she had problems in Equestria, but for her doppelganger to do something like this." She quickly remembered that just because their worlds had a lot of similarities, that didn't mean they were perfect one to one creations. "Clearly something happened to her that made Starlight like this. Your Starlight needed you to help show her the way, so maybe we can do the same."
"You wanna help the bad guy?" Rainbow asked.
"Why not?" Sunset replied. "Is she any worst then I was back before Princess and you guys helped me see the way?" They couldn't deny that. "There must be some spark of good left in her
It was at that moment that they heard the doors open and two people step inside. Shining and, too all except the Trixie and Princess' surprise, Flash. "What are you doing here?" Sunset asked, only to then notice Flash looking a little beat up. "What happened.
"I accidently walked into a fight between Achilles and some freaking wooden wolf creature," Flash lied. "The thing stole the guy's staff and almost beat him up. It then noticed me and...let's just say I've felt better."
"Is Achilles okay?" Twilight asked.
"I managed to get him out of there," Shining replied. "But Unicorn and that wolf creature managed to escape."
"That wolf creature is Timber," Applejack stated. Flash pretended to be shocked by this, whilst Shining nodded. "That girl was playin him for a fool."
"Not exactly hard," Fluttershy whispered so Twilight didn't hear.
"Well we've gotta do something," Flash told them. "You've gotta find a way to save Timber." Hearing this, Trixie was incredibly shocked.
"Seriously?" She asked, "you of all people are saying that? Why do you care after what he did to you?" Flash shot her a look whilst the others turned to him curiously.
"What's she talking about?" Twilight asked, the others also eager to hear this.
"It's nothing," Flash told her. "Trixie's just running her mouth again." Trixie frowned at this and the others weren't buying it, Rainbow turning to Sunset.
"Do it," she told her and Sunset actually looked like she was considering using her magic.
"Okay," Flash feared she would learn his secret, "okay. Timber...threatened me." They all gasped hearing this. "He...told me to stay away from Twilight. And he showed me his Driver when he did so, which...you know..."
"Was his way of saying stay away from Twilight or I'll use my Rider powers to hurt you," Shining growled. "I knew that punk was no good." The others agreed, many turning to Twilight.
She appeared to be having a hard time processing this information. Timber, who had been so nice when they met, had threatened one of her friends to stay away from her. Had that been why Flash had kept his distance?
She turned to Flash, "why didn't you tell me about this?"
"I...didn't wanna look like I was trying to ruin your relationship," he told her. "I figured it would be easier just to do as he said."
"You should have told us," Shining stated. "We would have protected you and I would have had all the reason I needed to try and take that Driver away from him." He stood up and looked out the window, "I should have known someone like him would have never been chosen by Mr.Wave. I should have taken that Driver away from him as soon as I saw it."
"You're not the only one who was tricked," Sunset sighed. "We all thought Timber would be a good rider when he first showed up. But he quickly showed the kind of person he is."
"Hold on," Twilight stood up. "Maybe it's not Timber's fault."
"Honestly Twilight?" Rarity frowned, "I know it's hard to realize your boyfriend isn't who you think he is but..."
"It was the Driver," Twilight explained. "Starlight gave him that Driver hoping to make him turn us against Achilles, so she wouldn't have wanted him to start trusting him like we did. She must have made it so that the Equestrian Magic in his Driver started corrupting him as soon as he started using it. If we get the Driver away from him, I'm sure he'll go back to normal."
The others frowned, knowing Twilight probably wasn't going to accept the truth about Timber. However, they also knew she made a good point. The only way to confirm whether Timber really had been mentally manipulated was to turn him back to normal and get rid of the Driver. But how?
"Achilles couldn't put a scratch on that wolf monster," Pinkie pointed out. "And our magic is tough, but it's had trouble beating normal Magi-Beast. How's it gonna beat a supercharged one with a human inside it."
"Good question," Twilight frowned as she tried to think of something.
It was then that Sunset remembered something, "Twilight!" Both girls with that name turned to her, "sorry. Princess Twilight. You came to bring us something that should help us fight the Magi-Beasts, right." The others realised she was right and Princess reached into her bag, taking out the disk.
"Here," she handed it over to Sunset, "this ancient relic should help power up your magic."
"Should?" Applejack asked, as Sunset took the disk.
"Well it works in Equestria," Princess explained. "But with how different Equestrian Magic works in this world, I can only hope it'll do the same." The Rainbooms all looked the device over, wondering how exactly this thing was supposed to help them save Timber.
"Here goes," Sunset held up the device whilst channeling her magic. The others did the same and placed their hands on each other's shoulders, the Magic of Friendship that flowed through them going into the disk. Everyone watched, some a little worried it could boost the power too much and cause the girls to monster out. But as they waited, nothing happened.
The magic the girls fed it did nothing to the disk, which didn't react at all to their power. After a while of trying to get a response, the girls stopped. "It's not working," Fluttershy quivered.
"Why not?" Rainbow asked, as Princess took the disk and looked it over.
"I'm not sure," she frowned. "Like I said, Equestrian Magic works differently here. I guess it's so different that this thing can't connect to it like in Equestria."
"So we can't power up?" Applejack asked, Princess' frown giving her all the answer she needed. "Great. So what do we do now?"
"We'll have to leave this up to me and Achilles," Shining told them. "We'll have to find a way to save Timber on our own." He glanced over at Flash and the teen nodded when the girls weren't looking. Timber might have been a jerk, but they still needed to save him. If they didn't, he might never return to normal and the Advanced would have another weapon to use against them.
"So what's the plan?" Trixie asked, the lot of them knowing they would need to come up with something to find and neutralize Splinter Hound. This was gonna be a long night of planning.
"Alright boy," Terra smirked at Splinter Hound in an open area of their base. "Ready to wrestle?" The beast growled as he circled the Advanced, then leaped at him. Terra raised his hands and grabbed its paws, the beast snapping its fangs at him as he laughed. "You're a playful fellow, aren't you?"
Off to the side, Starlight and Cypher were sitting around a table. Starlight was enjoying some iced tea as Cypher stared at the beast, then glanced at Starlight. Despite his stoic appearance, inside he was not a happy bunny. "Problem?" He heard the girl ask after sipping her tea.
"The doctor will not be happy about what you've done," Cypher told her. "When he discovers you've-"
"Don't get your panties in a bunch," she told him. "I'll have you know I asked permission to do this little experiment." Cypher was surprised to hear this, "the doctor even let me borrow a spare Advanced Driver." She turned to smile at him, "I guess it pays to have more successful experiments then you."
"What did you say?" Cypher glared at her, "the Chimera Magi-Beast I created gave us a lot of useful data. With it, the Doctor is getting closer and closer to his goal."
"Is that so," Starlight smiled. "And yet not one of the Magi-Beasts you've created has survived." She glanced over at Splinter Hound, "whilst mine is complete and ready do what you never could."
"You think that thing can defeat the Riders?" Cypher asked, "don't be foolish. It's powerful, but it has no mind to help it strategize. Eventually, Achilles and Argo will find a way to destroy."
"Not if we destroy them first," Starlight announced. She got up and began to leave, whistling and actually commanding Splinter Hound to follow. It did so, picking up Achilles' staff along the way. When Starlight was finished, Achilles would regret not joining them.
The next day.
Having spent all night coming up with ideas, the Riders and Rainbooms were ready to try and save Timber. "Alright," Shining turned to them, "everyone remember the plan?" They all nodded as Sunset repeated it.
"We split up and find Splinter Hound, then call the others. "When they arrive, we'll use our magic blast to try and revert Timber back to normal. If it doesn't work, hopefully, it'll weaken it enough for you and maybe Achilles to finish it off." They all nodded and split into their decided groups. Flash and Shining jumped on their bikes while Rainbow and Pinkie jumped on the prismatic-haired teen's ride. Sunset, Twilight, Princess, and Trixie would head off in one direction whilst Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy would head in another.
"Alright," Shining revved his bike, "let's do this thing." He rode off and Flash was about to follow, but then stopped and turned to the girls.
"Twilight," she stopped and turned to him, "I know this isn't the best time but...happy birthday." Twilight's eyes went wide at this, as she realized she had completely forgotten it was her birthday with everything that had happened.
Before she could say anything to him, Flash raced off after Shining as Rainbow and Pinkie did the same. Twilight then smiled at this whilst her counterpart smirked, hoping they would soon realize what she and her love had realized a while back.
Down on main street, Starlight and Splinter Hound stood atop a building looking down at the people that were just living their day to day lives.
The armored girl chuckled before turning to her monstrosity. "Go." The beast let out a howl before it exploded into a cloud of twigs and leaves, which shot into the air before diving down towards the street. When it reached the ground, the people there were suddenly shocked to see a giant wolf monster begin to form and all ran, whilst Splinter Hound began launching twigs and leaves in every direction to do as much damage as she could. "Now, Riders. Come try to save the day...and meet your doom."
Twilight, Princess, Sunset, and Trixie had been searching for a good while.
So far, there had been no sign of Starlight, Splinter Hound, or any of the other Advanced. "Where the heck are they?" Trixie groaned after almost two hours of searching. "A giant wolf monster can't be that easy to hide. You'd think there'd be some kind of clue around here."
"Those guys are tricky," Sunset told her. "For all we know, they turned Timber back to normal and have him locked up somewhere until they plan on using him again. And who knows when that'll be."
Twilight frowned hearing this and Princess turned to her, seeing the look on her face. "Can I ask you something?" Twilight turned to her. "You and Timber. How...why...I just wanna know what makes you like him so much."
"I don't know," Twilight wanted to defend him but also remembered what Flash had told her the previous day. "When we first met at Camp Everfree...he was so nice. We had a lot of the same interests and honestly, he was the first guy that ever showed any interest in me. The guys at Crystal Prep were so snooty and didn't find anything I enjoyed at all interesting."
"I see," Princess nodded. "So you weren't used to guys having an interest in you, that you were swept off your feet by the first guy to smile at you nicely."
"Weren't you the same way when you met our world's Flash?" Trixie asked, remembering Flash telling her how he and this Twilight had first met. Princess blushed at this but quickly shook her head.
"This isn't about me. This is about Twilight." She turned to her and gave her a reassuring look, "you need to think about your relationship with Timber and decide if it's really a good thing to keep going."
Twilight looked at her curiously, "you're telling me to break up with him?"
Princess shook her head, "I'm not telling you to do anything you don't want to do. I just want you to think. There are many relationships that seem great at first but can turn bad over time. You need to ask yourself if you and Timber really are compatible with one another."
"Aren't we?" She asked, "we like the same things?"
"It doesn't matter how many things you share interest in," Princess stated. "It's quality over quantity. You have to ask, what is the most important thing in your life. Something you can't live without. Then ask yourself if Timber cares about that as much as you do."
Twilight thought about this and wondered. Had she been asked this before going to CHS, she would have said science and math. Timber would have qualified then. But now was different. The thing she cared about more then anything else, that she couldn't live without, was her friends.
Then she remembered the many interactions Timber had had with her friends. He had gotten into an argument with them and asked her to blow off her friends, though it was mostly her fault for agreeing too, then he told Twilight she was better off without them. Twilight didn't think that. She would be nothing without her friends.
Twilight frowned and realized Timber didn't care about her friends. If she never saw them again, he would probably be happy about it. Then there was what he did to Flash. Was he really so possessive of her that he would threaten any guy that wanted to be her friend? That had to have been the Driver...right?
Before she could say anything, Sunset's phone buzzed and she answered it with a surprised look on her face. "It's Pinkie!" They had set up a group chat for this operation and Pinkie had just texted on it, "she said they found Splinter Hound!"
They had indeed found the beast, tearing up down town and terrifying as many people as possible.
"Let's go fleabag!" Rainbow cried as she ran forward. The wolf turned to her and growled, firing a bunch of sticks and twigs in her direction. Luckily, his speed allowed her to avoid most of them and continue rushing forward. "Take this!" She tried to punch it, but the beast quickly exploded into a cloud of sticks and leaves that completely evaded her. "HEY!" She cried as she slid to a stop, whilst the cloud reformed behind her. "No fair!"
The beast growled at her and was ready to strike, but quickly found a cupcake slamming into its head seconds before it exploded. The beast staggered away and quickly regenerated its damaged face, then turned to glare at Pinkie. "Bring it on, you big meanie!" Pinkie's arms were full of candy bombs, ready to bombard the beast.
Meanwhile, Flash and Shining were racing towards the area Pinkie had sent the text from. "You ready to do this?" Flash asked Shining as he put his Driver on his waist.
"Oh yeah," Shining nodded as he did the same. "I don't wanna admit this, but I've been dying for an excuse to punch that guy in the face. Flash smirked at this as he took out a card, Shining holding up his badge and placing it on the Driver as Flash opened up his slot.
"OK"
"ACTIVATED!"
The two Riders looked ahead and both slotted their card and pulled the leaver of their Driver together. "HENSHIN!" The magic circles appeared before them and they quickly drove through it.
"A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”
“SHIELD...OF...JUSTICE!”
Flying though them, the Riders were quickly decked out in their suits. Flash's bike also transformed, the two riders how racing side by side towards their targets.
“R-R-R-RIDER!”
“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!!!”
"WOW!" Rainbow cried when she had to duck down in order to avoid several wood missiles flying towards her, as Pinkie threw another explosive baked goods at it.
Unknown to them, Starlight continued watching and frowned as she twirled Achilles' staff around. "I don't want the side characters. Where are the Riders at?" She watched Rainbow charge at the beast, as Pinkie threw another muffin at it. But then Starlight whistled, giving a command to Splinter Hound and causing it to explode. The cloud of wood split in two, Rainbow running through it along with Pinkie's muffin.
"YAAAAH!" Rainbow cried as she ran into the exploding treat, which went boom and sent her backwards.
"RAINBOW!" Pinkie cried, rushing over to her friend as the beast reformed behind her. "You okay?" She sat the girl up and Rainbow let out a moan, holding her head as she did.
"I've been better." She then noticed Splinter Hound reform and glaring at them both, Rainbow picking herself up only to stagger due to her dizziness. But as the beast prepared to charge, they both heard a pair of engines moving towards them.
"Hang on girls!" Argo yelled as he and Achilles raced forward, Splinter Hound turning to glare at them before launching several sticks. The Riders saw this coming and both reacted the same way, the two jumping up so their feet were on their seats before leaping into the air from them. The bikes both swerved off and through magic and self driving technology, drove off to the side to avoid the sticks before parking.
Now midair, Achilles and Argo go into a fighting stance as they fell. Argo pulled out his blaster and fired at the beast, hitting it in the head and making it stagger back. "I want my staff back!" Achilles then yelled as he thrust his foot forward into the creature's snout.
It howled as it staggered back, the Riders landing as Argo prepared another round of blaster fire. But before he could the beast exploded into a cloud of twigs and shot forward. Argo fired but it did little to the cloud as it swarmed around them.
"This is bad," Pinkie cried as the Rider were back to back trying to fight against the swarm.
"We've got no other choice!" Argo told Achilles. "Blaze Form, it's our only hope!" Flash frowned, but knew he was right. By the looks of things, Timber wasn't physically within the beast. Hopefully that meant he wouldn't suffer from any of his attacks.
"Got it!" He took out a card and slotted it into his Driver, "Element Change!"
“PASSION BURNING AT 100 DEGREES, CONSUMED BY THE FLAMES OF REBIRTH!”
“B-B-B-BLAZE!!!”
The magic circle appeared and flew over his body, transforming him into his fiery form. He quickly formed a ball of fire in his hand and threw it like a bowling ball, the flames shooting forward and hitting a section of the wood cloud before exploding. This caused the wood to move away from that area, allowing the Riders to leap up and through the hole it formed.
As they landed outside the cloud, Achilles created another fireball that quickly took shape.
“SOLAR SONIC!”
The axe-guitar hybrid appeared and Achilles started rocking out, unleashing several flaming notes that shot towards the cloud. They struck and exploded, sending the sticks flying off until it was a safe distance away. There it reformed and despite smoking, Splinter Hound appeared unharmed.
"This is getting ridiculous!" Starlight growled before holding up Achilles' staff and throwing it at the beast, Splinter hound seeing this and leaped up. It grabbed the weapon in its mouth, the others looking up and seeing Starlight, whilst Splinter Hound landed with the weapon ready.
Achilles strummed some more fire notes but as they shot towards it, Splinter Hound swung the staff around and created a powerful air gust. The two elements combined and canceled each other out, Achilles growling at this. Splinter Hound then fired another air blast that both Riders used their weapons to defend against, whilst Pinkie and Rainbow were forced to take cover behind a trash can. They really wished the disk had given them a power-up.
The two Riders were so focused on defending against the wind, they had forgotten about Starlight. "Smile for the birdy," she smirked as she pointed her horn at them and charged up the most powerful blast she could. "Fire in the hole!" She launched the laser and it was so strong, she was actually blasted backwards off her feet.
The light from this blast caught Argo's attention and he looked around to see it coming. "LOOK OUT!" He cried as he jumped between Achilles and the attack before raising his shield.
"SHINING!" Achilles cried as the attack struck the shield and caused an explosion that sent both Riders backwards. Shining cried out in pain as they struck a wall and both fell to the ground, the two Riders glowing as their suits began to cut out. Luckily for Achilles, he only reverted to his base form whilst Argo returned to human form. The Rider moaned as he pushed himself up and looked over at Shining, "you okay?" Shining didn't reply, "bro!" He shook him but Shining appeared to be out cold. "Great." Growling brought his attention back to Splinter Hound, who still had his spear in its mouth. "Double great!"
"Get out of there!" Rainbow yelled as she and Pinkie rushed over to them, whilst Achilles pushed himself back to his feet and got between Shining and the monster.
"Stay back!" He told the creature, who simply growled before leaping forward. Before Achilles could react, it thrust a paw into him and pinned him to the ground. "Ahhh!" The girls gasped, Pinkie trying to find an exploding sweet but found she was completely out.
"Girls!" They looked around to see Trixie and the rest of the Rainbooms running towards them, the lot gasping when they saw Achilles was in danger. The lot of them tried to run forward to help him, but before they could Starlight had recovered.
"I don't think so." She tore a card she had just taken out and threw it into the air, the pieces unleashing a vapor that filled the air and flew down. The girls quickly found themselves staring down a bunch of Nightmares, which now stood between them and Achilles.
"Get out of our way!" Twilight cried as she tried to use her magic to push them away, but the creatures seemed able to throw off her magic. "What?"
"Did you really think I wouldn't make these things to be immune to your magic," Starlight chuckled as the Nightmares charged and forced the girls to fight as best they could. She turned her attention back to Splinter Hound, who still had Achilles in its grasp. "Finish him."
Splinter Hound pushed down on Achilles' chest, making him cry out as he felt unable to breathe in. He tried to push the paw off of him, but his strength was waning. "Please," he whispered to nobody in particular, "someone... helps me." As he said that, about to blackout, his Driver slowly began to glow.
As the girls tried to fight through the Nightmares, Princess' bag also glowed despite her not knowing. Inside, the disk was letting off a strange light.
Flash opened up his eyes and looked around, finding himself in a very familiar white void.
"Where am I?" Slowly, he realized he was in the same realm he had seen in his dreams. "Did I black out?" He began to worry, fearing Splinter Hound would likely use this chance to bite his head off or something. Then, he saw something moving towards him. The fuzzy blob that appeared humanoid. "Hey!" He called out, once again reaching out of it. "Can you hear me?" He tried to get closer and this time, it actually worked. He could feel himself moving and so was the blob, who also reached out. "Who are you?" He cried, as his and the figure's hands got within reach. And then, then grasped.
In that moment, the figure instantly became clear as day. It was like he had been wearing non-prescription glasses that had just been removed. And the figure he was now looking at was...himself. More specifically, himself in his Rider suit.
He looked himself over, wondering what the heck was going on as he let go of its hand. "Who...who are you?"
"Isn't is obvious?" The suit replied. "I am the one who gives you the power you've been using to protect those you care about. The one that has aided you when you need it most." Flash had no idea what he was talking about, but slowly put the pieces together and looked down at the suit's waist. At the device strapped to him.
"No," he shook his head.
"Oh yes," it nodded.
"You're my Driver?"
"Legend Driver," he corrected. "I'd rather not get mixed in with the rest of those mindless machines. But yes, I am it."
"You...you really are alive?"
"I am now. At first, I was simply a piece of gear Equestrian Magic had infected, reacting to you. But the more you used me, the more a piece of yourself merged with me. A tiny spark of your soul, like the smoke of a flame, fused with the Equestrian Magic and gave me life. We are two separate being, who share a link that allows us to communicate like this."
"Why haven't you spoken to me before?"
"I have," the Driver replied and Flash remembered the last dream. "The link we shared allowed me to grant you power, but it wasn't strong enough to properly allow full communication. Until now. Now the two of us have truly awoken, likely due to the great stress you were under. But mostly it's because I can feel another source of Equestrian Magic nearby. One we can use."
Flash wondered what he was talking about, at first assuming it was the magic currently transforming Timber. But then he remembered, "the disk." He looked at the Driver, "the disk Princess Twilight brought with her."
"Exactly. It might not have reacted to your friends, but it appears we can use it."
"So we can get another new form," Flash was a little excited and wondered what he would be able to do in this form. But then he frowned, "what if it makes us too strong? What if we lose control?"
"We won't," the Driver assured him. "And this power won't be like the others." Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "unlike the others this Equestrian Magic won't be a formless mass I can merge with and create a stable form with. I can link it to us and manipulate what it looks like, but the power won't be completely remain for as long as we want it to."
"How long will we be able to hold it for?"
"I'd say about five minutes. Possibly longer the more you use it, but five minutes should be all you'll have this first time. But it should be enough." Flash nodded as his Rider suit held out a hand, "ready to do this?"
Flash took a deep breath and nodded, grabbing his hand. "Let's do this!" With that, a light erupted from where their hands met and Flash was blinded for a moment.
The girls continued to watch from behind the Nightmares, as Achilles stopped moving. They were beginning to fear that Achilles was unconscious or worst, but then something happened that took them by surprise.
Achilles' Driver suddenly exploded with light, which spread across the rest of his body. As it did, he raised his arms crossed them over his head. "Get...OFF ME!" With that, he swung his arms around and the light exploded off of him. It shot off in every direction, blinding Splinter Hound and making it stagger backward in pain.
It also caused the Nightmares to suddenly be disinterested whilst Starlight was blinded. "What's happening!" She screamed, unable to take the light even in her monster form.
Shining also seemed to come around at this moment, the man moaning as he raised his head and looked over at his partner. Achilles stood up, standing tall and strong as Shining smirked. "Get him."
Achilles held his hand up and as he did, Twilight's bag suddenly started moving on its own. "Huh?" She asked as it moved around, then suddenly jerked upwards as the disk broke out of it and shot towards the Rider. "What?"
Achilles grabbed the disk and as he did, the light coming off him flowed into it. The artifact changed in his hand. It turned into a device similar to a minimalist record player with a thin CD sandwiched within it. The disk was mostly exposed with a circular meter in the middle. The Rider presented the new item and pressed the button on the side. “Here gose nothing.”
“SPARK CREST
He slotted the crest over the driver and spun the disk. when he did, it unleashed a bright light that formed a ring around his abdomen. That ring then split into two, one right moving up his body whilst the other moved down. As this happened, Achilles' suit began to change. The black sections of his bodysuit turned metallic blue, whilst the golden armoring turned silver. The crest of his head split into four spikes whilst his arms and legs turned orange that ended at the elbows and knees creating a flame pattern. The end of his scarf also gained the orange flame pattern, whilst in the center of his chest appeared five crystal triangles positioned to form a circle. His eyes turned green and the crystals all glowed red, completing his transformation.
"THE GALLANT ONE RISES, LET THE NEXT CHAPTER BEGIN!!!”
“RIDER PLUS-PLUS-PLUS!!!”
Everyone stared at Achilles in amazement, marveling at this new form of him. Starlight was absolute horror struck, "are you serious? Pick a look already and stick with it!"
Splinter Hound also didn't appear to be too happy about it and leaped forward, ready to crush him under-paw. But before it could reach him, Achilles vanished in the blink of an eye. As it landed, Achilles appeared behind the monster.
"Wow," Pinkie cried, "he can teleport!"
"No," Rainbow shook her head, "he just moved really fast!" Her geode's ability had allowed her eyes to keep up with him, but only barely. "He's even faster than me."
Achilles turned to Splinter Hound and took up a fighting stance. "By the time this battle's over, you're going straight to Tartarus!" With that he warped forward as it turned to him, punching the wooden monster in the face and knocking it backwards. As it did he warped to where it was staggering and punched it again, repeating this process several times and moving so fast it was like there were five of him.
On the last attack, Achilles leaped up and swing his foot into the monster. This made it howl in pain and it dropped Achilles' staff, the Rider warping under the monster and catching the weapon before warping back over to a safe distance. "Gotcha," he smiled as he held the weapon. He was glad this creature didn't have saliva, or else the spear would have been soaked.
Before he could do anything else, he noticed one of the glowing crystals on his chest stopped glowing. He wondered what this could mean, but then remembered what the Legend Driver had told him. The lights must be indicating how much energy he had left, the Rider figuring he had another four minutes before losing this power-up.
"Gotta move fast," he told himself as he spun towards Splinter Hound.
He rushed forward and as the beast picked itself up, Achilles warped all around it and started slashing at multiple areas of its body. It howled in pain, constantly attempting to turn towards the area it was struck and slashing. But every time Achilles moved to a different spot and struck. He did this for about a minute, the second crystal losing its light and leaving only three.
Eventually, the beast had had enough and let out a mighty loud howl. This caused it to explode and transform into nothing leaves and sticks that started flying around the place like a cloud of bugs. Achilles stopped moving at this point, which allowed the cloud to find him. Before the Rider could escape, the wood and leaves spiraled around him into a giant tornado that even he couldn't leap over.
"Not good," he gulped as several twigs shot towards him. In the blink of an eye, he was struck and cried out as they slashed him with more force than twigs should have. As another attack came, he spun his star around to deflect it. But this cost time and the third crystal stopped closing, "I gotta get outta here!"
Outside the vortex, the others watched with worry. "He needs help!" Rarity cried.
"But what can we do?" Fluttershy asked, "we're not strong enough to beat that thing."
"Maybe not," Sunset frowned. "We might not have gotten the power-up we were expecting, but that doesn't mean we can't help." She clutched her geode and once again ponied up, the rest doing the same. "Let's go girls!" She held out her hands and the girls grabbed hold, the magic flowing and combining together.
One by one, they all lifted themselves into the air as the magic surged around them. Each focused on their friendship, the fuel of their magical power. When the energy reached its peak, the girls focused on the vortex and unleashed all their power.
Those on the ground were forced to shield their eyes, as the girls unleashed the rainbow blast towards the tornado. It struck and created a bright explosion, almost knocking some of them off their feet. The force of the explosion blew the tornado away, hitting the ground and quickly beginning to reshape itself back into Splinter Hound.
Now freed, Achilles turned to the girls as they began to float back to the ground. He gave them a thumbs up but realized he only had about a minute or so left.
He turned back to the reshaping Splinter Hound and tried to think of a way to end the battle once and for all. Then he noticed something that made him have a eureka moment. The Advanced Driver. "That's what turned him into this thing," he realized as he stood tall. "And that's what I've gotta take down!" With that, he spun the disk which began to light up as the Driver spoke.
“RIDER FEEDBACK PLUS!”
The light exploded off the Driver, flying outwards and turning the entire world black and white. In this state, everything was frozen. Everything except Achilles, who stared down Splinter Hound as the disk unleashed a line of magic circles between the two of them.
Achilles then rushed forward, an energy construct of himself being left standing behind him. He ran through the first circle and another construct appeared before and after it, looking like a bunch of still photos taken and stuck on the same image. He rushed through the second, then the third. On the fourth, he leaped through it and was propelled towards Splinter Hound as he left more images of himself in midair.
Before he shot through the final circle, he spun around and thrust his foot forward into it. He was shot through the circle, leaving another after imagine behind, and thrown out the back where he smashed his foot right into Splinter Hound's Driver. At this moment, the world turned back to its normal colors and time started. As they did, the images all began to move together. One after another they all moved the same way Achilles had, each one eventually merging with the Rider and causing him to glow.
When the final image merged with him, the energy shot through his body and into the Driver. This caused a massive explosion that completely consumed the Driver and blew Achilles and Splinter Hound away from one another. Achilles flipped through the air and managed to land on his feet, sliding back several feet before coming to a stop. As he did, the last crystal stopped glowing and the Spark Crest deactivated. Achilles' new form cracked and shattered off of him, his base form appearing underneath as he was overwhelmed by the sudden loss of power.
"Ahhh!" He fell to his knees, panting heavily and turning to look at Splinter Hound.
The Magi-Beast lay on the ground, its Driver completely destroyed. The twigs and leaves that made up its body began to fall apart, the wolf form slowly collapsing into a pile of wood. Doing so revealed Timber, who lay in the pile barely conscious.
As he lay there, the card that had been in his driver fell to the ground at Achilles' feet. Before the Rider could pick it up, it burst into flames and turned to ash.
Starlight stared at the street and was absolutely horrified. Her best creation, gone in a matter of minutes. "This can't be happening." She stared at Achilles and saw how tired he was. It's possible she could finish him off. But this new power he had intrigued her. it was possible the Doctor would be interest in it as well. "Best to play it safe for now." She began to walk away, "enjoy your victory while it lasts."
Back on the ground, everyone was slowly moving towards Timber as the twigs around him slowly began to turn to dust. As they did, the teen let out a groan and began to move, pushing himself up. As he did, a gloved hand appeared in front of him. He looked up and saw Achilles staring down at him, offering to help him up.
Timber frowned and took the hand, allowing Achilles to pull him to his feet. "So?" The Rider asked once he was up, "still think I'm the bad guy?" Timber frowned at this and pulled his hand free, a glare on his face as he slowly moved backward.
"I don't know what you did to me, but I'll find out what happened and make you pay for it." He looked down at his waist and saw the Driver was gone, the teen realizing he was no longer a superpowered hero.
"It's over Timber," Achilles told him. "You were used by Starlight and turned into her personal lap dog. Be glad we were able to save you and move on."
"It's not over!" Timber cried. "She might have used me but I was able to show just how good I was as a Rider. Just you wait. I'll find a way to get my powers back!"
"Just give it up, Timber!" He turned to Shining and saw him and the rest of the Rainbooms, minus Twilight, glaring at him. "I don't know what Mr.Wave is looking for in a Rider but I'm certain now that it isn't you. Do yourself a favor and stop before you hurt yourself...or someone." Timber frowned at him, then turned to Twilight.
"Babe," he smiled at her as she slowly moved closer, "come on. You and me, we're a great team. With your brains and my talent, I bet we could find a way to make a Rider System that could crush these guys into the dirt. What do you say?" Twilight reached him and stared at him, then reached up and placed her hand on his cheek.
He smiled whilst the others looked worried, fearing Twilight would forgive him. But before they could say anything, Twilight's hand moved with lightning speed and a loud slapping sound filled the air before Timber cried out. "Augh!" He staggered back, holding his cheek and turning to Twilight. "What the hell?"
Twilight's face was full of anger and sorrow, her eyes leaking tears. "I know what you said to Flash, threatening him with your Rider powers. And then telling me I didn't need my friends. You don't get to decide who I can be friends with!"
"I was just doing what was best for you," Timber complained.
"I decide what's best for me," Twilight told him. "And I've decided that being with you..." She took a deep breath, "being with you isn't what's best for me." She turned away from him, "I'm sorry Timber. Maybe one day, we can try again. But you're going to have to do some serious thinking about what you've done before I can think of ever being with you again." With that, she walked away from him.
The others smiled at this, happy Twilight was putting an end to this relationship before it could become abusive. Timber, meanwhile, thought about what she said and spoke up. "So...are we still on for your birthday party?" Twilight stopped and glared back at him, the others frowning in disbelief.
"Ah think we all know the answer to that," Applejack stated. Timber got the message and watched as the teens walked away.
after a physically and emotionally exhausting day, Twilight's Birthday party was a well-deserved respite for all involved. even the princess wanted to stay a bit longer to catch up with everyone. it was a Karaoke party which the girls took great joy in. it was Shining's turn on stage and while all eyes were on him. as he san a pretty old-school rock song, Twilight took a seat next to Flash. "some party?" Twilight asked, trying to spark up a conversation.
"yeah, Pinkie always comes threw when it comes to parties, especially birthday parties," Flash replied.
there was an awkward silence between the two till Twilight spoke up. "I'm sorry about Timber, and how he treated you."
"It's not your fault, the guy was an A-class jerk and all the power made him worst. it was nothing I couldn't handle," Flash said as he leaned back in his seat. "he was your first love, I remember when I use to date Sunset, it took me a while before I saw how much she was hurting other so I get what your going threw."
"Still, it wasn't right the position he put both of us in. I should have seen it coming."
"Hey you may not be the same Twilight who cut herself off from everyone but that doesn't mean you don't have a lot more to learn," Flash pointed out with a laugh. "Oh speaking of learning, i want to give you your present."
The young teen got existed as he pulled out hit present in blue star wrapping paper. riping into it, Twilight was awestruck to see what it was. " Rosette Nebula"s new book, the one that isn't coming out for months, h-how?"
"I have some pretty interesting friends who never fail to deliver on their promises," Flash Answered as he thought back to his adventures with Touma. "so how did i..."
The teen was interrupted by a surprise hug. "I love it Flash." the young woman answered as she was about to cry for joy. "Im so happy to have friends like you."
"Ok, it's my turn," Trixie said as she took the remote for the song select remote.
"Oh no you don't," Rarity said as she took the remote away from her. "you had your turn and not everyone has gone yet."
Pinkie popped up between the two to take the remote herself. "why don't we do a duet to speed things along. Twilight, Flash, mind sharing a song?" the party host asked.
"Um sure," Flash replied as the two took the mics on stage. the lights dimmed and the lyrics to the song Pinkie picked showed up on the screen
"You know I want you, it's not a secret I tried to hide," Flash sand not thinking about the words but instantly recognizing them once they left his mouth. he wasn't the only one as Twilight was just as red as him when he turned to her. still, he kept singing despite all this. after all it was just a song Pinkie probably picked at random right?
"You think it's easy, You think I don't wanna run to you," Twilight joined when her part came up. it felt weird singing this song imparticular after her recent breakup and with Flash of all people. still, the Princess's words were fresh in her mind. the things she couldn't live without were right here in this room. all her friends, Shining and Spike, and she would even put Flash on that list as well.
"I hope things work out for you Twilight," the Princess said as she watched the two sing with all their heart.