My Little Pony: Wizard of Hope

by darkmagician41

Imajin Samurai, Golden Tickets, and Apple Bucking

My Little Pony: Wizard of Hope

Chapter 5

Imajin Samurai, Golden Tickets, and Apple Bucking

It has been almost a month since Eric, and his friends saved Princess Luna from the Horror that had possessed her, and since then a few things have changed. Twilight had fully moved into Ponyville and settled down in Golden Oaks Library as both it's resident and librarian. Once she was fully moved in, Pinkie threw a housewarming party for her at Eric's house where he introduced them to Tokusatsu and Anime along with a few movies he had from America; just to give them a taste of what may be coming as well as what he usually watched. What really surprised them was when Pinkie recognized one of the characters.

"So that's where you go Haruhi Suzumiya!" she shouted when the eccentric brown haired school girl appeared on the screen.

"You know Haruhi?!?!" Eric asked, quite stunned.

"Well duh," Pinkie said with a roll of her eyes, "I play poker with her, Deadpool, and a few others that come and go every Saturday night!" Then she pouted as everyone/pony gasped in shock at her, "I still think she a huge troll for making her friends believe she doesn't know about her world warping powers. She has more control over them than anyone thinks she does."

Despite that mind blowing incident, things progressed quite smoothly until Princess Celestia -after he went to Canterlot to meet with the captain of the castle guards- asked Eric to go to Fillydelphia and investigate reports on a monster sighting. After a day-and-a-half day long train trip, he found that there were not one Kaijin but rather two of them. He discovered this when he met a small orphan Pegasus filly that seemed to be centered around the reports. After a little digging he discovered that the filly was a host to an Imajin; a race of monsters that were different from other Kaijin.

Unlike normal Kaijin that are nothing more than destruction and chaos incarnate; Imajin are more similar to humans than normal humanoid monsters as in they can decide whether or not they are good or evil. In fact they actually were human once from a distant future. Unfortunately an event in their past -our present- caused them to lose their physical forms turning into normally invisible orbs of golden energy while becoming dependent on the memories of others to survive and gain a body. Once they entered a host they would use their memories to construct a body then forge a contract with the host to bring their new bodies into the real world.

When he found out about the filly's Imagin; the first thing he did was discover what the contract was. Thankfully he found out that the contract was nothing more than a plea for a friend and a protector so he left that Imajin alone. Good thing too because the matron of the orphanage she stayed at -a horrible mare that seemed sweet but terrorized the young fillies and colts when out of the public view- had forged a contract with an evil Imajin to help protect a dark business she was running behind the scenes of the orphanage. The hidden sales of strong colts and fillies to certain groups like the Diamond dogs as slaves.

The moment Eric heard that, he quickly sent a letter to Celestia -via a Wizard Ring the solar princess had forged using some of Spike's magical fire with the help of Luna- who quickly responded and with the evidence Eric gathered along with the pieces the guards in Fillydelphia had collected, raced to arrest the matron and the staff of the orphanage. Unfortunately, the matron had somehow heard about the sting just before it got underway and left as the doors were being smashed down. Eric quickly took off after the Matron and her Imajin partner with the young Pegasus filly right behind him.

And that's where our story starts...

If any pony were to look up into the skies of Fillydelphia, they would have saw something that would have caused them to either swear off booze if they have been drinking or check into the nearest psych ward. Hopping/flying on the rooftop of the city a dark purple middle aged Earth Pony mare trying to escape via purple bat like wings of energy as she was being chased by Kamen Rider Wizard in Hurricane Style and a young Pegasus filly.

And if the sight of a well respected pony running away from those two wasn't enough to get a reaction than Pegasus filly with her light brilliant gamboge mane and moderate cerise mane flying on wings there were twice the size of a filly her age -around ten/eleven years old- with crimson and white streaks in her mane -which had the front bang covering her right eye-, tail, and wings definitely did. As the filly and Wizard chased down the mare, the little Pegasus began to speak in a voice that definitely didn't fit her.

"Kuso!" she shouted in a male like voice, "That yaro is getting away!"

"I know!" Wizard replied, "If I give you a boot Ichigo, can you bring her down?"

'Ichigo' just smirked and nodded before Wizard quickly boosted forward before he began to slid to a stop as he held his right hand out. The Pegasus quickly jumped into the hand and with power any Football Quarterback would be jealous of, the Rider threw her as he used the power behind his slide plus his Hurricane Ring to throw the filly up and above the Earth Pony Mare.

As the Filly reached her arc, a strange crimson and black energy gathered around her right fore-hoof and with sudden speed, flew down to the Earth Mare just as she reached her own arch. She slammed her energy powered hoof into the Matron's back, quickly sending her to the roof where she rolled until stopped by a rather large brick chimney.

The Pegasus filly easily landed on the roof where her wings suddenly shrunk to a normal size for one her age while Wizard also landed while taking UniTenKo -WSG mode- off his back where it hung like Dante's sword from Devil May Cry thanks to the swords properties when Eric was transformed.

"Hey Ichigo,'" The Rider said as he took a stance beside the filly, "mind helping me take down this baka?"

"With pleasure," 'Ichigo' replied with a grin before the filly's body jerked a bit while gasping as the crimson/white colors vanished and white sand fell off of the Pegasus.

Suddenly the sands began to gather in front of the filly and swirl together to forming a tall humanoid figure before a black and crimson aura formed around it briefly obscuring the figure. When the aura vanished it revealed a tall samurai looking Kaijin that reminded Wizard of the Armor of Halo from the Ronin Warriors series but in crimson and white with a black body suit of armor under it and a full white face mask with golden eyes peering out.

"Scootaloo," the Imajin -Ichigo- replied as he reached behind his back and with a flare of crimson/black energy formed a black Nodachi with crimson triangles on the grip and a small black chain dangling on the pommel, "Get behind something.'

"Right Ichigo!" Scootaloo replied in her normal voice -her front bang curled back instead of forward- with a salute before she scampering behind another chimney but kept her head out to watch the battle.

It was just in time too as sand began spilling out of the Earth Mare which quickly began to collect together and form another humanoid figure but with bat like features in dark purple and blood red armor. To be honest the Imajin reminded Wizard of the Bat Imajin but more fearsome in a way.

"Damn you Kamen Rider," the Bat Imajin hissed with a glare, "And you as well traitor!"

"You were the one who attacked my contract holder and charge," Ichigo replied as he took a stance with his nodachi, "So as her protector and friend, I will not allow you come to any closer to her!"

"Nicely said," Wizard commented as he took his own stance beside the Samurai Imajin, "Sa, Ikuza!"

With that war cry, the two shot forward and began engaging the Koumori-Kaijin. Sparks flew as they heroes suddenly appeared in front of the bat and slashed at him with their respective swords. Stumbling back a few feet, the evil Imajin charged forward and tried to cut his opponents in two with his claws forcing Wizard to dodge to the side while Ichigo blocked with his sword's sheath before attacking once more. Wizard transformed the WSG into gun mode and fired at the Koumori, the silver bullets digging into the monster causing it to screech forcing both heroes to cover their ear.

Seeing the two armored people incapacitated, the Bat Imajin took to the skies to escape. wizard saw the escaping Kaijin and quickly put on his newest ring. This one had an image of a foot covered in silver flames with a dragon forming out of the flames below the foot. Quickly switching his WizarDriver to spell mode, Wizard scanned the ring.

= Chou Iine! Kick Strike! SAIKOO~! =

As the Driver spoke, Wizard jumped high into the air as he shouted, "Hissatsu Waza!" catching the Imajin's attention as he looked back and saw an emerald green spell ring appear between Wizard and himself as the human held his right leg out while tucking his left leg in going for a flying front kick. The second his foot touched the ring, Wizard was shot out of it and towards the Kaijin with sharp emerald green winds swirling around him like a drill as he shouted, "STRIKE HURRICANE KICK!!!"

The evil Imajin only had time to scream as he was pierced through by the wind powered kick than destroyed in an explosion of flames sending his mind and spirit back to the Sands of time. As Wizard landed on the building across from where the battle started, he let off a "Whew," glad that the mission was over -or soon to be...

Back over at the previous roof, the Matron slowly woke up and instantly felt the connection she had with the Imajin vanish. Slowly she tried to escape her future punishment only to see Ichigo in front of her with his Nodachi on his shoulder. Quickly she reversed her direction only to see Scootaloo behind her ready to fight herself despite the size difference. For a second, the Matron thought she could slam the small filly away to distract the good Imajin until a couple of Pegasus guards appeared by the filly's side scratching that idea.

At the same time, Wizard appeared on the only open side as he pointed his WSG gun at the Matron, "Now then, For your crimes against Equestria and it's citizens, You are under arrest!"

A few minutes later, Eric and Scootaloo -with Ichigo back inside her but not in control- watched as the evil Matron and her employees were hauled away in the equestrian style "paddy wagon". The small Pegasus filly could not help but give the matron a Japanese Red Eye with a “Nyyyyaaah!” then laugh as the idiot fell for it, banging on the bars of the wagon furiously before being beaten down by the guards inside.

"Well that was fun," Eric sighed happily stretching his back to get the kinks out as he turned to watch the remaining orphans finally get the care they deserved.

"Yeah," Scootaloo said as the situation slowly started to sink in as her crimson/white striped cerise mane covered both of her eyes instead of just her right when Ichigo was inside her.

The Rider saw the sad filly and quickly knelt down to her, "Hey what's wrong?" he asked, only getting mumbles for his answer.

"I don't want you to leave," Scootaloo finally said loud enough with a bit more prodding as she looked up into Eric's eyes, tears gathering in her own.

Eric looked at the filly shocked as she looked back down at the ground before a strange look crossed his face. He called one of the workers over and to Scootaloo's shock asked a question she never thought she would hear.

"How can I go about adopting Scootaloo?"

Time Skip

On a train heading for Ponyville, Eric smiled as he watched Scootaloo taking a nap with her head on the Rider's lap, a happy smile on her face. When he asked the social worker about adopting Scootaloo, both filly and mare were very shocked. For a few moments, the worker tried to dissuade him from doing so until he pulled the Knight card and got her to change her mind.

A few minutes later the train finally pulled into the station and Eric walked onto the platform, his B.O.B. over his shoulder while he pulled a small roller suitcase with Scootaloo's things -not that she had many sadly enough-, the energetic Pegasus Filly behind him.

"This is awesome!" She cried out as she looked over the small town having never left Fillydelphia before, "It's so peaceful here!"

"Yeah," Eric replied as he looked around, starting to get a bit cautious, "A bit too quiet. My friends should have been here. I did send them a note through Spike's flames."

He quickly got his answer when he heard a familiar voice scream out in fear. Without thinking, Eric raced towards the entrance of the station with Scootaloo behind him only to stop in shock as he saw Twilight and Spike running for their lives all shouting about tickets for some reason.

"What is going on?!?!" Ichigo asked as he briefly took over Scootaloo and just as stunned as his contract holder.

"I don't know," Eric replied as he set the suitcase down to the side and replaced his D-On Ring with the Connect Ring and activated it, "But I'm going to find out."

Twilight: 2nd Person POV

Twilight ran for her life with Spike on her back screaming as they were chased by the Gala crazed ponies. Ever since she had gotten them, they had brought nothing but trouble for her; especially for her friends as they were 'patient zero' when it came to the Gala infection. If only Princess Celestia had not sent her those tickets.

[Endless Play by Astronauts Feat. SHINA; Kamen Rider Climax Heroes Fourze OP Version]

Just as she was on her last hooves, a familiar loud metallic roar came from behind the mob along with a loud "UCHU KITA~!" which dared the Canterlot unicorn to look behind her. There, jumping over the crowd, was Eric on the Machine Winger with a small Pegasus filly sitting in front of him whooping in glee. As soon as he landed, the hidden Rider held his hand out shouting, "TWILIGHT!!!"

Holding out her hoof, Twilight screamed as Eric grabbed it and swung her around the front of the bike, depositing her on his back where the Unicorn quickly wrapped her legs around the human who gunned the bike's motor and quickly pulled ahead of the crazed ponies. The Machine Winger ate up the dirt as it flew through the roads of Ponyville easily dodging any attempts to grab them either with hooves or magic via skillful swerving. Twilight also helped by using her own magic to push any items that were thrown at Eric away and sometimes even returning them to sender.

Another pack of crazed ponies suddenly appeared in front of the runners but Eric saw something that quickly made him swerve to the right. Twilight and Spike looked ahead of them and started screaming as their human friend quickly raced up a conveniently placed cart and used it as a ramp to jump over the stunned ponies that tried to block them. The wheels of the bike slammed into the ground and began to throw it backwards as they found purchase and quickly got back up to speed. Undeterred the Gala crazed ponies quickly began to chase them as well joining the first group once again.

Eric scowled as he raced through the streets of Ponyville dodging lunges at them from any pony that was near them. One pony even tried from the front as two more came from the sides; but Eric quickly jerked the back wheel to the right and slid under the trio who collided with a sickening 'CRUNCH!'. The Rider quickly straightened the bike and pull forward once more, sliding into a corner to avoid a house that was in their way as they continued running. Suddenly Eric placed his right hand -which still had the Connect Ring on- over his buckle activating it.

=CONNECT, PLEASE!=

The rider then threw his ringed hand in front of him summoning the connect Rune Circle and raced through it. When it closed a second later, the crazed ponies had rounded the corner and saw that their prey was gone, stunning them. On the other side of the Connect Circle -which appeared a few blocks away from the mob- Eric raced out of it and skidded to a stop before turning off his bike allowing everyone/pony to catch their breath.

[End Song]

"THAT WAS AWESOME!!!" ...Well except Scootaloo who was jumping around her big brother as he got off the bike and gently set Twilight and Spike down.

The human rolled his eyes at his little sister's antics as he looked at his friends, "Are you two okay?" he asked as the unicorn and baby dragon regained their breathes.

"Yes," Twilight gasped between gulps of air, "thank you so much for saving us me." the sounds of a throat clearing reminded her of her assistant and quickly backtracked, "I mean, myself and Spike."

"It's nothing," Eric replied before asking the question on his mind, "so what the hell has gotten into the Ponies around here?"

Suddenly Twilight began to blurt out, "Money! Wonderbolts! Party! Prince! Animals!"

"Huh?" Eric and Scootaloo intelligently asked with sweatdrops running down the sides of their heads.

Surprisingly Spike was the calm one of the two as he explained, "This morning Princess Celestia sent Twilight two tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala; a big formal ball that Canterlot hosts once a year. And when the others heard about it, they all started pushing Twilight to choose them." He then began counting the ponies down as he explained each one, "Applejack wants to go in hope of selling her apples there; Rainbow Dash is hoping to meet up with the Wonderbolts and show off to them; Pinkie thinks the Gala is going to be a bigger version of her parties; Rarity wants to go in hope of getting together with a princes, specifically Prince Blueblood," that made Spike scowl remembering the pompous unicorn when he and Twilight were forced to go with Celestia to the princess' meetings, "And finally Fluttershy wants to meet with the animals in Canterlot and befriend them."

Scootaloo blinked a few times before turning to her big brother. "Well that explains what those two tickets were Onii-chan," She said using the informal Japanese way of saying big brother.

"You got tickets as well?!?!?!" Twilight and Spike almost shouted in shock.

'"Mmhm," Eric replied with a nod of his head as he got back on the Machine Winger, "Luna-chan sent them to me via the Letter Ring in thanks for helping save her. Anyways, let's get you two home." Unfortunately that plan was tossed down the toilet.

"THERE SHE IS!!!"

The Rider snapped his head towards the only entrance into the alleyway which was quickly filling with the Gala crazed ponies that slowly closing into them, rapidly shouting out favors and promises to the frightened unicorn mare. As they closed in on the group, Twilight soon began to have bad flashback of her life in Canterlot as Celestia's student -some of which scarred her badly. As she began wishing for something to happen, her magic decided to help her with a spell it's master had been working on.

A second later, Twilight's horn began to glow with a magnificent violet aura before both ponies, Spike, Eric and his machine were swallowed up by a bright flash of light. And when it died, all four were gone which caused the ponies to clamor about in shock and fear.

Scene Jump

On the far side of Ponyville, away from the Gala mob, the flash of light that had whisked away out heroes reappeared just outside Golden Oaks library. All four were stunned by what just happened but first things first...

Spike groaned ,his scales slightly blackened from the unexpected teleportation, as he tried to keep upright despite the world spinning, "Warn me next time when you do that..."

"I didn't even know I could do that under stress," Twilight -who was just as cooked- replied as she shook her body to rid it of the soot, "Now let's get inside before those crazy ponies come back, Spike, Eric."

No response...

"Eric?"

Both Canterlot Unicorn and baby Dragon -who also shook himself free of soot- turned towards the Rider and his new charge and winched. Both of them were lying on the ground with swirls in their eyes, a bit more blackened from the sudden teleportation then the other two were with the Machine Winger lying on the ground beside them also blackened. Eric groaned as he slowly sat up, trying to keep the world from spinning himself.

"A little warning would help next time Twilight," the human groaned out along with Scootaloo who was just as groggy.

"Sorry," Twilight said sheepishly as she helped both of them up and into the library with her magic. A few seconds later, Twilight and Spike began racing around the library turning/blowing out lights while closing and locking all doors. Once all that was done -With Eric and Scootaloo back to normal- the two breathed a sigh of relief as they were now safe...for the moment.

A second later, the lights in the main library came back on revealing the rest of Twilight's and Eric's friend who quickly crowded the Canterlot Mare.

"Give me the ticket Twilight," Applejack half stated, half pleaded, "I need it to raise money to fix up Sweet Apple Acres!"

"No, me!" Dash quickly countered, "I can finally met up with the Wonderbolts and show them my stuff!"

"Pardon me Rainbow Dash," Rarity 'politely' butted in, "but I need the Gala ticket to finally find my prince in Canterlot!"

"I really would like to see the animals in the castle Twilight," Fluttershy quietly yet strongly asked, "So please give me the ticket."

"No me, me!" Pinkie shouted gleefully, "I want to see what a bigger version of my parties is like!!!"

Eric scowled as he quickly saw his friends' -slightly- darker sides; combined with the frantic look on Twilight's face, the Rider quickly decided to intervene. "Cover your ears Scootaloo, Spike," he ordered -which they quickly did- as he took in a deep breath, placed his right index & thumb in the corners of his mouth, and let loose a loud piercing whistle.

"AH!"

"MY EARS!"

"OUCHIE!"

"ARGH!"

"OH MY!"

"WHAT IN TARNATION?!?!"

After a few seconds of whistling, Eric stopped and began catching his breath as his friends regained their hearing. Once they did, the rider quickly got on his soapbox and began speaking before the mares tore into him as his eyes quickly became hard and intimidating while somehow becoming similar to a dragon's.

"Now I may just have gotten back into Ponyville and heard about what has happened; but I can tell you right now all of you -except Twilight- are acting selfishly." that was a big blow to the five Ponyville mares' hearts; but Eric wasn't done yet.

"Applejack, I know you want to bring in more money to help fix up Sweet Apple Acres; but your idea is already in jeopardy even before it got off the ground simply because the Gala will more then likely have food waiting for the guests that is free; and you can't 'compete' with that at all. You could probably give away a few free samples of your farm's apples to entice ponies but that's about it. Plus if you need any help around the farm I'm more then willing to do so by either helping you buy supplies or just lending a hand around the place and you don't even have to pay me a Bit."

The cow-pony winched as she heard that remembering the first few times she had paid Eric for his services to the farm and how he was worried that she had paid him 'way too much' for his time when she had actually paid him the agreed amount plus a little bit extra. Especially when he first set his eyes on the golden coins.

Eric was unknowing of the thought running through his boss' mind as he turned towards Rarity. "Rarity-hime," he began, "I know you want to get together with a member of royalty, but you're heading for a heartache if you go that route. Remember when I briefly went to Canterlot before going to Fillydelphia... Most of the ponies there have their noses in the air so much it's a wonder they didn't have neck problems. And this one pony, Prince Blueblood I think, threatened to throw me into the dungeons just because I wasn't getting out of the carnage fast enough for him. It was only when I revealed my knighthood that he left me alone. If he found out that you are my friend; he's more than likely going to try and hurt you to get to me."

Rarity was stunned by what Eric had revealed, especially about Blueblood and was slightly disbelieving until she remembered that he was always reluctant to keep secret or tell lies. The one time she thought he did -which revolved around him accidentally ruining her mane the first week he was him- he almost went hysterical thinking she was going to hurt or something because she thought he had purposely done it. After she had calmed him down -seeing the look of fear on her friend's face that she had unknowingly sparked really hurt her soul- Rarity allowed him to help her fix her mane; but had to put her hoof down when he tried to offer doing it for a whole week as reprimands for what he had did.

As the look of shock entered the cultured unicorn's face, Eric turned to Fluttershy, "Tenshi-chan, what happened to the kind angel that I helped me in the forest? I know you want to see the animals at Canterlot but using the Gala to do so is the wrong way to go; especially since it has nothing to do with the Gala at all. If you wanted to meet the animals there, you could have asked Twilight or myself to maybe pull some strings to let you see them anytime you wanted."

The kind Pegasus quickly wilted as she felt bad about what she had done since it reminded her of the time she accidentally used one of her abilities on Eric just after he had ruined Rarity's mane and nearly destroyed his then extremely fragile heart. It really hit home when she tried to calm him down with a hug, he tried to escape it thinking she was going to kill him via choking. Only her tears calmed down Eric enough that he understood what the hug was for and shakily returned it until both of them had calmed down. In fact they had fallen asleep during the hug and stayed that was all night allowing the human to have his first full night of sleep in this world without night terrors waking him up.

Finally, Eric turned to Rainbow Dash and Pinkie as he finished his lecture, "As for you two, let me just tell you something... The Gala is a formal event, meaning that most of the ponies there are going to be the high class type like Blueblood and with the ideas you two have, they will frown upon them if not outright throw you out of the Gala. Plus if the Wonderbolts are there and you try to show them your stuff Dash... they're more likely to not let you in if you try to impress them."

Both Dash and Pinkie looked a bit forlorn at what their friend said but kept quiet because of the emotional pain on Eric's face that he felt seeing his friends acting the way they did. It reminded him too much of how his 'parents' would always fight about going off in 'hopes' of finally reaching their dreams only to come back angrier than before and take it out on him.

"Please," The human continued trying to keep strong in front of his charge, "I don't want to see any of my friends use each other to get something like my parents did so many times. I don't want us to break apart because of some petty or easily solved problems. Please..." Eric could not help the tears that started to gather in his eyes and looked down so that they would not see them.

A few seconds later, He gasped when he felt a pair of hooves wrap around his shoulders. "I'm sorry sugarcube," Applejack said sadly as she hugged her friend, "I guess we got so caught up in our own problems and thinking only about ourselves that we didn't see the pain it was causing you and Twilight." With that said, the cow-pony let go of Eric to allow the others to hug him as she turned to Twilight. "Twilight, If it helps you at all; You can give the ticket to somepony else. I don’t need them if they are going to hurt my friends."

The other ponies soon apologized to Twilight as well -including Dash thought with a tiny bit of reluctance- and after a while Twilight decided something. As she had Spike take a letter, Scootaloo trotted over to her big brother and looked at him sadly.

“Sorry you had to see that Scootaloo," Eric said not very proud of himself for breaking as he did, "I was hoping I could go a few days before something like that happened."

"It's okay, Nii-chan," the Pegasus foal replied with a smile as she hugged her brother, "I want to help you as you helped me. So don't hold by on my a...Ac..."

"Account?" Eric supplied getting a smile and nod in return. The two of them then heard Spike briefly breath out fire and turned to see him send a letter off to Celestia. "What did you decide Twilight?"

The Canterlot Mare turned to the human with a smile on her face, "I decided to send back the tickets Eric. If all of my friends' can't go; then I won't go either. Thank you for teaching me that it is better to do something with all of your friends and not force yourself to pick just one to have fun with."

Eric could not help but blush at that before he reached into his jacket and pulled out his two tickets, "Luna-Ojouchan send Scootaloo and Myself a couple of tickets too...but since you guys aren't going, I'll send them back."

"What?" all six adult ponies shouted in shock as Eric continued.

"I really don't know how to act in such a setting and Scootaloo here really doesn't want to go to a boring formal party," The hidden Rider explained, "If you girls were going I would in a heartbeat; but since you're not... I rather send the tickets back and have a movie night with all of you instead of going to a party without any of you there to enjoy it with me."

"Awe," the girls said and quickly went up to Eric and hugged him as they mended the bridges they were about to unknowingly burn while helping heal the Rider's heart a little bit more. Off to the side both Spike and Scootaloo -being the tomcolt she was- gagged a little at the sugary sweet scene before the baby dragon's cheeks began to bulge.

"Well wallop my wither's Spike..." Applejack quickly began to comment as she untangled herself from cuddle-puddle she was in and trotted over to the dragon, "Isn't that just like a boy; can't handle the least bit of sentiment..."

"I don't think that's it boss," Eric began to point out before Spike let loose a burst of flames from his mouth.

"WHOA NELLY!" Applejack ducked under the flames, unfortunately her hat did not have it's owner's luck as a corner quickly caught on fire while the rest of Spike's flames condensed into itself before materializing a scroll with Celestia's ribbon and seal.

Applejack quickly threw down her hat and began to stop the flames out as Twilight grabbed the scroll with her telekinesis. "A letter from the Princess?" she asked opening the letter and after scanning it, gasped in shock.

"What's wrong my dear," Rarity asked after grabbing a nearby vase and poured what water was in it on the flaming hat.

"To my faithful student Twilight; Why didn't you say you needed more ticket to the Gala. Here are five additional ticket to add to the two I gave you."

Every-pony gasped in shock as they watched Twilight pull out seven golden tickets to the famous Grand Galloping Gala. "We can all go now!!!" Twilight happily exclaimed causing all of her friends to cheer happily in their own way with both Spike and Scootaloo doing the same but secretly.

"Sorry about the hat, Applejack," Spike apologized once everyone calmed down.

"Ain't a problem Spike," the work-pony replied with a grin, "Truth is, I go through them pretty quickly on the farm. I rarely have one go two months before I need to replace it. First time I ever had a hat catch fire before though."

Everyone chuckled/giggled at that before Twilight's stomach decided to make itself known...very loudly.

"Allow us to treat you to dinner Twilight," Rarity offered smiling at her fellow unicorn before turning to Eric, "You can come as well Eric; along with that adorable foal you brought with you."

Scootaloo quickly took offence with that remark, "I am not adorable!"

The chuckles/giggles returned as everyone/pony quickly walked out the door taking a ticket from Spike -who grabbed them when Twilight's stomach roared- and let every-pony take on until there was only one left and smirked seeing it in his claws. At least until he saw Eric grinning at him and quickly changed his tune.

"I don't really want to go," he said in an off handed manner walking out of the library, "but I'll do it to help keep Twilight out of trouble."

Eric just chuckled as he heard that before following the dragon with Scootaloo behind him a bit confused as to what just happened.

Time Skip

It’s been a day since the Golden Ticket incident and Eric -after dropping off Scootaloo off at Ms. Cheerilee’s school; something the young pegasus didn’t want to do; but went reluctantly- was walking around Ponyville worrying about Big Mac. The big earth pony had hurt himself after he stopped a runaway wagon that was heading for some foals with his own body and ended up breaking three ribs in the process. With a sigh, the Rider was about to head for Sweet Apple Acres for the upcoming apple picking/bucking season when someone or rather somepony called out to him with a familiar accent.

“Eric!” A cream colored unicorn pony with a short auburn mane/tail and a ruby red cloak around her neck, trotted up to the human with a small smile.

“Hey Koyomi,” Eric replied with a wave, “Does Wajima-san need some help?”

“Actually,” Koyomi corrected, “Oji-san finished a new ring for you sent me to find you.”

“A new Ring?!” Repeated the now perked up human as he took off, “Well, let’s go!”

“Matte!” Koyomi shouted as she raced off after her friend. A few seconds, the two of the found themselves in front of Ponyville’s newest building; Antique Shop Omokagedo (Vestice Hall). As they went inside, Eric was soon greeted by a another Unicorn Pony almost Granny Smith’s age but a little bigger with a cream colored coat but slightly darker than Koyomi with a black mane/tail and a dark blue/white patterned sweater vest around his barrel with tired looking brown eyes.

“Ohiyo, Eric-kun,” the unicorn replied in his native Neighponese/Japanese with a wave of his forehoof.

“Ohiyo, Wajima-san,” Eric replied politely and bowed to the elder unicorn before standing up, “I heard you made a new ring for me. Was it one of the ones Tsukasa-senpai gave me?”

“Rings actually,” Wajima replied with a chuckle, “But they were not the ones given to you. They seem to be waiting for something to happen before they will sing to me.” Eric was a bit let down at that but still happy about getting a few new rings. The Elder unicorn’s horn lit up with an orange aura as a ring case -three times bigger than a normal one- floated out of his workshop and up to the Rider.

“Here you go,” Wajima said with a smile as his newest and what would be his most frequent customer took the case.

“Arigato,” Eric replied as he opened the cane with shining eyes.

Inside sat three orange spell rings each glowing softly with a magical aura as Eric gazed onto their surfaces. The first ring had a silver dragon on the front, wings spread out as if protecting something holding a silver lined jeweled shield in its claws. Ring number two also had a silver dragon on it but its body from the chest down was molded to look like it had stretched somehow. Finally the last ring included as dragon as well but there was silver lined aura coming out of it as if it was growing.

“Well these are interesting rings,” Eric said as he instantly recognized all three rings -and seen at least two of them in action while the third he only heard speculations on.

“Do you know what they do, Oji-san?” Koyomi asked as Eric slipped the rings into a pocket.

Before the elder unicorn could answer, the ground started shaking stunning everyone.

“An earthquake?!?!” Eric asked/shouted in shock.

The question was quickly answered when all three heard Rainbow Dash cry out, “STAMPEDE!!!!!”

That quickly caught the trios attention as they rushed outside to see Ponies racing to and fro trying to find a safe place to hide. Thought in the middle of the it all, Pinkie was taking the time to have some fun.

“HEY! this make my voice sound silly!” the warbled voice of the party pony sounded as the vibrations of the earth carried her at a moderate pace.

Ignoring the silly filly, Eric raced out of the shop and towards the direction of the stampede while swinging his right hand of his buckle.

=DRIVER ON; PLEASE! =

As he reached the bridge that separated Ponyville from the stampede, Eric skid to a stop when he saw a familiar pony with an equally familiar dog and cried out, “BOSS!!!”

There, racing along side the herd of cows with a rope around her neck and a “YEE~HAW!” was Applejack ready to slow the cows down, or at least turn them away from her beloved town with her border collie, Winona, at her side. Without missing a beat, Eric quickly slid on his Flame Ring and transformed before summoning his Winger, taking off towards the stampede. When he neared the cattle, the Rider swung wide to the left, twisting around until he was racing along side the orange earth pony.

“Hey Boss!!!” Wizard called out making Applejack smile, “Need some help?!?!”

“Much appreciated!” the mare replied before letting off a whistle, “Other side Winona!”

With a few barks the border collie swerved around the pounding hooves of the cows and reached her spot where she began to do as Applejack taught her. Tightening up the herd to hopefully calm them down.

“Head them up, Winona!” Applejack shouted before she slammed a shoulder into one of the cows ordering, “Come-on little doggies! Turn!”

“OI! Calm down!” Wizard shouted slamming a couple of low power kicks onto another cow, “It ain’t working boss!”

Seeing Ponyville in sight, Applejack put on a determined glare as took a deep breath and let out a piercing whistle, “Winona, put them up!” and with a couple of barks the loyal dog quickly jumped on top of the cows with Applejack right behind her. “Eric; My Rope!”

=CONNECT; PLEASE!=

Wizard was already a step ahead of her, summoning a Rune Circle to grab the mare’s trusty length of rope which he threw to her. With practiced ease, Applejack grabbed the rope with her teeth and began twirling it above her head before throwing the open end of the rope over the lead cow’s head then jumping down. Grunting, Applejack began forcing the lead cow to turn to the left making the rest behind her follow them.

“Come on!” the cowpony mumbled through the rope in her teeth, “Turn!”

At the same time Wizard quickly switched his Connect Ring for one of a new ones -the one with the long necked dragon- and after fiddling with the levers, scanned the ring.

=EXTEND; PLEASE!=

And with a flick of his right hand, a small Rune Circle appeared beside the Rider who put his left arm through it. Then it suddenly began to stretch until the Rider was able to grip the rope Applejack was pulling. Soon with Eric’s and Winona’s help, the herd began to turn away from the bridge leading to the town. All the ponies in Ponyville began to cheer as they saw the stamped turn away from the town before slowing down.

Spitting out the rope, The cowpony walked up to the lead cow asking, “Now what was that all about?”

Eric powered down as the lead cow briefly mooed before clearing her throat, “Oh my; Beggin’ your pardon Applejack, but Moo~rialla here saw one of those nasty snakes!” At that the herd briefly went back to high alert shock, causing the three herders to ready themselves as the lead cow continued, “And it just gave us all the willies don’t ya know.”

“I completely understand,” Applejack replied with a smile, “Just next time, try and steer clear a’ Ponyville.”

“We certainly will Applejack,” the lead cow replied as the herd slowly walked away to do whatever they were doing before, “So long Winona, Eric Honey!”

The human just chuckled nervously at that while Applejack quickly went back to Sweet Apple Acres to start the Apple Bucking season with her loyal dog behind her. As Eric rolled on back into town, He could not help but chuckle as he saw Pinkie doing her own rendition of what just happened. After a bit, the Rider sent his bike away as he heard the mayor pitch an idea.

“We should do something to thank both Eric and Applejack for saving our town,” She suggested getting more than a few rounds of applause for it.

“I know!” Pinkie quickly spoke up, “A PARTY!!!”

With a healthy blush, Eric quickly tried to stop the suggestion, or at least stave it off temporarily, “It’s a good idea Pinkie-chan; but Applejack’s got her hooves full at the moment.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked as everypony turned to Equestria’s only human.

“As we all know, Big Mac recently got injured when he kept a few foals from getting hurt by a runaway cart,” He started getting nods of agreement from those that heard or saw the incident, “Unfortunately apple harvesting season just started and with Big Mac out of commision, it’s just me and Applejack handling the harvest.”

Rarity, being the sharp mind she is, quickly saw the problem; “And with this being your first apple harvesting season; it will be much harder on both of you dears.”

Before Eric could reply, something started shining in the pocket of his coat. Reaching into it, he pulled out a Spell Ring that had a stone that was a similar color to Spike’s flames with a design of a dragon’s head blowing out flames that was transforming into a scroll midway. “I wonder what Celestia-sama wants?” Eric asked as he put the ring on and scanned it.

=LETTER; PLEASE!=

Green flames came out of the ring and compacted together to form a letter with the Sun Princess’ seal and ribbon. Opening it, Eric paled as he saw what was written on it. “Correction Rarity-Hime; Celestia-sama has ordered me back to Canterlot briefly to go over some new info she just received that may point to another Kaijin attack,”

“Then that means Applejack may have to do the apple harvesting herself,” Twilight replied with wide eyes.

“Only if we let her,” Mayor Mare corrected as Eric quickly wrote a reply and sent it off. “Twilight, I want you to assist Applejack with the apple harvest. If you need more help, draft any pony willing to lend a hoof.”

“Just be careful,” Eric added as he got ready to head for Ponyville’s school, “Boss can get quite stubborn if her pride get’s scratched up.”

“Don’t worry Eric,” Twilight replied with a smile as she turned to head towards her friend, “I’m sure Applejack will not be so stubborn that she won’t accept help from her friends.”

With worry filling his mind, Eric took off towards the school before go to Canterlot.

Four Days Later

With a groan and a stretch, Eric awoken from his brief nap on the train back to Ponyville after a day’s travel to Canterlot and two days of going through reports, only to find out that it wasn’t a Kaijin attack at all but misinformation from a mare that wanted her fifteen minutes of fame. As much as the human wanted to tear into the stupid pony for keeping him from helping his first true long time friend, he kept his cool and only scolded the pony for what she had done. Strangely enough, Luna seemed slightly displeased at how lightly the lying mare had gotten off; but kept her peace. Unknowingly for Eric, Celestia was also displeased and kept it hidden better... At least until the Mystic Knight left before fining and making the pony do community service for her misinformation.

Eric scratched his head as he thought about ways to let Celestia’s spymasters and informants known more about the different types of Kaijin. ‘Maybe an encyclopedia like the one Gai-sempai made for the Gokaigers in the ‘Promise from the Star’ episode?’ Was his thought until he looked outside and his jaw dropped as he shouted in japanese “What The Hell?!?!”

All around Ponyville, a horde of bunnies -babies from the size- had swarmed over and were gobbling up any and all leafy greens they could find. Rainbow Dash was in the air with a few bandages wrapped around her barrel, winching once in awhile as she tried to help the ponies herd the bunnies back towards Fluttershy’s cottage with one of two looking like they were still recovering from some kind of sickness.

Once the train stopped, Eric jumped off and headed for the only pony he knew would have any answers.

“Twilight, What the heck happened while I was gone?!?!” he asked a peeved off lavender unicorn as she tried to restore some kind of order to the current madness.

“It’s Applejack!” She replied, taking a deep breath to go on a rant. “She’s completely out of it! The Apple-Bucking hasn’t just been causing her problems like Insomnia...” Eric’s eyes widen when he heard that part only to widen further as Twilight continued pointing to the problems, “It’s has over propelled pegasus, practically poisoned plenty of ponies, and terrorized bushels of brand-new bouncing baby bunnies!”

Jaw loosened in shock, Eric could only ask one thing. “Boss did this in four days?!?!?!”

“She did all this in four hours, Eric. And she poisoned Scootaloo with the baked bads as well.”

“...”

Wizard of Hope

Back at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack was trying her hardest to kick the apple off the last tree. But her sleep deprived body was on it’s last legs.

“Must...Keep...Bucking.” she softly said as a mantra while kicking the last apple tree.

Suddenly she was startled wide awake as a familiar voice reached her ears at a volume she had never heard before.

“APPLE JACQUELINE SMITH!!!!!!!!”

“Oh Buck,” Applejack softly said as she soon spied a huge cloud of dust heading her way. As it neared to orange pony was stunned to see Eric in front of the dust cloud -his normal brown eyes colored crimson with beastlial irisis- with a screaming Twilight on his back.

“You’re Going To Stop This Madness Right Now!” the human ordered once he was a yard from his boss. “You are going to get yourself, if not other ponies, killed if you keep this up!”

Twilight, slid off of Eric’s back as she tried to keep her lunch down from the sudden acceleration and stop; all the while keeping an eye on the human as his inner Phantom slowly fueled the Wizard’s dark emotions.

“Not Now Eric!” Applejack replied; her pride reared its ugly head once more as her accent thickened, glaring at her employee despite the pronounced bags under her eyes. “Can’t ya see Ah’m almost done!”

Eric’s eyes narrowed as he held up his right hand, which had the ring with the chains on it, as he said, “I mean it Applejack! If you don’t stop right now; I’m going to knock you unconscious, take you to your room, and tie to to your bed until you get some rest!”

Deciding to step in before more than words started flying, Twilight added, “Eric’s right Applejack; You. Need. Help. And. Rest!”

As if to defy what her friends were saying, Applejack kicked the last tree with all of her remaining strength and successfully brought down all the apples. “Hah!” she shouted triumphantly, looking from the bags on her back to her friends “How Do You Like Them Apples?!”

Both magic users let their eyes roam the orchard as they saw that all the apples had been successfully bucked from their trees. Eric quickly calmed down -loosening his Phantom’s grip on his emotions- and was about to partially apologize for what he said; until he and Big Mac -who saw Eric’s cloud of dust and raced towards while keeping himself from aggravating his ribs- both spied something.

In sync both males asked, “Um, how do you like them apples?” as the human pointed to a part of the orchard while stallion did the same, but with a jerk of his head.

Applejack turned towards where they were looking only for her eyes to widen beyond their full size, her pupils to dilate, and her jaw to drop at what she saw. There behind her; more apple trees were revealed all still bearing their delicious red fruit. The mare didn’t finished the whole orchard as she had boasted; but rather a little over half of it was complete, leaving at least a third if not more left to be done.

The cowpony’s already frayed mind had finally reached its breaking point, reducing her to unintelligible mumbles before her body also threw in the towel. Applejack’s eyes rolled into the back of her head as she fainted clean away, the voices of her friends following her as she entered the darkness. The apples on her back fell to the ground and were forgotten in favor of the mare that had risked her health to pick them and it’s fellows in the past few days.

Wizard of Hope

Sometime later, Applejack slowly began to open her eyes; her vision blurred as the mare’s mind slowly began to focus the image in front of her. After a few seconds, she began to recognize a familiar ceiling above her.

‘I’m in my room?’ she asked herself, looking around and saw something that she had hoped was a nightmare shining softly under the full moon.

‘I only got half the orchard done...’ Applejack reluctantly confirmed as she saw from her window half of the orchard done while the other half was still waiting to be picked despite all of her hard work. ‘Big Mac was right... I couldn’t harvest the orchard myself. How weak am I?”

As Applejack tried to move her right fore hoof to her head, she felt something gently holding it down. Looking to her side, she saw surprised to see Eric asleep with his head, upper body, and arms on the bed, holding her hoof firmly enough to keep it still yet gently enough that it did not hurt. Her friend wasn’t sleeping as deeply as he look because a second later his eyes slowly began to open before he saw the orange mare and they instantly went wide.

“Applejack!!!” he cried out before pulling the mare into a hug, “You scared us all when you fainted, You big Baka!”

The mare’s ears lowered with sadness as she heard the pain in her friend’s voice. “Sorry, Eric,” She said softly looking away, “I was trying to prove to Big Mac that I could handle the Apple-Bucking season all by myself since he was hurt and this would be your first one. I guess I’m not as strong as I thought I was.”

As Applejack started become emo, something very startling happened to her that quickly brought her back to the present.

WACK!!!!

“OW!” Applejack cried out as she rubbed the back of her pained head before glaring at Eric who still has his cupped hand raised from the Gibb Slap, “What the hay was that for?!?!”

“To wake you up,” the human replied with a glare putting his hand back on the bed, “Big Mac already told me and Twilight what he said to you. When he said that the harvest was too big for you to handle; he meant within the time limit that you had...”

Applejack’s eyes widen as she heard that while Eric continued, “Nopony with in Ponyville or out of it will never say that you are not the most strongest, reliable, and dependable mare that ever existed. And those that don’t will quickly find out like I did.” Gently taking both of the mare’s front hooves in his hands; he continued on, looking into her eyes, “But despite all of that, You're still just an earth pony. You're not Celestia-ojouchan with her goddess like powers, or Twilight with her deep well of magic, or even Pinkie with her never ending energy. You’re Applejack; a mare that has every right to be proud of her hard earned strength, But still needs help for jobs that even your unmatched strength can not handle.”

A light blush, hidden by her fur, appeared on Applejack’s face as she looked into the teary human’s eyes.

“Please AJ,” Eric added stunning his friend with his first use of her usual nickname, “Let us help you. Let us repay you at least some of the loyalty and strength you have given to both your friends and Ponyville so many times.”

The mare looked into Eric’s eyes as they seared themselves into her mind before sighing. “Alright Eric, I’ll let y’all help.”

“Thanks Boss,” Eric replied with a smile before yawning, “Excuse me, I’m kinda in the same boat as you thanks to having to look over a lot of reports that turned out to be false Kaiju ones. I did take a few naps here and there but not a full night’s sleep.” With that he began to stand up as he added, “I’ll just use a Connect portal to head back home for some rest.

Just before he could, Applejack quickly grabbed his hand getting his attention. “If you’re just a tired as me,” she began with a blush making a reappearance, “You could stay the night here since Twilight would have Scootaloo at the library.”

Eric’s own blush could have substituted as a flashlight with how bright it was as he stuttered out, “I-it wouldn’t be proper for me, Plus Big Mac and Smith-Obaasama would have my head if I slept in here since my old room would have turned back into a storing room.”

“Granny smith wouldn’t care at all since your family to her in all but blood.” Applejack replied as a playful glare appeared on her face, “And if Big Mac does raise a stink, I can easily calm him down; one way or another.”

After a few more tries at heading to his house, Eric finally gave in to the stubborn mare and went to the nearby bathroom to summon a change of clothes while Applejack wondered why she just did what she did. After a few seconds she just decided that she was just helping a friend out; but that answer seemed hollow to her.

Before her mind could reach another conclusion, Eric reappeared wearing a simple pair of cotton shorts and shirt with his other clothes already back at his house. The human slid himself under the bed’s sheets carefully with a blush still on his face and made sure there was a bit of room in between him and the mare despite the bed just barely fitting them both.

As they exchanged good nights, Eric soon thought of something that made him chuckle. A raised eyebrow from AJ and he explained himself.

“Remember how Celestia-ojousama said we could help Twilight with her friendship reports?”

“I do... Why?”

“I have a feeling that we’re going to need to write one of our own after this debacle,” Eric explained with a silly grin that Applejack returned before they both went to sleep. The next morning, Eric would find out something about the way he sleeps that he did not know before. What it is I’ll leave for the next chapter.

Comments

[Shadow Lord Malice]

Pretty awesome that Scootaloo has an Imajin partner. It will be hilarious when Diamond Tiara gets involved. Unless...

hawaiilife.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Cat_shocked.jpg

Diamond Tiara gets her own bad one.

DO IT!!!!!!!

[Night_Moon60606]

it would be nice to see u continue with these stories again, they r quite good...

[darkmagician41]

3216886
I would to, but at the moment I have too many ideas running through my head to write properly and college is taking some of my sweet writing time as well.

I am close to getting the next chapter out; though I would like someone/pony to help me edit my stories. Editing has always been a big problem with me since I'm more of a writer. If you know anyone please send them my way if they don't mind helping a person like me.

[darkmagician41]

3408670
There's a wizard soundboard???

SHOW ME!!!!!!

Sorry. I just got excited to hear something like that. It would help me out of my writing funk if you could send it my way please.

[darkmagician41]

3408899
I know that guy, I've played with a few of his soundboards before. Didn't know he had a Wizard one. Guess i need to swing on by there and check it out.

[Xenoguyver]

3408906

I just checked it out. It would be VERY handy when reading this fic or any fic that has Kamen Rider Wizard in it.

[Night_Moon60606]

still waiting for updates...on this and ur Eternal story...

[guardian soul]

must read more, please update soon

[laserbolt24]

If you guys still want check out that kamen rider wizard soundboard here is were you can find it. http://orig12.deviantart.net/6a59/f/2016/048/5/2/kr_wizard___ring_soundboard_by_malunis-d9s5hwu.swf

[cyberlord4444]

So Scootaloo has an Imajin, IF SHE DOESN'T BECOME DEN-O I WILL BE DISSAPOINT
By the way, have a token from my character