• Published 20th Sep 2018
  • 1,327 Views, 326 Comments

Kamen Rider Justice - RuinQueenofOblivion



13 years ago Scootaloo's parents were killed by a monster invading their home. Now she's given a chance to fight back against the same monsters, but to do so, she must prove herself worthy of the title of Kamen Rider.

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The Glass Cup

A few weeks had passed since the fight with Gentov in Sweet Apple Acres and the Order had gone strangely quiet. There hadn’t been any weird readings from the satellites that watched the city, and everything had remained quiet in the city, relatively speaking. It was late Fall now and getting closer to Winter

Scootaloo was sitting at the table in her apartment as she looked over the cards that she had gathered so far. She brushed her short purple hair back a little as she looked the cards over for a moment before picking up the Eight of Swords.

That was the strongest card at her disposal, but she was scared to use it. Last time she had used it during their trip to the other universe that Kamen Rider Alchemy had called home. It had nearly killed her, and while she knew that she needed to use it more to get used to it, she wasn’t really looking forward to that.

She felt hands wrap around her neck and smiled up at Sweetie Belle. “Hey, Sweetie.”

“Thinking about everything that’s happened?” Sweetie asked as she rubbed her fiance’s shoulders lightly.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Scootaloo said with a soft smile as she leaned her head back and looked up at the pale-skinned young woman. “Mmm, your hands are amazing, you know that right?”

“Yes I do,” Sweetie Belle said with a giggle as she kissed Scootaloo gently on the cheek. “So, are you going to help me plan the wedding or stare at your spoils of war?”

Scootaloo smiled a little as she closed her eyes and just felt the wonderful feeling of Sweetie Belle’s hands kneading her shoulders. “Yeah, sorry I guess I’m just thinking about this way too much,” she said as she gathered up her cards.

“Don’t worry,” Sweetie Belle said as Scootaloo pushed the chair back and Sweetie sat in her lap as Scootaloo gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. “We’ll be fine as long as we stick together.”

“Yeah, I guess I’m just restless,” Scootaloo said as she ran her hands gently along Sweetie’s back before resting them on her butt and giving it a light squeeze.

“Hey!” Sweetie said with a giggle as she kissed Scootaloo again. “Naughty girl, you’re trying to distract me from working on our wedding aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” Scootaloo said with a slight grin as she kissed Sweetie. “Is it working?”

“Almost, but we really do need to work on this,” Sweetie said with a chuckle as she gave Scootaloo a soft smile. “Come on, you need to focus on something other than being Justice for a little bit anyway.”

Scootaloo nodded a little as she picked Sweetie up, surprising the pale-skinned woman as she was carried over to their bedroom and Scootaloo set her down on the bed.

“Mmm, someone’s been working out,” Sweetie said with a chuckle as Scootaloo sat down on the bed. “Making sure you’re fit in case the Order comes back, huh?”

“Yeah, better safe than sorry,” Scootaloo said as they took out the invitations list. “Let’s see here, we’ve got your family, my adopted family, my grandmother, my aunts, friends from school, and anyone at SMILE who will come… anyone else you think we should invite?”

“Hmm, good question,” Sweetie Belle said as she gave Scootaloo a soft smile and looked over the list before adding jokingly. “Maybe we should invite the Order, they’re probably going to crash the wedding anyway, might as well invite them.”

Scootaloo laughed a little at the suggestion. Wow, their life had become like such a comic book plot when their concern was villains attacking their wedding. She chuckled a little and kissed Sweetie on the cheek as she placed her hand on her fiance’s.

“I’d rather they not crash the wedding at all,” Scootaloo said with a gentle smile as she looked at the list and the invitation designs they were working on.

It all felt so normal, they were a couple planning their wedding like any other. If anyone looked in right now, as long as they didn’t know any better, they’d think they were just normal. Scootaloo smiled a little as she placed her hand on Sweetie’s and gave it a light squeeze before she kissed the pale-skinned young woman passionately on the lips.

“What was that about?” Sweetie asked with a smile on her lips.

“I don’t know, just after everything that happened it was good to have something that actually feels normal,” Scootaloo said as she pushed a strand of pink hair out of Sweetie’s eyes. “I wish that it could last forever.”

“Me too,” Sweetie said with a sigh as she held Scootaloo close to her for a moment. “Maybe we should go out on a date, you know, do something like a normal couple.”

“Do we even know what a normal couple does anymore?” Scootaloo asked with a chuckle. “Were we ever a normal couple? What even is normal?

“Very funny, besides we can always watch movies about them or something,” Sweetie giggled as she kissed Scootaloo again. “So, what do you say?”

“I think that sounds perfect,” Scootaloo said as they put the stuff away. She checked the time on her phone, it was almost 7:30. “Apple Bloom shouldn’t be home for a while, what do you say we go enjoy a night out together?”

“Sounds perfect,” Sweetie Belle said as the two young women got up to get dressed in something nicer.

Scootaloo smiled a little as she pulled her shirt down over her head and glanced back towards Sweetie Belle who was slowly pulling on her skirt over her underwear. She smiled a little when Sweetie turned to look at her and gave her a wink.

Scootaloo smiled a little as she buttoned up her pants and walked back over to Sweetie as she wrapped her arms around her fiance gently and kissed her on the lips. She stroked Sweetie’s hair gently as they held the kiss together for a long moment.

“Come on,” Sweetie finally said as they released the kiss. “If we keep going like this then we’ll never get out of the apartment.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle as they walked out arm in arm.

00000

“Why in the name of the Wheel have we been waiting this long?” Granforca demanded as the Court of the Order were all in the main room of the base once more. “We could have defeated the Riders by now if we…”

“As the Convergence nears, we need to make sure that everything is ready,” Caesar said as he crossed his arms. “And the Wheel has made it clear that we are not ready to make our next move yet.”

“The time will come soon,” the man in black said as he leaned on his cane for a moment and eyed Granforca for a moment. “You’re getting restless, Granforca, don’t let that get in the way of your duty to the Master.”

“The Wheel must be preparing for something big,” Priellit said as she took out the summoning deck for a moment. “There are still things that we don’t quite understand about its will. There are many things left to finish the Convergence.”

“And then why are we having to wait?” Granforca snapped. “If we’re this close to finishing the preparations, why shouldn’t we…”

“Because we’re on its timescale, not ours,” the Man in Black said before his cane began to glow. “Ah, excellent, it seems the time has finally come. Priellit, if you will.”

Priellit nodded as she shuffled and placed the summoning deck on the table in front of her. She looked at it for a moment before she drew the top card off the deck as she eyed it for a moment and set it on the table.

“The Seven of Cups,” she said as she looked at the card for a long moment. “An individual who is overwhelmed by choices and illusions. Curious, the Cups are always odd ones out among our Agents.”

“Indeed, but this is the time,” the Man in Black said as he leaned on his cane a little. Priellit chanted and the card glowed before “Granforca, is there any word on more of the lost ones?”

“Kuagua and I have been keeping an eye out,” Granforca said as he nodded a little. “Other than the ones who we already know have sided with the enemy we haven’t had much luck. We’re looking into some clues towards the location of one of them from 13 years ago.”

“Excellent,” the Man in Black said. “And with one of them already back in our control, it is only a matter of time.”

“Then I will make sure that we double our efforts,” Granforca said with a nod as he cracked his knuckles. “So long as I get another crack at those Riders. That little brat escaped me last time, but I’m not about to let her do it again.”

“You will get your chance, Granforca,” the Man in Black said. “But for now continue with your duties. If the two of you are able to find the remaining members of the Court, it will give us an edge over the Riders. Only engage if they’re on the verge of discovering what you’re doing.”

“Understood,” Granforca said as he vanished into thin air.

“I don’t like trusting him with this,” Caesar said with a frown. “Granforca is a blunt instrument and not much else. Do you honestly expect him to listen?”

“He knows the consequences of disobedience,” the man in black said. “The master will not tolerate it if he wants to disobey. Once everything is in place, we will use him as the blunt instrument he is as you so eloquently put it.”

00000

Apple Bloom looked around nervously for a moment as she sat at a table in a restaurant in downtown Canterlot. She had to admit she was more nervous about this than anything else, well other than fighting monsters.

She had gotten here early to give Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle some time alone, but she was more scared than anything else. Maybe the person she was waiting for wouldn’t show up, maybe she’d say something to mess everything up.

She shook her head, this wasn’t the time to think about that kind of thing. She took a deep breath and straightened herself out a little. She had faced worse than this, right? So why was she suddenly so worried about something so ordinary?

"Hey Apple Bloom," A male voice said and she looked up to see a young man with slightly tanned skin and short purple hair standing there with a soft smile. "This is a pretty nice place, I didn't think you'd want to meet somewhere like here."

"Well, uh, mah friends have been here a few times so they suggested it," Apple Bloom said with a smile as she nodded to the chair across from her. "I'm glad yah could come, Tender Taps."

"I was surprised that you asked me," Tender Taps said as he took a seat across from her. The two had been working together for a while, and she had asked him if he wanted to go out with her the other day. "I mean, you're... uh..."

"Yah think Ah'm out of your league or somethin'?" Apple Bloom asked with a slight blush. "Ah admit Ah've been a bit, nervous about askin' yah out fer tha same kind of reason. Still, Ah guess given some recent events Ah decided that yah only live once, yah know?"

"Heh, yeah," Tender Taps said as he played with his hair for a moment. "Your friends have gone on dates here before or something?"

"Yeah," Apple Bloom said as she took a deep breath. She had to admit that she was a bit nervous about this still, even having him here didn't really do much to help alleviate that nervousness. "Ah'm sorry, this is silly, Ah feel like Ah'm back in high school on mah first date."

"Yeah, I know how you feel," Tender Taps said with a shake of his head. "What do you have to be nervous about?"

Apple Bloom paused a little at that, she had a lot of things to be worried about but it wasn't like she could just tell him what those were. Even with everything that was going on in the city and the fact that knowledge of the Order had become public, it wasn't like she could tell him without exposing Scootaloo's identity.

Still, the fact that she hadn't really ever been on many dates didn't help either.

"Eh, Ah've just never been much for datin'," Apple Bloom said with a shrug. "Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle on tha other hand... well, sometimes Ah wind up feelin' more like a third wheel."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Tender Taps said with a sigh.

"Yah do?"

"Heh, yeah I have a couple of friends who are dating, don't worry about it," Tender Taps said with a nod. "Really, I'm not going to do anything that might make you uncomfortable."

"Thank goodness," Apple Bloom said with a chuckle as she smiled a little as the waitress came to the table in order to take their orders. They placed the orders and the waitress walked off as they turned back to their conversation. "Kinda nice ta know Ah'm not alone out there, yah know?"

"So, why don't you tell me about yourself?" Tender Taps asked. "I mean, we've only talked a few times and you've never really said much about yourself."

"Well, Ah'm tha youngest of three siblings, mah family runs a farm outside of tha city, and Ah live with mah best friends from childhood," Apple Bloom said with a shrug. "Honestly, there ain't much ta tell about me. Ah'm just me, always have been. Ah've got a few hobbies and interests sure, music mostly, but other than that, mah life isn't that interestin'."

That was a lie of course, but the truth would be so much harder to explain. She shook her head a little and gave him a slight smile.

"Ah, I see," Tender Taps said thoughtfully.

"What about yah?" Apple Bloom asked curiously. "Ah mean, yah have gotta be way more interestin' than me."

"Not really, I moved here after High School to try and get into Dance, and since then I've basically been moving from job to job just to pay rent," Tender Taps said with a shrug. "You know how it is, only so many jobs come up in this day and age. Though I've heard that some people are starting to move out of Canterlot because of the Monster attacks."

Apple Bloom flinched a little at that. He just had to bring up the M word. She wasn't surprised, of course, there wasn't much else to talk about in this city other than the Order attacks. She sighed a little and brushed her red hair back a little as she gave him a slight smile.

"Yah ain't thinkin' about leavin' too, are yah?" She asked with a chuckle.

"Not really, I mean it's weird sure but I think it's interesting," Tender Taps said with a shrug. "I've been following everything I can on the subject. But I'm sure you don't want to talk about that."
He had no idea how right he was at this point.

"Yeah, definitely not," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head. "Ah'm sorry, Ah'm not very good at this kind of thing. Ah thought maybe we could just have a nice dinner together and get ta know each other better. Seems like all we can talk about is our friends and tha monsters."

"Well, what kind of music do you like to play?"

"Guitar mostly, Ah'm tryin' ta learn how ta play like mah ma and sister," Apple Bloom said with a soft smile as she thought back to all the times her sister had played for them. "Ah'm not tha greatest at it though, not fer lack of tryin'."

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure something out eventually," Tender Taps said with a nod.

"So what about yah, yah said yer interested in dance?" Apple Bloom asked curiously.

"Yeah, I came here to try out for a local dance group but it kind of fell through," Tender Taps said with a shake of his head. "I guess it's kind of silly really. I've been interested in it ever since I saw videos of these dance groups in Japan from a few years back and, well..."

"Yah wanted ta try and do tha same thing?" Apple Bloom said with a chuckle. She remembered back to the reports of what had happened and that just made things a little awkward, but she wasn't about to bring that up.

"Yeah, I know it's silly right?" Tender Taps asked with a shake of his head. "I'm nowhere near as good as them honestly. I'm just trying to learn as best I can and make it by."

"Yeah, Ah understand," Apple Bloom said as she glanced up for a moment. She had a sudden strange feeling like something very bad was about to happen.

"Are you okay?" Tender Taps asked worriedly.

"Yeah, Ah'm fine," Apple Bloom started to say as she looked back at him just as there was the sound of something crashing against the floor and glass breaking. She shot up to see the waitress from before standing there clutching her chest for a moment as energy began to flow around her. Apple Bloom's eyes went wide as she started to get up "Tender... we need ta get out of here."

"What do you mean, we haven't even had our drinks yet," Tender Taps asked confused as he wasn't facing the emerging monster. "Is everything okay? Was it something I said?"

"No, no, it was nothing you said, we're just about to have some company," Apple Bloom said as she got up and grabbed his arm. "Come on, we need to..."

"YOU!" A shrill voice said and they quickly turned to see a figure standing there and pointing at Apple Bloom. She was feminine with armor and a head with a large hood and serpentine features resembling that of a King Cobra holding a bow in her hands and having the symbol of seven cups in a circle "If I had known it would be so easy to find you then I wouldn't have bothered looking for you first!"

"That's one of those monsters!" Tender Taps said, suddenly terrified. "Why is she after you?"

"Long story, not tha time ta talk about it!" Apple Bloom said as she pulled on his arm and headed for the door as she hit a call option on her phone.

"Who are you calling, the Police?" Tender Taps asked.

"Not exactly, Ah'll tell yah later if we make it out of this," Apple Bloom said. She hated having to do this, it seemed like the Order was finally back to cause trouble and it had happened on the worst possible night as there was an answer on the other end.

"Apple Bloom, you do realize that you don't normally call your friends in the middle of a date, right?" Scootaloo's voice said on the other end with a slight chuckle.

"We've got a situation here," Apple Bloom said quickly as she looked back towards where the cobra woman was and managed to push herself and Tender Taps out of the way when she tried to fire an energy arrow at them. "We need help, now!"

Scootaloo sighed a little before she realized exactly what was going on. "I'll be there as fast as I can. I'm sure SMILE has picked up on this too so we'll have some back-up, hopefully."

"Ah'm not sure how Ah'm gonna explain this ta mah date," Apple Bloom said as she glanced at Tender Taps.

"I'll be careful, use a cover story or something," Scootaloo said as she hung up.

"Who was that?" Tender Taps asked as they dodged another arrow as they ran for Apple Bloom's new car. "What's going on Apple Bloom?"

"It's a long story," Apple Bloom said with a sigh as she jumped into the car and Tender Taps did the same. "But we're gonna have some help at least."

"What, do you have Kamen Rider Justice on speed dial or something?" Tender Taps asked.

"No, but Ah know someone who knows her," Apple Bloom said as she started the car up. "Come on, we need ta get far away from cobra lady back there."

She floored it and the car flew forward. The female cobra monster just barely managed to dodge the car as it sped past her and let out an indignant hiss as the car fled the scene.

"Well, it seems the hunt is on," she said with a fanged grin as she started down the road after the car, picking up speed as she did. She knew where she was going, and part of the thrill was the chase more than anything else.

“Why are they even going after us?” Tender Taps asked as he looked at Apple Bloom with fear in his eyes. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Look, it’s a long story,” Apple Bloom said as she turned down another street. “Ah know this is gonna sound crazy, but they’ve got a reason ta go after me. Ah’m sorry fer gettin’ yah dragged into this.”

“What happened?”

“It’s a long story, and it ain’t mah place ta tell yah,” Apple Bloom said as she glanced in the rearview mirror. “We need ta be careful though. She’s comin’ after us.”

They drove on in silence.

Meanwhile back in the road, the Cobra monster was heading towards the apartment when a gunshot rang out and she spun around to see the woman dressed in black standing there with her pistol aimed at her.

“A Cobra monster, I was wondering when one would show up,” she said with a chuckle as she aimed at the monster with her pistol. “I’m not about to let you hurt those people.”

“And what are you going to do with that pistol?” The monster said with a laugh. “You’re nothing more than a human with a few fancy gadgets. You can’t stop me!”

The woman said nothing for a moment before she reached into her coat’s pocket and took out her Tarot Driver and placed it on her waist as the belt formed around her.

“Oh, then it must be you…” the Cobra woman said as she narrowed her reptilian eyes at the woman and flicked her tongue a little. “My Masters will be thrilled to know that I was able to bring you back!”

“We’ll see about that,” the woman said as she took two cards out and slid them into her Driver. “Hen… shin!”

“THE PALE HORSE RIDES AGAIN!”

The black and silver energy flowed out of the circle at the center of the Driver as armor formed over her. The black and gold revolver appeared in her hand as she spun the barrel and fired several energy bullets at the monster, knocking her back.

"Why you little... that hurt!" The Cobra monster said as she drew her bowstring back and fired an energy arrow at Kamen Rider Death who rolled out of the way only to fire several more shots at her. "You're a really pesky Rider, you know that right?"

"I do my best to be one," Death said with a smirk from behind her armored mask before she fired several shots as she ran forward at the monster. She swung her fist around and caught the cobra monster across the face as she fell back a little, Death firing several more shots into her chest.

"You think you're so clever..." The Cobra monster said as she bore her fangs at Death before spitting at her, catching the Rider in the shoulder as she tried to avoid the attack again.

"Not exactly the most..." Death said as she reached to brush it off before realizing that it was sizzling against her armor. She brushed it off as best she could and raised her revolver again. "Acid spit... go figure."

"I'm not about to let you stop us this time Death," the snake woman said with a hiss as she rushed at Death with her fangs bore as she prepared to sink her teeth into the woman, only to have her dodge and fire several more energy bullets into her. "The Convergence will succeed, you'd be better off joining us!"

"Let me think about it... no," Death said as she sent a punch into the snake woman's stomach. "You have me confused with someone who actually gives a damn about your Convergence. I'm here to make sure that it never gets even close to succeeding!"

The snake woman hissed angrily as she swung her tail around and caught Death from behind knocking her off her feet as the monster raised her bow again and pointed it at Death's head. She grinned which showed her teeth as Death struggled to get up.

"I guess you're not nearly as good as you think you are," she said with a laugh as she spat acid at her again, catching her in the chest this time as it started to burn through the armor. "You're just a sad little girl in a woman's body. I'm going to put you out of your misery."

She was about to fire another arrow at Death before crying out as something hit her in the back. She turned around quickly to see Kamen Rider Amores standing there holding her bow in her hands as she prepared another arrow.

"You Kamen Riders are really starting to get on my nerves, you know that right," The Cobra monster said as Death scrambled to get to her feet.

"That's pretty much our job description," Sweetie Drops said with a smirk as she fired another arrow at the Cobra lady and caught her right in the chest this time which made her cry out again. "You're not going to get away with this. Sorry, but you're going to have to find something else to hunt tonight."

The snake woman hissed at that as she was about to attack again before the sound of metal feet on the pavement was heard. They all looked up to see Caesar walking towards them, preparing to draw his sword as he stared the two Riders down.

"Who are you?" Sweetie Drops demanded of the armored man.

"I am Caesar, High General of the Arcana Court, and I am not about to let you two interlopers get in the way of our mission here," Caesar said as he drew his sword and with that, a wave of energy flew at the two Riders, knocking them both to the ground as he pointed his sword at the two Riders as it crackled with energy as he approached the snake woman. "Kapasa, you've let the target get away I see. This will not look good for you."

"I know Master Caesar, but I..." The snake woman, now named Kapasa said as she tried to defend herself only to be stopped as Caesar backhanded her.

"You will carry out your mission as instructed, do I make myself clear?" Caesar demanded as he glared at the two Riders for a moment. "And you will not let these Riders get in your way again."

"Sir, but..." Kapasa said, the once-terrifying monster now was more scared than anything else.

"Carry out your mission Kapasa, or suffer the consequences," Caesar said and with a spin of his cape, he and the snake monster vanished into thin air.

"What was he talking about?" Sweetie Drops said as she powered down and Death did the same. "What was she after in that restaurant? Apple Bloom?"

"Maybe," the mysterious woman said as she put away her Driver and removed her coat which was starting to sizzle to reveal a black riding suit underneath. "I'm not entirely convinced that it's that easy, however. I will keep an eye out for anything else that may cause trouble in this city."

"I don't like this," Sweetie Drops said with a sigh as the woman climbed on her bike and started it up again. "What am I supposed to tell the Director?"

"Tell him exactly what happened," the woman said as she revved up her bike's engine and looked back at Sweetie Drops. "We have a monster that seems to have acid-based powers and is potentially after one of Scootaloo's friends or another civilian. That is all we know at the moment."

"Right," Sweetie Drops said as she headed back to her own bike and the two Riders took off.

00000

"What happened out there?" Sweetie Belle asked as she and Scootaloo arrived back at the apartment where Apple Bloom was talking to Tender Taps. "We got word that whatever was going on was being taken care of."

"We were attacked by tha Order," Apple Bloom said as she looked back at Tender Taps. "One of their monsters showed up right in tha middle of tha restaurant we were at. It looked like it was one of tha waitresses."

"Great, I guess going public with this information didn't help any," Scootaloo said with a sigh as they took a seat on the chairs for a moment. "This is insane..."

"Okay, I'm confused, exactly why did they come after Apple Bloom and me?" Tender Taps asked in confusion as he looked between the three women. "What's going on here?"

Scootaloo paused a moment at that. The only ones who knew that she was Kamen Rider Justice were either her friends, family, other Kamen Riders, or the monsters. She wasn't sure if any former monsters that were out there knew the truth, they didn't so far, other than Diamond Tiara but she had been the one who told the Order to begin with so that didn't make much of a difference really.

She sighed a little as she brushed her purple hair back for a moment. She couldn't tell him until they knew they could trust him. Besides, even with Apple Bloom, there was always alternate explanations for what had happened. She sighed a little as she looked at Tender Taps for a moment.

"We don't know really," Scootaloo said with a shake of her head which got a strange look from Apple Bloom. "Sometimes they have gone after us for reasons that we're not entirely sure of. The Order's actions don't always make sense, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess," Tender Taps said with a shrug. "What do you think we should do now?"

"I called the hotline about what's going on, they should be sending some help soon," Sweetie Belle said, catching onto the lie. For the moment, it was all they could do to avoid risking the secret about Scootaloo getting out. "It's not much, but they should be able to help deal with this thing if she comes back."

“Look, this is all a bit much,” Tender Taps said as he got up. “I don’t even know what’s going on here. If it’s all the same to you girls, I’m going back home.”

“Okay, just be careful,” Apple Bloom said with a worried look on her face. “We don’t know what that monster was after.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind,” Tender Taps said as he quickly left.

“Some first date that turned out ta be,” Apple Bloom said with a sigh. “He’ll probably never want ta date me again after all of this.”

“I’m sorry,” Scootaloo said as she looked down at her feet for a moment. “This is all my fault if I didn’t get us caught up in this that wouldn’t have happened. I feel terrible about all of this.”

“Yah had no idea this was gonna happen,” Apple Bloom said with a sigh. “Ah don’t blame yah, Ah blame tha Order fer draggin’ us all into this. Ah guess we just need ta figure out how ta stop them if we want anythin’ resemblin’ a normal life.”

“Normal? What’s that?” Scootaloo asked with a chuckle which her friends shared in for a long moment. “But yeah, I’d like that. Hopefully, after everything that’s happened, we’ll be able to regain some sense of normalcy.”

“Knowing our luck we’ll probably get drawn into crossover episodes or something,” Sweetie said with a chuckle. “I mean that’s typically how it works for superheroes, right?”

“Just as long as it’s not some massive event or something,” Scootaloo said with a groan. “Remind me to “thank” Lyra for getting us into watching Atop the Fourth Wall.”

“So, what are we going to do now?” Scootaloo asked after a brief pause. “I mean, we don’t know if or when we’re going to be targeted again. Apple Bloom, are you going to be okay sticking with us just in case?”

“Yeah, mah datin’ life is pretty much shot at this point anyway,” Apple Bloom said with a sigh.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something out,” Scootaloo said reassuringly as she gently placed her hand on Apple Bloom’s. “We’re going to figure this out together, okay?”

“Okay,” Apple Bloom said with a soft smile. “Ah’m glad Ah have ya’ll here ta help me out. Even if yah get us into trouble… and keep me up some nights.”

“Yeah, sorry about that…” Sweetie Belle said with a blush. “We need to blow off the steam, you know? It’s been kind of stressful lately.”

“Yeah, Ah know,” Apple Bloom said with a sigh. “Don’t worry about it, Ah understand, Ah really do. Ah guess Ah just hoped that Ah would get a chance ta have somethin’ like ya’ll do, yah know?”

“Don’t worry, you’ll find someone,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “In the meantime, let’s figure out what we need to do next. There’s something about this that feels weird to me, you know?”

“Ah know, it’s oddly convenient that it happened ta appear that close ta me,” Apple Bloom said thoughtfully for a moment. “That tells me that there’s somethin’ we’re missin’. Ah think we need ta be very careful from here on out.”

“Me too,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “Snake monsters now, dare I ask what’s next?”

“Who knows,” Sweetie said with a sigh. “But we’re bound to find out at some point.

00000

“So what’s with that Kamen Rider Death lady?” Lyra asked as she and Sweetie Drops took the elevator down to the SMILE HQ. “I mean, she kind of came out of nowhere before, you know?”

“I wish I knew,” Sweetie Drops said with a shrug. “She is kind of an unknown quantity, isn’t she? I mean, she kind of showed up out of nowhere as you said and there are no official records of her existing before.”

“Weird, didn’t the Director say she worked with SMILE before?” Lyra asked.

“Yeah, he did,” Sweetie Drops said as she stroked her chin thoughtfully for a moment. “Which means it doesn’t make sense that according to all our records she didn’t exist 13 years ago. It’s like they’re trying to hide something from us.”

“Gee, a top-secret government agency keeping secrets, who would’ve guessed?” Lyra said sarcastically.

“Sarcasm isn’t necessary, but I see your point,” Sweetie Drops said with a sigh. “There is a lot that it feels like the Director is keeping from us. Heck, I’ve found reports of Order activity that…”

She stopped in mid-sentence as the door opened and Tempest Shadow walked into the Elevator. She eyed the two of them for a moment. “Agent Drops, Ms. Heartstrings. I see you were both called as well.”

“Agent Shadow,” Sweetie Drops said with a nod as she gave Lyra a look. “Do you know what any of this is about?”

“I know as much as you do, Agent,” Tempest said with a shake of her head. “I’m sorry I can’t give you more information. I know that everything that’s been going on recently has him more on edge than ever before.”

“Not that you can blame him,” Lyra muttered.

“Especially given the fact that we still have no leads on the identity of the Scorpion Rider,” Tempest continued. “If the Order does have a Rider, it represents a significant breach in security.”

“Do you think it was the same spy that we had before?” Sweetie Drops asked.

“Maybe, but we can’t rule anything out right now,” Tempest said without looking at the two of them. “And he didn’t exactly have easy access to the Tarot Drivers. No, I think there’s something else going on that we’ve missed.”

“Yeah…” Sweetie Drops said with a sigh as the elevator came to a stop and opened up. They headed out of the elevator and off towards the briefing room.

As they entered, Fancy Pants was already there talking with Fleur. The three of them took their seats and a few minutes later they were joined by Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom who took the seats across from them.

There was a long moment of silence as they waited for the briefing to begin.

“Alright, thank you all for coming,” Fancy Pants said as he took a seat. “You’re all here because we’ve had some concerns about the Order’s recent actions.”

“We’ve managed to narrow down the identity of the woman that was possessed by the card this time,” Fleur said and hit a button on the remote. An image of a young woman with short blonde hair and dressed in a waitress outfit appeared. “Her name is Victoria Kane, she’s a recent arrival in Canterlot after moving here from Louisianna.”

“What do we know about her?” Tempest asked.

“Not a whole lot to be honest,” Fancy Pants said. “She doesn’t have much of a social media presence, to be honest. As far as I can tell she opened her account on Facebook shortly after arriving in the city.”

“A runaway maybe?” Sweetie Belle suggested.

“Maybe,” Sweetie Drops said as she looked at the image of the woman for a long moment. “She’s the Seven of Cups, right?”

“Right,” Apple Bloom said with a slight nod as she took her phone out. “Reversed it means alignment, personal values, and bein’ overwhelmed by choices. It’s not a lot ta go on, ta be honest.”

“No, but it’s certainly a start,” Fancy Pants said with a nod. “We’re running a background check on her, but it’s going to take a while. Was there anything weird about her at the restaurant?”

“No, not really,” Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head. “At least not that Ah could see. She felt yah know, normal.”

“Alright, well then we don’t have a lot to go on right now,” Fancy Pants said with a sigh. “This isn’t going to be easy. There is also the always present question of what exactly this Convergence is.”

“Well, they’re extra-dimensional beings, right? Maybe it has something to do with that,” Scootaloo suggested with a shrug.

“Maybe,” Fancy Pants said as he stroked his chin thoughtfully for a moment. “With everything that’s been going on lately that may be the case. We’ve had two crossover events recently, that may suggest that something is weakening the barriers between realities.”

“What does that mean in English?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Think of a universe as a room,” Fancy Pants said. “Between each room is walls, these are like the barriers between universes. Normally you can’t just walk through these walls unless you have special equipment. We’ve heard of at least one such individual in the past, but that’s not the point.”

“Right, but we’ve encountered individuals from other universes before,” Scootaloo pointed out.

“Yes, and both involved magic, that’s a whole different can of worms really,” Fleur said with a slight nod. “But normally that wouldn’t work. This implies that the walls of reality are coming apart, perhaps this may even explain the Convergence.”

“Two realities coming close enough to overlap,” Tempest said with a nod. “The question becomes what kind of effects that will have on our reality.”

“I don’t want to think about that,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “We’ve got enough problems already to not have to worry about that kind of thing. Do you think that’s what they’re trying to do?”

“Unfortunately it’s what makes the most sense right now,” Fancy Pants replied and Fleur nodded in agreement. “Hopefully it’ll be enough for now.”

“Yeah, hopefully,” Scootaloo said as she brushed her hair back a little. “I don’t like it honestly. It feels like we only have bits and pieces of the actual puzzle here.”

“Yes, well we’re going to have to figure it out,” Fancy Pants said with a sigh. “I agree with you Scootaloo. There are many things we don’t yet understand even after so many years of fighting the Order. The Convergence is their endgame, but we don’t know exactly what it is other than that.”

“Figures,” Scootaloo said with a sigh as she looked around. “So, what are we going to do? Wait until that Cobra monster shows up again?”

“We may not have a choice,” Fleur said. “The Order has already shown themselves capable of avoiding our scans. Though as long as they don’t have any more spies in our midst we should be fine.”

“So, what do we do in the meantime?” Scootaloo asked.

“In the meantime, we need to figure out where the Cobra monster went,” Fancy Pants said. “Not to mention we know that Granforca is loose again. We cannot ignore his threat either, especially if he picks up where he left off. We need to be ready for every eventuality.”

“I just hope we’ll be able to figure out what to do here,” Scootaloo said as she looked back at the image of the waitress for a long moment. There were so many lingering questions about that right now, she just had to hope that they’d be able to figure it out.

“What about Tender Taps?” Apple Bloom asked. “Ah mean, we can’t be certain that they weren’t after him or won’t go after him.”

“We already have Agents keeping an eye on him,” Tempest said with a shrug. “You’re right though. Anyone who is close to the three of you could be a potential target.”

“Right, which is why we’re keeping an eye on him as well as Apple Bloom’s family,” Fancy Pants said with a nod. “I want everyone keeping an eye out. We have our eye in the sky keeping a lookout, hopefully, it’ll be enough for now.”

“Right,” Scootaloo said with a nod. “And we can always keep an eye on Ridewatch. They helped before, they can probably help us again. At least, I hope so.”

“Yes, well we’ll keep you updated if anything happens,” Fancy Pants said as he stood up. “Scootaloo, can you hang back for a moment? The rest of you are dismissed.”

“Yeah, sure,” Scootaloo said as she blinked a little before looking at her friends who nodded as they headed out of the briefing room leaving just her, Fancy Pants, and Fleur. “Is everything okay?”

“We’ve been investigating the situation with the Scorpion Rider,” Fancy Pants said with a soft sigh. “The truth of the matter is that we don’t know where she came from. You said that you encountered her in the other universe, right?”

“Yeah, and Apple Bloom said she saved her before,” Scootaloo said with a nod. “And we don’t really know how she got there either.”

“Likely she was one of the people that went with you to the other universe as we had eyes on the statue the whole time,” Fancy Pants said. “Did anyone who went with you act strangely?”

“No stranger than usual,” Scootaloo said with a shrug. “I’m sorry, I wish I had an explanation for what happened there. She could be any of them, and that’s assuming that they didn’t go through the portal earlier.”

“Yes, well we have to consider all possibilities right now,” Fleur said. “Just in case, can you keep an eye on things? We don’t think it’s one of your friends but…”

“I understand,” Scootaloo said with a sigh. “But I know neither of them would do something like that. I’ll let you know if anything weird happens.”

The two senior agents nodded and Scootaloo got up and went to join her friends. She was a bit nervous now, but she knew that her friends were going to be okay.

00000

“This is getting boring,” Granforca said as he sat back in his seat with Kuagua. “How do we even know that any of them will even show up in the city?”

“Canterlot is the focal point for our power,” Kuagua said as he shuffled through a deck of playing cards. “It’s where the Tower is closest between our universes. They will be drawn to this city for one reason or another. That is how things work. We just have to wait and see if…”

Before he could finish the sentence a flashing light went off on a device attached to his belt. He paused a moment as he removed it and raised it up and a projection of the city appeared. He smiled a little as he saw a light flashing on it.

“Finally, something interesting happened,” Granforca said as he leaned in and looked at the projection. “Who is that? Someone that we already know about?”

“No, this one is new,” Kuagua said as he put the device back at his belt. “If I’m right, it should be exactly what we need too in order to strike a blow against the Riders. Imagine, if this is who we need… we could bring our strongest allies to this world.”

“Indeed,” Granforca said as he got up. “Come on, let’s go see if we can find them.”

“Wait, what?” Kuagua said. “Shouldn’t we pass this on to the bosses?”

“Why, so one of them can get all the glory?” Granforca asked as he cracked his knuckles. “Nah, let’s prove to them that we’re better than babysitting duty.”

He got up and stormed out through a portal that he had opened up. Kuagua rolled his eyes a little as he shook his head. He never liked Granforca and had actually been surprised that they had let him out.

“Well, this isn’t very funny at all,” he said as he stomped his foot a little. “Well, there’s hardly any point in letting him do this alone. No fun in sitting around here anyway.”

He picked up a playing card and smiled at the sign of the joker card. He threw it against the wall and a portal appeared in front of him and he walked through it with a laugh.

00000

“I’ll be right back, I need to take the trash out,” Scootaloo said back into the apartment as she carried the trash bag out the door and towards the trash can. She was about to lift the lid and drop it in when she heard something behind her.

She spun around with her hand on her Driver in her pocket and let out a sigh of relief when she saw it was just a cat.

“You’re getting jumpy, Scoots…” Scootaloo said with a shake of her head as she started to walk back towards the door. She paused a moment when she realized there was a song played on a violin starting to rise up around her.

“Out for a stroll I see,” a voice said from behind her and she spun around again to see the man in black standing there leaning on his cane.

“What are you doing here?” Scootaloo demanded as she took out the Driver, preparing to place it on her waist. “You work for the Order, don’t you?”

“Work for is hardly the word,” the man in black said with a laugh as he walked forward again. “I am no mere footsoldier, you should know that. I am here because I wanted to see you for myself, the woman who’s caused my men so much trouble.”

“Well, I’m not going to let you get away with what you’ve done!” Scootaloo said as she set the Driver on her waist and slid her cards into it. “Henshin!”

“TIME TO TIP THE SCALES!”

She ran forward at the monster as the armor formed around her and she stabbed at the man in black with her rapier. However, there was the sound of metal against metal as the man in black’s sword was drawn and caught her blade with his.

“Such a reckless child,” he taunted as he laughed a little and kicked at her. He held his other hand out as a chain appeared in it and he swung it around and wrapped it around her leg, pulling her down to the ground. “You are not facing a mere Agent or even Commander.”

“Who… who are you?” Scootaloo said as the man in black pulled her forward and up as his blade pressed against her throat.

“I am your worst nightmare,” the man in black said with a wicked grin that was barely visible from beneath his mask. “Did you really think that it was going to be as simple as just fighting me?”

He laughed as he threw her to the ground and sheathed his sword again. “I am here to give you a message. Be careful where you tread child, you are in a war that you don’t understand. You and your friends will not survive if you keep on your current path.”

He walked off as Scootaloo struggled to get to her feet as the chain vanished from her leg. She pointed her sword at the man again and said as loudly as she could. “I’m not going to let you win!”

The man in black stopped in mid-stride as he looked back at her. He lowered his mask and pulled off his hat for a moment. Beneath them was a red face with horns sticking out of his head. He had a fanged mouth as he looked back at her.

“My dear Scootaloo,” he said, his voice not losing the creepy but soft tone. “You have no choice in the matter. And everything is already in place for me and my master’s victory. The Convergence is coming, be ready for it.”

He replaced his hat over his horns and vanished through a portal, leaving flames in his place that died down after a moment. This left a very shaken Scootaloo as she powered down and stared at the spot where the man was.

This was going to be hard to explain to everyone.