//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: The Battle Begins Part 1 // Story: Kamen Rider/MLP: Battle For Equestria // by KnightBrony //------------------------------// Chapter 6 The Battle Begins Part 1 “Alright soldiers, we are going to be splitting up into five squads. Each squad will be headed by a Rider and either one of the Princesses, myself, or Spike the Dragon. Keep the ranks tightened up and let the Riders handle any Kaijin that appear. Your job is to aid civilians and to lessen collateral damage. Are we clear?” Shining Armor said to his troops. Shining Armor's troops saluted him, causing a low rumble “YES SIR!” they said. Shining Armor smiled at his troops. They had always been a heroic bunch, willing to put their lives on the line to defend their fellow ponies. They were Shining's brothers and sisters just as much as Twilight was. “Alright, the squads will go as follows,” Celestia began. Celestia had donned her golden armor, which she had not worn in centuries. Luna and Twilight were likewise encased in purple and dark blue armor respectively. Even though Spike's scales acted as protection enough, he had been fitted with light plate as an extra layer of protection. “I will head Squad Alpha alongside W. Princess Luna will head Squad Beta alongside Fourze. Squad Gamma will be lead by Spike alongside OOO. Squad Omega will be headed by Princess Twilight Sparkle and Gaim. Finally, Squad Delta will be headed by Shining Armor and Wizard. Is everypony clear on their assignments?” she said. “YES MA'AM!” the soldiers shouted. Beside her, Shining Armor grumbled. “Is there a problem Captain Armor?” Celestia said. Shining Armor looked at the Princess with an angered expression. “With all due respect Princess, might I request pairing up with another Rider? That Wizard Rider offends me to no end. Perhaps he would be better suited for-” “Captain Armor, are you questioning my leadership?” Celestia asked, her voice having a dangerous edge to it. “N-no my Princess. I merely think that-” “Captain Armor you have been acting nothing but hostile to the Riders ever since they have arrived. They are our allies, no, our friends, and I would expect the Captain of my Guard to show them the respect they deserve,” Celestia said as if she were scolding a child. Shining deflated at her words. “Now whatever grudge you have against the Riders I expect you to get over it and work with them. Otherwise I will send you right back to the Crystal Empire. Am I understood Captain Armor?” Celestia said. Shining Armor gritted his teeth and said “As you wish, my Princess”. Shining saluted Celestia as he went to prepare for the fighting. Haruto walked over to Celestia. “Are you sure putting me with him is wise Miss Celestia? He isn't exactly too fond of me for whatever reason,” Haruto reasoned. Celestia frowned at the ringed mage. Haruto held up his hands in defense and backed away. Haruto knew not to piss off a woman, or mare in this case, more than she already was. He learned that one the hard way after teasing Rinko too much one day. “SOLDIERS!” Shining Armor yelled. “You have your assignments, now form squads and let's move out!” Shining yelled. The soldiers pounded their spears on the ground in response. Each of the Riders paired up with their partner for the mission. “Be prepared everyone. We don't know what Chrysalis might have in store for us,” Celestia said. Everyone nodded as they faced the city. “MOVE OUT!” Shining Armor yelled. All at once, the squads set off for the different areas of the city. Celestia marched alongside Shotaro and Phillip as they trekked through Canterlot. Seeing her precious city in such a state nearly brought her to tears. Buildings were partially destroyed, fires were raging everywhere, and destruction littered the streets. So far they had seen only a few changelings, which were quickly dispatched by Celestia herself. “This is troubling,” Celestia said as they continued to march. “Agreed Princess. I would've expected there to be more Kaijin by now,” Phillip said. “Regardless, we can't let our guard down,” Shotaro said. Phillip and Celestia nodded in agreement. Celestia's face contorted into a sneer. “I will make that witch pay for harming my little ponies,” Celestia said with malice. Shotaro placed a hand on the Princesses shoulder. Celestia found this strange, as she was usually the tallest pony at any given time, with only Luna and Cadance able to match her. “Calm down Princess. I understand your anger,” Shotaro said. “With all due respect Mister Shotaro, how can you? This city has been my home for so long. I have literally built most of this city with my own hooves. For over a thousand years, I have watched this city grow and flourish. I have watched ponies come and ponies go. This city is more than just a city it is my...my..” “Garden,” Shotaro said. Celestia looked up at the detective. “I understand your pain princess. The city where Phillip and I come from faced danger like this all the time. It broke my heart to see the people in my city fall to darkness,” Shotaro said as Phillip looked and Celestia looked at him. “To see a place you love, a place filled with memories both good and bad be destroyed.....I know that pain all too well.” “Mister Shotaro...” Celestia said, concern on her face for the detective. “That's the reason we're here to begin with. To help you and make sure your city no longer has to cry,” Shotaro said as he tipped his hat. Celestia smiled at the detective. “The Elements chose you Riders wisely,” Celestia said. Suddenly, she turned her head forward, her horn blazing. Coming toward them was a group of three Kaijin. Shotaro smiled at this. “'Bout time they showed up. Phillip, let's go,” Shotaro said as he put on the Double Driver and produced his Joker memory. Phillip closed his book and stood next to Shotaro. “I'll admit, I was getting a little bored. This should make things a little more exciting,” he said as he produced his Cyclone memory. They thrust their arms out in a W fashion. “HENSHIN!” they said in unison as they placed their memories in the Driver. Shotaro opened the Driver as Phillip fell over, caught by Celestia's magic. Shotaro ran towards the Kaijin as his armor formed around him. “Now, count up your crimes!” Shotaro and Phillip yelled as W, punching a Kaijin as they did so. “SEIYA!” OOO yelled as he unleashed his Rider kick onto a Kaijin, causing it to explode. Eiji stopped for a moment to breath. He turned around to look at the aftermath of the battle that had just occurred. Guards were getting civilians out of a building that had been overrun by changelings and Kaijin. Thankfully, Eiji was there and had managed to destroy them. Eiji tipped his belt up, canceling his transformation and returning him to civilian form. A unicorn guard approached him and saluted. Eiji found it odd to have a pony salute him, but he went along with it to be polite. “All civilians have been cleared from the building and accounted for. Thankfully only minor injuries were sustained,” the guard reported. Eiji smiled at this. “Good. Get them somewhere safe,” Eiji said. The guard saluted him once more “Yes sir, OOO sir,” he said as he trotted off. Spike walked up to Eiji, grinning all the while. “That was so cool Eiji. I wish I had powers like yours,” Spike said, fanboy mode on full blast. Eiji smiled at the young drake. “Thank you Spike, but these powers come at a cost,” Eiji said as he looked down sullenly. Spike saw this and deflated. “Sorry, I didn't think of that,” Spike said as he looked at the ground. Eiji smiled and patted the young dragon on the head. “No need to apologize Spike. These powers may be costly, but I've been able to help so many people with them. That's more than enough reason for me to take the risks I do,” Eiji said. Spike smiled at the Rider. “Thanks Eiji. But there's one thing that's been bugging me though,” Spike said. “What's that?” “Well, when you guys were fighting the Kaijin back on the ship, everyone else said a cool catch phrase. Why didn't you?” Spike said. Instantly Eiji's face darkened as he crouched into a fetal position, drawing little circles in the ground as he sulked. “Did I touch a nerve?” Spike asked. “Everyone's got a catch phrase. Shotaro and Phillip sempai, even my kouhai have cool catch phrases. I kept telling Ankh we should think of one but all he did was call me an idiot and smack me,” Eiji rambled. He put his head against his knees and wailed. “I want a cool catch phrase! All I've got is my 'seiya' when I use my final attack,” Eiji said, crying like a little child who had their candy taken away. Spike walked up to Eiji and tapped him on the shoulder. “I'm pretty good with stuff like that, maybe I could help,” Spike said as he tried to calm down the depressed Rider. Eiji wiped his nose and smiled. “You'd really do that?” he said. Spike nodded and smiled. Eiji smiled back and stood. “Thank you Spike,” Eiji said. Spike smiled as Eiji stood up, now out of his funk. Another guard walked up to the pair. “Sirs, all the civilians have been cleared from the area,” he said. “Good, let's keep moving. We've still got a lot of ground to cover before we reach the rendezvous point. Let's move out!” Eiji yelled in a confident voice. The guards saluted in unison as they fell into line and followed Spike and Eiji forward. “So, what do you think would be a good catch phrase?” Eiji said to Spike as they walked. The guards stood at attention, waiting for their next order after they had finished clearing the area of civilians and changelings. Unfortunately for them, they would be waiting a while as Shining Armor and Haruto argued with one another. “I told you that I had that situation handled Rider,” Shining spat at Haruto. Haruto sneered at the stallion “Yeah right. You're lucky I'm able to make clones of myself otherwise you would be Kaijin chow right now,” Haruto spat back, waving his WizarSwordGun in the air as he did so. “I don't need help from the likes of you. I didn't become Captain of Celestia's Royal Guard by being a slouch in combat,” Shining said, trying his best to look big next to the much taller human. “I guess Celestia's got pretty low standards then,” Haruto said. “That does it!” Shining said as he dove at the Rider. Haruto side stepped out of the way. Bad idea. From this vantage point Shining reared onto his front legs and bucked Haruto into a wall. The guards looked shocked at what had just transpired. They had never seen Shining Armor act so foalish before. Haruto stood up, a small trickle of blood coming from his mouth. Haruto's eyes flashed with anger as a sadistic grin grew on his face. “Fine then. You wanna play like that, I can play like that,” Haruto said as he slipped on a ring and placed his hand over his belt buckle. EXCITE! PLEASE~! Haruto's muscles suddenly grew to three times their normal size as he charged forward and punched Shining Armor in the face, sending him flying into a pile of stray crates. Shining Armor shook off the debris and glared daggers at the mage, who had returned to normal size. “Oh that tears it Rider!” Shining said as his horn flared. “Bring it Shiny!” Haruto said as he placed his Flame Style ring on his left hand. “Okay, that is enough!” a mare guard yelled as she and a stallion guard tackled Haruto and Shining Armor, pinning them to the ground. Haruto and Shining Armor struggled, but found themselves trapped under the guards' vice grip. “Let me go this instant soldier or I'll have you court-martialed for assaulting your commanding officer,” Shining Armor yelled at the mare currently pinning him to the ground. “Go ahead Captain Armor! Then I can explain to the Princesses and your wife about how you assaulted the Rider like a petulant foal!” the mare yelled. Shining went still as a stone. There were few things that Shining Armor feared, and the ire of his wife was one of them. He still had nightmares about the time Cadance had caught him with some old PlayColt magazines he had stumbled upon while cleaning one day. He would've rather faced a rampaging dragon than the wrath she had unleashed on him that day. Shining craned his head up to look at the guard mare “You wouldn't dare,” he said. The mare tightened her grip on Shining Armor. “Try me, sir,” she said. Shining Armor thought for a moment before he huffed in defeat. “Fine! You win. Now can you let me go?” Shining said, resigning himself to his defeat. The mare smiled. “With pleasure sir,” she said, nodding to the other guard. They released the two as they rubbed their wounds, still glaring at each other. “Now make nice. There are still ponies who need to be saved. Or did you two forget about the evil changeling queen trying to take over the world with monsters from another dimension?” the mare said, her frustration growing towards the two. Haruto and Shining sneered at each other. “We'll settle this later Rider,” Shining said as he retrieved his helmet. “Whatever,” Haruto said as he dusted himself off. The mare shook her head at the two. “Why do stallions always have to be so bull headed and violent?” she said. “Says the mare who just put Captain Armor in a grapple hold,” the stallion guard said. She glared at him. “Don't push your luck Star Streak, or I'll put you in a hold next ,” she said as she flicked the guard with her tail and walked back into line “I wouldn't mind that actually,” the stallion thought as he made his way back into line. “Mama, I'm scared,” a pegasus filly squeaked out as she held tight to her mother. They were trapped inside a burning building and the smoke and flames surrounded them on all sides. “Don't worry honey, everything's gonna be okay. Mama will find us a way out,” the foal's mother said reassuringly as she held her filly. She coughed as the smoke continued to fill the building. The mare ran around a corner. As she did so, she noticed that part of the ceiling was falling. She moved quickly to get out of the way. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to get out of the way in time as she found herself trapped under debris. Thankfully, she had gotten her foal out of the way. “Mama!” the foal screamed as she ran to her mother's side. The mare tried to lift herself up, but found herself unable to lift the weight as her back legs were trapped. “Misty, you need to run. I'll be fine, just get out to somewhere safe,” the mare said. The filly shook her head violently. “No, I won't leave you mama,” the filly said as she desperately tried to lift the debris from her mother. “Misty, there's no time. Listen to your mother and go,” the mare said with tears in her eyes. The filly continued to attempt to save her mother, tears in her eyes as well. “Somepony help! Anypony, just somepony help,” the filly yelled. Suddenly, she heard a wall explode behind her. The mare and filly looked to see a red figure with a vaguely cone shaped head. “Someone call for help,” Fourze said as he approached the two. The filly scooted away, afraid of the Rider as she closed her eyes. However, instead of feeling the figure attack them, she suddenly heard the sound of debris being lifted. She opened her eyes to see Fourze lifting the debris off of her mother. “Are you okay?” Fourze asked. The mare tried to stand, but fell down, noticing blood streaming from one of her legs. Fourze saw this and nodded. “You two sit tight,” he said as he proceeded to take the extinguisher portion of his Hee-Hack Gun off of his belt. He then took the Fire switch out of his belt and placed it into the gun. Immediately, sirens began to wail from the gun as it charged with power. LIMIT BREAK! “Firefighter, KITA!!!!!” Fourze yelled as water spewed from the Hee-Hack Gun, extinguishing the flames all around them in a matter of seconds. Once Fourze was done, he placed the Switch back into his belt and went to the mare and filly. “Don't worry, you're safe now,” Fourze said. The mare and filly looked with shock at Fourze, unable to say anything. Suddenly, Fourze picked the two up and slung them over his shoulders. “Hang tight, I'm gonna get you two outta here,” Fourze said as he proceeded down the hallway, putting out the fires as he did so. Finally, Fourze was able to make his way out onto the street, where Luna and the Guards were waiting. “These are the last two Luna,” Fourze said as he placed the mare and filly on the ground, careful of the mare's injured leg. “Excellent work sir Fourze,” Luna said. Fourze knelt down and examined the mare's leg. “Hold still for a moment,” Fourze said as he flipped a switch on his belt. MEDICAL ~ ON! Seconds later a yellow medical pack appeared on Fourze's left arm. He opened it up and took out a syringe with red liquid. “This might sting a bit,” Fourze said as he put the syringe in the mare's leg. The mare hissed at the pain for a moment before she felt relief. Warily, she put her weight on her leg, finding it no longer in pain. “Mama!” the filly said as she ran up and hugged her mother. The mare squeezed the filly for dear life. The two looked at Fourze and Luna. “Thank goodness Medical works on non-humans as well. Now it's only a temporary fix, so make sure to see a doctor quick,” Fourze said as he flipped the switches on his belt up, canceling his transformation to reveal Gentarou. The mare and filly looked confused at the human. Nevertheless, they were grateful. “Thank you so much Mister....?” the mare said. Gentarou smiled as he slicked back his hair, and pounded his fist against his chest, pointing a finger at the mare. “I'm Kisaragi Gentarou, the man who will befriend the whole world,” he said with a smile. Luna smiled at Gentarou's display. “Get these two somewhere safe,” Luna commanded. A guard saluted her. “At once Ma'am,” he said as he ushered the mare and filly towards a safe house. “Wait!” the filly said before she ran up to Gentarou and gave him a hug. “Thank you so much for saving my mommy mister alien,” the filly said. Gentarou hugged her back and patted her on the head. “Anytime,” he said as he broke the hug and the filly ran back to her mother. Luna walked up to the smiling human. “We must say, thou may have more energy than Laughter, but thou art a fine warrior sir Gentarou,” Luna said. Gentarou smiled at Luna's compliment. “I just can't stand to see people sad. It's part of why I love being a Rider and making new friends,” Gentarou said. Luna smiled sadly at Gentarou. “We wish we had your sort of skill in the ways of friendship Gentarou. Whenever we try to make friends, ponies just run away scared,” Luna said. Gentarou looked at the lunar princess in shock. “What!? Why would they do that? You're one of the Princesses of this place right?” Gentarou said. “Yes, but we have only recently gained our title back,” Luna said sadly. “Why's that?” Gentarou asked. Luna looked sadly at the Rider before sighing. “We had been sealed away for a thousand years after we became jealous of our sister and became the monster Nightmare Moon. We only returned to our senses after Twilight Sparkle and the other Elements rid us of our evil,” Luna said. Gentarou looked at her shocked, but still kept his composure. “Since our return, we have tried to regain the trust of our beloved subjects, but to little avail. All they see when they look at me is a monster,” Luna said, a small tear escaping her eyes. Gentarou went up and patted Luna on the back. “Well you're not evil anymore right?” Gentarou said. “Of course we aren't! We never want to return to being Nightmare Moon,” Luna said. “Then all is forgiven. Besides, you said you had a little success with gaining your people's trust back right?” Gentarou said in a surprising display of insight. “'Tis true. We have made friends with the Elements as well as gaining the adoration of some of the foals in Ponyville,” Luna said, thinking about the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Pip. “See, you have made progress. Just because they’re scared of you now doesn't mean they'll be scared of you forever. Give it time and they'll warm up to you,” Gentarou said reassuringly. Luna wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at Gentarou. “Thank you Gentarou,” Luna said. Gentarou smiled at this. “Hey, that's what friends are for,” Gentarou said. Before Luna could say anything else, a guard approached them. “Princess Luna, we have cleared the area. Thankfully there were few casualties,” the guard said. Luna cleared her throat. “Very good. Rally the guard and prepare to move toward the rendezvous point,” Luna said. “At once Ma'am,” the guard said as he went to complete his task. “Let's go, I haven't had my fill of fighting Kaijin yet,” Gentarou said as he prepared to henshin again. “This one could give Laughter a run for her bits,” Luna thought as the group prepared to move out. “All right, the other squads should be here soon. For now, everypony rest and tend to any wounds you may have,” Twilight said. The guards saluted her as they went about their business. Kouta sighed next to her as he sat down. Twilight looked at Kouta with concern. Throughout their entire journey he had not canceled his transformation. She sat down next to him, removing her helmet. “Kouta, I said we could rest. You don't have to be in Rider form for right now,” Twilight said. Kouta waved a hand at her. “Don't worry, I'm fine. Besides, I want to be ready in case something attacks us,” Kouta said. Despite what he was saying, Kouta was breathing heavily. Twilight scrunched her face in frustration as she flipped the Lock Seed on Kouta's Driver closed, canceling his transformation. “Hey!” Kouta said. He stopped his protests after seeing Twilight glare at him. “I..guess I could take a little break,” Kouta said. Twilight sighed as she rubbed the sides of her head. “I'm sorry, I'm just stressed,” she said. “Aren't we all?” Kouta said. “You know what I mean. I'm still worried about my friends. I keep thinking about what Chrysalis might be doing to them, or if they-” she was cut off by Kouta planting his hand over her mouth. “Relax Twilight, I understand,” Kotua said as he removed his hand. “Sorry,” she said. “It's alright. Truth be told, I'm worried about my friends back home too,” Kouta said as his face darkened. “What's going on in your world?” Twilight asked. Kouta sighed. “Everything's been going to hell lately. Ever since we found these stupid belts, everything's been turned completely upside down. The whole town is demonizing me and my friends, Yggdrasil keeps trying to cover up our world being taken over by Helheim, and Kaito keeps going off on his own trying to become stronger or something,” Kouta said. Twilight blinked, trying to take everything in. “Wow, I didn't know things were so bad in your world,” Twilight said. “I keep trying to find a solution, but so far I've got nothing except to keep fighting,” Kouta said. Twilight looked down for a moment, unable to think of what to say. After a few moments, she spoke. “I think I know what you mean,” Twilight said. “How so?” Kouta asked. Twilight spread her wings “Until a few weeks ago, I didn't have these. I was just a regular unicorn. But ever since I passed some test, I ascended and became the alicorn I am now,” she said. Kouta looked at her dumbfounded, but listened intently. “Once I got my wings, I was crowned a Princess. Ever since, It's been nothing but work. Etiquette lessons, diplomacy lessons, learning how to fly, not to mention having to stop Celestia's former student Sunset Shimmer from taking over another dimension,” Twilight said. Kouta blinked, dumbfounded. “And you say my universe is strange,” Kotua said. Twilight snorted a bit before bursting out laughing. Kouta himself started to laugh along with her. After a few minutes, both of them stopped laughing and smiled at each other. “I guess we've both got a lot on our plates,” Kouta said. “Indeed. But, at least we've got friends to help us through it,” Twilight said, her face darkening at the mention of her friends. Kouta patted her on the back. “Don't worry Twilight, we'll rescue them. Riders keep their promises,” Kouta said, smiling at the lavender mare. Twilight smiled in return. “Thanks Kouta,” Twilight said. “Princess!” a guard yelled as he ran up to them. “What is it?” Twilight said, putting her helm back on. “The other squads have begun to arrive,” the guard said. “Very good. We'll meet with them immediately,” Twilight said. “Yes Princess,” the guard said as he ran off. Kotua sighed as he stood up. “No rest for the weary I suppose,” he said as they went to meet with the other squads. “All areas seem to be clear of civilians and Kaijin. There are still a few fires raging in the southern part of the city but the crew of the XVII have gone to take care of them,” Celestia said as they looked over a 3D magical map of the city. “Excellent. What should our next course of action be?” Luna asked. Celestia changed the image on image on the map to a view of the Exodus. “Next we attack Chrysalis and Foundation X right at their core. With the Riders standing with us and all of us back at full strength, we should be able to defeat them,” Celestia said. Everyone nodded except for Phillip and Shining Armor. “Something wrong guys?” Twilight asked. “This has been too easy,” Phillip said. “As much as I hate to admit it, he's right. We all ran into Kaijin, sure, but we were met with relatively little resistance,” Shining Armor said. “If what we've learned about Chrysalis is accurate, she should have a much bigger army than this,” Phillip said. Everyone looked at each other troubled. “Maybe that big bug has decided to retreat with us here now,” Gentarou said. Phillip shook his head. “Not likely. If she was planning to retreat, she would have by now. No, there's something else going on here,” Phillip said. Suddenly, Haruto perked up and placed his ringed hand over his belt buckle. DEFEND! PLEASE~! Haruto's spell came just in time as blast of energy came at them from one of the buildings. “Impressive Wizard. I see you haven't lost your touch,” a voice said. “Show yourself!” Haruto yelled. Stepping out of the shadows was none other than one of the commanders of the Phantoms, Medusa. “Long time no see ring bearing mage,” Medusa said. “Medusa, but how!? Fueki killed you,” Haruto said. “Come on silly Rider,” a voice said, playing cards suddenly hurtling at them and exploding. Bouncing next to Medusa was one of the Zodiarts, Gemini. “The old bad guys always show up for crossovers,” Gemini said, giggling sadistically. “Gemini!' Gentarou yelled. “That's not all,” two voices said as two blade slashes hit the group. Landing next to Gemini and Medusa were the Nazca Dopant and the Overlord Demushu. “Nazca!” Phillip and Shotaro yelled. “An Overlord!? What the hell's going on here!?” Kouta yelled. “You're end Riders,” Nazca said. “We're going to crush you apes and those feeble Princesses right here and now,” Demushu growled. “Indeed,” another voice yelled as water exploded in torrents around them. Now standing by Medusa was none other than the Greeed Mezool. “How is this possible!? We destroyed all of you, I smashed your Core myself Mezool,” Eiji yelled. Mezool laughed at the Rider “Such is the power of our new Mistress and Foundation X,” she said. “Shut up! We beat you all once, we can beat you again!” Gentarou said as he and the other Riders produced their belts. Medusa smirked at this as she looked at her fellow general Kaijin. “Well then, shall we?” she said. They all nodded as they glowed with ethereal energy. “But of course,” Mezool said. “Yay! Who can I kill first!?” Gemini said as she produced bladed playing cards. “I'll crush them,” Demushu said. “Get in line Overlord,” Nazca said. The Riders all yelled as they rushed toward the Kaijin. “HENSHIN!!” How will the Riders fare against their old foes? Will we find out the fate of the Mane Six? Will the author get off his lazy ass and start getting these chapters out quicker? Find out next time on Battle for Equestria!