> HEN........SHIN!! > by Kendall04082 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Morph #1: The Discovery Of A New Topic > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Some state that you can only have one favorite hero in your life. But, other people might actually think the exact opposite. The truth is that people can actually have more than one favorite character for them. For example, let's say a character from a television program about equines of mythology. And let's say that said character is the primary one in the show, but then five more have entered the limelight and have made it hard to determine which will be the most adored. But just remember, no one is adored most. Only liked. And we will be looking at the one of the six bravest equines of the program as soon as I finish this intro/speech. As the Sun rose in the horizon, we can witness the beautiful town, Ponyville, preparing for the day like any other. We zoom in to see a pony in a house, with a mint colored coat in a bathroom. The pony had a brilliant cyan mane and tail with a white streak. What was strange about this pony was that it had a strange horn-like appendage protruding out of its forehead. It is unknown if the appendage is comfortable to have, but we cannot judge. And what was also strange was that the mare had some sort of image on the side of her flank. It was an image of a lyre; a harp-like instrument that has existed since the time of the Greek. The mare's name was Lyra Heartstrings. She walked towards the sink where there was a bottle of toothpaste, a toothbrush and a box of dental floss. On the spur of a moment, her horn glowed with a yellow light, suggesting that she has activated it somehow. Then, the green toothbrush also emitted the same light as well. It began to levitate towards Lyra until it stopped. The bottle of toothpaste did the same and opened its cap. It squirted toothpaste onto the brush and the brush started to brush Lyra's teeth. ( Too many 'brush' words? ) Anyway, after she had done brushing, she spat out the remaining foam of toothpaste to reveal white and sparkly teeth. She smiled in the mirror, "Looking good, Heartstrings," before exiting the bathroom. Then, another pony walked by. It had a beige coat, pigment blue mane and tail with a rose pink streak. She did not own a horn like Lyra, but she possessed a different image on her flank. It was a group of three candy wrappers of cyan color with yellow stripes. Her name was previously known as Bon Bon, but she revealed her true identity to be 'Special Agent' Sweetie Drops; a former agent who works with a dissolved monster-hunting agency. After her identity was revealed to Lyra, Lyra took it hard for not knowing Sweetie Drops' true self. SD felt guilty, but Lyra has learned to accept it and move on with her best friend. Then, Lyra decided to speak first. "Busy morning, huh?" She inquired with a calm smile. Bon Bon sighed. "Yep. It sure is." She replied. "So, do you have anything planned for today?" "Well, I am going to the restaurant downtown to get some breakfast with my best friend." Lyra did not need to guess. She already knew who Sweetie was talking about. "Alright, then. Let's go." After Lyra had grabbed her wallet from the bedroom table, they walked outside their home, remembering to lock the door and steered towards the restaurant. But, our tale is not about them. ( I mean, come on. They are just two of the background characters. ) We shift our view to a nearby castle in the ( possibly ) center of Ponyville. The palace was very unusual compared to other castles. It looked like it was part tree/part castle. The bottom section was made of pure crystal that shone in the daytime, with branch-like designs reaching the higher part. The upper part looked exactly like an ordinary castle with seven separate window views and a flag with a pink star, hanging along the left side. The odd features were two separate balconies, one in the medium section and one on the left side of the castle ( at least I think it is. ), two triangular roofs, a single flat roof and a giant crystal star on the very top. It also had some long tassels and two giant windows next to the entry. Within the castle, we can see another mare in a more stylish-looking room. The room was ginormous and it also had a giant golden table that can support about 14 mares, more or less. But, that is not the only oddity in the room because the mare is one herself. She had a violet coat with sapphire blue hair and tail with purple and rose streaks. The image on her flank was a pink star with little white stars surrounding it. But, what was special about this mare was that she had not only a horn but also a pair of wings which seem to be birdlike. Her name was Twilight Sparkle. Although she was dwelling in a castle, it was only her third humble abode. She moved from her first home and her second home was destroyed by a power-hungry centaur, but she does not like to talk about it. She was sitting on one of the chairs, probably waiting for her breakfast, which brings up our next character. Suddenly, the double-doors on the left-hand side opened to reveal a small biped, wearing a pink apron and holding a plate of freshly baked pancakes. The biped was revealed to be a small dragon, a juvenile perhaps. It had green spikes on its head, tail and back, light purple scales with a light spring budish gray underbelly and two light lime green ears. His name was Spike ( A.K.A. Spike The Dragon. ) The little dragon walked towards the table and placed the meal onto it. "Today," He said in a fake French accent while also putting on a false mustache. ", you will be having one of ma' originals: baked pancakes with syrup and butter." Twilight giggled a bit, knowing that her assistant always has jokes up his sleeves. "Enjoy, Mademoiselle Sparkle." "Why thank you, Monsieur Épi," She replied and giggled, followed by Spike. "That's French for 'Spike', right?" He cut the accent and put away the mustache. "Yes, Spike." Spike sighed with relief as Twilight licked her chops, meaning she was about to scarf down the meal. Spike's dishes were the perfect ones for her and she could not have a better assistant than him. Just as she was about to take a bite, her assistant stopped her and showed a fork in his claw. Twilight looked at him befuddled. "What? Oh, c'mon. You're a princess now, right?" Twilight giggled again. "Spike, you know that we ponies, especially myself, can eat even without silverware." "Sorry, it's just that, well, I've never actually seen any of you girls use forks or spoons. ( Except for Rarity sometimes. )" "Oh, Spike." Suddenly, her horn glowed with a dark pink aura and the fork also made the same aura. She levitated it into one of the pancakes and ripped a bit of it away. She then began to eat the ripped piece in her mouth. She proceeded to chew and swallow it with success. "Happy now?" Spike smiled proudly. "Yep." But, that smile faded away when Twilight blasted the pancakes, which instantly shrank and went inside Twilight's mouth. She swallowed it and giggled with pride. She noticed Spike's surprised expression. "Wow, I didn't know you could that." "Yeah, well, it's just a little Scale spell I learned back at school." "Nice." Spike grabbed the dish and walked through the same doors, probably to the kitchen while also humming a tune. Twilight got up from the seat and tried to choose what to do today. Option A: She could see what her friends are doing and see if they need any help. Option B: She could take a daytime flight and check how Ponyville's doing. Option C: She can read some of the unread books in the library section. So, with Twilight being Twilight, she went with the last option. She was already headed to the library with a smile. Sure, she can be quite an "egghead" sometimes, but she's still alright with it. She was near her destination as she saw a brace of double-doors with a sign of an opened book at the top. She cast a spell to open the doors and entered the library halls, closing the doors again. The library had so many books, she nearly lost count of how many there were. Luckily, with her smart brain, she managed to figure out the total number a few weeks ago. ( Probably more than 60 or 70. ) She searched through every shelf, every book, every turn and every corner. But alas, she could not find anything new to read. She stopped as she reached the farthest part of the library, which took about almost 29 minutes, but still nothing she did not recognize was found. With one final sigh of defeat, she spoke out loud, "Wow, I didn't realize that I've read that many books. Well, I guess my friends DO know how many I've read. But still, just adding a few more books won't hurt. And besides, they're just for learning." Then, Twilight realized that there was nobody around. "And now I've just realized that I'm talking to myself." Twilight laughed weakly before feeling somewhat depressed and walked back to the entrance. But just as she was about to do so, she saw a dim light in the corner of her eye. She got curious, so she turned and saw the source of the light. It was the book in the lower middle section. Twilight wondered why, she hasn't seen a book glow in her life, apart from the book that Twilight receives friendship lessons from Sunset Shimmer, but that story will have to wait. "Huh?" She walked towards the book and cast a spell to grab it. But instead of doing that, it was actually a secret lever that she pulled. All of the sudden, the wall began to shake and pretty soon after, it brought itself down to the ground, being destroyed in the process. The rubble caused a lot of dust to scatter, forcing the princess to cough 5-6 times. When it stopped, she rubbed her eyes and tried to see through the dust. What she saw was a book holder, holding.....well, a book. "What the?" She was ever so confused to why this happened, but she shook off the feeling and proceeded to approach the book. When she was close enough, she levitated the book out of its holder and examined it. It's cover was just gray colored and nothing else about it was different. "Wait, I should've known about this book before, considering it's MY castle, but since I don't, then what's it doing here?" Twilight thought she knew everything about her castle, but she thought wrong. She needed answers, so she turned to the first page that revealed this: Property of ____________________________________________ "This book must've been somepony else', but why would it be in my castle?" Twilight was very confused with a furrowed brow with this book. What was this book about? Who does it belong to? How has it been in the castle BEFORE it actually took form? Did Princess Celestia know anything about this? Or did it appear for some other reason? So many questions bounced all around in Twilight's mind, so she decided to dig deeper into it. She turned to the next page, but this time, the second page was blank while the third page actually had three sentences of a certain but unknown topic. "Wha?" The book made no sense, but that did not stop her from reading. And here is what she read: This is the book about the knowledge that no pony knows. This is about the heroes who secretly protect the entire planet from danger during both day and night. This is.........The Kamen Rider ( A.K.A. Masked Rider ) Knowledge Keeper. Twilight was even more confused. And those words just made it worse. "What the hay are......Kamen...Riders?" She was nowhere close to getting her answer, but she needed to know more so, she ignored the confusion and turned to the next page. But, much to her surprise, the next two pages were actually blank. "Hey, what the?" This book was now starting to get on Twilight's nerves, but she still maintained calm, even though this discovery was a half-of-a total waste of time. Twilight flipped through more pages faster, but they were all blank. This cannot be it! There has to be more! "Oh, come on! All of this just for NOTHING!!" Her frustration levels were rising as smoke was literally coming out of Twilight's body, which is her 'side effect' when she gets extremely frustrated. When her eyes were about to turn red, she heard the footsteps of little feet. "Twilight!" The voice immediately got Twilight to stop smoking and close the book to see her foster sibling running after her. He finally reached her, breathing heavily for air. "Twilight! *Pant* There you...*Pant, pant* ....are!" He nearly fainted and landed on the floor on his butt. "Spike! What are you doing here?" Twilight asked worriedly. "Well, when I saw you were gone, I thought you already left. But then, I heard hoof steps in the hall, so I assumed that you were still around. I began to follow you, but when you entered the library, I immediately got lose until I heard your voice." Spike responded. "Oh, Spike. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you worry." Twilight wrapped a wing around her little drake sibling while also nuzzling him. "It's alright, Twilight. You didn't mean to do it." Sure, his older foster sister has made him get involved into many dangerous situations, but when he does, he always reminds himself to stop being such a coward and start being brave. "So, what were you doing inside of the library anyway?" "Well, I WAS going to read some of the ( highly unlikely ) unread books until I've found a secret hidden lever in the bookshelf that destroyed the entire wall, but also hid a secret book on the other side." She showed Spike the same book she found. "Oh, so that's why there are pieces of the wall everywhere." He kicked a chunk of debris away. "So, what's it about?" "That's what I was wondering." She opened the book and flipped through the pages quicker to get to the point faster. "It doesn't explain anything, except the third page." "Well, how are you gonna figure out how to actually solve this mystery?" Twilight thought for a moment before a light bulb popped above her head and a smile spread across her face. "That's it! We do what we've always done. Get our friends and figure out how to solve it!" "I feel like we do that almost all the time." "Really?" "I'm just saying, but it just seems to get more and more cliché." "Well, we'll talk about that later. For now, we've got friends to recruit and a mystery to solve!" Twilight made an epic pose followed by trumpets blowing behind her! "Aaand a book to later read AFTER the mystery is solved." Twilight made a face that said 'Huh?' "What? I can't be more like you?" "No, there's nothing wrong with it. Now then, let's shove off!" She levitated Spike onto her back and proceeded to exit the library while also levitating the book into Spike's claw. And as Twilight and Spike head forward to ask their friends for help, a shadowy figure can be seen, laying on a branch belonging to a nearby tree. It was kind of hard to describe the figure, but the known features were that it was bipedal, had some sort of devil-like body, including leg pads, arm pads, shoulder pads, chest and a head that had a similar type of design; black stripes that looked like either tendrils or veins. The mouth looked like it came from a skull. It's head had two, slightly curved red horns while the shoulder pads had white, more curved spikes. The belt had some sort of strangely designed buckle. And finally, it's eyes had no pupils, instead they were all black and seemed lifeless. The creature in red was laying on the branch with relaxation when he heard Twilight and Spike, probably discussing some topic that wasn't important to him. But sometimes, he would just be interested in about anything that's kind of important. So, he got up and crawled to the further part of the branch to get a better view. "Sate, watashitachi wa koko de nani ga arimasu ka?" It said in a slightly high echo-like voice which translates to "Now, what do we have here?" "Hmm, maybe I should try to scare them away for fun." He stroked his chin and thought of what to do. Then,...."..Nah! I already tried that on some other pony with derp eyes and that thing couldn't even see me." But, he had been sleeping and snoozing for about 5 hours, so he thought he could get some excitement. "Hmm. Then again, I haven't been doing anything else fun at ALL since I've arrived." Suddenly, he heard them spoke. "Wait, did you hear something?" said the purple pony. The figure crawled to a darker spot on the branch to remain concealed. "Nah, it was probably just the wind," the little drake said. So, with Twilight and Spike ignoring the fact that they heard a strange sound, they headed straight towards a different direction. "Well, now's a good time than any to find some adventure. Hopefully." He said while also rubbing his hands together. He ( somehow ) managed to jump to another tree without pretty much any pony noticing him. "You better be prepared, little pony. Because I.........will arrive." Then, he started to repeatedly jump from tree to tree in order to catch up with the duo and also trying not to make too much sound. ( Sort of. ) Meanwhile, a nearby pony actually saw the figure in red with a bewildered look on his face. Said pony had a light brown coat with a much darker brown mane and tail and a white collar with a green bow tie. His 'flank-image' was an hourglass. He scratched his head, thinking he was just losing his sanity. Then, he spoke up, "I've been having too many butter-included meals." He said with a British accent. "I guess I owe Derpy an apology." He walked away while still thinking about what that creature could be. > Morph #2: The Reaction From The Rest Of The Group > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- In a nearby field, we can see five more ponies having a picnic. The first one had an orange coat, a yellow mane, and tail, and had three apples for her 'flank-image'. She was also wearing a stetson. This pony's job was to spread the blanket onto the grass. She was recognized as the best 'apple bucker' in Equestria of all time. Her name was Applejack. The second one was pink, her mane and tail were dark pink, and she had three balloons (one yellow, two cyan) for her 'flank-image'. This pony's duty was to carry the picnic basket and place them onto the blanket. She works at a candy and sweets shop, Sugercube Corner, which is where she also lives. (Oh, and she is likewise a fourth-wall breaker) Her name was Pinkie Pie (A.K.A. Pinkamena Diane Pie) The third one had a white coat, indigo hair, and three diamonds for her....(do I really need to say it?) She also had a horn, sticking on her forehead. She was also wearing a pair of glasses, sort of like the ones that tailors wear. This pony had to (not-so-surprisingly) sit along a fancy couch that she somehow carried all the way here. She lived in a boutique, where she is Ponyville's most famous fashionista. Her name was Rarity. The fourth one was light blue, had a rainbow-colored mane and tail, and her 'flank image' was a rainbow lightning bolt coming out of a cloud. The pony had a pair of wings and was wearing shades. This pony had to wait for a few minutes before they could start having their picnic. She was also the fastest pegasus in all of Equestria and can perform a Sonic Rainboom, where she breaks the sound barrier, but also can create a rainbow-ring. Her name was Rainbow Dash (Dash or RD for short) The final one was yellow, also had wings, a light pink mane and tail, and a group of three butterflies for her image. This pony was the caretaker for animals and lives in a small cottage adjacent to one of Equestria's most dangerous and spooky areas, The Everfree Forest. Her name was Fluttershy. Then, the blue pegasus decided to whine, "Ugh, I'm starving! When are you guys gonna finish setting up the picnic!?" "Be patient, Rainbow." The orange mare replied with a western accent. "These sorts of things take time to finish." "Well, can't you at least finish faster!?" "I don't see why you are rushing, darling." Said the white pony with a fancy accent. "We have all the time we want." Then, the blue pony took flight in mid-air. "But, I can't wait any longer. I need some FOOD!" She stated while holding her stomach with despair, which was grumbling like a thunderstorm in there. Applejack and Rarity sighed. "Oh, Rainbow Dash." Suddenly, they heard the sound of clopping hooves heading towards them. They saw Twilight and Spike heading to their location. "Hi, Twilight!" Pinkie greeted her. "What brings you here on this fanti-bulous day?" "Hey, girls!" Twilight greeted back. "You'll never guess what I just discovered!" "Let me guess, you've got yer'self a new book, right?" Applejack asked. "How'd you figure out?" Spike asked. "Because of that book yer' holding there." Applejack pointed to the book that Spike was holding. "Oh." Twilight levitated the book out of Spike's grip and showed it to all her friends. She did not know how her friends would react to her breakthrough, but it was worth a shot. "Well, you're right, Applejack. But, it's more than just that." Twilight flipped through the pages and stopped at page three. "Here, have a look." Her friends read every sentence on the page. "Wow, Twilight," Fluttershy said. "This is interesting. But, um, what are we reading about?" This discovery was more confusing than the time she actually thought that animals could talk. Luckily, it was merely a surprise from Discord, which made her very glad and happy. "That's what I was wondering. I've tried every spell I've learned, but I couldn't even reveal one secret message in this thing." "Hmmm." Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin with her hoof to think of how to..."I got it!" She hooked the book away from Twilight, opened the back cover and it revealed a hidden note. "See? Problem solved!" "What the?!" Twilight grabbed the note and read it. She believed that she checked every page, but she was rather surprised that she missed one. "Wow. How did we miss that?" Spike asked aloud. "It was just a little trick that I discovered from my great, great, great, great, great grandfather's journal." "Ooookay?" Pinkie Pie always had tricks and solutions, but she constantly keeps them a secret until they are inevitably required. "Well, what does it say!?" "Quiet, Dash." Twilight cleared her throat. "Alright, let's see." Then, she read: Steps to solve this mystery 1. Go to a very open area. Make sure the area is at least 16 feet wide. 2. Open the book in the center. 3. Place the book onto a surface of grass. Wooden floors will not count. 4. Form a circle around it. This requires 7 ponies or any other different species. 5. Say the words "Kettō, Ereki, Hallo, Ringo" 4 times. 6. Wait for 10 minutes. More or less. That is all. All of them looked befuddled at the note. These steps were as weird as any note they have read. "Okay?" Twilight said confusedly. "Well, since we've already known what to do, I think we should get started." "Now, hold on a minute, Twi." Applejack stopped her. "I know you wanna solve this, but don't ya' think there are consequences to this sorta thing?" Applejack knew Twilight was always so curious about new things, but she always worried that they might end up with something truly bad. "Well, perhaps you're right." Twi scratched her chin. "But, just think of what we might discover! There could be many possibilities for a discovery like this." Twilight smiled, hoping that her friends would allow this. "Well, if it makes things any quicker,..."Rainbow Dash said. "..then I agree with Twilight." She just wanted to end this quickly so that they can have their picnic. "I mean, come on, Applejack! We've dealt with plenty more things worst than this. So, why stop now!? Twilight wants to figure out what this discovery could lead to, so we're gonna help her, even if any of us doesn't want to!" "Wow, Dash." Twilight was amazed by Rainbow Dash's sudden speech. "That's one of the most heart-warming speeches I've ever heard. Thank you." "No prob, Bob." Twilight giggled, followed by Spike. "She called you, 'Bob." Spike laughed even more before Twilight gave him a death glare. "Uh, I mean...." Twi levitated him off her back, who was smiling nervously. "Good, now that we've finished up, let's do this!" Her friends all agreed and walked closer. "Okay. First, we need a wide space. Applejack, can you pack up those picnic supplies?" "You got it, yer' highness," Applejack replied while also bowing. She did not like the idea, but if it means that they can finish it up quick, she will accept it. Twilight snickered and rolled her eyes before she turned to the others. "Alright, are you sure you girls are ready for this?" Twilight was not sure that her friends wanted her to do this. "Oh yes, darling. I would never abandon any of my friends when they are in need of assistance," Rarity replied. "I agree with you, Rarity." Rainbow Dash asked. Then, Rarity whispered into Dash's ear. "You just want to get this done faster, do you, darling?" "Don't ruin the moment for me," RD replied. "And if you have any problems, we'll always be there for you," Fluttershy said. "Yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Thanks, girls." Twilight used to believe that she didn't need friendship to be happy, but she guessed she should have considered twice. "Alrighty, everything's all packed," Applejack stated. "Okay." Twilight placed the book onto the ground, turned it to the middle section and stepped back. And so, all of them, including Spike, formed a circle around the book. Then, they held hooves/claws, closed their eyes and commenced to chant, "Kettō, Ereki, Hallo, Ringo!" four times. Suddenly, the book began to vibrate until it shot a shaft of light straight into the sky, startling the group. They released from each other's grasps, taking in every second of the event. Then, the beam in the air began to take the form of a swirling, orange vortex. All the Mane 6 could say about this phenomenon was.... "Wow." Abruptly, the vortex actually started to repeatedly say a word, which is....... BATCHIRIMINĀ!!! All of them were shocked but also confused as to why this event actually existed and why the vortex was saying a word that none of them understood. Was it from an all-powerful creature? Was the word some sort of message? Was it good or bad that they made this happen? "Well, since we're waiting,...." Rainbow suggested. "...why don't we continue our picnic?" All of them agreed and got ready to continue their picnic, except Twilight. Applejack walked up to Twilight. "Er, sugarcube?" Applejack asked worriedly. "Aren't ya' gonna join us?" Pinkie Pie waved to Twilight, but with no response from her. "Are you kidding!?" Twilight asked aloud. "Think of what might drop down from the portal! It could be an alien from another planet! It could be a lost artifact that we accidentally summoned! It could be...!" Before she could continue 'yapping', AJ slapped her across the face to snap her out of it. "Twi! Listen to me!" Then, Twilight began to calm down. "Ah' know ya' wanna figure out this mysterious event,.." She pointed a hoof at the vortex. "....but could ya' at least try to wait UNTIL it happens?" Applejack did have a point. This is why she did not want to solve this enigma. She did not want Twilight to go crazy and COOKCOO again about some extreme, heavy-to-swallow topic. Twilight sighed with defeat. "Alright, AJ," Twilight replied. "Maybe I should relax until something happens." "Now there's the librarian ah' know!" Applejack patted Twilight on the back. They both laughed before they heard their friends calling for them. "Well, wadya' say, partner? Let's go and eat up!" Applejack walked to their friends, followed by Twilight. "Yeah, as long as we don't get annoyed by the sound." Meanwhile..... In the tree near the Mane 6, we can see The Devil-Guy (A.K.A. Momotaros) observing everything from the branch. "Hm, interesting." He stroked his chin. "This adventure seems to get more and more entertaining by the minute. I guess I underestimated their entertainment." He thought that this planet was just another boring place to be, but with a swirling vortex that can possibly summon anything. Now, that's exciting! "Maybe I COULD stay on this girly planet for just a little bit longer to see what happens." "I guess I owe that blue know-it-all an apology once I've found him." Then, he turned to the readers, which is us. "To all the readers at home, PLEASE pretend I never said that. EVER." And as they Mane 6 enjoy their lunch hour, we modify our view to the castle of Canterlot. On the balcony, we could see Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, two of the rulers of Equestria, watch in shock as the vortex appeared in the sky. Only Celestia knew what it meant while Luna did not even possess a clue what was going on. "Um, sister?" Luna asked. "Do you know what in Equestria that is?" She pointed her hoof to the portal, fearing that something catastrophic could happen. Celestia's only reply was simply a sigh and also,... "As much as I want to conceal the truth, Luna. Yes, I do know what it is." Luna recognized Celestia's serious face, indicating that she is not jesting. Although, those words came out serious, here is what she was actually thinking: OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH, OH MY GOSH! I CANNOT BELIEVE IT IS FINALLY HAPPENING!!!! *Shrieks like a crazy fan girl* "Um, Tia?" Celestia shook her head furiously before snapping back into reality. "Oh, um, what was that, Luna?" "I said that I think that we should tell Princess Twilight Sparkle about what is going on, considering that you are the only one who knows what will happen." Celestia observed the portal even harder. "Perhaps we should let them figure it out on their on. I mean, she wants to discover what will happen and I don't think I want to spoil it." Like Luna, Celestia also likes to play tricks on ponies sometimes, but she wants Twilight to figure it out to see the expression on her face. "Well, if you say so, then I won't argue. But still, I think we should just visit and help them understand." Tia thought for a moment before... "Hm, alright then. We'll visit them and talk things through." Princess Luna only nodded before going back inside the castle, followed by Celestia, who was trying to keep a straight face. "Maybe I should leave a message for them." > Morph #3: The Journey To Another World > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Previously On HEN........SHIN!! Suddenly, the book began to vibrate until it shot a shaft of light straight into the sky, startling the group. They released from each other's grasps, taking in every second of the event. Then, the beam in the air began to take the form of a swirling, orange vortex. All the Mane 6 could say about this phenomenon was.... "Wow." In the country of USA, we can envision a house belonging to a boy. The boy wore a blank shirt, black sports pants and a pair of navy blue glasses. He also had black, flat hair. The male child was watching another episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic, just alike any other brony. The boy laughed out loud when he saw the concluding scene of the episode; The One Where Pinkie Pie Knows. "Man, Pinkie is so hilarious. Although I wish she would quit being so dumb and mess everything up in some episodes." It was true that Pinkie Pie can be a total klutz in some of these episodes, but her humor is something that some bronies can't argue with, that and her ability to break the fourth-wall. The boy was watching the show on his computer. Okay, technically it was his mother's computer, but you get the point. After the episode blackened, he sought for some other video on Youtube, which was Episode 1 one of the new Heisei Kamen Rider show, Kamen Rider Ghost, coming in 2016. "Let's see here.....nope.....not it......EW! Definitely NOT IT!" If his parents were home right now, they would only ask him to pipe down. Luckily, his parents were NOT at home, considering that they have work today. The cause why the boy was at home on a Wednesday was that there is a great level of smog that appeared for some unknown explanation that even the scientists couldn't unravel. But, that did not matter. (Well, sort of) Anyway, "Alright, here we go!", as he said that, he was about to click the video to watch when he heard a ring from the house doorbell. "Huh? That's odd. My parents didn't say we were having guests." He stood up from the couch, "Well, I better go and answer it.", walked towards the door and opened it. It revealed a mailman with a casual blue mailman uniform. He was carrying a stack of letters and also a brown package box. This mailman also happens to be the boy's part time friend when he receives deliveries from him. "Hello there, Ash." The man said with a Scottish accent. "Hey there, Jack." The boy responded. "Give me a down low, bro!" Then, they did a down low with their free hands. They laughed as they did their greeting move. 'Ash' sighed before saying, "It never gets old, does it?" "Actually, it is starting to get a bit old." Jack always enjoyed doing different greeting moves with Ash, but sometimes he would simply become tired and skip them. "Oh. Well anyway, what do ya' got for me this time, huh?" "Let's see." He checked the letters first and they were just bills. (Boring!!) And he checked the package as well but did not know who it was actually from. "Well, just some more bills and also a strange package that I found in the post office." He handed the mail to Ash. "Oh, well, thanks anyway, dude." "My pleasure." After Jack departed, Ash closed the door and lead off to read the mail, including the strange box. "Alright, let's see here. Water bill, electric bill, Wi-Fi bill, BORING!!" He placed the letters onto the living room table and investigated the unknown package. "Now, where did you exactly come from?" He already read the non-existent address, so this was going to be difficult. "Well, like Uncle Jerry always said, 'Just rip the box open and yank the darn thing OUT!!', I've always looked up to him." .......Sure. Thus, without further ado, he placed the box onto the same table, opened the lid, and revealed a mysterious tool/gadget. It was called an Eyecon, one of the same tools that Kamen Rider Ghost uses. "What the? Why are you in there?" He was confused as to why an unidentified person would actually send someone like him something like this. He picked up the Eyecon and scanned it. It still bore the same characteristics of a regular Eyecon, except the body was white and the 'eye' was black. "Huh. A Ghost Eyecon with a white body and a black eye. I assume that is something that you can possibly see some days. Maybe." Then, an idea hatched in his brain. "Well, lucky for you, little guy, I have a specific tool for you to be useful with." He went to his room and grabbed the Ghost Driver from the shelf. After he exited the room, he attached the orange strap onto his waist, switched on the turquoise-ish switch, thus activating it, GHOST DRIVER!! , picked up the Eyecon again and pressed the button on it, which showed an image of two zeros. "Hm, weird." But, he simply shrugged away the feeling and continued. Afterwards that, he pressed the button on the belt to open it up, it played the first standby noise, inserted the Eyecon into the slot, and closed it back upwards. EYE! BATCHIRIMINĀ!! Then, he pulled the lever out and pushed it back in, thus making it articulate, KAIGAN! KYARIJJI! GAIKEISUNBŌ! SHŌTOTSU SHIMASU! "Okay, that's weird," Ash commented. What was the point of having this package? What did it mean? Before he could think even further, he began to feel dizzy and gained heavy nausea. "Woah, why do I feel so dizzzzzzzzzzzzz.............." As he attempted to continue his sentence, he suddenly lost consciousness and fainted with a thud, leaving him in a very sleepy state. Out of the blue, a portal appeared beneath him and instantly drew him into it, vanishing without a hint or trace after it occurred. All we know for now is that what awaits him at the other end, will change his life eternally. A few hours and minutes ago, before the "incident". When we last left off, the strange light beam back in Equestria took the form of a swirling, orange portal. But, what we did not know was that the shaft did not actually turn into a portal but rather went into it after the portal took form. After it came out of the other end, the light traveled far (kind of) until it reached its destination; the post office where Jack and some other workers receive mail and deliver it to the exact same address. Then, it saw the mail truck that Jack was already driving, so it sped forward and caught up with him. It phased through the rear doors and searched for the sack that was supposed to be delivered to Ash, who was the receiver. It went inside and spotted a box that was empty for some reason. (Must've been mixed up) It phased through the box and its (somewhat) molecules shrank until it assumed the form of an Eyecon. Then, it waited for approximately 1 hour and several minutes later until Jack arrived at Ash's house and delivered the letters and the package to Ash. It was said once and it will be said again. All we know for now is that what awaits him at the other end, will change his life eternally. > Morph #4: The Arrival Of A New Hero > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Darkness. That was the only thing he could see after he fainted on the floor. Even though he could not see or hear anything, he was able to feel the sensation of a pulling force beneath his unconsciousness corpse. It felt like a planet was being pulled towards a black hole. This sensation went on until he felt like he was falling with his limp appendages not moving an inch. His hair was being blown by the gravitational pull of the tunnel. And what will lead him on the other side? Something that even the smartest people cannot believe. Curiosity. That was one of the sole things that Twilight gained because of the portal. Even though she was relaxed now, she still wondered as to what or WHO the vortex might spit out. But, she needed to wait until it actually happens. She felt like a cat that was impatiently waiting for her meal. This went on for about 10 minutes until she noticed the portal changed its sentence to, ORE!! MUSASHI!! EDISON!! ROBIN HOOD!! NEWTON!! The portal said these words only once, but the others also took notice of this and stopped for a bit while Rainbow Dash stuffed an entire sandwich into her mouth, followed by Pinkie Pie for some cause. They galloped forward closer to the portal until they got close enough. Our seven heroes witnessed as the vortex started to act very differently by vibrating furiously and changing colors, which gave them a shock to back away. The colors included are orange, red, yellow, green and light blue. Now, they were more worried than ever. So many more questions came into their minds. Why is it behaving this way? Is it finally going to reveal something interesting? Or was it simply another trick? Even Pinkie Pie was starting to interrogate it and this was only the fifth portal she has ever seen in her entire lifetime. (None of you know Pinkie Pie's entire life, so deal with it) This did not go unnoticed by Momotaros either as he was still watching every second of the phenomenon while also recording the event with a video camera that he somehow obtained from.....somewhere. "I guess this won't be such a boring day after all!" His voice could not reach their ears because the portal started to make the sky turn darker and spew out lightning, which struck every tree they could get, including the one where Momotaros was one. "Wait, what!?" Right after he said that, another bolt of lightning shot forward and precisely struck the tree, with him being electrocuted into a crisp. His screaming voice still went unnoticed by the mares who were already fearing. "Um, Twi?" AJ asked. "Ah' know this ain't the right time, but WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS GOING ON?!" "I don't know!" Twilight replied with a frightened voice. "I've never witnessed anything like this!" She has read about random storms appearing out of the blue, but this was WAY out of her knowledge. "Girls, get behind me!" Twilight ordered. All of them did what she stated, with Spike climbing onto her back for "extra protection", and Twilight cast a magical barrier, big enough for all of them, "Now," Twilight turned to them. "we better think of a plan quickly! Because I can't make this barrier last forever!!" Sure, Twilight CAN make a barrier and make it last for about an hour or two, but even she was not skilled enough to hold a magic spell for eternity. Pinkie Pie rubbed her chin from right to left repeatedly before a light bulb popped up above her head. "Ooh! Ooh! I've got a plan!" Pinkie exclaimed with a smile. Twilight sighed because she knew that Pinkie always has these ideas that either end with a good result or an atrocious one. "Fine, Pinkie! Whatever plan you're thinking is better than no plan at all! So," She groaned and gritted her teeth to withstand the force of the air that swept through the area. "what is it exactly?!" "Why don't we just wait for Princess Celestia and Luna!?" The others did not shout, instead they face-hoofed because of what Pinkie just said. "Um, Pinkie?" Rarity said, attempting to sound calm as possible. "I don't want to sound crude or anything, but," She furiously held Pinkie's face and leaned closed to reveal her angry-fashionista eyes. "ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!?!?" She let go Pinkie's cheeks. "I agree with you, Rarity!" There are just some decisions that fashionista can choose right. "And why would you even suggest that plan, Pinkie!?" "'Cus they're already here, silly goose!" Twilight was about to question Pinkie Pie again, but not when she saw both the princesses sitting on their carriage-thrones, being pulled/flew by some pegasi guards in golden armor. The guards too fought off the strong gusts of wind while trying to block the blown dust from getting into their eyes, thus blinding them. They finally landed safely but roughly and the co-rulers stepped off their chariots. After that, the guards flew off again, hoping to return to Canterlot safely. "Princess Celestia! Princess Luna!" Twilight called out for them. They have already noticed the group and walked forward, but struggled to shield their eyes and proceed. When they were close enough, Celestia spoke up. "Twilight!" Celestia shouted. "WHAT IS GOING ON!?" "I DON'T KNOW!!" Twilight replied. "BUT, YOU GOTTA HELP US!!" "Yeah!" Spike exclaimed. "We need something to stabilize that portal! It's out of control!" Princess Celestia quickly examined the portal, but she was shocked that she did not recognize it. She thought that it would have three colors; red, black and green. But instead, there were five of them. "Wait a minute, this does not look like the same portal that.......," Celestia thought and paused. "Oh, dear." Before she could think more, her younger sister was calling to her. "TIA!" Celestia came back to reality and saw her sister. "What?" Celestia questioned, blinking her eyes. "If you are done with your day-dreaming session, can we continue on stabilizing the dangerous vortex!?" Luna pointed a hoof to the portal, which was creating more havoc across the area and pretty soon, any other town close enough. "Oh, right!" Celestia and Luna ran forward, avoiding any flying obstacles in the way. When they were near, both of them closed their eyes and their horns emitted a bright aura around them, with Celestia's aura being light yellow and Luna's being light blue. Afterwards that, their magical energy grew longer and longer until it reached the portal. The two auras surrounded the portal for about 10 seconds before the portal stopped shaking and cleared away the threatening thunderstorm. Then, the sky cleared up from dark and dreary to sunny and happy once more. The portal's colors still remained the same, but that was not a problem at all. With the problem now handled, Twilight finally got a chance to deactivate the barrier and stop using so much of her vitality. With one sigh of relief, Twilight landed on her underbelly and was panting and sweating, with Spike jumping off of her. Celestia took notice and offered a hoof to lift Twilight back up. Twilight grabbed her hoof and raised up. "Thank you, Celestia." "There is no need to mention it. Now, I presume that you are confused and curious about the portal above you, correct?" Celestia asked. "Yeah, and we have no clue what it's for." Spike continued. He has went through Twilight's portals and he has gone through the portal to the EQG universe, but even he did not know where this one goes or what it is capable of summoning. "But, since both of you are here, maybe there's a chance that either one of you knows what it is?" "Well, actually," Luna started. "I believe only Celestia knows what it is." "It is true, but I don't think that you or your friends could handle the truth." She thought that if she told them about it, she would seem like a nut-job. But, she HAS acted like one a couple of times, so she wasn't certain. "Aaww, c'mon! We wanna hear the story. Right, guys?" All of them agreed especially Luna, who gave her sister of the Sun a simple nod. Celestia knew there was no manner of avoiding it, so she was gonna have to spill the beans. "Alright, but I will try to put it slowly so that all of you could understand easier." They readied their ears and Pinkie Pie was eating popcorn from......wherever that thing came from. "So, our tale begins in Equestria many, many years ago............" As she said those words, our view started to go white, indicating that the flashback is happening. However, this was interrupted by a certain sound coming from the vortex that went by, KAIGAN! ŌPUNINGU! ŌPUN! SESAMI! They heard it and ran straight to it. When they stopped, the screaming got louder until a not-so-mysterious, bipedal creature got shot out of the portal. The creature landed roughly on its back, inducing it to gain bruises and tears on its clothes. Afterwards that, the portal instantly disappeared in the blink of an eye. "What the?!" Applejack shouted. "Where in tarnation' did it go!?" "I have no idea." Rarity replied. "But, I am certain that there is a bigger issue here." The group walked slowly and cautiously forwards to get a better look at the strange creature that is knocked out before them. Earlier After Ash was knocked out and sucked into the portal, he was now free falling inside of a brilliant blue tunnel. A few seconds after, his eyes struggled to open up and his limbs started to weakly but finally function. ORE! MUSASHI! EDISON! ROBIN HOOD! NEWTON! Eventually, those words managed to wake him up, but he wished he still had them closed. "Woah, w-what happened?" He asked to himself. "Last thing I remember was passing out on the - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yep, now he REALLY wished he had not opened up his eyelids. "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!!????" He tried to calm down, but with his arms and legs flailing around and with him spinning around like a pin wheel, it was much harder. "This thing is not..." He paused to hold in his vomit. "...helping me and my motion sickness!!" It is a good thing he does not get air sickness during aeroplane flights. Otherwise, he'll have to take the longer routes during vacations. "Alright, Ash. Remain calm. This is either a dream or I have gone completely insane." He struggled to get his right hand to reach his left arm, but he did it nonetheless. Then, he pinched it slightly, but still felt the pain. "Okay, definitely NOT a dream." Suddenly, he spotted something in the distance. He still recognized the same orange and black lever, the same light blue, translucent cover and the same eye design. "Hey, there you are!" He made a swimming motion forward until he was able to grab it by the lever. "Why did you do this!?!? WHY!?" There was a brief silence. "Okay, that sounded a lot better in my head than in reality." On the spur of the moment, the same Eyecon appeared out of thin air near him. "Hey, it's you!" He grabbed the Eyecon, but it started to move a bit and....... it blinked? "Ooookay, did NOT know you could do that." After that, it leapt out of his grip, "Hey, what are you...!?" , then the belt instantly opened itself up, next the Eyecon jumped in and inserted itself into the slot. The driver closed itself back up once more. EYE! BATCHIRIMINĀ!! "Wait, are you sure this is gonna work!?" The Eyecon only blinked two times, probably its was of saying 'Yes'. Ash has met a lot of people that he can either fully trust or not trust at all. And judging by this little guy's behavior, it is probably trustworthy enough. "Alright, but if this doesn't work, I'm so blaming all the KRG franchises!" He grabbed the lever, pulled it out and pushed it back inwards. KAIGAN! ŌPUNINGU! ŌPUN! SESAMI! All of the sudden, the driver faced the other direction and shot out a sort of light blue laser. Out of the blue, another opening popped up in a second in front of them. "Wow!! Didn't know you could do that either! But, how did you exactly....?!" Before he could finish his sentence, he was already closely approaching to the bright portal hole. But, his glasses accidentally fell off, "Oh, shoot! My specs!", and it was too late to retrieve them as he went through the bright hole and 2 seconds after that, the portal instantly disappeared into air, leaving the two items to remain. That was until another rift opening appeared on the right-hand side of the main portal, pulling the two into it to an unknown location, thus leaving this scene as a cliffhanger. But, wait. There's more.........Actually there is not really more. That is about it. Sneak Peek Of Chapter 5 Out of the blue, a portal appeared inside of a (somewhat) normal-looking house. It spew out the spectacles and the belt for an even stranger creature to take notice. All we can see next were two legs of seperate species, the left belonging to a giant reptile and the right belonging to a horse. > Morph #5: AWAKENING > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pain. That was the only feeling he gained when he shot out of that portal. He could still feel his bruises that he got from crashing. He felt like an asteroid made entirely out of flesh crash onto a planet but made no crater and only a dirt course. Suddenly, he felt like he was floating again, but off the ground this time. He was too injured to even speak or act. Then, he heard something familiar. Voices. These voices happen to sound female and one of them sounded like a male's. He was not sure if he should be happy or frightened. Like, what could happen to him? What will the owners of the sounds do to him? Will he be safe? Or will he be tormented? He did not want to think too hard, so he decided to accept his fate and just see what they will do. What he did NOT know was that these are not humans, but they are just as curious as him. Twilight Sparkle felt......odd and stupid for agreeing with Pinkie Pie on her plan. Twilight's Plan: She could activate an invisibility spell and use it on the human to keep him concealed. Then, she could carry him on her back until they have reached the castle. Afterward that, she would take him to one of her guest rooms, which she has more than 5 of, and wait until he eventually wakes up. Pinkie Pie's Plan: She could disguise the human as a bigger variant of herself inside of a giant Pinkie Pie costume, with her duck-taped to his face. Hopefully, she will not let one rip. Then, they return to the castle with the citizens of Ponyville befuddled of the giant bipedal Pinkie Pie roaming around. But, of course, they would not question it because,.....well, it's Pinkie Pie. She never makes any sense. Thus, with a vote of 8 against 1, they decided to go with Pinkie's plan. And pretty sure enough, the plan ACTUALLY worked. Still, the Ponyville civilians were confused and a little scared, but they did not care anyway as they have seen weirder things. Twilight still thought that her plan was still more "professional" than Pinkie's, but with the result of how it is going, she found it difficult to complain. When they eventually arrived at the castle, Twilight carried the boy on her back and went to one of the guest rooms. Well, at least they are doing half of her plan. After that, she entered the room and levitated him onto the bed. The room was a simple design. It had a bed with a green blanket, a drawer to keep the clothes in, and a stained-glass window. Then, she left Spike on guard duty to see if he ever wakes up. Spike saluted and was left in charge on watch-guard duty. (Kind of) He has been waiting for only 10 minutes and he was already fast asleep on the stool. (Typical) For approximately 10 minutes, the human was still out cold on the bed until his hand started to flinch a little. He moaned in pain and exhaustion and started to wake up. He flickered his eyes open and came back into reality. "Oh, man. How long was I out?" He yawned and stretched out his arms as he did. He sat up but then realized that this was not his bed. "What the? This isn't my bed." He held a hand against the pillow and it felt different. "Yep, I was right." Then, he discovered that he was in a room, bigger than his own. "And why am I in a different bedroom? Oh, no. Did I sleep walk again?" He asked himself. His parents always tried to help him with his sleepwalking problem, but alas they could not find anything to fix it. So, he was going to have to live with it. He placed his feet onto the marble floor but then felt more pain. "Ow!' He shrieked quietly. "What in places!?" He looked at his left foot and it was fine while the right one was....not so fine. His foot had a cut in the sole, but luckily it was wrapped with cloth by "someone". "Oh, man. I can't walk with an injured foot." He scanned the room again and found a crutch on the opposite side of the bed. "Aha! That should come in handy." Because of his temporary inability to walk, he had to crawl to the crutch until he reached out and took hold of it. He placed the crutch onto the floor first and then put his non-injured foot next. He got up, lifted his hurt foot up and turned around to see the wall clock. It was now, "2 in the afternoon? Man, that Eyecon better know what it's doing." Abruptly, he heard more snoring from outside. "Huh?" He carefully walked towards the loud sound until he reached the door. He twisted the knob, opened the door and looked at the left side of it. He could not believe his eyes. It was a young drake, sleeping and snoring on a small stool. He was about to scream when he blocked his mouth with his left hand. Then, he felt pain on his left hand as well. He promptly put it away and saw it was also bandaged. "Oh, man." Those words were just the proper thing to wake the little dragon up. Ash silently began to panic. Should he run or not? Is this drake a friend or enemy? Before he could manage anything else, the little one rubbed his eyelids and saw that Ash was standing outside the doorway. Ash was too stiff-scared to even affect a muscle, but all he could say was...... "Uh, hi?" Spike seemed glad that Ash was awake. Now, he can finally introduce Ash to the rest of the group. "Oh, good. You're finally awake." Ash heard the dragon TALK. "Wait, are dragons supposed to talk?" He thought. "You're not gonna hurt me, are ya'?" He waited for him to answer. "What? Are you nuts? Pfft! Don't be silly!" Spike found this boy a little cowardly than he thought, but he is not psychic or anything. "Oh, okay. Well," He cleared his throat. "let's get to know each other. My name is Ash Griffin." He extended a hand to him. "Nice to meet you, Ash." He shook his hand with his claw. "I'm Spike The Dragon, but you can just call me Spike." "Yeah, I think I already know that." They let go of each other's grip and giggled a bit. "So Spike, can you tell me where I am?" "Well, you're exactly in Princess Twilight Sparkle's castle!" His voice echoed and bounced off the ramparts. "Whoops, sorry." "It's alright." He tried to withstand the volume. "So, who is this 'Princess Twilight Sparkle' you speak of?" "Oh, they're just inside the throne room. I can show you if you want, but I think you'll have a difficult time with those injuries." He pointed a claw to Ash's leg and hand. "And I think we're gonna have to get you some fresh clothes later." He pointed at Ash's torn shirt and jeans. "Oh, alright then. So, show me the way, Monsieur Épi." Ash laughed a bit. "Okay, I think I'm having a case of déjà vu right now," Spike muttered to himself. "What was that?" "Nothing. Now then, let's shove off!" The two proceeded to walk forward, but Spike thought, "Yep, definitely a case of déjà vu." He dismissed the feeling and went on. While they walked, Spike chatted with Ash about everything he needed to know about the castle and himself. He also noted that the princess's friends are also known as The Elements Of Harmony; the group of ponies who have protected Equestria from many dangers and villains. Ash already knew all of this, considering he was a brony and said that he might have a memory of who they are, but he gained a headache when he tried to tell him. Spike said he needed to relax and not think too much. Ash agreed and before they knew it, they were already near the main room. When they came in, they saw the five ponies and three princesses, sitting on their respective thrones. Because Princess Celestia and Luna did not have thrones in Twilight's castle, Twilight got them crystal thrones that she created a few weeks ago that looked like The Mane 6's thrones and they have the respective images of their 'flank images'. And she got one somewhat smaller but still crystal-made thrones for Ash. The group noticed the two and smiled. "Spike!" RD called. "Uh,...other guy! You're here!" Ash was not upset, but rather shocked to see the ACTUAL Mane 6 and the two co-rulers of Equestria. If he was cartoon-ized, his eyes would totally blow up. "Yes, it appears that your wounds are healing quite well,....." Celestia said and stopped as she realized that she did not know his name. "It's Ash Griffin, but you can simply call me Ash." The boy stated. "Well, Ash, I am very glad that your condition is stable. Please have a seat." Celestia has never actually seen a real live human in person/pony, so this a one-time opportunity. Ash did what she told him and sat on the slightly smaller throne at the opposite side where Princess Celestia and Luna sat in between Twilight and Applejack's thrones. He put the crutch at the side of the throne "Now, I believe you are confused as to how we are talking and who we are." Celestia expected him to agree, but instead he answered..... "No, not really." She was taken back by this. How did the human know who and what they are if he is not from the same human universe that Twilight visited for three times? There must be some mistake. "Um, pardon me, but," Luna started. "how do you exactly know who and what we are?" Luna was about to continue, but Ash stopped her. "Dude, did you think the humans from the universe that Twilight has visited are the only ones who know who you all are?" And of course, their response would be........ "Well, yes." The group chatted a little bit before Twilight spoke up. "So, Ash Griffin." Twilight cleared her throat. "How do you know about us?" "Well, it depends," Ash replied. "On what exactly?" Ash stroked his chin. "Do you know what a television is?" He attempted to start slow and make the information easy to swallow. "Well, yes. Probably. I've seen them before and Sunset Shimmer has actually instructed me about them." "Well, the truth is that in my universe, you guys were just cartoon characters inside of a..........television program." He prepared himself for anything dangerous by blocking his face with Spike's body. "Uh, dude?" Spike asked him to put him down. "Oh, sorry." He put Spike down and looked at the ponies' expressions. Some of them were confused, others were a little taken back. But, Twilight and the princesses looked the most bewildered. "Um, are we supposed to be offended by that explanation?" Celestia asked, trying her best not to sound too insulted. "I....have no idea. It's your choice." Luna put a hoof on her chin. "Well, I think we'll put that topic aside. For now, I presume each of us have many questions for each other." Everypony/dragon/human agreed with her. Then, Applejack decided to ask first. "So, Ash," She said. "I've got a question. Why's your last name 'Griffin'? Was one of yer' parents a researcher or somethin'?" Well, that sounded ridiculous. "Actually Applejack, unlike the names that ponies obtain, we humans have last names that actually stick to our past and future family members. If an adult from our generation gets married to a human from a different one, we either combine the two last names or just give their children the last names they want." He only gave one explanation and Twilight was already writing the info down in a notebook. "And what are you doing exactly?" "Oh, just writing down the juicy information you're giving out. Shouldn't you have known by now?" He did already know and giggled. "What's so funny?" "Sorry, I actually knew all along. I was just messing with ya'," He explained. After that little scene, Fluttershy spoke next. "Um, e-excuse me, Mr. Griffin?" She inquired with her usual quiet and timid voice. "I also have a question, if that's okay with you." "Sure, go ahead. I won't mind at all." "Do the other humans in your world have multicolored skin like the other humans and us have?" Well, at least this question was less complicated. "Well, the humans in my world only have two shades of colors actually. Those two colors are beige and brown only." Suddenly, Rainbow Dash flew up quickly and immediately said, "Woah, wait a minute!" She exclaimed. "So, let me get this straight. You're supposing that the humans from your dimension only have two sides of colors which is induced by either which country they're born in or how much tan they get?" Everypony/dragon/human blinked their eyes in bewilderment. That was one of the smartest things she has ever said. "Well, when you put it like that, I.....suppose?" Rarity came up next. "So, Mr. - I mean, Ash," She said. "Do humans from your world have the same taste in fashion as the other humans do?" Wow, it is like they are not EVEN trying. "Um, what's your point exactly?" "Well, my point is that I've only seen the Canterlot High students' fashion design and I must state that your clothes must've been more divine than its....how do I put this nicely?" She asked herself. " 'Present condition'. No offense, though, but I would also love to hear what your people think." "Well, Rarity, I have to say that I believe that every human in my universe actually has different tastes in fashion, but I'm sure the ponies of Equestria also have different opinions as well?" Rarity processed her brain and remembered some ponies wearing "odd" clothes. "Well, I suppose you're right. There WAS that one time I saw a stallion who was wearing a pair of polka-dotted pants." "What's wrong with that?" "And he was wearing NO underpants. And do you want to know how I knew!?" She leaned a bit forward as she cried out loudly. "Alright, Rarity." Twilight interrupted. "I think he got the picture." She felt like she was in a REALLY awkward scene right now. "If you say so, dear." Rarity said. "So, does anypony else have any more questions?" All of them had their questions answered, except for...... "Ooh, ooh! I do! I do!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed and raised her hoof until it literally touched the ceiling. "Oh, right. Pinkie Pie, why don't you go ahead, but please start slow." Twilight said. And like a speeding bullet, Pinkie sped her way from her throne, onto the table, and to Ash's seat. She was now face-to-face with the human boy. Ash felt awkward and shocked. There was no turning back, so he said the first thing that came into his head. "Uh, hi?" Ash asked nervously. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie! IhavesomanyquestionsandwheredoIevenbegin!!?? What's your favorite color?! What's your favorite snack food!? Who's your favorite incarnation of Doctor Who?! I bet it's Tom Baker!" Pinkie Pie's questions were so fast, not even the princesses could understand her. Unfortunately, it does not have any effect on humankind. "Blue, sometimes Doritos and I'm still figuring out which regeneration I like the most." He felt uncomfortable being stared at by a pink pony. "Uh, Pinkie? Can you....?" He pointed a finger to her throne. "Oopsie!" Then, she did a ridiculously high jump straight into the air and triple-backflipped in midair before finally landing on her two hind feet onto her throne. All of them looked confused, except Ash, who was clapping with enjoyment. "So,........ah! Spike, you haven't asked a question yet! Why don't you spit it out before something ELSE weird happens." Twilight said to Spike. "Oh, right!" Spike said. "So, Ash. I've got a pretty much heavy question for you." Ash sighed before Spike got a chance to complete his sentence. "No, Spike. I will NOT get Rarity to fall in love with you. And by the way, the brony fandom thinks it's getting old. Mostly me." He stated. Spike and Rarity looked at each other and blushed deeply. Spike blinked his eyes a few times before continuing. "N-no! Of course not!" Ash simply rolled his eyes to the right. "What I was about to ask was, how did you get here in the first place? I mean, I know you went through the portal, but how did you exactly gained access to IT?" Ash tried to recall what took place after he passed out. "Well, alright. It's not like I have a choice or anything." Everypony/dragon readied their ears for the tale of how the boy was sent to Equestria. Meanwhile......... After his little "experience" a while ago, Momo had to pass a few minutes, recovering and bandaging himself while trying to know the location of the ponies, dragon and unconsciousness human. After a bit, he could still jump from tree-to-tree, but with his body injured and fried, he had to stop to take a break when he was almost near his destination: Twilight Sparkle's castle. But because there is no tree in Ponyville that can match up to the castle's height, our devil friend had to sneak in through one of the window views and tiptoed his way to the throne room. The ponies may not be able to see him visibly and cannot touch his body physically, but they can detect his sound. And with a human on board, there is no telling if he will be able to actually see him or not. When he got to the entryway of the room, he hid behind the glass-stained window on the right-hand side of the throne room. Then, he poked his head out of the door a little bit until he could insure the full image. The ponies and one dragon were chatting and asking questions to the human who was bandaged and had torn attire. "Phew, finally," He whispered to himself. "Now, to know more about the story." As the others went on, Momotaros listened to every word the group said, but sometimes he would just block out some words so it would not be too long. (Typical Momo) Meanwhile (Again)............ In a different dimension, we can see many unusual and strange oddities such as a floating house that belonged to a certain draconequus who was also The (So-Called) Master Of Chaos himself, Discord. "Oh, hello there, author!" Discord greeted me. "How are you doing?" Seriously, dude? Are you even trying to stick with the script? "Oh, but where's the fun in that? Besides, I'm spring cleaning." He showed me a broom.......made of tentacles? Your dimension does not even HAVE spring! *Sigh* Just try to work with the script, okay? I'm having a very rough day. "Alright, alright. I won't cause you much trouble." Thank you. Anyhow, after Discord put the tenta-mop away, "Phew, another hard day's work..." He immediately noticed that a little blue portal opened up on his ceiling above him. Before he could move out of the way, a pair of glasses and a belt fell on top of his head. "Ow....that smarts." As he said those words, he fell onto the floor and immediately woke up to see the two items, balancing on his new head-bump. "Huh, this was ironically the third time I've been hit in the head by a pair glasses this week. But, this is strangely new, even to me." He tilted his head forwards and caught the two items in his paw and claw. He already set the glasses onto his upside-down couch and examined the belt very, very, VERY closely. He examined the scent, appearance and....taste? Dude, seriously? "What?" *Sigh* Nevermind. Anyway, after a few close check ups, he found the button on top of the Driver. He stroked his chin with his tail and pressed it. The driver opened and the Eyecon from before was already jumping out of it and into Discord's free claw. "Oh, hello there, little fellow. What can I do for you?" The Eyecon jumped up a few times and Discord can actually understand it. After all, he does know "jumping language". "Hm, I see. We better get to Princess Twilight's castle immediately!" He did an epic pose followed by more royal trumpets from the behind him and the background changed to an American-flag themed one! Wait, you are not American. "Just go with it." ......Okay? Then, Discord tore a big hole in his room, grabbed the driver and glasses (the glasses are for when he wants to appear smart or something else) and entered, followed by the tear closing. > Morph #6: The "Saisho No Deai"! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has just been a few hours since Ash Griffin arrived in the beautiful planet of Equis and he has already been introduced to so many of the Ponyville civilians. They were a bit frightened at first, but after a short while, they got used to the strange and bizarre human roaming around their streets. Ash did not why all of this happened, but he had several hypotheses. One of those theories is that the Eyecon might have sent him here because he was special, has a wide variety of knowledge of the famous masked heroes and is the only human who can activate the Ghost Driver's true power. Merely, he wondered why the Eyecon would choose HIM out of the 7 billion people on Earth. There is a major amount of Kamen Rider fans in the entire world other than him. The Mane 6 and two princesses showed him around the place while also telling him stories about what happened before the outcome happened. He was confused, befuddled but mostly impressed with the fact that six ponies actually DID all of those escapades. They have also told him about Equestria before the Mane 6 were even born. Ash also told them about his life on Earth, where he lived, about his family, where he learned and everything else about his life. Especially that one time when he had a dream where he turned into a ghost who can turn visible and invisible, lift light and heavy objects using telepathy, and float. What an odd dream. Anyway, after they have introduced him to pretty much everypony in the town, Princess Celestia and Luna said they had important manners to attend to back at Canterlot. So they said their farewells before going back to the palace. After a couple of hours, Pinkie Pie announced to everypony that she will be giving Ash a "Welcome To Ponyville" party for arriving, even though he did not purposely wanted to be here. And like a bullet train, she zoomed away to Sugercube Corner where they have every treat anypony desires and also where she lives. Afterward that, the rest of the group broke apart and headed to their own respective homes. Twilight and Spike suggested to Ash that maybe he can stick around for a while. Because he had no other choice, he accepted the offer. And he will have to wait until Pinkie Pie finishes up setting up the party for him. Later at night............ Party noises could be picked up from a distance and party lights could be witnessed inside of The Castle Of Friendship. Within the castle, we can see ponies from all over Ponyville, gathered up into another one of Pinkie's parties. But, this one will be different because they will be greeted by the one and only human they will ever meet in their lifetime and they will be having it in the castle living room. They will get to see Ash Griffin himself in person/pony and also get to question him so they can ignore their curiosity faster. Twilight and the gang thought that this was a brilliant, but then again, they never doubted Pinkie Pie's ability to create parties so amazing and enthusiastic. Anyway, we can see the most famous DJ in all of Equestria, DJ Pon-3 or by her real name, Vinyl Scratch. She agreed with Pinkie on being the DJ for Ash's party. Pinkie explained everything Vinyl needed to do and hoped her the best. There were other familiar-looking faces in the castle such as the same mint unicorn and beige Earth pony, but also the bow-wearing stallion with a gray pegasus pony with strange derp-like eyes. Twilight was already at the snack bar nearby when Pinkie Pie appeared out of nowhere behind her. "Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie shouted, almost making Twilight spill her punch and jump. "Oh, hey there Pinkie Pie!" She greeted back. "So, how's the party!?" "It's actually going great! But, I just hope nothing goes wrong, unlike last time." This last time was when Spike accidentally dumped a bottle of hot sauce and a bowl of peppers into the drinks during Pinkie's Frolicking-Fiesta. "Oh, don't worry, ya' big sour puss!" Pinkie gave Twilight a noogie to the head. Pinkie did have a point. Most of all of her parties always go according to plan and NEVER go wrong. After the friendly gesture, everypony suddenly stopped as they heard a knocking from the double doors of the entry. "Oooh, he's here!!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Okay, everypony! Act natural!" And without further interruptions, the doors opened to reveal Ash Griffin himself, with some different details. Instead of burnt, torn clothes, he was wearing a white shirt with green stripes, new black jeans and new red colored sneakers with blue lasses. Once he closed the doors, he was shocked by the number of ponies who attended the festival. "Woah!" Ash yelled. "I knew that there were gonna ponies here, but I never expected THIS many!" He was only half surprised because he already knew how many ponies have come to Pinkie's parties time and time again. But in real life, it looked like there were at least more than 50 ponies who came. "Eeyup!" Pinkie suddenly appeared in front of him, making him stagger a bit. "And the best part is that you get to answer EVERYPONY's questions, A," She changed her body into an "A". "to Z!" Then, turned into a "Z" and going back to normal after that. Ash giggled a bit at her little ability there. He always knew Pinkie would change into different figures or do little tricks during explanations. "C'mon! Everypony's dying to ask you questions!" She motioned him to come along and repeatedly hopped to another direction. Ash wasted no time and followed her. When they stopped, they reached to the location of Lyra Heartstrings and Sweetie Drops themselves. The two ponies noticed Pinkie and Ash and waved to them. "Okay, Lyra." Bon Bon explained. "Just remember. Try to stay calm while asking him some questions, alright? I don't wanna have you freaking out like usual." Bon Bon knew Lyra very well, but sometimes Lyra would obsess about some sort of unknown and unbelievable species. But, she never thought she would actually meet a REAL human in her life. "Oh please, Sweetie," Lyra said. "I think that you have too much doubt in me." Her friend has always tried to stop her from obsessing about "non-existent" humans, but with a human BOY roaming around, she cannot stop rubbing her victory into BB's face. "And besides, it's only just gonna be a few questions." "How many exactly?" "Oh, y'know. About more than 10......or 20." BB rolled her eyes before noticing that the other two were already standing in front of them. "Hi, girls!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed. "You recognize Ash, right?" She pointed a hoof to Ash. "Yep," Bon replied. "And I think my friend, Lyra, here has a few questions in her mind for you." She could already notice Lyra's fangirl smile. "Lyra!" She shouted to her quietly. "Oh, sorry!" Lyra suddenly spoke. "I just can't believe that there is an actual human right in front of ME!" She cleared her throat. "Anyway, Ash. I just want to ask you one little question." "Sure." "Well, can I ...............touch your HAND!!??" She knew how a hoof felt like and now she was gonna know how hands feel. "Okay?" He held out his hand towards her and Lyra began to rub her hooves all around it. Ash felt REALLY awkward about this, but he knew that the pony always wanted to make one of her goals be accomplished, so he will not try to fight back. She squealed like a hyperactive pony until she passed out immediately. Sweetie sighed. "Sorry about that. She just gets REALLY pumped up when she's excited." "I know how that feels." Both of them giggled with each other. "Well, I better wake her up soon. Don't wanna make her miss the grand finale." "Oh, okay. C'mon, Pinkie. Let's g........." Before he knew it, Pinkie was already standing next to another two ponies not too far away. Ash sighed. "Typical Pinkie Pie." After they waved each other goodbye, he approached the three to answer some more questions. He walked towards Dr. Hooves and Derpy Hooves. When he stopped, he noticed that Dr. Hooves does actually look a lot like the fan-made Doctor Whooves pony. And for Derpy, he could not even decide if he should call her Ditzy Doo or by her real name. "Ash, I want you to meet two of my favorite customers, Dr. Hooves and Derpy Hooves!" Pinkie introduced them. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Griffin," Dr. said. "Now, I don't know anything about your species and all, but I must ask this. Why do humans like you constantly have to wear clothes?" This question made Ash freeze up instantly. He did not want to answer this question because it will be very disturbing. But, seeing as the Doctor wants his question answered, he was gonna have to spill the beans. "Well, um, Doctor." Ash began. "You can just call me Time Turner." "Right. Anyway, Time Turner, we humans actually need to wear clothes so we don't expose our...............private areas." "What are private are.......?" TT thought for a moment before he realized what Ash meant. "Oh, now I get it!" "Uh, okay?" Then, he turned to Derpy. He has got to at least have one excuse out of this awkward moment. "Ah, Derpy! You haven't asked a question yet." "Actually, I just wanted to accompany the Doctor during this party," Derpy explained. She did not want to really ask anything, she just likes going out to different places with Dr. Hooves. "That is correct, Derpy." He turned to Ash. "You might say she is also known as my....." "Companion." Both Ash and The Doctor said at the same time. "Wait, how did you?" "I don't suppose you think you're the only one who knows what you think about." "Well, I didn't actually know that until now. Oh and by the way, Ms. Pie already left." Ash looked around and Pinkie was gone once more. "Dang it, Pinkie!" He did not want to purposely yell, but he can get quite irritated by the absence of his friends leaving him. He looked around again and found Pinkie Pie again, but this time she was talking with a pony that he did not actually recognize. He squinted his eyes to look even further, but with a crowd of ponies blocking his view, he decided to walk up to them instead. So, he walked ahead while also trying to avoid stepping on the other ponies' hooves. When he finally reached Pinkie, she immediately noticed him. "Hey there, slow poke!" Pinkie said. "What took you so long?" "Ugh, nevermind." This is why Pinkie was not technically his favorite pony. She can ditch and leave her friends without even one or two traces, but at least she was a slight bit more predictable. "So, who's this guy?" Speaking of "the guy", this pony was not like any pony he knew. He had a black colored coat, a black cap with some sort of symbol on it, a black jacket, black hoof-gloves on both his front hooves, black pants and black shoes. Ash was confused. Nopony in Equestria would wear THAT much clothing unless absolutely necessary.......or not. "Oh, this is just my friend who visited a few weeks ago! Say 'Hi', Gooma!" She pushed "Gooma" over to Ash. "Um, hi." He articulated in a very deep voice while tipping his hat up. "How has it been going?" "Pretty fine, I guess," Ash replied. He could have sworn that he recognized that voice and that face. "By the way, is Gooma your full name or something?" "Not quite. My name is actually Gooma ZG, but most ponies just call me ZG. Ms. Pie here calls me Gooma because she thinks it is 'sweet'." ZG shuddered for some reason. "Anyway, Pinkie explained some info about yourself and your name is Ash Griffin, correct?" He extended a hoof to Ash. "Uh yeah, sure." Ash shook Gooma's hoof and let go. "So, ZG, I've got a question of myself." "Alright, but make it quick. I've got to leave in a second." Pinkie "Aww-ed" in disappointment because of his sentence. "So, I just have this nagging feeling that I recognize you from somewhere. It's virtually like I know who you truly are." He gained his suspicions the first moment he saw Gooma. He tried to solve the puzzle, but it was interrupted by Gooma's next speaking role. "Listen, I have to leave very quickly now." "Why?" Ash and Pinkie both asked. "It's.......very important line of work that I cannot let random ponies get involved with." Okay, this pony was getting MORE mysterious by the second. "So, if you will excuse me, I will be taking my leave now." He began to walk away to the castle exit. "Oh, a-alright then." Pinkie was a little upset that her "new acquaintance" was about to leave until she felt a palm placed itself onto her shoulder. "Hey, don't get so blue. One day you'll get to see him again." "Yeah, you're right!" Then, Pinkie noticed some other ponies up ahead with yet more questions for the human boy. "Oh, I almost forgot! We have a LOT more Q's to answer!" She hopped over to a different direction, with Ash following her. But, Ash still wondered who that pony exactly was and all of his details were right on the tip of his nose. Was this pony a spy? Who is he working with? Who exactly was this pony? Outside the castle, we can see the odd pony once again standing near the entryway. "I feel like that human knows too much about me," He stated. "I guess I will have to take care of him tomorrow without my group this time." He has to admit that he does like fighting the riders solo, but even some villains have to have some assistance now and then. And in the blink of an eye, his body started to change into another physical form. This form seemed to be bipedal instead, had giant bat ears, bat wings on the lower part of his arms, and was wearing a belt-like item with a strange symbol-buckle. Basically, his entire body looked like the one from a bipedal version of a bat. Then, he started to beat his wings and ascend off the ground. The next thing we know, he flew off into the distance. And so, as the night continues to stay and the ponies continue to party, Ash Griffin's life will be turned upside down by tomorrow. Or some other day. Whichever comes first. > Morph #7: The Unexpected Holiday > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After the party ended with a "BANG!", everypony who came returned to their own homes to rest up for the night. The group also needed to depart to get some shut eye. After the last pony exited the castle, Twilight and Spike were also exhausted and wanted to go to bed. Before they could do that, however, they talked to Ash about sleeping in the same guest room where he was recovered back to health. Ash was about to suggest that also and so, they agreed. After they have used the bathroom, they all tucked themselves into bed. They all said their "Good night" to each other before turning off the lights and drifted into their minds. Later in the morning..................... The Sun rose in the horizon and many ponies were getting ready for the day, but more than ready for tonight. For tonight is their pony version of HALLOWEEEEEEEEEEEN!!!!!!!!!!!! (Too dramatic?) Anyway, the three in the castle were also doing the same. They have all brushed their teeth, washed themselves up and got ready to go and get ornaments and decorations for this holiday. Although, Ash does not know yet why they were heading to Sugarcube Corner to get these decorations, but already seeing what has happened in the last hours yesterday, he opted not to complain much. When they have arrived their destination, they entered to see Mrs. Cake, one of the workers of Sugarcube Corner, standing behind the counter. "Ah, Princess Twilight!" Mrs. Cake greeted while slightly bowing. "You're here. I assume that you're here for the decorations that Pinkie promised. "Yep," Twilight replied. "Is it ready?" "Oh, yes. I'll go and get them. In the meantime," Mrs. Cake turned to Ash. "why don't you show your new human friend around the place?" "Actually," Ash interrupted. "I already know this place. Inside AND out. Heck, I even know the entire interior of the Canterlot palace." Mrs. Cake was slightly taken aback. Nopony could know every little detail inside the Canterlot palace unless they are royalty or a royal guard. "Well," She cleared her throat. "since you already know what Sugarcube Corner is like, maybe you can help me with something." "Sure. What can I do for you?" "Can you watch over our babies? They're right over there." She pointed a hoof to Pumpkin Cake and Pound Cake, playing with each other on the set of low stairs behind them. "Uh, I don't know. I've never actually watched over kids before. But, if it makes things any quicker," He grabbed Spike and pushed him toward the babies. "Spike can do the job, right?" "WHAT!?" Spike yelled out loud. "There is NO way I'm gonna..................!!!!" Before he could continue, he saw that Ash and Mrs. Cake already left in a flash. Spike sighed loudly of annoyance and not just because Pound Cake was biting on his tail with his toothless jaw. Twilight giggled. She never witnessed Spike watching over the Cakes' babies before, so this was a good opportunity. "Uh, Twilight," He called to his foster sister. "Little help?" Twilight only rolled her eyes and smiled before levitating the babies off of Spike's tail and ear. "Thanks." "Don't mention it," Twilight said. After a while, Mrs. Cake and the boy came back with four boxes full of fake cobwebs, rubber snakes, false spiders and many more. "Here you go, Ms. Sparkle," Mrs. Cake said. "Hopefully, these will be enough for some decor changes and all that." "Thank you, Mrs. Cake," Twilight thanked. "These are just the right ones. C'mon, you two." As they exited the building, the baby drake and Ash held a short argument. "The next time one of us has to babysit," Spike said to Ash quietly. "YOU'RE gonna be it." "Yeah, you wish." Ash mocked. And because of that, Spike punched him on the leg. Unfortunately, some juveniles can only do such little physical damage to another creature, so the only thing Ash said was......"I'm okay." Spike groaned again and walked even faster, catching up to Twilight. Ash sighed and rolled his eyes before speeding up as well. In the area of Sweet Apple Acres, we can see a giant barn-like house in the distance. Said house happens to belong to Applejack and her family. And speaking of "family", a little filly ran outside the open double doors of the entrance. The filly had a light yellow coat, a red mane, and tail, wore a light crimson bow on her head and her cutie mark (I'm tired of saying "flank-image") was a shield with three stripes consisting of red, light pink and light grape purple. It also had an apple on it that is purple and pink colored. Her name was Applebloom. Anyway, what Applebloom was doing was that she was running to her tree house, A.K.A. The Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse. It used to belong to AJ when she was still little, but she does not play in it anymore, so she gave it to Applebloom and her friends. After a few more steps, she finally arrived at her destination. She ran up the steps to the top and entered. Within the clubhouse, we can see some items included in any other clubhouse. One of the unexpected features was that it had a speech pedestal, probably for giving short announcements or something. But, there were also two fillies, waiting for Applebloom to arrive. The first one had a light gray coat, light purple hair and tail with a pale rose streak. She too had a cutie mark with the same shield, but the differences were that it had a purple star with a pink music note. Her name was Sweetie Belle. The second one had an orange coat, a moderate cerise mane and tail, a cutie mark like the previous two had but instead, it bore a purple wing with a pink bolt of lightning. Her name was Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and Applebloom have been friends since they have met the first time. They name themselves The Cutie Mark Crusaders because they have wanted to earn their cutie marks for such a long time. And ever since the bullies from their school, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, have redeemed themselves a few weeks ago, they have been rewarded with the (kinda) same cutie marks to help other ponies understand their destiny. The trio were very happy because of this and have always helped ponies in need ever since. Applebloom walked past her friends and stood behind the plinth to make an announcement. "Hear ye! Hear ye! This meeting of The Cutie Mark Crusaders is officially opened!" She declared. "So, have ya' girls find anythin' ineterestin' lately?" The two looked at each other before turning to Applebloom and shook their heads, meaning 'No'. "Seriously? Ya'll haven't found anythin' at all!?" Then Scootaloo decided to speak first. "Why do you care so much?" "Well, I was hoping that you girls would have somethin' interestin' for today. Other than me." Applebloom noticed that the two crusaders were looking at her, almost like they desire something. "What?" "Well," Sweetie Belle spoke then. "have you?" "Well, yeah! Ah'd like to tell ya'll about it, but maybe you girls aren't ready for it." Her friends have always witnessed her go nuts and panic, especially that one time when they got stuck up a tree because they intended they would earn their cutie marks by..........climbing up a tree, I guess? "What!? Are you COCO in the LOCO? We wanna hear it now!" Scootaloo said. "Yeah, we'll believe you." Sweetie Belle said. Well, now is the time to tell them and there is no time to wait. "Alright, but just promise me that ya'll won't think it's stupid." They both nodded their heads. "Well, okay. Here it goes. So, it all started when................" As Applebloom told her friends the tale of whatever she had in mind, we change the day speed to night time. After a few hours of morning, afternoon and evening, we finally reach the night time, about 8:00 P.M. or so. Where the ponies were all ready to go and celebrate the spookiest and scariest holiday ever brought in Equestria, NIGHTMARE NIGHT!!!! What? It is for dramatic effect. Anyhow, we shift our view to The Castle Of Friendship once again to view the living room within it. It was with filled spiders and cobwebs, some were real or fake, rubber snakes hanging from the draperies of the windows and even real life rats, roaming around the marble floor. Spike, Ash and Twilight were the only ones in the castle, with Spike wearing his two-headed dragon costume this year while Ash was not going to wear a costume because he does not acquire any costume in Equestria that fits his "size". The two were standing in the living room, probably chatting about some topic. Abruptly, the double doors opened to reveal Twilight wearing a sort of witch-like attire. She also had a broom on her back to complete her costume. The two noticed her and stopped to see her costume. Although Twilight expected Ash to be amazed, neither he or Spike were surprised to see Twilight wearing her same witch costume 5 years ago. "So Ash, what do you think?" She asked Ash. Of course, his answer would be..... "Isn't that the costume you had when you were still 14?" Ash and Spike asked surprisingly at the same time. "Wait, you knew?" Spike then asked Ash. "Nah, I just guessed." The boy responded. He knew Twilight had that costume when he saw the Fluffle Puff Nightmare Night 2 video back on Earth. He was just not sure if she actually had that costume or when was the last time she wore it. "Well," Twi spoke. "now that two out of three of us are dressed, let's go and celebrate Nightmare Night!" "Yeah!" The boy and drake raised their fists in the air. "I'm actually really excited for this," Ash commented. He has already celebrated Halloween on Earth, now it is time to celebrate Nightmare Night in Equestria!! "But, let's just hope nothing bad happens like the last few times you guys did." "Well, enough of that." Spike tried to hurry up this short conversation. "Let's have some SpOoOoOky fun!" Twi and Ash agreed before the three walked to the exit. A few minutes, a gathering of friends and a few houses later........................... We can see the Mane 6 with each others costume, going on their spooky and scary night. Applejack was wearing a viking costume with a plastic sword on the side of her costume, Rainbow Dash was dressed as her favorite hero from her favorite book series, Daring Do A.K.A. A.K. Yearling, Rarity dressed herself up as a beautiful mistress of night, with her gown being very dark indigo and her tiara being spider-styled, and Pinkie Pie was dressed as some sort of giant yellow bunny costume, included with a purple bow tie. She said that it was to convey her "inner dark and mechanical side", whatever that means. All of them were confused, but, it is Pinkie. They do not have to argue. And to their surprise, but not to Ash's, Fluttershy also came, dressed as a cute bumble bee. At least, Ash said she was cute in that costume, which made her blush. "Hoowee!" Applejack shouted. "Now that's what ah' call a carriage load of candy, fellas'!" All of them had so much candy, but Twilight had the most candy because, you know, she IS a princess. "Yeah!" Pinkie exclaimed. "This night was SOOO FUN! And the best part was that I get to celebrate it with a real life HUMAN!!!! This is the greatest Nightmare Night EVEEEEER!!!!!!!!" She jumped so high and hugged everypony so tightly, they could not even breathe. "Uh, Pinkie," Spike said while inhaling heavily. "We...can't....breathe!!!" "Oops, sorry!" She let go and made the group fall to the ground while Ash landed perfectly on his feet. He always knows how to get out of Pinkie-related situations, especially this one. "Good, now that we're done, I guess we should get going now." All of her friends agreed. But then, Ash noticed something on the tree branch in the corner of his eye. So, he quickly turned around but saw nothing on the branch. Then, Spike spoke to him. "Hey, is everything alright?" He asked the boy worriedly. "You looked like you saw a ghost there for moment." "Spike," Ash changed the subject. "have you ever felt like you're being watched? 'Cus I am." "Well, not really. But, only on some occasions. Why?" Paranoia can be worrying and Spike was starting to feel like Ash was having it right now. "Well, I just have this feeling that we're all being..........." Before he could finish his sentence, Fluttershy called for them. "Um, Spike, Ash," She called with a slightly louder voice, "we're all waiting for you. What are you two talking about?" The two looked at each other and sighed, followed by them saying, "Nothing." "Well, come on then. We're gonna stash up our candy back at the castle." "Alright," Spike said. As soon as they were going to leave, all of them suddenly heard screaming further away. They all ran and galloped there until they saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders running away from something. The crusaders saw their friends and sisters in their path, so they stopped and hugged them for refuge. "Applejack!" Applebloom shouted. "Rarity!" Sweetie Belle shouted as well. "Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo called out loud. The trio hid behind their sisters/related sisters and quivered. "Woah, girls!" Applejack shouted. "What happened!? Why are ya'll runnin'?" She was seriously worried. "T-t-that," Applebloom replied with fear while pointing a hoof to the direction in front of them. What the group witnessed shocked them and any pony that also saw the creature. It was the same bat biped from last night. Although the ponies around did not know what the creature was, Ash knew exactly who and what it is. And he thought that it would never be in Equestria. But alas, here HE was. "Hey!" RD shouted. "What's your deal scaring little fillies around!!??" The bat creature did not reply, but only stepped forward slowly. "Oh, not talking, huh!?" Then, Dash ascended into the air. "Well, maybe THIS will knock some sense into you!!" She dashed downward and targeted at the creature precisely. But, when it seemed she was going to make contact, the bipedal bat sidestepped out of her way, "What the!?", making her crash into the dirt, thus leaving her unconscious. "RAINBOW DASH!!!" They all cried. Then, the creature proceeded to walk. Steam blew out of Applejack's nose. "Hey, ya' ugly diaper-wearing critter!!" Applejack yelled. The bat stopped again. "Ya' think ya' can pick on my sister and best friend? Well, ya'll got another thing comin'!!" She took hold her lasso out of nowhere with her teeth, twirled it to make circle motion and used the momentum to tangle the bat with it. She held the rope with all her might, hoping that it will be long enough to subdue him, "Ha! Now how do ya' like them ap..........?!?!", but it was no use as the biped grabbed the rope, spun around, "Woooaaah!!!!", before letting go after about 5 spins and letting Applejack land near RD. Then, the bat did not move but only stared. The ponies already knew that it was waiting for one of them to make the next move. When, it moved closer, it lifted its arm and pointed at.........Ash? "Wait," Spike said. "you want Ash?" Then, it spoke, "Yes.", in a very sinister voice. Everypony's spine shivered because of his voice. It lowered its arm, but then Twilight stepped forward. "Well, you're not taking him!" She did not who this creature was or why it wants Ash, but since it injured two of her best friends, she was not going to let Ash get hurt also. "And why do you want him anyway?!" "That is none of your line of work," He replied. But then, Ash remembered that line before,......... It's.......very important line of work that I cannot let random ponies get involved with." Then, Ash remembered that the creature was.......... "G-Gooma ZG?" Ash asked with fright. "Hm, so I was correct. You DO possess too much knowledge of me." "Yeah, more than you think." "Ash," Twilight called. "is this true?" Ash only sighed. "Yes, it is." He walked ahead, but Twilight stopped him. He shook her hoof off and continued to pace forth. When he stopped, the beast and the boy stared into each other's eyes. All of Ash's fright and fear turned to anger. The ponies waited for who would make the first move. After what a felt like about 10 seconds, Zooma charged first, followed by Ash for some reason. In the middle of his charge, he suddenly thought, "Wait, what am I doing!?!?" Before he could answer himself, Zooma brought his fist forward, but Ash ducked in time to avert it. Suddenly, he felt like his energy was rising and did a spin kick directly to ZG's chest with incredible speed. ZG staggered back to recover from the sudden counter attack. Ash, however, felt confused. He just did a stunt that even his sister could not have managed. "How-h-how did I do that?" He looked at his hands and saw a red aura, flowing through them. "Okay, this is definitely NOT normal." Then, he heard ZG speak. "You have quite a lot more strength than I thought. However," He stood up, fully recovered, "it will not be adequate to stop me!" He charged again, but this time, Ash was ready. Zooma tried to punch him again, but Ash jumped back to avoid it. Then, ZG did the same spinning kick that time, but Ash caught his leg and delivered a powerful kick of his own. ZG stumbled back, but recovered quickly and brought a fist that struck Ash's face this time. Ash thought it would hurt a lot, considering he was sensitive, but he felt less pain than usual. "Wait, that should've hurt more, shouldn't it?" Suddenly, ZG charged again and delivered a spinning roundhouse kick to Ash's chest. Ash struggled to heal for a moment before noticing that ZG was charging at him, so he dodge rolled out of the way to the left while clutching his chest. Ash knew he was vulnerable and ZG was about to strike. Before he could, however, a magic dark pink aura surrounded ZG, "What the Hell!?!?", lifted him off the ground and he was hurled backwards into a wagon of oranges. Then, a random pony with an orange coat, a white mane and tail rushed at the wagon, suggesting it was his. " Oh, c'mon!" The orange pony whined. Then, he saw ZG rising up from the debris, which got him to scatter and scream. "What the?" Ash found out the source of the aura. "Twilight, I-..." He breathed heavily. "Don't mention it." Twilight interrupted. Suddenly, Batsy charged again, but it was not going for Ash. Alternatively, it was going for......... "Twilight, watch out!!" His warning was quick enough as Twilight saw the incoming Zu. So, she jumped away just in time to dodge the attack. She stood near Ash and helped him up. "Where are the others?!" "They've already left to get help and took Dash and Applejack to a nurse. You okay?" "Yeah, I think so." Then, they saw ZG was doing a battle stance. They looked at each other. "You ready to take this punk down together?" "You bet! Let's win this!" Then, they entered their own battle stances. And with some warning, Ash and Twilight charged in first. ZG already saw it coming and flew upwards. Twilight also flew after him and shot magic blasts out of her horn in mid-air. Every blast was dodged easily, except for one which struck him on the wing flap. "GAH!!"He crashed roughly back at the ground and attempted to get up. Now, with his wing burnt, he will be unable to fly for a while. "Damn you, you BASTARDS!! You'll pay for that!!" Twilight descended, but quickly noticed that ZG rushed forward once more. Then, Ash rushed forward as well and made direct contact with the bat's chest. But, the moment he did, his right arm was covered with an aura of black, but his shoulder soon gained a spiritual image of a red shoulder pad. His forearm had a red mist and his wrist had an image of a golden gauntlet. "What is happening to me!?!?" He thought. But, he realized that the Gurongi was also shocked and this gave him enough time to deliver a hefty punch to ZG's side, making him stumble and fall. "Wait, this looks really familiar." Then, he saw that ZG was even more shocked than him. "No, it cannot be happening!!" He was surprised and did not expect the boy to have the powers of......."No, I will finish my task, no matter what!" Then, he charged at Ash once more. Ash was prepared for this and blocked ZG's punch with his other hand and the result was the same as his right hand. Ash delivered a rising kick to the Gurongi's lower jaw, thus damaging it. Then, it happened again to his leg but differently. It glowed a black ghostly image, a knee pad with a red circle and a golden ankle bracelet. The result happened also to his other leg. "Okay, this is SERIOUSLY heavy." ZG charged again, but Twilight blocked Ash with a shield spell while rushing beside him. "Ash, we need to think of a way to defeat him!" Twilight explained. Ash thought for a moment before his brain hatched another idea. "Okay, I got it!" Ash said. "Twilight, open the barrier!" Twilight released the barrier and Ash immediately kicked ZG in the face, making him stumble once more. "You cannot defeat me! EVEN IF YOU TRY!!" But then, Ash clenched both of his fists tightly. "No, you're wrong," Ash said with slightly quiet. "Eh?" All of the sudden, his chest was surrounded by a red ghostly image of chest armor. His eyes were no longer brown, but instead, they were red except for his pupils. His entire head was covered by a ghastly image of a helmet-like mask we all know too much. Twilight gasped at this, she had no theory why this was happening right now, but she continued watching in shock. "There is always hope! And that is the one thing that you don't have!" His soles began sparking out electricity and glowing orange and yellow. "I don't want ponies to fear anymore!" The aura turned into one whole figure that surrounded Ash's entire body. "I want all ponies to smile!" He did a finisher stance. "So, take a good look....." He readied his feet to sprint. "at my......" Twilight and ZG were surprised that his voice changed to..... "FINISHER!!!!" "Nani!?" Just as he said, he ran forward and screamed with his soles sparking out lightning with every step he took until he jumped, did an epic front flip, "WAIT! WAIT!!", before he brought his right foot onto ZG's chest. After that, he back flipped back to the ground, doing his landing stance. The kick had so much force, it made ZG spin on the ground until he weakly got up with you-know-who's symbol appearing on his chest. Suddenly, cracks of yellow light began appearing along his body and led to his buckle. After only five seconds, he screamed before exploding into nothing. Twilight had to shield her herself because of the bright luminosity and heat released by the explosion. Then, the aura disappeared and his red eyes went back to brown. Directly after that, Ash landed on both his knees and fainted on his face. It has been a while since Ash has passed out and became unconscious. Twilight's friends arrived right after 5 minutes after the battle took place. They sent Ash to the Ponyville hospital and hoped that he will be okay. The doctor said that the good news was that Ash was going to recover the day after the event occurred. They understood and the doctor and nurses tried everything they can use to heal him. Hopefully, he will be in a better state in the morning............ The next day in the morning........... Beeps. That was the only sound that could be heard from Ash's patient room. Ever since the occurrence last night, ponies could not stop telling and chatting to each other about it. It was even featured in the newspaper in Ponyville. And now, the only sound was now accompanied by another sound, which were the double doors, opening to reveal the Mane 6 and Spike, entering into the room. They were worried sick, but also very confused and they have a lot of questions for him. Twilight and Spike got him some flowers while Fluttershy got him a cute little purple bunny doll. And Pinkie Pie also brought a gift, which looked like a sort of blue staff with golden blue crystal holders at the ends. Her friends questioned this, but she articulated it was for "when he ever needs a weapon in combat". So, they went along with it. They all stood on different parts of the room with Twilight, Spike and Applejack on the left side of the bed, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie sitting on the sofa at the left-hand corner and Rainbow Dash and Rarity just stood near the doorway. Suddenly, all of them saw his hand just flinched a bit, indicating that he is waking up. They all went to different sides of the bed and witnessed as Ash flickered his eyes until fully wide open. After that, he began to sit up and groan in pain, but also yawn with exhaustion. "Ow," He said. "What happened?" He rubbed his eyelids and saw that he was laying on a hospital bed and the group was standing and looking relieved to see him. "Guys, why am I in a hospital?" All eyes turned to Twilight because she was the only one who stayed during the conflict. Twilight sighed. This was gonna take a lot of explaining. "Well, it's a long story and it's pretty hard to believe." To Be Continued....................................................... > Morph #8: Test And Capture > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- After a lot of explaining of what happened during last night, Doctor Horse entered and said that Ash's state should be stable enough for him to wander about. As long as he does not use up too much of his energy for about 1 hour or so, he will be able to function properly. They were all relieved and happy to hear that information. So, after they have paid the bill, they helped Ash get up until he could fully stand. When they have left the hospital, they immediately went to Twilight's castle to study Ash's sudden and powerful energy last night. Since he was still weak from the battle, he used Pinkie's gift as a temporary walking cane. He thanked Pinkie for the gift and promised to take good care of it, as long as he does not break it apart during another battle. When they arrived at the castle, Twilight asked Spike to send a letter to Princess Celestia about the brawl during Nightmare Night. After Spike sent the letter through breathing green fire onto it, not much to Ash's amazement, Twilight suggested that they head to the laboratory room to conduct some tests on Ash. The boy thought that it was too much because he did not feel like doing it anymore. Everypony else agreed, but Twilight said that if they do not solve this mystery quick, then who knows how Ash will handle a second battle against another monster. But, her friends reasoned with her and the final result was that they were gonna have to wait until Princess Celestia and Luna arrive. A few minutes later.......... So, The Mane 6 and Ash were all waiting in the throne room, some of them being bored to death and some of them taking their time to deal with.....stuff. For example. Ash was testing his new staff-like weapon by twirling it and doing offensive and defensive moves and explained to Pinkie what it actually was and what it was capable of performing. Pinkie only knew some info about this staff, but with Ash already knowing how it works, the surprise has been turned all the way down. Rarity was commenting on the staff and asked Pinkie Pie how she acquired such a fighting instrument. And Pinkie answered for her that she got it from her father, Igneous Rock Pie who received it as a gift from HIS father, Fel Spar Granite Pie who got it from HIS father, IG Lava Pie who retrieved it from an ancient temple named "The Temple Of A Hundred Gurongi", which was literally guarded by a hundred Gurongi. Ash believed her, but it was difficult for Rarity to swallow. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was reading the new Daring Do book; "Daring Do and The Secret Force of Yggdrasill". Ash explained to her that Yggdrasill actually exists in the Kamen Rider universe and it was not a 'secret force' but rather an evil corporation. Rainbow Dash thanked him poorly, still reading the book. Ash accepted the thanks anyway and continued trying out the staff. Applejack, however, was dealing with Twilight on how the testing is going to affect Ash and his status. Twilight explained and they will just do the small and somewhat easy tests. Applejack was glad and agreed with her idea. Fluttershy was playing with a little mouse that came in last night. On the spur of the moment, the brace of double doors opened to reveal the princesses with saddlebags full with books and such. "Hey, Tia!" Ash called out. Celestia blushed because Ash called her by her nickname that Luna came up with. "Hello, Ash. Twilight," Celestia called to Twilight, who immediately came forward. "I believe I have something that you will take an interest of." She levitated two books out of the bag and showed the covers. The first one was the same book that the group used to summon Ash in the first place. The second one had the same cover, but it presented some kind of logotype. "Hey," Twilight spoke. "that's the same book that we used to bring Ash here. Hard to believe that I forgot about it." "Yeah," Rainbow Dash interrupted. "'forgot'." Twilight ignored her and continued. "But, what's that one?" She pointed to the second book. "Well, funny you should ask." Princess Luna said. "Tia and I actually found this book when one of our royal guards was on library guard duty. When he reported back to us, we found this strange book that almost looks like the one you found." Luna knew Celestia was expecting someone else, but she let her hopes up too high. "So, we got curious and when we got your letter, we decided to bring both of them." "Okay, I see where you're going with this," Ash said. If it means getting him back home sooner, he would better tag along for the ride. "But, where exactly did the first book wander off to after I was summoned?" "Well," Princess Celestia started. "We ironically found it back at the castle on the roof. That must have been one hay of a storm." She saw that Ash had a proud expression on his face. "Why are you making that face, Ash?" "Wow, that was one of the most normal things you've ever said. I'm actually proud of you." He has only heard Celestia say non-royal stuff in some episodes. "Um, thank you. Anyway, Twilight," Twilight turned to her. "I think testing out Ash's strange abilities is swell, but I think doing the tests in the laboratory is a little too 'much'." "What do you mean?" Twi asked. "What Celestia means Twilight," Luna said. "is that we have a more classic and simple solution to calculate how Ash's powers work." They all looked at each other before looking at the princesses. "How exactly?" Ash asked. After the princesses explained their idea, everypony/human/dragon seemed confused, but since they were talking to the princesses, they did not need to argue so much. So, they went along with them. The princesses said they were going to need to go to Sweet Apple Acres for it. AJ asked them why they were heading to that location. Princess Luna said that they will have to wait until they have reached there. During their travel, Rarity insisted on keeping an eye out for the staff, for safe keeping. Once they have arrived at their destination, they already noticed that Applebloom and Big Macintosh were setting up some sort of training course in the open field on the right side of the farm. Although Big Macintosh was doing most of the work, Applebloom was trying to help by pushing haystacks with red target circles on them. Big Mac giggled at his sister's efforts. Then, the two saw Applejack and her friends and waved to them. "Hey, Applejack!" Applebloom called out. "Hey there, sis!" Applejack walked up to her little sibling and hugged quickly. "So, what're y'all doin' here?" "Oh, right! Well, Derpy sent us a mail from Princess Celestia that said we needed to build a practice course in our yard! Right, Big Mac?" "Eeyup." Was all that Macintosh said to reply. "Wow," Twilight said. "you guys really did a good job setting that up." The training course only had items with targets on them, probably for offensive training. The items included were just scarecrows, stacks of hay and for some odd reason,..........a giant bowling pin? "Uh, where'd you get the giant bowling pin from?" RD asked them. "NoOoOopony knows." An elderly pony said, popping in front of Rainbow Dash out of nowhere. This elderly pony had a light lime green coat, a light gray mane, and tail, wore a scarf-like whatever that is, (I don't know what it is called.) and an apple pie for her Cutie Mark. Her name was Granny Smith. Granny Smith giggled. "Hoo, boy! You should've seen the look on yer' face there, little missy!" Then, she noticed Ash Griffin. "Well, who's this tall fellar?" "Oh, that's Ash Griffin." Applejack said. "Well, nice to meet ya', Mr. Griffin." "Yeah, it's nice to meet you too." They shook hands/hooves before Granny Smith asked him something. "Say, why's your last name 'Griffin'? Is one of yer' parents one of those fancy researchers or somethin?" "*Sigh*. Dèjá vu." The human boy thought. "That's what ah' said!" Applejack said, thus making her and Granny Smith laugh. They heard Princess Celestia cough and stopped. "Well, now that we are here," Celestia said. "we can commence your test on the training grounds. Then, all of them went to the field to get started. When they have reached the course, Ash saw that the course was just for offensive training and such. Ash was really scared. He was not certain if he could do the same thing he did last night and he was afraid that he would accidentally hurt somepony. Or even worse than that. "Well, here we are!" Granny Smith shouted out loud. "So, what do I do first?" Ash asked. "Well, first we need to pick ya' a good target," Applejack suggested. Then, she spotted a nearby scarecrow and chose it. "How 'bout this one?" "Well, it's good enough. Ash, please stand over there." Luna ordered. She levitated the scarecrow 6 meters from Ash's spot and placed the pole into the soil. "There." "Okay, what now?" Ash asked once more. "Alright, Ash." Princess Celestia. "All you have to do is perform what you managed last night. Although I know you don't know how to exactly do it like last time, a certain 'teacher' of mine once taught me how." "Okay, I'll try. But, if this doesn't work, then I don't know what does." The ponies sat on a short row of stadium seats that Pinkie brought, eating their own snacks and beverages. Then, Celestia began to teach him every step of what she knew. "Now, let us begin. First, you must enter a combat stance." Ash did exactly that. "Then, you must picture what the enemy seems like. It doesn't matter what enemy it is, just do it." Then, Ash closed his eyes and envisioned his enemy. But, instead of what he was going for, he instead pictured an enemy he knew also. It had three hexagonal eyes attached to each other on the face, insect-like mandibles, sharp claws for hands, two giant red antennae, some blue smudges on its black arms, a cape with the texture of a spider web, red line-like textures on his body and black legs. "Now, you will feel some anger and hatred flowing into your body, but also justice and good." And she was right, he did feel all of these matters. "Okay, now that we have completed all of those steps, now try to release all of that energy through pwerful physical contact. For instance, try to think of the first attack move you know." Then, the first attack he thought of was....... "I see," Ash said quietly. "Brilliant, " Celestia said. "Now, fill that attack with all of your energy as much as you can and finally, unleash the attack onto your target!" Ash breathed repeatedly, opened up his eyes and suddenly ran towards the dummy and screamed not with fear, but with justice. The ponies "Oooh-ed" at this and waited for his attack. Then, Ash jumped up high and when he fell back down, he opened his right palm, raised it, "RIDER CHOP!!" , and brought it back down to the dummy and did a "downward chopping" motion that sliced through the entire thing in two with just his bare hands! And in slow motion, after he landed, he stood up, turned around and walked forward to the group. He could recognize the proud smile on Celestia's face, which made him smile a bit also. "Well done, Ash. You have completed your first lesson." "Thank you, Celestia. You have instructed me well." Ash and Celestia laughed a little before the group walked to Ash. "Wow, Ash!" Twilight cheered. "That was amazing! I mean, it wasn't the same thing you did last night, but nevertheless, that was cool!" "Yeah!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Although the dummy didn't explode or anything, that was still wicked! But, then again, explosions are always cool." And because of her big mouth, the dummy exploded all of the sudden into little pieces!! "What the......?" "It kinda takes a while for the enemy to explode after you use a semi-finisher on it," Ash explained. Meanwhile......... Momotaros had to deal with three pesky fillies last night on Nightmare Night and got shooed away by a Gurongi who he called Diaper-Bat. He should not have done that. After recovering from his injuries (again), he climbed up a nearby and dark house roof to remain concealed and observe the fight with a perfect view. And today, he was observing the boy doing some training and what not. He completely saw it all from the tree branch that belonged to a specifically planted tree behind the row of seats. He just witnessed the boy's attack and explosion. "Okay, now THAT is what I call 'awesome'!" Suddenly, a giant blue, swirling portal appeared above them and spat out The Master Of Chaos himself, who fell, but landed and did a triple backflip in mid-air before landing on the surface once more. "Ta-da!" "Dude, you totally stole my stunt!" Pinkie yelled. "U mad, girl?" Discord mocked. They both stared into each other's eyes furiously before laughing out loud. "So, what's going on here?" "Discord," Celestia called him. "Oh, if it isn't my old friend, Tia!" Discord gave her a cat hug, which made her blush a little and she broke the hug. "Well, Discord," Luna said. "Celestia was just teaching Ash on how to attack a target." She pointed to the burnt pieces of what used to be the dummy. "But, doesn't he know how to do that already? Y'know," He popped up on Celestia's mane as a tiny version of himself. "considering he fought that nasty bat monster last night." "And how did you exactly know?" Rarity asked. Discord was about to answer her, but Ash interrupted him. "Lemme' guess, you've read the past chapter, didn't you?" "Well, yes, actually. And how did YOU know? Hm?" He said, appearing as his normal self and poking Ash's nose with his claw. Ash swiped his claw away. "Seriously, am I the only on this planet that gets you?" All of them confusedly nodded their heads. "Yeah, I thought so. In any case, why are you even here?" "Oh, that's right!" He pulled out the Ghost Driver and the pair of spectacles. "I've found these items in my house and to be honest, I have no idea what these are. Well, I mean I don't know what this belt thing is." Ash quickly recognized the spectacles. "Hey, those are my glasses!" Discord looked at the specs. "Yours?" Discord, Tia, and Luna asked. "Yeah, I've completely forgotten about them." He grabbed his glasses out of Discord's hold and put them onto his face. But, when he did, all he could see were multiple blurs. "What the? Why can't I see anything?" He tested something and when he removed the glasses, he could see clearly. He never even noted that before. "It's like I can see better WITHOUT my glasses. How strange." "Hm," Discord thought while stroking his chin with his paw. "Well, it seems that you coming here has somehow cured your blindness." "And?" ".......That's all I got." Ash sighed. "Oh, and I also found this little fellow." He grabbed the Eyecon out of his makeshift back pocket. "Hey, that's the same Eyecon that sent me here!" Ash finally found the little punk, but he still does not cognize how to return home. "Oh, you mean little Multi here?" All of them looked befuddled. "You named that little eyeball thing 'Multi'?" Twilight asked. "Well, it fits with his ability to change into different versions of himself. However," He poofed up as a tiny him onto the staff that was being carried by Rarity on her back, "he alleged he has more abilities than any other Eyecon and not just because he can change into different variants of them." "I know this is a bit ahead of other questions, but how come?" Rarity said, still irritated by Discord cleaning his feet on the top of the staff. "Well, for example, he stated that he can actually trap not only spirits from Ash's home planet but also ancient souls in Equestria as well." He went back to normal and stood on the ground once more. The ponies were confused about the "ancient souls" part, but Ash was the most shocked about the subject that Discord brought up. He felt like his bones and muscles instantly froze up from it and he was speechless. But, he had one thing on his mind. "Wait," Ash said and thought at the same time. "if that little Eyecon can trap different types of Parka Ghosts in Equestria, then that must mean............" Ash's eyes went completely wide when he realized that he can actually contain the souls of ancient Equestrian heroes. But, Princess Luna decided to ask a question about this topic. "Um, pardon me, Discord," Luna said. "but how do you exactly know this and how in Equestria does it actually work? I mean, I have seen several strange anomalies before, but this is by far the strangest." Luna had never heard such a wacky story like this except for that one time during Hearts And Hooves Day when they were only 8 and 6 years old. Tia told her a fictitious tale about a foal who will hug any female filly he lays his eyes on. "Well,.........................." Due to the author being too indolent to write the rest of this scene because he's too busy with other stuff, we'll just skip to the next scene where Discord takes them back to the castle to teach Ash how to REALLY fight when in a brawl while discussing about everything they needed to know about the KR universe. When they arrived, Discord turned one of Twilight's empty castle rooms into a dense forest where Ash will be fighting one of the most memorable and first enemies to ever appear in Kamen Rider Ghost, the Yari Ganma from episode 1. Ash questioned Discord about how he was going to see the Ganma, considering he was not dead or at least a ghost. Luckily, Discord made Ash able to see any Kamen Rider enemy by merely a snap of a claw, to Ash's relief. The forest was able to let a large quantity of sunlight into its milieu, but not overly much. The ponies all had front row seats and watched as Ash was battling the Ganma with such difficulty because this was only his second battle against an enemy who can attack and defend itself. As we skip more to the final scene of the fight, we can witness Ash was covered with scars during battle with this Ganma. Like any other villain, he used negativity against Ash, but Ash already knew what his plan was. And now we witness as Ash is about to attempt Ghost's finisher without the belt, considering he has already done it. The others thought this was a dangerous and irresponsible plan, but Discord could not have cared less and did it anyhow. "Now, fillies, gentlecolts and gentlemares!" Discord shouted out while wearing a referee costume. "We will witness the one and only, Ash Griffin, perform the amazing and stunning, OMEGA DRIVE FINISHEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!" All ponies covered their ears because of the window shattering cry performed by Discord. "Oops, guess I just don't know my own voice's strength. Now, let's continue!!!" Discord disappeared into thin air, leaving a good view for the ponies to watch the ending. Ash raised his right index and middle fingers in the air, brought them back down slowly, "I might just be a human boy.....", then he did a triangular shape with his hands, therefore creating a triangle of bright orange surrounding the shape. Suddenly, a giant eye logo appeared behind him, illuminating very bright orange light with the KRG logo being the pupil. The eye had many different strange language markings on it. Yari did not want this, so he charged forward with his naginata pointed towards the boy, hoping that he can stop Ash from performing his final move. "......, but my life is gonna burn bright!!" DAI KAIGAN! ORE! OMEGA DRIVE!! But, that hope will not pay off as Ash's right leg and foot began illuminating orange, spiritual luminosity, even though he did not possess the belt on his waist, which was still being kept guard (sort of) by Discord. And just as the Ganma was about to stab his weapon into Ash's chest, the boy quickly jumped up and slammed his right leg directly into Yari's chest. The creature's Parka Ghost immediately ejected while the creature himself exploded out black ink-like liquids out until he blew up himself. All ponies were awestruck by the execution, even Discord. And after the explosion, a yari spear dropped onto the bare grass along with its Ganma Eyecon, which shattered into nothing. Ash landed on the ground also but on his feet gracefully. Ash could not be more skill trained and happier. He had just performed one of the most amazing and awe-striking moments ever done in Equestrian history. Even his smile could reveal his happiness and delight. And even though he gained a lot of injuries and not much experience with combat, it was totally worth it. He could also notice that the ponies/dragon/draconequus were all astonished. Then, Ash walked towards the group, who were heading towards him also. They besieged him with questions and compliments until Princess Celestia ordered them to back away. "Wow, Ash," Celestia said. "You handled that 'Ganma' more professionally and more skillfully than I predicted." Princess Celestia had her doubts before, but with how Ash defeated the enemy, she could not be more surprised and proud. "How did you know how to defeat the Yari Ganma?" "Well, as I always say," Ash began to explain. "'you won't know how to overcome your enemy without witnessing its first defeat'." Everypony looked confused, so Ash tried a more "simple" way of explaining. "It means that since I've already watched how it was first defeated, I thought I could reenact the whole scene. It just takes some patience and a lot of thinking to succeed." They all "Oh-ed" and understood now. But, no one noticed that the spear had a sort of poorly knitted short cape wrapped around the handle until Spike, with his hilariously short size, saw it in the corner of his eye. He turned around and walked towards it. When he picked it up, he examined and saw that it was just some regular sheet. But, why would a short cape be wrapped around a weapon when it was not before? He had this question on his mind, so he showed it to Ash. "Hey, Ash," Spike called to Ash, who turned to Spike. "Did you notice this cape was wrapped around the Ganma's weapon?" Ash walked forwards and bent down. "No," Ash replied. "but why is it........?" Before he could finish his sentence, his brain began to feel tingly, almost like it is trying to tell Ash something about this cape. He processed it, but his eyes went wide before realizing something. "Wait, could this be........?" It looked exactly like the sheet of the................ "What is it, partner?" Applejack asked. Ash stood up before turning around with a smile across his face. The ponies looked befuddled to Ash's expression. Why is he behaving this way? Did he find something about the cloth that is mind-blowing? "Guys, do you know who this short cape belongs to?!?!" Ash exclaimed excitedly. They all looked at each other before shaking their heads in disagreement. "Well, I think we're gonna find out! Spike, raise the cape a little bit higher." Spike did what he told him. "Discord," He turned to The Chaos Master. "prepare the Ghost Driver." "Oooh!" Discord squealed. "Are we gonna.....?!?!" "Yes, we are." But, Rarity came up front. "Um, Ash." She began. "What are you planning to manage here exactly?" She did not know Ash could get this excited. "You'll see, Rarity. Now, let us begin!" He made the triangular shape again with his hands in front of the cape, but this time he drew an oval shape with his right hand and two previous fingers. When he managed it, the Ghost logo appeared in front of the sheet, to which the ponies backed away in fright but also in confusement. Suddenly, the cape turned into black swirling mist that headed upwards until it formed into a sort of body attire, to the ponies of course. But, what was floating in the air before them was actually a Parka Ghost which had black color, long black thin appendages protruding out of the sleeves, and had a similar design with the Ore Parka Ghost. But, the odd feature was that it had no eyes or.........a hood head? Which would explain why it is doing a position like the everypony-knows-who. Ash and the others could not be more surprised by its appearance. But, AJ had enough strength in her to say this, "What?" > Morph #9: The Dreaming Sequence > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- During the night.......... In the castle of friendship, we can see Ash Griffin entering his room and closing the door afterwards. Fighting the Ganma sure took a lot of steam out of him, so tonight, he said that he was going to have to get some shut-eye. "Man, who knew I would actually contain an ancient and headless spirit from Equestria?" He asked to himself. All the others went home as well since they needed to sleep. "Oh, well. I guess I was just lucky." He never believed in "luck", but sometimes he would think twice about doubting it. He laid onto his bed, but not before placing the newly acquired dark gray Eyecon onto the small table beside the left side of the bed. The bed felt softer than his original bed back on Earth, but it was only his 'temporary' one. "Goodnight, little buddy," He said to the Eyecon before pulling his blanket and letting go so it can reach the lower portion of his neck. Sure, talking to a seemingly inanimate object may sound crazy, but at least this one was actually ALIVE. He yawned, "See you in the mornin'.........", before drifting into his own mind. In Ash's dreamscape............... Ash's dreams can be a little bit odd when you witness them the first time. For example, he once dreamed of a different variant of himself as a headless, black ghost who was riding a white horse in heaven. Like I said, odd. This time, however, he will be having the most unbelievable dream EVER in his life. To prove it, let us enter Ash's dreamscape and see what vagary he will be experiencing this time. In Ash's dream, we can see nothing but whiteness all around. From top to bottom and from right to left, there was whiteness all around and nothing was within it. That was bona fide until a black and bipedal figure fell from above and was now falling with its front side facing the direction of the floor. It landed with a mediocre-sounded 'thud' and moaned in pain. It got up and checked its environs for anything to explain why it was in its current location. But alas, it could not find anything useful at all and it was all alone. Loneliness. That was the first thing it ever emotionally felt for the first time. Even dream figures have emotions, you know. Suddenly, it heard a sort of sound. EYE! It turned to the direction of where the sound was produced. Then, another sound could be picked up. BATCHIRIMINĀ!! BATCHIRIMINĀ!! The sound went on repeatedly until a pedestal randomly raised up from the floor in front of the figure. It looked exactly like the Ghost Driver and the figure got curious as to how it got here, so it cautiously walked towards the object of mystery. Then, it reached its hand to the object and removed it from the stone pedestal, which lowered itself back down into the floor. Even though it was only here for about a few minutes or so, it could still recognize the object. It then examined the belt for further clues until...... "Hello there." That voice made the figure jump a little and almost dropped the belt. It was now scared and looked up above to ascertain the origin of the voice. Then, it spoke once more. "Do not be afraid, for I am not a threat, but rather a 'friend' of yours." Abruptly, a bright, dark blue light shone in the distance and died after another figure arrived. The first black figure had to shield its head even though it did not possess any eyeballs. It lowered its arm and could see that the second figure was quadrupedal and also black until it walked a little bit closer. Now, the second figure was actually revealed to be The Goddess Of Night herself. The FF ( 'first figure' ) knew someday that Luna would come into one of his dreams. "Hello there, Ash." She greeted him. "It's very nice to speak with you again. Only this time, we are all alone. But, at least we have each other." "Wow, this is starting to get really awkward." The figure thought. But then, it realized something. "Woah! I can still think in my mind! Cool!" "Yes, although you cannot talk, you can still focus your thoughts in your mind." 'Ash' turned his head slightly to the right which is what Japanese people do when they are confused. "Oh, that is right. I also have the ability to read minds, but only in dreamscapes." Okay, Ash knew she could travel into ponies' dreams, but not that she can read their minds during their slumber. "So, I assume you're wondering why I have travelled to your dream, correct?" "Yeah, now that you've mentioned it, I am curious. Why exactly are you here?" He crossed his arms. "Well, I only wanted to visit you in your dream and say 'Hi' for a bit." Ash got suspicious when she said that line which made the sleeping Ash squint his eyes. Luna could notice this, considering she was in his thoughts, so she felt odd when the FF squinted his forehead. "Um, Ash?" She began to ask. "Why are you looking at me like that? I feel really uncomfortable about it right now." Ash did not care and ignored her question, but it is rude to not answer somebody's question. Like that one time where he was not listening to his best friend's statement about a kind of video game called "Kamen Rider: Battride War Genesis". He IS interested in anything related to the riders, but he is also interested in other Tokusatsu television shows. "You want something, don't you?" He asked back to her. "W-what? What makes you s-say that?" "Well, for starters, you're making that similar 'I want something from you/I want you to do something' face. Plus," He pointed his right forefinger to Luna's hoof which was......"your hoof has been tapping on the ground rapidly and lightly for the past minute.".....yeah, what he said. "Oh,...." She felt embarrassed because of that. How did she not notice that? She can travel into other ponies' dreams, but she cannot even notice her hoof tapping? WTF?.........Oh, man. Now, I am becoming just like Cinemasins. ".....sorry for that." She got her hoof to stop tapping. "It's just that.....well,....I'm actually interested in your powers like what you did earlier this morning." "So?.......... "SO, I would like you to..." She cleared her throat first before continuing. ".....demonstrate your abilities to me in po- sorry, PERSON. If that is okay with you." Wow, she used one of Fluttershy's lines at the end. Luna waited for Ash/the FF to reply. She did not know how he will react to her petition. There are approximately 3 ways he could respond: Option A: He could feel very uncomfortable and simply ignore her. Option B: He could feel very awkward, but he will accept to do it anyway. Option C: He could be cool with it and will be glad to demonstrate. She was rooting the most for the last option. So, with Ash finally ending his thinking scene, he replied......... "Sure, I'd like to." Luna felt relieved and she even sighed of relief before saying... "Excellent!" She yelled liked a little filly, which made Ash snicker a bit. She did not mind it anyway and continued on. "Now, where do we start?" "I thought you knew." They looked at each other before laughing out loud/LOL-ing and Ash proceeded to tell her about the Ghost Driver while also demonstrating for her his newly-gained abilities. Meanwhile, in the palace of Canterlot......... It was about 9:30 and every pony was already fast asleep with their heads on the pillows and their bodies resting onto the mattresses. All but one equine was asleep and that pony was The Goddess Of Day herself, who was walking in a certain hallway to a location we all know too well. Her mane had stopped flowing because there was no wind whatsoever in the castle during this time of night. She continued to walk while thinking of a certain topic. "This was not supposed to happen." She thought in her mind. "After all of that waiting and patience, Ash was the only thing that was brought to me. That portal was supposed to bring in......." Before she could finish her sentence, she could feel herself feeling very sad, depressed and more negative emotions. She does not usually obtain these feelings, but this time, the barrier has been breached. A single tear of sadness ran down her cheek and onto the long, red carpet. But, she continued on walking and attempted to hold in her sorrow. "No, be strong, Celestia. You cannot let ONE single unwanted entity break you into tears." After a few steps later, she finally reached her destination: the old door that hid away The Elements Of Harmony. ( Not the ponies, the necklaces. ) "Well, I guess there is no more purpose for you, old friend," She said to the door. The door looked as fancy as any property of the Canterlot palace would be. There were two statues of unicorn ponies, both of them doing a battle stance, the door had a six-triangle-like design to it, and....well, you probably know the rest already. And of course, there were the six gems attached to each side of the door in two groups of three. But, what we do not know was that these gems can actually trigger a secret passageway to a secretive location that nopony, including Princess Luna knew about it but Celestia. She had been keeping this room a secret for far too long and she planned on revealing this secret to The Mane 6 and Ash in a week or two. Whichever comes first. "Alright, let's see if you still work." She closed her eyes and her horn lit up with its brightness as the gems were enveloped in her magic and suddenly began to turn: the red triangular gems turned upside-down, the diamond-shaped green crystals turned sideways and the octagonal purple gems simply needed to be pushed only. Once that was completed, the door suddenly vibrated and shook until it backed up and slid to the right, thus revealing a secret, stone-made door included with two logos aside each other. "Excellent." These logotypes happen to be the symbols of the first Kamen Rider to ever exist and the second latest Kamen Rider ( to the humans, but not to ponies ) to ever exist on Earth. Then, she looked to her right, left and back to make sure that nopony was following her even though it was night time and she knew what everypony does during the nighttime. She remained silent as she proceeded to walk into the dark and inscrutable chambers of.....whatever area it was. This chamber holds secrets that nopony or creature would believe. This chamber was the sole reason why Princess Celestia knew about the riders. And what this chamber contains in its dark shadows is.......well, we will need to wait until the next chapter arrives to know all of the secrets of - SPOILERS!!! > Morph #10: The War Of Different Species > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three Weeks And Four Days Later............... It has literally been three weeks and four days since the last day Ash has been sent to Equestria. Within these weeks, he has done some surprisingly good progress on learning friendship tips and gaining new abilities. But, there were also some new enemies and new surprises during his stay there. For example, on the first week on Tuesday, The Mane 6 introduced him and the rest of Ponyville to a certain light pink coated and purple maned mare by the name, Starlight Glimmer. They explained that she used to take control of a village and removed everypony's cutie mark using only a spell and a stick, but mostly the spell. But, she was redeemed and now welcomed as their new friend. It took a while for Ash to adjust to Starlight's redemption, considering he has witnessed what she has done in the past, but he eventually accepted her as a new friend and ally. On Tuesday of the first week, Princess Celestia finally revealed to them the secret passageway that actually leads to a dark and hidden room full of stone statues of all of the Kamen Riders, 1st to second last. She also explained that the said second last Kamen Rider she has ever known was, in fact, Kamen Rider Drive himself, who she met a few years ago before The Mane 6 were even born. This explanation blew Ash's mind. He never knew that Princess Celestia would have a secret room full of statues of the masked Japanese fighters themselves. They also acquired plaques which hold their most famous trademarks and catchphrases to ever be spoken. On Thursday of the first week, Ash fought and destroyed another one of the Rider's enemies, a spider-themed enemy of Kamen Rider Kiva's. Ash also learned Kiva's finisher move, The Wake Up which transforms his right leg into a red bat-like design and changes the color of his eyes to yellow. Although, unlike his previous fights with enemies, he took it very seriously that time. The day after that, he presently realized that he lost his curiosity on HOW the Kamen Rider's enemies are appearing in Equestria. He told this to Twilight and Spike and they seemed curious as well, so Twilight wrote a letter down to Celestia. 10 seconds later, Spike burped up an immediate letter and it articulated that she will do the best she can. On Monday of the second week, Princess Celestia requested Ash to visit her at Canterlot, alone. The three were confused and puzzled on how Ash was going to go to Canterlot without by train or by coach. But then, they received their answer when a red portal, showing the design of Wizard's portal appeared in front of them. Ash took his leave and hoped that this portal was created by Celestia. He ran into the portal and yelled out "YOLO!!". It had been 4 days since the last time Twilight, Spike or The Mane 6 heard from him. They were having another picnic and this time, they included Starlight who agreed with pleasure. Although, Twilight was still worried about Ash and what happened to him. She speculated that he could have been captured by another monster from the KR universe or even worse, the villains they have defeated. But luckily, Pinkie reminded her that Ash could handle himself. After all, he DID defeat all of those villains. That got Twilight to take a deep breath and calm down and continued their picnic. However, on that exact day, they heard The Cutie Mark Crusaders, screaming and running away to their exact location. Applebloom explained that they were being chased by a giant horde of Parasprites and they have managed to eat her bow, Sweetie Belle's throwing disc and half of Scootaloo's tail. After a few hours, they, fortunately, managed to drive off the Parasprites using the same way they managed it last time with Pinkie Pie's.........band march or whatever. On Saturday of the same week, when Rarity was just about to get started on knitting her newest clothing design, a sudden red portal appeared in her boutique, causing her to step back in puzzlement and fear. But, it turns out that it was actually Ash who created it and stepped out of the portal. After the portal vanished, he spotted Rarity and greeted her. Rarity was relieved that it wasn't another monster and told Ash about Twilight and the gang's worry for him. She also asked him about why he was away for so long, to Ash replied that, well, let's just say that he "battled even more villains that he expected", giving the fashionista the idea of that he may have.......well, you all already know. After their little conversation, Rainbow Dash came barging in the door which made Rarity tense up a bit. She noticed Ash and became happy and surprised which made her hug him tightly, but she soon felt embarrassed and broke the hug. Then, she dragged him to Twilight's castle to tell her the good news with Rarity following. During the remaining 3 - 12 days, Ash has told everypony everything he has done for the past 4 days which seemed to stun and daze them. He has also defeated many enemies, learned many abilities and befriended many other ponies during his 'travels'. But, what will happen when the group receives a message from Celestia 12 days later to go to Canterlot? We will have to wait and see....... Canterlot has always been the center of Equestria for generations. For years, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been residing in this castle in peace......and also a LOT of paperwork. What kind of a princess has to do paperwork? Oh, right. The kind that does not live in the middle ages. Or any kind of old age. Although Princess Celestia has been living here longer than her sister who was busy, living on the Moon instead, she still felt like she was still reigning over the land with her younger sister, but only about................1% only. Anyway, in the throne room of the palace, we can witness Princess Celestia, sitting on her throne with comfort and ease. She had just finished with the final piece of her paperwork which would explain why she was writing down some scribbles onto a piece of white paper. With one final scribble, she has finally finished with her oeuvre. Paperwork may feel like torture to her, but it is for the relief of her subjects. "Phew, at last," She said with a sigh of relief. "It took about a few hours, but I'm finally done." She levitated the quill down beside her and folded up the paper like a scroll. "Now, all I have to do is......." Before she could continue, one of her royal guards with a white coat and golden armor pieces entered into the throne room and approached her with a grave look on his face. "....nevermind." She always wondered if it would kill the guards to crack a smile. "Princess Celestia," The royal guard spoke. "The Elements Of Harmony and the human are here." Now, that is just insulting. "Excellent. Oh and also, would you please return this letter to the sender?" She showed him the letter. "Certainly, your highness." Princess Celestia levitated the letter with her magic to the guard's hoof who immediately bowed and dashed through the doors. Not long after, the group of ponies, including Starlight, Ash, and Spike, walked past the guard as they entered the room and approached the princess. Celestia got up and also walked forward to the group. Twilight and Starlight were in front while the others were at the back. "Princess Celestia," Twilight greeted her. "Twilight," Tia said. "PINKIE!!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed while appearing between them, thus making them both jump back. "What?" "Ugh, nevermind." Tia levitated Pinkie back to her original position. "Anyway, Twilight, we have a serious emergency on our hooves," She stated with a serious face. She hoped that Twilight will be ready for this. "This situation is definitely going to BREAK. YOUR......" Before she could continue, Ash paused her sentence using a hand halt. "Don't," He begged unnoticeably. Applejack, with her standing beside Ash's left, nudged his leg to make him cut it out. The human could not have cared less. "What is it?" She asked. The letter she received from Tia did not say anything about the situation, but whatever it was, it must be significant. With a sigh, Celestia explained the situation: "I fear that an old enemy of ours has come back." "Who?" Starlight asked. There was a brief, 5-second silence. ".......Queen Chrysalis." That name stopped everypony's hearts and made their eyes wide, except for Starlight because, obviously, she does not cognize about this 'Queen Chrysalis' character. ".........Wut?" Ash and Starlight asked though the human boy said it more frightened. "Um, Princess Celestia?" Starlight asked. "If you don't mind me asking, but....." Before she could finish her sentence, Ash stepped forward and bore her left shoulder. "I'll explain later," Ash stated. He already knew what she was going to say. Starlight nodded. "So, wait. Let me get this straight. You're saying that.....Queen Chrysalis has come back for revenge against us?" Celestia nodded to his inquiry. "ALL of us? Including me but excluding Starlight?" The princess thought for a moment before nodding again. That insect queen has never heard of Starlight, but she has heard A LOT about Ash. "Oh, sweet Lord." "Yes, that is true," She said depressingly with her eyes closed. She never thought that it would come to this. "Her forces have already been prepared for the attack against Canterlot. Fortunately, I've gathered enough intelligence from a few of my scout troops who heard every little detail of the plan. So, we have a chance of winning now. Plus," She pointed a hoof to Ash and Starlight Glimmer. "we have you two." Ash and Starlight looked at each other before facing Celestia again with befuddled faces. "Us?" They asked simultaneously. "Yes," She replied. Sure, Chrysalis is a tough cookie to beat, but with The Mane 6, Ash and Starlight's powers combined, they might have a chance at beating her. "With all of our strength and powers combined, we can send Chrysalis flying for the second time." "Ha! 'Flying'! I just got that!" Pinkie yelled with a laughing grin. They all sighed as Rainbow Dash hit Pinkie on the head, producing a cartoonish 'Clonk'. Meanwhile, Starlight looked uneasy. She was worried that her new friends, including herself, could get hurt or even worse. She felt like she needed to quietly escape so that she will not be involved in the battle. But, another thought came to her mind that told her to stay and fight for Equestria. She had to decide which one she will take and after a lot of thinking, she decided to stay and help in the battle. After all, her friends will be in more pain than her after the battle, they might even lose without extra numbers in their team. Without much of a shadow of a doubt, she agreed to herself to face this queen-titled character. A Few Hours Later......... In the city of Canterlot, during 3 in the evening, an assortment of royal guards stood in rows and groups, preparing to defend against any threat that comes nearby, mostly the changelings and queen. Each row of guards was protecting every single side of the city, left, right and center. Because Princess Celestia knew they were going to need more than her guards to defeat Chrysalis, she wrote a letter to Shining Armor and Princess Cadence about the attack to which they agreed to come. They were actually at The Crystal Empire's castle when they got the letter. Everypony/dragon/human minus Shining and Cadence were currently in the throne room and discussing their plan of attack. Pinkie had placed down a large round table in the center of the room that she bought from the table store. Starlight was about to question her about it, but Ash told her it wasn't exactly relevant right now. They had to strategize a plan quickly before Queen Chrysalis can even arrive in Canterlot. If that "royal" insect wins this second battle, then it will be GAME OVER for the multi-colored ponies. Although most of the ponies were feeling positive and at the same time negative that they were going to hopefully win the brawl, Ash was experiencing a different kind of feeling in himself. Something that was completely different than what the ponies think: that there was another reason why Queen Chrysalis was evil in the first place. A GOOD reason. And he could not escape the feeling that a certain pony feels the same way as well. But, he couldn't think of this all day because one of the guards reported to Celestia that he spotted Chrysalis at the farthest point in the South with her army advancing as they speak. She instantly thanked him and ordered him to tell the rest of the guards to get ready to defend and attack on her command. When he departed, the planning session was over and everypony prepared for a battle they will never forget. Well, at least, Ash will get an opportunity to fight some villains that are NOT from the Kamen Rider universe. Battle. They always have reasons: some are good, some are bad and other ones can even be absurd. But, what was the reason for the first battle? Was it a mishap? A peace meeting gone wrong? Or something else? Princess Celestia has never told the ponies about the REASON why Chrysalis became the love-eating tyrant she is now, so there must be some sort answer for this. That was all that Ash could think about aside from the war they were about to have against an army of shape shifters. What was the cause of this fueled hatred for each other? Ash knew she was evil during the marriage of Shining Armor and Cadence, but still, he continues to think about this whilst continuing to prepare himself for battle. Speaking of the battle, Chrysalis was just outside the entrance to Canterlot with her army marching forward. Some of the drones were ordered by her to ascend into the sky to prepare for any aerial attacks when needed. Her wicked smile could show her expression of confidence in her army and for the defeat of the ponies once and for all. But, she knew this battle will not be similar to the last one they had because word came to her about that the human boy, Ash was now joining in the fight against her. But, Queen Chrysalis still smirked with pride as she led her army closer to the castle because she has a plan on how she was going to win this time. As she walked in front of the large group of changeling drones behind her, many Canterlot civilians either locked or boarded up their doors and windows as they watched the insect army march to the palace to confront the so-called "defenders of Equestria". At a specific part of the town, right in front of the path of Chrysalis and her army's march to the palace, Princess Celestia could be seen with The Mane 6 and Ash, each preparing for the ultimate fight with the guards also helping out as recruits for when they are outnumbered. Rainbow Dash stretched her limbs and wings as the adrenaline was pumping into her system and the others stood boldly with the guards readying their weapons to defend their proud city. Ash readied his powers and promised to utilize them to good use. He was thinking he should only use the super ones in case of emergencies. He does not want to waste his stronger powers on small targets. Rather, he will utilize them on the big pickings. ( If you catch the meaning. ) From a distance, the entire group could pick up the sound of hooves clopping in a marching-like theme, meaning that those hoofsteps belonged to none other than the army of the shape-shifting bug-ponies. Princess Celestia and Luna were on high alert and immediately went into their battle stances. They had to be prepared for anything, especially sneak attacks which were done to them by two currently unknown ponies last week. The sounds were coming closer and closer until finally, the shadow of the queen revealed itself, followed by its owner who already saw the ponies up ahead and paused her army's march. She was somewhat surprised by this, not because the princess was here instead of the palace, but......... "Well, well, well," Chrysalis spoke with a voice all too different from a pony's. "I've expected you to gather a large group....." She examined everypony and species that was in front of her, front to back. ".....and it appears that I was right." She showed all of them a sharp-toothed and malicious smile. "And it's no surprise that you have yourself, Chrysalis." Celestia talked back with hatred and venom in her voice. She needed to prepare for anything that bug has planned, even if it is impossible to detect. Her guards in golden armor put on their angry faces and pointed all of their spears and blades to the queen of love-eating. They swore their lives to defend Princess Celestia from any threats by any means necessary and they were not going to back down from this. All of sudden, the malicious queen cracked a laugh to the guards 'pathetic' reaction. Then, several other changelings fully equipped with navy blue body and head armor walked in front of the queen and formed a row of four. They snarled at the guards with their fangs showing from their upper jaws to which the guards shuddered in fear, but they still kept their ground. "Hm, how brave........and yet they had to be so weak." That comment made the ponies' anger meters go nearly off the charts as a few of them, including Applejack, blew steam out of their nostrils. They gritted their teeth harder but stopped when the princess turned her head to them. "There is no need for violence today, Chrysalis. You and your armada can just leave in peace and will not be hurt. There is a better way." She spoke wisely to the autocrat. "Thank you!" Ash thought thankfully of Celestia for finally saying that while till keeping an eye on the queen. But, the queen once again laughed, but even harder than before. Even the citizens could hear her. "You think that I would just retreat because of THAT?!" Suddenly, her horn lit up with a brilliant green glow which soon was shaped in the form of an orb and was shot towards the mortal ponies. Fortunately, Princess Celestia already knew that she would do that since the last time she did and generated a magical, yellow shield in front of her, deflecting the orb which turned into smoke shortly after. She threw a stern look to Chrysalis, showing her that she was about to snap out of her mind. "Heh, heh. You really are that low-minded." Celestia tried to suppress her anger, but she could not handle it and finally snapped by releasing a magic blast of her own from her horn. Obviously, Chrysalis copied Celestia's move and deflected it the same way she did it. The princess was really pissed off right now, so she went into a charging stance, followed by Chrysalis who put on a wicked and prideful smile while Celestia still had an angry look remaining instead. The both of their right front hooves scraped the floor before both of them charged at one another, followed by their armies who charged towards their own chosen targets. Meanwhile........ While the two races were too distraught with battling each other, Momotaros was witnessing every second of this battle from atop of a nearby rooftop with what seems like a blue British Shorthair on his lap. If someone mentions a giant battle, then he is going. Speaking of which, what are you planning to do here exactly? "Well, I was thinking that maybe I should help the ponies out when there's a BIG emergency. Just in case." .......Right. And where did you get that cat anyway? It kind of looks like.........ah, dude! "What?" ......................Sigh. Nevermind. Back to the show! A few minutes later......... It was only about a few minutes later, but the once peaceful town of Canterlot was now quickly turned into a battlefield. The sounds of shouting ponies could be heard from distances far away as the ponies and changelings continue their battle for dominance over the land of Equestria. Within the battlefield, the pony civilians tried to remain calm and hoped that everything will be okay after the battle is over. In a certain house near the two armies, a stallion with a red mane and black coat was hugging his daughter in the second floor to keep her protected. The little pink filly embraced her father more than ever. She did not want to die, unlike her mother. While tears started to form from her eyes, the stallion closed his eyes and thought of a phrase. "Grandmother said this once: even the smallest and weakest of creatures can produce the biggest and saddest of tears." Feeling like someday he will lose his daughter, he spoke those exact words quietly into her ear to which she nodded and continued to sob along with her father. Life is a gift, but immortality is a curse, they all say. Anyway, moving on. We return to the brawl to see that the two armies have divided into smaller numbers and spread across random spots in the city, dealing with now smaller numbers of soldiers and fighters. For instance, one of the guards was facing against three changeling guards instead of a single one unarmed but soon was accompanied by two more guards, one with a spear and one with a sword and shield. The three guard ponies punched, sliced and stabbed the three grotesque insects into extinction, hoof-bumping each other before spotting two more and chasing them down. At least some of them understand these days' culture. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash was busy fighting some other scums of her own assisted by Ash who was fighting with the Dogga Hammer and several other weapons. She was fast enough to punch, ram, kick, and even headbutt a number of 20 changelings under 10-11 seconds. Ash was impressed by her speed and fighting skills against opponents, but he shouldn't be too amazed and surprised because he has witnessed her already manage things similar to that. With one final back kick to a changeling's stomach, she ascended more into the air and "Woohoo!!-ed" into the sky. "Man," She said. "I forgot how fun it was beating these guys up!" She spotted a changeling above her and before it could get a strike, she quickly uppercut its jaw which sent it flying, followed by a Goofy-styled "YAAHOOHOOHOOI!!!!" from it after the takedown. "And this is, like only the third time we did it!" "Well, don't get too cocky, Dash!" He warned her, followed by him swinging the Dogga Hammer across four other changelings' chests in front of him......."There still a lot to handle with, y'know!".....along with three more from his right. But, RD was listening to only the last half of his sentence to which he groaned. That mare can be so ignorant sometimes. But, he did not care about that right now as a changeling was speeding its way towards Rainbow Dash from behind. RD was too preoccupied with the other changelings distracting her, so Ash immediately pulled out the Pegasus Bowgun out of literally nowhere and aimed with perfect accuracy before pulling back the hammer, pulled the trigger and shot an arrow directly to the insect/pony's body side, thus making it fall back onto the ground and producing a Wilhelm scream. Thanks to the extra training Celestia gave him during the past few weeks, he has been increasing his fighting skills even more than usual. RD turned around to see it and quickly dealt with the others with one swift mid-air spin kick. "You're welcome!" Ash yelled to her, shot another one from his left and ran towards another horde. "Show off." The pegasus thought. And ponies say she was the biggest show-off in town. While those two kept battling the insect ponies, Princess Celestia along with Princess Luna were starting to actually win their battle against Chrysalis, but lose at the same time. The two co-rulers clashed their horns against the queen's crooked horn and attempted to push each other off of their balance. The two maybe somewhat losing the battle, but they came this far and they were not backing down now. "Give up now, Chrysalis!" Princess Luna demanded from her. "You cannot win this time and you never will!" It was true, she never wins. Ever. "Oh, you and your little subjects are so full of yourselves!" She insulted them and their subjects. After that, the two princesses' anger empowered their strength, thus pushing Chrysalis back with her hooves trying to dig into the green pavement, but it was hopeless because the princesses were already overpowering her. It was a good thing too because they were in the way of the view of the battle that Applejack and Twilight were having. Twilight was using every offensive and defensive magical spell she has acquired during the past days and Applejack was repeatedly bucking her enemies in the face, side, and even their behinds. At this moment, Applejack was facing against a horde of five and managed to punch three of them in the face and buck two of them into the next morning. Twilight, on the other hand, was having a wee bit of trouble keeping up with the changelings' attacks. But, that would not be true if Starlight suddenly appeared and blast a green magic orb towards a changeling who was sneaking up behind Twilight's back. She thanked her for the save before rushing in on more changelings and beat the living tar out of them. Meanwhile, Spike, Fluttershy, and Rarity were so owning the changelings right now as the white mare generated a giant needle of light blue and knocked back every single insect she could get. Fluttershy and Spike were actually less afraid of these troublemakers and were now facing them alongside each other. The pegasus was using her most effective and scary weapon known as "The Stare" while Spike kept them at bay by breathing green fire into their faces which hurt more than his bare-claw melee attacks. ( No pun intended. ) Suddenly, another changeling appeared behind them but ran away shortly after. "Uh, what was that about?" Spike asked before looking behind them and receiving his answer. He smiled with joy and worry was replaced by gladness. "Shining Armor! Princess Cadence! You made it!" He ran quickly to them and gave them both a good dragon hug. They both giggled before the hug was broken. "You really didn't think that would have all the fun, did you?" The Macintosh sized white stallion asked them. "Besides, we've got business to deal with these punks," He said that as he blasted another changeling nearby in the flank, followed by yet another Wilhelm scream. Spike laughed shortly at what he did and the couple soon joined them in the brawl as well. After all, the captain needed a good flank whooping from all of his business at The Crystal Empire and the same goes for his lovely soon-to-be-mother bride. As the armadas continued to struggle to win ownership of the land of Equestria, Chrysalis was still counting on the plan to work after they have seemingly lost the battle and the couple uses their power of love on her and her army. She does not care if she will gain some bruises or scars, she only has to be patient and wait until the ponies manage it. A while later.......... Time passed on and the number of changeling drones decreased by a high rate. The sun was already lowering down by Princess Celestia who stood proudly and victorious in front of Queen Chrysalis who laid on her side as she was seemingly defeated. Gaining those scars and injuries was a lot more painful than she thought it would. We can see all of her subjects, joining her in laying on the green floor pavement, some were unconscious and some were just stunned. They have already reached Phase 2 of her 'brilliant' plan. The glow on Celestia's horn died down afterward as she looked down at the almost knocked out changeling ruler herself. And soon, the others joined in with her. Ash also joined in and held the Revolcane in his right hand with its blade shrinking back down into nothing. "Well, Chrysalis." Pinkie interruptedly walked towards the front of the group with a prideful smile. "It looks like you have been served!" "Nailed it!" RD said and hoof-bumped Pinkie Pie with another smile. "Do not celebrate yet, my ponies," Luna stated. "We still have one more thing to do." She looked at Celestia who already understood what to do. "Chrysalis," Celestia spoke to the queen who looked up to see the princess's face. "I've given you a chance to surrender and not put your own subjects at risk during battle. However, you were still blind by your evil side and still attempted to push me off my throne. Shining Armor, Princess Cadence," She turned to the couple who both nodded their heads and stepped up into the front. "you know what to do." The two took a few steps forward before pausing to reenact the same way they defeated Chrysalis the first time: first, they walked to opposite sides of each other. Then, their horns made contact with each other, thus creating a pink and strong wind current which made their manes flow with the air. Soon, they began to float into the air and instead of a very powerful blast wave of unadulterated love, they shot a beam of thick pink light towards the queen. But, what the ponies did NOT know was that Queen Chrysalis actually intended it to happen and only smirked to Shining and Cadence's finishing move. Now, it was all about timing and patience to her as the beam was reaching further out, every second of her plan counting. And then, as soon as the beam was about to gain contact with Chrysalis's body, a giant spider web suddenly attached itself in front of Chrysalis and the beam of love which dissipated after it was ensnared. The ponies all gasped at the sight of the sudden web. That thing was way too big for even a single spider to make. Unless...... "What the!?" Dash yelled out. "Why didn't it work!?" All ponies turned their heads to Dash who quickly explained again. "No! I meant how did that web get there!? Or at least, what made it!?" She turned to Ash, who was already examining the web from a safe distance. "Well," Ash began to explain. "judging by the size of it, I think we can all assume that it was actually......" Before he got a chance to finish, a spider-themed enemy popped up from the sky above and landed with its fist striking the ground below. ".....that." Shortly after that, it rose its head up and soon raised its own body to stand up properly for the ponies to get a better look at the opponent they were about to face. Most of its body color consisted of black, although its left arm and leg were a bit lime green. It included two long spider legs on each side of its shoulders, legs, and even its head to look more threatening. Although its right hand was black and normal-looking, its left hand seemed more insect-like with its fingers reaching out further than any other human. Two claw-like daggers act as its toes for its feet and the final feature was that it wore a sort of belt made of a leather-like substance. The ponies shivered at the visual aspect of their new enemy, mostly Rarity. Behind the giant web, Chrysalis was starting to recover, slowly but surely. This was all part of her plan to finally defeat the "weak and pathetic" ponies and declare herself queen of the entire land of Equestria. But, she made a deal with the creature that she will share a percentage of her victory to him. So, she will be a queen and the creature can just be her servant. Or at least, an assistant. The creature does not know it yet, though. "Chrysalis!" Celestia shouted. "What is the meaning of this!?" She demanded an answer from the queen of pony-invertebrates. But, she only received a growing laughter as a reply. Celestia put on an irritated look after that. "Did you really think I would trust only my OWN subjects to win?!" She laughed out loud into the sky while attempting to get back on all fours. "You really need to predict my actions better. Maybe that's why your scout troopers left too early." Now that she was back on all of her four hooves, she laughed out loud even more with pride. Then, Twilight Sparkle and Cadence decided to step up and speak. "So," Twilight said. "you're using the assistance of one of the rider's enemies to try and defeat us!?" "And I'm presuming you're planning on taking over Equestria with your said assistant, right?" Cadence asked along with a serious expression on her face. She already presumed it before they even arrived ever since she and her husband have met Ash for the first time. "Correct, 'your highness'." Queen Chrysalis mocked Cadence who gritted her teeth with fury. "And there is more where that came from!" Ash made a confused look next, but not for long as another bipedal figure suddenly appeared on a nearby rooftop to their right. It jumped beside the spider villain with a boom and stood up straight for the ponies to see its full body structure. Its body basically looked like a bipedal variant of a zebra, its forearms were shaped like big sword scabbards and it also acquired some golden armor pieces on its chest, shoulders and knees. It bellowed with a neigh and unsheathed a pair of two sword-like weapons straight out of the front portion of the scabbards, followed by another bellow. That loud roar-like sound made Fluttershy's spine chill out. She thought that she would never see another animal-themed monster ever again. Or at least, until Ash gets back home. If there is a way for him to get home. Next, another bipedal villain appeared on the rooftop that was opposite to the first one and jumped down beside the spider as well. The figure's body coloring was oddly colorful and delicious-looking for a villain. The head was shaped like an oval in 3D and its face was not arranged in a good way. Its right arm was covered largely by what looked like green pop rock candy while the left arm was made out of black licorice and the hand was an actual re-colored big-sized candy corn. It was almost like it was made of......candy? Which could explain why Pinkie Pie's mouth was drooling. She continued to do this until she noticed its black licorice arm which made her gasp softly and inside her body at that moment, her entire heart was literally burning with the fury of a million Suns. Then, she grabbed a bat covered with spikes from out of nowhere and made an 'On-Fire Twilight' angry face. Never give a candy-lover black licorice. And soon, three others came also from behind the web which fell apart afterward. The first one was water based, acquired long blue hair and it/her weapon was a whip with a multitude of sea blue ropes. The second one acquired a hawk's head, its arms and legs were shaped as usable hawk talons and its piece of weaponry was a bow much longer and bigger than any other. The final one had flame-designed horns on its head, the same goes for the back of it shoulders, several areas of blue coloring and bulky grayish shoulder pieces. "Now, who's got the upper hoof!?" Chrysalis asked and stepped forward into the center of the group. Celestia knew that the queen would have done something unbelievable, but this was way beyond that. Gaining the assistance of six of the rider's enemies!? Now, that is just uncool! Then again, it would make perfect sense. Ash was a little afraid of the enemies they were up against in Round 2. But, he needed to be more courageous, more potent, and more strategic if he wants to defeat the enemies alongside the Mane 6. Then, he hatched an idea in his brain. So, without hesitating, Ash decided to step forward and a gust of wind started to sweep along the floor. As he reached the front of the group, Twilight was beside him and looked at him in question on what was he planning on doing. His eyes tell her to simply wait and trust him to which he nodded. "Oh, look." Chrysalis started to mock him as well. "It's the almighty and powerful, Ash Griffin." The other villains snarled at him, but he showed no signs of emotion. She laughed with maliciousness. "Don't be so full of yourself yet, Mr. Griffin. I am not afraid of you and I never will." Before she could speak any more than that, Ash halted them and asked the a question: "I know you won't be afraid, but please ask yourself this: 'Does this'?" Then, Ash suddenly grabbed another one of his Eyecons from inside his right pocket. However, this one was stilled unused and has a chance at failing, but also one at winning. Its body structure was typically the same and its coloring was navy blue. The Mane 6 saw the Eyecon and were puzzled on whose soul it contained. But, the truth was that during Celestia's long-period session with him, he came across an old hat of a certain very ancient and powerful unicorn. The one which he wears every day. Shortly after, he summoned the Ghost Driver out of orange misty fire around his waist and pressed the button on the Eyecon's right side, revealing the next iris which was the letter E and the numeral 1. He looked at Celestia who nodded her head instantly. Chrysalis was curious on what he was going to do even though she has heard a lot of information about him. He opened the driver which made the usual standby sound, inserted the Eyecon into the driver and closed it back up. EYE! BATCHIRIMINĀ! Once that was done, what happened next blew almost everypony's mind: the Parka Ghost of Star Swirl The Bearded appeared out of the driver's eye socket which also shocked Chrysalis even more than the ponies. Pinkie Pie's head turned completely upside-down and her lower jaw raised up into the sky. It danced around Ash's body as he initiated Takeru Tenkuuji's signature pose before pulling and pushing back the orange lever to activate it. HENSHIN!! KAIGAN! STAR SWIRL! KAGAYAKU MAHŌ!! KODAI NO PAWĀ!! The Parka Ghost floated higher above Ash and then sunk back down for him to wear as the Ghost armor materialized around his entire body. This was the first time he actually wore the combat armor of a Kamen Rider. He lowered his head once the transformation was complete and raised it back up for Queen Chrysalis and her shocked face to see his body attire. The hoodie-themed ghost was navy blue, accustomed with bells at the bottom part and acquired the hat which was the same design as Star Swirl's original hat. The visor was also different and was replaced with the image of a book of spells. Typical Star Swirl. Ash turned to Twilight and Spike to see their shocked expressions as their jaws were hanging low. He felt like they could catch flies in their mouths, so he closed their mouths at once with his hand. Chrysalis too was taken aback by Ash's new appearance. She knew exactly who the hoodie resembled and she did not like it one bit. But, she knew that if she retreated, she would never get a chance to attempt to invade Equestria again. So, she tried her best not to appear scared and laughed weakly. "So," She may sound fearless to the ponies, but Ash already knew her true feeling right now. "I see you've acquired a new look. Doesn't matter. We will still beat you, no matter how many more fancy costumes you acquire!" She and her remaining army went into their battle stances with Chrysalis doing her previously shown charging pose. Ash and the others felt like they were being threatened, so they readied themselves for battle while Ash's Wisp Horn started to glow with yellow luminosity similar to Star Swirl's magical horn aura. He noticed it and tapped it twice to make sure it was not simply an illusion. It was not. He always wanted a horn on his head as a child, but not the unicorn type, though. "Cool," Ash commented on the pretty glow surrounding his horn, which felt like a feather sticking out of his head. "Now then," His GanGun Saber projected out of the driver which Ash then took hold of its hilt and went into a middle sword stance. "as Rarity once said, IT. IS. ON." Rarity smiled and giggled to Ash's use of one of her past and most common phrases. The guards from behind all prepared each of their weapons for battle. Then, as fast as a New York minute, both armadas charged forward and battle cried. As sword and horn touched each other, Round 2 has been commenced. One hour and several minutes later.......... "Huh, that battle went a lot easier and a lot quicker than I anticipated it would be." What was said to be an epic brawl between pony and changeling/monster was a little......cut short. Because Ash had so many of the riders' powers and abilities, it was sort of an unfair fight for the villains even for Queen Chrysalis. Speaking of the queen, as it turns out, the reason behind Chrysalis's tyrant-like behavior was because that she had a permanent-host Ganma ghost inside of her body, but her soul was oddly and impressively durable enough to withstand the Ganma's control over her. Luckily, thanks to Ash's new magical Wisp Horn and Starlight's powerful magic of her cutie mark extraction spell, they were able to enhance his Ganma-body ejecting power and make it more powerful enough to free Chrysalis from the ghost. The extraction was a success and Ash immediately finished off the Ganma by using his Omega Drive finisher, which engulfs his body in a mystic yellow aura, then lifts him up into the air to perform a mid-air Rider Kick down to the Ganma's intangible body, thus destroying it. Chrysalis was ever so thankful for Ash and Starlight's help and apologized to The Mane 6 and the princesses for her past behavior. Princess Celestia did not blame her for the damage she has done, she only blamed the Ganma. Before any of them could celebrate their victory, Princess Luna asked her how the Ganma took almost complete possession over her body and mind. Her answer was that her memory was a blur and she could not remember straight, but she was lucky when she figured out that her soul was still intact but lost full control over her entire body system. She was still a filly when it happened and the ponies felt pity for the queen. And if that was not exciting enough, Momotaros also joined them in the brawl and quickly introduced himself to Ash when he was fighting the spider villain A.K.A. Spider Undead, one of Blade's most memorable enemies. Ash explained that he already knew who Momo was and what he was capable of: jokes, body possession of Kamen Rider Den-O and 4th wall capabilities. They corresponded to work together and destroyed the Undead by combining Momotaros's Hissatsu finisher using his original sword which grew bigger with Ash's new magic to hold the spider's feet in place onto the ground so that it would not escape. It was successful and two fist-bumped after that before charging into deal with the remaining number. After they have dealt with the villains, Twilight questioned Ash about what happened to the Spider Undead because all she could see was it exploding into thin air. He answered to them that it was a little complicated to explain. Meanwhile, he was still processing a solution on figuring out how the villains have a way to transport themselves to Equestria, but his thinking was hindered as ponies from all around the town came out of their homes and cheered and clapped their hooves for the heroes of Equestria. They too did not know how he defeated the spider monster, but they cared little for it now. So, to celebrate victory in defeating the villains and freeing Chrysalis from the Ganma's control, Pinkie Pie cleaned up the town by doing this: ( 0:00 - 0:12 ) Link Below , and magically prepared it for a victory party in just under 10 seconds. Then, everypony in the town, including Queen Chrysalis and her changelings who awoken from their comatose partied in several areas of the town. Ponies danced with each other, streamers flew everywhere and ponies were starting to warm up to Chrysalis and her subjects being their new allies. Chrysalis thought she would never make any friends since the first day the ghost possessed her, but now that she was free of its grasp on her mind, she was now free to think on her own. Ponies everywhere welcomed her as their new friend and the same went with her changeling subjects. Momotaros secretively told Ash he needed to vamoose out of here because he had a slightly bigger fish to fry. Ash understood and hoped that they will encounter one another again one day. After they have said their goodbyes, Momo jumped back up to the same roof and jumped from rooftop to rooftop with his suspiciously familiar-looking cat. Now, at this very moment, Chrysalis was gazing upon the stars of the night sky. She had to admit that she has not seen the stars that much since the Ganma possessed her because she was too busy planning on ways to invade Equestria. But now, with a free body to utilize and a free mind to think with, she chose an option and decided to do this. She set her front hooves onto the railing of the balcony and sighed with a smile of joy. The holes on her insect-like skin let some of the wind pass through which tickled a bit for her. She thought she would be trapped by her own body, but alas, hope finally came to her when Ash arrived. He was nice and bold, but also very powerful and really focused during battle. Speaking of the human boy, she noticed a figure walking towards her in the corner of her eye. Ash stopped beside her and joined in on the stargazing with his hands also on the railing. She heard a sign of short giggling coming from the human which made her turn her head to him. "Y'know what?" He asked. "It's kinda funny about the fact that I knew that there was a reason for your behavior. And as it turns out, I was right." Chrysalis continued to smile at his statement. But, she knew that he wanted something from her. So, she had no choice but to tell him about 'the thing'. Unfortunately, due to the limited page time we have for these two, we will just skip ahead and change our perspective to another area where a lone bipedal figure stood with its hands tied behind its back. To be more precise, it was standing on the top of the mountain where the waterfall originated from. Even though it was already nighttime, the figure's silhouette could be seen for anypony within the area. The breeze blew through its white fedora and its white coat followed its motion. Its eyes stared at the castle below and the ponies who were having the time of their life. Its eyes mostly gazed upon Ash Griffin, kind of like he knew him from somewhere. This is true because he was the one who required assistance from Celestia and the human during the four days. Suddenly, a giant portal above his head appeared, similar to the portal that Ash came through. Maybe that would explain why he was present during the last four days. He noticed its bright and colorful presence and looked up to ensure it. "Well," He tipped his fedora upwards before his clothes and body began to get attracted into its swerving interior. "it looks like I am needed elsewhere." And with one final sigh, he accepted his fate and let the portal do the rest of the work. "Until we meet next time, Ash Griffin,......keep counting on villains' sins." All we could see after that was a vivid flash of blue light. Ash finally felt like a real hero. He battled many enemies, gained many friends and allies and especially redeemed one of the villains from Equestria. Or set free to be more precise. But, he knows that this was not the end. He knows that there is still a lot more to be accomplished. So, with the fire in his heart and the power surging through his every vein, he knows that..... HIS LIFE IS GOING TO BURN BRIGHT!! > Morph #11: The Winter Worm-y Diversion > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- With Chrysalis now discharged from the Ganma's control, Princess Celestia and Luna were very happy that their war was over at last. And the best part was that they achieved a new ally, several if you include her changeling drones. Not one of them knew about her possession, not even the oldest ones. But, since they were contrived to follow her orders, it clearly was not their fault. Ponies from both Canterlot and Ponyville heard about this and cheered on for the heroes of Equestria. After the festivities yesterday, Chrysalis signed her name on a peace treaty to never attack Canterlot ever again, but rather help them in their most dire needs. She also received a proud smile from the Mane 6 and by midnight, she and her subjects decided to return to their hive to heal from their injuries. And before Ash could return home to rest as well, Celestia explained to him that she has never met anypony or creature bold and kind-hearted that would forgive a villain for even her most diabolical actions. The group said their goodbyes before heading home. Speaking of home, about a few days later, Twilight was about to see if Starlight has awoken from her slumber in her guest room when she saw there was nopony there. She seemed abashed. But, not for long when she discovered a folded note on the purple-blanketed bed. She levitated it towards her, unfolded it and began to read. It turned out that Starlight has actually gone to live in her old village again. The reason for this was written at the back that stated: "I feel at home there". Twilight looked pleased that Starlight wanted to reunite with her old 'friends'. When she was exiting the room, Spike soon came, reading another Power Ponies comic and asked her where Ash was. She simply replied by saying that Ash went to Sugarcube Corner to help Pinkie Pie distribute half of the total amount of orders to the specific ponies. As a lone snowflake falls down to Earth, we can see many ponies, wearing festive clothing and preparing to celebrate the most amazing holiday in Equestria. We can see the snow, encompassing most of the areas of Ponyville with multiple numbers. Fortunately, the pony civilians intended for this to happen and enjoyed it instead of getting depressed by it. However, on this year, there was going to be some slight changes to the holiday. At a certain location in Ponyville, we can see Ash Griffin himself, running along the grass path with cart breechings strapped to his waist. Today, he decided to wear a regular blue hoodie Rarity made instead to protect him from the low temperature of winter. The said breechings were attached to none other than a second bakery cart, included with a yellow and red-striped roof and filled with different kinds of treats and baked goods. ( About 8 or so ) However, Ash thought that it would take forever for him to deliver them barefooted and that is why he utilized his Cheetah legs to deliver them even quicker. And he also utilized Wizard's magical copy ability to clone himself 4 times and each duplicate needed to deliver the orders to their respective receivers, leaving the original with only 3 left. Despite the pavement, almost entirely being covered with snow, he has experienced walking on this kind of surface back on Earth before. He had to help his Dad clear the driveway for approximately 5-15 minutes. It was all worth it when it was done. Anyway, in more or less than 20 seconds, the original Ash has finally arrived at his destination: Octavia and Vinyl Scratch/DJ PON-3's household. He skidded to a stop, making sure that the cart did not topple and examined the house first. Its coloring was similar to the one in Slice Of Life and it still included the music note-shaped bush on the left. The oddest aspect it acquired yet was a row of organ pipes attached to the farther left side of the house. He disabled his legs, knocked on the double-colored door and it opened to reveal a familiar gray mare. She had a black mane and tail, donned a pink and white striped scarf instead of her bow-tie and a acquired a pink music note as her cutie mark. She eyed Ash curiously. "Um," She said. "can I help you with something?" "Oh, yes actually," Ash explained as he grabbed a checklist from behind. "I'm looking for.....Vinyl Scratch." "Oh, well, in that case, she already left to buy some equipment for her music." She did not understand why that pony loves 'her-type-of' music. She did not even know how it originated. "But, as her roommate, I can offer you some assistance in carrying her order. After all, I MOSTLY pay for everything she purchases anyway." "Wow, thanks." Maybe she does respect Vinyl more than he thought. "C'mon, you can help at the back." So, Ash and Octavia headed for the cargo's rear where the double-doors are located. Once he grabbed both of the handles, he opened it and revealed the inside. The only remaining deliveries were the mentioned three. Unfortunately for them, the white pony's order was located at the furthest spot from the rear unlike the other two that were in front of them. Ash had other reasons for Vinyl's annoying behavior to Octavia, but they were not exactly needed at this moment. "So, which one is Vinyl's again?" "Uh," He squinted his eyes to see further into the cart. "I think it's at the front." The pony's eyes followed Ash's finger to the direction of the order. "But, don't worry. I came prepared." Octavia was about to question him about that statement but paused when she saw him, staring at his own right arm. Then, if we look into Ash's perspective, we could see his arm, covered in white sketch lines similar to that of a blueprint. More sketches start to appear as a sort of extendable pink limb began to build itself without the mare knowing. Speaking of the mare, her eyebrow raised in curiosity as Ash continued to stare at his arm. She felt like the moment was a bit silent for about 3 more seconds before Ash finally stopped staring. MAGIC HAND ~ ON! As soon as the sound was produced, the extendable Magic Hand then built itself onto Ash's wrist. Octavia was taken aback and gawked at its design. She has heard of extendable limbs, but this was beyond anything like that. And not only was she shocked, but also amazed. "Alright, time to test you out, my friend!" Ash then proceeded to reach out and grab the order using the long pincer-like hand. It reached deeper into the cart until it attained the spot of where the order was. "There it is!" The claw grabber took hold of a medium-sized light blue-striped box and lifted it up, "Alright, now all I have to do is......", but when he did, it did not budge, not even one inch. Even with his extra Rider strength, the box still weighed a ton. "What the?......." Ash tried again a few times before the grabber-hand finally managed to lift up the darn thing. He then reeled in the hand A.S.A.P., so it would not drop the order roughly. After wiping a drop of sweat from his brow, "Phew. Finally.", the grabber dropped the box down onto the snow-covered grass while trying not to snap into two. "Man, I didn't know that box would weigh that much." Octavia's eyes rolled to the right as she showed a bemused look. "Anyway," The device suddenly dematerialized out of existence. "in the meantime, I suggest you take that box into your house until your friend arrives." He cannot remain here for he must deliver orders to other individuals in need of treats and goodies. "Well, alright then. Thank you for your service, Mr. Griffin." Once Octavia paid for Vinyl's order ( because she had to ) and returned into her house with the heavy box in tow, "Alright, now on to the next one.", Ash's legs then reverted back to the Cheetah legs, CHEETAH! , followed by him attaching the breechings back onto his waist. "I wonder how my copies are doing." Then, in the blink of an eye, he turned his back along with the cart and sped forwards back to Ponyville, leaving a yellow streak the size of his entire body behind as a remainder. Out of all the jobs available in Ponyville, treat delivering has definitely earned 1st place in the Top 10 easiest jobs he could think of. While he was running along the path back to town, Octavia, with one final push, has finally succeeded in getting the box into the house as well. She stood up hind-legged and pushed her back forwards which produced a cracking sound. She cringed in pain and rubbed her neck as she stood on all fours once more. "This order better be worth it, Vinyl," She muttered to herself. If this thing turned out to be a waste of time, she is so going to kill that mare. But, because she was a gentlemare and does not like violence as much as her roommate does, she opted to only talk to Vinyl which is what the white mare merely calls 'nagging'. "And for the record, I DON NOT NAG!" Meanwhile........ Unfortunately, due to Momotaros being absent to play his role in this scene because he went to Manehattan for a vacation from spying on Ash and various other ponies, we will just have to shift to a different scene, "Thank you, my good sir! , where Pinkie just delivered her 4th order and was wearing her favorite blue and white striped scarf. The owner of the house who stood in the doorway was a red stallion, had a black mane, and tail, and his cutie mark was abnormally a sword with a wooden hilt. Pinkie Pie thought that a pony with that kind of cutie mark would, at least, be a part of the royal guards of Canterlot, but since she was.....well, Pinkie, she found no reason to complain. Once the pony closed the door with his order on his back, Pinkie received her pay of 5 bits and hopped back to her delivery carriage with a smile. She put her bits into her 'flank-pocket' and placed the breechings back onto her sides. "Phew, finally done!" She wiped a drop of sweat from her brow which froze instantly. "Now that all of my deliveries are finished up, I can finally.....!" Before she got a chance to continue, a blur of yellow, blue and brown suddenly passed her with immense speed. It kicked up so much snow that it covered Pinkie entirely. Shortly after, her eyes blinked through the snow and she shook her body like a wet cat. All of the snow flew to random areas, even another blue stallion in a green shirt. "Ooh, that must be Ash!" She turned to the human's running direction, "I wonder if he's finished!", then chased after him by using her hooves as natural tires and produced the sounds of a speeding car. This is what some 4th wall breakers do when they need to escape from something, that and scene-changing. As her Pinkie-shaped cloud remained for 2 seconds, the real Ms. Pie continued to speed ahead in order to catch up with the accelerating biped. She always wondered what it would feel like to be an F1 car driver ever since he explained to her about some of its functions. She got, even more, interested in him, similar to Twilight and her intellectual yet complicated brain. As the two continued to sprint as fast as the wind, we could see the brown pony, Time Turner with Derpy once more, walking along the snow-covered path. The stallion donned a green vest while Derpy instead considered on wearing his scarf because she said it looked 'classy'. While they were walking, Derpy asked the hourglass cutie marked pony if he thought that anypony else but Rainbow Dash can match up at least 50% of her total flying speed. "Oh, Derpy." Time Turner rubbed Derpy's hair. "Sweet Derpy. You know that nopony can match up to that pegasus's speed. But," Turner put a hoof to his chin. "if you wondered if anypony could match up the speed of lightning instead, sure. I assume it IS possible for anypony to possess that ability. However," He put on a confident face. "we all know that is never going to........" And just as he was about to continue, the same blur coincidentally passed them, making their manes charred and covered in snow. Time Turner could recognize Derpy's prideful smile, but tried to deny it. "Now, hold on there, Derpy. That was probably just Ash Griffin. And for the record, he is not a po....." Then, he put his bits where his mouth was when Pinkie also galloped past them, followed by their manes getting covered in more snow. They shook it off of both their heads and Derpy's victory smile still remained. With a sigh of defeat, Time Turner reached into his vest's lower pocket to pull out 5 bits each and handed them to Derpy. Another point goes to The Muffin Mare! On the way to the last house, Ash accidentally but coincidentally dropped off one of his boxed orders to the specific house it was meant to be exported. It also hit the doorbell and landed on the white 'Welcome' mat just before the owner opened his door. He looked down to see his delivery already shipped, then looked both ways before smiling and taking the box into the house. He shut the door afterward, being glad he obtained his order in time. Ash was about to turn around and check on wherever the delivery landed, but he resolved to keep running continuously and hoped that the delivery would end up in front of the door. Fortunately for him, luck struck again. Now, with one final shipment left, he squinted his eyes as he passed more houses, more ponies, and even managed to zoom past the town hall with surprising ease. He thought it would take at least a few weeks before he could master this ability, but destiny chose a much easier way for him. When he saw the final house which was a two-storey straight ahead, he put on a smile and performed a powerful skid by his right leg. He managed to stop himself and the cart though it almost toppled onto its side thanks to the speed and momentum. He knew that cheetahs could run fast, but with this much running speed, it was nearly RAINBOW DASH fast. After he finished reclaiming his breath, "Alright, last delivery. I hope, at least.", he detached the breechings once again and was about to go to the rear when he spotted his 1st clone, exiting the house along with a plum coated pony with a raspberry pink mane, and tail, and a cutie mark of both a bundle of grapes and a strawberry. She also wore a pink skull cap and a red sweater. Ash recognized who the pony was, but was her house not supposed to be his next stop? "And remember," Ash the 2nd explained to the mare. "Berry Punch. If you want permission to go into the - oh, hey Ash!" He waved to the original. Ash seemed confused by this. "Wait," He went over to the two. "dude, what are you doing here? I thought that I was supposed to deliver her order." "What are you talking about? I already shipped it." Ash's confused face remained until Berryshine spoke up. "Actually," She spoke. "I ordered TWO of the same delivery." A quacking sound could be heard as both Ashs raised their eyebrows. "Oh, right. I'm actually having a friend over." The two "Oh-ed" at her statement. After receiving their pay of 5 bits each and almost getting killed by Pinkie Pie and her cart's uncontrollable speed, the two Ashs and the pink mare returned to Sugarcube Corner to return the carts. Pinkie Pie apologized to Berryshine earlier about smashing into her door and her living room to which she called 'nice'. Berry accepted her apology and explained that she can pay for the damages with her extra bits. Pinkie became relieved. She thought she would lose one of her friends who she hangs out with less than The Mane 6. Pinkie followed the clones once they called out to her. This time, they stated they were going to not use any other abilities involving any form of acceleration. They arrived at the shop where Mr. and Mrs. Cake were waiting for them and gave them the total amount of bits the three have earned. The Cakes thanked Pinkie and the Ashs for their assistance and they repaid Ash Original with 10 bits. Which is a hell of a lot to ponies. Pinkie congratulated the two clones and soon, the other 3rd and 4th. Who knew that he...or they could be such considerable co-workers? As we return to the present time, we see Ash finally in one piece, just exiting the bakery with his hands in the hoodie's pockets. And for Pinkie Pie, she hopped frequently every time he made a footstep. He was glad that he got his pay, but he felt like something was missing. Could it have been his attire? Was it his doubles? Or was it that he forgot to tell Twilight about the brony fandom shipping her and you-know-who? These questions scrambled in his mind until Pinkie finally spoke. "Hey, Ash," She called for him. "Do you ever get the feeling you're forgetting something?" Ash sighed with relief and turned to her. "Thank goodness," He said. "I thought I was the only one who was thinking about it." He never really liked to be left out, except when he wants some 'him time'. He cleared his throat before continuing. "So, what do you think it is?" "I'm not sure. But, I just know it's on the tip of my tongue." Then, she literally stuck her tongue as she was about to put a hoof on her chin. The aftermath was Pinkie, getting her tongue stuck to her hoof because of the natural temperature outside. She tried to pull apart the both of her parts from each other, but she could not seem to manage to do it so. Ash only sighed. This was the second time she got her tongue stuck on a cold surface, the first being a pole. "Um, Ash?" She called for the boy who already knew what to do. "I got it." He placed his right hand above Pinkie's tongue and hoof and used Double's Heat flame to warm them loose from one another. She flicked her tongue around a few times before confirming they were unstuck. "Thanks!" She smiled. "No prob." He used slang that time to which Pinkie laughed a bit. Out of the blue, a rainbow-colored blur could be spotted, descending towards the human and pony. It looked terrifying from both of their perspectives, "DUCK IN COVER!!", so the team of two and the ponies within the area dodged by either rolling away or ducking, only for the blur to pass above their heads. After that, it performed a loop de loop 3 times before finally landing onto the snowy surface to reveal the producer who was Dashie herself. The two opened their eyes to see her, breathing difficultly. "Show off. Ash and Pinkie unknowingly thought while getting up back on their feet/hooves. "Pinkie!" She cried. "Ash! - wait, Ash?" Both of them looked bewildered before she continued. "Anyway, you guys need to come to Cloudsdale as soon as possible!!" She ascended back into the air when Ash Original asked her something. "How come?" He asked. "And why?" Pinkie asked next. "Well, I was just taking a nap on my favorite cloud as usual..." Ash and Pinkie looked at one another bemusedly. Of course, she had to be on a cloud. "....when I saw another Ash fighting this....monster with, um," She paused for a moment to think of the details. "these hooks on its hand and.....well, basically, it just looked like a bug-human.....or whatever. But, whatever it was, we gotta to Cloudsdale and check out the fight!" "Um, Dash?" The human asked to the pegasus. "You do know that I could just make that other Ash disappear, right?" He also wondered if she was not actually listening to his Wizard Magic 101 session. "I wasn't talking about your clone! I was talking about Cloudsdale being in danger!? Heard of it?" She used a stern tone that moment. "Oh." "Now, come on! We need to hurry!" Ash knew he needed airborne transportation, so without hesitating, his eyes blinked a vibrant purple, PTERA! , with a sudden brace of purple and silver pteranodon wings, sprouting out of his back. The two ponies became disturbed by this, "That's kinda disturbing," Pinkie commented on his extra limbs. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it," He said. , plus they tore two thin holes in the back of his hoodie, but those did not matter at this moment. He needed to go and check out how his clone was handling the you-know-what. Ash looked at Pinkie who already held onto this back with her hooves around his body. He felt really awkward because of this, but ignored the feeling and pushed his feet off the ground forthwith. After that, his wings repeatedly continued to flap until he was finally flying, along with Rainbow Dash. The wind force of his ascends swept up so much snow onto the area, causing a moderate-sized hole of green, clear grass to appear. Ponies from all around gazed at the hole, then at the human who was flying straight to the city of clouds. They were already expecting an unnatural Hearth's Warming this year. Meanwhile, at Cloudsdale.......... Sparks of metal and screams of battle could be picked up on the cloudy surface of Cloudsdale itself. We change our glimpse to a street where Ash the 5th was fighting against an enemy some of us know too well of. The current villain acquired two very long, navy blue hooked fingers on its right hand like Dasie mentioned, a skin color of orange-brown, a blue hand and blue-horned feet. It also had an exoskeletal shell covering its head's top and its chest had a design of six insect limbs alongside two longer ones. Ponies within the area galloped away with fear, hoping to avoid any damage induced by the bipeds. The two continued their battle as AT5 tried to swing his sword down onto the beast's chest, but got blocked by its hand-hooks. The beast held the blade, heaved it up and straight up punched AT5 in the chest instead. The sword he wielded was actually the Ride Booker in Slash Mode which should have affected the monster more. However, it seems that the creature has grown quite stronger. The clone staggered back to recover, surprised by its punching power. "GAH!!" He cried. "Man, this thing is a LOT stronger than I remembered it to be!" He thought it would only take a sword to defeat it, but now seeing its full power, it will require more than that. The monster groaned inhumanly and charged forward again, attempting to punch him in the face, but was blocked by his left hand and his sword stabbed into the monsters chest, therefore creating sparks that flew off its body. This forced it to stumble back, but immediately healed and was about to charge in again when a barrage of energy bullets made contact with its backside. The great pain they have caused forced it to turn its back to detect the source of those bullets happened to be from Original Ash who shot it with the Gun Gan Saber and the Bat Clock, converted into their Gun Modes. "Eat this, you Worm scum!" He battle-cried to the Worm, rapidly blasting it with more bullets with perfect accuracy. Those hours of firearm practice really paid off. The monster tried to block the projectiles with its arm, but the total amount was too much for it. "Yeah, eat it!" Pinkie joined in his cry as well and still held onto Ash. He finally touched down onto the same road with the pink pony letting go of his body. His wings then vanished as the Worm now alternately targeted them instead. It ran forwards, "Guys! Watch out!" "Not today, bucko!", but got slammed from its side by Rainbow Dash who was secretively hiding in the higher clouds, waiting for the perfect moment to strike her 'prey'. The force of her attack was so powerful, she managed to actually knock the beast about 5 feet onto the cloud-made surface. Unfortunately, the monster only remained on the cloud for approximately 1 second before falling through the above ground and fell down to Earth. RD was honestly surprised by the act she brought off. Her plan was to only throw the beast off its weirdly-shaped green feet and let her hooves do the work. But, what she did just now also works. Soon, all four of them including the Bat Clock in its Animal Mode went over to the hole the Worm created and glanced through it. Luckily, Ash was enabled to walk on clouds because of his element-based powers and for Pinkie......she just did it. They could all see the monster, flailing its limbs hysterically as gravity pulled it towards its extinction, followed with some snowflakes produced by the cloud they were standing on. Pinkie was about to break into a huge laughter and release her hooves from her mouth but stopped when the others eyed her to halt. "Huh," Rainbow said as she floated above everypony else's heads. "that was a bit more anti-climatic than I thought it would be." "Agreed." The others said along with the Bat Clock. None of the ponies could understand its screeches, except for Ash, thankfully. "Well," AT5 started. "now that our work is seemingly done, I or WE exactly," He swiped his finger to point at both him and Original Ash. "need to get going." "Yeah," Ash said. "I promised Twilight I would teach her about the mistletoe later today." That mare could not handle her nerdiness when he mentioned the 'tied-up-with-red-ribbon-included-with-a-small-bundle-of-berries' decoration. Gosh, that is such a mouthful. "What's a mistletoe?" Rainbow asked, showing a muddled face. "Exactly." But, right as he was about to sprout his wings out one more time, a ringing sound was produced from Ash whose eyes blinked a pink color twice every 2 seconds. It also made his entire body vibrate weakly which tickled a bit also. "Sorry, guys." He apologized to the others. "I gotta take this." Then, he stared into his left arm this time and envisioned a blueprint sketch of a black rectangular machine with a radar attached at the front. RADAR ~ ON! At that moment, the said device materialized itself onto Ash's arm and showed them the face of Twilight Sparkle herself. But, something was off. Her appearance seemed a bit more.....battle damaged. Take her mane for an example: it was all ruffled up and it also lost a few strands. Pinkie quickly wondered if she was having a bad hair day. Or any other type of bad day. Dash was starting to question if there was anything Ash could not do. "Ash!" Twilight called for him worriedly through the glitchy screen. "Twilight?" He asked. "What's going on?" Suddenly, tree slicing could be heard from the background as one timbered down behind her. "Woah, what was that!?" "There's no time to explain!" Then, she turned her eyes to Granny Smith who was rapidly and surprisingly kicking a green insect-biped with ease. It fell down into the snow, unconscious. "Thanks, Granny Smith!" "Oh, don't mention it, Princess!" The elderly mare pulled out her cane and charged towards her right. "Anyway, you all need to get to Sweet Apple Acres immediately! It's chaos out here!" Suddenly, a shadow began to tower her from behind. But, Applejack's timing was perfect when she tackled it from the right. Twilight secretly thanked her before continuing. "Alright, we're on our way!" "Please hurry!" A growl came from her right as one of them attempted to attack the distracted alicorn who screamed. It caused the screen to glitch, therefore declining the call. The radar-like device dematerialized instantly after. Ash was started to get worried. These attacks on Equestria are getting more genuine. First, 1v1 and now, massive hordes!? What kind of sick world is this!? Well, then again, this world IS stranger than the Earth or the Rider's world. Plus, it does sort of defy some things science. And now, with Twilight, the Apple family and possibly soon, the entire town in danger during a holiday in winter? Not on his watch. "C'mon, guys," He ordered. "We're going to Sweet Apple Acres." Then, almost immediately, he stretched his arm out and opened his palm, followed by his eyes glowing a fiery red. CONNECT ~ PLEASE! A bright and fiery red portal suddenly took form in front of the group which amazed the ponies with awe. It showed them the Wizard logo, but also four types of gems on each side of the circular face: an octagon at the top, an upside down triangle on the left, a diamond on the right, and a square at the bottom. "Let's go," He ordered one more time. Dash was about to ask if the Worm was still a concern to them but hesitated when a big explosion could be heard from below. Ash, however, wasted no time and ran straight into the portal. His duplicate and the bat soon followed in pursuit and joined him. Then, without much of a choice, the two ponies either hopped or flew into the portal. Being left behind is never safe. And within seconds, the red circular portal eventually dissipated from existence. Later....... Inside of the apple orchard of Sweet Apple Acres, we can see the ponies, battling against the previously mentioned insect-bipeds. These insects happened to be Worms themselves, except their skin color was green instead of orange-brown and their hands were orange, including its two long fingers. These creatures started to evoke around the apple orchard only about 20 minutes ago when the Apples were coincidentally preparing the food for Hearth's Warming tomorrow morning inside the house. They attacked at first sight which put the Apples on high alert. AJ managed to hide Applebloom safely from the two-legged insects before she, Big Macintosh and, Granny Smith put the hurt back on their sorry flanks. And there was more because a heavy snowstorm began to rain down onto the entire farm area. Even though the snow was blocking their sight a bit, they continued to fight nonetheless. Victory was nearly theirs until more of them began to overwhelm the area and started using numbers against the family. Before they reached the ponies, Applejack told Applebloom to go and find help from any of their friends nearby. The filly returned, accompanied by Twilight a few minutes later. She already explained the situation to the mare who was actually heading to Sweet Apple Acres to ask Applejack for some warm eggnog. Then, THIS happened. Those monsters could not have a chosen a worse holiday for an attack. Granny Smith quickly suggested to call for Ash's help, but Twilight clarified that he was busy delivering orders from Sugarcube Corner. So, for about 6 more minutes, the group continued to fight for their safety until eventually, Twilight soon remembered that she brought along Ash's Wrist Communicator he achieved during his 'special mission' at Canterlot. The entire family face-hoofed when she realized it just now. She apologized sheepishly before remembering about how Ash taught her to use it. It was a success and a few seconds later, the same red portal emerged near the earth ponies and alicorn. Soon, the others joined in the battle against the Worms and acquired a good chance of winning. And just in case, the situation got worse, Ash utilized his duplication ability to create three more look-alikes while letting AT5 remain throughout the battle because he was going to need some assistance himself anyway. Now, each figure had their own primary targets. The ponies and duplicates assailed the ones outside of the orchard while Ash and his clone fought the lead Worm that started all of this. Twilight was blasting each and every one of the Worms alongside Ash the 3rd who fought, wielding the Flame Saber in its "Trinity State". The two were currently standing behind one another as they faced opposite directions. With another magical blast from her horn, the two held a short conversation. "So, Twilight," AT3 said. "Just out of sudden curiosity," He managed to slice an approaching Worm across its chest with his sword, "how DID you obtain my Wrist Communicator without me knowing?", followed by a spinning sword strike to another Worm's chest which made it stumble back. "Well," She said, then blasted another to her left. "this may sound betraying, but while you were gone," She spotted yet another one and turned around to buck it with a great amount of strength that made it flew across a short distance. "a certain somepony might have snooped around a bit in your room and......." She did not need to explain further for the human already knew who was the 'snooper'. "It was you and Spike, wasn't it?" She was surprised he figured that out quickly. "......That would be acceptable." She 'scientifically' stated while shooting a ray of pink towards three more Worms in front. He sighed. "I'm so gonna kill that kid." Meanwhile, Ash and AT5 commanded the others to cover them while they battled against the leader. The lead Worm in question was pale green in color, its right hand seemed normal while its left arm was basically a giant mantis's pincer along with its antennae at the back corners of its head, its shoulder pads, and its wrist, facing backward. Its feet were also equipped with horns, its chest was designed like the top part of a mantis's body and its body was nearly fully equipped with exo-skeletal armor while the exposed areas were black. If Fluttershy was here right now, she would instantly pass out without a shadow of a doubt. The mantis-based Worm used every weapon its body equipped to attempt and fulfill its objective. But, with two of the same targets at once, it was difficultly mind-scrambling to tell apart which one was which. With both of them appearing as the same, it got a chance to eliminate the human TWICE. That is if it ever wins. Both Ashs simultaneously punched the Worm directly in the face with enough strength to make it stagger back to recover. It got really pissed off and charged forward again, but Ash and AT5 were already one step ahead. The boy caught the upcoming pincer-limb from above and gave his duplicate enough clearance to side kick it. Then, Ash punched its face again and AT5 roundhouse kicked it in its side, thus forcing it to roll to the right. Even its armor plating could not withstand their attacks, no matter how durable it was. It took a few steps back when the humans started to approach it. It tried to kick the clone, but he predictably grabbed it after and Ash punched it twice in the chest. It clutched its chest after it rested its pincer on its knee and faltered back. But, with the Worm now in its currently vulnerable state, this provided the humans enough time to activate their own respective finishers. Since today was the concluding day before Hearth's Warming, they thought they would, at least, perform something new before the New Year. Or whatever ponies call it in their world. AT5 looked to Ash, giving him the idea. After all, they do share the same mind. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" He said to his creator. Ash put on a smile which lasted short enough and agreed. "You said with your eyes, my friend," He responded calmly. Then, they both glanced at the Setio Worm who stood up, struggling to recover. It did not understand what they were talking about, but it was about to. Ash opened his arms by only a little bit, initiated a countdown to 3 using his three fingers on both hands as timers, ONE, TWO, THREE, , then AT5's chest started to glow a bright red wine-like substance which took the form of a 'G'. The monster did not do anything but watch. Watch as its life was coming to an end. His objective has not been succeeded and it never will be, but, at least, it will die trying. Ash sighed just as he only said two words while his duplicate said one word. RIDER.......KICK SWIRLING...... Suddenly, blue electricity began to crackle through Ash's body. He somehow managed to generate an illusion of the famous rhinoceros beetle Kamen Rider beside him. Sectio continued to watch because its body and mind were too petrified and confused about the situation it was currently facing. It was jolted even more when Ash's eyes began to gleam blue and the electricity grew stronger when it reached to the top of his hair and the illusion's horn. But, he was not the only one who obtained a spiritual figure when his look-alike also received a ghastly partner, but in a contrasting body structure. His eyes, unlike the original boy, glowed yellow alternatively and were G-shaped. They both did not mind this because this was not their first rodeo. After the two acquired their metaphysical, short-lasting allies, AT5 was able to swirl himself around and placed his right hand onto the ground after, creating a red streak along with his ally. Then, as time altered itself to slow down, RIDER KICK! ......RIDER KICK! , Ash and Illusion Kabuto both leaped into the air, followed by AT5 and G who used their legs to push themselves up as well. All four bipeds shot their foot outwards with the clone and Kamen Rider G, swirling their bodies in a corkscrew motion while Kabuto and Ash kept their bodies straight. And, with life flashing before its eyes, the Sectio Worm's chest was struck by mostly the humans' foot because the other Riders were merely illusions like Fourze's Fusion States. An explosion could be heard from such a far distance, it could reach the ears of the ponies outside of the area. But, if anypony was inside of the orchard field, they could witness the most epic yet dangerous occurrence to ever take place during this year's Hearth's Warming: an explosion of green fire....which unintentionally set some scorch marks on the pasture, trees, and anything else within its radius. If today was not the holiday of snow, then we all know what Applejack was going to do. The ponies and clones all heard its massive volume and turned their attention to the giant green explosion. While they did, they all stood triumphant when Applejack and Ash the 2nd finished off the last and only Worm left standing using her lasso and his Dragon Rod. He told her he would use it someday. "Uh," Applebloom asked. "is that supposed to be good or bad?" "Well," Twilight began to explain. "knowing the fact that explosions aren't always ordinarily green, I'm going to assume it was a good thing." "Hey," All of the Ash clones simultaneously thought. "I was gonna say that." Since they have the same traits, they have to, at least, gain the same thoughts. Abruptly, they spotted the two humans, soon approaching them through the snow-covered trees. The ponies also went over to them as well as the others. "Whoo! Nice job out there, partners!" She stood up high enough to manage a high five with the human 'creator'. "Hope those varmints don't cause any more trouble next time!" She stated with a smile. "Yeah," AT5 said. "I'm pretty sure they won't." Then, Applebloom came up and hugged him on the leg all of the sudden. She looked at him with those innocent puppy eyes which made him "D'aww-ed" inside and almost passed out. But, we all know the Tree is the true master of cuteness. "Alright, that's enough, Applebloom." She let go and let Twilight come forth. "Hey, Ash," The alicorn asked the original. "I honestly have to say. Out of all the abilities and powers I've seen you used, that duplication spell was definitely one of the most fascinating yet." She was still interested some of his other KR powers, but she put those aside for later. "But, I have to ask. When DID you exactly gain this power? You never told me about it." He lightly face-palmed himself because of not remembering to tell her about it yesterday. "Oh, right!" He cried lightly. "I totally forgot about that." He sighed afterward. While they were busy chatting and such, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie all held their own conversation behind their backs. "So, wait," Applejack said. "You're saying that another one of those 'Worm' things attacked Ash's duplicate in Cloudsdale?" "Yeah, duuuh!" Pinkie replied loud enough for the others to hear her but quickly ignored it. "But, that doesn't make no darn sense at all. How come there was one of them monsters in Cloudsdale when there was a bigger horde of them in the apple farm?!" She continued to solve this tricky puzzle but paused when Pinkie's chin began to literally stretch every time she stroked it. Suddenly, she gasped humorously as a light bulb popped up above her head but shortly died after. She looked up and tapped it a few times before it shined again. "Unless........" Meanwhile...... While the three figure out on why the Worm assault took place, we shift our view to the roof where another two-legged figure could be spotted, sitting on top of the snow-covered surface with its feet, dangling over the edge. We zoom in more to examine its features; it wore clothing of very dark purple, had two thinner and more spike-shaped horns, and a pair of black headphones. It also acquired two similar black horn-like body components on the side of its head and white gloves. It looked down on the ponies below, chatting and solving and whatnot. Sitting this high off the ground felt like a God to it, even though it possessed the same behavior of a 5-year-old. Maybe younger even. "Oooh, what's this?" He asked giddily in a similar but higher voice than Momo. "The pink pony is figuring out something? Hooray for her!" Then, he could overhear Pinkie when she said, ".......it was a DIVERSION!!" Suddenly, a loud "DUN, DUN, DUN!!" could be heard from above. It managed to reach the ears of the others who stopped their chattering and heard Pinkie out. "A diversion?" AT2 asked. "What do you mean?" "I mean," Pinkie explained. "think about it, everypony. It would take a BUNCH more enemies to actually call their attack an INVASION." All of them agreed with her, then Twilight decided to ask her. "What are you exactly suggesting here, Pinkie?" She asked her. The pink mare sighed of her slow understatement. "I'm SUGGESTING that somepony or rather SOMEONE tried to distract us while they plan the assault on Sweet Apple Acres! DUH!" Her neck stretched far enough for her muzzle to touch Twilight's. The alicorn pushed away her head. "So, that's why it was too easy for that Worm in Cloudsdale to be defeated!" AT5 exclaimed. "But," Applejack questioned next. "why would they go for MAH' family's farm instead of any other areas in Ponyville!?" She became more frustrated to understand the assault faster. "Hm," Pinkie put a hoof to her chin. "well, I think I'll have to analyze that question in the future. But, for right now," She looked to the direction to Ponyville. "I gotta go babysit the Cake twins. Catch ya'll later!!" And right as she said, the pink pony turned to the exit and exited the area by utilizing her legs once more to run so fast, she again left a Pinkie-shaped cloud to remain for a short while. But, Applejack still felt uneasy about the Worm attack. If those things or any type of other monsters alternately attack Ponyville next time, then who knows how they or Ash would handle it. Speaking of the boy, he sighed with disappointment to himself, followed by his duplicates. Then, he used his right hand to count from 5 to 1 which created four similar Wizard portals above their heads. Each one sunk down onto their bodies and dissipated them into tiny red sparks afterward. "Huh," Twilight said. "so that's how you use your duplication spell." She levitated a notebook and a quill from her mane which looked uncomfortable for Ash. Then, AJ spoke to them. "Hey, Twilight, Ash," AJ spoke with a requesting face. "Do ya'll mind if ya' leave for a bit? Mah' family needs to pick up after those Worms all over the farm. Plus, we need to plow away the extra snow from the ground." Twilight opened her mouth to offer help, but Ash eyed her with the 'she can take care of herself' face. "Yes, of course, Applejack." Twilight replied. "C'mon, Ash." She motioned him to follow and they both left to give the Apples some space. While they were leaving the farm, the orange pony looked at Rainbow Dash who still remained until she said, "I'm just gonna....y'know, go." She beat her wings as she ascended back into the sky with light speed. The snow still stayed intact from her take off, but her hooves left four circular hoof-prints in the snow. Meanwhile, the purple biped continued to observe her and her family, chatting to each other before embracing a warm hug together. The purple Imagin felt sorry for the Apples, in fact, this was one of the rare moment he has ever felt sorry for someone/somepony. ( In a sad way, of course. ) "Hm," He placed a glove-hand to his chin. "I'm starting to feel sorry for that little orange pony. And me feeling sorry only happens on extremely rare moments. Hehe!!" He placed his hands onto the roof, then proceeded to jump up and stand. He turned about, ran and jumped off the other side of the roof. He did an athletic triple front flip once he was off, resulting in him falling into the snow, head first. "Ow." Was the only word he needed to describe his state. On the bright side, at least he DID create a new form of snow angel from it: a snow Imagin. ( Get it!?..........No? ) Epilogue It was nightfall in Equestria and everypony prepared themselves to capture some Z's. They have all done their hard work during the day before Hearth's Warming and tomorrow, they will be rewarded by celebrating the night AFTER Hearth's Warming. The two royal pony sisters were also just about to tuck themselves in for the night. They both had a busy day, so it should be reasonable that the two of them get some sleep too. But, as they were about to lay their bodies onto their cushions, a bright, gray light enveloped the interior of the castle. This caught the princesses attention as they rushed to the source; the library section. They knew what the light meant, so they had to hurry up to witness it. Before they could reach the library, however, a small unidentified flying object suddenly sped pass them, forcing them to follow it from curiosity. Curiosity REALLY killed the cat that time. They pursued it, room after room, hallway after hallway until it finally fled from the castle and escaped through the balcony. The princesses were only 2 seconds behind it, but they did not actually wanted it to be caught. They simply wanted to confirm it was going to manage what they predicted. And, pretty sure enough, it did. They stared into the sky to watch the stars as they twinkled brightly and they counted on that the book will do its one job they expect it to at The Castle Of Friendship. Meanwhile, outside of the said castle, another strange and unknown object was floating aimlessly past the castle. Its design was similar to that of a glove, acquired three different colors: red, yellow, and green, and its fingers had green claws which were practically shaped like talons. Yet, the oddest feature about it was its red bracelet-like accessory that was coincidentally shaped like a hawk. The hawk's upper body and the top of its wings were red while its tail and lower part of its wings were both green and yellow. Suddenly, the Knowledge Keeper passed by the hand-like glove who stayed clear from it and somehow phased through the wall to Ash Griffin's room. The hand has seen many odd and unexplainable things happen, but the book just barged its way into 1st place. It caught the hand by interest, so it searched for a way in until eventually, it ended up finding a window opening. It did not need to enter the room, but rather observe it through the opening. The glove watched as the book landed in the center of the marble floor, then shined a very bright light that enveloped the entire interior in it. The hand had to back away to a safe distance so it would not become blind, even though it did not have any eyeballs. After the luminosity died down after 3 seconds or less, the hand finally floated nearer towards the opening. It turned out that the book had vanished somehow, but it also left a little 'gift' in his room as well as the throne room. The hand wondered where it had gone and although it did not normally gain curiosity so easily, this one definitely poked the bear. ( Whatever that means ) It realized it required a place to sleep, so without taking any chances whatsoever, it decided to go for a nearby tree, not too far from the palace. It laid itself onto the highest branch and with one final stretch of its fingers, it finally knocked itself out. > Morph #12: The Chase, The Crush, The Card And The Confrontation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- During the first official Hearth's Warming day, everypony was filled with cheer and joy and jumped out of their beds to celebrate the holiday of winter. Ash Griffin was no exception to be happy and excited for his first Hearth's Warming in Equestria. Albeit he does miss the original holiday, Christmas, he had already learned that if you love something, you have to, at least, let it go sometimes. However, his holiday morning did not start off like the others' for he discovered that he received a red box-like present wrapped in green ribbon right in the middle of his room. He questioned this at first but did not intentionally care at that moment. He promptly grabbed the holiday-themed present and exited the room to see if Twilight and Spike had awoken. To his curiosity yet also to his shock, he eventually found them, gawking at the sight prevailed near the town hall; a giant Christmas tree planted just beside the building. Under the tree, following the tradition done on Ash's planet, there lied dozens of wrapped presents with each pony's respective name helping the quadrupeds choose their correct presents. Twilight, much to her nerdy excitement, received a book wrapped in violet wrapping paper about Earth's history. She shrieked so much, she managed to succumb onto the snow-covered pavement. The other's rolled their eyes before Spike found a bucket full of water and splashed it all onto Twilight's face, making her gasp heavily and questioned on what she missed out on. During the opening of the presents, Ash Griffin finally revealed to all of the ponies his gift which turned out to be coincidentally the three festive Kamen Rider tools; the Road Winter shiftcar, the Christmas Ring, and the Santa Claus Eyecon. Ash questioned their presence in the box, considering he already can possess their power when he would practice to employ them. But before long, he and the entire town witnessed in awe as all three items began to float into the air and spun around in a circular motion. They formed a bright light that sped over to the star on top of the ornament-decorated pine tree and then, all eyes looked above their heads to see a silhouette of Saint Nicholas himself, performing a wave to the townsfolk below and shouting out his famous "Ho! Ho! Ho!" Twilight and Spike turned to Ash and asked him about who was that sleigh-riding individual to which he replied his very own name. He knew they would eventually ask him about Kris Kringle himself. Everything was jolly in Ponyville on that day forward and they all had a very Happy Hearth's Warming........... On the fifth day of January, somewhere in the Ponyville park,..... ....we can see nopony other than Ash Griffin once more, sitting on the white bench and flipping the page of a book he borrowed from the library. Earlier today, he wanted to learn more about Equestria's history and its magnificent interests in time, so he searched through the library until he came upon the exact book on the left-sided bookshelf. When he already took hold of the book and pulled it out, there came Spike who entered the library next. The juvenile drake asked jokingly to Ash on whether he was following in Twilight's hoof-steps and becoming a nerd himself. The boy responded by becoming mute and walking past the dragon who raised a purple eyebrow but ignored him quickly. For now, all he wanted was some peace and quiet during his reading session, though the chirping of the birds was a bit flustering. Ash has always been a sort of bookworm himself, similar to Twilight but not too much. He has always questioned why Twilight had such an obsession with books and eventually, his answer was discovered during that episode where the Mane 6 explained how they achieved their cutie marks to the Cutie Mark Crusaders. But, that leads to another question in mind which was unrealistic but also somewhat possible; what would his cutie mark be? He recognized some of the bronies' self-made cutie marks, but he also wondered if someday, he would turn into a pony as well. ( Not the fan-made type, though. ) He had already studied some several suggestions of his pony form's cutie mark; it could be a sort of fighting tool which would resemble his use of weapons and his combat skills, it could show the image of a steel heart, which could resemble his compassion for other people, for all we know, it could represent one of the Riders' logos, including Ghost's. He set this topic aside for later and kept on reading, looking up at the dirt road every 5 minutes just in case anypony walks by and greets him. The first time he arrived in the town, he has been receiving many greetings from ponies, but after a few days, he got used of the lessening quantity of said greetings. His reading was suddenly interrupted by a quiet rumbling sound which got louder and louder, causing the ground around the boy to shake including him and the bench. "Hm, is it just me....or is the ground becoming more-?" He pried into himself while bringing his attention to the source from the right. All he could see from the distance was a storm of dust clouds, following the dirt path's direction. "What is that......?" He got up from the bench with the book in tow and squinted his eyes, but could still not get a better view of the source, so he activated his Taka hawk-eyesight ability which made his eyes glow red once more and tried to make out the source this time. Afterward, his eyes could finally see through the cloud and spotted what seemed like a herd of cattle, stampeding their way towards his spot. "Hey, those cattle look kinda familiar......" Then, the ground beneath him became even more precarious than before which now made the trees vibrate. His ability then deactivated to see the stampede cloud, getting even closer, specifically speaking, they were actually about 100 yards away which got Ash's instincts to kick in. "Uh oh...." His eyes widened at the sight and the cattle were already 75 yards away from his position. He did not even notice them until he deactivated his Hawk-eyesight ability. His legs started to shiver and almost looked like they were about to collapse under his body structure. Even if he had the powers of courageous heroes, his fear of stampedes denied the fact. The stampede was now 50 yards away, making the human boy look to both his left and right. With no other choice but to hide Fluttershy-styled, he chose none other than the bench to roll behind and ducked to match up its size. He would have just used one of his powers to stop them, but he remembered what would happen if he used something dangerously stupid like the Tomarle Signal Bike's giant electricity-based stop sign. In reality, it would either just electrocute the cows and cook them into fresh steaks or stun them, thus knocking them out. In fact, he had not acquired the knowledge on how to make use of this special power just yet. His inability to stop the herd was proven the moment he heard the cattle got closer until finally, dust clouds and particles began to cover up his sight and his breath, making him cough several times. After all of the dust cleared up, he opened his eyes once more to stand up and see the road he was once standing on was now covered with cow hoof-prints. Luckily, the book was still in one piece, otherwise, he would have received an attempted beating from Flame-On Twilight back at the castle. However, his ears could pick some more hoof-steps coming from the same direction where he spotted the orange Apple herself, galloping after the herd along with Rainbow Dash who insisted on flying instead. Ash wanted to grab their attention for a minute by calling out their names, "Hey, guys!", but the two ignored the fact that Ash was present just by the bench and kept on running towards the herd. He raised an eyebrow to both their ignorance and the random stampeding herd of cattle. "What is going on here?" Knowing going on bare feet would not be enough to catch up to the speeding stampede, he then raised his left leg and visualized a pale blue machine included with a yoke of two big and thick wheels at the bottom. WHEEL ~ ON! After then, outlined parts became forming into the same shape and size of the transportation device. He shook his head out of his thinking session and put his newly built wheels onto the ground. "Oh, well. Might as well test this thing out while I'm at it." After a few seconds of checking out the corners and sides of the newly built machine, the wheels abruptly spun and created a burnout before reducing its friction to actually accelerate and catch up to the two mares. He just hoped he could accomplish this objective in time to continue reading the book he left behind the bench. But even so, something would tell him that he might need to retrieve it first by a mischievous red, clawed glove-like hand that flew down from the tree a few millimeters away behind the bench. It made sure the coast was completely sure by turning right and left before confirming it was alone and seized the book to return to the same tree to read it. If it was in a completely different kind of environment that differs the Earth's, it might as well read about some of the country's history. While the two ponies and human chased after the dairy-producers, we switch out viewpoint to the inside of the palace of Canterlot where Princess Luna, Goddess of the Night was roaming through the halls of said palace. Her small smile could be detected by the maids and the guards nearby with their heads turned every time she passed them by. The source, however, completely differed her smile, for she had a secret she needed to admit to somepony. One which she was too shy and embarrassed to talk out loud in public. She had been keeping this secret onto her chest for too long and she must discuss it with somepony she knows she could trust. She was soon face-to-face with the double-doors to the throne room inside, gazing upon its massive size first before gently opening them to reveal her sister, sitting on her throne with comfort as usual. There was also a mare in a brown business suit, awaiting her stack of papers to all be signed by the princess herself. Luna felt unusually nervous about this which was what nopony would see every day. She was not sure that explaining the topic to her elder sibling was such a good idea. Her gulping could show the intensity, weighing down on her like a meteor crushing an entire forest. She was about to step back and pretend like this scene never happened when Celestia spotted her in front of the royal doors with a calm yet questioning smile. The two guards below her throne noticed her sister too, not saying a word about her presence. "Oh, Luna!" Celestia called out to the younger ruler whose legs seemed like they were about to collapse on each other by shuddering too much. This action did not go unnoticed by the princess of the Sun nor the mare and the guards who raised their eyebrows in question at her conduct. "Is something the matter?" Celestia asked, but her sister continued to rock her legs uncontrollably with unease. Luna's ears could pick up her sister's two sentences, hence with a calming sigh to cool her off, she finally spoke her first sentence. "Sister, may we speak in private?" She asked. Tia did not see why she wanted to but guessed it was probably about some royal stuff. "Yes, of course." Her horn's luminosity died down as she handed over the stack of papers to the mare and asked her to leave. The same went for the guards and so, the three ponies all left the room, leaving the two co-rulers of Equestria to have a private meeting slash chat. "So, what is it that you wish to talk to me about, Luna?" She could pick up a calming sigh produced by her sister, also commonly used by Twilight and Cadence. This was the moment of truth, the moment where she divulges her secret to somepony that she has trusted for a long time. Her hooves carried her nearer to the throne and let her sit on the platform to Celestia's right. Her eyes faced her elder sister's and thought of the words on how to describe the question without looking like a sweaty nervous wreck. "Tia," Her eyes then looked down shortly before looking at Tia again. "I.....I....." Unexpectedly, she found herself being wrapped by a white wing the next moment that caught her by slight surprise. But, this did not stop her from explaining her situation and proceeded. "I....have a confession to make...a secret, to be more specific." Luna could still see the white alicorn's questioning smile that gave her a hint of what was going to be spoken next. "A secret? What type of secret?" "Well, um..." Her hoof then raised higher to her mouth and bit on it softly because of pure pressure. "do you ever get that feeling where....your eye suddenly, you know.....catches somepony of your interest?" An eyebrow was raised to this question by Celestia who was smiling secretively in her mind. "Where are you going with this, Lulu?" "I'm just supposing that....I might have caught somepony of great interest and trust. But then, I began to get this feeling in my chest that wants to explode and say something....unusual to that pony." Shortly, Celestia giggled before guessing the answer to Luna's question. After all, it is not every day somepony would have the 'feelings' for another, rarer for the princess honestly speaking. "I think I know what you are experiencing, Luna." She may have turned her head away from Luna, but the Night Princess could still see Celestia's smirk. It was a little disturbing which made her think that Tia already knew about who was this 'pony' she spoke of. She was about to speak more when Tia interrupted her by saying, "I think....you have a crush on somepony." It was surprising to see Luna's cheeks had gone from their typical night blue to a hot red and her nervous smile did not help her in any way to hide it whatsoever. She tried to lightly protest, but the words did not come out, only incomplete stutters. Celestia knew she was too nervous to speak any more than that, but she merely wanted to help her sister with this issue, especially if the scene got privately awkward. Her sister's mouth still continued to falter, so she shushed Luna calmly which worked perfectly to get her to pipe down. "There's no need to be so nervous, Luna." Luna sighed thanks to Celestia halting her speech. "You can stop of you want." "Thank you, Tia. It's just that...." Luna sighed again of uneasiness. ".....I do not think it is normal for me to experience this feeling of having a....'crush'." "Don't you recall what happened when Princess Cadence and Shining Armor got married? I believe that's what you are feeling right now." She did make a good point to Luna's opinion about that. After all, those two DID had feelings for one another on first sight. But, what about Luna? She had never set her eyes on any stallion in Equestria, mostly because she was sent to the moon for about 10 centuries. "Considerably, I suppose that does make sense." A hoof was placed to her chin when she began to think more. "But, what does that make me? I don't even know the first thing about.....this feeling." Luna knew she needed some help, but not like this. Celestia then thought on her own to help her before confirming her said thought, whatever it was. "Tell you what, sister." Luna raised an eyebrow before Celestia went on. "Maybe sometime later, I can help you overcome your issue in some way. Then, you can tell me anything else that you have included about this problem, alright?" This made the younger sister almost wanted to smile with pure hilarity, but instead, all the white ruler had received from her was a casual smile of thankfulness which could work as well. "Oh, thank you so much, sister!" She hugged Celestia with warmth which made her embarrassed but did not expect for Tia to hug her back. This went on until 3 seconds of embracing later when Luna cleared her throat, "I will take my leave now if you may.", and with the approving nod from Tia, she flew down and placed her hooves back on the floor before exiting the throne room. Celestia felt happy that her sister was falling in love with somepony, but she also wondered on who she might have a crush on. It is possible for her to have a crush on Big Macintosh if you compare the size and great courage they both possess, but that apple stallion was not much of a talker to many ponies, so he was out of the picture. She could think of other stallions in Equestria that might have her interest, but they mostly respect her as a ruler rather than a 'lover'. So, who could it be? Whoever it was, she needed to find out about the stallion she has gone head-over-heels to before any opportunity among them "poofs" away. We exit the castle to adjust our view to a few kilometers down yonder where we can see an all too familiar zebra's hut, located very deep in the Everfree Forest, one of the most terrifying and most bizarre places ponies have ever discovered. Some say that its weather was uncontrollable by pegasi, the plant life do not need the assistance from Earth ponies to grow and also, scary and spooky monsters have been heard and seen lurking in its environment. Ash Griffin, however, was not creeped out by it one bit. This was basically the same behavior for any forest back on his planet, in fact, self-growing plants and uncontrollable yet predictable weather were pretty much commonly recognized in any type of area back on Earth. The reason why he has explained this was because Twilight asked him about his thoughts on the said forest to which he replied, 'Meh, I don't mind.' He had a good point. Back in the mirror world where the alicorn and drake were sent to retrieve her crown, her human-turned unicorn friend, Sunset Shimmer explained to her about the weather and the environment of her new home during her 'encounter' with a certain purple-skinned counterpart of hers. But, enough of that for it is time to dive in and see what the rhyming zebra has in store for us. Our view soon changed to the inside of the hut, showing off the various potions and creepy yet decorative tribe masks hanged up on the wall. It was unknown why this zebra liked disturbing masks that much, but others claimed to not complain. In the center, we see Zecora herself, wearing a pair of safety goggles while pouring a greenish potion liquid into her cauldron from an onion bottle. Her mouth helped to keep the jar facing downwards as one last drop of it was finally poured. Once that was done, she placed the bottle aside and wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, proving her hard work was not an easy task. Although, her smile said otherwise of her near success of her objective.....whatever it was. But this time, she was not working alone because we can hear three other voices coming from one of the shelf areas behind her back. We watch none other than The Cutie Mark Crusaders themselves, searching the five shelves for a flask bottle of orange glass. They had no idea what was inside of the bottle, though. But, they searched for it non-stop whatsoever. After all three eyes locked onto the second shelf above the first below, they had spotted a bottle the same shape and color of what Zecora described. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle both turned to Scootaloo who nodded immediately and her wings began to beat frequently until she was slightly airborne. She did not need to ascend too high nor did she want to. Eventually, she reached the second shelf and her hoof grabbed it, descending back to the brown-recolored floor. The three crusaders all smiled at her before turning around and walked forward to hand/hoof it over to Zecora. "Hey, Zecora!" Applebloom called the zebra who turned her head to them at once. "We got-!" Without warning, Scootaloo blindly tripped over a small rock in her path, face planting onto the floor and also, much to the other's horror, flung the bottle over a distance. All eyes widened as the bottle spun in slow motion in the air and thought that it was going to release the potion by shattering onto the floor, but thanks to sheer luck, its cork instead somehow loosened itself before it set down onto the pot's side part and poured all of its coincidentally orange fluid into the cauldron. Then, it let gravity finally pull it down to the ground with only a few drops of its potion to spare. The zebra and two non-face planted fillies sighed heavily of relief and soon, Scootaloo freed her face from the floor and sighed as well after regaining her vision. That moment could have been heartbreaking for Zecora because that was the last one of her orange potions that she presently had. "Whew!" A hoof on Sweetie Belle's forehead wiped off the sweat. "That was a close one!" "Yeah." Scootaloo followed. "Good thing we got lucky this time." They could soon see the smile on Zecora's face, which made them proud that they had helped yet another pony ( or zebra, specifically ) in reaching their goal. "Oh, thank you, Cutie Mark Crusaders!" Zecora thanked them with an unusually high voice. "This truly warms my heart! I knew I needed your assistance from the very start!" Her hooves then reached the three fillies and hugged them warmly to their appreciation. It was not every day when you get whatever sort of hug from a zebra these days. But, Zecora realized that she was acting like only half of herself, so she broke the embrace with an 'I didn't do it' face and switched the subject. "So, did we get all of the ingredients possessed by me and all of you or did we miss anything to be summed into the green brew?" This question forced Sweetie Belle into using her horn to levitate a nearby list on a wooden counter and read through it one more time. "Hm, let me check...." The only sound the others could hear from the unicorn filly's voice was quiet muttering, so they waited for 4 seconds before she confirmed it. "Yep! Looks like we got everything." Zecora 'Hm-ed' with a delightful smile. Scootaloo, however, was not yet convinced that this brew or elixir or whatever it was was completed, so she proceeded to ask a question. "So, what are we supposed to do now?" She asked. "I mean, we already got all of the ingredients and potions we needed, but isn't something supposed to happen once we're finished?" Sweetie Belle thought that she made a good point about that assertion. She did not technically read ALL of the scroll's steps, in fact, she was muddled as to why she missed one more step at the very bottom of it she spotted just now. She squinted her eyes and read the last step on the rolled-up bottom of the scroll. "Huh, you're right, Scootaloo. It says here that the last step we need to do is.....light up the firewood underneath the cauldron." "Anythin' else?" Applebloom asked next. "Yeah, it also says that we need some sort of card and dump it into the elixir." Everpony raised their eyebrows at her read statement, even Zecora did not know why and she was the one who found this scroll about, what like 1 and a half hour ago. But, she decided to question even further to speed up this process anyway. "And what type of card do you exactly proclaim? A one for witchery, power or those ones you commonly play as a game?" The white unicorn read through more of the step on the back page of the scroll and certified it once again. "Well, it doesn't say anything on the list, but I think just a plain card will do the trick.'' Suddenly, all of them heard Scootaloo giggled with pride which made them confused. Did she bring the item they required or is she just laughing because of the 'card' part? "Well, lucky for you, I've happened to bring an assortment of cards for when we're finished with helping Zecora." She proved this by drawing out a box cards out of her mane with some strands stuck to it. Scootaloo wiped off all of the purple hair from it and showed it to the group. Being curious, Applebloom was about to ask her about how she actually got that entire box to fit in her hair, but seeing that they were almost finished anyway, she hesitated from speaking further. And she said those cards were unnecessary to bring. The orange pegasus gave Sweetie Belle a card she slipped out of the box with her friend's horn, lighting up and levitating the card above the pot of green fluid. She already remembered that the pot needed to be fired up, so she asked none other than..... "Zecora, would you do the honors of lighting this fire up?" Her hoof pointed to the firewood below with her horn still glowing a light lime green. "Certainly, Sweetie Belle." Without wasting any time, she grabbed a match nearby and skidded its top onto the cauldron, therefore creating a little flame of heat and instantly threw it into the firewood. The three crusaders were always warned to never play with matches when they were a tad younger, but since they were somewhat grown up now, they were allowed to even stand near a fire. With a sudden burst of flames, the fire finally began to spread to the remaining wood successfully and in doing so, the green liquid began to boil which got Sweetie Belle on queue. "Well, here goes nothing." She deactivated her magic right away before the card fell into the brew and sunk afterward, leaving the others in absolute curiosity. What was supposed to happen now? Will it do something dangerous? Or will it bring a miracle to them? Who knows? Only 5 seconds passed and Scootaloo was already getting hyped up about this prospect, so she attempted to speed it up. "So,.....what now?" She asked. Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to answer but paused at the sight of a bright white light in the corner of her eye. To be more clear-cut, it was originating from inside of the cauldron which caught all of the four by surprise and awe. "Woah....." was the only word they needed to depict its beauty, especially Zecora. She had never witnessed any of her potions shine or glow a light, even when she tried to create that 'glow-in-the-dark' potion last week. Suddenly, the giant charcoal pot started to shake furiously, which made the unicorn filly back away quickly to the rest of the group in fear. Then, it happened; the vat abruptly shot out a straightforward beam of green light into the air that created a hole in the hut's roof in the process. The fillies and zebra's eyes all widened even more and their mouths hung even lower. Forcing her eyes to look at Zecora, Applebloom tried to demand an answer from her while not gawking at the occurrence. "Uh, Z-Zecora?" She asked apprehensively. "W-what do you suppose that is?" Her hoof wiggled in fear while pointing at the shaft of light. "I-I-" Stammering was all she could do because of the mysterious sight until- "I......don't know." The moment the filly was about to yell out, "WHAT!?!?", an object of the utter mystery suddenly appeared inside of the shaft, floating between the roof and cauldron. It was hard to make out with the naked eye, but they could still see its structural shape; it was rectangular and its color was temporarily darkened by the beam's uncanny light. The goggles on Zecora's face still remained because of the straps which were unnecessary because no wind was being produced and no obstacles were being flung or blown straight to them. Finally, after a longer span of seconds and without preparation, the group soon had to shield their eyes because of a brighter flash of white light that the fillies thought was brilliant than the Sun. It only lasted seconds before it died down and allowed the ponies and one zebra to put their hooves away and scan the area. Not much destruction was caused with the exclusion of the roof and also, Zecora found out that her cauldron was charred, which could be because of the fire that remained as smoke that rose into the air. The event was so stunning and utterly miraculous that even some of the nearby forest animals and critters saw the shaft of light protruding out of the hut. But, since they knew that the zebra had always mysterious, they ignored this quickly. The four did not even realize they were sitting on their haunches and closed their mouths, which strangely produced a hinge-like sound effect. They all got onto their hooves once again and looked at each other, reassuring about what to do and took a few cautious steps forward to the giant charcoal vat. They did not care if it would be dangerous and besides, they have dealt with worse. Once they were close enough, they all took their respective sides of the cauldron and peeked at the inside; they spotted the card which meant it was a success but saw that something was different about it. Instead of the normal poker card it was before the experiment, its design had changed to that of Tsukasa Kadoya's Attack Ride cards with the green background and every little detail added. Of course, they had such little idea on what is was, but they figured that it was maybe recognizable to Ash and the other Riders he explained to the fillies. However, Zecora was the most entranced with this card because she had only heard a portion of the things that Ash Griffin had done in the past couple of weeks and months during his unintended stay, even if she lived in the deepest parts of the Everfree. She wanted to learn more about it, so she reached her hoof into the cauldron and grabbed the card using the unexplainable way of grabbing items with hooves. ( How do they work, dammit!? ) Anywho, she examined all sides of the cards from the edges to the back, giving the CMC a better look at it. Although it acquired every little detail of an exact Attack Ride card, it did not possess an image of an attack nor a rider. This knowledge was hitherto to be revealed to them and they still wondered what the card was until Sweetie Belle chose to break the ice. "Zecora, what happened to the card....?" She asked her zebra friend. "Hm, I believe the card has somehow changed its design and color to one where nopony recognizes from the others." The rhyming one responded. "Obviously." Scootaloo thought and Applebloom asked her own question. "And do ya' think it might have something to do with Ash Griffin? Y'know, the hume-an that arrived in Equestria about two or four months ago?" She still had some trouble pronouncing the foreign word and she was just making sure Zecora also knew who he was. Ever since he arrived, it seemed HIGHLY impossible for anypony to forget his face. Zecora giggled to Applebloom's unnecessary description. "Of course, I recognize who the human is and I think it would be improbable for anypony to forget him, even in a quiz." The three crusaders all "Meh-ed" to each other and let the adult continue her statement. "And to answer your previous question, Sweetie Belle......" She paused her sentence for more thinking and continued. "I do think that this card is related to the Griffin human, however, I will need more information to prove their relation." The Cutie Mark Crusaders all agreed to the zebra, except for one little fact that none of them have known yet: they had no idea where he was. But, that thought was disturbed when they all suddenly felt like the entire surface beneath them was vibrating......... Meanwhile...... While the ponies all handled with their own situations, we shift our view to a place where we thought we would never lay eyes on until the finale; Earth. Our home planet and the only currently known planet to possess life. We then zoom through the planet's atmosphere and zoom in on a location, somewhere in the heart of Japan to take in the surrounding area. We can see many buildings for miles with so many citizens, roaming around the streets as some of them were chatting on their phones while others just minded their own business. However, our final scene will not start in a city, but we will be alternatively at the park where not much technology reigned over. At this location, there were mostly flora and some fauna as well if you count the little butterflies and other insects that lurked under people's shoes. Okay, technically they actually live in grass-filled lands or other areas, but the description is kind of difficult to make out with their size. And what was more or less interesting was the fact that not many people have gone to the park today because they had work and other obligations to perform. However, without expectation, a strange, buzzing noise was produced somewhere near the lake which came included with also a materializing object of a rectangular shape. It looked like its entire physical structure was flashing from invisible to visible continuously until it eventually stood tangible, completely visible to the eyes of a human, but since there were no humans around, it was totally unobtrusive and non-attention drawing to humans from a far distance. Coincidentally, this strange object was actually Doctor Whooves's T.A.R.D.I.S. with its glory and.....blueness and stuff. Abruptly, the left door swung open from the inside to reveal not the face of the average Joe Time Turner, instead it showed the face of a grayish-brown stallion, wearing a blue top hat who was venturing this world with his other companion, one to fill in Derpy's place in case she was busy with helping Clockwork. Apparently, the mare in question was none other than the one featured in that Breezies' episode during Season 4. Because I want to end this chapter as soon as possible because I'm too tired of making an entire scene with audible chats, I will have to mute the voices as this part of the story comes to its end. The mare poked her head out of the doorway to make sure no one was around before exiting the spacecraft fully and stood onto the grass with her hooves. Obviously, they chatted for a while about being in the right location and other junk that I will also mute. But, things were soon about to take an unexpected turn when a pair of legs accidentally bumped into Time Turner's rear side, catching him by surprise. Forcefully disabling his cheeks from becoming red, he turned around with an annoyed face and was about to yell out to the stranger behind him about what his bloody business was when he realized he was facing a tall biped with a bag of donuts in his hand. The gray pony could recognize the treats in the bag from the sugar, sticking onto his top lip, plus there was a logo of a doughnut on the bag after all. He had to raise his head up to see his face and could spot his few other features such as brown hair, a black jacket added with a plain red shirt, and a couple of purple jeans. The beige skinned human looked to the two ponies who gawked a bit at his appearance, copying his current facial expression. The biped's eyes then spotted the T.A.R.D.I.S. with more confusion fueling his curiosity with questions beyond the simple level. He then looked back at the ponies and asked himself, 'Korera no uma wa daredesu ka?', 'Karera wa yūkō-tekidesu ka?', 'Karera wa Magic Land kara kimashita no?' The three continued to stare at each other with their mouths opened to any flies that might want to enter and their brains were creating questions faster than anyone could say, "Open Sesame". Since the moment was silence with a touch of awkwardness, the only ice breaker was produced by the Dragon-Man. "Dakara,.......Magic Land ka nanika kara kimitachi wa nanidesu ka?" > Morph #13: The Clover And The Crab > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Following what happened last time, the zebra and three fillies all felt like an earthquake was occurring around them when in truth, the herd of cattle had managed to reach the inside of the Everfree Forest and were still stampeding without a second of stopping. They all realized this when Zecora opened the door to see what was happening outside. The cows were not the only ones in the forest, though because they also spotted the human and the two previously mentioned Elements Of Harmony who were still attempting to stop these cattle before they encounter anything dangerous in these spooky woodlands. In the end, they did manage to stop the cattle before they could plummet to the bottom of Ghastly Gorge which Ash could not understand how they got this far. As for the Doctor and Roseluck, that will have to wait for another time............. As a cloud from high above drifted slowly to the right, Ponyville was having another run of the mill day. But, we all know that we are not here for such average things, for now, its is time to see what our fellow protagonist is up to today. As we head into the inside of the one and only Carousel Boutique, we spot Ash Griffin once again, this time helping the fashionista of Ponyville test out her new, fresh-from-the-box clothing line. He was currently sitting on the circular platform, surrounded by three oval-shaped mirrors that showed his reflection from three different angles. Rarity was busy in her bedroom, preparing her creation for Ash to test out later while Sweetie Belle was accompanying the boy in case he needed somepony to talk to. She was kind of free for today because the other crusaders were pretty busy themselves back at their homes with "family issues". They have been chatting for a while about gossip and stuff, especially about that time when Sweetie and the girls accidentally crashed Scootaloo's scooter into a tree and ended up in weird and........awkward positions near each other. This went on for only a few minutes when the sound of clopping could be heard from the purple stairway just beside the platform. "What do you think a girl wants from you if she leaves a fake mustache at your house?" Ash asked Sweetie Belle, who did not have enough time to reply because their ears could pick up a pony's hooves from the stairway, signifying that Rarity was done doing whatever she was doing on the second floor. Their heads turned to the mare herself, along with a pony-based mannequin wearing a sort of hoodie. The said hoodie happened to have two colors on each side, one green and one black, including a few lines and stripes of yellow and purple. It had long sleeves that followed the same pattern and color as the rest of the design and in the neck area, it also featured a white scarf attachment which Rarity thought could add more dazzle to it. The clothing was enough to catch the filly and human's eyes on the first look of its design and style. The white unicorn already noticed that the two were starting to enjoy staring at the hooded-accessory that almost made her giggle in pleasure. "Sorry to keep you two waiting," She apologized, still pushing the mannequin to its rightful spot in front of them. "The scarf was a bit loose in the neck area, so I had to improvise a little bit. So, what do you think, Ash?" Ash blinked for a moment. "I think......that is the most amazing hoodie I have ever seen....in my entire life," He complimented on the accessory which put a grateful smile on Rarity's face. Then, she soon realized about Sweetie Belle being in the room as well. "And what about you, Sweetie Belle?" She asked her only younger sibling. "Would you say that this hoodie would 'take the cake' if you may?" Her only reply was a surprised face that was short lived when Ash leaned closer to her and snapped his fingers in her face. Finally, she was canceled from her trance and repeatedly blinked later on. "Wow, Rarity!" She said with a surprised tone. "You've really outdone yourself this time! But for the record, whoever says 'take the cake' anymore?" She reminded Rarity the use of old pony words that were used during a long time ago when ponies were less advanced with technology and transportation. The mare put a hoof to her chin and thought before confirming her sister's statement. "Hm, I suppose it is kind of an old phrase." Ash would decidedly agree with her. People have been using old phrases willy-nilly since these days like 'jiffy' and such. "But, moving on, I believe it's time for Mr. Ash here to try out my latest creation." Ash's cheeks were luckily able to hold in a blush from Rarity calling him a mister, though his smile sort of gave it away. After rubbing his hands together enthusiastically, the boy stood up from the podium and walked towards the mannequin, examining more of its design and fashion to his eyes. "So, what do you exactly call this thing, Rarity?" Ash pointed out the unexplained name in the form of a question. "Oh, that's right! I completely forgot about that part!" She exclaimed. But, in all truth, she was just fooling around with them which was why her giggle clearly divulged it. "Oh, I'm just hoodwinking with you two. I would NEVER forget to name ANY of my beautiful and glamorous outfits and clothing. EVER." Ash secretly called her a troll for what she did just now, though that move was pretty weak if you admit it. Sweetie Belle's bemused look was no exception either. "But, in all honesty, I was kind of thinking that I should let you pick the name for it, Ash." The boy's eyes slightly widened up from shock when she stated that. "Wait, are you serious, Rarity?" He asked not from confusion, but enthusiasm. "Of course, I'm serious!" She happily replied. "After what all you've done for us and the rest of Ponyville, I figured I would at least give you this type of opportunity. Besides, the others would have probably given you something like this, wouldn't they?" She did make a good point. For months, Ash Griffin has been protecting ponies here and there from the evil and sinful clutches of Tokusatsu villains ever since his arrival. This topic also brought him the fact about his two Eyecons back at the castle. ( Three if you count the Multi Eyecon ) Lately, he has been saving the town more than trying to collect Eyecons for an unexplained reason which did not bother Ash at all, but he could never shake off the feeling that collecting these Eyecons from Equestria's ancient and past heroes has a secret purpose, much like to the ones on Earth. Of course, he did not know what this said purpose was because he has only seen ONE episode of Ghost only. What he was able to do to gain the Eyecons from before was all thanks to Celestia's and ( surprisingly ) Discord's instructions. "Well, I guess." He admitted once he was done thinking. "Gee, Ash!" Sweetie Belle grabbed their attention. "If you keep this superhero rider stuff up for longer, I bet you'll get loads of cool stuff in no time flat!" That got him to giggle proudly thanks to Sweetie Belle. "Well,....I mean....I'm not that famous. Just a....normal guy, fighting villains, y'know?" His dodging in conversations was not as perfect as he does it physically. Rarity managed to keep in a giggle for herself but quickly got back to the primary matter at hoof/hand. "Well, unless any of us has anything else to say, I suggest you put it on for a try as you think of a name for later, Ash." The mare reminded them. "Right." Once they were all finished chatting, Ash's hands reached out at the hoodie and released it from its former lifeless owner and held it up to his eye level. "Hm..." His feet carried him back to the podium and stood still once he was one. After that, he threw it over his shoulder with his hands still holding on and placed it onto his back and shoulders. His hands then reached into the sleeves of the hoodie and poked themselves free out of the holes. After shaking his fingers a bit, he pulled the right opening chest part to stick with his body more and for more style before adjusting the silver-like scarf piece. He looked into the three oval mirrors to check himself out which made him honestly feel like a badass right now. If his friends at school were here right now, there would be no doubt that they would be freaking jealous at this moment. His small but revealing smile got Rarity to get confident that her latest project could or would be a smash hit. After a few check-'em-ups, Ash finally turned around for the other two to see for themselves. The eyes of Sweetie Belle sparkled like stars in the nighttime. The fashionista pony could not wait any longer and had to ask him. "So, do you like!?" She asked, eagerly waiting for a definite answer from the beige biped. But, what came out of his mouth will forever shock a fashion designers face. "I don't like it." Just as he said that, his ears could detect a shattering sound, obviously coming from inside the pony's body or the window in her room. The sisters' mouths gaped open wide enough for ants to enter inside. Ash was a little creept out when Rarity's right eye started twitching rapidly. This was absolutely not expected by Rarity or Sweetie Belle who both that he would have, at least, give a thumbs up ( he taught them about that ) to the hoodie, but instead, all it got was a raspberry blow. The mare's inside started to break up into shattered pieces of glass, especially her kidneys which should not seem mentally possible. "W-w-w-w-w-w-what?" She stuttered out of a complete bombshell. However, Ash did not intend to keep this insult lasting any longer than this, so...... "Just kidding......I LOVE IT!!!" His sudden second and official opinion was more than enough for Rarity to calm her mood and thankfully stopped her eye from ominously twitching too fast. After shaking both their heads into relief, their faces now replaced gaping mouths with big smiles of excitement. The fashionista was glad that he was only horsing around, otherwise, she would have killed him for his false insult. ( Figuratively with a hint of literal sense ) "Y-you really do LOVE it!?" She asked again with an excited tone. "You bet I do!" He answered with clear positivity. "And that, my friends, is how you troll somepony!" Neither Rarity nor her sister knew what he meant, but did not actually care right now. Suddenly, a thought just came back to Sweetie Belle who quickly mentioned to the others. "Hey, now that you've admitted that you like it, you can now choose a name for it now, right?" This made both of them "Aaah-ed" in realization. Ash's hand stroked his chin briefly before he came up with something. "Well, I can think about possibly a hundred names, but I think I would choose........" Suddenly, his explanation was cut short when a giant, unforeseen boulder came crashing into the boutique, thus destroying the left portion of the building which had a few cloth stands and barber stands. Shocked to infinity by this, Rarity rushed over to the left side and scanned the destruction the boulder caused. It caused some of the second ceiling to break into pieces and the entire portion of the building was totally wrecked. "NOOOO!!!!" She cried into the sky as she picked up one of her dresses that looked torn and ripped apart by the giant rock. "MY DRESSES!!!" Tears of countless numbers started to fly from her eyes as she cried our loud for ponies to hear. The other two just stood there, completely baffled about the unexpected event until some other noises came from outside the building. The two quickly ran to the outside while the mare stylist still wept on her way to see so much destruction has happened while they were not looking. The trees were ripped from the ground and thrown into random places, possiblly towards the civilians who, by the way, were running and screaming like in those kaiju films. While Sweetie was the one who was mostly shocked about this, Ash, still wearing his hoodie, was confused and a little bit angered at the scene and wanted to immediately figure out who had done this. "Who-w-who could've...done all of this?" The little filly asked in a stuttering tone. However, her answer was actually in front of their southeast when it tossed another tree at some civilians who luckily avoided it in time. It quickly noticed the two before it started to slowly walk towards them which got Ash and Sweetie's attention. Ash could notice that Sweetie Belle's legs were starting to tremble of fear from the monster and felt like he needed to kick that said monster's hiney ASAP for some reason. "Sweetie Belle, get back inside," He ordered her calmly. Not needing to be reminded twice, the filly immediately did what he said and got back inside the boutique to accompany Rarity as she cried over the loss of her dresses. Once that was done, Ash stood still as the creature was getting nearer to him. To mention the details, its color scheme was ironically based on Fourze's SN Magnets State and its left arm had a silver ball instead of a humanoid hand which looked like it could punch through rock. Its body was all rip, its chest also had a silver ball, only smaller, there were pieces of what looked like metal sticking out its two shoulders and the left side of its head, its right arm and leg were red while his other left appendages were blue, and finally, it had two metal rod-like things protruding out of its back. Ash was not going to move a muscle until the creature did, so he made up a conversation with it. "Say, I'll give you a chance, Mr. Violence Dopant," He explained to the finally recognized Dopant calmly. "Either we do this the easy way.....or the hard way." He punched his left palm while some wind blew his back scarf piece. The monster did not seem intrigued with his peace conversation ( nor would it ever ), so like any other villain the human has fought in the past, it charged furiously towards the boy and brought its left hand forward. Unfortunately, its tactic failed when Ash swiftly jumped into the air and performed an easy twirling-front flip, thus landing onto the ground on his feet with the hoodie still intact. It became instantly angry at Ash's dodging and turned around to grunt in fury. Ash's face was still able to stay relaxed and invulnerable. He has not been taking things too seriously since now which confused him a bit but did not mind it after a while. "I guess we're doing this the hard way, then. But, before we start fighting, let me just say this." Then, he cleared his throat a tad bit before turning to his side and pointed his finger in a gun-like gesture. "NOW, COUNT UP FOR YOUR SINS!" 'Yes! I've always wanted to say that!' Not amused by his catchphrase, the Dopant performed what sounded like a mix between a false roar and a loud grunt before charging full steam ahead again, followed by Ash who ran into action as well. After they have gained a close distance between each other, the Dopant swung its left arm again at Ash but was canceled by his own left hand grabbing its appendage before it nearly struck his face. The boy did a swift punch using his other hand as a fist to punch the monster's own face before giving a sweet kick to its chest. It stumbled back a bit before receiving a quick round of two flying punches and spinning kicks by Ash which were enhanced thanks to his Cyclone abilities. Next, Ash was thinking he could use his Joker abilities this time ( somehow ) and got it to work when he hastily grabbed the Dopant by the shoulders and gave it three good black-flaming knee kicks before going back to his Cyclone ability to punch the beast to the right. Mr. Violence rolled to the right, thus landing on his front while completely damaged and in pain. Ash's non-stop series of attacks were as fast as the wind ( quite literally speaking ) that it could not even counter attack with its strong ball-like hand. Suddenly, it saw Ash coming towards it which honestly scared it a little, yet all it did was trying to get up from the grass. "Had enough?" Ash asked to the monster. He actually felt bad for these villains, not managing to defeat/kill him because of his incredible powers and for not putting up a good fight against him. This was starting to feel like the One Punch Man storyline all over again. ( Yes, I've watched the show ) But, the Violence Dopant was not willing to give up anytime soon, not much to Ash's surprise because that is how most villains behave. It furiously pounded the ground with its ball-hand and quickly got up onto its feet before grunting more loudly into the sky and charged once again, straight on. "I guess not." The human waited for after it tried to punch him with its right hand this time before dodging to the left and kicked it in the chest and immediately after that, it swung its left hand that was easily eluded by the boy that later gave another two punches and a roundhouse kick to its chest. And just for safe measures, he also placed his left hand on the ground before slightly jumping and kicking the monster with both of his feet sideways. It staggered back once more from his attack but suddenly dropped to the ground on its hands and knees, struggling from its weakening body. This gave Ash confidence that he would finish Mr. Violence off in one final go as it was "sort-of" nice meeting with him. After looking at his non-existent watch on his wrist, "I think my schedule's pretty done with this fight," he pulled the hood from behind his hoodie onto his head as he prepared to initiate his final action. "so let's make this quick, okay?" The Violence Dopant was shortly confused at his statement before observing Ash's finisher that first off, created powerful winds of green that formed into a cyclone-like shape which also pulled in various stones and rocks from the ground and secondly, lifted him high up into the air with him doing W's pose once he was in the air. After a few more rocks got engulfed into his tornado, the Dopant had a chance to stand up one more time which would do nothing against the human's cyclone. "I usually hate goodbyes, but I don't think I'll miss this one. So, goodbye!" Ash used up most of his last remaining energy to backflip in midair before aiming both of his feet straight towards Mr. Violence in a standing position. Then, he was immediately shot out of the cyclone to initiate the last step for his finisher before the two right and left halves of his body split, revealing a yellow aura inside his two halves. DOUBLE EXTREME!! Eventually, Ash's right foot had connected to the Dopant's chest first, followed by his left foot which made Mr. Violence explode and let Ash's connected halves pass through it. The boy exited his landing pose right before he turned around to watch as the fire slowly disappeared, "Looks like I'm done here - huh?" but was not expecting to find an actual Dopant Gaia Memory inside of the fire in the process. "Is that a....?" Ash could not believe his eyes. He knew that Dopants are created by inserting a Memory into a human's body utilizing that machine called the L.C.O.G. ( Living Connector Operation Gun ), but seeing a Gaia Memory without a host was very suspicious to the boy. He wanted to investigate the Memory even further, but the fire was still active, so after pushing his hood back down, he raised his right leg a bit and pictured another Fourze tool where it was shaped like a giant cyan blue faucet. WATER ~ ON! After enough staring at his leg, the cyan faucet was now officially constructed when Ash's leg dropped back onto his sole. He walked towards the fire when he raised his leg one more time above the flames and water started to instantly pour down from the spout and onto the fire which was extinguished fairly easily. Now that the flames were dead, he could finally see the Dopant Memory more clearly. Being from a Dopant like any other and despite it smoking a little while being damaged, its design looked like some sort of vital organ, it still had the shape of a flash drive like in the show, the coloring was red, and the symbol was an arm in the shape of a V. "There you are." There was no need for the water tool any longer, so after it dissipated, Ash bent down lower until he was crouching and picked up the Memory, remembering to be careful if it was hot which luckily it was not. He rotated it to every side just to examine it further for satisfaction because he has always wanted to touch a REAL Gaia Memory before. He also wanted to touch the other Rider's transformation utilities, but obviously, he could only use their powers using either body motion or mind power ( excluding his Ghost Driver ). After about 10 seconds worth checking it out, he stood back up with the flash drive-like device in his hand and looked back to the Boutique which did not surprisingly crumble from failed left-side support. Even Ash was a little surprised by this, regardless of him knowing how cartoons work. Then, he turned her attention to Rarity who was still sobbing over her destroyed fabric-made artwork with Sweetie Belle trying to sooth her with a few pats on the back. Ash felt sorry for Rarity, in fact, anypony would be sorry for anypony else if they have suffered a huge loss that matters deeply to them. Thanks to that Dopant's wrecking behavior, part of her house was laid waste. His eyes looked again at the Memory he lifted to eye level, 'This was all your fault, y'know?' and brought it inside his palm to squeeze tightly of 50% pure anger and 50% dramatic desire that produced a squeezing sound. Then, he remembered about the hoodie which actually made it out of the fight just fine, even the scarf piece was still unscathed. His attention was then taken by the fashionista again whose crying volume decreased and ran over to the inside through the opening hole. The unicorn filly spotted him in the corner of her eye with human, coming to her side and watching Rarity release her few last tears before the pools in her eyes and standing up. She still had one of her dresses in her hoof which began to depress Ash too. All of that hard work for this...... "Rarity......" He spoke to the mare. "....I'm sorry." She wiped another tear from her eyeball before sniffing roughly. "It's....*sniff*...it's alright," She said in a very sad tone. "I wasn't your fault anyway, dear. That monster....*sniff*....that...monster was the cause..." She wanted to cry more but remembered she was a grown mare and held in her sadness for much longer. "I just wonder why there would be a monster attack today out of all days." The human looked below him before explaining about the said monster. "That 'monster', Rarity, was called a Dopant." He would have continued on with his clarification, but was soon interrupted. "You mean those two-legged creatures that were originally humans before they used those flash drive-thingies to become those things?" Sweetie Belle asked as fast as a New York minute. "Yeah, exactly.....wait a minute. How'd you know that?" He asked while pointing his finger at the filly. "Oh, you see, a couple of weeks ago, me and the girls were wondering if we could learn more about those villains that you fought, so we asked Spike, since he and you might be the closest together, if you ever told him about any of those monsters that you fought and luckily, he did." "Huh, so that explains it." Even if he had told the adolescent drake about some of the villains of the Kamen Rider universe, he was still not sure if he and Spike were technically close friends, but still, they were friends. But then, Ash recalled something he said before he arrived at the boutique. "Hey, guys," He called to them. "I love to stay and chat more, but I think I gotta go back to the castle for another one of Twilight's experiments." "Oh. Well, in that case," Rarity stood up and trotted to the behind of the only undamaged curtain area. Sweetie Belle and Ash looked at the curtain area, then to each other and then, to the giant curtain again. Confusion was the only thing in their heads right now for a brief moment before Rarity came back, levitating an oddly familiar brown stitched cloak using her magic. Once she stopped, "Ash, would you be a kind dear and look after this cloak back at the castle?" she requested him. "Uh, sure?" He answered with a hint of perplexity. "Why do you have that thing anyway?" "Well, it all started when Pinkie asked me if I could watch over this stitched cloak for her. And to be honest, this cloak has been kind of distracting my focus from my work, though I was glad I was able to finish your hoodie in time without getting its image stuck in my head." Ash had to confess that she had a good point. Just one look of this with a fashion designer's eyes would get stuck in your memory in more or less than 20 seconds. "I see. Alright, I'll do it." "Wonderful!" The mare exclaimed cheerfully and disabled her magic, letting the cloak fall into the human's fingered hands. First, a hoodie and then, a cloak. What's next? A robe with little white kittens on it? "I'm certain you won't let anything dastardly happens to it. Pinkie really needs that cloak back when she gets back from her trip up Mount Everhoof." "Yeah. Well, I guess it is a big of a - I'm sorry. Did you say Mount EVERHOOF?!" Meanwhile....... Sorry folks, but due to the author being too lazy because he has other stuff to deal with, he does not have time to write an entire scene of Pinkie Pie, doing whatever she did after she reached the top of the snowy mountain parody of Mount Everest. So, all I can give to you folks is what she said during her victory to the top of the very tall mountain: I'M THE QUEEN OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, you are, Pinkie. Yes, you are. Now, back to the main topic of this chapter, after receiving both the familiar-looking hoodie and the brown stitched cloak, Ash Griffin said his goodbyes to the two female equines while he walked about on his way back to Princess Twilight's castle. Much to his curiosity, Twilight never explained to him what this said experiment was nor did she tell him the reason, but hey, everyone loves surprises ( except for certain people ). During his long walk back, Pinkie's shouting was so loud that it managed to reach the ears of Ponyville citizens but sounded only like a quiet whisper. Some have even mistaken the shout for saying, "I'm the BEAN of the PEARL". He had no trouble recognizing the owner of that shout by knowing that nopony was beside him along the journey. A few ponies waved and greeted him, but nothing over the top. His stay in Equestria has been really pleasant lately, especially the fact that he gets to fight villains from previous and current ages, although he just wished they could not have appeared at the worst possible moments. After a few more footsteps forward, he finally arrived at the castle but stopped to adjust his hoodie to hug him tighter and played with the hood before walking up the small flight of stairs and opened the double doors. Once he had entered, his brain then attempted to memorize the way to the room the alicorn said to meet her which was never explained by her either. The most common room would be the "throne" room, so he confirmed his direction and walked forward. Meanwhile, in the throne room, we see Twilight and Spike, both eagerly waiting for Ash's return while sitting on their respective crystal thrones. It had been 12 minutes since they have been waiting after they had finished up Twilight's experiment which was a potion inside of a test tube, safely protected by a cork in her right hoof. Spike, however, managed to fall asleep in these 12 minutes, slightly irritating Princess Twilight, but she should not be surprised because she had heard that once, a pegasus pony used to sleep during conversations, even if they lasted for only 5 minutes. Suddenly, her equine ears could hear footsteps belonging to a certain human and looked at the snoring drake, rattling his body to awaken him which worked without a doubt. His mouth then retrieved its spit and his hand-like claws rubbed his eyes before he heard the footsteps too. It only took a while for them to finally see Ash, pushing the two doors and revealing his presence, surprising the two with his newly-worn hoodie. "Hey, guys!" He greeted them before closing the doors. "Are we gonna test out that experiment now?" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them enthusiastically. Twilight's small smile was enough for a positive reply to him. "As a matter of fact, Ash, we are," She replied. "And nice hoodie, by the way!" Spike commented him. Ash smiled with pride to the dragon. "Thanks, dude!" Luckily, the hooded jacket was not enough for them to forget about the primary subject. "So, Twilight." He approached towards them. "What is this 'enticing experiment' that you said SO giddily earlier today?" "I'm glad you asked, Ash." Her horn used its magic to "pick up" the potion and showed its purple fluid in the glass tube. "Woah, what's this?" "Well, let me explain. Ever since you've defeated that Bat Gurongi creature, plus a few other monsters that terrified ponies to peeing their pants ( metaphorically ), I've been developing a special potion to somehow increase your capabilities and powers to the point that they could become even stronger than before!" Her hysterical description of the potion surprised Ash there for a second but confused Spike the most. "Um, Twilight?" He asked. "I don't mean to interrupt, but doesn't Ash already have like, tons of super powers already?" "Well, technically, there actually are a few more others I haven't been able to learn yet, so I don't specifically have TONS of power and abilities, Spike." The human interrupted this time to clarify. "Oh, okay." He realized. "But, I still have one question, though. Two, to be precise." "Okay, what are they?" Twilight asked. "One: Why would you want to INCREASE Ash's powers, capabilities and all that? Isn't he already powerful enough?" That question surprisingly got Ash to nearly blush but blushed nonetheless. And he did make a good point which got Twilight guessing that the potion should have been made in the later future. "And TWO: Why is there a yellow, red-eyed bat hanging upside down on the chandelier above us?" This made Ash and Twilight confused until Spike's claw pointed upwards that helped greatly in them, seeing an oval-shaped bat, hanging from the chandelier made up entirely of the library's old roots and some crystals. While Twilight and Spike were amazed by its shape and unknown origin, Ash was mostly amazed by its presence in the castle. But, ever since he has met Momotaros during the big "Human and Ponies VS Rider Villains and Changelings" battle, as Ash likes to call it, he learned to not mind much about certain favored characters showing up all willy-nilly. "We'll mind 'em later." Sadly, they had no more time to relax and chat when suddenly, the entire ground shook very violently, causing even the castle to rumble in a quake. What came next was ponies screaming from outside, though the three were not able to hear them and the sounds of destructive behavior from a diabolical villain, obviously. The shaking even made the three fall onto their stomachs onto the hard and cold marble floor which did not sooth them in any way. Ash cringed his stomach when he turned around to his back in pain and was really pissed off to the villain/master who disturbed their peaceful moment. After struggling to get up from abdomen pain, they all managed to sustain little to no injuries and dusted themselves off. He knew many ponies have said this before, but Spike really felt like he needed to say it even if the situation was not fully known. "WHAT. WAS. THAT!?!?" He exclaimed "Well, why don't we just ask our new visitor who happens to be just outside?" Ash sarcastically suggested again, only this time with a bit of a pissed-off tone. Lately, he has been more sarcastic and joke-cracking than before on Earth which is starting to confuse the residents with his slight sudden change of behavior. Even Twilight was starting to worry about him, but she has not been bothering too much about reasoning with him about it. After all, sarcasm does crack jokes easily for the audience, at least, that is what he stated. Meanwhile, somewhere at the town square, we could spot not one, not five, but a HUGE number of red humanoids causing terror across the town of Ponyville and just when things were about to finally calm down. Their color scheme was red while they had white goggle-like eyes on their face, two separate headphone pieces on the side of their heads with antennas, they were all wearing black gloves and boots, and also they had belts own their own waists that were silver. They were not causing all of this trouble by their hands, but by equipping weapons known as wooden nunchucks. Also, because they had some backup just in case if they were ever attacked by any foolish civilian who would desire their heart to do that. These second minions were black instead of red, although they were wearing red gloves, boots, a red cape, and a belt with an abnormally shaped silver buckle. They too had white goggles-like eyes and wielded not only some sharp spears but also some pistols and three of them were even wielding machine guns. When they fired their pistols and guns, holes were rapidly being created in the surrounding environment that also lost some pieces and crumbles, but fortunately, not many were eager to stay outside their houses to get either stabbed or shot to death by these monsters. Before any of you complain about that last sentence, Super-1 and X ( mostly X ) did contain graphic violence, so do not blame me for saying it. They were all very focused on their objective and no distractions were met until Ash, Twilight and Spike all arrived, running at the scene of the devastation. Ash thought that his hoodie and the cloak would slow him down this time rather than last time, so he remembered to put it into his drawer before leaving. Once they have stopped, they took a clear look at the situation which was good enough for them to recognize it. Twilight was now interested in both groups' body design the most, but still mainly focused on the task at hoof. "Oh, great," Ash, once again, stated with slight banter. "Just what this day needed. More bad guys and not the most interesting kind." It was quick of him to notice Twilight and Spike's bemused faces looking at his. "What?" "Well," After ignoring Ash's previous statement, she used her magic to bring up a pink glowing screen in front of them that had two-digit numbers, counting up to '50'. "even if there are only approximately 50 of those......bipedal monster-things, they're still armed and dangerous, so watch out, boys." The screen vanished from existence as she finished her explanation. "I think we already got that, Twilight," Spike said next. Twilight was really hoping that the rest of her friends do not get polluted by Ash's new sarcastic behavior. "Yeah, well, I was only trying to point it out. And you're welcome, by the way." Ash's eyes rolled of bemusement before rushing over towards the gang of 50 Dogma Fighters and G.O.D Warfare Agents who instantly noticed the boy and changed their objective to take care of him. The fighters and agents did not need a second brain to remember what their alternative goal was before they even arrived here, so once their eyes were locked onto their sole target, the ones with melee weapons held their grip tightly onto the handles while the enemies with long-range armaments began to aim their gun's muzzles to Ash and were ready to fire. Twilight and Spike both watched as Ash stopped about a few feet away from the bad guys. "Well, these guys don't look that dangerous anyway, so I'll just make this quick," Ash talked to himself. What he did next confused both his friends and the enemies; he pulled out what looked like a once non-existent purple and golden sword from his back which the alicorn princess sword was never there before they arrived. This "special" technique he utilized was from Pinkie Pie who somehow managed to master this said art just by clenching her hoof ( at least, what appeared to be ) behind her back and then, pulling out the first weapon that came into her head. Now that she has taught Ash how to use it, this came a lot handier in combat than ever. After 2 seconds, Ash performed a pose where he split his legs a bit and pointed his sword forward using both of his hands. It was really difficult to tell if he was now being serious or only trying to be humorous. Either way, his objective still remained in the situation: sending these guys into the next morning. "Normally, I'd choose one Rider's catchphrase to say during an epic brawl, but since I did that a few minutes ago, I'm just gonna use one of the most common mottoes during the medieval ages." Then, he closed his legs back and impressively spun his sword on its handle before pointing its front to the evil henchman with his right hand. "HAVE AT THEE!!" This was enough to finally aggravate the fighters and agents to charge forward, followed by Ash who also charged with his hands on the handle and straightly aimed its sharp-tipped front forwards. After a few good seconds of running, the two sides eventually clashed which just means that Ash's sword had connected with one of the Agents' spears and made tiny sparks fly out. After the two weapons were separated, Ash immediately brought his sword upwards and brought it back down onto the agent's chest, making it tumble to the ground. There were still a lot more, but Ash was still pumped up for some action. Next, two of the red fighters rushed in and attempted to attack him using their ninja-like weapons, but instead, received failure as Ash was able to block both of them using the blade and sliced them both quickly. Ash already saw four more blacks coming in hot and was about to do the same when he spotted three gun wielders pointing their weapons at him and pulling the triggers, thus shooting out standard-level bullets. The human's brain then improvised a strategy of avoiding said bullets from hitting him, then blocked the nearest spear from above and slashed his sword across its chest, followed by the other three who circled him but luckily, provided him some space to block two to five shots and stabbed the black agent behind him. After swinging his sword entirely clockwise to destroy the remaining two, 6 shots were shot again and ended up being dodge-rolled by Ash who then blocked four more and got a chance to charge. Unfortunately, the gunners' aim became excessively worse because their lone target was coming nearer and nearer. It happens to pretty much anyone who is shooting and their target is moving towards them and fear was the other thing they had to worry about. After coming as close as possible, the boy sliced all three of the agents' armaments and also performed a spinning slash to finish them off. But now, I feel like I want to see how Twilight was doing with Spike on keeping the rest of the enemies from coming to her and her foster brother. Apparently, the agents and fighters also spotted her just minding her own business and their objective WAS ridding the surrounding area of any living life forms but themselves. She was currently near the pony-shaped fountain when she fired a blast of magic towards two more reds ahead of her, therefore making them tumble onto the green pasture. Spike was beside Twilight this time and breathed his green magical fire to ward off any minions nearby, but mostly because he always wanted to set a villain's foot on fire which was what he exactly did to one black agent. At this rate, they would be able to decrease the number of enemies still standing in about a few minutes. Meanwhile........ Only because of the title of this chapter, we will exit the fight scene to shift our camera-like view to the inside of Ash's bedroom back at Twilight's crystalline castle. Inside of said bedroom, there were the two Equestrian Eyecons that were freed by Ash on his , the Star Swirl and Headless Horse Eyecons to be more specific. Because Eyecons contain heroes from the old ages, the navy blue and dark gray Eyecons had the ability to, of course, float, wiggle a bit, and talk. Unfortunately, only Star Swirl could talk because, well, I am pretty sure that you all know the reason for that. Suddenly, the Eyecon of the powerful wizard started to float which almost never failed to amaze the Headless Horse Eyecon. Then, he actually began to speak to the second dark gray spirit, but not before sighing. "Do you know what, Mr. 'Headless Horse', was it?" He turned around and asked the horse spirit. He does know that it cannot talk, right? "For once, I REALLY despise myself for saying this, but I think I am really starting to get.......bored. I mean, the insides of these new bodies do contain the places of what we desire the most, only more cramped, but still, I can't get this feeling of apathy out of my system. Wouldn't you say so?" He first thought his only new companion was trying to be rude by not replying, but soon recalled that it did not have vocal chords when it was still alive. "Oh, right. You did not even acquire a mouth or head when you still walked the surface of this planet. My bad." If it had REAL eyeballs to begin with, the horse would definitely have rolled them to the elderly wizard right about now. Without knowing why the gray eye watched more when the unicorn eye floated down onto Ash's bed which was where the human placed the brown cloak before heading out. He landed and a sigh was heard from the blue one as he chatted with himself this time. "Oh, my dear pupil........if only you and I had known that our time had come for our souls to be freed from their solid prisons, so we could walk the plains of this land for one last time........" He must have been very heartbroken because he began to play back images of him and his most faithful student ( I am not going to say who, though ) which made him remain on the bed for longer than he anticipated. The Headless Horse was confused but also curious at him not moving one non-existent muscle after his base has touched the soft surface of the human's bed. It wondered if Star Swirl was just experiencing some minor pain for whatever cause or something, but he called back at what the wizard said seconds ago. But suddenly as he did, he started to feel something different than just cold and empty heart-ness, but rather something else, as if he was feeling.......sorry. Not the sarcastic jerk kind of sorry, but the vigorous kind. Now that he had acquired this feeling of being sorry, it moved its body a tiny bit down for a clearer view, but in all honesty, "the feeling" forced it to. But then, memories of its own flashed back into its non-existent brain from when it trotted the surface of the planet during the old times. Sadly, however, we will not get to watch those playbacks because of the sudden presence of a particular Eyecon. Just as Star Swirl was continuing to struggle with his loss, another one of those portals opened up inside of the room, thankfully not damaging any of Ash's bedroom furniture. Then, out came the said particular Eyecon from the swirling vortex, floating down to greet both of Ash's fighting companions. Once the portal dissipated from existence, the two soul-contained Eyecons looked up to Multi who first of all, flew down and landed beside the navy blue soul. Both eyes were confused as to why Multi would want to show up here, but since everything in this universe is pretty much whacked up, they felt no question should be necessarily asked upon. "What a surprise," Star Swirl sarcastically expressed once they faced each other. "I was expecting you to visit us someday, just.......not today." It only ignored his statement and dragged his attention to the cloak behind Star Swirl who was still keeping an eye on it, in case it tends to do anything "harmful and destructive". After obtaining a good glimpse of the stitched clothing, Multi knew that the unicorn had already known that this piece of stitched cloth belonged to his prized student and was in a state of deep depression. Luckily enough, Multi had learned a new secret "trick" about freeing heroic souls from their most common and/or only clothing and he just needed to show the wizard and also the headless being of why Pinkie Pie wanted Rarity to keep the cloak safe and give it to Ash later. Star Swirl was curious as to why the previously mentioned Eyecon looked at him like it was trying to tell him something. "What? What is it?" Multi had no time to waste for he needed to go and help out Ash in his fight against another strong enemy that which it somehow knew was going to come into this world. So, to help Star Swirl understand it better, it floated up into mid-air again, but this time, activated some sort of power that let it scan the brown cloth, therefore analyzing every known fact and hidden secret there is to it, including the most useful and mind-boggling fact that may put Star Swirl The Bearded in a thundering shock. After what seemed like 10 seconds of scanning, Multi then turned 180 degrees to its left and displayed a blue glowing screen out of its pupil which made the two Eyecons glad it was not a REAL organic eye. But, what came up on the screen was a pony. Not just anypony, but perhaps somepony you all might remember who was once portrayed by Twilight during a certain play on a very special holiday. This information was successful at making the two eyes look stunned and also managed to get one simple word out of the wizard's non-seeable mouth. "Oh." Back To The Main Story........... While the Eyecons deal with their own situations, let us go back to the brawl between the three heroes versus the........oh. I guess they upped the stakes when we were gone. And by "upped the stakes", I mean they have brought two new enemies into the fight since the fighters and agents were considerably easy to beat. However, something tells the pony, dragon, and human that these new foes were much more powerful than the test dummies. We adjust our view to the area of where they fought and were currently going to fight now to spot the two new opponents who both appeared without warning. Even Twilight was not able to sense them in the field of battle before and her magic is OP. At least, it seemed OP. The first one on the left coincidentally acquired an equine body, except it was bipedal instead, which was white, armor pieces of walnut brown, its feet were shaped similar to giant hooves, and also had two furry structures on its back which could probably be identified as its "wings". The second one on the right was a WHOLE lot different. For one, it had a crab-like exoskeleton covered in skin-piercing spikes, a pair of big crab legs on its hips and its back too, and while its right hand seemed normal, its other one was rather an over-sized crab pincer. Basically, they both looked like animals, just a bit more........."horribly-experimented" looking. Ash was also admittedly surprised, not because of their appearance, but by the fact that two enemies from the SAME being were standing more than 5 yards away from the three protagonists. With a standoff already happening currently, the three heroes stood their ground with battle-ready faces while the pegasus and crab were not expecting much of a fight from them since BOTH of them have cracked jokes in the past. Just as a gust of wind blew over their heads, the pegasus began to speak in a mocking tone. "What do you say, brother? Shall we end these low life forms into death?" "If you stop calling me brother, I'll consider it." "I can't make any promises." "Good enough for me." After their short talk and a few more seconds of standing around dramatically, they both eventually charged forward head on, followed by the princess, assistant, and human. Ash apparently targeted the crab while Twilight and Spike chose the horse, thinking it was a bit weaker. The human and crab tackled and dragged each other further to the right and the others only got themselves into a fight cloud. Back to Ash and the right opponent, they released one another and the crab swung its pincer at Ash who quickly dodged out of the way, followed by a fast thrust from the claw which was dodged again. Unfortunately, thrusting it forward let the human grab it, threw it away and deliver three speedy punches to its chest with a final side kick. It only stumbled back a little and attempted to punch Ash with its right hand, but ended up being blocked by his forearm and being grabbed by Ash's other hand which helped him in spinning to the crab's back and being kicked in the said part of the opponent in the process. He put more force into that attack that made the creature stumble more forward. After regaining balance and turning around, the crab decided to speak as well. "Hm, hm, it looks like you're as strong as they say you are." It admitted. "You might make a fine victim to fulfill my past objective." "Really?" Ash asked. "'Cause I'd consider myself to NOT be a victim to any of you." Another sigh could be heard. "This is a waste of time." Clearly not wasting any more time, the crab lunged towards Ash and tried to swing its pincer again, however, doing this for the 2nd time can make your opponent easily predict your move which the boy did and trapped the claw in his arms. Now, let us see how the princess and young drake are handling. After coming out of the fight cloud, the pegasus immediately performed some kickboxing styles that befuddled the two a bit before all of the sudden, horseshoe-shaped blasts started coming towards them, but luckily, Twilight was fast enough to react and formed a bubble shield around her and Spike. Once the few last projectiles hit the bubble and ended, the monster biped grew frustrated and chose the option to charge instead, using its legs to put more force into it. Twilight then flapped her wings and dashed forward, connecting her hooves to the pegasus's chest and put its head into the ground, creating a long skid-mark-based line in the dirt. It kicked up a lot of dust between them and Twilight was not even done yet. When they went a few feet further, Twilight's horn glowed and activated her teleportation ability to teleport to a few feet further from the monster that was still getting its head dragged forward. Putting on a serious face while clenching her teeth, Twilight charged her magic and waited for the right moment before releasing a blast of pure magical energy to the pegasus. The aftermath of this was it getting blown into the opposite direction which was where Twilight teleported next and fired another shot, sending it to the other way. It was not over yet, though because then, the princess alicorn teleported once again and bucked the horse in the face sky high. Meanwhile, Spike watched this entire scene without actually fighting and was surprised by Twilight's attack tactics. Maybe she picked up a thing or two from Ash, fighting all those monsters and villains. His head turned up to see the horse, flailing its arms in the air ( literally ) and to spot Twilight who, again, appeared in a pink flash of light above the biped and released yet another magical projectile, "NANI?!", which pushed the horse even faster to the ground below with the help from gravity, making it scream at the top of its lungs before finally hitting the ground with a massive explosion. Twilight could not understand this feeling of rage and adrenaline inside of her, but now she did not care. The boy and crab saw what had happened right when their fists connected. "Woah! Now, THAT is what I call awesome!" Ash commented before continuing their fight. They separated each other's fists and the crab, without warning, lunged its claw again, but before it hit, Ash though this was taking forever to defeat it, so he thought of another weapon he could use as fast as ever, reached into his back, and pulled out the Musou Saber which fortunately blocked the monster's attack with the blade's side in time. The Zodiart ( I am tired of calling them alternatives ) was shocked to witness Ash's newly seen ability, "N-Nani!?", but it did not get too much of its attention when Ash pushed the giant appendage away and slashed its chest to the left, making sparks fly out from its body, followed by another slash to the right which got the same result. Clutching its chest in agony, the crab was trying to recover, but was not allowed to and received another sword stab by Ash that made it stumble more backward. Before it could even react, Ash pulled the little yellow slide called the Pallete Slide to load in ammunition for the sword's gun mode. After that, the boy pulled the trigger several times, shooting energy bullets to the Zodiart's limbs, head, and pretty much everywhere. Once he heard an empty click, his hand then returned the sword to his back which will mysteriously disappear to Celestia knows where. "You! Little! BASTARD!!" "Hm? Nani datte? Kotae wa kiitenai!" Ash reenacted the catchphrase of a familiar Imagin. Zodiart did not intentionally hear him nor did he want to, but began to clench his fist after he was done struggling to recover out of rage. "You.....you will not stop me......" Then somehow, the Zodiart managed to make a few weak steps forward while pointing its finger at him. "......from achieving my goal!" "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I am." Ash was already getting tired from fighting the Zodiart, so he reached into his back once more to pull out the Dogga Hammer in its massive glory. He held the giant weapon with surprisingly no restraints and was still able to keep a calm and straight face. Though sometimes, it does get a bit heavy when lifting it OFF the ground. "Time to finish this." However, just as he said that the boy and the crab heard a flapping sound, belonging to a certain bat back at the castle. They turned their heads to spot the one and only Kivat The 3rd, heading towards the boy who was a bit taken by surprise by the bat's presence. "Nē, kodomo!" He said. "Need some help?" "Glad you came," Ash expressed. "And yes, by the way." While the crab was busy being surprised and all, Ash put on a small smile to show his confidence. After looking at Kivat one more time, "Yukō, Kivatto.", he then raised the handle a little more for the top to point to the west. "Yoshi! Kivat ikuze!" Then, he opened his four-fanged mouth and bit the handle. The Zodiart thought they were playing tricks to threaten it, but soon got its answer when Kivat all of the sudden exclaimed, DOGGA BITE!! Suddenly, everything turned dark and red clouds started to appear, indicating that he was about to perform a finishing move. Even the sky had changed which jolted both Twilight and Spike because the Sun was there a second ago, but now, the moon has come instead and was strangely going through a moon phase from a full moon to a new one. Twilight's brain was trying to calculate what the hell was happening, even her stressed face could reveal it, but she managed to contain her curiosity unless she wanted her brain to melt from confusion and the enormous number of questions she had. Anyway, back to the main plot, once Kivat had helped activate the finisher, Ash held the handle with both hands and placed the handle's end onto the grass, thus creating a semi-powerful earthquake-like shockwave. The crab felt like it had no other choice but to face the opponent with no fear, but in a scene like this? No way, José. After that, the three were shocked again to behold a more ginormous variant of the hammer appeared just above the original and the human's head. Fortunately, Kivat was smart enough to get some cover, so that he does not get smashed in the face with a giant sledgehammer. As 3 seconds have already passed, Ash lifted up the hammer, got into his pose, and swung the hammer around his body two times with the bigger variant, hitting the Zodiart precisively until he stopped on the third swing when his arms were above him and alternatively, brought down the hammer to crush the enemy from above. The result of his finisher was that the Zodiart got blown up, obviously. And once the others saw that the new moon had been formed, everything went back to normal, even the Sun had reappeared at last. After all of that was done, Ash walked to his friends to see if they had gotten themselves injured, but not before putting away his hammer as well. Twilight and her assistant were just about to do the same thing until he did. Kivat, who was with Twilight and Spike the whole time, approached Ash on his own. "I gotta say, kid. Those were some impressive moves you did just now." The bat complimented. "Wish I could've seen them, though. I kind of missed everything except for the finale." Ash seemed confused with his statement but accepted his comment nonetheless. "Thanks......I think?" He awkwardly thanked him. "Well, it was nice meeting you all, but for now, I must bid you farewell. Until we meet again, Ash Griffin." After clearing his statement, Kivat flew off into the sky without giving them any knowledge of where he was going. "Who was that guy?" Spike asked with his brain constructing multiple questions about the bat. "Kivat-bat The 3rd. The third generation in the Kivat-bat family. Wataru Kurenai's partner and transformation device. Also the son of Kivat-bat The 2nd and father of Kivat-bat The 4th." Both of Twilight and Spike's looked to each other and looked at Ash again. "Sure......I'll try to remember that." "So, whaddya wanna do now?" Meanwhile........ "Naria,.....if you would please give him a Continue?" "Understood." Just when Twilight was about to make them a suggestion, all of their ears could pick a sound. It was kind of similar to that of a few coins, being stacked by dropping on one another. That was when they realized that something or someONE had appeared behind them and this was correct right when they turned their backs to see a pile of large green coins appear from the sky. But, that was not all for when the coin stack disappeared, a figure came out. However, Ash did not even recognize it, considering it did not look like any villain from the Kamen Rider series. But actually, it did bear a striking resemblance to one of the Gokaigers' enemies, Development Technical Officer Insarn to be precise, only with a bit more black. Soon after she appeared, her legs carried her forward to her objective who the three heroes mistaken was them. But in honesty, she was merely walking towards the direction of where the crab Zodiart was which the three saw later and did not realize its body still remained. One thought that came into Ash's mind was; "Who the crap is that? And why didn't that Cancer Zodiart's body get destroyed?!" The team had to be cautious, just in case she had planned on attacking. But, yet again, she acquired no intentions to harm them on her own and that was when she pulled out a gold coin with an orange gem-like marking. Good thing that Spike was not in the eating mood right now. "This is infused with energy from Master Genis' cells." Giving it one smooch from her lips, probably just for show, she approached nearer until she found a hole-like design thingie on the monster's claw. She immediately placed the coin object into the thing and it was a perfect fit, much to her surprise. "I'm not sure if this will work, but.......... And right after her incomplete sentence, everything in the area blew into flames, warning the previous three into backing away. After a few steps backward, Ash really needed to see what happened, so he attempted to withstand the heat and opened his eyes to see that the Zodiart had not only turned huge but also had morphed into its evolved form; Cancer Nova. He also saw that Naria woman had vanished to only God knows where, but he was not stuck with that idea the most. Since the author's too lazy to explain the features of this version of the Cancer Zodiart and since you all probably know what it looks like already, I guess the features do not need to be explained. Now, all six eyes were locked onto the giant who made movements you would find in kaiju films. "..........Well, shoot." Ash cursed out loud. "Ah, man!" Spike shouted. "Now, he's HUGE! How are we supposed to beat him NOW?!" Defeating enemies of the average size were easy to beat, but trying to overthrow a giant sized enemy would be like trying to eat a Trinidad Moruga Scorpion chili and a ghost pepper at the same time. Trust me, you do NOT want to see what happens. But then, he had just remembered that the smartest pony in Ponyville, to him and many ponies at least, was standing there beside them. "Twilight! We need to do something!" But, all he got was silence which was briefly interrupted by the Zodiart striking down its oversized claw down onto the little beings. "Watch out!" That warning got them to scatter from the attack that instead, destroyed the fountain. The claw, much to the crab's annoyance, was covered in dirt when it raised it from the soil after. Meanwhile, the human, alicorn, and dragon luckily reacted fast enough to evade to the right, though Ash still sensed something about Twilight was not right, other than the complete lack of her voice coming up with a plan. "What's up with Twilight?" Ash thought while looking at her in the corner of his eye while exiting his evasion pose. "I can't worry about that now. I need to take this guy down before he destroys the rest of town square. And there's something dramatic I thought I'd never say." Pushing aside his joke, his eyes turned to Spike who was still trying to get Twilight out of her trance, probably from the Zodiart's transformation. Coming out of his previous worry, Ash looked back at the giant and needed to strategize. He focused his energy onto his backside and envisioned a pair of Blade Jack Form wings which took form from a gold light and thankfully, did not rip his shirt's back. After spreading his newly obtained wings, he pressed his legs against the ground before leaping into the air with force and started to soar upwards to the Zodiart's eye level. Unlike its original height in the KR Fourze show, this villain was about 1.5 times the normal size of its form. Good thing Ash had been taking several lessons from Rainbow Dash and a few of the Wonderbolts during his free time. His fear of going above clouds did not fit with him before. Once he has reached said level, he spotted that the beast still had the top of its previous body structure above the presumed face. "Y'know that I'm gonna defeat you still, right?" Ash asked without mockery, surprisingly. "Do I have to force you to STOP TALKING?!?!" Cancer Zodiarts yelled out of rage and irritant before striking its left claw towards the winged human who immediately noticed and flew higher, making the claw scoop up a bunch of clouds instead. It let go of the non-solid puffs and searched for the human until it felt an excruciating pain from behind and turned to its back to see Ash, holding the Barizun Sword in an after-slashing way. "WHY YOU LITTLE!!!" The voice of the monster echoed throughout the area and could even be heard from below. Another attempted swing from its right pincer claw failed when Ash dodged it again and flew to its top, equipped the Dengasher in gun form, and shot bullets all around its back before he spotted one of its claws trying to grab him and flew away in the nick of time. This was starting to turn into one of those situations where you are trying to squash a fly. After avoiding a sharp-spiked death, Ash then realized he needed to end this as soon as possible and created a new plan to take this titan down. First, he focused his spare energy into his right foot which glowed a bright crimson light and got the attention of the crab monster. "What the?"Then, the Zodiart turned its body around again to see the human still hovering in the air and also his foot glowing. Wow, that sounded a lot better in my head. EXCEED CHARGE Pushing the crab's confusion out of the way, Ash's foot began to glow brighter, indicating he was charging more of his power into his oncoming attack. Even the crab did not need a second brain to figure out that he was going to initiate a finisher. Then, after a few seconds, Ash closed his eyes into concentrating to properly manage his finisher and opened them back up before he aimed his foot towards the top humanoid-like part and dove down in a Rider kick position. However, reacting quickly, the Zodiart was somehow fast enough to use its left pincer to block his kick, thus making the human strike its claw alternatively. The result was ( you guessed it ) Ash performing his Crimson Smash to only separate the beast's claw right from its body which was still painful, but to the Zodiart, it was totally worth it. Ending his kicking attack, Ash quickly flew back, surprised at the monster's sacrificial action. "W-what? Why would he.........unless......." Proving his theory to be correct, it was too late for Ash to see the monster's right claw was at his right side and approached with great speed and force. Just as his eyes caught it in their sight, all Ash could say was....... "Ah, son of a b-" Interrupting his speech, the claw finally bashed the human to the southeast downwards. The force of the attack was enough to make Ash plummet back down, but instead of crashing to the ground instantly, his body flew straight through the town hall building, eventually reaching land after. This event caused a giant hole to take shape between the hall's front and back, alerting Twilight and Spike of his situation. "ASH!" Their cries reached to the boy who was still unconscious from the crash landing and rushed towards him. His appearance was not good. This time, he had a major scar on his left arm, his clothes lost some ripped pieces, and you know the rest. When they finally reached him, they spotted his bruises and injuries with worry as Twilight leaned her right ear towards Ash's chest and thankfully, heard several slow beeps that pointed out that his soul was still alive. "I-Is he alright!?" Spike asked with great distress. "Yes, he's still alive, but recovering slowly," Twilight reported. Usually, one blow from his finishers would have made the enemies toast, but this time, it was going to take more than that to defeat this behemoth. The two looked at each other's eyes with worry over their bipedal friend. Who was going to take down the titan now? The alicorn and dragon knew they were not strong enough to even make a dent in all of that spiked-armor, so what other option did they have? Before they knew it, the crab had already spotted them, "YOU!", warning the two heroes of its notice. "I've had enough of heroes for one day! Time to end this!" The Zodiart was formerly planning to squash them with its new size, but since it was infuriated enough, it felt easier if it would just rip the town hall in two and throw one of them to the little pony and drake. So, confirming it would work, its claw opened up and reached for the top half of the building, then closed back up with a huge chunk of the construct in its grip. "NO! Not the town hall!" Twilight shouted from below. "Oh, you want your building so badly? THEN, HERE YOU GO!!" It reeled its claw back and hurled the building towards the two. "Oh, no!" Spike exclaimed as the giant projectile closed in on them. Now would be a good time to put up a magical barrier big enough to withstand the force of the impact, but because she had too many worries and also because of pure pressure, we all know that was not going to happen. All they did was hug each other, closed their eyes and screamed at the top of their lungs as the building was approaching nearer. STAR SWIRL! However, just as it seemed their lives were going to end by being crushed, a giant dark blue butterfly net appeared in front of them and easily snatched the building from crashing. All three figures were befuddled by this until they turned their attention to the source; the Star Swirl Eyecon creating the net, followed by a blue portal opening up in the sky and the two others with a special new guest arriving. This said guest was too an Eyecon and its color scheme was fern green. "EH!?" The crab was absolutely not expecting this to happen, but hey, the world would not be what it is if there are no surprises, including some strange and unusual ones. "Greetings, Princes Twilight Sparkle." The Eyecon greeted her in a gentlemanly manner. "Need some help?" "You bet we do!" Twilight replied. "And you're just in time, too! Ash is extremely injured here!" As she explained that last part, the new Eyecon helper floated down and approached Ash. The princess had never seen this one before, but as long as it could do something to help, she would be grateful for it. "Could you do something to help him?" Her worried tone was luckily not getting to the Eyecon that took a close look at Ash injuries before its iris produced a bright green luminescence. Before they knew it, the light did a scanning-like effect to Ash's body and his scars and cuts were immediately healed and left no injury not-recovered. This left the drake and alicorn in complete shock and almost made their jaws drop. They waited for about 3 seconds before they noticed the human's eyelids started to flicker open until fully open. Two gasps could be heard as Ash used his hands to raise his top half from the dirt, totally unaware of what just happened. His eyes then turned to Twilight. "Guys, why did it just feel like I was surrounded by walls made out of green fur?" Ash asked comically. "We'll give your answers later. Right now, we'll need to focus on the giant crustacean." Star Swirl referred to the Zodiart close to them. "But, how? It was even strong enough to withstand one of my Rider kicks, though I wouldn't say that about his pincer." He pointed his thumb to the claw laying on the ground. "Well, maybe I can assist you with your little problem," The new Eyecon spoke to the group in a feminine voice. Ash could not help but feel like there was something familiar with this new eye-shaped helper. But, that was not even the biggest of concerns right at this moment. "And who are you, exactly?" Ash asked. "Trust me, Ash." The wizard said next. "You'll find out sooner or later." "Alright," The human opened his palm for the green Eyecon to rest upon. "I'm trusting you on this one, little lady." The female "Hm-ed" and nodded her body with agreement. His smile showed his trust in her before his eyes looked to the behemoth Zodiart who was standing there, wondering if they were still aware of it. His head turned back and saw everyone's approving nods, followed by Multi summoning his Ghost Driver straight out of its pupil, caught by the human himself and later strapped around his waist. After that, he pushed the black button that opened up the front and produced the first standby sound. He held the Eyecon higher this time before inserting it into the slot and closing it back up. EYE! BATCHIRIMINĀ!! Then, the Parka Ghost revealed itself through the eye and showed its features. Its design featured a very stitched-based look, it still kept its green color, a tied rope on its neck, probably for tightening and loosening purposes, its eyes also had the fern green color scheme, and the horn underneath the "face" remained. The pose for this one was it, turning its head around with its right hoof barely lifted. Not the most astounding, but could you really blame it? Twilight, Spike, and the rest all watched as she floated around Ash until he finally pulled the lever and pushed it back in, thus initiating his transformation. HENSHIN! KAIGAN! CLOVER! YŪJŌ NO HI!! SHŪSHI GAKUSEI!! After all of that, the transient armor formed around Ash before he raised his arms to let the hoodie-based ghost be worn by him. His transformation was almost complete and the thing to finish it was that his faceplate/persona turned from plain gray to an image of, obviously, a green fiery heart under his Wisp Horn. His two comrades "Woah-ed" at the sight of his epic transformation and so did the Zodiart who witnessed everything unfold. "You've acquired another new form!?" It asked furiously. "It doesn't matter! Once I've destroyed you all, then I'll think about how I'm going to take over this pathetic little world and the other world as well!" It did not seem like it, but the crab felt like it had a 50-50 chance of getting out of this new issue scott-free. One wrong move and his whole body goes "BOOM!!". "......Don't ever.....call this world.......PATHETIC!!" Their battle cry reached the monster's ear and took action by using Ash's magic through his horn to teleport in a green flash from the ground to the front of the Zodiart's sight. Jolted by this, the crab quickly swung its remaining claw at Ash who, however, dodged it easily by teleporting again out of sight, making the giant weapon miss its floating target. Then, it started looking around again without uncertainty this time, "WHERE DID YOU GO, YOU-!!" but, unfortunately, was too late to watch out for an incoming attack from behind as the human used his magic again and created humongous variants of his hands the size of the crab and brought his right fist and his left fist to the monster's back. The force of his action almost caused the Zodiart to tumble but managed to regain balance and became more ticked off by him. Now, it was starting to think that sacrificing one of its pincers was not such a well thought out strategy. It then turned its back and spotted the human right there in the air, but then received an uppercut by Ash's right fist which made its entire bod flip upside down, exposing the Zodiart's underbelly. "GAH!!" But, the underpart was not his target, instead, he used both his giant grabbers to take hold of all of its pointy limbs in one grab. He was glad he could feel no pain from holding the limbs' spikes. Now, all he needed to do was to start Phase 3 which was when he raised the entire crab's figure using his enhanced strength and shoved it back into the ground, making a bunch of dirt kick up onto the surface. The others, while watching from below, tried to avoid getting involved in the destruction and receiving as many injuries as the human previously did. After that, he raised the body again and pushed it back into the ground one more time. He basically did this for 3 more times since he had a big advantage and started to form a humongous crater in the surface. Letting his big hands go of the Zodiart's legs, its body dropped yet again as Ash made his variant-hands dissipate and let his normal hands be. "AGH, THAT HURTS!" "Ya' ready for the finale, Clover?" Ash asked his green wearable comrade. "Ready as I will ever be!" Clover The Clever replied enthusiastically. Ash was honestly impressed that she was having fun, fighting a giant rampaging crab behemoth the size of......whatever it was the same size as. "Let us do it!" With an approving nod from the human, he pulled the driver's lever just as the monster could be seen getting back up onto its feet and raised his two right fingers up, then brought them back down and quickly made his triangle sign. But rather than his respective seal, it instead created a green version of the original Fire of Friendship behind him and engulfed his foot in a green, powerful flame. Twilight was especially amazed by this as she never saw the REAL Fire of Friendship before. After a brief moment, Ash pushed the lever back in, therefore commencing his finisher. OUR LIVES ARE GONNA BURN BRIGHT!! DAI KAIGAN! CLOVER! OMEGA DRIVE!! "Nanda!?" That was all that the giant could say before Ash did a backflip while in the air and targeted his foot towards the Zodiart which resulted in his Rider kick successfully striking the Zodiart's top-bipedal part above its face and going through its whole body and out from the crab's backside. Once he had done his landing pose, the crab's body started to spark and crackle with electricity, "NO! I CAN'T BE DEFEATED! THIS IS NOT THE END!" before dropping down and exploding in a massive fire. When getting out of his pose, Ash could see Twilight and Spike, being amazed at his awesomeness as always and looked behind him to watch as the flame died down slowly from the crab's inevitable defeat. He could not have been more proud of himself, including Clover too. He opened his driver and pulled her out of it before closing it back, making his Rider form disappear. OYASUMI! "Ash!" Twilight called out to him as she and the dragon ran for him and stopped. "I'm okay. Thanks for asking," He thanked her. Ash also noticed later that the Eyecon floated free from his hand and reunited herself with the others. "I think you were right, Star Swirl," Clover admitted to her teacher. "That was a thrill!" "Was there ever any doubt?" The wizard master said before they "snuggled" with each other. However, he promptly realized that he wanted to tell the three heroes something important. "Oh, wait! I almost forgot something!" "What is it?" Spike asked when he turned to the Eyecon. "Well, this is only a small clue, but before me and the rest arrived here, Multi explained to us about a familiar pony coming to town." That really was a small clue. Ash, Twilight, and Spike did not have any idea that somepony was coming to visit, so who could it be? "So, are you gonna tell us or are you gonna just stay quiet while we figure it out for ourselves?" Ash asked with much curiosity. "Hm, seeing as we all have been through so much already for today, I suppose I could give you three the next hints." The unicorn cleared his throat before speaking. "This individual will arrive on 1600 sharp by train, so you should get to the station while you still have time." "Alright. Thanks, Star Swirl." "Anytime." Multi then opened up another portal out of nowhere and signaled them to go through. "Now, if you'll excuse us, we happen to have somewhere else to be for now. "Okay, see ya!" After bidding their farewells, all the Eyecons went through the portal which closed back up once they did. Now, it was just The Three Musketeers all by their on. "So, you wanna check who this unknown pony is at the train station?" "Like you even needed to ask that," Twilight said to him. "Hey, I'm just asking, alright?" Clearing out all of the noise in the area, the gang headed to the train station to meet up with this yet-to-be-revealed somepony. At The Train Station............. Just like Star Swirl said, the three have already arrived at the Ponyville train station where is was currently 3:57 which meant that the train might arrive within two or three minutes. While they waited for the untold passenger, Ash was leaning against the station's left pole and crossed his arms for rest while Twilight and Spike casually stood in the middle of the platform. They actually arrived 20 minutes earlier which could explain Ash's restless left leg hopping lightly on the wooden ground. If this was going to be another waste of time, then he would have no other choice but to lay his head on the bed for 3 hours, trying to sleep away the boredom and annoyance. As soon as Ash 's gave up on staying open, all six ears could hear a train whistle from the right where all of them could observe the Ponyville train, finally arriving at its destination. "Oh, thank God!" Ash yelled out of relief while the train came to a stop. "I thought I was gonna have a restless leg syndrome!" Twilight and Spike only rolled their eyes. They were kind of starting to get sick of this new sarcastic and joke-cracking Ash Griffin, but that is merely how the universe works. If it changes, you have got to change with it. Clearing that off their minds, the smoke stack stopped releasing steam from its insides and let anypony on board exit safely. The alicorn princess could not wait any longer for the revealing of the anonymous pony, so she took 3 steps back as she wanted to give the visitor some space to walk out. Spike followed her once he noticed and twiddled with his fingers patiently. Then, they saw the train coach's doors open to let out the said visitor, but this is where it gets unbelievable. The trio's eyes all widened as the figure revealed more of itself while Ash's surprised smirk was followed by him walking up to Twilight's side and still kept his arms crossed. The individual also smiled at their reaction and Twilight's open mouth that the pony closed with a pink hoof. "Well, well, look who we have here," The human stated proudly. "The pink and powerful magic user has returned." "In the flesh, Ash." Her female voice bringing a big spark into Twilight's heart, making her gasp and pounce on her friend for a big bear hug. This filled both of their hearts with joy and happiness and this was beginning to become a cute sight for the two males who only stood there and feel happy for the two mares. The impact was a tad rough, but the pink pony did not intentionally care and hugged the princess back, producing an adorable squeaking sound. Meanwhile, totally unnoticed by either of them, Ryutaros was watching the whole scene unfold before his orange eyes and "Daww-ed" so deeply as he caught the entire thing on video as well. Speaking of which, when did you get a new phone? "Oh, I'm glad you asked, Mr. Narrator! A week ago, Discord invented what he called his 'greatest creation ever made' which was, as you can clearly see, this cellphone which has features that no other phone on Earth has in history!" Wowzers! That's pretty impressive! Can you tell me what these features would be? "Certainly! I-!" However, before he could answer my answer, his phone pinged meaning that he got a text. "Oh, hold that thought! Momo sent me a new text! Hm, let's see....." What did he text you? "Well, it's just him texting about how he's enjoying his vacation at Bare-bados. Nothing important." What is that, like the Equestria version of BAR-bados? "Exactly!" Huh, figures. Meanwhile........... "Ah, now this is the life!" The red Imagin stated that as he sat on his respective beach chair in the middle of the beach in Bare-bados. His stay in here has been going very swell and relaxing too. He needed a break from spying on the ponies all day and decided to go out to a few places for a few months. Beside him was a table holding a smoothie filled in a coconut shell and behind him was a beach umbrella that blocked the Sun's heat rays from reaching part of his body. Just as he was going to put his hands behind his head, he heard a ping coming from his back pocket. ( Oh, did I forget to mention that he was wearing beach shorts as well? ) "Hm?" His right hand reached into his pocket and pulled, you guessed it, a phone with a phone cover designed by Discord too. It followed his own body design which meant it had a really devilish look to it, including two horns on the above part. Momotaros checked his texting app and found out that Ryu was the one that texted him. He sighed before saying, "Alright, Ryu. If this is about your weird collection again, then I am SO gonna-" He would have completed his sentence if the text was not this: Wassup, bro! You'll never guess who arrived at P station just now! I'll give you a hint: IT'S SGSGSGSGSGSGSG!! If his eyes were expandable right now, they would have certainly expanded right now to the size of eggs. And just for humor, he placed his phone into his left hand instead while he used his other hand to grab the fruity drink, slurped some of it from the coconut, placed it back and turned his head slightly to the right to- "PFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTT!!!!!" -do that, apparently. > An Announcement > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello, everyone! It's Kendall04082 and I'm here to announce that I'll be deleting my 10th, 11, 12th, and 13th chapters of my story, HEN........SHIN!!. Before you go asking why, it's because that these chapters in particular are basically long random and boring stories that no one gives a flying feather about (at least, in my opinion). Thus, I'm going to write chapters that actually follow the story correctly and not abstractly. Also, to be more specific, I'm going to be deleting them as soon as I complete the new chapter.........whenever that is. So, yeah. Got nothing more to say. I guess I'll see ya'll later. Take care, ladies and gentlemen!