//------------------------------// // Shopping and Reunions! // Story: Ancient Warriors: Stag Beetles of Light and Darkness! // by ShogunWriter106 //------------------------------// "Come on! Come on! Come on!" Daguva frantically chanted as he rode throughout Canterlot, "I know I memorized that map! There should be a store that sells sea related merchandise! Whoa, WATCH OUT!" He did a sudden drift turn into an alley to avoid crashing into a fruit cart and knocked down a few trash cans and scared a black cat in the process. A newspaper slapped on to Daguva's face and that was the last straw for him as he immediately slammed on the brakes. The bike's tires screeched as they left skidmarks before the bike finally halted as it crashed into a dumpster flinging the rider out in the process. "AAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Daguva screamed before he landed in a gigantic bag of garbage, spreading smelly debris everywhere in the alley! His head, completely covered in garbage, immediately came out and he shook it to reveal a face of great irritation. "Great! My brother is in need of medical attention." Daguva grunted as he pulled himself out of the heap, threw his helmet off, and pulled out a rotten onion from one of the horns of his crest. "My prototype Jet Ski Bike is trashed!" He stomped to the smoking remains of his vehicle. "And I completely reek of a combination of cabbages, onions, and garlic!" He roared as he kicked a stray tin can as it rocketed into the sky, "Can this day get any worse!?" GRRRRR!! Daguva froze and slowly turned around to find himself face to face with a pack of stray and angry dogs ranging from pitbulls to collies to bulldogs! The dogs growled angrily as they snapped their teeth at the unknown intruder while some of them crouched! "You have got to be kidding me!" Daguva exclaimed as he threw down his arms in exasperation and dashed away out of the ally with the dogs following him in pursuit. After 20 minutes of running (and suffered a few bites), Daguva found himself standing in front of a heavily-aquatic themed building with a neon sign displaying 'Sea Musical Harmony and Aqua Treats.' "This must be the place..." Daguva groaned as he pulled out a fang sticking out from his shoulder armor. He went up to the door and pushed it open as the bell above it jingled. He looked around the place to see it filled with sea-related merchandise. Daguva went to one of the shelves and picked up a seashell necklace to admire it for a moment before returning it to its proper place. He looked around and saw many sea-related items on other shelves ranging from shells to sea food to musical items. "I see seashell necklaces and conch shells, but I can't seem to find any sea cucumbers," Daguva noted. "Can I help you?" A sultry voice spoke up from behind him. "GAH!" Daguva yelped as he spun around to find someone in a orange coat standing behind him. The mare's face is completely covered by the hood making it difficult for him to identify the speaker. The mare in the coat seem to froze for a moment before relaxing somewhat as she held her hands behind her back nervously. "I-is there something I can do to help you?" The Mysterious Mare spoke hesitantly. Daguva raised an eyebrow at the sudden change of tone from the speaker, but decided not to question it, "Yes, Do you happen to have any sea cucumbers by any chance?" "Sea cucumbers? We've just recently received a new crate of them just now," The Mysterious Mare informed as two more mares wearing a light-purple and cerulean coat respectively came in carrying a huge crate. "Come on! Put some back bone into it!" The mare in the light-purple coat grunted as she walked backwards while Daguva and the Mysterious Mare stepped to the side. "I'm trying!" The other mare spoke with a hidden face full of strain as her knees buckled, "But I don't think I can hold on much longer!" Daguva immediately went to the mare's side of the box and managed to grab it when it was about to drop on her foot, "Here, let me get that for you!" The mare in the cerulean coat gasped as she watched both Daguva and her colleague carried the huge crate into the center of the room while she closed the door behind them. When they finished putting down the crate gently, the mare in the mulberry coat removed her hood as her aquamarine streaked purple twin-tailed hair flowed out as she wiped her face free of sweat with her light violet hand. Daguva gasped in recognition when he saw the mare's brilliant mulberry eyes widened in shock as her fish tail and wings unfurled from her coat. "Aria?!" Daguva gaped, "But then that must mean-!" The mysterious mare flapped her hood open to reveal a light brilliant gold face as a puffy two-fringe vivid orange ponytail with yellow streaks fell out with her tail and wings following. The mare's gamboge eyes welled up with tears of joy as she wiped them away at a lively pace. "Adagio?" He gently hugged her as she shook with great joy and relief before his eyes gain a glint of mischief, "Well I see two friends from Kuuga's and my past, but where is the third one?" The mare in cerulean coat tried her best not to snicker (and failed miserably) as Daguva pretended to ignore her as he walked behind her. "I know there are three members in the Dazzlings when my brother and I met them for the first time!" Daguva continued in his fake playful confusion. "There was Adagio..." He pointed to Adagio who only smile as she giggled along in his joke. "Aria..." He continued as he patted Aria's hair who smirked while keeping one eye closed in a playful pout. "...and Sonata." He finished as he pretended to look around the store as the snickering mare started to snort, "I wonder where could she be... Here she is!" Daguva suddenly pulled the hood off the light cerulean mare's face as her straight persain-blue striped artic blue ponytail waved about as he spun her around while she squealed with delight while her wings and tail waved in the air. "Daggy!" Sonata screamed as she hugged him in pure joy as Aria and Adagio joined in on the group hug, "We missed you!" "I missed you too! I'm sure Kuuga will be overjoyed once he sees you!" Daguva stated as he placed her down before clearing his throat, "You do have those sea cucumbers, right?" "Oh! Right! Right! Right! Here we go!" Aria exclaimed as she took out a crowbar and proceeded to pull out the top as it creaked open. Daguva took a whiff as the scent filled the room, "Ah! Just as I remembered it! I'll take 100 of those if you please!" Adagio went to the cash register and started to calculate the total price before a receipt came out and she took it out, "That will be 500 bits..." Daguva managed to pay the right amount before he yelped as he dodged three pairs of suitcases from squashing him. "...and three rooms in your Cube of Infinite Storage." She continued with a soft smile as she kissed him on the cheek, causing him to blush. "What? But? Isn't this your place?" Daguva asked in confusion as he watched the Sirens picked up their luggage and followed them as they walked out of the store while carrying the bag of 100 sea cucumbers. "It was," Aria explained as she locked the door while Sonata placed a 'Sold' Sign in front of it, "But we had to sell it because we were not getting much costumers due to our regrettable history. Only a few came every other day. Today was our last day." "Oh, I see," Daguva muttered as he shouldered the bag, "Come on, we need to go to the Canterlot Library! My brother really needs that medical paste!" "Oh no! What happened? What did you do this time?" Adagio groaned as she facepalmed. "Well... You see... Funny story..." Daguva hesitated as he fiddled with his unoccupied hand and backed up as the Sirens stepped forward with fire in their eyes. "Gotta'Go!" For the second time that day, Daguva ran for his life as he was pursued! "That really happened? The prototype Jet Ski Bike is beyond repair when the Sirens tried to blast you with sonic attack?" A now awake Kuuga asked for confirmation as Sonata continued to wrap the bandages around his head while Sunset did the same to Daguva. After they were tied correctly, Sunset went to her room to write a letter to Princess Luna while Sonata went back to the Cube of Infinite Storage. "Yeah," Daguva confirmed, "Sorry about that..." "Don't be sorry! I'm glad we are rid of that thing! I recently found a few bugs in it that caused it to accelerate too fast!" Kuuga claimed. "So you aren't mad?" Daguva asked. "Nope! In fact I'm glad you both trashed that bike and brought the Dazzlings here!" Kuuga exclaimed. "Now I can really get to work on my projects!" "It's a good thing we gave our reason for helping these three, otherwise Princess Celestia and Sunset wouldn't have let them stay with us!" Daguva pointed out. "You got that right brother!" Kuuga stated as he highfived him, "Although, what were you doing in that elevator that caused it to go crazy like that?" "I was working on this," Daguva said as he picked up a metal coin on the reception's desk. The coin is white on one side and the black on the other with the Kuuga symbol was printed black on the white side and the N-Daguva-Zeba symbol vice versa. "Interesting!" Kuuga noted as he flipped it in the air a bit before catching it, "What's it for?" "You know," Daguva whispered in a harsh tone. "Oh! Oh right! Gotcha'!" Kuuga snapped his fingers in remembrance, "Daguva, you remember our old phrase back when we first arrived here?" "Yeah," Daguva said as he placed his hand on his side of the coin while Kuuga did the same on his, "Are you ready?" Kuuga nodded as they held up the coin into the air as they spoke their oath: We are the Stag Beetles of Light and Darkness! We fight for the safety of our world! If there is ever a cry for help, We will answer in a whirl! The coin glowed with a grey light as it twirled into the air slowly before it copied itself and the copy started to spin rapidly and flew inside a cosmic hole as it closed behind it. "Do you think there maybe someone out there needs help?" Kuuga asked as he removed the bandages from his head. "What do you mean?" Daguva asked as he removed his as well. "There might be a Displaced who doesn't like to fight for a reason," Kuuga explained as he walked to a window and watched the sun go down, "But if they don't want to fight.... Who is going to protect their world? What if we were summoned by someone like that?" Daguva hummed as he tightened his Limiters, "If that time comes, we'll beat some sense into them!" Kuuga nodded as he pulled out the triangular star shaped gem keychain from last night and watched the stars started to twinkle in the sky.