Friendship is SHOWTIME!!

by MangaKamen

Spell 10 - Djinn

Shh… Be careful. Behind each word is a hundred hooks. A thousand fabrications, ten thousand lies. If you’re okay with that… let me… String you along?
- Urataros

TTTTTT

Spell 10

Djinn

TTTTTT

It was early afternoon in Ponyville when Twilight trotted away from the library, her saddlebags slung over her back. The young unicorn had only read the two scrolls that the White Garuda had left for her, and was rather confused with the two messages. Even more confusing for the young mare was the fact that the White Garuda had disappeared from the library before she had a chance to observe the odd familiar.

‘The only one I know who would know about this is Haru,’ Twilight reasoned to herself as she looked around each street she trotted past. ‘He’s the only one I know who can summon those kinds of familiars, but why would he send me some weird messages? And if he had a copy of Garuda, he would’ve told me about it.’

Indeed, almost every time Haru would get a new ring to his name, the dragon would at least show Twilight. That included the ring that Haru had made earlier, albeit, it was only for a few moments, but still.

Twilight shook her head, and continued her search for the magically enriched dragon friend throughout the town. ‘He has to be somewhere, although, he can just magically disappear whenever he wants to. So that might make things a little more difficult – Still, those two messages are worrying me.’

However, the young unicorn was unaware that the White Garuda was on her trail, watching her from afar and keeping its distance perched atop one of the nearby buildings. It wasn’t that hard to spot a purple unicorn in Ponyville, not many ponies shared the same coloring.

Of course, also from its vantage point, the White Garuda was also able to see that on the other side of the buildings was the very same red dragon that Twilight was looking for, just casually walking through the streets, one of his claws at his scaled chin. ‘Rainbow Dash… Gilda… The pieces are lining up. But I can’t be sure about this, and if I don’t play this right, then things might just end up worse.’

Haru stopped for a few moments and looked into the sky. ‘I wonder if sometimes this is worth the trouble.’

The dragon closed his eyes as his mind drifted into thought, images that he had buried deep within his conscious slowly began to surface…

The sun being eclipsed by the moon.

Countless beings trapped on the ground with dark energy coursing through the earth and through those very same beings.

Screams echoing through the air as the energy began to crack those beings’ bodies.

Those horrible screams as their bodies were shattered to unleash monstrous forms that stalked the area.

The deafening beat of his heart, trying to rip itself out of his very chest.

The pain of his very body tearing itself apart.

“I…”

His eyesight failing, he lifted his head up, a sick laughter piercing through the horrid screams.

“I…!”

With his cracked limb lifted up towards the eclipsed sun, purple energy surging from between the cracks.

Haru’s eyes opened as he looked down at his right claw and clenched it tightly, ‘That’s right. This is the only path for me now. I cannot allow these Phantoms to do what they please, not after what they did, I can’t let there be another victim!’

With his spirit reignited, Haru turned away from his balled up claw and continued to walk through the streets.

A loud roar blasted through the air, drawing Haru’s attention towards the farmer’s market. But before he could even take a step, a familiar yellow pegasus flew through the air above Haru, the dragon easily noting that the pink maned mare was crying audibly. The red dragon watched as the pegasus fly off into the distance. ‘That was ‘Fluttershy, right?’

Looking to where the young pegasus had fled from, Haru looked past the crowd of ponies to see a unique figure amongst them. It wasn’t hard to distinguish a griffin from a town of ponies, the shear height and difference of body type was a dead giveaway. ‘Well, I found the needle in this haystack.’

Target in sight, Haru quickly but casually slipped through the crowds to follow Gilda, which incidentally became a tougher to do since she flew off right after Haru laid eyes on her. But, by some miracle, the red dragon was able to keep the griffon in sight as she flew to the outskirts of Ponyville.

Thankfully for the tired dragon, about that time, Gilda was finally descending from the sky heading for one of the many trees outside the town. Haru was quite a few yards away when he stopped to look at the now perched griffon from a distance. Taking a few moments to compose himself, Haru slowly walked towards the tree that Gilda was in.

“Afternoon Gilda.”

The griffon grimaced as she looked down at the oncoming dragon, “Great, someone else who wants to bug me. What do you want, Lizard?”

Something clicked inside Haru’s mind and he narrowed his eyes a bit at the griffon. Before he spoke though, Haru smiled brightly, although his right eye twitched slightly. “It’s Haru, but that’s not important right now. How are you doing Gilda?”

Gilda sighed loudly before she turned around on the branch with her back to the red dragon. "Is there a point to this boring conversation?"

‘This isn’t going to be easy,’ Haru thought to himself as he cleared his throat. “Well, if you’re going to be brash about this, then yes, there is a point. I’m here to talk to you about your attitude.”

Gilda rolled her eyes, “You got a problem, dweeb?”

“I make it my problem when someone makes ponies cry and drops them from the sky,” Haru retorted with his eyes narrowed. “Your attitude is one thing, but assaulting is a whole other matter. And frankly, if you hurt anypony here, I assure you it won’t end well for you.”

That got Gilda to shift around so she could leer at the dragon in front of her, taking note that he was placing a big red ring on his left claw. “Those are some big words for a little lizard like you.”

Ignoring that little comment, Haru kept his attention on the griffon, “So, I finally got your attention, huh? Good.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Gilda grumbled as she waved one of her talons in the air. “Look, if you’re just going to lecture me, you might as well just take your story walking, I heard that junk before.”

“Fine, fine,” Haru sighed. “I’ll get to the point then, why’d you make Pinkie Pie fall out of the sky? You could’ve gotten her badly hurt, or worse!”

Gilda sighed with a roll of her eyes. “Yeesh, you’re just as annoying as that pink headache. I was just trying to get rid of her, she couldn’t take a hint!”

“That doesn’t justify trying to hurt her,” Haru retorted with his eyes narrowed. “And I don’t think Rainbow Dash would appreciate that you’re trying to hurt one of her friends.”

“Friend? That’s a laugh!” Gilda scoffed. “She doesn’t need losers like you or that walkin’ headache now that I’m around!”

“Why are you around anyway?” Haru questioned, tilting his head slightly.

Gilda snarled slightly, “What the Tartarus are you talking about?”

“Dash told me that she kept word with a couple of her friends from Cloudsdale,” Haru explained as he crossed his arms, keeping his right claw near his belt buckle. “Of course, that includes you. Or at least, it did until six months ago. Then out of the blue, you just arrive here in Ponyville. If you think you’re Rainbow Dash’s best bud around, then why did you stop writing to her? Furthermore, why did you just show up without any word to Dash?”

“I… I don’t have to explain anything to you,” Gilda growled as she spread her wings. “I’m outta here!”

“Fine, you can fly away,” Haru stated as Gilda began to flap her wings. “But if you do, then I’ll just have to tell Rainbow Dash about what you did to Pinkie Pie. I doubt she’ll see eye to eye with your line of reasoning.”

Gilda stopped her wings and growled loudly, “You wouldn’t dare.”

“If it’s to protect my friends, I’ll do it,” Haru retorted with his eyes sharply aimed at Gilda. “Now, I suggest that you come down to the ground, and we’ll continue this little conversation.”

With a loud growl, the young griffon leapt from the branch and landed in front of Haru.

The red dragon nodded before he smiled slightly, “Rainbow Dash must mean a lot to you, huh?”

Gilda scoffed as she turned away, “Did you have a point in threatening me? Or did you just want to keep up with idle chat?”

“It’s relevant, I assure you,” Haru stated with his arms raised up. “You’re willing to do anything for Dash, she’s that important to you, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, what of it?” Gilda spat back, rolling her eyes at the dragon. “She’s just a friend.”

“Junior Speedsters are our lives,
Sky-bound soars and daring dives!
Junior Speedsters, it's our quest,
To some day be the very best!”

Gilda jumped slightly when that familiar chant was proclaimed to her by the red dragon in front of her. With a blush now adorning his face, Haru cleared his throat, “Ahem, I doubt I’ll ever get that out of my brain, it’s quite the embarrassing song, wouldn’t you agree? I can’t believe Dash got you to sing in front of two practical strangers.”

The feathers on Gilda’s face streaked slightly red, yet Haru continued on, “I think you also said ‘Only for you Dash’, if I can remember that right. Feel free to say I’m wrong, but if that’s the case, then Rainbow Dash must be a special case to you.”

Gilda didn’t say a word, but she did growl at Haru.

“Right! Then that just makes this all the more puzzling – Why would you consider Dash a real good friend, to the point that you’re willing to embarrass yourself for her, but not respond to any of the letters she’s sent you? Or even send a letter to her over the six month period?”

“Shut up!” Gilda snarled loudly, stomping one of her talons into the dirt.

“Something must’ve happened to make you leave a good friend hanging,” Haru stated bluntly as he lifted his right claw up to reveal the second ring on his claw to Gilda.

“What’s it matter to you?!” Gilda growled as she grabbed Haru’s jacket and pulled him closer to her. “So what if something did happen?! It’s got nothing to do with you, you scaled dork!”

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Haru barked back, grabbing ahold of Gilda’s wrist, making her let go of the dragon’s jacket. “You’re Dash’s friend, and she obviously cares about you! I’m her friend as well, and so is Pinkie, if there is something wrong concerning our friends, then it concerns us as well!”

Gilda pulled her talon away with a loud growl, “That is so stupid and lame! You don’t know what I’ve been through! You wouldn’t believe what I’ve had to deal with!”

Haru looked down at the rings on his claws, “I’ve seen my fair share of troubles in my life, stuff you wouldn’t believe either. So, try me.”

Keeping her narrowed gaze locked on the dragon, Gilda scoffed to the side, before she turned her narrowed eyes down at the dragon. The griffon took a deep breath before…

“LISTEN HERE YOU BLOODY TALKING LIZARD!! YOU BETTER NOT CROSS MY PATH AGAIN, CAUSE I’LL RIP YOU INTO A MILLION PIECES! I’LL MAKE YOU INTO A PAIR OF DRAGON SKINNED BOOTS!”

The force of all that rage forced the spines atop of Haru’s head stand up straight, although the rest of him was calm and collected. Gilda huffed and puffed as Haru fixed his spines atop of his till they were back in place. “… You done?”

Gilda slumped back with a loud sigh, her head drooping down. “Yeah…”

“Good, then let’s get this started,” Haru replied as he reached for another ring from his jacket.

A few moments later, and with a quick use of a Connect Spell, Haru and Gilda were seated underneath the same tree that she was perched in earlier with a small table with a couple of cups of water on it. Gilda was a little surprised at the magic that the dragon just performed in front of her. “Never saw a lizard use magic before, thought that just those horned ponies called dibs on that stuff.”

Haru took a sip from his cup, his eyes closed before he set the cup on the ground, “I’m a dragon, not a lizard. And what you’re referring to is a unicorn, but that’s not the point – We’re talking about you.”

Gilda sighed with her eyes narrowed at the rather snotty dragon, “Whatever dweeb. If you really want my life story, fine.

“You were kinda right, dork, something did happen six months ago.”

Haru opened his eyes and looked at Gilda. ‘Alright moment of truth…’

“I’ve been through a lot of lame stuff over the last few months,” Gilda sighed as she gripped the cup in front of her. “It started almost six months ago when I was working my job, I worked in the delivery business for the Cloudsdale Mail Express, and I was real good at my job too. Tartarus, I was on my way to getting another promotion.

“But, after I was done working a late night, there was a fire and a whole lot of packages and letters were burned to a crisp. There was an investigation, and somehow a lot of my feathers were found at the scene and it was thought that I caused the fire! I wouldn’t do something so stupid like that! Not when I was up for a promotion!”

‘So, you destroyed packages when you weren’t up for a promotion?’ Haru thought to himself.

“I didn’t do it!” Gilda snarled making Haru blink a few times in confusion. “Anyway, it just went downhill from there – I was lucky that I didn’t get locked up by the coppers since they thought it was an accident, but I got canned from my job and I was forced to take another that I hated. I hate the damn food industry, but when you got bills to pay, you can’t be choosey.

“To throw more fuel on the fire, I still owed a load of bits to the Mail Express to compensate those losers who lost those damn packages. I couldn’t pay them back with my current job, so after some thought, I had to sell some of my stuff to get out of that debt, either that or get locked up. But wouldn’t ya know it? My place got jacked! Everything valuable was broken in two and any bits I had locked up were gone!”

Haru remained silent (save for a sip from the cup of water) as he listened to Gilda’s rant. Gilda growled as she slammed a balled up talon onto the table. “What the Tartarus did I do to deserve this stuff!? I didn’t do anything to nobody! I had to sell my home to make sure I didn’t end up in the slammer, but the problems just kept piling up! My former co-workers kept getting assaulted, and a bunch of ponies who had a grudge against me did too!”

‘Gee, I wonder why they had grudges,’ Haru mused with a roll of his eyes

“The law kept getting on my case,” Gilda continued as she turned away from the dragon. “Nothing stuck thanks to some half-boiled pony that I knew kinda proved that I wasn’t guilty, but it just kept happening again and again! I had to get away from Cloudsdale otherwise I’d probably just get tossed in the slammer, no matter how many times I’d get cleared.”

“So you came here, cause you knew you had a real good friend who could help you,” Haru mused out loud.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much it,” Gilda sighed.

“I take it Dash doesn’t know,” Haru guessed with his arms crossed. “There’s no way she’d be all chipper if she knew what was happening to her.”

“She doesn’t need to know,” Gilda growled with her gold eyes narrowed down at the dragon. “I made sure that half-boiled pony who helped didn’t tell her this in his letters, and I’ll make sure that you don’t tell her either. These are my problems, and I sure as Tartarus ain’t going to burden Dash with them!”

Haru lifted his hands up defensively, “Hey, it’s not my place to tell her. That’s up to you to decide Gilda. But keeping things from friends isn’t the best, especially if they can bring problems to the ones you care about.”

“You think I don’t know that?!” Gilda barked as she stabbed her talons into the table. “I just want things to go back to the way they were! I don’t know why the Tartarus this kind of plop is happening to me, but it doesn’t involve Dash! But I… I…”

“You really do treasure your friendship with Dash,” Haru interrupted with a smile on his face. “But, you can’t just look to the past Gilda, if you do that, you’ll just be trapped there, and lose those who continue to the future, unfortunately that includes Dash.

“She’s still your friend, but she has a life here outside of Cloudsdale. If you don’t open up to her and keep ostracizing her friends, then you’re going to end up regretting it.”

“GARGH!” Gilda snarled loudly as she threw the table to the side, making the dragon in front of her lean back slightly in surprise. “You loser! You don’t know what the Tartarus you’re talking about! I don’t know why I even opened up to you in the first place!”

“Well, that’s simple really,” Haru chuckled with a smile on his face. “Some ponies, and griffons too, bottle stuff up. Eventually, the pressure gets to be too much, and sometimes they explode, other times, they’re just waiting for someone to listen.

“I kind of pegged you as someone like that when you kept being way too unauthentic, putting on too much of a tough girl façade kinda made me realize that you’re just hiding beneath all that bravado.”

Gilda growled loudly.

TTTTTTT

A little while later, Twilight was at the small river inside Ponyville, looking at the water below the bridge she was at. She had looked all over Ponyville for the magical dragon, but her search turned out to be futile. ‘There has to be a spell that I can use to keep tabs on him, or at the very least find a way to communicate with him far away.’

Using her magic to pull the ring out from her saddlebags, Twilight floated the Multi-Ring in front of her. ‘I wonder, Haru’s able to use these rings by having them tap into his own source of magic – Couldn’t I do the same if I channel my magic into them?’

Twilight was about to do so, but stopped herself, “No, it wouldn’t work, at least not for this ring.”

‘Those scrolls said that this ring could only be used when…’

“Hey there, Twilight,” a familiar voice called out surprising the lavender unicorn, almost making her drop the ring.

The mare quickly used her magic to fit the ring into her saddle bags before she turned around, “Haru! There you are, I was looking for you and… What the!? Haru! Are you okay?”

Haru rubbed his bloody nose with a warm smile on his face, “Don’t worry Twilight, in the words of an infamous figure – ‘If you can't take a little bloody nose, maybe you ought to go back home and crawl under your bed. It's not safe out here. It's wondrous, with treasures to satiate desires both subtle and gross. But it's not for the timid.’

“I just kinda went a little too far with my ‘exploration’.”

“Who exactly said that?” Twilight asked trying to think about who could’ve said something like that.

“Some entity of chaos I once read about,” the dragon admitted as he stepped onto the bridge next to Twilight. “But that’s not important, you said you were looking for me?”

“Yeah, but when I found you, I wasn’t expecting to see you covered in blood,” Twilight pointed out blatantly. “What exactly happened to you?”

“Uh, better if you drop it,” Haru recommended with his claws held up defensively. “Now, what did you need from me?”

“Well, I was kinda curious about something,” Twilight stated, not wanting to push the issue with the dragon. “You only have three familiars right?”

“The PlaMonsters?” Haru questioned with his brow raising slightly. “Yeah, I’ve only got three – Yellow Kraken’s with the Apple Family, I have Red Garuda following Dash, and Blue Unicorn should be with you. Uh, speaking of, where is Unicorn?”

“Well, I asked him to keep an eye on Pinkie Pie,” Twilight stated. “But are you sure you don’t have another version of Garuda?”

“Another version of Garuda?” Haru questioned, blinking a few times at the lavender Unicorn. “What do you mean? I only have the Red Garuda.”

“So, who has the White Garuda?” Twilight asked.

Haru’s eyes widened in revelation when he heard that, “A White Garuda?!”

The dragon stomped closer to Twilight, his eyes narrowed and his claws held up, “Twilight, are you sure about that!?”

The unicorn was a little surprised at Haru losing his cool bravado over the second Garuda, but she nodded towards the dragon. “Yes, I’m sure. Its body wasn’t made out of rubies, it was pure diamond. And it even had a few scrolls with it…”

Twilight used her magic to pull out the two scrolls out from her saddle and used the same spell to unfurl them. “One just had a runic circle similar to the ones that you use with your magic, and the other was just a simple sentence.”

Haru looked at one of the scrolls and did note that it was a golden runic circle that had the basic principles as his, only this one with different phases of the moon surrounding the central symbol. The dragon then turned his attention to the other scroll, and read it out loud. “Two is better than one… What the?”

“Yeah, I don’t get it either,” Twilight sighed with her head lowered.

“I feel like I’m being trolled somehow,” Haru admitted with his head lowered.

“I know how that is,” Twilight added as her horn glowed once more, pulling out the same ring she was looking at earlier. “But, I got the messages when I was looking at this ring that you left with Pinkie. I’m sure that’s got something to do with it.”

Haru looked at the ring and gripped it with his tail, “Hmm…”

“Anyway, why do you have Garuda watching Dash?” Twilight questioned as she leaned at Haru, making him lean back. “Is Dash a Gate? Is there another Phantom in Ponyville?”

Haru lifted his claws up defensively, “Well, I’m pretty sure that Dash isn’t a Gate, but I’m keeping Garuda around her so that there won’t be a problem. As for the Phantom, well, I’m not going to lie, there are two Phantoms this time.”

Twilight bit her lower lip as she turned her attention away from the dragon, “How long did you know?”

“Since this morning,” Haru answered with his claws now in his pockets. “I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know who the Gate was and I had to find out before the Phantoms appeared again.”

“I understand that Haru,” Twilight replied as she turned her attention towards the dragon. “But I have to ask you, why are my friends and myself being targeted by these Phantoms? It can’t just be a coincidence!”

“It can’t, can it?” Haru mused as he rubbed his chin. “And I wish I had an answer to give you, all I know is that I have a duty. And that duty is to protect anypony from these Phantoms, and Twilight, as long as I’m here, I’ll make sure that you or your friends won’t be harmed by Phantoms.”

The unicorn smiled at the dragon before she giggled, “Odd, I seem to recall that AJ and I had to come to your rescue when you fought against that Pranch Phantom.”

Haru reeled back as if he was just socked again, “Hey! I wouldn’t start this kind of argument! Let’s not forget who saved who’s flank the first time!”

For a moment, both magical creatures leered at each other before they laughed for a little. When the laughter ceased, Twilight smiled brightly at the dragon, “So, any chance you’re going to tell me how your nose got like that?”

“I’m taking that secret to the grave,” Haru replied.

Before either of them could say another word, a small neighing sound caught their attention towards the bridge’s edge. At the ground was none other than the small Unicorn Familiar trotting towards the two with a basket filled with pink envelopes that had a familiar trio of balloons on it. The small familiar jumped to its dragon’s shoulder and neighed loudly as it bumped the basket against Haru’s cheek a few times.

Taking the hint, Haru grabbed one of the envelopes and the small familiar leapt down to Twilight and made a similar gesture towards Twilight. The lavender Unicorn used her own magic to pull one of the envelopes. Unicorn neighed happily before it galloped away.

Haru sighed as he looked at the envelope, “Ya know, I don’t mind if you ponies use my familiars to help you, I just wish I’d get a little forewarning.”

Twilight chuckled sheepishly as she used her magic to open the envelope, “Well, not like I asked him to do this. Pinkie probably did.”

Haru rolled his eyes as he used his claw to open up the envelope and pull out the small sheet of paper inside. “Let’s see… Huh, apparently I was just invited to a party. Gee, I wonder who’s throwing it.”

“Says here that the party’s for Gilda,” Twilight pointed out, ignoring the little bit of sarcasm that Haru spouted. “Haru, I don’t suppose you met this Gilda, have you?”

“Actually, I’ve had the ‘pleasure’,” Haru replied adding the air quotes with his claws.

“What’s she like?” Twilight inquired as she used her magic to slip the invitation into her saddlebag. “Pinkie told me a few things earlier, and I feel bad because of what I said to her. I was hoping to hear what you know about her in order to figure out if I was wrong or not.”

“Then I suggest you go to this party and meet Gilda yourself,” Haru replied with a nod to himself. “Trust me, it’s not a good idea to form an opinion on somepony you haven’t met unless you meet them yourself. I believe a good saying for you is ‘Don’t judge a book by the cover’.”

“Indeed, that is a good saying,” Twilight admitted with a bright grin on her face. “So, what are you going to do now?”

“Well, I’m thinking about going to this party,” The red dragon stated before he rubbed his nose. “But before that, I’m going to back to the library and clean myself up. I doubt that even Pinkie Pie would be thrilled to see a dragon covered in blood appear at her party.”

Twilight nodded before Haru began to walk off, his tail still wrapped around the Multi Ring. ‘That symbol on that scroll was the same when he used that Ring Ring, so it must be from his master. It wasn’t that hard to figure out, but it would make sense that his master would have similar magic.

‘I wonder, is Haru’s master a dragon too?’

Twilight mused her thoughts before she began to leave the bridge area as well, unaware that the White Garuda was watching her from the air. The diamond encrusted familiar chirped once before it dove down to keep a closer look on the lavender unicorn.

TTTTTT

Sugarcube Corner in the late afternoon was abuzz with life on this day, with several ponies entering the highly decorated bakery. Music, streamers and several balloons filled the air with the pink hostess of the party at the door greeting each and every one of her guests.

Twilight had arrived a little earlier and was surprised to see that most of her friends, save for Rainbow Dash and Haru, were there. Even Spike was amongst the ponies, although, he was keeping an eye on a certain stylish mare.

On the other hoof, Twilight was trotting up to a rather timid Fluttershy – even more so than the usual timidity that the mare showed – in the middle of the shop, “Are you alright Fluttershy? You’re looking a little nervous.”

“Oh, T-Twilight, hello,” the shy pegasus squeaked back. “It’s n-nothing.”

“Alright,” Twilight replied, thinking of a way to change the subject. “Have you met Gilda before, Fluttershy? What’s she like?”

“Oh, um, well,” Fluttershy stuttered, looking down at the ground. “I’ll tell you later Twilight.”

Said unicorn blinked a few times as she watch Fluttershy trot past her and head straight towards the hostess of the party. Twilight shook her head before she herself trotted to find her dragon scribe.

“Welcome! Welcome!” Pinkie cheered gleefully to a pair of mares who casually strolled in.

“Um, Pinkie Pie?” Fluttershy said, getting her pink friend’s attention. “Listen, about this party for Gilda, do you…”

However, before the young pegasus could finish voicing her concerns about this welcoming celebration, Fluttershy froze up completely with wide eyes. Pinkie tilted her head slightly, “Oooh! Are we playing a new game? Is it freeze tag?! No wait, that’s not much of an indoor party game, oh! How is it charades? I love charades! Lemme guess… Hmm, is it a statue? Is it the Statue of Miss Li-Bray-Ty? No wait! You’re one of those Ghuls that Haru fights!

“Nonononono! I know what you’re doing! You just saw a ghost didn’t you? Lucky! I’ve always wanted to meet a ghost - Especially a green one that when it goes through anything, it would leave a green slime trail!”

“Unless I just turned green and can float without magic,” A familiar voice chuckled behind Pinkie. “I’m afraid you’ll have to make do with a red, flightless dragon who can’t phase through walls.”

Pinkie Pie spun around with a large smile on her face as she saw Haru, who was now wearing a dark gray denim jacket that had a few pin buttons on it that had weird symbols on it. “Haru! I was almost, kinda, sorta, a teenie-weenie little bit worried that you wouldn’t show up!”

“Huh?” Haru questioned as he leaned up against the doorway. “Why wouldn’t I show up?”

“Uni told me that you got hurt,” Pinkie said with a slight grimace to her face before it melted away into a really warm smile. “But it must’ve just been a nose bleed since you’re here! I’m so glad!”

It was then that Pinkie lifted up her hoof to Haru, but the dragon just looked at the pink pony, “Uni? Who’s Uni?”

“Uni!” Pinkie called out gently.

Leaping from the air above was none other than the blue unicorn familiar, with a small pink party hat atop of its head. Haru just blinked a few times before he slapped his forehead, ‘Unicorn… Why are you… Forget it. I’m starting to think that Pinkie Pie’s free spirit insanity is contagious, at least when my familiars are concerned. But… How did Unicorn tell Pinkie Pie that I had a bloody nose?!’

Shaking the thought from his head least his head would explode, the red dragon turned his attention towards the still frozen stiff Fluttershy. “So, what’s up with her?”

“Dunno,” Pinkie replied as she lifted her hoof up once more to Haru. “Anyway, come on in Haru! We’ve got plenty of yummy food and plenty of fun games, in a little bit we’re gonna play one of my all time favorites! Pin the tail on the pony!”

The dragon looked down at the hoof with a raised brow, but shrugged before he used his right claw to grip the mare’s pink hoof…

BZZT!

The spines on his head and his tail shot up into the air as a jolt of electricity slipped through the dragon’s body. “GAGH!”

Snickers echoed through the air as Haru pulled his hand away from Pinkie’s hoof, his blue eyes wide. The pink mare laughed as well and revealed that strapped to her hoof was a joy buzzer. Haru shook his right claws while his left claws pulled his spines back down over his head. “A j-joy buzzer, nice one.”

Haru still shook his claws as he entered into the party, passing by Fluttershy. When he did, Fluttershy shook her head and finally continued to speak, “… Um, do you really think it’s a good idea? I mean…”

And just as if the conversation hadn’t been weirdly interrupted, Pinkie turned to her friend with a bright smile. “Don’t worry your pretty little head about mean old Gilda.”

Using her non-buzzer front leg, Pinkie lifted her hoof up and gently tapped her pegasus’ head a few times. “Your Auntie Pinkie Pie’s got it all taken care of!”

Fluttershy had a rather annoyed look on her face as Pinkie Pie turned away, “I’m a year older than you.”

Amongst the party guests, Haru had found himself near the table of snacks, looking over the confectionaries with a grimace on his face. ‘Cake, lemon drops, marshmallows, pudding… No doughnuts. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, not like everyone likes doughnuts.’

Haru reached for one of the lemon drops…

“Gilda!”

Before Haru could wrap his claws around one of the lemony treats, everypony (plus two dragons) in the shop turned towards the door to see Pinkie Pie greeting a familiar griffon at the door. From his vantage point, the red dragon was able to see that Rainbow Dash was also there, but was simply watching the two with Garuda perched on the pegasus’ back.

Haru realized that Pinkie held up hoof that had a familiar gag on it, and he watched as Gilda reluctantly lifted her talons up to grab the hoof…

BZZT!

It was a rather interesting sight to see Gilda react to the hoof buzzer, her wings and feathers forced to stand on end, her yellow eyes bugging out, and electricity sparking over her body. Haru could even swore that he saw the griffon’s skeleton a few times as the gag struck her. ‘Oh boy, I hope that I didn’t have the same reaction.’

After she released her talons from Pinkie, Gilda slumped to the ground with a number of the ponies in the shop laughing along with Pinkie’s. Haru didn’t laugh, but took notice that Gilda was glaring at the pink pony for a mere second before Dash got in her line of sight, the griffon put on a rather fake smile for her friend’s sake.

Haru grimaced slightly before he walked away from the snack table, heading towards where the drinks are, ‘Seeing as how the last time we interacted didn’t go so well, I think I’ll just make friendly conversation with the wall and watch what happens.’

Indeed, for most of the party, Haru did keep his back to the wall and watched as the antics of the party occur. After the initial prank with Pinkie Pie, Gilda kept getting struck with pranks – lemon drops with pepper in them which resulted in the griffon in breathing fire (which Spike had pointed out was better than the smoke that Haru had puffed out a day before, much to the taller dragon’s chagrin), a glass of punch that had a hole in it to have it spill on her crest of feathers, and even a classic gag of surprising snakes disguised as a present.

All the while, Gilda kept her cool, but the tension behind that forced smile that looked like it could break any moment.

During a small break between pranks, with Fluttershy having some of her bird friends singing some rather cute music, Pinkie Pie rolled out a rather large cake that had a number of candles atop it. “Cake-time everypony! It’s not a lie!”

All the ponies in the room gathered around the large cake, some licking their chops at the sight of the frosted confectionary treat. Amongst them was Spike, who was bouncing up and down on his toes. “Hey! Can I blow out the candles?”

Twilight smiled at her young dragon scribe, “Why don’t we let Gilda blow out the candles Spike? She is the guest of honor after all.”

Just like that, Gilda slid into the small dragon and knocked him over to the side, “Exactly!”

While Gilda drew in a deep breath, Haru was near Pinkie and whispered to her, “Hey Pinkie, I’m not much of a cake dragon, but do you know if there are any doughnuts here?”

The pink mare leaned back to Haru as Gilda blew out the flames on the candles, only for them to relight themselves. “Oh! You’re more than welcomed to see if there are any in the kitchen!”

Haru nodded, noting that Gilda kept trying to blow out the candles, failing each time. With a shrug, the red dragon slipped through the giggling crowds of ponies and went into the kitchen. Even when Haru stepped into the kitchen, he could hear the laughter that was echoing though out the shop. The sleek dragon shook his head before he looked through the room for some of the sugary treats.

While the sleek dragon was searching for his favorite treats, a familiar diamond encrusted bird flew in through the opened windows and landed atop of the cupboards. The White Garuda remained silent as it watched Haru look about, rolling its eyes at the sight of the dragon.

“TWEET!”

Haru’s head perked up when he heard that and turned his head about, “Garuda?”

The White Garuda sounded out once more, alerting Haru to crane his head. It didn’t take long for Haru to follow the noise, but when his eyes landed on the diamond studded familiar, they widened greatly, “Twilight was right. You are here, White Garuda. Does that mean he’s here?”

White Garuda lifted one of its wings and pecked at it a few times. Haru reached into his jacket and pulled out the two scrolls that Twilight had given him, the young dragon lifted the scrolls up towards the familiar, “He had you deliver these, right? Is he still around? Or is he somewhere else?”

Deep down, Haru knew he wasn’t going to get a verbal answer from the White Garuda, but this was something that the dragon had to do. Before Haru could continue his pointless questioning, a loud yelping echoed through the air, both Haru and the White Garuda turned towards the entrance of the kitchen to see a blindfolded Gilda slipping into the kitchen, having stepped on large dollop of icing.

Unfortunately for Haru, he didn’t react in time.

A loud cry of pain echoed through the shop before Haru ran out of the kitchen, a violet tail pinned on his backside next to his regular tail. Dashing past all of the ponies, Haru leapt out the front door, yelping in pain. The ponies couldn’t help but laugh, especially when Gilda stumbled out of the kitchen, covered with various kinds of mushed up pastries.

“Well, at least you pinned the tail on an end,” Pinkie snickered with a bright smile. “Although, we were playing pin the tail on the pony, not pin the tail on the dragon.”

Gilda snarled loudly with fire in her eyes.

TTTTTT

Haru winced as he gingerly pulled the colorful, toy pony-tail from his backside, stifling a yelp. With the toy tail between his claws, the dragon sighed before he tossed the tail over his shoulder. “I hope the local doctor knows how to give tetanus shots to a dragon.”

Now that he was just outside Sugarcube Corner, Haru rubbed his bruised behind, ‘I’m taking a lot more abuse than usual today. The two Phantoms, getting pranked, and even assault , I think when I get this day over with, I’m just going to crash on the couch with a box of doughnuts…’

The dragon’s tasty thoughts were immediately interrupted when a loud roar blasted out of the shop, nearly tripping over himself in surprise.

Worried that a Phantom was attacking, Haru ran to the door and looked back into the shop – There wasn’t a Phantom, but there was something much worse.

A very angry Gilda flying in the air, yelling at the top of her lungs, pointing a talon at Pinkie Pie, “This is your idea of a good time? I've never met a lamer bunch of dweebs in all my life! And Pinkie Pie, you! You are queen lame-o with your weak little party pranks! Did you really think you could make me lose my cool?”

‘What do you call this? You’re yelling at everypony,’ Haru thought to himself as Gilda landed on the floor near Rainbow Dash.

“Well, Dash and I have ten times as much cool as the rest of you put together!” Gilda exclaimed as she threw a talon around the blue pegasus, unaware that Dash narrowed her eyes slightly. “Come on Dash, we're bailing on this pathetic scene.”

Gilda took a few steps towards the door, but soon realized that she was walking alone. The griffon turned towards her pegasus friend, “Come on Rainbow Dash, I said, we’re leaving.”

However, Dash stood her ground and continued her leer at Gilda. “You know Gilda, I was the one who set up all those weak pranks at this party.”

‘What a twist,’ Haru thought while Gilda gasped in surprise.

“So, I guess I’m Queen Lame-o,” Dash continued back.

Gilda chuckled nervously, “C’mon Dash, you’re joshing me.”

“They weren’t all meant for you specifically,” Dash admitted looking a little ashamed. “It was just dumb luck that you set them all off.”

“I shoulda known,” Pinkie Pie stated with a smile. “That dribble cup had Rainbow Dash written all over it.”

“No way!” Gilda hissed as she leered at Pinkie. “It was Pinkie Pie! She set up this party to trip me up! To make a fool of me!”

“Me?” Pinkie questioned with a slightly hurt look in her eyes. “I threw this party to improve your attitude, I thought a good party might turn that frown upside down.”

“And you sure didn’t need any help making a fool of yourself,” Rainbow Dash continued. “You know, this isn’t how I thought my old friends would treat my new friends. If being cool is all you care about, maybe you should go find some new cool friends someplace else?”

Gilda growled loudly and was about to say something, but instead turned around and stomped out of the shop, almost knocking Haru out of the way to do so.

The sleek dragon turned back to the shop, and then towards Gilda who didn’t turn back at all. “Gilda…”

“Get bent, loser,” Gilda growled before her wings began to flap and pull her from the ground.

Haru sighed before he snapped his claws, getting the red Garuda to fly out of Sugarcube Corner. The sleek dragon gestured with his head and immediately, Garuda flew after the griffon. ‘This is not going to end well…’

TTTTTTT

Though Gilda had flown out of Ponyville, she didn’t go too far. She was back where she and Haru had their discussion, only difference this time instead of trying to nap in the tree previously, the griffon was slashing at the bark of the tree. “STUPID PONIES! STUPID DASH! STUPID… TREE!”

Gilda cried out as she dug her claws into the bark of the tree, and stopped with her head lowered. “Damn it… Why?”

Tears slowly welled up in the griffon’s eyes, “Dash… I…”

“Aw, little baby gonna cry?”

Gilda snapped her head up and stepped away from the tree as two shadowy figures stepped out from behind the very tree that the griffon was attacking. Although she had no idea who these two were, or for the matter of what they were, the fact that they were creatures that she had never seen before. “I… I wasn’t crying!”

“Sure you weren’t,” Djinn cackled with a wag of her finger towards the Griffon. “You’re just a sad little child aren’t you? A scared little child, all alone in this world – Everything you know is gone.”

“Shut the Tartarus up!” Gilda roared at the Phantom. “You don’t know a damn thing about me!”

“You drove the last pony who could help you away,” Djinn stated bluntly with her arms crossed. “Everything that happened to you – Nopony believed you when you declared your innocence in Cloudsdale, why do you think that is? Despite your cold demeanor, and your proclamations that you don’t care about what others think, you’ve isolated yourself from every single being from you.”

Gilda growled as she lifted up her talons. “Be quiet you… You… Whatever the Tartarus you are!”

But Djinn just continued as she leaned up against the tree, uncaring that Gilda was threatening her, “And just now – Thanks to that little attitude of yours – You’ve broken the only real friendship that you held dear. You could’ve salvaged it, but you had to burn any bridges that you could save it.”

Djinn lifted up her other hand to reveal an old photo that had younger versions of Gilda and Rainbow Dash flying through a clouded sky. That made even Gilda stop and her jaded eyes softened slightly. “That’s…”

“The only reminder of your time with your good friend,” Djinn chuckled before she tossed the picture into the air.

Gilda reached for the photo as it slowly floated down.

Only to pull her talon back as a several purple flames flew through the air and completely engulfed the picture. Gilda’s golden yellow eyes widened as the embers of the photo danced around her. “NO!”

BA-DUM!

Gilda’s pupils shrunk as she slumped to the ground, the sound of her heartbeat echoing loud enough for the two Phantoms to hear. Hellhound chuckled loudly as he lifted his arms up, “Subarashi! Most excellent work Djinn! Soon, a new Phantom shall be born into this world!”

“No need to tell me that,” Djinn replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “I know I’m just pure awesomeness – Still was a pain in the flank though. Having to follow this loser in Cloudsdale just gave me a headache, and ruining her life was just as annoying.

“Although, since we’re about to welcome a new Phantom, shouldn’t we get a birthday cake?”

Hellhound just looked at the female Phantom with his head tilted slightly. “What the? We’re not celebrating anything! Not like we got cake when we were brought into this world!”

Before Djinn could say another word, several beams of red light crashed into both Phantoms’ bodies, sparks flying from them as they flew away from the fallen Gilda.

“You sure know how to throw a party,” a familiar voice called out as the two Phantoms landed on the ground a couple of yards from Gilda. “No food, no drinks, and the way you treat girls is just in poor taste.”

Both Phantoms turned to see Haru walking towards Gilda, his gun trained on the two Phantoms. But the dragon wasn’t alone, behind him was a pair of ponies following the dragon – Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle.

“WIZARD!”

“RING MAGE!”

When the group reached Gilda, that’s when something strange began to happen to the griffon, a large purple crack of energy appeared on Gilda’s body. Rainbow Dash looked at the weird crack as smaller cracks appeared on her body, “Gilda! What’s wrong!?”

“Haru! What’s happening to her?” Twilight asked observing the cracks before she turned to Haru.

“DRIVER ON – PLEASE!”

“The Phantom within her is awakening,” Haru answered as he lifted up his left claw, revealing the Flame Style ring on his claws.

“What does that mean?” Dash questioned as Gilda growled slightly in pain.

“Isn’t there something we can do?” Twilight asked.

“Nothing!” Djinn laughed loudly as her fiery purple hair flickered a little bit before the excess of it transformed into her scimitar. “Once a Phantom inside a Gate gets its wake up call, there is nothing that you dweebs can do to…”

“I can stop it,” Haru stated as he messed with his belt for a few seconds.

“Sha Ba Do Bi Touch Henshin!”

“What?”

“What?!”

“FLAME – PLEASE!”

“I just need to deal with these two first,” Haru replied as he lifted his left claw up, summoning the fiery runic circle. “Henshin.”

Haru ran through the runic circle, transforming him into Wizard with his gun snapping into his sword. “Hii Hii Hii Hii Hii!”

“It’s Showtime,” Haru announced calmly as he charged at the two Phantoms.

Djinn already had her weapon ready and charged forward, while Hellhound reached into one of the shadows to pull out his own sword out and joined with the other fiery Phantom in their charge towards the ring mage.

It didn’t take long for the two Phantoms to reach the oncoming Wizard, both of which took a slash at the masked dragon. However, Wizard slipped and skidded below both of the attacks, but when he skidded past the two Phantoms, his tail hooked around Hellhound’s ankle which caused the Phantom to fall face first into the ground. “GARGH!”

Quickly getting back to his feet, Wizard spun around and immediately blocked an oncoming slash courtesy of Djinn. The two locked gazes as Djinn growled loudly, “Do you think you can really bluff your way out of saving that pathetic griffon? You can’t stop her Phantom from awakening!”

“I can, and will,” Wizard replied as he quickly stepped back, forcing Djinn to stumble forward and into a kick that slammed her into Hellhound, forcing them both back to the ground.

Taking this opportunity, Wizard stabbed his sword into the ground before he reached for his chain of rings and looked over to where Twilight and Dash were moving Gilda away from the fighting – Taking note that more aura-like cracks were appearing on the griffon’s body. Wizard nodded to himself as he lifted two rings from his chain. ‘Here’s hoping this works.’

Wizard fitted both rings on his right hand and grabbed the sword with his left hand. Using his right hand, Wizard held the sword up and waved his right hand over the closed hand emblem. “MULTI COPY – PLEASE!”

A powerful red aura surrounded Wizard’s sword before he threw it high into the air. Both of the Phantoms had gotten back to their feet, with Hellhound snarling loudly, “This is just getting embarrassing! There’s two of us! One of him!”

“Congratulations, you can do basic math,” Wizard stated with a wag of his finger. “You want a gold star or something?”

Hellhound growled loudly as he dashed across the field, Djinn slipping to get back to her feet, but managed to get her bearings quickly and joined her fellow Phantom in their attack.

Wizard just stood there as Hellhound brought his blade up into the air and prepared to bring its crooked sword down on the masked magician. “Feel the despair of death!”

A moment before the sword could connect with Wizard, several gleams of silver fell from the sky, some of them striking Hellhound, with sparks flying from his body. “GARGH!”

Djinn jumped back just in time to dodge more of the falling gleams of silver, but came to realize that the gleams were actually an almost countless supply of identical swords – The same that Wizard had just tossed up into the air, all of which stabbed into the ground where the three were fighting. “What in Equestira is this?”

Hellhound had just recovered when Wizard began his counterattack, grabbing one of the swords in the ground and quickly slashing it across the dark Phantom’s body, propelling the canine themed Phantom through the air once more with a mass of sparks flying from his body. “Steel is my body and fire is my blood.”

Undaunted, Djinn charged forward and quickly leapt over the earth-embedded blades, bringing down the blade on Wizard, using her full weight in the attack. In response, Wizard lifted his sword up to block the attack, blocking the attack easily with only one claw. “I have created over a thousand blades.”

Using his free hand, Wizard gripped onto a nearby sword and slashed the blade across Djinn’s stomach, purple flames pouring from the contact. “Unaware to death, nor aware to life.”

As Djinn was forced back, Wizard dashed forward with both blades in his hands, and leapt into the air, spun around and slammed both of the blades into the girlish Phantom’s body, knocking her to the ground with her crashing into several other swords. “Withstood despair to forge hope for all.”

A loud cry echoed through the air, and Wizard spun around to lift his left sword up to block Hellhound’s attack. But he quickly realized that he had to lift the right blade up as well, since Hellhound had grabbed one of the embedded swords to use against Wizard. The fiery phantom cackled loudly as he pulled back his own blade and brought it in for a close stab.

Wizard spun to the right to dodge the attack and delivered a swift swipe with his left sword, racing it across Hellhound’s back, embers flying from the Phantom’s body as he cried out in pain. “Lighting the flame of hope, this is the only path.”

Djinn ran quietly behind Wizard and was prepared to stab the magical dragon in the back, however his tail wrapped around another sword and stabbed the blade into her, forcing her back. “GARGH!”

“This is my showtime,” Wizard announced as he flicked open the hand symbol on one of the swords he held. When the original emblem opened, all of the emblems on the other swords opened up as well, all of them glowing a bright red.

“Come on a Slash, Shake Hands!”

Tossing the blade in his left hand away, Wizard raised his claws up to the emblem in his right hand. “And this is your finale.”

When Wizard brought his claws up to the emblem, all of the swords in the ground glowed a dull red. “FLAME – SLASH STRIKE!”

Djinn landed on the ground between a number of swords, taking not of how much heat was pouring off of the swords. “What in Tartarus is this supposed to be?”

“Hii…”

The female Phantom turned towards Wizard, shocked that the mage was right in front of her, and slashed his blade across Djinn’s right arm with flames erupting from her arm.

“Hii Hii…”

Wizard skidded to a stop for a moment, and grabbed another glowing blade while he dropped the blade he just used against the Phantom. In a red and black blur, Wizard slipped past Djinn’s left with a quick slice with the blade he just drew from the ground. More flames erupted from Djinn’s body

“Hii Hii Hii!”

Before the Phantom could react, Wizard had grabbed two of the glowing blades and leapt over her, bringing down both of the weapons down on Djinn’s shoulders, sparks and fire exploding from her body.

And this time with two more swords, with a third one that was coiled by his tail, Wizard charged once more, this time with a spin and brought all three of the blades across Djinn’s body. When the masked mage passed Djinn, he dropped all three swords and grabbed one more and flipped through the air with the blade completely covered with a fiery aura over it. “Hii Hii Hii HiiHiiHii!”

The blade connected with Djinn’s body, and the fiery energy slashed through Djinn’s body as she screamed loudly. The flames completely engulfed Djinn before she exploded into a familiar runic circle that absorbed the flames into it.

Wizard sighed as he turned to see Hellhound struggling on the ground, flames spurting from a crack on his armor. The masked dragon tilted his head slightly as he lifted his sword up, “Get lost.”

Hellhound breathed heavily before he staggered towards some of the shadows of a nearby tree and slipped into it. As he did, all of the swords that were on the ground disappeared, leaving only the remaining sword left in Wizard’s hand.

“Haru!”

Wizard turned back to where Twilight and Dash had brought Gilda away from the fighting, and quickly ran towards the group. When the masked dragon reached them, he noticed that the cracks in Gilda’s body were more prominent.

And despite the fact that Dash had told off Gilda a little earlier, the Pegasus was concerned for her ‘old’ friend’s well-being. “Just hold on Gilda!”

“D-Dash?” Gilda sputtered out as some of her cracked body.

Twilight saw that Wizard was nearby and was reaching for his chain belt of rings, pulling one off. “Haru! We need to get Gilda to a doctor or something! She’s practically falling apart!”

“Don’t worry Twilight,” Wizard stated as he held up a ring in the air. “Though a Phantom is about to be born – I will never let that happen before my eyes again.”

The masked dragon knelt down to look Gilda in the eyes as he held up a single ring, one that had the same symbol as his mask. “Gilda.”

The griffon wearily lifted her head up and leered at Wizard, “… What a lame suit.”

If his eyes were visible, Wizard would’ve rolled his eyes, but just settled for a sigh. “Insult me all you want, just don’t give into despair. I will be your hope.”

Wizard held up the ring to Gilda before he gently lifted up Gilda’s talon and slipped the ring onto one of her claws. Quickly reaching for his belt, Wizard lifted Gilda’s claw to the emblem on it. “ENGAGE – PLEASE!”

That’s when Gilda slowly lowered her head down to the ground, the large red runic circle appearing over her body. Twilight and Dash watched as Wizard slowly floated off of the ground and over the rune. “Do me a favor, and keep an eye on her, will you?”

Before Twilight could reply to the masked dragon, he quickly slipped into the rune with it disappearing into Gilda’s body. “Haru! Wait!”

“Yeesh, what the Tartarus was that?!” Dash growled as she propped Gilda up, being careful of not messing with the cracked areas of her friend. “He just ditched us!”

“I don’t think so Dash,” Twilight replied, taking note that Wizard had accidentally left a couple of rings behind when he teleported. “I think you’re confusing the Connect Spell he uses with this one… Although, I have no idea what this one can do.”

“Then how can you be sure he didn’t just run off?” Dash questioned.

“Because Gilda’s wearing the ring,” Twilight pointed out using her magic to lift up one of the rings. “Normally, he’d wear it, but…”

“Frankly, it doesn’t matter.”

Both ponies turned to see a slightly wounded Hellhound emerge from the same shadows he had disappeared into, clutching onto his wounded arm. “All that really does matter, is that the ring mage is gone, and now, I can finally get my own show on the road!”

Twilight’s horn glowed brighter, unaware that the ring she had floating was glowing bright as well.

TTTTTT

Wizard flew through a purple vortex, shards of glassy material flying past him as the runic circles around his body provided a path for him.

Within seconds, Wizard fell from the vortex and landed on a very cloudy area. The masked dragon stumbled slightly before he realized that he was able to stand on the cloud without falling. Wizard looked around to see that it wasn’t just one cloud he was standing on, but rather an entire city made out of clouds, with pegasai flying through the air, rainbows from the buildings and plenty of buildings.

Although he had never been, Wizard was easily able to figure out where he was – Even if it was completely devoid of color, “Cloudsdale? No, this is the world of her mind.”

Wizard walked across the clouds, carefully treading with each step. “Underworld.”

“SLOW POKE!”

The masked dragon’s head craned up to see two rather familiar figures flying low through the cloudy streets, the first figure a small little feathered filly with a grayscaled mane who was trying to outfly the second figure. The second figure was really different, it was a little griffon with a familiar style of feathers on her head.

“Dang it Dash! I’m not slow!”

The two flew past Wizard, and his suspicions were confirmed, “Dash and Gilda, huh, they really haven’t changed much, just a little smaller.”

However, when the two winged friends were about to ascend again, they suddenly stopped in midair. It was then that a familiar purple crack appeared over them, making Wizard step back slightly. The crack exploded as a loud screech echoed through the air, and from the purple void flew an incredibly large, monstrous bird with electricity surging from its body. Its rainbow colored feathers billowed through the air before it crashed into a random building, sending purple cracks through it.

“Thunderbird,” Wizard muttered under his breath as he watched the large Phantom fly through the air, creating damage. The ring mage reached for his chain of rings and held up a single ring that he hesitated to fit on his right hand. “I haven’t used this one before, but I made a promise. I have to do this.”

Fitting the ring on his claw, Wizard messed with his belt before he threw his hand in front of his belt. “DRAGO RISE – PLEASE!”

Once again, the runic circle appeared, only this time it appeared on Wizard’s ruby covered chest before it drew itself inside the magical dragon. The mage fell to his knees as he wrapped his arms around his chest, flames covering his entire body. “YARGH!”

The flames grew stronger around Wizard’s body until two wing shaped flames erupted from his back and another sleek stream of fire pulled itself from his head. The flame that originated from his head flew into the air, drawing most of the fire from his body and warped into a second runic circle.

The circle then flashed into an incredibly large dragon with steel like skin, small wings, silver and gold armor adorned with rubies that roared loudly before it flew off towards the Thunderbird. Wizard panted loudly in pain as he looked up, “D-Dragon…”

Dragon roared loudly before it slammed into the Thunderbird into another clouded building, making more purple cracks appear in Gilda’s Underworld. Wizard slammed his claw into the clouds as the flames from his back snapped from him, “Damn it! W-What are you?!”

The flames that erupted from Wizard’s back melded together until they too formed into a weird being – However, unlike the previous flames, these ones formed into a non-living being. Instead, they transformed into a weird silver vehicle that stood on two wheels, one in the front with a weird design to it that resembled that of Wizard’s mask. The ring mage stood up and strode towards the weird vehicle.

The moment that he rested his claws on one of the bars that was on it, his mask gleamed brightly, “Machine Winger.”

Throwing one of his legs over the seat of the Machine Winger, Haru revved the handle bar and it zoomed across the cloudy street.

Meanwhile, the Thunderbird slammed both of its electrified wings into Dragon’s body, forcing it to fall into the clouded streets with a pain filled roar. The dragon rolled on the clouds before it landed on its stomach, growling loudly in annoyance. Before the dragon could bring itself up, the Machine Winger flew over it, its main body transforming into a pair of wings that latched itself onto Dragon’s back, allowing Wizard to ride the steel covered dragon.

Dragon roared loudly before it took off from the ground, using its much more powerful wings to quickly reach back to the rainbow feathered Thunderbird. The large Phantom drew back in surprise at the quick speed of its armored foe, and screeched loudly as it charged forward.

With Wizard now at the control though, he managed to lead dragon to fly over the Thunderbird and slam its long tail into the Thunderbird’s head, nearly cracking its beak. The force of the strike made the Thunderbird struggle to keep its large body in the air, but it quickly regained its composure and flew around.

The Thunderbird screeched loudly before several streaks of rainbow colored electricity shot from its body towards the dragon riding masked mage. Dragon spun around through the air to dodge, its mouth opening to unleash a powerful flame that crashed into the Thunderbird’s chest, sending it plummeting to the clouded ground, crashing into the clouds with cracks following its body.

Taking this opportunity, Wizard made Dragon fly high into the air as he slipped a new ring on his right claw. “Finale!”

“VERY NICE – KICK STRIKE!

“THE BEST!”

Wizard actually leapt off of Dragon, as the armored covered dragon’s body began to shift, transforming into an extremely large, armored dragon claw with the Machine Winger at the back of the claw. Wizard’s body became engulfed in flames before he struck his right foot into the back of the Machine Winger, completely covering the armored dragon claw with flames. The flames that followed behind the falling attack formed into an incredibly large fiery version of Wizard himself.

Thunderbird screeched loudly in pain before it lifted its head up to see the fiery claw just an inch away from it. When the kick struck the Thunderbird, it exploded into a fiery explosion with Wizard’s runic circle appearing around its body before the claw landed behind the fiery aftermath.

As the flames died down and the claw landed on the clouds, Wizard and the Machine Winger flew from it and gently landed on the clouded streets. Wizard sighed as he watched the transformed Dragon fade away into embers. ‘Well, not as bad as I thought it would be. And hey, I got me a new toy!’

Wizard crossed his arms as he looked around the gray-scaled Cloudsdale, his gaze falling to where he originally saw where the younger versions of Dash and Gilda were. They weren’t but the damage was magically repaired and he casually walked over to the area.

When he did, he noticed that there was something on the clouds at his feet – A photo.

TTTTTT

Meanwhile, while Wizard was dealing with the Inner Phantom and his own Dragon inside Gilda’s Underworld, back in the real world, Hellhound had drawn his jagged blade once more from the shadows. His gaze set on the two ponies before him, “Relax, I’m just gonna expose you to the despair of death, get another Gate awakened. Gotta make up for your Mage friend destroying Djinn and Gnome after all.”

Dash gritted her teeth, “Twilight…”

“I know Dash,” Twilight replied, unaware that the ring she was levitating was glowing bright purple.

Hellhound roared as he leapt high into the air, his sword held over his head before he began to fall towards the two.

“DEFEND – PLEASE!”

Twilight’s and Dash’s eyes widened as a rather familiar runic circle appeared before them, almost the same as Wizard’s. However, it was clearly different since the circle was a bright shade of lavender and the runes on the circle were completely different, looking like a familiar star-symbol in the middle of it. Even the voice that called out the spell was different, instead of the masculine voice that occurred when Haru used the magic, but this voice was clearly feminine.

Hellhound yelped as he crashed into the rune and was forced backwards, until he landed on the ground, rolling backwards until he got to his feet. “What the?! Where is he?!”

Twilight watched as the circle faded away and looked at the ring that was floating near her, ‘Was I… Was I able to use Haru’s magic?’

“Whoa!” Dash exclaimed. “Twilight! That was amazing! How’d you do that?”

Twilight was a little awestruck, but before she could speak, she saw something. “Dash! Look at Gilda!”

The rainbow maned pony looked down at her Griffon friend to see that all of the purple cracks of energy were starting to fade away from her feathered and furred body. “Gilda! You’re alright!”

“BUT YOU TWO WON’T BE!”

Once again, Twilight and Dash turned to see Hellhound charge at the two of them, Twilight looked at the floating ring and tried to channel more magical energy into it…

However, before she could, a familiar red runic circle appeared without notice in front of them and a loud, rusty roar erupted from it. Flying from the circle was none other than Wizard, mounted on the Machine Winger and rode it through the air before the first wheel slammed into Hellhound’s chest and sent him flying once more.

The Machine Winger landed on the ground with Wizard sighing, “I thought I told you to get lost, unless you want to face the same fate as Djinn.”

Hellhound snarled loudly before he dove back into the shadows of the nearby trees. “I won’t forget this!!”

“That’s rather clichéd,” Wizard sighed as his ruby covered suit disappeared, leaving Haru atop of the Machine Winger.

“Where in Equestria did you get to?” Dash barked at Haru as she pointed a hoof at the red Dragon. “And… What exactly is that awesome thing you’re on?”

“Really long story,” Haru stated with a shrug as he looked at Gilda. “But it looks like we’ll have some time before Gilda wakes up. So, prepare yourself some exposition – Filled with dragons, magic, and whatever this thing is called that I’m on.”

TTTTTTT

It didn’t take too long for the knocked out griffon to awaken, thirty minutes top actually. And during those thirty minutes, Haru had explained what he did and that he had gone inside Gilda’s Underworld – A psyche of sorts that housed the Inner Phantoms, and thanks to the Engage Ring, Haru could enter the psyche and defeat the Inner Phantom.

Although, the magical dragon left out the fact that he hadn’t done that before, and was only told that he could do so. But, unbeknownst to him, Twilight and Dash had left out the fact that Twilight was able to use one of Haru’s magical rings.

“W-Wha? What’s going on?”

Gilda struggled to get to her talons and paws, but was held down gently by a familiar blue hoof, “Don’t strain yourself Gilda.”

“W-What happened?” the griffon asked as she looked down at her talons, realizing that she had a ring on one of her claws. “And what the Tartarus is that thing on me?!”

“Consider it a gift,” Haru answered with a coy smile on his face.

“What?!” Gilda hissed as she got back on all fours, glaring at the dragon with daggers. “You lousy scaly freak! Did you…”

“I didn’t tell them anything you told me,” Haru answered with a calm expression on his face as he reached into his jacket. “Although, I think it would be best if you talked to Dash in private, after all…”

Haru pulled his claw out of his jacket and produced a familiar photo from it, the same photo that Djinn had burned earlier, only completely intact. Gilda reached for the photo hesitantly before she took at it and looked at it, “How did you get this?”

“A wizard did it,” Haru answered as he walked off, gesturing to Twilight to follow him.

The unicorn nodded as she followed her red dragon friend, when the two were far enough from the two winged friends, Twilight trotted in front of the dragon. “Thank you Haru.”

“For what?” Haru replied with his head tilted.

“For, well, everything you’ve done so far,” Twilight answered with a slight blush on her face. “When you dragged me and Rainbow from the party, I was a little confused why. But you did it not only to help Gilda, but to help Dash from making a mistake.”

“Truth be told, I only grabbed Dash,” Haru admitted with a roll of his blue eyes. “You just kinda stalked us. But yeah, I had a chat with Gilda earlier and learned that there was more to her than that bad girl bravado she had going on. Although, I have to ask, why a prank party?”

“You’d have to ask Pinkie,” Twilight replied with a slight blush on her face. “Gilda probably saw those pranks as attacks and they threw fuel on the fire.”

Haru simply nodded, “I’m also surprised that nopony else followed us. I would’ve thought that Pinkie Pie would’ve at least done that.”

“Yeah,” Twilight added.

“Yup yup!” Pinkie Pie chimed in.

It took a moment for that to register with both magical beings that the pink mare was standing right next to them, both Haru and Twilight jumped into the air at being surprised by Pinkie Pie’s sudden appearance. Haru clutched his chest tightly while Twilight was trying to catch her own breath, and Pinkie just stood there with a smile on her face. “Boy, you’re both really active!”

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight exclaimed with her eyes widened. “How did you find us out here?”

“Oh, the author was nice enough to lend me the outline for this chapter,” Pinkie Pie explained with the bright smile on her face. “It really helps out a lot when you can skip ahead. And being a beta for the story helps too.”

“Wait, what?” Haru questioned with a cocked up brow.

“Nothing!” Pinkie Pie sang as she looked past her two friends to look at Gilda and Rainbow Dash talking. “But anyway, I guess Gilda wasn’t really mean after all. After all, if Dash can make up with her after everything, she can’t be all bad.”

“Pinkie, you’re really confusing me,” Haru admitted as he rubbed his temples.

“Don’t worry about that,” Pinkie chuckled as she tapped her dragon friend’s back. “Your Auntie Pinkie is here to make things all better! Especially now that we can get the party back on track!”

“I’m pretty sure I’m older than you,” Haru sighed with a narrowed look in his eyes.

“Details, details,” Pinkie Pie replied with a wave of her hoof. “Besides, who can say no to a party? I just need to get everypony to help bring stuff out here!”

“Uh, Pinkie, I think I’m a little partied out,” Twilight sighed with her head lowered. “I don’t think anypony over here is up for it.”

“Oh,” Pinkie Pie sighed with her ears drooping slightly.

“But, uh, how about tomorrow, we throw the conclusion to my party?” Haru suggested with a weak smile on his face.

“REALLY!?” Pinkie Pie gasped with joy. “That’d be perfect! Ooh! But I’d have to get all the stuff we originally got for your party in the first place, so that won’t be a problem! So, we’ll need doughnuts, hot sauce, balloons, treats, juice…”

As Pinkie Pie listed off what she needed, both Dash and Gilda made their way to the trio. Haru and Twilight turned towards the two friends, with Gilda moving forward a little quicker. “Hey, lizard?”

“Yeah?” Haru questioned.

WHAM!

Haru fell backwards with blood streaming from his nose, a familiar symbol plastered on his sniffer. All three of the ponies jumped back slightly as Gilda lowered the ring adorned claw, “Heh, that felt good.”

“Gilda!” All three of the ponies snapped at the Griffon.

“It’s okay,” Haru moaned as he rubbed his bloody nose. ‘That’s gonna leave a mark for a while.’

Gilda held a talon to Haru, and the dragon grabbed it to pull himself off of the ground. “I probably deserved that.”

“You did,” Gilda replied. “But, that’s the last time I’ll hit ya. Thanks, dragon. Dash told me everything you did, that you brought her over here, how you ‘saved me’, and all that other junk too.”

Haru only shrugged as he kept one of his claws to his nose. “Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I have to,” Gilda growled back. “Even after I just slugged you again, you’re still treating me like I haven’t done a damn thing to you. Why?”

“I told you before,” Haru sighed with a wave of his free claw. “You’re Dash’s friend, I’m her friend – I make it a concern to help you. Not just for Rainbow Dash’s sake, but for yours as well.”

Haru smiled brightly, which would be heartwarming if he didn’t have blood dripping down from his snout, “I’d gladly do anything for a friend.”

“Friend, huh?” Gilda said with a flat look in her eyes. “That’s really corny. But I can dig it.”

“I still think punching Haru’s a little much,” Twilight stated with a slight leer towards Gilda. “But, he’s right, Gilda, we’re willing to help you in any way we can. Any friend of Dash’s is a friend of ours.”

“Yup, yup!” Pinkie Pie added. “So… How about we get back to that party for you Gilda? No more pranks, it’s a Pinkie Pie Promise!”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t have set up those pranks if they were going to get you all at once,” Dash admitted with a slight blush on her face. “I’m sorry about that.”

Gilda chuckled slightly, “Well, they were good pranks, but I need to get back to Cloudsdale. I have to deal with what I left there.”

The griffon pulled the ring off of her talon and held it up to Haru, “Here, Dash told me that you gave this to me, so here.”

“Keep it,” Haru replied as he turned to the side. “You can pawn it for a few bits, should help you out with your situation.”

Gilda clutched the ring. “Gee thanks.”

“Well, how about some cake for the road?” Pinkie offered.

Gilda sighed loudly.

Unbeknownst to the group, two different figures watched the group. One of the figures was the small White Garuda who flew off after watching the group.

The second figure was seated atop of a cloud in the distance with a pair of binoculars trained on the group. “Hm hehehehehee, oh my. This is so exciting and amazing! So that’s the magic-boy, hmm. Very curious, I’m sure I can have a little fun with the magic-boy and his little filly friends.

“Hehehehehe!”

TTTTTTT

Dearest Princess Celestia,

Today I learned that it's hard to accept when somepony you like wants to spend time with somepony who's not so nice. But there’s always more to anypony than what’s on the surface, there could be reasons why they act like that.

As a friend, you have to take the good and the bad, nopony is perfect and we need to learn to accept that.

Just continue to be a good friend. In the end, the difference between a false friend and the one who is true will surely come to light, especially if you can help your friends as well.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

The scroll that this letter was on was quickly rolled up with a bright yellow aura. “My, my student is learning a lot.”

Inside a very regal and extravagant room was the owner of that very magic – A beautiful, and tall white Alicorn with a flowing mane and tail made up of various colors: light cerulean, light turquoise, light cobalt and a light magenta. Around her neck was a golden necklace with a matching crown atop her head. On her kind face was a bright smile as she placed the scroll gently into a small desk near her. “Hmm, I should write a reply to her.”

“You have an excellent student, Princess Celestia.”

Princess Celestia gently turned her head to the side, near one of the opened windows stood a tall, white cloaked figure. “And from what I’ve heard, I’m not the only one.”

The white cloaked figure knelt down slightly with his head lowered, “You honor me with your words, Princess Celestia.”

“There is no need for you to lower your head, my friend,” Princess Celestia replied with a bright smile. “And you do not need to address me with my title either, you are my elder after all.”

“However, I am not of royal blood,” The cloaked figure responded, keeping his head down. “That title is rightfully yours.”

Princess Celestia got to her hooves and trotted over to the still knelt down, white cloaked figure, “Then by royal decree, I order you to raise yourself from the floor and speak to me informally.”

The cloaked figure sighed slightly before he stood up, only on two legs. The figure in question was tall, even taller than Princess Celestia herself, and towered over her slightly. His cloak and robes were a bright white with a gold trim, the same was true for the hood he had over his head, which was slightly star-shaped around a bright orange colored mask with curved silver portions around it, similar to Haru’s mask as Wizard.

At his chest were two straps that had several rings clicked onto it, and at his waist was a silver belt that was adorned with a familiar hand symbol. The white robed being lowered his head slightly, “If that is what you wish, Celestia.”

“You were always formal, White Wizard,” Princess Celestia stated with a smile on her face. “There is no need to be so rigid, especially for someone you haven’t seen in ages.”

“Indeed, it has been a long time,” White Wizard replied lifting his head up. “I had heard that Princess Luna has returned, but, I apologize for not sending my congratulations sooner. How is the fair mare?”

Princess Celestia snickered slightly, “Oh you know, freaking out most of the staff with the ‘Traditional Canterlot Voice’, it’s rather entertaining to see her do so.”

“You’ll have to eventually inform her about today’s society and properly train her,” White Wizard stated bluntly.

“Oh, I know,” Princess Celesita replied turning slightly. “You should join us for dinner sometime, White Wizard. She would enjoy seeing your familiar face, or should I say mask?”

The White Wizard coughed out a slight laugh as he turned to the side, “Perhaps in the near future I shall do so. But, I am here for more serious matters, I trust that my letters have been reaching you?”

“It’s always a pleasure to see Garuda and Cerberus every now and then,” Celestia answered with a bright smile. “But you seemed to have neglected telling me in your letters that you yourself had taken on an apprentice.”

It was then that the White Wizard rubbed the back of his head nervously, his mask turning away from Celestia’s stare. “I was always curious how you learned of this foresight, but, this time it’s easy to deduce that your own apprentice informed you.”

“Yes, that is correct,” Celestia replied with her smile curling a little more. “Twilight did write about a certain magical dragon who appeared at Ponyville. Although, I must confess, I’m a little surprised that he would show up there. Is it just a coincidence?”

White Wizard recomposed himself and folded his arms behind his back. “No, it is not, Celestia. My apprentice needs to learn and grow by himself. I just pointed him in the right direction with the tools. How he uses the tools is up to him, and so far, he’s done well.

“And from what I’ve seen through Garuda’s eyes, your student has caught my attention as well.”

“I see,” Celestia stated with her smile settling slightly. “Then we have much to discuss, don’t we?”

“Yes we do,” White Wizard replied with a nod.

“Then we can discuss it over dinner,” Celestia stated with a bright smile as she trotted past the White Wizard and towards the door. “After all, it’s almost time for Luna to awaken, and she would enjoy seeing you for while she has her breakfast.”

White Wizard was about to say something, but lowered his arms in defeat when his stomach growled loudly. “Very well then, I suppose a decent meal would be best. It has been a while since I had a good, royal meal.”

TBC

Author's Note:

MangaKamen: Hello everyone! I have returned! And this time, I have two pics in this chapter! Enjoy!

I'll be back in a few days with the intermission chapter!

Comments

[Tragicom]

So I was right the first time with her being the gate. Nice.

Half-Boiled eh? Should I get Cyclone Effect ready?

Always love DisQord.

What do you mean not everyone likes Donuts?

Lastly, I caught your rendition of Life is Showtime. Not the exact rhythm I use, but it works.

Looking forward to our Great and Powerful guest, and I'm making headway on Strength of the Earth.

[darkmagician41]

Great Story!!! And nice use of Fate/Stay Night's Unlimited Blade Works! Also I noticed you put in a certain Half-Boiled Detective in there.

That leads... How many Kamen Rider Besides Beast, Wizard, and White Wizard are you planning to add??? (I don't count Fourze yet because only his civilian self has appeared)

[MangaKamen]

2373043

Had me worried with your guess, so I had to be a little tricky lol.

And thanks!

[MangaKamen]

2373236 Thanks, as to answer your question...

-smirks- You never know.

[Kawa]

So... Twilight is Mayu? I also see a certain resemblance between Djinn and Pegasus Zodiarts...

[Tragicom]

2373368
I've been watching toku since the Mighty Morphin' days. Beetleborgs and Mystic Knights too. Now that I'm also into Sentai and Riders too, I'd be angry with myself for not guessing a twist or two.

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

Sees update.

Has this reaction:

iambrony.jsmart.web.id/mlp/gif/gVTJs.gif

dashie.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw8055-Beautiful.gif

media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m24j14d9qB1r1crym.gif

denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw1021_Rainbow_Dash_says_youre_awesome.gif

images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060408064606/uncyclopedia/images/3/3b/Dancing_bear.gif

I will now proceed to read!

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

My...my feels...

cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/17705380.jpg

static2.fjcdn.com/comments/my+beer+_c04bed4932c45e0ffcf44ffdc0a04de6.jpg

24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mb4z5ougxE1r96cg8o5_400.gif

media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mav9dcu3UE1qjxft8.gif

media.tumblr.com/tumblr_magijs2Kfy1rw2gyh.gif

media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m50637uF691qj3ir1.gif

So Djinn's true identity was not Gilda, but someone who was framing Gilda for all sorts of things. Good thing Haru decided to get the whole story before he made any accusations, because if he'd accused Gilda, that would not have had a good outcome.

And I saw multiple references. What Haru used the Multi Ring for was obviously a reference to Fate/Stay Night's Unlimited Blade Works, and this line:

“You sure know how to throw a party,” a familiar voice called out as the two Phantoms landed on the ground a couple of yards from Gilda. “No food, no drinks, and the way you treat girls is just in poor taste.”

That's obviously a Devil May Cry 3 reference!

So it seems Celestia, Luna, and the White Wizard are old friends! Can't wait for that bit of news to be revealed!

Also, I wonder what Twilight being able to use the Defend Ring means?

And the half-boiled detective who was always helping Gilda out whenever she got framed was obviously Shoutarou, the left half of a certain half-and-half Rider! I wonder if he's going to help Haru out at some point...

Here, have some badges, you magnificent author, you!

fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/282/e/5/twilight_sparkle_approved_by_ambris-d4c255h.png

fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/282/7/5/rainbow_dash_approved_by_ambris-d4bdn33.png

fc05.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/277/e/a/pinkie_pie_approved_by_ambris-d4brtm4.png

fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/345/0/9/fluttershy_approved_by_ambris-d4ivleb.png

MOAR -- PLEASE

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

2373567 So you're also a Toku fan? Have you watched the Chouseishin shows?

If you haven't, the names of the shows are Chouseishin Gransazer, Genseishin Justiriser, and Chousei Kantai Sazer X.

I can't provide a link to a page with episodes of Sazer X because I can't find one, but you'll find links to the other two in their names.

[Magatsu Orpheus]

2373370
Well, since Haru having a Fourze Ring would just be stupid to forget, and that subtle reference to W earlier is obviusly foreshadowing, we can probably add those two to the list. Also, sorry if this comes off as me telling you how to write the story, but Den-O is awesome and deserves more than that small reference to Ryutaros in the intermission chapter (In my opinion)

[Magatsu Orpheus]

Also, can't wait for the Dragonshy arc, when Haru will either be left back in Ponyville, or bond with Fluttershy (Or for that matter, have a conversation.)
And Bridle Gossip. Can't wait to hear Haru's thoughts on the racism the ponies show.

[MangaKamen]

2374684
Oh don't worry dood, I got a plan for Den-O, you don't have to worry. Just keep your eyes open.

lol

[Tragicom]

2374188
I've only ever seen the first couple of episodes of the first series. Not bad stuff, but I'm not really drawn in. Haven't seen Ryukendo or the Tomica Hero Rescue stuff either. I also haven't seen much Ultraman. Though I did recently watch the Gavan movie.

[Kamen Rider Hyrule]

2374696 cool, I liked den o. and this was a very awesome chapter: the picture with haru, twilight, gilda and rainbow dash was very well done, and do you have anything special planned for decade (if you do plan to put him in somewhere, please don't make him a pony)

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

2374696 What about Kabuto, Kiva, Double, and OOO?

[MangaKamen]

2375217

Save for Kabuto, I've got plans for all of them lol

[MangaKamen]

2375119
My friend appreciates that.

[MangaKamen]

2374693
Oh, you'll see what'll happen.

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

2375228 Nice! One more question: Will we get to see more of Gilda?

Also, did you get the PM I sent you earlier today?

[Kamen Rider Hyrule]

2375239 no problem, and I dint know that almost all riders would come into play somehow, but why are you going to have them all in at some point except kabuto?

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

2375241 You never said whether or not you got the PM I sent you.

Now here are the two requests I have: More Gilda in future chapters, and have Kai and Isamu use a Double Fatal Blade at some point.

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

2373043 2373236 2373473 2374684 For shame. Didn't any of you see the Devil May Cry 3 reference?

“You sure know how to throw a party,” a familiar voice called out as the two Phantoms landed on the ground a couple of yards from Gilda. “No food, no drinks, and the way you treat girls is just in poor taste.”

[MangaKamen]

2375260

I never said that Tendoh wouldn't show up, heck, my artist friend's bugging me to put him in the story too (Kabuto's his favorite lol). I'm just trying to kick ideas in my head on how to get him in, so, I can't get too detailed about it.

[Kamen Rider Hyrule]

2376074 oh alright, I like kabuto a lot as well and so do many other fans, so I thought leaving him out would be strange

[Kamen Rider Hyrule]

2376074 athough, I think that not all the riders should be ponies, there are some other species to choose from in the mlp world so it shouldn't make it too hard, (for example I could see tendo being a griffon as a good fit, or mabey even as a diamond dog that lacks the speech impediment and is totally epic)

[darkmagician41]

2375985
I think everyone noticed it Friend of Bronies, that's why I didn't mention it. Thought I am surprised a few did get the Fate/Stay Night reference. I also agree with Kamen Rider Hyrule on who Tendoh-sama should be -personally I would go for Diamond dog without Speech Impediment but that's just me.

[Kamen Rider Hyrule]

2376541 yeah I think a diamond dog somehow suits tendo, and again without the speech impediment, it wouldn't fit into the whole cool factor tendo has

[Kawa]

2375985
I can't see references to things I don't know about.

inb4 "go play DMC".

[Magatsu Orpheus]

2375985
Never played Devil May Cry, and what does this have to do with my comment?

[Godzillawolf]

Awesome chapter.

Finishing move on Dijin was awesome (overkill much? lol), and great job with the Red Herring of her identity.

Great chapter!

[xeno gundian]

Have I ever told you how much I love you(in a non-gay way)

[MangaKamen]

2817372 No, but I appreciate it anyway.

[Randomreader-001]

Hahahaha!! Yes! Haru gets his Ride!
I was beginning to wonder if and when he was going to get that.
Awesome job on this chapter by the way.
Welp, onto the next chapter.

[Uzume Tennouboshi]

3403055 You'll see when you get to the latest arc with the Parasprites...

[ZephyrStrife]

I noticed... that the battle scenes straight from KAmen Rider Wizard are threaded almost seamlessly into the story...

[raven618]

whoo, i was getting nervous there for a while. thank you, so much for not turning Gilda into a phantom. it's much appreciated.

[the other sans]

Let’s not forget who saved who’s flank the first time
You’re more than welcomed to see if there are any in the kitchen
with pegasai flying through the air

1. Whose.
2. Welcome.
3. Pegasi.