//------------------------------// // Episode 12 - The Prediction // Story: Kamen Rider Bass // by Noise //------------------------------// “There’s something I wanted to ask you, Rewind.” “Hmm?” “I know about you wanting to leave major events largely untouched, but have you ever considered alternative options?” “What exactly do you mean?” “Diamond Tiara is the reason Chrysalis is able to carry out her plan in the first place, right? Have you ever considered… Have you ever considered just killing Diamond Tiara outright?” “...I would be lying if I said that didn’t cross my mind. But killing Diamond Tiara would change things drastically and would only delay the inevitable. Chrysalis would find another way while avoiding the Riders, and I can’t afford to wait that long.” “I guess that’s true.” “Is that all you called to ask me?” “Depends. Do you intend to answer my question about Vinyl yet?” “No, not at all.” “How can you be straightforward and still talk in that happy little tone?” “Insanity? Who knows. I’m pretty sure there’s some psychological diagnosis for it. You can figure that out on your own time if you want.” “Hmph. Whatever. Until the next time we meet in person.” --- “Ugh, ya gotta stop callin’ me over at friggin’ nine in the morning Twilight.” “I’m sorry Bolt, but I did offer to let you stay the night the last two nights.” Twilight shrugged as she ushered the tired man inside her house. “Fair enough. What’s up this time?” Twilight sat at her small dining room table and opened a notebook, thumbing to a marked page full of notes. “It’s something I’ve been looking into for some time. I haven’t spoken to anyone else about this. I don’t know if anyone else in G.U.A.R.D. has been looking into this as well. You may have heard about the security breach from the Doctor. A lot of information was stolen and deleted. Suffice it to say, it’s caused a lot of problems. All information relating to the other Drivers was deleted which, as you know, has made dealing with the other Riders a bit difficult.” Bolt sat down across from Twilight. “Yeah, I got the basic gist of that. To be fair, dealing with Noise and Flight shouldn’t be too hard. That new guy already proved he’s more than a match for Flight. Noise doesn’t seem particularly threatening either. The only real problem so far has been getting anything on Music.” Twilight’s eyes were glued to her notes as she listened. “I guess. We can talk about them later though, they’re not important as far as this is concerned.” She tore herself away from her notes, looking him dead in the eyes. “Remember, you can’t repeat any of this to the others.” He nodded before she continued. “There was an event before the security breach that I believe is related. As you know, our tracker is able to detect large spikes of specific types of energy, namely, the types that Changelings and our Drivers emit upon transformation. A few days before the security breach, we got a reading. It was a massive surge of energy, bigger than any of the spikes we’ve seen so far. It happened at a public storage facility in Middle Manehattan. An investigation was carried out, but nothing was found. I checked the area myself not too long after arriving here as well. There was nothing of interest to be found. No employees were present at the time and the camera footage revealed nothing out of the ordinary.” “Do you know what it could have come from?” “That’s just the thing. We have no idea. The Drivers weren’t exactly finished at the time, so it couldn’t have been them, and we know for a fact that it wasn’t from the Changeling Queen. There’s also rumors that something else was stolen during the security breach. Something that was apparently only known about by very few people.” “What was it?” Twilight sighed in frustration. “I have no idea. I couldn’t exactly go prodding for that information either. I’m not quite high enough in the ladder to get that kind of information on request. Call it a little bit of paranoia, but I believe these events to be related to Rewind.” Bolt placed his arms on the table and rest his head on top. “And you still have nothing on this guy right?” She grabbed a tab in her small notebook and flipped to a page, revealing only five lines of notes. “No. Nothing. He rarely answers me and I still have no clue what his goal is. All I know so far is that he hasn’t lied to me yet. He claimed that Vinyl Scratch wasn’t Noise, and so far there has been decent proof that she has nothing to do with this.” “By the way, what about Music? You mentioned that there was a handful of people it could have been that day. You ever look into that?” Twilight flipped to another tabbed section in her notebook, revealing two pages full of notes. A lot of the writing appeared to be crossed out except for a small section near the bottom. “As a matter of fact, I did. So far, everyone has checked out clean. However, there is one that’s bothering me a bit. A student by the name of Lyra Heartstrings. Her story seems a little shaky, but there’s no evidence at the moment that proves she’s lying to me. I also took a closer look into her previous school records.” Bolt raised an eyebrow. “Jeez man, where do you find the time to do all this investigation anyway?” She blushed a little. “Well, we have the resources to do so and this is very important. I prefer to be as thorough as possible. Besides, it’s a little exciting to be able to investigate like this. If you’re interested, I have plenty of mystery novels back at home that I could get sent over if you’d like to read. Personally, I prefer the works of Cona-” He shook his head. “Naw I’m good. Continue though.” She looked down, a little saddened, but quickly returned to serious mode. “Oh, I see. Sorry. Like I was saying, I looked into her school records. She has a consistent history of registering for next semester’s classes as soon as they are available and has shown to be a grade ‘A’ student in just about every class she’s taken. This year, it seems she hasn’t attempted to register. I was able to ask her about that. She said she was considering taking a small break and skipping a semester. I find that odd as this semester would technically be her last. I don’t completely buy the idea that she would decide to take a break when she’s one more semester away from graduation. At the moment, she’s also the only remaining suspect. I’m going to keep close contact with her until I can confirm for sure whether or not she is Music.” “Seems like a bit of a stretch to be basing that on school records. What if she just really wanted a break? Maybe personal issues?” She closed her notebook and pushed it to the side. “True. But she’s the only lead I have right now. Until I believe that she’s 100% unrelated, I’m going to stay close to her. That’s all I have right now.” Bolt slumped his head down on her table. “Okay. Can I sleep on your couch for awhile? I don’t usually wake up in the morning and I’m still kinda tired.” She frowned slightly. “Go ahead. I’m going to do a little more investigating. Hopefully Rainbow Dash will show up today. I’m still a little offput about the last message Rewind sent me. I’ll give you a call if anything turns up.” Bolt made his way to her couch, flopped face first in to it, and gave Twilight a last second thumbs up before passing out. She rolled her eyes and took a small glance at a stack of DVDs. The stack contained various kung fu and japanese superhero films. “At least he has some good ideas.” --- “It should be enough to last you for today. The truck comes tomorrow. I’ll have a little talk with Suri about not reporting this to me. Other than that, you should be good to go. Have a good shift, Minty.” Rarity left the front counter having briefed the current manager on shift. She had her purse and was ready to leave when she noticed Fluttershy sitting at a table in uniform, staring at her phone. She looked miserable, her hand resting on her forehead and a long frown adorning her face. “Good afternoon, Fluttershy. How are you today?” Fluttershy jumped slightly, glancing up at Rarity and then back to her phone. “O-oh. Hi Rarity. I’m fine.” She solemnly replied. Rarity sat down across from her, setting her purse to her side. “Fluttershy, dear, what’s the matter?” Fluttershy glanced up from her phone, quickly putting on an a slightly exaggerated smile that belied her prior concern. “Wh-what do you mean? I’m just playing with my phone a little before my shift.” Rarity gave her a deadpan glare. “You look like a child who just got grounded.” Her expression softened. “Is this about your friend?” Fluttershy’s fake smile quickly faded. “Yes.” “Do you want to talk about it?” Fluttershy looked down apprehensively at her phone for a moment. “Y-yes, but I only have five minutes.” “Make it quick then. Don’t worry, Suri’s not working today.” She took a deep breath and turned her phone towards Rarity. “Rainbow Dash wants to meet me tomorrow at a party at Cheesy Cheese’s.” Rarity listened as she read the text message, lazily mumbling the words to herself. “She wants your mother to show up as well? You think she’s finally going to take your mother up on her offer?” “Mm-mm…” Fluttershy shook her head. “Rainbow’s been trying to get us to adopt someone else for months.” “What?” “She’s a sweet little girl named Scootaloo. It started happening about a month or two after Rainbow stopped shutting herself in her room. Every time I brought up the offer of...’adoption’, she would refuse and tell me to adopt Scootaloo instead.” She sighed and buried her face in hands. “I just wish I could get Rainbow Dash to talk with me about her father. She refuses to acknowledge his death and I’m worried about her, Rarity. I never know where she is and I’m so worried…” “Excuse me, sorry for listening in, but you said Rainbow Dash. You mean that one chick with the rainbow hair setup, right?” The two looked to their side, finding the fiery haired woman from yesterday sitting at a table nearby. Rarity gave her a slight scowl, remembering the violence she displayed before. Fluttershy stared quietly at her for moment before responding. “Y-yes. Do you know her too?” The woman shook her head. “No, but I’ve seen her a few times. She always at the graveyard around this time.” Fluttershy sat up immediately and her eyes shot open. “W-What!?” “She’s at the same spot every time.” Fluttershy continued to stare at her in disbelief. Rarity looked at her wristwatch and gave Fluttershy a quick, light swat on the shoulder. “Fluttershy, your shift starts soon.” Fluttershy quickly shook her head and got up from the table, thanking both Rarity and the other woman as she made her way towards the front counter. Rarity turned towards the woman at the other table. “You better not cause any more trouble in here. Next time you will not be allowed back in here, do you understand?” The woman saluted, “Sorry. That won’t happen again.” Rarity left, feeling satisfied by the woman’s response. --- “Tomorrow’s the big day dad…wish me luck…” Rainbow Dash said, kneeling in front of a tombstone. She remained silent for minutes, spending most of her time fighting back the urge to cry. “Scootaloo deserves a good family… She reminds me of myself a little bit.” She went back to being silent, as tears started forming in her eyes. She took a few deep breaths and wiped her eyes. “I know I haven’t done much to make you proud dad… I really screwed up with Fluttershy too… but… but it’s hard… it’s hard to keep a straight face because every time someone even mentions you…” She found her eyes welling up again with greater force. She took a few more deep breaths and furiously wiped her eyes. “I promise you, I’m going to make you proud. I’ll make sure Scootaloo gets adopted. I don’t care how. Once I’m done, I’m going straight for the Wonderbolts. I know I can do it… you… you always said I could get in, no sweat, right? Crowds’ll be cheerin’ my name in no time… I… I just gotta finish one thing first… no crying, I promise. I’ll be strong, just like you…” She wiped her eyes again, trying desperately to stop the flow. “There’ll be time for that after I get Scootaloo a home…” She shook her head and started using her sleeve to dry out her eyes. After her first run, she caught a glance of someone standing at the cemetery entrance. She ran her sleeve through her eyes one more time and took another breath, steeling herself before she stood. She recognized the person once she got a better look and begrudgingly made her way towards her. “You have some serious explaining to do, Rainbow Dash.” Rarity drove through light traffic towards through the streets of Upper Manehattan with Rainbow Dash slouching down in the passenger seat, arms folded. The only sound breaking the silence was that of the air conditioning keeping the interior cool. Searching for a suitable place to park, Rarity finally decided on a nice restaurant with a dining patio. She parked and turned off her car, relieved to see Rainbow cooperating and exiting as well. She had threatened to call Fluttershy, and surprisingly enough, Rainbow agreed to tag along. After they placed their orders,  the waiter looked more than thankful to return inside and leave the heavy atmosphere surrounding them. They sipped their drinks in silence for some time until their food came. They remained quiet as they ate.. Rarity’s phone vibrated as she ate. She checked it quickly, seeing a message from Fluttershy saying she had been let off earlier than expected. Rarity took a quick trip to the restroom to text her back in secret, alerting Fluttershy to the current situation and advising her to drive over but keep herself out of Rainbow’s sight. After returning and finishing dinner, the two continued to sit without speaking for what was almost a full hour. Feeling her phone vibrate again and assuming it to be Fluttershy, Rarity finally decided to break the silence. “So, would you like to explain yourself some time today?” Rainbow stared slightly off to the side. “Explain what?” “Oh, well, where should we start? How about we start at the part where your best friend was worried sick about you having issues accepting the facts and yet every day you’re at his grave leaving him flowers? Something seems a little out of place here.” “Tch, it’s none of your damn business.” Rarity leaned forward in her chair as she entered interrogation mode. “It is indeed, my damn business, and frankly you owe Fluttershy an apology and an explanation as to what exactly it is you’re trying to pull.” Rainbow flinched slightly, opening her mouth to say something back but was unable to find any words. “So, is the whole getting angry at the mention of your dad thing just an act? Honestly, I’m trying to understand why, but it just doesn’t make any sense to me.” Rainbow slowly clenched her fist under the table. “Is it just some excuse to push Fluttershy out of your life? And what’s this about a little girl named, Scootaloo? What does she ha-” Rainbow’s fist emerged out from under the table. She was about to slam it down, but stopped just barely above the table, shaking in place before she took a deep breath and let it drop gently. “Leave her out of this, alright. She…” She sighed. “Scootaloo never even had a family. She grew up in there… it’s not fair… she’s watched kids come and go every year and it’s just not fair. I know I’ve done a shitty job of it so far, but I’ve been trying to get Fluttershy and her mom to take Scoots in. She deserves a good family. I know they’re worried about me, but I’ll be fine. It’s just that… I… I don’t like bringing him up…” Rarity began to soften up. “You mean, your father?” Rainbow started to look down at the table, using her hair to hide her eyes. “Y-yeah… Whenever I start to think about h-him… I… I…” She quickly put her hands up to cover her eyes. “I… I promised him I wouldn’t…” She took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “I know it hasn’t been helping my case or Scootaloo’s, but Fluttershy just keeps bringing it up and I know she’s worried about me but I… I just can’t and then I yell at her cuz that’s the only thing I can think of to make her stop and it just makes her worry more and makes things worse…” “I think I’m starting to understand.” She allowed Rainbow dry her eyes and calm herself down. “So that text you sent me. That was about adopting Scootaloo?” A familiar voice asked. Rainbow nearly leapt out of her seat, turning to find Fluttershy standing behind her. “F-Fluttershy? I-I thought… What are you doing here?” “But what about you? Where will you go?” Rainbow was still too shocked to respond. “You can’t stay at the orphanage forever.” “I-I know.” She blurted out, finally able to speak. “I know that. I… I haven’t given up on my dream Fluttershy. I’m going to become a Wonderbolt. That’s my plan. I just want to help Scoots first.” Fluttershy seemed a little worried. “Are you sure Rainbow? What if you don’t make it?” “I will. I know I can… And he knows I can too. I’m gonna make dad proud.” Rainbow responded with absolute confidence. Fluttershy’s worry faded and she nodded back at her childhood friend. Rarity cut into the conversation, “If you really want to help Scootaloo, there are better ways to go about it Rainbow Dash. I could even help you if you want.” “Really?” “Of course, dear. But let’s discuss this somewhere more comfortable.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “We’re starting to draw attention.” She gave Rainbow her car keys. “Go ahead and relax in the car, I’ll be right there as soon as I pay. Just follow me to my place, Fluttershy. It’ll be a short drive.” --- Rarity groaned at a traffic light. “Of course I get this kind of luck right after I say we’ll get back in no time.” As if sensing her frustration, the light turned green. “Let’s hope we don’t have any more bad luck.” Not long after crossing the intersection, glass and debris abruptly burst from a tall skyscraper ahead. Rarity was able to slam the breaks and avoid driving into the falling debris. Rarity was panicking as the debris was soon followed by a small stream of people escaping through the front door screaming. Rainbow Dash began unbuckling her seatbelt. “Go drive somewhere safe, I’ll take care of this.” “You can’t be serious! I can’t believe had almost forgotten about this, Armored Blitz, thing. You could get killed Rainbow!” “But it’s okay to let someone else die, right?” Rainbow was about to open her door, but Rarity quickly reached over and grabbed Rainbow’s right arm. “I-I never said that. I… why call yourself, Blitz? Why can’t you just give that thing to someone else? Why do you keep risking your life like this!?” Rainbow looked back over at the skyscraper for a moment, and sat back in her chair relaxed, arms folded across her chest. “Because I know he’s watching over me, keeping me safe.” Another section of the building wall violently broke, causing more debris to come crashing down into the street, just in front of Rarity’s car. Rarity covered her head and shrieked. “I’ll do whatever I have to do to make sure no one else has to go through what I did. There’s no way I’d force this thing on someone else.” Rarity looked back and forth between the building and Rainbow Dash. Reluctantly, she let go of her arm and allowed Rainbow to leave the car. Rainbow quickly got out and transformed. “Rarity, wait for me at the cafe with Fluttershy. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” Rarity nodded as Rainbow took off into the sky, flying into the recent hole in the building to chase after the monster inside. Fluttershy watched from behind Rarity’s car, trying to call her. As she watched Rainbow transform, she turned pale. Rarity turned and drove off, while Fluttershy didn’t move. “Oh no…” --- Vinyl set a book down on the floor and sat down on the beanbag in the living room while Lyra prepared some food in her kitchen. After having made herself comfortable on the beanbag, she looked over at the kitchen. “So, I know you told me yesterday, but please explain to me again why you’re trying to stay close to the chick who’s after us?” Lyra calmly replied as she worked in front of her stovetop. “Have you ever heard the expression, keep your friends close and your enemies closer? I’m doing just that. She doesn’t know we’re enemies, so keeping her close could be really useful in finding that woman making all the Changelings.” “Yeah, bu-” Vinyl froze for a moment, just now realizing that this Twilight person could also have information on that woman. “Yeah… yeah I guess that’s true. But what if she figures us out?” “Instead of worrying about that, you should just focus on not getting figured out in the first place. Much easier.” Vinyl’s head went limp into the beanbag. “Ugh, you’re way too chill about this, Lyra.” “And you’re way too stressed. That’s the sign of a guilty person. Ever performed in any school plays or anything when you were in high school? Same thing. Just like assume the role of a character in a play. Except the character is you and in this play you’re completely innocent.” “That’s a stupid way of thinking, dude.” She grabbed her book and opened it to the first page. “Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention, that Twilight chick gave me a picture of some other chick who apparently is some kind of super strong Changeling that we should avoid or something. Remind me to show you when we’re eating lunch.” “Okay, first of all, you should tell me about everything because you never told me you already met her. If she told you anything important, I think I should know too.” “Sorry. I’ll tell you everything when lunch is ready.” Lyra left her stove and leaned over the counter, giving Vinyl a coy look. “And second, I don’t think you’d want to mention any of that while we’re eating because Twilight’s going to be eating with us.” Vinyl slammed her book shut, placing it on the floor as she shot up. “What!?” “Yup. I invited for lunch and so we could get some information out of her and get to know her as well.” Vinyl fell back down the beanbag, running a hand up through her hair. “Aw jeez dude, ya gotta tell me these things ahead of time! That’s really important man!” Lyra removed herself from the counter and went back to her work. “It’s not even that big a deal. Just stay calm, be nice, engage in nice conversation and everything will be fine. You can ask her about the other ‘you’ later if you want. She’ll be here soon.” Vinyl picked her book back up, opening back to her page. “I’ll stay for the food, but you do the talking.” Lyra leapt over the kitchen counter and sat down it from the other side. “Kay. I still think you’re overreacting. What are you reading?” “A book. I like reading.” Vinyl quietly answered, her face still buried behind the book. “I meant, what book. Books have titles you know.” A knock came from the door before Vinyl could respond. Lyra rolled her eyes. “Whatever little miss self conscious. Our guest is here. Try to not be so anti-social around her.” She slid off the countertop and happily strode towards the door. The woman behind the door politely bowed. “Good afternoon, Lyra Heartstrings. Thank you again for inviting me over.” “No need to be so formal. Come on in.” Lyra stood back and ushered her in, closing the door behind her. “Sorry if the living room looks really empty. I don’t have a roommate and I don’t really need much. Also, a friend of mine will be joining us.” Twilight stopped when she caught sight of Vinyl, who was sneaking a quick peek over her book. Not only was Lyra a prime suspect, but Vinyl, the person who she initially suspected as Noise, was apparently a friend of hers. Lyra walked past her on her way back to the kitchen. “Lunch will be ready in a few minutes.” Twilight politely waved. “Hello again Vinyl. I didn’t expect to be seeing you again so soon.” Vinyl poked her head up momentarily. “Y-yeah. Sup. How’s it goin’?” Twilight took a seat nearby at the dinner table, preferring a chair over a beanbag. “I’ve been doing well. I’m enjoying Manehattan so far, except for the recent monster attacks.” Vinyl casually nodded and finally managed to tear herself away from her book. “Oh, by the way. Were you able to find out anything about that other me? You know, from that whole Town Hall thing?” “Oh. No, sorry. To be honest, I haven’t done any investigating into that matter. I’m afraid I have to apologize, but I’m currently investigating another matter and until that’s been taken care of, the mystery of the ‘other you’ is a low priority. Unless of course, she happens to show up again.” Vinyl paused and then sat upright, closing her book around her finger. “Okay, here’s the thing, I’ve seen her. She’s showed up twice so far at the Starry Brew cafe where we first met. I dunno how she does it, but every time I try to get near her, she just vanishes. She even knew when I was gonna get a text message! Second time I saw her, she was counting down from outside with her phone out, I tried to catch her, but she vanished and right on cue I get a text message. That might not be a problem for you, but this is startin’ creep me out.” “Odd. Are you saying she vanished into thin air before you could get close to her?” Twilight asked while taking a quick glance at Vinyl’s book cover. “Kinda. The first time, she walked out of sight and when I went outside to follow her, she was already gone. Second time, when I left the cafe and ran around to the window, she was already gone. “I see. So both times, you never actually saw her leave. But if what you say is accurate, she was still able to completely hide herself out in the open in less than a minute. She was outside both times, correct?” “Yeah.” Vinyl confirmed. “I see. So we most likely wouldn’t be able to catch her on any nearby cameras. Unfortunately, you haven’t really given me any real usable information, but I will make investigating her a higher priority.” Vinyl sighed and flopped back down on the beanbag, returning to her book. Twilight quietly observed Vinyl for a minute, looking back at the book once more. “I’m sorry, I don’t mean to disturb you, I couldn’t help but notice you’re reading ‘The Lunar Trigger’. I take it you’ve read the other books in the series?” Vinyl immediately perked up, sitting up and lowering her book again. “Yeah! I have a bit of a thing for mystery novels. Have you read the first two in the series yet?” Twilight smiled. “Yes. How far are you into ‘The Lunar Trigger’?” “I’ve just started. My brother found it and gave it to me yesterday. It’s been hard to get ahold of this.” “Ooh, nice. Sadly, it got a limited print, so copies are hard to come by. Oh I would love to talk about it, but I don’t want to spoil anything for you. You’re going to love it. He ended that trilogy spectacularly.” “I’m looking forward to it. Like, so far part two, ‘Heated Metal’, didn’t blow my mind like I was hoping it would. ‘The Cyclone Joker’ is still my favorite so far. At least until I finish this.” “Oh don’t worry, part two was a lot of setup for this. You’re going to love it. I thought the same thing too at first, but ‘The Lunar Trigger’ is definitely that finale you’re expecting.” “Dude, how sad were you when Phi-” Lyra began placing plates on dinner table, catching the attention of her guests. “I hate to break up the book club, but lunch is ready. I made spaghetti. I made a lot so I could reheat some later, so don’t worry about eating it all.” She left and returned with a large pot full of spaghetti. “Oh, thank you. Not what I was expecting, but it definitely looks delicious.” Hours had flown by, the group losing themselves in conversation long after lunch. Vinyl had long since forgotten her fear of talking to Twilight and started to find a friend. The fun hit an abrupt end when Twilight’s phone rang. She glanced at her phone and put a small distance between herself and the other two. “Yes? ...What!?” Her outburst brought a cloud of silence over Lyra and Vinyl. “Yes. I’ll head over right away.” She put her phone back in her pocket, and quickly bowed to a confused Lyra and Vinyl. “I’m sorry, I have to go. Something extremely important just came up. Thank you two again for the hospitality.” Twilight left and doubled her speed once she was out the door. “You think there’s a Changeling going nuts out there right now?” Vinyl asked, looking out the window apprehensively. Lyra sighed. “Yeah. Most likely. But we’re going to have to leave this one up to Twilight and the other Riders. Best to keep suspicion off ourselves for now. Besides, we’re after the one that matters. They can handle all the small fries. That’s what you wanted too right?” “Y-yeah.” She slowly pulled back from the window, “They can handle it.” --- Twilight arrived on the scene a rental car, parking a short distance away to keep it safe. A window burst in the skyscraper about twenty stories up. She was able to see three figures falling from the it. “Just hang tight! I’ll come back for ya!” Rainbow called out to a portly man flailing about in the air, now plunging towards the earth alongside a pig-like Changeling. Rainbow ignored the man’s screams and pleas for help, focusing her attention on finishing off the Changeling. “And I’ll even do it in style! Time for the Fantastic-” She paused in the air with a beat of her wings and promptly propelled herself down, spinning once, extending her leg out and slamming it it in the Changeling’s stomach, sending it down at high speed. Rainbow pursued it, readying her blades as she continued accelerating towards the ground. “- Filly -” Rainbow sliced through the stomach of the Changeling and continued unhindered with her collision course towards the street. Flipping quickly to right herself, she landed with no problem crossing her arms across her shoulder in preparation, leaping up with a wing powered jump and slicing upward in an arc as the Changeling was about to crash into her. “- Flash!” She watched as the Changeling created a green explosion upon impact with the ground. Like last time, a normal human man was lying on the ground in pain where the monster once was. Placing both feather blades in her right hand, she sped back up in the air, catching the falling man who had just cleared the ten story mark. Rainbow gently floated back down to street level and placed the man back on his feet so he could flee screaming. She rolled her eyes, placed her feather blades back in her wings and approached the small, shallow crater where the former Changeling laid. She carried him to the sporting goods store across the street and gently sat him down next to the front door where he’d be easily noticeable. “We meet again, Rainbow Dash.” Rainbow spun around. The purple haired woman she fought before was walking down the street towards her. “Tch, you again? Lemme guess, you here for round two?” Twilight held her hands up, “N-no, I’m not here to fight. I’d like to ex-” “I’m surprised they didn’t send the big guy after me again. You still mad about last time, huh?” “N-no. Just listen, I only want t-” “Spare me the bull. I’m not in the mood for it today. Hope you shaped up after last time, -” Rainbow removed two feather from her wings, running her hand across both of them to harden them into blades. ”- cuz I ain't screwin’ around this time.” Twilight reluctantly put her open hands in front of her waist, causing the emblem on her Driver to change. “Fine. Since you refuse to be diplomatic.”A dark cloud shrouded her whole body and she emerged, transformed. Rainbow charged towards Twilight, leaping up for an aerial attack. Twilight readied herself to block, her form was much more refined than last time. Before striking, Rainbow quickly propelled herself to the ground with her wings in an attempt to fake her opponent out, crouching down, “Still too easy!” She slashed out with both blades, only to be blocked by Twilight’s staff. Rainbow was shoved back but propelled herself forward and stopped in front of Twilight, launching a kick at her stomach. Twilight reacted swiftly, sidestepping the kick, grabbing her foot and sweeping the other, sending Rainbow to the pavement. Twilight attempted to follow up, raising her foot to slam it down into Rainbow’s stomach, but she was able to roll away and get back to her feet. “Is this a joke? You’re completely different from the last time. How’d you get this good so fast?” Twilight raised her staff, pointing it at Rainbow Dash. “To be honest, I didn’t actually do any training at all. But I do have a photographic memory.” She fired a few blasts, all of which Rainbow was able to dodge while closing the distance. Once she was close enough, Rainbow lunged forward with a blade. Twilight held her staff out to stop the attack. She quickly punted Rainbow in the stomach, followed Rainbow as she recoiled back and jabbed her with the back end of the staff and finished with a blast from the staff. “Thanks to an idea from a good friend, I’ve since been watching and memorising techniques from various martial arts videos. I’m not exactly athletic, so I can’t perform most of these techniques normally. But in this state, it’s not a problem.” Twilight said, starting to feel more confident in herself now that she finally managed to land a shot. “So now you’re just getting a free ride off your belt and someone else’s skill? Alright, no problem. I ain’t about to lose to someone like you.” She placed the feather blade in her left hand back amongst her wings and readied her gun. “I have someone I need to talk too as soon possible. So let’s finish this quick.” She raised her gun, prompting Twilight to raise her staff in retaliation. Rainbow fired off a few shots while making her way towards Twilight. Twilight shot back with her staff, but was forced to start blocking shots after being hit by three. Rainbow raced in with a slash hoping to capitalize on Twilight’s situation, but found her attack blocked again. Rainbow backflipped away with a flap of her wings and quickly propelled herself towards Twilight. Twilight was able to block the kick, though the force pushed her back a small distance. However, she was not expecting Rainbow to fire a few rounds into her chest shortly after the kick. Rainbow jumped off of Twilight’s staff and went in for another dive kick. Twilight readied herself to counter, but was caught off guard again when Rainbow completely halted herself before impact and fired more shots at Twilight. “What’s the matter, can’t keep up?” Twilight stayed calm and prepared herself for Rainbow’s next attack. Rainbow went in with the same dive kick attempt, and again, stopped herself before the impact and shot Twilight again. Rainbow flew back and flew forward quickly, chasing after the stumbling Twilight with her blade ready. Twilight mentally cursed herself for not considering her opponent would pull the same trick twice as she quickly held her staff in front of her, “Half Shield!” A purple energy wall fired out from Twilight, pushing out a few feet in front of her and collided with the overzealous Rainbow Dash. Before Rainbow had time to push herself off, Twilight fired a beam from her staff through the shield, easily shattering it and blasting Rainbow to the street. Rainbow quickly got back to her feet, but her fatigue was clear from the sound of her breathing. “Think you’re so hot cuz you’re doin’ a bit better!?” She holstered her gun, leapt up, and flew straight for Twilight. Once she was close enough to Twilight, Rainbow broke from her straight forward course and began rapidly looping around Twilight. A clear whirlwind was starting to form around Twilight and she was abruptly thrust helplessly into the air, realizing Rainbow’s intent much too late. Rainbow skid to a stop along the ground and shot into the air with a strong flap of her wings. “Let’s cool you off with a Rainblow Dry!” She accentuated her last word by spinning in place and slamming her foot down into Twilight’s stomach, sending Twilight to the ground. Twilight was still conscious after the impact, but was no longer able to hold on to her transformation afterward. “Primal Spin!” Rainbow paused for a moment, hearing the voice as well and looked up towards the sky. Before she had any time to react, she was hit and slammed against the skyscraper wall. The force the the attack and the following impact was enough to force Rainbow out of her transformation. Rainbow stumbled forward a little and fell back against the wall, using it for support. Twilight watched a new Rider stand up where Rainbow was once standing. It started to approach Rainbow. “A-another Rider? C-Claw?” The Rider was clad in a brown armor. Two small white fins with a wing-like motif extended from the back of it’s head. The front of it’s mask was white, with two large solid golden brown eyes and a small beak sticking out where a mouth would be. It’s hands had sharp pointed, yellow fingertips and it’s boots ended with multiple claw like protrusions. It wore a belt with a large brown circular buckle that appeared to have three red scratch marks across it. “Dash, are you alright?” It asked in a rough female voice as it gently grabbed Rainbow by the shoulder with her left hand. Rainbow looked up, still grimacing from the pain. “G-Gilda? Issat you? I-I’m okay.” “Good.” The brown Rider grimly replied. She pulled her right arm back and slammed it straight into Rainbow’s chest, piercing the skin and almost burying it’s whole hand inside. Rainbow’s eyes shot open, her mouth following suit, though the only thing that came out was blood. “Sorry, Dashie, I don’t need you anymore. Should’a just stayed outta my way.” The Rider wrenched her hand out and shook some of the blood off, letting Rainbow fall to the floor. Rainbow threw up a small glob of blood before impact. Twilight watched in horror, helpless to do anything in her current state. From the distance a loud shriek was heard. “No!” A panicked Fluttershy screamed as she came racing toward Rainbow at full speed. “Heh. Enjoy your little pity party.” The rider placed the bottom of her palm on the edge of the belt buckle and slid it down, ‘erasing’ the scratch marks and undoing her transformation, revealing a woman slightly older than Rainbow Dash. She grabbed the furry linings of her leather jacket and gave them a quick tug forward as she started to casually walk away, “I’m outta here.” Fluttershy fell to her knees at the feet of Rainbow's broken body. Dash's gaping chest wound was still bleeding profusely from Gilda's devastating blow. Fluttershy caressed Dashie's face with her fingers, hoping to gently revive her fallen friend. But when she looked in her eyes, there was no sign of the brash and sarcastic companion she once knew. Her gaze was faded and cold as Fluttershy's tears dripped slowly onto the her blank expression. Fluttershy couldn't bring herself to accept that the vibrant and defiant girl who always had a comment; always had a smug and confident reaction to anything was silenced forever in a matter of seconds. She slowly began to grow angry, gritting her teeth. Her head violently turned to gaze on the backside of Gilda. Feeling her rage reach a peak, Fluttershy grabbed Rainbow Dash’s Driver and pulled it off, now putting it on herself. Remembering Rainbow’s demonstration, Fluttershy grabbed the wings on the belt buckle and wrenched them to the side, locking them in place and transforming. Not wasting a moment, Fluttershy charged after Gilda screaming. Gilda stopped in place, lazily turning around as she heard footsteps approaching. “I’ll kill you!” Unable to react in time, Gilda was tackled to the ground. The armor around Fluttershy started turning a bright gold as she shoved her hand against Gilda’s neck. “How could you kill her!? She was your friend!” Gilda attempted to reach for her Driver, only for Fluttershy to intercept with her knee, pressing it against the ground to her side with great force. Gilda was left with only one hand desperately trying in vain to wrench the emotionally distressed Rider’s hand from crushing her throat in. Twilight had finally recovered enough to move. She ran towards the two immediately. “No! Don’t do it.” “Bring her back!” Fluttershy screamed as she reached for her pistol she now possessed with her transformation and pressed it against Gilda’s forehead. “Bring Rainbow back or I’ll… I’ll…” Twilight grabbed Fluttershy’s shoulder, tugging lightly. “Don’t do it. Killing her won’t bring her back.” “B-but…” Fluttershy’s grip started loosening, allowing Gilda to breathe. “Just put the gun down.” Her grip on Gilda started to loosen more, her other arm falling to her side. She reluctantly pulled the wings on the Driver up and dropped her transformation. Her face was still drenched in tears. Gilda quickly took her chance, sliding her legs out from under Fluttershy, kicking her off and scrambling to her feet. She ran away, immediately darting between two buildings to get out of sight as fast as possible. Twilight wanted to pursue the woman, but decided to stay and console Fluttershy. As Fluttershy cried her heart out, Twilight suddenly remembered something that made her shudder. Do not forget to take the Flight Driver before you leave. It wasn’t hard to get it back. Fluttershy gladly handed it over when Twilight asked.. --- “I’m a little concerned. Why did you ask to meet again so soon? It’s not a good idea t-” “What the hell! Did you know that was going to happen!?” “Please wait until I close the door to start yelling at me. I’d prefer not to draw attention. What are you talking about? “Did you know Rainbow Dash was going to die!?” “Yes. I did. Why do you ask?” “And you’re completely okay with that!?” “Yes. We’ve been over this before. The Driver will soon be back with the Doctor and his entourage.” “That’s it!? We could have saved her! We could have stopped Gilda. We could have done anything!” “Please calm down.” “Is anyone else going to die!?” “No. Relax.” “How the hell can you be so damn casual about this!?” “Why were you even there in the first place? Is it because you thought Vinyl would be there? If you really want to see why I place Vinyl so high, then just stay near the cafe she hangs out at now and follow her tomorrow. You’ll see what I mean soon.” “...I can’t tell if you’re even human anymore.” “Oh don’t give me any of that. You knew what this was. Everything has be to be the way it is to achieve the desired result.” “You know what? Enjoy your little fake name. It suits you, Rewind.” “Aw, does that mean we’re not on a first name basis anymore?” “You don’t even deserve a real name. Have a good night, you guiltless psychopath.” “...”