//------------------------------// // Section 2; Scroll 14 // Story: The Rider Of Darkness // by GaleWind //------------------------------// Section 2; Scroll 14 Dawn was just appearing over the mountain ranges. The glow from the sun made the desert floor sparkle and shine like the sea. One could almost think it was the sea. The sound of a motor could be heard coming from the distance. A cloud of dust was picking up in the direction of the sound. As the motor got louder, the cloud moved forward. The dust cloud continued to move until it stopped and so did the motor cease. The dust began to settle and figure could be seen inside. When it cleared, the grey clad figure was on top of a two-wheeled zerger wearing a grey helmet. The figure looked around, taking in the surroundings. “This is the location the letter mentioned. Now I just have to wait.” I spoke through my helmet. I unclasped my helmet strap and took it off. I looked over the entire expanse of sand. “The San Palomino Desert, never thought I’d come out here.” I said. My left arm bumped against the handlebar and I hissed in pain as I held it. I pushed the sleeve back to see the bandages. “A week and my arm still isn’t fully healed, even with Zecora’s help. Too much to ask for I guess.” I muttered. I unslung my backpack and placed it in front of me. I unzipped it and took out a piece of paper. I still remember the letter I got from Braeburn. ‘Dear Echo Wave, Hey, it’s Braeburn. I know you were probably expectin’ the chief but, he’s a little busy at the moment what with helping the other tribes and all. Little Strongheart and me have been doing our part with rescuing and nursing the injured, so we’ve all been pretty busy. Anyway, before I get off track, we could really use your help. We’re about to head to another facility somewhere in the San Palomino Desert. Now this wouldn’t be a problem except that it’s twice as big as the others and there’s another issue with it. The chief can explain it better than I can. Hope you can make it here. From, Braeburn Apple P.S. How’s my cousin and her friends doing. I’m hoping you can give me an update. I had gotten that message on the night I had woken up. I still wasn’t a hundred percent so I replied to see if they can wait at least until next week so I can help them. Braeburn reply said they would but only until the first day of the week, they sent a location of where I could meet up. I spent the next few days trying to heal as much as possible. Zecora explained that I couldn’t rush the healing. While I appreciated her concern and for patching up my clothes, I didn’t have the time to wait. The day before the scheduled meeting, I summoned my bike and left Shadow to continue to be her ‘guard dog’. It was touch and go driving past Ghastly Gorge but I made it. The reply on the letter told where one of the bison would meet me. So now I have to wait and hope I didn’t miss the deadline. “Just as the sun rises from the sky, you rise from the shadows.” I look to find where the voice came from and spotted the speaker. On top of a nearby boulder, sitting cross-legged was a buffalo. He had a thick brown coat but, that didn’t help cover his muscles. He wore light tan vest and pants that intricate patterns sewn into them. He also wore a green headband with triangles above his brown eyes that also held what look like an eagle’s feather. I walked over and stood in front of him. “I trust you’re the one Chief Thunderhooves sent?” “Indeed I am however, this is not the first our paths have cross.” He said. I raised an eyebrow. “It’s not?” “No, though the last time that we have spoken, I was close to joining my brothers on the great plains of the sky.” He spoke. When I got a better look at him, I recognized who he was. “You’re the bison Zepha saved back then, Steelstrike.” He gave a small smile. “Yes and I am grateful for her aid in my dire time. I had thought she would be with you so that I could thank her.” “She’s busy with personal matters for the time.” “I understand, next time you meet, give her my thanks.” He jumped off the boulder and fixed me with a harden look. “However, now we have more pressing issues to deal with.” “Right, the facility you all found.” I said. “Yes, this one contains an individual that is very close to our chief. He can explain better.” He spoke. “Well, what are we waiting for?” I revved my bike back to life. “Hop on; we can get to the others faster on my bike, just point the way. He looked at my bike in confusion but agreed. Before he got on however, he whistled sharply. Out of nowhere, a bird just swopped down and perched on his outstretched arm. He took something from the pouch on his waist and let it smell it. The bird took off and flew away as he walked got on the back of my bike. “The hawk is a bird from our tribe’s scouting party. Follow her and she will lead us back to the tribe.” He explained. I looked at him in confusion over what just happened before just shrugging my shoulders. “Alright, but I got to tell you, this the first time a bird is giving me directions.” I placed my helmet back on, revved the engine and shot off after the bird. Steelstrike was shocked by how fast we were suddenly going and tighten his hold around my waist. “Sorry about that, but we got a lot of ground to cover!” I shouted back to him over the wind. Vilotan Castle library… The library inside the Vilotan castle did not have the same size as the one in Canterlot but it still held a vast amount of knowledge. Others were reading history books donated to them but for one; he was studying something personal. Reverb was sitting at a table, pouring his time on a different source of reading. Since coming back to the castle a week ago, he had changed his style of clothes. He now wore the same red suit of armor the others did but it was more compatible to move around in. The Severance driver was secured tightly around his waist. Right now though, all his attention was on what was in front of him. On the table was every file, report, and image on kamen rid… on Echo Wave going back five years. Every detail, every accident, every purpose for the attacks that happen he went over since he first started. He was so engrossed in his work that he didn’t notice the presence of something coming from behind him. “Never took you for the bookworm type.” “Gah!” Reverb jumped and looked behind him to see who said that. “Oh, it’s you. Don’t scare me like that!” Firma had a small smirk on his face he looked at him. “Well, I was trying to figure out where you and here I find you, muzzle deep in books.” “Sorry, I was busy with something.” He responded while turning back to the table. “I’ll say; what are you looking at anyway?” Firma asked as he looked down at the table. He raised his brow at the material. “What are you doing with this?” Reverb chose his words carefully “I’m trying to find a pattern.” “A pattern? A pattern for what?” “Echo has never done anything without good reason. As long as I’ve known him, anytime he did something, it always had a purpose behind it.” He explained. “So, what’s his purpose then?” Firma asked Reverb gave a small sigh. “I don’t know, that’s why I’m going over all this evidence we’ve collected. I’m trying to find a connection with all of them.” “What’s to connect, they’re all vilotans.” Firma bluntly said. “I know that but, there has to be something else that connects them all. Something we haven’t thought of. I don’t know what, but I’m going to find it.” Firma didn’t respond and remained silent for a while. ‘How much has this kid put into this.’ “Well, study time is over, training time is now. Come on, get up.” He spoke out. “What do you mean?” Reverb asked. “Just what I said, the reason I was looking for you is because Obsidian wants you in the training yard ten minutes ago.” Firma explained. “What?! Can’t it wait?” “No, you know how he hates to be kept waiting. So you might as well hurry up.” Reverb gave a small sigh as he got up from his seat, walked past him and towards the stairs. Firma saw him disappear down the steps and looked back at the table. A smirk spread across his face as he gave a deep chuckle. “Ah kid, if only you knew.” He placed his hand on top of the file with a picture of Echo in his armor. “Be careful of what you ask for though.” He dragged his hand across the picture with claw marks tearing into the picture. “Or you’ll become the next casualty.” Unknown to what transpired; Reverb was making his way down to the training yard. He passed by a couple of cleaning staff and a few guards. He made his way down a flight of stairs and walked passed the barracks before stopping. He turned to look on his right. On the right wall, was a bulletin board marked with schedules, announcements, guard detail and everything else, but that’s not what caught his attention. In the middle of the board was one, lone piece of paper. On it was a picture of… Echo Wave and Kamen Rider Shade. Underneath the pictures was the content: Name: Echo Wave Alias: Kamen Rider Shade Description: Earth pony, Black coat, Silver mane and tail, Blue eyes Cutie mark: Sonar Waves Age: 26 Wanted for: Multiple counts of assault, Destruction of property, Assualt and injury to the royal families, Suspect in multiple missing pony reports CAUTION!!! Considered highly dangerous. Information shows he is a skilled combatant, DO NOT APPROACH. Relay any and all information to your nearest guard post or police station concerning him. Reverb stared at the poster for a good minute. So far this exact poster was in every major and small city in Equestria and some in the surrounding nations. He released a long sigh before continuing own his way. ‘One minute, he’s your best friend, the next; he’s Equestria’s most wanted.’ The thought bounced in his head as he continued his trek. He stopped in his steps for a moment. “What could have happen for you to do this?” He asked, mostly to himself. “Questions like those rarely have good outcomes.” Reverb jumped at the voice and looked around for the source, though he didn’t look long. Obsidian stood a few feet from him in the middle of the training yard in full armor and hand on his sword with a neutral expression. Reverb blinked when he noticed he arrived here without knowing. He immediately straightened up. “Sorry I’m late, Obsidian. I was just-“ “Double the work.” Reverb stopped mid-sentence and blinked. “Excuse me?” “Give excuses after training, I’ll listen then. Lateness results in training being doubled.” He said with the same neutral expression. He drew his sword and gripped it with both hands. “Now, don you armor or it will be doubled again.” Reverb stuttered for a minute over the blunt response before deciding that he should follow the order. Training usually lasts until Obsidian says it’s over and it usually ended with him on his back. He gripped the Severance’s handle and pulled; splitting it in half, save for the red diamond in the middle. The gem glowed dark red and he took a deep breath before exhaling. "Henshin." He pushed the halves back together and the glow intensified. One could hear the sound of swords clashing as the diamonds appeared and merged onto him. One final sword clash and the exterior shattered, leaving reverb in his transformed armor. ‘Where’d that sound come from?’ He thought upon hearing. He drew his two axes and readied himself for battle. Obsidian nodded and rushed forward. “PREPARE, YOURSELF!” and the weapons clashed. Meanwhile… The sun was higher in the sky and I guess it was almost noon. Me and Steelstrike have been following his hawk for the past hour or two. He had gotten his balance and now gripped the seat. “How far away are we?! We’ve been following your friend for over an hour!” I shouted back at him. “The tribe is positioned near a cliff side, it should not be far!” He shouted back, his voice muffled by his scarf to protect from dust. The hawk in the sky had not stopped since I saw it and continued onwards. “So, how have things been for the tribe since I last saw you?” I shouted, striking up a conversation. “It has been as well as one would think. We recovered as best we could. After that, we went out to rescue our fellow tribes.” He responded. “How many have you rescued so far?” “So far, we have rescued two tribes but these are only young ones and the women.” ‘Just the women and children’ Why would they split them up? “How many facilities have you hit?” “As of now, four.” I swerved out of the way of a boulder and tried to regain my balance after a minute. “FOUR! And you’ve only gotten two tribes worth. How many buffalo is that?!” I asked with a surprised voice. “In total, we have rescued thirty-two, seventeen from one tribe and fourteen from the other.” He explained as we went over a small hill. He still kept his balance. That many from four facilities! They must be spread out more than I thought. “How come they separated them?” “One of children answered this for us. He said that it happened two months ago, the monsters had taken the men and transported them somewhere; …the boy’s brother and father were among them” He added sadly. “Could it be because I helped your tribe escape?” “That is what we think as well.” So, they decided to split them up to make it harder on them to move. Damn, they really know how hinder their enemies. Wait …32 I did the math in my head. “Steelstrike, you said you and the others have rescued thirty-two buffalo.” “That is correct.” “I added the numbers and that only comes up to thirty-one. What about the last one?” I asked. He didn’t answer me. What’s he hiding? “Steelstrike, what about the last one?” I asked again. The only sound was motor of my bike as moved onward. It wasn’t until he spoke up a few minutes later. “She… is a special case. Chief Thunderhooves said he will explain when we arrive.” ‘She?’ I picked up something on my side mirror and notice a small dust trail. I slowed down a bit and came to a stop. “Why did we stop? What’s wrong?” I raised my left hand to tell him to be quiet. He got the message and stayed silent. I unclasped the helmet strap and took it off. I closed my eyes to focus. I heard a small amount of sound. I strained my ears to find the source of it. ‘Vroooooom’ I opened my eyes. “We’re being followed.” “How do you know?!” He asked as he looked left and right. I put down the kickstand and got off the bike and turned around. “I noticed a small dust trail in my mirror a second ago and I heard a zerger engine.” “How could you hear them from this far away?” “Working with sonars for so long, I learned how to tune things out and listen. If hear something I can make out what it is.” I explained. “How long do you think we’ve been followed?” Steelstrike asked. “I don’t know, I just noticed them. Best guess, they camped out ways off from where we met and followed my bike trail.” I heard a shout and turn back to see him slam his fist on the seat with a mad expression. “They must have spotted me and waited to be lead back to the others.” He growled. He felt something and looked up to see me place a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, Steelstike. I understand but at least we caught them sooner rather than later. They don’t know where the others are yet.” He appealed to him. The buffalo took in deep breathes to calm himself. It took a minute but he calmed down and looked back to me. “What do we do?” “I got an idea.” The sun was just starting to dip in the sky but its rays still poured down. A total of six four-wheeled zergers were following a single dirt tail. Five rezythes followed one obsidian without question. The obsidian looked to be modeled after a viper with head and tail of a snake. He had a deep brown colored skin and talon like arms and legs. His red eyes were focused on the trail ahead of it. They followed the trail for another mile until they stopped abruptly. The snake-obsidian got off the bike and moved in front of it a few feet. He looked down and then straight ahead. The bike trail they were following was gone. “The hell isss thissss? Where’d they go?” He hissed through his fangs. “You’re not going to be following us anymore.” A voice called out. The snake whipped his head to the right to where the voice came from. I stood in front of a boulder in full armor. “How the hell did you know?” “I saw your trail and I took precautions.” “I got an idea.” I took off the kickstand and took his hands and placed them on the bikes’ handle bars. I twisted the right, revving the engine while holding the brake. “What are you doing?” He asked confused with my action. “You know where the others are by yourself, right?” I asked. He nodded his head. “Good, use my bike and get back to them. I’ll take care of the trail and deal with are tailgaters.” I took my right hand of the handle. “Wait, I don’t know how to use this contraption?!” He looked up at me in worry and slight fear. “Don’t worry; all you have to do is keep your balance. Left silver bar stops the front wheel. The right one stops the bike completely. Slowly grip it to slow it down, don’t just grab it. When you get there, pull out the kickstand and press the red button, it’ll shut the engine off. Got it?” I asked after the quick rundown. “What?!” He shouted. “Good luck!” I let go of the brake and the bike shot off. Steelstrike screamed at the sudden acceleration and pulled off a small wheelie before regaining his balance and speeding off. “Well, at least he stuck the landing.” I muttered. I walked over to a nice size boulder and set my bag and helmet down. I took out the Umbra driver and looked at it. “I hope you’re ready for this.” I placed it on my waist and the belt formed securing it. I pulled the handle out and took the grey gem out. I placed it in the slot, grabbed the handle again and took a deep breath. "Henshin." I pushed the handle in and the gem spun in the middle. As the shadows formed I began to hear the faint chiming of tower bells. Before the shadows dissipated, I heard what resembled the bell at midnight and my armor appeared as the shadows were gone. “Where those bells come from? It never did that before.” I muttered. I shook my head and drew my sword. I held it in front of me and muttered a few words. it glowed a faint blue for a second before fading. I turned to where Steelstrike left and the trail my bike left. I swung my sword and a small gust of wind swept over the trail a mile away, covering it in sand. I turned back towards the other part. “Now, we wait.” “I wasn’t going to let you near my friends.” I spoke as I gripped my sword. The snake hissed in anger and pulled two scimitars from his back and gripped in both hands. “I’m going to ssslice you in half!” He hissed and sprinted forward. I raised my sword and blocked both of his from coming down. He pulled the left sword away and swung for my mid-section. I pushed the other sword away and brought mine down to block the other. I didn’t see the right sword come back quick until I felt pain shoot through my left arm as it struck it. I gritted my teeth, pushed that sword away, slashed him across the chest and gave him a hard kick pushing him away. He spun around falling back and I ducked as his tail went right over my head by an inch. The snake got his balance just as I did. He hissed in rage and looked to the stationary rezythes. “Don’t jussst ssstand there, ATTACK!!!” He ordered. The warriors nodded and charged at me. I jumped back, dodging one of their swipes. I drew my blaster with my left hand and fired. One of them went down hard but that still left four more. “I’m going to have to finish this fast.” I muttered. I sheathed my sword and took out the orange gem. I pulled than handle out, placed the gem in and slammed it back in. "Honor Ground." My gauntlets formed and I charged forward. I attacked the closest one and it went skidding across the ground. However, it still stood with what looked like half the damage. Confused, I looked at my gauntlets. I don’t know what happened to them. All the color was gone from them and were dull grey. The gems in the middle had lost their luster and almost resembled rocks. “What the heck happened to them?” I muttered. I didn’t have time think when the same rezythe attacked again. I brought my fists up and blocked the sword. I growled, brought my fist back and slammed it straight into its chest. The resulting hit shattered the foot soldier to pieces. I was panting when I heard something and jumped out the way. The snake’s swords brought down where I was. I stood back up, drew my blaster and kept firing at him. He stood back up and spun on his heel. While he spun, he spread his arms to the side and used his swords to deflect the shots. I kept firing until I spotted movement. I stopped, pointed left and fired again, taking out an approaching rezythe. I looked back and saw the obsidian approaching with grin, showing his fangs. “Looks like you’re ssstill hurting from the beating you took. That’sss going to make thisss all the more sssweeter.” He hissed. I glanced around and saw the remaining rezythes surrounding me, swords drawn. I’m breathing hard and my left arm was killing me. I don’t know what’s wrong with my gauntlets and I’m running out of ideas. Before anyone of us could move, something flew around one of the rezythes and bound its arms to its sides. We looked at what ensnared it. “A rope?” I spoke. The rope was snapped back and rezythe was pulled onto its back and dragged across the ground. It was pulled a couple more feet until it stopped at a figure’s hooves. The figure was a stallion with a light brown coat wearing brown jeans, a white t-shirt and a brown sleeveless opened vest. His face was covered by the Stetson. The captured rezythe began thrashing a bit in the rope. The figure looked down at it. He reached behind his back and took out a tomahawk with his right hand. He twirled it a bit and brought it down on its chest. The rezythe stopped struggling and went limp before imploding into dust. We all looked at what had just happened. I stared at the figure and the words came out. “Braeburn, is that you?!” I spoke out. The figure looked up and I knew those green eyes and big grin of his anywhere. “Howdy Echo, long time no see.”