RIDER TIME

by WozWuzHere

Chapter 10-1: Crystallized Journey

“Crystallized Journey, part 1”

—-----

About a day had passed since the Another Agito attack, and Tom, Pinkie and Rarity were all relaxing aboard the train taking them back home. Tom was trying his best to relax and recover after the utterly bizarre fight.

“Well, it’s all dealt with now, at least.” Tom sighed. “And it looks like Mr. Cumin and his daughter have taken charge of Restaurant Row’s rebuilding too.”

“We simply must visit them again once the district is rebuilt, and hopefully without any more tyrannical food critics or dancing monsters.” Rarity commented.

“And it was super-duper-nice of them to give us all these leftovers to take back to our friends!” Pinkie said, as she held onto a few large plastic bags containing samples of various Restaurant Row delicacies, prepared for the trio as thanks.

“Hope the girls are in the mood for it.” Tom commented. He looked up at the ceiling in contemplation.

“So the Another Rider attacks are spreading to other areas now… I have a bad feeling about this.”

Pinkie stretched out, and stood up. “I think I’ll go take a walk, this car’s making me feel cooped up like one of Fluttershy’s chickens. And I was only a chicken for Nightmare Night!”

She took a stroll outside the small room they were in and decided to take a small trip to the dining car, maybe she could grab some candy! Candy is dandy, it’d be handy to have some candy and not something bland-y. But then, as her mind drifted to thoughts of sweets and sugar, she bumped into someone! The two of them fell to the floor away from each other.

‘Owwie!” Pinkie whined as she rubbed her head. She looked at the one she had run into. He seemed to be the train’s cleaning staff, based on the uniform, but she couldn’t get a good look at his face, as he was wearing a surgical mask and headphones. The only thing she did notice was that he was carrying a strange magenta-colored camera around his neck.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry!” Pinkie apologized. “Here, let me help you up.” She offered a hand to the janitor, as he took it and lifted himself back up.

“Tch… pay more attention next time, huh?” He commanded.

“Sorry…” Pinkie again apologized.
“Eh, what’s done is done.” The janitor shrugged. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a job to do…and I think that your friends do as well…” He muttered.

“Huh?” Pinkie asked. She then noticed a red dot moving around the wall.

“Oh ho! It’s my arch-nemesis, the red dot! I’m gonna catch you this time!” She ran towards the dot as it moved farther away from the janitor, the mare not noticing that the janitor was using a pen-light.

“Yeesh…things are way bleaker than I thought if THAT’s one of this world’s heroes.” He groaned, as he took his camera and snapped a quick picture before walking away.

—-----

Anton groaned out of boredom. His injuries from the fight with Another Hibiki were healed, and he was content to go back to his encampment away from the ponies…if they would LET HIM! But nooooo, they wanted to keep him there for “observation”. Who did they think he was, anyway!?

“You know what? Screw it. They can’t keep me here.” He said to himself as he redressed and prepared to sneak out the window.

“Well, aren’t we the rebel?” A voice called out behind Anton. He turned to see Gaoh leaning against a wall, arms crossed.

“Hello again, friend.” She waved nonchalantly.

“Oh, it’s you.” Anton sighed. “What do you want?”

“Wow, cold.” Gaoh snarked. “And here I thought we were friends.”

“WHAT. DO. YOU. WANT.” Anton growled impatiently.

“I guess I can’t blame you for being in a bad mood, huh?” She said snidely. “Well, whatever.” She cleared her throat.

“In two days time, you will need to travel to the Crystal Empire, far north of here. You’ll get the answers you seek there and then.” She explained.

“The Crystal Empire…?” Anton wondered.

“Yeah. Oh, and don’t let the other Rider or his friends know - they’re going there too.”
She turned and opened a portal.
“Hey, wait! Explain!” Anton commanded. “What’s at the Crystal Empire?”

“Afraid I don’t have time for a Q&A- and neither do you.” She said as Anton noticed the call button in her hands. She pressed it and left through the portal.

“Agh, you-” He started but then was glomped by a turquoise blur.

“Are you alright!? I heard the alarm, what do you need!?” Lyra blathered. “Are you in pain? Are you thirsty? Is it your bed? I-” She stopped when Anton held a finger up to her lips.

“...it was a false alarm.” Anton said, as he continued dressing himself.

“Why are you getting out of bed? Where are you going?” Lyra asked.

“Nunya.” Anton replied.

“Nunya? What’s that?” Lyra queried.

“It means ‘nunya business!’” Anton retorted. “I have places to be. Leave it at that.” Anton just turned to the door, but Lyra got in front of him.

“Seriously? Move!” He commanded, but Lyra started making a sad face. Anton struggled, but just couldn’t bring himself to harm her.

“Tch!” He just sat back down and crossed his arms grumpily. “And I also have to figure out where this Crystal Empire place is…”

“Why do you want to know?” A new voice called. It was Bon Bon.

“...there’s something I’m trying to find out, and I have it in good faith that the answers will be in the Crystal Empire in two days’ time. So I HAVE to go.” Anton explained. “Are you happy now?”

“Well, that makes things easier then. We’ll go as soon as we can!” Lyra cheered.

“Hold on a sec…WE?” Anton retorted.

“Yeah! Bon Bon and I will take you there!” Lyra explained.

“Now, hold on a second, Lyra-” Bon Bon was about to stop her, but she ran out of the room.

“Gonna go clear it with the doctor first!” She yelled as she went on her way.

“...” Anton just looked annoyed.

“Alright, you.” Bon Bon turned to Anton. “Let’s get things straight before she comes back. You know Lyra is MY marefriend, right?”

“...kinda figured that out already.” Anton snarked.

“If you know, then stop trying to seduce her!” She yelled.

“Excuse me!?” He reacted.

“She’s been talking nonstop about you! Every time we talk about something, it always ends up with ‘the Rider this’, and ‘the Rider that’! I love Lyra, so stop trying to take her away, you perverted primate playcolt!” She ranted.

“You know, maybe her eyes wouldn’t be wandering if you weren’t such an uptight nag!” Anton fired back. “And you sound like Olive Oyl sucked a year’s supply of helium!”

Bon Bon was growing even more enraged, even if she didn’t understand why he’d compare her to cooking oil.

“Why, you…!” She growled, as she grabbed Anton’s collar, Anton grabbing her collar in response as the two growled at each other.

“Hey, what’s all the fuss about?” Lyra said, having come back. “Come on, you two; break it up.” She got in between the two and separated them. Bon Bon and Anton just crossed their arms and looked away from each other with a ‘hmph!’.

“Aaaanyway, the doctor gave us the go ahead to take our buddy, so off to the Crystal Empire we go!” She proclaimed as she grabbed both Bon Bon and Anton’s hands and started dragging them along.

“Lyra, waiiiit!” Bon Bon called out.

“How the hell are you this strong!?” Anton yelled, bewildered.

—---------

Meanwhile, in another place…a very, VERY far away place…

Cozy Glow blinked as she and her new “father” arrived at what she assumed was his home. To her surprise, it was a large mansion, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

“W-where are we?” She asked, trembling with fear.

“Why, this is your new home, dear Cozy. Don’t be afraid.” The man accompanying her replied. “Let’s go inside, my wife will be more than pleased to meet you.” The man waved a hand, and the gates opened, as if compelled by some unknown force. The two went up to the door, and the man opened it, beckoning his new “daughter” inside.

Cozy looked around the place. It seemed to be a very nice mansion, but something told Cozy that this place contained something dark.

And that was more than okay with her. She was fully willing to embrace this new life, rather than continue existing like she had.

“We’re home!” The man called out. A moment after he said that, the sound of hoofsteps echoed down the stairs.

“My beloved!” A woman’s voice replied. As the hoofsteps got closer, Cozy’s eyes widened with shock when she saw the source of the sound.

Descending the nearby stairs was a black-coated alicorn, with piercing blue eyes. She was, however wearing ordinary clothes, not armor like she had been depicted with. She also wore a belt like the one Cozy herself was now wearing. Cozy could only stammer out her name.

“N-N-Nightmare Moon!?” Cozy looked shocked. “Nightmare Moon is your WIFE!?”

“As I said, dear daughter. Don’t be afraid. She and I both understand you.” The man reassured her. The dark princess walked over to Cozy, knelt down and gently cupped the filly’s cheek with her hand.

“We promise you, on our lives, that we do not want to harm you, but rather we wish for you to join our family.” Nightmare gently explained. “I would love to have a daughter such as you.”

Cozy’s eyes welled up. Nightmare Moon was supposedly a fearsome monster, but here she was, ready to take Cozy Glow as a daughter. Cozy said nothing, but embraced Nightmare Moon, crying with joy.

The man watched the scene, a sinister grin growing. “All according to plan.” He then walked over to them and joined in their embrace.

But just then, a ringing noise was heard.

“Excuse me, but that’s work.” The man explained as he went to the source of the ringing, a strange wall-mounted device, and pressed a button.

“I was in the middle of a family moment, Chronus.” The man grumbled.

“My apologies, sir.” Chronus replied. “I merely wished to inform you that the reports on our experiments have been returned.”

“Very good. And the next operation?” The man asked.

“Already underway. We are ready to begin in two days’ time, just as ordered.”

“Excellent. Proceed as scheduled.” The man ordered.

“Understood.” Chronus said, as their communication ended.

“The real show starts soon…I wonder just how those idiot Riders will overcome this…” The man thought to himself as an evil grin formed on his face.

—----------

Just two days after his return from Canterlot, Tom found himself accompanying the girls and Spike on another train, this time to the Crystal Empire, far up north. He stared out the window, lost in thought. Twilight tapped him on the shoulder.

“Tom? Are you okay?” She asked.

“I’m fine, Twilight.” He replied. “Just…thinking.” He looked at his RideWatch.

“Besides this, I have ten RideWatches now.” The Rider noted. “I wonder if he’s still out there.”

“He who?” Twilight asked.

“I mentioned him the other day, my gramps? Kamen Rider Decade?” Tom explained. “I can’t help but wonder if things would have been different with him there.”

Twilight was confused. “What do you mean?”

“...it’s not something I’m ready to talk about yet.” Tom sighed sadly. Twilight just patted him on the back.

“You know the girls and I are all here for you, right? And Spike too.” She said gently.

“...thanks.” He said, quietly.

On the other side of the train, sat Anton, in a disguise consisting of a hat with pony ears, a surgical mask and a mustache, as well as Lyra and Bon Bon who also had disguises with mustaches. They peeked over at the Rider and the Elements.

“You know something about what he’s talking about, right?” Bon Bon whispered. “So spill.”

“And why should I tell you that?” Anton replied quietly.

“Pleeease?” Lyra again used her sad face.

“...he and I come from the same world.” Anton explained. “The reason why we’re here...that’s what I’ve been looking for.”

“And you think the answer’s in the Empire?” Lyra asked.

“...it’s the only lead I have.” He replied. “I need to know. I need to know why we’re here…and why we’re the only ones here.”

—-------

A short while later, the train pulled into the Crystal Empire station. The passengers all filed off, Spike deciding to disguise himself for some reason.

“Uh…dare I ask?” Tom was confused.

“It’s kind of a long story…” Spike started, but then someone pointed in his direction.

“Look! It’s Spike the Brave and Glorious!” Someone called out, as a mob of ponies descended on the group.

“So much for the disguise.” Spike lamented as the group was swarmed by dragon diehards.

“Argh! Back off, all of you!” Rainbow Dash yelled out, but the crowd was still swarming Spike.

“Hey, Fluttershy! We need you to grab Spike and go find somewhere safe!” Tom yelled.

“Me? Um…okay.” She muttered as she lifted Spike up and flew away from the crowd as quickly as possible. The group noticed the lack of Spike, and began to disperse.

“Everyone okay?” Tom asked, the rest of the group was frazzled.

“Ah heard Spike was a big deal here, but hoo-wee!” Applejack complained.

“Alright, so…” Twilight pulled out a scroll. “Tom and I will go meet with my family, and you can go do what you want, but we’ll meet at the palace for dinner.” She read.

“Okee-dokee!” Pinkie said with her usual pep.

Rarity made a few subtle motions to Pinkie, who nodded in response.

“I should go find Sunburst.” Starlight said. “He owes me some Dragon Pit.”

“Alright, break!” Twilight said as they all went their separate ways, leaving Rainbow and Applejack.

“So…wanna go find a bar?” Rainbow asked.

“Y’all read mah mind.” AJ replied as the two of them decided to go get plastered.

—-------

Spike and Fluttershy found themselves near the edge of the city, as they gasped for breath.

“I think….*huff*...we’ll be safe…*huff*...” Fluttershy panted. They heard a low moaning sound near them.

“Um…Fluttershy?” Spike asked. “Did you hear that?”

“I did, Spike.” She said. “And I think it’d be a very good idea if we ran as fast as we could.”

“W-wait…” A voice said weakly. “Please…h-help me…”

Fluttershy stopped. While she was terrified, her innate kindness was overriding her cowardice, and she decided to see what was making the noise…from behind Spike, who stood in front of her defensively. They edged towards the source of the noise, and they saw it.

A strange, insect-like pony. They recognized it immediately and started to panic.

“Ch-ch-ch-ch-changeling!” Fluttershy panicked. The changeling just groaned as it fell over. It was horribly emaciated. The bug-pony groaned in pain.

“...what’s wrong with it?” Spike asked. Fluttershy looked the changeling over.

“Poor thing…looks like he hasn’t eaten for days.” The kindly pegasus continued examining the creature. He was wearing ragged clothes, and had a strange cuff on his upper arm.

“It’s…this cuff…steals incoming love…from me…” The changeling wheezed. “Can’t remove it…”

Spike stepped forward and brought his face close to the cuff. He took a deep breath, and started slowly blowing a concentrated flame. He held the flame to the cuff, and it started to heat up. The changeling hissed in pain, and Spike’s face started to turn red, but eventually he was able to break the cuff off. Near moments after the cuff broke, the changeling started to regain some body mass.

“Thank you…you are nice creatures.” He said.

“Who are you, and what happened to you?” Fluttershy asked, Spike still prepared to defend his friend.

“My name is Thorax. As you can see, I’m a changeling.” Thorax explained. “But I can’t stay with the hive any longer. The queen has…changed.”

“By queen, you mean Queen Chrysalis.” Spike wondered. “I thought she was already evil, though.”

“Spike! Don’t be rude.” Fluttershy scolded, but Thorax shook his head.

“No, you’re right- she’s always been aggressive and ambitious…but recently she started acting even worse to us.” Thorax explained, shuddering. “She subjected us to…horrifying…experiments, even if those same experiments cost us our lives.”

“That’s…that’s horrible.” Fluttershy whimpered.

“Even if she was evil, she would never actively kill members of her swarm like that.” The changeling lamented. “I don’t know what happened to her, but I knew that if I stayed any longer, I would most likely be killed by one of her experiments. So I ran.”

Spike mulled over this story. He and his friends had seen the queen recently, as she had gained powers and was distributing RideWatches. He knew the queen was bad, but not THIS bad.

“We need to tell someone.” Spike decided. “Can you still shapeshift?”

Thorax nodded, and stood up with the help of both Spike and Fluttershy. He took a deep breath, and in a blast of greenish energy, he changed into an ash-colored pony with a green mane, still in the ragged clothes.

“Alright…let’s go.” Spike hoisted Thorax as they made their way to the castle.

—--------

Tom and Twilight were led by guards through the corridors of the Crystal Castle. Tom himself was actually nervous. While Twilight was technically royalty, he had no idea about how other royals might react to him. What if they were afraid of him, like Applejack was? But, he steeled his nerves by thinking to himself “No fear, no pain…” over and over.

They stopped a large, ornate door. The guard knocked on the door and it slowly opened.

“Presenting the Princess Twilight Sparkle, and the…Caiman Rider?” The guard announced, but was unsure at the end.

“KAMEN Rider.” Tom corrected the guard.

“Right…Kamen Rider, Thomas Decade.” The two of them entered the room. Sitting on a pair of thrones were a white stallion with a blue mane, in a formal military uniform, and a pink alicorn princess in a white dress and various platinum jewels.

“Twily!” The pair of them shot out of their chairs towards the princess. The stallion hugged her tightly.

“It’s good to see you, little sis!” He said.

“Little sis?” Tom asked.

“Oh, right…Tom, this is Shining Armor, my BBBFF!” Twilight explained.

“He’s your what?” Tom was lost.

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever!” She explained. Then, the pink princess came over and also hugged Twilight, as the two of them danced and started a chant.

“SUNSHINE, SUNSHINE, LADYBUGS AWAKE! CLAP YOUR HANDS AND DO A LITTLE SHAKE!”

“...aaaaand there goes my pancreas.” Tom thought to himself. The pair looked Tom over.

“Twily, is he the one?” Shining Armor asked.

“Yes! This is the Kamen Rider!” She explained. “And Tom, this is Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, my sister-in-law.”

“Please, just call me Cadance. Any friend of Twilight’s is a friend of mine.” She said calmly. Then, she remembered something.

“Oh, right, my aunts should be here soon too.” She said, Twilight’s eyes shrinking in shock.

“Wait, Princess Celestia and Luna are coming HERE!?” Twilight panicked. “NOW!? How long do I have before they get here? I have to make sure all my notes on Tom are ready!”

“Well, we arrived about three seconds ago, but it’s still nice to see you taking your duties seriously, my faithful student.” A warm, motherly voice called.

“Princess Celestia!” Twilight called out. Two more alicorns wandered into the room. Tom himself recognized the shorter one, she had appeared in his dreams. The other one was new to him. She was tall, the tallest in the room, and she wore a white dress that made her look like some sort of pony goddess. She looked over to the young man.

“You must be Thomas.” She started. “I am Princess Celestia, and my sister and I are the princesses of Equestria.” She stated. “I’ve heard reports of your exploits. You have my thanks for protecting my little ponies from those monsters.”

“Uh, well…just doing my job.” Tom stammered, blushing at the praise.

Celestia looked at Tom and something overwhelmed her as she picked up the Rider and started hugging him tightly.

“HMRPH!?” Tom found himself being squished between…well, it should be obvious.

“You are just the CUTEST THING!” The sun princess squealed. “I just want to snuggle you to bits!”

“Sister, put him down!” Luna snapped. Celestia pouted, but released her grip. Tom fell backwards, Twilight rushed over.

“Tom, are you alright?” She asked with concern.

“Huh…haba baba…hoi…” Tom stammered, his brain still melting from embarrassment. Twilight helped him to his feet.

Princess Luna, meanwhile, was oddly silent and withdrawn. Celestia approached her.

“Luna, aren’t you going to say hello?” The elder princess asked.

“We- I am nervous, sister…what if I haven’t learned the language enough?” Luna confided.

“I think you’ll be fine around them.” Celestia patted her sister on the back and brought her over to the Rider and youngest princess.

“It’s good to see you again, Princess Luna.” Twilight said, Tom just nodding as he was still trying to recover his senses somewhat. Luna took a deep breath.

“WHAT’S CRACK-A-LACKIN’ HOMIES!?” Luna shouted in the Royal Canterlot Voice™. The room fell silent.
“...too much?” Luna asked sheepishly. The group just nodded, and Luna cleared her throat.

“We- I am sorry about that. I have been trying to learn more casual speech from this time, but it has been hard.” She explained.

“It’s…no problem, Princess…” Tom wheezed, the force of Luna’s voice having snapped him out of his fugue, at least to an extent.

“And now it’s time to wake up Flurry from her nap…” Shining Armor said, grating his teeth a bit. He picked up a large shield and helmet. “I’m going in.”

Cadence saluted her husband as he valiantly marched into the most dangerous place in the Empire. Tom just looked confused.

“So, why…?” Tom started asking, but Twilight cut him off.

“Baby unicorns have very poor control of their magic. Flurry Heart was born as an alicorn, so her magic is already extremely powerful.” She explained.

“Oh…you think maybe I should transform and go help him?” The Rider asked.

“I’m sure he’s-” Twilight started before Cadence interjected.

“I think he’d very much appreciate that. Don’t worry about us.” The love princess said as Tom nodded and transformed.

“RIDER TIME!” The belt announced, echoing down the halls.

“Hang on, Mr. Armor- backup’s on the way!” He proclaimed as he dashed down the hall.

Twilight looked at her sister-in-law. “Why did you do that?”

Cadence chuckled. “I was hoping to talk to you privately, and Shiny really could use the help, Flurry’s a bit cranky because she has a cold.”

Twilight nodded. “Yeah…super powerful baby plus sniffles doesn’t sound easy to deal with. So what exactly was it you wanted to ask?”

Cadence turned to Twilight, a slightly manic grin forming. “I wanted to know about how things are with you and Tom, of course!”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “Oh boy…” She whimpered.

—-------
Tom, having transformed beforehand, had just dodged a lashing energy tentacle.

“Mr. Armor! Nine o’ clock!” He yelled, the former guard captain rolling out of the way and grabbing a nearby table to use as cover.

“I’ll keep these things off your back!” Tom yelled. “You finish it!”

“Appreciate it!” Shining yelled back as Tom took out his sword and swung at the tentacles, while Shining dove at the source…and pulled out a baby bottle filled with lukewarm milk and gently forced it into his infant daughter’s mouth. The magic tendrils disappeared as the overpowered baby began peacefully suckling on the bottle.

“Whew…” Shining wiped his brow. “Poor Flurry…the sniffles are making you cranky, huh?” He said as he held his daughter in his arms, as she released the bottle and let out a sneeze.

“Looks like everything’s under control.” Tom noted as he undid his transformation. “You okay, Mr. Armor?”

“Yeah, thanks…and you can just call me Shining.” He replied. “I can see why Twily thinks so highly of you.”

“Er…well, it’s a Kamen Rider’s duty to help those in need!” He replied with a nervous chuckle.

Shining held his hand out to Tom. “Well, either way, you’ve helped me out a lot.” Tom accepted the handshake from the stallion.

Nearby, a certain pink pony was ducking behind a plant, observing the scene. She pulled out a large, primitive-looking walkie-talkie.

“Cotton Candy to Velvet Ribbon, this is Cotton Candy, over.” Pinkie murmured into the device.

“Velvet Ribbon here.” Rarity’s voice came through the speaker.

“The armor has accepted the watch. Over.” She continued. “Proceed with Operation: Twilight Hour. Over.”

“Understood, over.” Rarity’ replied.

“I still don’t understand why we couldn’t just call it “Operation: Get Tommy And Twilight To Admit Their Feelings To Each Other”, over.”

“Because we need to do this covertly.” Rarity explained. Just then, Pinkie felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned to see Princess Cadence, her eyebrow raised.

“Oh, uh…hello, your highness.” Pinkie stammered, hiding the device she was using behind her back.

“Pinkie Pie, were you trying to meddle with Tom and Twilight in such a way that they’d be forced into a romantic situation?” Cadence asked. Pinkie’s mane flattened a bit, her ears splayed.

“In that case, I want in.” The princess said, which surprised Pinkie but also made her mane inflate back to normal.

“You do!?” She cheered. “...of course, you must see it too! The two of them like each other a lot but can’t admit it to each other!”

“And as the Princess of Love ™ , it is my duty to help these emotions flourish.” Cadence nodded. “Walk with me, let’s come up with some ideas.”

Pinkie nodded. “We should go find Rarity, I’m sure she has something too!”

Cadence nodded as the two started chatting and walking.

—-------

At a nearby bar, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were at the counter, surrounded by empty glasses.

“And itsh not eas-y bein’ a Wonderbolt!” Dash grumbled, drunkenly. “They jusht don’ get it!”

“I hear ya, gurl…*hic*...” Applejack hiccuped, she was also plastered. “And dem fancy-schancy folksh always lookin’ down on us hardworkin’ types!”

“Itsh been crezzeher with the…the Another Ridersh, they keep poppin’ up and we gotta shmack ‘em down!” Dash continued complaining. “But the Rider we have ish doin’ okay.”

“You heard that Twilight hash a thing for ‘im?” Applejack asked.

“Itsh totally ob…obvious! *hic* Thosh two just get all flushtered and shtuff whenever they’re around each other…one of ‘em needs to grow a pair and confesh already!”

“Hey…ya know, ah’ve got…*hic* a pony ah’ve got mah eye on too…” The farmer droned.

“Huh…who’sh the lucky one?” Rainbow asked.
“Eh…erm…I dunno…what wash we talkin’ bout?”

“I forgots…hey, barkeep! Another round!” Dash commanded. The bartender just walked over.

“I think you two’ve had enough.” The stallion said as he started cleaning up the glasses.

“Oh come on! Ah can drunk waaaay more than thish!”

A nearby patron slammed his hand on the table. “Damn it, can’t a guy drink in peace anymore?”

“And who’re you shupossed to be, tough guy?” Rainbow Dash slurred.

“...I’m just passing through. Remember that!” He said, as he left some bits on the table and walked out.

“What’sh that guy’sh probem?” AJ slurred, as the two of them found themselves being dragged out of the bar.

“Get out, and don’t come back until you’re sober!” The bartender yelled as he tossed the two out on their butts.

“Ugh! Shpoilshport…” Rainbow Dash groaned before she and AJ got up and drunkenly wandered towards the castle.

—-------

A bit later, most of the group had reconvened in the castle dining room. Tom and Twilight were seated next to each other at one of the tables, at the insistence of Cadence, Rarity and Pinkie.

“Um…” Tom tried to say something, but couldn’t, he was too embarrassed. Twilight wasn’t much better, twiddling her thumbs nervously.

“Oh for Celestia’s sake, just kiss already!” Pinkie thought to herself as she, Rarity and Cadence observed from another table at the other end of the room.

“Wait a minute…where’s Starlight?” Twilight realized her student hadn’t returned yet.

“That’s a good question…but she’s seeing her friend, right?” Tom asked.

“Yeah…yeah, I think she’ll be okay.” She sighed. “Um, Tom, I wanted to-”

Just then, a large explosion rocked the palace, with shrieks of fear echoing throughout the halls.

“Oh thank Celestia- I mean, oh no!” Twilight corrected herself, as she and Tom ran to the source of the explosion, the others following.

When they reached the scene, they saw that the barrier surrounding the city was being assailed by various projectiles, and the source was an army of blue monsters that looked very familiar to Tom…

“Are those…G3s?” He looked out. “No…those are ANOTHER G3s!”

“What’s a G3?” Twilight asked.

“G3’s another Kamen Rider, and that’s a whole platoon of Another Riders based on him!” Tom explained, Twilight’s eyes shrinking in fear.

“A platoon!?” She yelped. “One of them was bad enough already!”

“Surprised, kiddo?” A familiar voice snarked behind them. It was Ouja, and he swung his staff at the two!

“Ugh, young love…makes me sick in my mouth.” He groaned.

“Twilight, get back! I’ll handle him!” Tom said as he pulled out his Driver.

“Oh no you don’t!” Ouja pulled out a card and put it in his staff.

“WHIP VENT!” The card announced as his staff transformed into a whip, and he struck Tom’s hand with it, making him drop his Driver!

“No! Tom!” Twilight yelled in concern.

“You’re time’s up, clock boy…” Ouja growled. He raised his whip again, but his attack was stopped by a clawed hand from behind him.

“You’re…Discord!” Twilight said. “I’ve never been this glad to see you!”

“Well now, what have we here…a snake in the grass?” Discord commented.

“You’re just as much of a snake as I am, you know!” Ouja slammed his elbow into Discord’s abdomen, causing him to release his grip.

“Ugh…okay, who are you, anyway?” Discord growled.

“Why, Discord, isn’t it obvious?” Ouja pulled the urn from his Driver, undoing his transformation…

“Wait, you’re…!” Twilight yelped. Underneath Ouja’s armor…was another Discord!

“Another me?” Discord was confused. “Alright buddy, now you’ve gone too far! Not just attacking my dear friend, but now you’re committing the unforgivable sin of COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT!”

“Oh, please…I’m not a copy of you. I’m what you SHOULD have been in the first place.” Ouja-Discord said back, a sneer on his face.

“What I should have been, huh?” Discord snorted. “I’m CHAOS. Chaos is whatever it wants! I’m whatever I want!”

Ouja-Discord rolled his eyes. “You’ve gone soft.”

“And since when did the Spirit of Chaos ™ need to use an external battery?” Discord laughed.

“Well, why don’t we see how your powers stack against mine?” Ouja-Discord reinserted the urn.

“REVENGE!” The Driver announced. Discord pressed a button in his belt as a projection of a large snake came from the belt.

“KILLER GRUDGE! REVENGE OF OUJA!” The snake burst apart into particles that attached themselves to the doppleganger Discord, returning him to his Ouja armor.

“You’re keeping me from more important things, you know. I promised to come see Fluttershy when I came back. Still, if it’s a whoopin’ you’re-a wantin’...” Discord pulled up his “sleeves” and they had muscular humanoid arms under them, one of them with a tattoo of an anchor.

“Twilight, would you and your boyfriend please excuse us?” Discord asked.

“He’s not-!” Twilight was about to object but realized there were more important things to worry about, as she helped Tom up, Tom grabbing his Driver with his other hand and the two making their way towards the city.

“Now then, where were we?” Discord said as the two dragonequui stared each other down…

—----

Tom and Twilight ran through the city, towards the castle, but came across their friends being attacked by Chrysalis! Not only that, but Geiz was there, and he was in the fray!

“Huh? What’s he doing here?” Tom wondered. “No time…Twilight, I gotta go!”
“I’ll get our friends to safety in the meantime!” Twilight nodded as Tom quickly transformed.

As Zi-O, Tom jumped at Chrysalis, brandishing his sword and catching her off guard with a slash.

“Ugh!” Chrysalis groaned. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to hit a lady!?”

“The hammer of justice is non-binary!” Tom quipped.

“...and you STILL haven’t got a clue when it comes to one-liners, have you?” Geiz groaned.

“I’m doing my best!” Tom whined, but the two of them turned their attention to the Changeling Queen, as she revealed her belt.

“I’m gonna have to raise some Helheim!” She announced as the two Riders just groaned.

“That was even worse than this idiot’s line!” Geiz complained, but he was ignored.

“REVENGE!” Chrysalis’s belt announced. “TEMPTATION GRUDGE! REVENGE OF IDUNN!” Like the doppleganger Discord, she changed into the shape of Idunn.

The Riders switched their weapons to long range and peppered the enemy with a barrage of attacks. but Helheim vines popped out everywhere and absorbed it all!

“Damn…” Geiz grunted. “Hey, Zi-O! You know what to do about Helheim vines!” He pulled out the BaronWatch, Tom nodded and used the GaimWatch.

“RIDER TIME!” The two took the forms of the orange samurai and banana viking once more, and began to swing and stab at the fiendish foliage.

“You still think you stand a chance!? I’m the Queen of the Changelings!” Idunn laughed.

“No you’re not!” A voice came out of nowhere. It was an injured Changeling, who Spike was supporting.

“Spike, what’s going on!?” Twilight yelped.

“I heard everything from Thorax here.” Spike explained. “That’s not Queen Chrysalis at all, she’s an imposter!”

Everyone, save for the Riders and “Chrysalis”, gasped. Then the outed imposter started to cackle.

“Figures she’d have some bugs in her own system.” “Chrysalis” laughed.

“Who are you!?” Spike demanded an answer.

“Watch it, you little brat.” The fake queen barked. “Or do you want me to skin you alive and turn you into boots?”

“Don’t you DARE threaten Spike!” Twilight shouted angrily.

“Heh, looks like I poked the mama bear…but I’ve done what I need to do here, so ta-ta for now!” She taunted as she opened another Helheim crack and dove into it.

“Wait!” The Riders yelled. A few moments later, they heard an explosion from inside the castle.

“No!” Twilight yelled. “Tom, we have to head back!” Tom just nodded as the group took off towards the castle.

Meanwhile, Geiz looked around and spotted some of the Another G3s, who had infiltrated the city, dragging an orange stallion, bound and gagged, with them.

“Hostages…typical.” The red Rider ran after the enemies…

—-----

The group got back to the castle to see Cadence cradling a badly injured Shining Armor.

“Shiny!? What happened!?” Twilight shrieked.

“Twily…they…they took Flurry…” The prince-consort wheezed. “Top of the castle…help…” He passed out.

“Oh no! Tom, let’s go!”

“Right!” Tom replied. “Don’t worry, your highness! We’ll save your daughter!”

The two of them ran as fast as they could.

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note:

Everything's gone haywire! Another G3s, and doppelgangers of Discord AND Queen Chrysalis!? What does it all mean!?

A terrifying truth awaits beyond these trials...

Comments

[nightshroud96]

Interested on how things go between Spike and Thorax here.

[Dragoknight92]

Well at least Discord is giving his counterpart a beatdown. Also, keep up the good work on pt. 2. I need to know what happened.

[Dragoknight92]

11207435
And I hope that Zi-O get a power up from Decade in pt. 2 soon.

[thunderclap]

I wonder who that cranky janitor was~?

[Dragoknight92]

11241249
Beats me but he has a camera for some reason.

[Dragoknight92]

11266736
SAY WHATTTT?!

[rainbine253]

is it a crossover with a movie show or a game be cues i do not know and if you can tell me the name of the show movie or game