Ride1: Your Gonna Go Far Kid

Ride 1

"Almost there," Flash said as he grabbed onto the tree branch. This was not the way the teenage boy wanted to spend his free period, but what was he to do? There was someone that needed help, and Flash was raised to assist if he can. Even if helping someone meant climbing up a tree like a monkey. Fortunately his goal was just within his grasp. A turquoise backpack covered in stickers was mere inches from his fingertips. With one last stretch, Flash was able to get the bag loose and have it fall right into his grasp. "Oh, yeah."

Flash had the bag and was really proud of himself, but the victory was short lived. A cracking sound filled the air, and unfortunately, Flash knew what was coming next. After a second, the branch the teen was standing on snapped, and forced him to the ground. After falling from that height, Flash landed on his back, with the bag landing right on top of him.

"Oh man, you actually got it, Flash! Thanks a ton," Scootaloo said as she ran up to Flash, and grabbed up her bag. Applebloom and Sweetie Belle weren't too far behind their friend.

"Ah still can't understand how ya got ya book bag up there," Applebloom said.

"It's ok, don't mind me girls. I'll just say here on the ground, in pain, possibly with some broken bones," Flash said as he slowly got up. There were a few audible pops that filled the air as his body recovered from the fall. Thankfully he didn't break any bones and was for the most part alright.

"Oh, sorry Flash. I really appreciate you helping," Scootaloo said. She was trying to show Flash as much gratitude as she could to make up for him falling from the tree.

"It's fine. Helping people is what I do," Flash said as he dusted himself off. "Not to mention I still have half an hour to study before class starts."

"We can always count on you, Flash," Sweetie Belle said as Flash made his way back to the school.

Rewind

Play

The Library was filled with students doing research, homework, or just hanging out. Flash was doing the former as he was taking notes from a history textbook. All the while he had his headphones plugged into an old cassette player. As he was immersed in his music, he wasn't aware of what was about to snap him back to the world. Out of nowhere the music stopped. "Hey!" Flash yelled out.

"Wow Flash, I never took you as someone that likes this old stuff," Rainbow Dash said. She examined the tape player as the rest of her friends joined her. "Why would you use this, when you can have all the music you want on your phone?"

"What can I say? I want to live in what was one of the golden ages of rock 'n roll. Not to mention this doesn't request an update to use," Flash said as he took back his device.

"Yeah, well, will you be able to hear the new songs that just came out on that dinosaur?" Rainbow snarked as she pulled out her phone. "What?! Forty-five minute update required!"

"And my point has been made," Flash said, grinning.

"I think it's neat. This simple tape deck is a modern marvel. And to be in such good condition means you've taken great care of it," Twilight said taking a closer look.

"Actually, I had to have it repaired before I could use it, but I'm glad I could impress you anyway," Flash smiled.

"I still think these things are really amazing. Back in Equestria, we still used records to play music," Sunset commented, picking up one of the tapes Flash had on the table.

"Things like these magnetic strips would be a technological revolution."

"And then it would be a matter of time before everyone has a cellphone," Applejack followed.

"You wouldn't have any plans to get rich off our technology, do you, Sunset?" Rarity asked, teasing her friend.

"Of course not," Sunset laughed it off.

“Hey, if you're studying the works of the Iliad, I can help,” Twilight said as she took a peek at the book.

“Oh that's fine, I don't want to be a bother,” Flash said, suddenly nervously, gripping the book tightly.

“It would be no trouble at all!” Twilight declared, trying to wrestle the book from him with her magic.

“Is something bothering you?” Sunset asked, getting a bit closer to the boy. She then noticed that Flash’s face was all scratched up. “Why do you look all beaten up?”

“I was helping Scootaloo get her bag out of a tree. It's no biggie,” Flash answered.

“Flash, this is like, the third time this week ya did somethin' like this,” Applejack said

“No, it's not,” Flash retorted.

“Monday, you helped Bulk with his weight lifting, and got a sore back for it. Then Tuesday, you helped a guy on the side road, and that made you late for class. And then just today, where you helped Scootaloo, and fell out of a tree,” Pinkie Pie recapped.

“So what? I like to help people,” Flash said as he leaned back in his chair.

“Yeah, but sometimes you're a bit too helpful, and I'm afraid it may hurt you,” Sunset scolded him lightly, taking his hands. “You don’t need to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.”

“I- I can’t help it, Sunset. Whenever I see someone in need, I have to help them,” Flash said in a somber tone.

“Yeah, and that's a great quality, but you’ll burn yourself out sooner or later,” Twilight stressed. Flash looked around to see that all the girls shared the same look of concern.

Flash let out a chuckle, and smiled at the Rainbooms. “OK, OK. I’ll take it easy for a bit! Now if you don't mind, I have a history test to study for. Not all of us are geniuses.”

“Great, now just sit back, and let me tell you about one of the greatest epics of ancient Greece,” Twilight began.

Flash steeled himself for his time with the smartest girl in the school, but that was abruptly interrupted by the sound of students screaming. “Look out, the papers are attacking!” One of the students screamed. The young man’s face was covered with sheets of paper, that he couldn't seem to get off.

“When I said this test would be killer, I didn't mean literally,” another student followed, with papers attaching themselves to her legs.

“Looks like we have another surprise magic attack,” Fluttershy pointed out the obvious.

“I knew this long peace wouldn’t last,” Rarity said as the girls all made their way out of the library. Applejack was carrying Rainbow out, since she was too preoccupied in a vain attempt to make the update go faster.

“Hold on, let me help out,” Flash said as he got up from his seat.

“Flash, remember what I just said,” Sunset said. “Not to mention magic stuff is too dangerous.”

“I get it,” Flash said as he sat back down, glumly. With one last nod, Sunset left the library to join her friends. Flash opened this book, again, to where he had left off. “I’ll just sit on the sideline, like always,” he said, somewhat bitterly.

School went on just as it always did. Tests, lectures, it was just another average day for Flash. When he got home, things were pretty normal there. "Hello!?" He said as he opened the door. He was greeted with an empty house. With no one around, Flash entered the house. He threw his bag on the couch ,entered the kitchen, and raided the fridge for a soda. As he twisted off the cap his phone went off. He checked, and saw that it was his mother. He picked up the call, and brought the speaker to his ear.

"Hi Sweetie," the voice of an older woman rang on the other line. "I'm sorry, but the case I'm working is going to be an all-nighter."

"What about Slugger, do you need me to pick him up?" Flash asked.

"No, he's going to a sleepover with his friend, so it's just you tonight," Flash's Mother said. "I made you dinner earlier, so all you have to do is put it in the microwave."

"Thanks," Flash said as he looked in the fridge to see a plated meal in plastic wrap.

"Make sure to get to bed on time, honey. I love you," Flash's Mother said before hanging up.

Flash let out a sigh as he leaned on the counter. He then took a sip of his soda before logging into My Stable. Sure enough there were students online, all posting about the sheets of paper that came alive. Not the most dangerous of threats to attack, but there were a lot of paper cuts to be found. There were some funny comments that made him smile a bit, but overall he couldn't but feel... useless. The same feeling of uselessness he always felt whenever magic from the other world would show up.

The girls were very capable of handling any threat with their own magical powers. Flash just felt so helpless whenever magic went out of control. When Sunset turned into a demon he was turned into a mindless zombie. Something similar happened when the Sirens tried to take over. And every time after that he had just been sitting back and watching Sunset and the others take care of everything. He didn’t want to be useless, he wanted to protect everyone.

Especially Twilight.

“No, I shouldn't think that. She’s not my Twilight,” Flash said to himself as he scrolled down from the picture of the girl’s victory. Flash, for a while now has accepted the fact that the Twilight Sparkle he was playing around with in the library wasn't the one he fell in love with. The one he did fall in love with was a princess from another world. The same world where the magic that caused the papers to come to life and teenage girls to go mad with power came from. Flash knew for a long time that even if he had a relationship with the princess it was not something that would work out. They lived in two different worlds and it would be unfair to the princess to pull her away from her life for his sake.

But at the same time he wasn't replacing her with her counterpart. The feeling he held for this world’s Twilight was different. She was smart, beautiful, and charming in her own way. In some respects, Flash felt a stronger attraction to this Twilight then the princess.

Unfortunately whatever feelings Flash had for her, this Twilight would never return them. She even had her own boyfriend and Flash wouldn't want to get in the way of her happiness. But something deep inside his heart couldn't let go of the feelings he held. It was like something inside was telling him that this Twilight was the one. But all Flash could do was try and bury his feelings, and treasure the friendship he had formed with her.

Two towns over, something very strange was happening. “AHHHHHHHHHHHH!” a man screamed in a back alley. Sparks were coming off his body as it began to transform into a beast. Some kind of shell was beginning to form all around his body, but it soon fell apart. The man let out a sigh of relief as he collapsed on the ground.

“Darn, another failure,” Another creature said as he emerged from the shadows. The creature's whole body was white with black accents. His body had armor plates all over with a large horse head coming off his chest and folded wings on his back. He had a large horseshoe on his face between two blue eyes. On top of his head was a long mane of white hair in a Mohawk style the only thing that seemed to stand out on his white body was a dark gray metallic belt around the waist.

“Please, don't hurt me,” The man said, pleading for mercy.

“I just said you're a failure. I have no use for you so get out of here, before I dispose of you personally,” The monster said. The man was grateful for this, and he gave his thanks before he ran away. Once the man was gone the monster pulled out a cell phone and started to call someone. “It’s Cypher,” He said into the phone.

“Yes it was another failed experiment...I understand…Indeed, I have experiment 18-B with me… alright, I’ll relocate to Canterlot immediately,” The monster called Cypher said, before hanging up the phone. Cypher then held up a card. One side had a very elegant design while the other side had the picture of a half horse half dragon like creature with two horns. Below the image were a strange set of runes. After examining it for a moment, Cypher spread his wings and flew into the sky.

At the same time as Cypher’s departure, Flash was in bed asleep. It was a quarter past two and everything was as quiet as always. That is until a strange dark blue ball of light flew in through the window. The ball floated around the room filled with posters of rock bands and sci-fi movies, before making its way onto Flash’s deck. After a moment the ball of light found the old cassette player, as well as a tape before absorbing into them.

The device glowed brightly before it transformed completely. The tape player now only had two buttons instead of four, and the door the tapes would go into is now a thin slot. Its colors also changed from a basic black to a brilliant gold and blue color scheme. There were also two silver protrusions coming off the sides. The tape has also changed. What was once the greatest hits of the band Iron Flyer was now a thick card with grooves, and the same gold and blue colors in a circuit pattern. This whole transformation went unnoticed by the teen who was sleeping like a rock.

The clock struck seven as it sounded its alarm. Flash raised his hand to hit the snooze button, and went back to sleep. After a few minutes the alarm went off again and flash repeated the action of hitting the snooze button. However this time he saw the time and immediately sprung up and literally jumped out of bed. “Dang it, I overslept,” Flash said before completing his morning routine as fast as he could to get to school on time. He scooped up everything on his desk, not even noticing that his cassette player had been transformed.

Not even slowing down for breakfast, Flash barreled through the front door, and into his car. With no time to waste, Flash stepped on the gas and drove right to school. “I hope I'm not too late,” he said as he made the turn to exit the neighborhood. His back continued to glow without Flash even noticing.

“And that’s how Applebloom was able to get Winona to eat her homework,” Sweetie Bell said, finishing her story. She was walking to school with her older sister and Sunset Shimmer.

“Well, as fascinating as that story was, I think that would have been time better spent actually doing homework,” Rarity said. “Oh Sunset, do you have the notes from science class?”

“Oh yeah, I can give them to you once we get there,” Sunset answered. The three continued to make their way through the town, before a loud crash filled the air. Looking ahead, they saw that there was a major car crash. Wondering what was wrong, and worrying about the people, the girls ran over to the intersection.

What they saw surprised all of them. Instead of a car crashing into another car, the car had hit something unexpected. It was Cypher, whose foot was currently crushing the hood of the car. The man driving the car poked his head out of the window, nervously staring at the monster mere feet away. “I am terribly sorry, good sir! It looks like I accidentally rammed my car into your foot,” the man said, eagerly trying to get on the monster’s good side. Cypher responded to this by grabbing the car’s bumper and flipping it upside down.

The white monster held up the card, gazing at it, before looking around. “I know there is a compatible subject here somewhere,” he mumbled to himself, before noticing the three girls running up to the accident. On the corner of his eye, he noticed the runes on the card began to glow. “Looks like I found the target.”

“Wow, did not expect to see something like that,” Sunset said. She has never seen any like the monster before. Not even in all the books she read back in Equestria.

“Sweetie Belle, stand back,” Rarity said. The little sister did as she was instructed, and backed away.

The monster spread his wings, and launched himself towards the girls, at speeds nearing Rainbow Dash's. Acting quickly, Rarity grabbed onto her necklace, and a magical aura covered her other hand. As fast as she could think of it, a wall made out of hexagon shaped crystals appeared to block Cypher’s attack. “Ha! Bet you didn't see that coming,” Rarity said with pride. Cypher didn't pay the two girls any mind. He flapped his wings, right before impact, flying over the wall. In the blink of an eye, Cypher was now behind the girls, and directly in front of Sweetie Belle, ominously staring at the girl. “Get away from my sister!” Rarity demanded.

Again, Cypher paid her no mind as he pulled out the card. Sweetie Belle was so paralyzed by fear, it was easy for the monster to place the card on her forehead. Soon, the card began to glow, before turning into a green aura and floating away from the little girl. The aura began to take the shape, into something more solid. All Sunset and Rarity could do at this point was watch in horror.

The body standing before Sweetie Belle looked similar to the kind of monster that had been on the card Cypher had placed on her head. It’s body looked to be a bipedal, green Chinese dragon, wearing a robe with floral prints. In one of it’s clawed hands was a thin double edged sword. It has a large mane of red hair with two horns protruding from the top. It wore a white mask over its face, with red lines on it that resembled a cross between a horse and a dragon. “So, this is what it’s like to be flesh,” the monster said he felt his masked face with his claw.

“Indeed, Kirinos,” Cypher said as he greeted the new monster into life. “Take pride, for you are the first of many successful Magi-Beast to be born.”

“And I am eternally grateful for that,” Kirinos said as he gripped his sword with two hands.

“Good to hear. Now, take care of these gnats,” Cypher said, pointing to the Sunset and Rarity.

“With the greatest of pleasure,” Kirinos said, lunging forward. He swung his sword in a large arc, but Rarity created a shield to block it. The interruption of the attack didn’t stop him as he repeated the swing several times.

“Sunset, how dangerous do you think the creature is?” Rarity asked.

“It looks like a Kirin, Rarity. Unfortunately, that’s the only thing it has in common with the ones in Equestria. This thing, it’s an absolute monster,” Sunset said. Kirinos soon got so frustrated that he stopped swinging his sword. The mouth on his mask opened, and the furious monster began to spit a stream of fire onto the girl's shield.

Meanwhile, Flash had just turned the corner. As he did, he was immediately greeted by a large car pile up, caused by the winged monster only a few moments ago. He turned the corner so fast that he wasn’t able to react to the car in front of him, unfortunately rear ending it. “What the?!” Flash yelled. He grabbed his bag, and got out to look at the damage to his own car. As he did, he saw the commotion going on a block away. Curious and surprised, when he got closer, he saw the dragon-like monster breathing fire on the crystal shield.

Stepping back, Flash pulled out his phone, and pulled up Rainbow Dash’s number. As fast as he could, he texted her “SOS”, as well as sending his current location. With the message sent, all Flash knew all he could do was wait for help, but as he watched the flames fly he could see cracks begin to form on the shield.

Flash didn’t know how long the shield would hold out, or how long it would take the girls to get there. He was the only one there, and if he wanted Rarity and Sunset to get out of this unharmed, he was going to have to do something to buy some time. Looking around, the teen saw some rocks on the ground. He had a plan but it was going to be one of the most dangerous thing he had done in his life. As he picked up the rock, the teen couldn't help thinking back to what Sunset had said yesterday.

“You're a bit too helpful, and I'm afraid it may hurt you,” Flash repeated in his mind.

“I'm sorry, Sunset, but I can’t just sit on the sidelines anymore. If you girls take on all the danger on your own, then what'll happen when you need help?” Flash said to himself, turning his attention to the monster. After another pause, Flash steeled himself, and he threw the rock. “Hey, rancid breath, pick on someone your own size!” he yelled, getting the monster’s attention.

“Flash, get out of here!” Sunset yells.

“Such dishonor!” Kirinos yelled. He breathed fire onto his sword, setting it ablaze. He then swung the sword and sent a wave of flames hurtling towards Flash. Flash ducked out of the way, and started to run away. The monster gave chase after Flash, leaving Sunset and Rarity alone.

“What is Flash thinking?” Sunset asked as Rarity lowered the shield.

“I’m sure he has a plan, he can't be that reckless,” Rarity said, fearing the contrary.

“We need to follow him,” Sunset insisted, getting ready to do just that.

“Girls, look,” Sweetie Belle's voice interrupted, making the two girls to turn around. They saw that a few people were trapped in their cars due to the destruction the two monsters caused. “We need to help them first.”

Sunset let out a sigh. Flash was in real danger, but so were the civilians. Sunset had to make a judgment call, and she decided that the people needed her help more. Flash was pretty athletic, and there was a good chance he could get to safety before the monster got to him...

While Sunset ran to help out Rarity, Flash was running for his life. Thanks to his surprise attack, the teen had a decent head start, but the monster was starting to catch up. Flash soon got to his car and slid across the hood. He was hoping that the bulky robes would slow the monster down by the time he got to the vehicle. Unfortunately Kirinos had no such problem. He simply performed a flaming slash and cut the boy's car in half. “Dang it! I don't have monster insurance!” Flash yelled as he sprinted as fast as he could down an alleyway.

Flash ran through the winding pathway of the back alleys, in a desperate attempt to lose the monster. Unfortunately the path he took led him to a chain link fence. Hearing the monster approaching, Flash saw no other choice but to climb it. Unfortunately as soon as he got off the ground a blazing slash flew through the top part of the fence, forcing Flash to fall back to the ground. “Now, impudent boy, I’ll teach you not to take a Magi-beast so lightly,” Kirinos said as he slowly approached, wanting to savor the kill.

The teen was backed into a corner. This was where his life would end, at the hands of a strange horse/dragon monster. Flash wanted to put up a fight, but what good would it do? This guy was able to pin down Rarity and Sunset and they had magical powers. Things were looking bleak for Flash.

But not hopeless.

As if responding to Flash’s fear, a bright yellow light started emitting from his backpack. Wanting to know what this light was, Flash put his hand into his bag to pull out the device that had appeared on his desk this morning. “Is this my tape player?” Flash asked no one in particular. He inspected the elaborate designs on it as he felt something familiar. “This is the same thing that happened at Camp Everfree. This is Equestrian magic,” Flash said.

However Flash’s excitement over his discovery was short-lived, as he remembered the monster approaching. Panic soon returned to his mind, before turning back to the magical device. “OK, magic from another world. I have no clue how you work, but I could really use some help right now,” he said, holding the former tape player at the monster.

“Ha-ha-ha, like a rat you cower. Looking for any way to get out of danger,” Kirinos said as he raised his sword. As if to respond to the danger, the device let out a blinding light, causing the monster to stumble back. Flash had his eyes closed when it happened, but all of a sudden, he knew that the light was more than something to keep the monster away. It was the device telling him how to use it.

As if on instinct, the teen placed the device on his waist and two straps extended outward, forming a belt.

“LEGENDS DRIVER!”

He then pulled out the thick blue and gold card that was once a cassette and held it in his right hand. With his other hand he pressed one of the buttons on the driver, as it had called itself.

“LETS GO!”

The fear that Flash had been feeling seemed to vanish from his face as he stared down the monster. Kirinos finally recovered and was madder than ever. “So is the rat ready to fight?” he asked.

“You bet I am,” Flash said with a fire in his eyes. Soon a spark appeared on the lower left corner of the card. In an instant the spark wrote out the word “Rider” on the card in blue letters. Flash then threw his arm to the side before inserting the card into the driver from the side. “Henshin!” He announced, as if someone had told him earlier to say the word.

“OK!”

As the driver yelled out, a magical circle appeared. Within the circle were lines that started to form the silhouette of an armored figure. All while this was happening, Kirinos breathed out a huge storm of fire.

“A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

The magic circle passed over Flash’s body, and he was immersed in a bright light. As the light faded, the monster’s fire flew right at him. Flash put his arms up just as the flames hit. Soon the entire alley was filled with fire. “Looks like you met the fate all rats meet,” Kirinos said.

But when the fire died down, Flash was unharmed. In fact, he was better than that. When he lowered his arms, he found something was different. Looking down, the teen saw that his whole body was covered in armor. The body was all black, with segments being broken up with dark gray lines. He had a gold chest plate, with a blue diamond shape just below his neck line. He had one gold shoulder pad on his right arm, as well as a matching arm guard. He had thigh armor with blue accents, and boots to complete the look. His head and face were covered with a helmet with a black face plate with the rest of the helmet resembling a Greek warrior. The eyes were shaped like insect eyes, and a head crest in a V shape, rather than a traditional large plume on top. Around his neck, he wore a red muffler that billowed in the wind. On his back was some kind of weapon whose main body was a pole and a handle sticking out of the side. The only thing indicating this was the same person, was the driver around his waist.

“Oh no, I transformed,” Flash said as he felt the face of the helmet. The memories of what happened to the others when they transformed soon filled his mind. Sunset turning into a she-demon, Midnight Sparkle, Gloriosa when she used the whole forest to terrorize their whole class. Flash did not want to think about the kind of destruction he was about to unleash- before he realized he didn't feel different. “Wait, I’m still me, I'm still me! It’s just armor,” Flash said with excitement. The driver seemed to simply covered his body in armor, but that was not all it seemed it had done. Flash felt stronger, faster, more agile. He could feel that now he had the power to take on the monster..

“So, you think you can match up with my power now? I welcome you to try, but don't complain when I wipe the floor with you,” Kirinos declared, charging forward. The monster swung his sword down, but Flash was able to sidestep the attack. Kirinos followed with a horizontal slash, but the teen was able to duck down, avoiding it. This gave him an opportunity to go on the offensive, which he took with a deft uppercut that sent the monster sprawling.

“Wow, I’m doing it!” Flash yelled. He was surprised that he was putting up a fight.

While Flash was throwing a few more punches at the monster, he didn't notice that Sunset had finally caught up to him. Not only Sunset, but all seven girls that made up their gang. As they turned the corner, they were greeted with the mysterious fighter taking on the Kirin monster. “What on Earth?!” Sunset yelled as she saw the fight.

“Where did this guy come from?” Applejack followed.

“I don't know, but he is really kicking butt,” Pinkie said with excitement. None of the girls knew what to make of the situation, and ultimately decided to watch. The masked fighter looked like he was holding his own, but they were prepared to intervene should things go south.

Kirinos started to get frustrated by the sudden increase in the human’s power. He then breathed stream of fire at the teen. Flash responded to this by performing a slide under the fire blast, as well as under the monster’s legs. Once he was behind Kirinos, Flash stood up and kicked the monster in the back. For the moment, it looked like Flash had the upper hand, but the monster recovered quickly, and managed to knock Flash to the side.

“Oh no!” the girls cried out in unison.

“Once a rat, always a rat,” Kirinos said as he turned his attention to the girls. “And it looks like my previous targets brought some friends. It’s just like you vermin to travel in groups,” He said as he pointed to the seven with his sword.

“Get ready girls, this guy looks more dangerous than anything we have faced before,” Twilight said as the girls got ready to fight.

“You may have been able to pin me down before. However I’m not alone anymore” Rarity said.

“Hey, rhyme!” Pinkie remarked, before she put her game face on.

While the girls were preparing to fight, Flash was picking himself up from the trash cans he was knocked into. As his eyes stopped spinning, he noticed that the pole that had been on his back was on the ground. “What’s this?” He asked himself. He picked it up, and the pole instantly deployed into a spear. He looked the spear over, before looking over at the girls. “Oh, no, you don’t. I’m not out of the fight. Not yet,” He said as he ran towards the monster.

Right before Kirinos could perform an attack, Flash blindsided him. He performed a slash with the head of the spear on the monsters back. Kirinos stumbled, but recovered from the blow, turning back to his masked adversary.

“Back for more, I see,” Kirinos said as he raised his sword and brought it down in a vertical slash. This time however Flash didn’t dodge it. He blocked it with his spear, and pushed the monster back.

“This fight is between you and me,” Flash said, lunging forward with his weapon. Kirinos was furious now, and began to breathe fire. Flash started to spin his spear in an attempt to block the flames, which turned out to be a great defense.He dissipated the fire comepletely as he twirled the pole-arm. When the fire stopped, the teen stuck the spear head into the ground, and used it to hoist himself up. With the added leverage Flash was able to get above the monster and perform a kick right into the head.

“Whoever this guy is, he’s pretty strong,” Rainbow said, awestruck with how the battle was unfolding.

“Could he have Equestrian magic too?” Fluttershy asked.

“If he does, he seems to be controlling it very well,” Twilight pointed out.

“You can strike me all you want. My power is far stronger than whatever feeble attempt you muster,” Kirinos claimed proudly, though he seemed quite winded.

“Ya know, you shouldn't underestimate people. It just makes it harder to swallow when they surprise you!” Flash said as he pressed the second button on the driver.

“RIDER FEEDBACK!!!”

All of a sudden, several huge magical circles came out of the driver and took positions all over the area. This made everyone who saw them confused, not knowing their purpose. Everyone but Flash. Like before, he knew exactly what to do, as if on instinct. He crossed his legs, and jumped up high into the air, before landing onto one of the circles. He then hopped to the next one, and the next one. The fighter was jumping all over the place, hitting all the magical circles. As he stepped on the circles, energy began to build around his right foot. Once he hit the last circle, he launched himself right at the monster. Flash shifted into position for a kick and flew right towards Kirinos. When the kick landed, the energy built up discharged and the monster exploded. The explosion didn't stop Flash as he landed, and slid on the ground before stopping. He stood up, basking heroically to the light of the explosion behind him.

FEEDBACK END!

The back alley fell silent as Flash stood up. All the girls could do was stare at the mysterious fighter, and Flash stared back at them. Nobody knew how to react to the situation they'd just experienced.

“That was amazing!” Sweetie Belle's voice rang as she came out from around the corner. She had been watching the whole fight and
had managed to record some of it on her phone.

“Sweetie Belle! I told you to stay behind!” Rarity scolded as she ran over to her sister.

Rainbow Dash ran up close to the warrior with her breakneck speed. “You were so awesome. That kick you did at the end was SOO cool. I need to think of a move like that,” she said excitedly.

“Yeah, are you a superhero?” Pinkie asked as she got really close up, startling the boy.

As the two girls were talking to the fighter, Sunset noticed Flash’s backpack lying by the fence. She ran over to pick the bag up, to see that it was perfectly fine. “This is Flash’s bag,” she thought out loud. She then turned her attention to the masked fighter. “Who are you? And what happened to Flash?”

“Oh, um,” The fighter said nervously. He could see Sunset was worried, and she didn't seem to be too fond of this strange warrior who she had witnessed take down that even stranger monster. He looked at the bag, and thought back to the book he was studying inside it. Suddenly, he knew exactly what to say to her. “I am Achilles,” The fighter announced with a slightly deeper voice and striking a heroic pose.

“Achilles? Like the Greek myth?” Twilight asked.

“Well, I’m not as great as that guy, but it’s a name you can call me,” the masked hero, now christened Achilles said with confidence. “You need not worry about where I came from, but know the last thing I want is to hurt any of you. Your friend, Flash was it? I saw him climb over that fence, and I saw that monster causing trouble. I bought him some to make a break for it. And, well, you saw the rest,” He explained.

“Well, it was a good thing you were here,” Fluttershy said.

“Yes, I concur. Now if you don't mind, I should be on my way. Make sure your friend gets his bag back,” Achilles said, before he jumped high into the air, and over the fence. The girls watched as the hero jumped out of view.

“Is it me, or does that fella seem a bit off?” Applejack asked.

“Yeah, well, he’s probably nervous. How would you feel if people asked you a bunch of questions out of nowhere?” Pinkie Pie pointed out. “It would certainly explain why he had that mask on.”

“I’m more concerned by the fact that he may be using magic to fight." Sunset remarked, her eyes narrowing at the hero's back.

“Spike read all kinds of comics with masked heroes. Maybe he was inspired by the same thing, and wants to use that magic for good,” Twilight said.

“Good or not, we need to keep an eye on this guy,” Sunset insisted.

Once Flash knew he would not be seen, he pulled out the card from the driver, and in a flash of light, he returned to normal. When he finally calmed down, Flash sat down leaning onto a wall and looked at the mystical device. “OK, so you saved me back there, but that doesn't mean I trust you,” he said to the driver. “I’ve seen what magic like you can do to people. Things may be alright now, but I'm not taking a chance just to end up as some power crazy monster.”

There was nothing but silence. Flash didn’t know what he was expecting from a tape player, even if it was enchanted now. He briefly wondered if he had already gone crazy. “I don’t want to cause more trouble for the girls. No doubt they’re stressed out now with these crazy monsters. The last thing they need is me piling more onto their plates. So, if you're willing to behave yourself, we won't have any problems, and the both of us won't be rainbow blasted into jelly,” Flash told the driver. Again, there was nothing coming from the driver. “Oh man, I’m totally losing it. I’m talking to a glorified belt buckle.”

Flash picked himself up, and stored the driver in the inside pocket of his jacket. He then made his way out into the street, where he could hear a number of emergency vehicles. He knew he would have to report that his car had just been cut in half, and ended up on opposite sides of the street, so that would be where he was going. He was going to have to call school to say he would be late, and find Sunset to get his bag back. He could have taken it back in the alley, but that would have been too suspicious.

Flash didn’t know it as he walked back to the scene of the attack, but this was his first step of his journey. Though he was afraid of what this new power would bring, he would learn to do what others could not. He would learn that keeping his ideal of helping others, and protecting those he held close will be the key to becoming a hero that can stand up against the wickedness that created these Magi-Beasts.

Ride 2: The Grand Illusion

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Ride 2

The moon was in the middle of the sky as it looked over Canterlot. Cypher looked up at the sky, deep in thought on top of one of the tallest buildings in town. After the chaos that had occurred in the day, the town was at peace. This peace was only possible with the help of the hero that had appeared out of nowhere: Kamen Rider Achilles.

Cypher scoffed, amused. The rider may have destroyed the first Magi-Beast ever created, but it was a small loss compared to discovering the method to creating them. Though his monstrous face didn’t show it, Cypher was very pleased with how the events played out. But soon, the peace will be interrupted by an unexpected guest.

“Yo, yo, Cypher. It's been a while,” A very upbeat voice sounded behind him. The white armored monster turned around to see yet another monster. This one was orange in color, with much bulkier armor. The heaviest of the armor seemed to be around his legs and feet, making him look like he was walking with large hooves. His head was tall with a segmented mouth plate, and two tiny horns coming off the sides. The only thing this new monster had in common with Cypher was the belt he wore around his waist. Strangely, he had a bag from a fast food restaurant in his hand.

“Terra, you being here better serve a purpose,” Cypher said, already annoyed.

“Come on, buddy! You don't need to act all stiff all the time. Here, I got a green chili burger for ya,” Terra said, taking a wrapped burger out of the bag and presenting it to the winged monster. Cypher responded to this by swatting Terra’s hand away. “Not hungry? That's fine. More for me,” He said as he unwrapped the burger and brought to his mouth. Or he would have, if he had a mouth in this form. “Dang it, these forms can be so inconvenient,” he grumbled.

Putting the burger back into the bag and reaching for his belt, he pulled a card out of the slot. As he did the orange monster body began to glow, before fading away. In his place was a man in his early twenties with a fit body. His skin was orange, and his hair was a light gray mess, with his bangs covering one of his eyes. He wore a black tank top with a design of criss crossing red lines. He also had on a pair of bulky cargo pants with suspenders hanging off the sides. “There we go,” the human said as he took a seat on the ledge, and eagerly bit into his burger.

“If the only reason you came here is to stuff your face while I watch, I will kick you off this roof,” Cypher said.

“Yeah, Doc sent me here to give you something,” Terra said as he finished his food and threw the wrapper back into the bag, "And don't complain, bud! I did offer you somethin' first!" He then reached into his pocket, pulled out a small box and threw it to Cypher. When the monster caught the box, he pulled out the contents- four cards similar to the one that created Kirnos.

“Wow. I didn't think the Doctor would finish these so soon,” Cypher said, awestruck as he looked through the cards, inspecting the images.

“Yeah, once he heard that we were able to successfully make a Magi Beast, the boss-man worked non-stop on making more cards,” Terra said as he unwrapped another burger.

“And, am I correct in assuming he wants me to gather more data on them?” Cypher asked.

“Yeah, he wants info on compatible hosts, and what kind of powers these things develop. Ya know, the boring stuff that doesn't involve fighting ,” Terra said as he finished his second burger in record time. He then stood up, and began to walk away. Terra made it to the other side of the roof before taking one last look at his acquaintance. “Oh, I almost forgot. The Doc wasn't happy when you said the Magi Beast was destroyed by a Rider. He said that's the last thing we need. Doc wants him in the ground, ASAP.”

“I understand,” Cypher said. Terra gave him a cheeky grin, before reinserting the card into the belt, and he jumped off the roof and out of sight. The winged monster turned back around to examine the cards he was given. One card in particular caught his interest. The card had the image of a bear on it, but it looked to have been made from a piece of the night sky. “I will see to it that the Rider shall never get in our way again.”

“Where are they?” Flash said, staring out the window. Even though the teenager was still trying to process yesterday's events, he still had to go to school. Everyone got out of the attack by the strange monster unharmed but Flash’s car was completely destroyed. The upside was being lucky enough to find an open seat in someone's carpool. Flash was so used to taking his car to school that it felt odd waiting for a ride. When he turned away from the window he looked down at the card that he’d used yesterday. It was almost unreal, but there was no denying that a monster attacked the town. And Flash was the one that stopped it.

Flash had decided to keep the driver with him, as much as he could. He didn't know if being enchanted meant that it would start doing things on it’s own, but he wasn't going to take any chances. He was so deep in thought, that the sound of a car horn was enough to cause him to jump out of his seat. Flash looked out to see a bright pink buggy, and a very excited Pinkie Pie waving from the window.

With a smile on his face, the teenager rushed out the door and into the back seat. Joining Flash in the carpool was, of course, Pinkie Pie, who was driving, Rainbow Dash sitting next to her up front, a soccer ball in her lap. And lastly, Sunset, who sat next to Flash in the back. “Welcome to the carpool Flashie! I hope you brought your floaties,” Pinkie said with a quick laugh. “Just kidding, it's not the season to fill this thing with water and turn it into a mobile pool party.”

“And here I thought I would be able to get some laps in before class,” Flash joked. That got a laugh from everyone. Pinkie soon pulled into the street, and they were on their way to school.

It was a few minutes, but Sunset was the first to break the silence. “So, Flash. It’s such a drag that your car ended up getting destroyed.” She said, trying to get a read on how bad her ex had things. Maybe they could help him?

“Yeah," he sighed, "it’s at the mechanic’s now, so I’m going to have to go there after school. I’m just happy I made it out of that stupid stunt alive,” Flash said.

“And you got that Kamen Rider to thank for that,” Rainbow chimed in.

“Kamen Rider?” Flash said in bewilderment.

“Yeah, check it out,” Rainbow said as she pulled out her phone, and scrolled through her browser. She then reached around the seat to show Flash the web page she found. It was filled with blurry pictures of shadowy figures on motorcycles, and all kinds of forum threads.

“Kamen Rider is supposed to mean Masked Rider or something, but it’s a whole urban legend overseas. Apparently they're superheroes that fight for justice from the shadows. From all the pictures Sweetie took of that Achilles guy and posted yesterday, people think he’s a Rider.”

“I can’t believe our town now has its very own superhero. I mean it had us protecting it for waaaaaay longer, but we’re more like magical girls. Can magical girls be super heroes? Cause people tend to treat them as their own thing, but they basically do the same thing…” Pinkie started to ramble, taking her hands off the wheel so she could put them to her chin to think.

“Pinkie, eyes on the road!” Rainbow yelled as she lurched to take the wheel, preventing them from crashing.

“Hero of Justice?” Flash said as he took the phone from Rainbow. He was impressed with the way the Rider fought, even if he knew it was him. “I like the sound of that,” he thought, excited at the possibility.

“Even if he's a hero of justice, I can't help but feel concerned,” Sunset a thoughtful look on her face.

“What do you mean?” Flash asked, confused.

"This Achilles guy may be doing good by protecting others, but how long till he goes mad with power like everyone else?" Sunset said.

"Honestly, I think it's cool that someone else is helping us out in fighting all this magic craziness," Rainbow said as Pinkie took back the wheel.

"And you never know, that winged monster may be too much for you girls to handle," Flash said, concerned. Rainbow and Pinkie nodded in agreement. This was a new force they had never seen before.

"I'm just saying, we can't be too careful," Sunset replied.

The rest of the car ride was relatively quiet. Nothing much was said, besides the four teens arguing over which station to set the radio on. Of course, the arguing didn't last long, as they soon arrived at school.

"So Flash, how long till your car gets out of the shop?" Pinkie asked as the four got out of her car.

"I don't know. Like I said, I'm going to the mechanic after school, but considering this is the first car ever to be sliced in half by a dragon monster, I don't have high hopes," Flash answered, "I know I joked about it yesterday, but I don't have monster damage listed in my insurance."

The four all walked together to the entrance of the school. It was the same as any other day. Some students were trying to get to class before they were late, while others were just hanging out before the bell rang. Everything was like the day before, which was refreshing since most of the time whenever there was a magic attack, the school would be severely damaged in some way.

There was something unusual going on at the bottom of the stairway, though. Trixie was in the fruitless process of trying to pull a huge trunk up the stars. She was trying her best to get it up, but she wasn't strong enough to force it. The sight of Trixie struggling caused Rainbow to let out a chuckle. "Hey Trixie, maybe if you hit the weight room instead of staring yourself in the mirror, you could get that box up!" Rainbow yelled. Trixie reacted to this by rolling her eyes. If she hadn’t been putting all her effort into pulling the box, she would have made a very snarky retort.

"Rainbow," Sunset said disapprovingly.

"What? Trixie knows it's all in good fun," Rainbow replied.

"You girls go ahead, I'll go help her out," Flash said.

"Flash what did I say the other day?" Sunset scolded.

"Don't worry, helping Trixie with a box won't kill me," Flash said dismissively. Before Sunset could put her two cents in, the teenage boy was already running to their classmate. "Hey, Trixie, need a hand?"

Trixie let out a groan as Flash approached. She used her hand to flip a lock of her hair out of her face before she stood up proudly. "The Great and Powerful Trixie doesn't require the help of the likes of you! She is more than capable of setting up her performance on her own," Trixie proclaimed.

"Well, you could have fooled me, oh great and powerful one," Flash said as he watched Trixie go back to "pulling" up her trunk.

"Of course, Trixie can do something as simple as carrying her own equipment," She said, giving her trunk one last pull. Unfortunately for her, she pulled a little too hard and wound up falling backwards, hard on her rear. "Ha-ha, on second thought, what would Trixie be if she were to deprive someone as eager as you to not handle Trixie's keys to her magnificent miracles?"

Flash just smirked as he grabbed the end of the trunk. To most Trixie's boasting would be annoying, but it wasn't so bad when you got to know her. She might present herself as the greatest person ever, but that was just her own way of interacting with people. She didn't really believe she was really great and powerful, it was just a persona she put on. After all, it comes with the territory of wanting to be a great magician. You can't really expect people to be impressed with your magic tricks if you, yourself, don't believe them to be amazing. It was all an act that Trixie performed, and if you treat it like that, then she can actually be pleasant to be around.

Flash took one end of the trunk, while Trixie took the other. On the count of three, the two lifted it up and carried it to the top. To Flash's surprise, the trunk was a lot heavier than he’d thought. It was incredible that someone like her was able to carry it this far. "Trixie, there is no way you will be able to get this all the way to the stage all on your own," Flash pointed out, concerned.

"Are you saying you want to help carry this with me?" Trixie asked, as she struggled to keep up with Flash's pace.

"I'd love to, but I have to get to class," Flash answered.

"I can get you out of class. Principal Celestia arranged it so me, as well as anyone assisting me, are excused from class while in business," Trixie said.

" Really?" Flash asked, sincerely curious. He set the trunk at the top of the stairs.

"I had to put in a ton of work, so I’d better have gotten something worthwhile," Trixie said as she stretched her sore arms.

"That would be great. I kinda flaked on a report due. Still shocked from the attack yesterday," Flash said, scratching the back of his head. Trixie beamed with pride and appreciation as she grabbed her trunk end, and allowed Flash to help her carry the trunk all the way to the gym.

Once they got the gym, Flash saw that the trunk wasn't all Trixie had. There was a table center stage with a silk hat on it. To the left was a fancy looking pedestal, with a large dish of water on top. To the right was what Flash could only assume was a kind of Iron Maiden. To have all these props here, Trixie must have been working since the crack of dawn.

"Impressive, is it not?" Trixie asked as she climbed up on stage. "Only the best when it comes to the Great Trixie's performance," she said as she struck a dramatic pose.

"It is, but, what is this all for?" Flash asked.

"This is the show where Trixie announces her presence to the world," She said triumphantly. "I worked for months trying to clear it with the Principle to let me perform my first big show at the school. Put all I had into the this show, so it will live up to the name "Great and Powerful'"

"So, what's in here?" Flash asked as he opened the trunk. Inside was a large smoke machine, a sound system, and some kind of projector.

"That's Trixie's grand finale," she said.

"Where did you get this stuff?" Flash asked.

"My dad has some connections, being a Las Pegasus magician himself," Trixie answered. "Now come on, this stuff won't set itself up."

Over the course of three periods, Flash helped Trixie set everything up. Since he had some experience doing it for his band, Flash mostly works with the sound system. Trixie was mostly in the rafters of the stage with the projectors. With the two working together, the equipment was successfully hidden throughout the stage.

"I got to say, I may not know what you have planned, but it must be impressive," Flash said as the two looked over their work.

"Oh, it will be.” Trixie said smugly. "Of course since you helped me set it up, you’re now honor bound to keep it a secret."

"What?!"

"A magician never reveals their secrets. Since you helped set this trip up, you are now responsible for that secret," Trixie said as she turned to Flash with what she must have thought was a serious face.

Flash couldn't help but laugh at the expression Trixie was making. She was adorable! He knew what she was saying was important, but it was hard to keep a straight face. "OK, I won't tell anyone," Flash said with as much seriousness as he could muster.

"Good! And here's a bonus for keeping it secret," Trixie said, pulling a piece of paper from her pocket. Flash took the paper, and unfolded it. Upon inspection, he realized that it was a flyer for the show. It was one of Trixie's homemade show posters, with her picture, front and center. Right across the sheet was her signature in bright pink ink. "You get to be the first to receive Trixie's handwritten autograph, before anyone else. Better save it, cause it’ll be worth a fortune one day."

"Gee, thanks," Flash said with a good-natured roll of his eyes.

"Oh, is Trixie's kindness not enough for you?" Trixie said as she turned around. "Then how about she treats you to lunch? Though, Trixie still has to get some last minute stuff, so she’ll treat you to lunch later."

"That sounds very "great" of you, oh powerful one," Flash said, trying to play along.

"Then, meet Trixie at the sports field at lunch time," Trixie said, turning before walking out of the gym. Flash just smiled as Trixie walked away with a spring in her step.

Fifth period came and went, and Flash was on his way to the sports field as per Trixie's request. It wasn't too abnormal for students to eat their lunch out here. Sometimes members of the sports teams would come here to get in a little extra practice, but other times students just want to eat outside. Flash saw Trixie running across the field, but a second later he saw that she was running in terror. In the sky behind the girl was a familiar winged monster flying fast. Seeing this, Flash to hid behind the bleacher.

Cypher flapped his wings to gain speed and pulled ahead of Trixie, before landing in front of her. Trixie skidded to a stop, frozen in place with fear, falling to the ground as Cypher took a step forward. "Don't be scared, you’ll be helping us with our experiments. The data we collect from you will help a great deal in creating stronger Magi-Beasts," Cypher said as he held up a card.

As much as she wanted to run, Trixie couldn't. All she could do was watch as the monster placed the card on her chest. When Cypher removed his hand, the card began to glow a light purple. The card floated off her body, before transforming into a deep purple blob covered in bright sparkles. It almost looked like an image of space was starting to take the shape of a human. The mass resembled a black mannequin with no real features. A large white metallic ring then formed attached to its back that looked like some kind of old navigation equipment. When the transformation was complete the new monster opened its yellow eyes which were the only lights not slowly moving on its body.

"Welcome to the physical world, Constellar," Cypher said bowing respectfully.

"Really, that's it? The world has finally been blessed with that majestic being that is I, Constellar and you are the best welcome it has to offer?" The new monster said, crossing his arms. Cypher was at a loss for words. What was going on? Why was the Magi-Beast so... mouthy?

While this all was happening, Flash was trying to put together the best course of action. If he were to run to get Trixie, the monsters would definitely attack him. He could tell they seemed invested in her. Why, he didn’t know. He didn't think the girls would get here in time if he texted them. They were scattered around the school. Flash knew there was only one option left to him, and it was in his jacket pocket.

Taking a deep breath, Flash took the driver out of his jacket, and put it into position around his waist. "Alright, time to live up to the Kamen Rider name everyone gave me," Flash said, pressing the button on the driver and taking the Rider card out. "Henshin!" Flash yelled as he placed the card into the slot.

"OK!"

"A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

The magical circle appeared, and passed over the teen’s body. In an instant, Flash was transformed into his Achilles persona. He slapped the sides of his face with both hands to make sure he was in control. "Everything seems alright. Now, time to save Trixie," the Rider psyched himself up, before running out from behind the bleachers. Achilles let out a mighty yell as he pulled out his spear, and rushed right towards the monsters.

Constellar's mood changed from disappointment to sheer excitement. "Yes! An opponent to prove my power," He said, his arms splayed out. Appearing around him were swords of light in the shape of stars. With a flick of his wrist, the swords were launched directly towards the rider.

Achilles used his spear to knock away one of the swords, but he was forced to jump out of the way as the others crashed into the ground. "This guy isn't going to be as simple to beat as the last one," the Rider realized as he closed in on the monsters. Achilles then lunged forward with his spear to catch the bear monster off guard, before swinging it to perform a wide slash, forcing Constellar and Cypher back. The Rider then looked to Trixie, who was still very much scared of the situation she was in. "You need to get out of here! Run!" He yelled, grabbing Trixie's arm, and pushing her away from the fight.

"How dare you? Some one as lowly as you hasn't the right to attack me like that. You need to be put in your place," Constellar snarled. The bear-man promptly launched more swords.

Achilles moved out of the way of the attack. He was so focused on the attacks he didn't notice the other monster, and bumped into him. Turning around, Achilles saw Cypher staring him down. "I'm so glad you showed up, Rider. It saves me the trouble of hunting you down," Cypher said. A hilt grew out of one of his wings. Cypher grabbed it, and pulled it out, revealing a double edged sword. With a mighty swing, the winged monster forced the rider to roll out of the way as he smashed the blade into the ground. "I will eliminate you before you ever become a hindrance to the Doctor's research."

"Two on one, this is not good at all," Achilles remarked. He narrowly dodged another attack from Cypher. He was very much outmatched by the two Magi-Beasts, and he knew he had to think of something. The only thing he had to work with was his spear which, as he rolled into a crouch to evade another attack, upon closer inspection, seemed to have a grip forming the piece that connected the head to the poll.

As the two monsters approached him, Achilles collapsed the spear- and found that the end form was more than just a way of making his spear easier to carry. Achilles held his weapon by the grip and pointed the bottom end of the spear at the monsters. When he pulled the trigger, bolts of energy went flying at the two, which caught both off guard, knocking them back.

Achilles brought his new blaster up to his face, inspecting it, as the shocked monster got up from their knees. "Awesome. Now I don't need to get close to your ugly mugs."

“How dare you say such things!” Constellar yelled. Furious, he viciously threw more projectiles at the Rider.

Achilles aimed for the swords, and shot at them to knock them off course. As the Rider fired, he ran up to the monster. This tactic caught Constellar off guard, and the Rider was able to take advantage of his shock, and kick him. When Constellar was knocked back, Achilles fired at the monster directly. “Not so high and mighty now, are we?” Achilles snarked.

The Rider was so focused on the bear-man, he didn’t see Cypher come up from behind and attack with his sword, striking the warrior directly in the back. “You were saying?” Cypher said as the Rider hit the ground. The winged monster now stood over his enemy, with his sword aimed skyward. He shifted the blade, making it so when he struck, it would be Achilles’ end. “I would say it’s been a pleasure, but I'm not one to tell lies,” Cypher declared.

All seemed lost for the Kamen Rider, but there was a flash, and a puff of smoke. Trixie came out of nowhere to between him and the monster. “If you want to finish this guy, you're going to have to go through me!” she declared. Even though Trixie herself didn’t believe her actions were going to do anything, surprisingly it was enough to get Cypher to lower his sword.

“If you're so eager to throw your life away, I'd be more than happy to oblige,” Constellar announced as he stepped in front of Cypher with a star sword in hand. The Magi Beast was ready to strike down Trixie, but was stopped when he felt Cypher’s hand on his shoulder.

“You can’t hurt her, Constellar. Not yet, at least,” Cypher said.

“And why not? What gives you the authority to tell me what to do?” Constellar asked as he turned to his fellow monster.

“If you value your existence, you will leave the girl unharmed and fall back. This has just become a most unpreferable situation. As much as I would like to destroy the Rider as soon as possible, we can do it at another time,” Cypher said as he stared down Constellar.

Constellar didn’t understand why Cypher suddenly changed his mind, but he didn’t see anyway around it. “Fine,” Constellar huffed as he threw his star sword to the side, vanishing as it went. “This isn’t the last you'll hear of the mighty Constellar!” He roared as he started to stomp away. Several of the lights on his body began to flicker brightly, before he vanished in a flash.

“You were lucky that girl was there to protect you, Rider. Next time, there will be nothing to get in our way,” Cypher said coldly. He gave the Rider one last cold look, before spreading his wings, and flying off.

Once the monsters were gone, Trixie fell to her knees, her legs giving out. “Oh my goodness, that was the biggest bluff I’ve ever had to make,” She said, taking deep breaths.

“You didn't have to do that,” Achilles said, getting to his feet.

“Of course I did. You're, like, the second person to ever stick their neck out for me in my time of need. The first being the friend I was going to meet here,” Trixie said as she turned to the Rider.

“Oh,” Achilles said simply. He realized that he might be blowing Trixie off. “Well as much as I appreciate what you did, you shouldn't have done something so risky. That’s my job,” The Rider said as he helped Trixie to her feet.

“Yeah, I will admit that was foolish,” Trixie said, embarrassed, as she scratched the back of her head.

“You better get to the nurse to make sure everything is alright,” Achilles said. Trixie nodded, and ran back to the building. Once she was inside, the Rider removed the card from the driver, and changed back to normal. “Man, now I feel awful. I’m going to have to miss her show. I need to at least get back before her finale,” Flash said.

As the day went on, Trixie didn't let the monster attack rattle her. Like so many performers before her would say, “The show must go on”. Once the school day was done, Trixie made a dash right towards the stage. Trixie only had an hour to make sure everything was perfect. In addition to fighting the clock till the curtains raised, Trixie was also fighting her nerves. Her first magic show not on the side of the street, and her stomach was in knots, plus a nesting place for butterflies. Backstage, Trixie was working so carefully on her makeup that the mere noise of the door opening was enough to almost cause her to draw a line across her face.

“Happy opening night, Trixie!” Pinkie yelled, as she, as well as the rest of the Rainbooms, entered the dressing room.

“Don’t do that!” Trixie yelled back. “I’m so worked up right now that I can't get my makeup right!”

“Here, let me take care of that. A girl shouldn't handle makeup while worked up by nerves,” Rarity gently stated. She took the brush out of Trixie’s hand. She then proceeded to take over applying the makeup onto the girl's face.

“Why are you guys here anyway?” Trixie asked.

“Pinkie wanted to make sure that you were doing alright for your show. It looks like a packed house out there,” Rainbow answered.

“I never would have thought you of all people would have stage fright,” Applejack followed.

“Yeah well, as a street performer, the biggest crowd I ever had to perform for was at most ten people. It’s a bit different to have a full audience,” Trixie said as Rarity moved on to the eye shadow. “Not to mention the fear of my tricks not being amazing enough.”

Twilight was looking around the room till her eyes spotted an advanced chemistry book with several bookmarks. “Did you use this to plan out some of your tricks?” Twilight asked.

“Yes, and don't look at that. The last thing I need right now are my tricks revealed,” Trixie said.

“Fair enough. Just know that if you're using the stuff in this book in your performance, I guarantee everyone will be amazed,” Twilight said.

Fluttershy took a seat next to Trixie as Rarity moved onto her eyelashes. “Trixie, you have nothing to worry about. I know how much you put into all of your magic tricks, and it will show when you're on stage. I mean if I was able to overcome stage fright, then someone as confident as you should have no problem. You did great performing at the battle of the bands,” Fluttershy firmly insisted.

“That was just music. This is my passion. But I get it. Soooooo... thanks. It's really nice that you girls came to help me of all people out,” Trixie said.

“Well, we kinda had too. Pinkie had a feeling you were in need of some cheering up,” Sunset explained, smirking goodnaturedly.

“I love magicians. There my favorite form of party entertainment, after live music,” Pinkie said. She picked up a real sword out of a barrel of identical swords. Sunset’s eyes widened, and she quickly confiscated the blade.

“Well, Trixie appreciates it, oh Pink and Joyful one,” Trixie said as she started to get into character.

“And, done!” Rarity exclaimed as she put on a small amount of glitter makeup to finish the look. When Trixie looked into the mirror she was amazed at what Rarity had done. From the lipstick to the eye shadow Trixie looked absolutely gorgeous!. Even she had to admit her makeup skills paled in comparison to Rarity’s.

“Looks like you're feeling better now so we better get to our seats,” Sunset said, smiling kindly as the seven girls exited the dressing room. “Break a leg!”

Trixie smiled as the girls left and she turned back to the mirror. “Don’t worry girls, the Great and Powerful Trixie will knock all your socks off. And no monster showing up will scare me away,”

The only one that didn't seem to be going to Trixie’s show was Flash. As much as he would have loved to support his friend, going to the mechanic wasn't something he could blow off. After taking two buses, and walking five blocks Flash finally made it the garage. Flash didn't really see the point in coming all this way when he was pretty sure he knew what the mechanic would say.

“There is no way we can fix this car,” The middle aged man said, the two pieces of car behind him. “Not only have I never encountered a car cut in half like this, most of the insides look like they’ve been through a hydraulic press. It’s more worth it to sell this thing for scrap than it is to fix it,” He said, wiping the grease off his hands.

“Yeah, I kinda saw that coming,” Flash said, looking a bit down. “I just wish you could have told me this on the phone, instead of having me come all the way out here,” He said. He turned around, prepared to head back to the school.

“Hey, kid!” the mechanic yelled to catch Flash’s attention. “This thing won’t get much the way that it is, and I can see you have somewhere to be. Sell the car to me and I’ll give you the motorcycle I’ve been working on in the back. Been workin’ or her for a while, and by the time I was done with the thing, she’s good as new.”

“Are you serious?” Flash asked. He was getting excited at this new turn of events.

“Only if you know how to ride one,” the mechanic told him. Flash followed him further into the shop. The man dug the keys out of a drawer and handed them to Flash- before showing him the bike. The mechanic wasn't lying when he said the bike was as good as new.

It was a blue motorcycle that looked more for the streets than off-roading. It even came with a matching helmet. Flash had to sign a few papers, but by the end of it the bike was his. Even though a motorcycle wasn't a replacement for his car, he was happy with it.

Before pulling out, Flash pulled out his phone to check out the time. “Hopefully, I can make it back to school in time.” He put his phone away and started the engine. He pulled out into the road, and made his way to catch Trixie’s show.

It was a full house in the gym. Everyone was ready to see the debut of The Great and Powerful Trixie. The crowd soon quieted down as the spotlight came on, and the curtain rose. Standing center stage was The Great and Powerful Trixie. Gone was the blue hoodie- the magician was clad in a black unitard with fishnet stocking. Around her neck was a detached collar, with a bow tie that matched the cuffs she had around her wrists. Over the outfit was a purple vest with long tails in the back. To complete the magician look, Trixie had a silk hat on her head with a star decorating it.

“OK, Trixie, time to earn your title,” Trixie whispered to herself, before walking up on stage. “Ladies and gentlemen! Students and Faculty! The Great and Powerful Trixie is proud to have you all bear witness to her amazing debut!” Trixie announced to the audience. She fanned out a deck of cards that appeared out of thin air in her hands, and presented them to everyone. “It’s Show Time!” she yelled, throwing the cards into the air. Music started to play as the card exploded into confetti that showered over the audience.

This simple trick caught the attention of everyone watching. Trixie took this as a good sign for how the rest of the show would go. “Ha-ha! You thought that was impressive? Trixie hasn't even begun to show you her power,” Trixie said, flashing a confident smile. She then clapped her hands together, before bringing them apart to reveal a purple sheet with yellow and blue stars. “For her first trick, Trixie will need a volunteer.”

The audience came alive, with teens wanting to be picked to come on stage. Pinkie especially wanted to be picked. Trixie looked over the crowd, before she found who she was looking for. “You there!” Trixie proclaimed as she pointed into the crowd.

“Me?” Sunset asked as the spotlight on her.

“Yes, your hair of flames makes you the perfect fit for this amazing disappearing act,” Trixie declared. This came as a surprise to Sunset, not expecting to be called up on stage. All she could do was play along. Once she joined Trixie on stage the audience gave her a round of applause. “You have nothing to fear Sunset, you are in the presence of a master of magic.”

“I find that hard to believe, considering my teacher back home was able to move the sun,” Sunset joked.

Trixie didn’t let the comment get to her, and she covered her assistant with the sheet. “Trixie is sure back in your world, you have plenty of amazing wizards,” Trixie said as she stepped away from Sunset. The magician then pulled a very gothic looking lighter from her vest and lit it. “But in this world's magic has a bit more Razzle Dazzle,” She finished as she threw the flame onto the sheet.

Everyone gasped as Sunset was turned to ash in mere seconds. Sunset had disappeared just as quickly as the flames had. The crowd began to clap but Trixie raised her hand to signal them to stop. “Hold on, everyone, Trixie isn't done yet.”

Trixie took off her hat and placed it on the table. “And now The Great and Powerful Trixie shall make Sunset Shimmer reappear,” she announced. She put her hand into the hat, and began to dig around in there before bringing her hand out holding onto Sunset’s vest. The rest of Sunset somehow followed through the hole in the hat. What was odd was that she also had on a pair of fake bunny ears. “Can your teacher do something like that?” Trixie proudly asked.

“Yeah, but that was still really cool,” Sunset said as she lowered herself down from the table. “But what's with the bunny ears?”

“It has to be a bunny that comes out of a magician’s hat. That's how it works,” Trixie explained, a bit deflated, but still running strong. “Let’s have a hand for the Great and Powerful Trixie’s assistant!” Trixie yelled, gesturing to Sunset. The audience followed her words as they gave the two a round of applause.

Once Sunset got off the stage, Trixie continued with the show. One of the tricks she performed was blowing a pile of sparkling dust into a dish of water. Within a second the water froze into a large mass of ice crystals. This amazed the whole crowd, especially Twilight, since she figured this was what the chemistry book had been for for. Another involved Trixie to be locked in the iron maiden, and having the stagehand skewer her with swords. No screams were heard but when the stage hands were done, the iron maiden was covering in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, Trixie was standing on top of the Iron Maiden, completely unharmed.

The crowd went wild as Trixie continued to amaze them. Soon the end of the show approached and began to take a bow center stage. “Trixie thanks you all for this! Without an audience to entertain, the Great and Powerful Trixie would be nothing,” Trixie declared. She then struck a pose as smoke rolled off the stage. “And now for her grand finale! The Mighty Trixie shall summon the most powerful of beasts, a dragon.”

Everyone was awestruck at Trixie’s claim. The smoke was starting to spread through the whole gym. It wasn't thick enough to obscure anyone’s vision but it was enough for people to notice. Trixie began to chant as everyone stared in anticipation for what was about to happen. “Now, come forth mighty beast of legend!” Trixie yelled, striking a pose.

The crowd looked on with bated breath but nothing happened. Trixie kept her poise, but internally was starting to panic. She kept hitting the small controller in her cuff, but it wasn’t working. She then looked up to the projectors, only to see that they looked to be destroyed by a familiar looking projectile. The audience was starting to get restless with the lack of a dragon. “What's wrong? Not as powerful as you thought,” A menacing voice said from the side of the stage. The lights came on to reveal that the source of the voice- Constellar.

Everyone was surprised by this development, especially Sunset and her friends. “W-what are you doing here?” Trixie asked as she took a few steps back. She was so scared by the monster’s appearance that she didn’t notice that her hand was starting to turn transparent.

“I’m here to show that someone as weak as you has no right to call themselves “Great and Powerful”’ Constellar declared. He launched several star swords and destroyed Trixie’s props. The destruction caused everyone to run out in a panic, but the seven girls of the audience members stayed behind.

“That thing looks like that monster you and Rarity fought yesterday!” Rainbow exclaimed, hopping over the seats..

“Yeah, and just as mean looking,” Sunset followed her.

“Do you think Achilles will come to help?” Fluttershy asked.

“Doesn't look like we got the time to wait,” Applejack answered. The other six girls were in full agreement and made their way to the stage.

Constellar slowly walked closer to Trixie with more swords floating behind him. “Don’t feel too bad. You get to bear witness to my shining moment. The moment I become whole.”

Before Trixie could ask what he meant, pink candies landed at the monsters feet. Constellar didn't notice them, but when they exploded into pink smoke, it was a complete surprise. With the monster blinded, he couldn't see the rainbow blur speed past him. When the blur made another pass, Constellar was knocked back. When the monster recovered his bearings, he looked up to see the seven girls standing in front of Trixie.

“Sorry, but we’re not letting you anywhere near our friend,” Twilight declared defiantly.

“Admirable efforts ladies, but pointless, especially when going up against someone of my caliber.” Constellar arrogantly laughed as he launched three star swords at them. Applejack saw this and stomped on the floor, causing the floorboards to stand up to stop the blades path. Pinkie and Rarity countered with their own ranged attacks, throwing exploding bakery goods and glowing diamonds..

While Constellar was busy, Sunset and Fluttershy got Trixie to safety. “You're not hurt are you?” Fluttershy asked, while they hid behind the flipped over table.

“I don’t think he hit me,” Trixie said. She looked herself over. She was mostly unharmed but when she saw that her hand, she screamed. “What is going on!? Why am I transparent?!”

“Did a winged monster place a card on you and create that star monster?” Sunset asked. Trixie nodded her head rapidly. “Alright, I just need to check something out,” Sunset said as she grabbed Trixie’s hand. Sunset’s eyes glowed white she saw the events and felt the emotions Trixie went through during her finale. She was able to feel the fear and embarrassment Trixie felt, and saw that that was the point when Trixie’s hand began to vanish.

“What did you see?” Fluttershy asked as Sunset let go of Trixie.

“Well, I have a theory as to why you seem to be vanishing. But you’re not going to like it," Sunset warned her.

Trixie is a big girl, Shimmer. Just tell her-”

“That monster is draining your life force,” Sunset told her, ripping it like a band-aid.

“WHAT!?” Trixie yelled out.

“I can feel it through you. Your life was being drained by that thing and I'm willing to bet the negative emotions you felt when your trick didn't work only made it worse. If Equestrian magic was what created that thing from you, then adding negative emotions to the equation only makes things worse,” Sunset explained.

“So, I’m vanishing cause that creep sabotaged my grand finale?” Trixie said. She began to get mad, but as she did, the transparency started to spread to the rest of her body.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha! I’m growing stronger by the second!” Constellar gloated, his Star Sword production seemed to increase.

Starlight noticed, and looked back to her troubled friend. “Trixie, you need to calm down.” She insisted. “Even anger seems to make him stronger and you vanish faster!”

“Take this!” Twilight yelled as her purple aura covered her hands. The iron maiden on stage floated into the air before it flew towards the monster. Twilight was able to trap the monster in the metal prop, before using several chains and locks to insure that he wouldn't get out. “That might hold him for a while,” Twilight said, catching her breath. After she said that, a star sword busted through the maiden. “Oh, come ON!”

“How do we beat this guy? He's getting stronger the longer we fight!,” Applejack said.

“We need to protect Trixie. That’s where his power is coming from,” Sunset said as she got to the front lines.

More swords began to burst through the Iron Maiden before the whole thing burst apart. What came out of it was something no one expected. Standing before the girls was a giant entirely bear-like creature that took up the whole stage. It kept the look of being made of stars, with the ring that was once on the monster back now acting as a head crest, and several star swords sticking out of its back. “Count yourselves lucky. You all get to bear witness to my true power!” Constellar announced.

“Great,” Rainbow said, “I think he got more arrogant too!”

The eight girls scattered as the giant bear began to move forward. Out of the group, Twilight was the only one with the opportunity to make a break to protect Trixie. She got to the magician just in time for both of the girls to be trapped in the bear’s grip. The beast opened his mouth up wide before consuming the two of them. Due to the nature of the bear’s body, the girls were able to see Twilight and Trixie captured within him. “Now I can drain the last of the energy of that bottom-feeder with no interruptions,” Constellar laughed cruelly. The rest of the girls attacked the monster in a desperate attempt to free their friends, but nothing they did looked to have an effect. With the fight essentially over, Constellar crashed through the wall and into the street.

“Whoa, didn't see that coming,’ Applejack said as she and her friends watched the bear make a getaway.

The school had just come into view for Flash. He hoped that he wasn’t too late to see Trixie’s grand finale. He was also very happy with how well the motorcycle seemed to handle. Everything seemed to be going quite well for Flash- until he heard a loud crash. He braked, and skidded to a stop. Looking at the school, he saw the upgraded Constellar crash through the wall off the gym and dash down the road. Upon closer inspection, he also saw Rainbow and Rarity giving chase to the giant bear monster.

Seeing this Flash flipped up the visor of his helmet and pulled out his phone. “Hey, uhh, Sunset,” Flash stammered once Sunset picked up on the other end of the phone. “I just saw a giant constellation bear bust through the gym. Mind giving me a status update?”

“You know the monster that attacked us yesterday?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah?” Flash answered, already seeing where this was going.

“Well, another one attacked Trixie’s show, grew into what I'm assuming is an Ursa Major, and ran off with Trixie and Twilight. Rarity and Rainbow are chasing it,” Sunset explained, exasperated.

“OK, I guess I'll go find where everyone ran off to, and try to help out there,” Flash said, revving up his bike.

“That sounds good,” Sunset agreed. The two hung up, and got to work.

Flash put his phone away and pulled out his driver to put it around his waist. His bike then sped up, giving chase towards the monster. “Henshin!” Flash yelled, putting the card into the slot of the driver.

"A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

The motorcycle drove through the magic to transform Flash into Achilles. Flash’s new bike seemed to have transformed as well, changing into a gold color, with a design that looked like it was built out of a chariot. He twisted the throttle more, speeding to catch up with the bear.

Meanwhile Rainbow Dash was speeding after the bear with her own wings and speed, while Rarity followed on top of a crystal platform. Rainbow tried to attack with an aerial kick, but it did little more than irritate the monster. ”You think your weak attacks can stop me?! I am a titan!” Constellar yelled, swatting at the teenage girl.

“Maybe you’d rather have something more dazzling,” Rarity said as she launched several crystal shards at the beast. The shards just shattered against the bear’s hide. In response to this, Constellar swung his paw near Rarity, startling her, and causing her to fall back off her platform.

“Rarity!” Twilight yelled as she saw her friend fall, unable to help within the monster’s body.

Fortunately before she hit the ground, Achilles zoomed forward. The Rider forced his bike up, catching Rarity, stopping his bike, cradling her in his arms. “Oh my! Thank you so much!” Rarity said, dazzled.

“It was no problem,” Achilles replied as he let Rarity down. “I think it’ll be safer if you ride with me,” he said, offering Rarity a helmet.

“Yes, darling, I must admit, you may be right,” Rarity agreed. She took the helmet, giving it a critical eye. “Do you have a more stylish helmet?”

“We don’t have time, they're getting away,” Achilles said impatiently.

“I suppose you're right,” Rarity sighed as she strapped on the helmet, and got on the back of the bike. Once she was safely on, Achilles sped up to catch up to Rainbow and Constellar.

Once the Rider got close to the beast, he pulled out his spear. Trying his best to keep the bike under control, the Rider started to slash and stab at the monster’s underbelly. Unfortunately, like Rainbow’s and Rarity’s attacks, Achilles only delivered minimal damage.

“I was wondering when you will show up, Rider. Cypher asked me to take care of you personally. Probably figured I’d be perfect for the job,” Constellar gloated. He swung his claw to attack the Rider. Achilles saw this and hit the brakes, narrowly dodging the attack. The large bear changed directions, and started to chase after the Rider. This caused Achilles to change directions as well, and he drove away from the rampaging bear.

“That thing’s far become too powerful!” Rarity exclaimed, frustrated.

“Tell me about it! If only we could pin him down, I could get a good strike in,” Achilles grumbled. As soon as he said those words, an idea came into his head. “Hey, Rainbow-haired girl!” he yelled out.

“Sup?” Rainbow asked as she ran up next to the motorcycle.

“Do you think you can distract this guy for a bit, before leading him to the construction site?” Achilles asked.

“You have a plan, don't you?” Rainbow grinned mischievously. The Rider nodded. “OK, I’ll help you out!” Rainbow agreed. She flew back, directly to the monster’s face. “Hey Space Case!” Rainbow yelled as she kicked Constellar right between the eyes.

This didn't really affect the monster, until she began to repeat the action at high speeds. This was enough to annoy the bear and pull his attention onto the teenage girl. While this was going on, Achilles, undeterred by the behemoth, made his way to the construction site.

When he got there he found what he was looking for. A bunch of steel girders stacked up into the frame of a building. “Hey I need to ask,” he looked at Rarity, “If I needed you to, could you create a shield around your friends inside that beast?” He asked.

“Yes, as long as I can see them, I should be able to make a shell around them,” Rarity confirmed as she took off her helmet.

Achilles nodded as he pulled out his blaster. He then began to shoot at the connections on the building's frame to weaken them. He made sure to help Rarity find a hiding place, just before Constellar arrived. With that done, he got in position in front of the frame.

It only took a minute before Rainbow came wheezing, with Constellar following. “So, I suppose you finally realized it was pointless to try and match powers with someone as great as me,” Constellar said, eying as Achilles.

“Nah, I just needed a place where I can outsmart you,” Achilles teased, holding out his blaster. With the pull of the trigger a bolt of energy flew through the air and hit the bear right between the eyes. This angered the monster, and he loosed a mighty roar, before charging at the Rider. “Do it now!” Achilles yelled, shooting one of the beams above him. This put too much stress on the joints of the beams, and caused the whole frame to fall on top of the bear.

The bars began to move, before a sphere made of crystals burst out of the wreckage. The sphere followed Rarity’s hands before it came close to her, and disappeared. Within the sphere were Twilight and Trixie, unharmed. “Are you girls alright?” Rarity asked, worried.

“I’m fine, but it looks like Trixie’s condition is getting worse!” Twilight said, pointing at Trixie. She was much more transparent now. It was hard to see her. She looked weaker than she had before, not even having the strength to stand up. “If we don’t stop that monster soon, then she’s a goner.”

“But... Achilles just defeated him,” Rarity said as she looked back at the wreckage.

“Oh, that wasn't enough to defeat him,” Achilles said, changing his weapon back into a spear. More of the metal bars began to move, before Constellar, back in his normal form, emerged, holding two star swords. “That was just to get him back on our level.”

“You have a lot of nerve to do something like that to me!! But unfortunately a simple trick like that won't save you from my wrath,” Constellar snarled.

“You can threaten me all you want, buddy. By the time this battle is over, I’ll have rocked you to your core,” Achilles announced as he charged at the monster. He threw a slash with his spear that knocked Constellar back. The Magi-Beast countered by shooting several swords at the Rider.

The Rider spun his spear around, knocking them all away as he closed in. The monster swung his sword, but Achilles blocked it with his spear handle. He then freed up one hand, and punched Constellar square in the face, causing him to reel back. “This is for ruining Trixie’s grand finally,” Achilles said, as he took his card out of the driver and into the slot on the spear.

“CHARGING!”

The blade of the spear began to glow with energy, before it extended itself longer. Achilles spun the spear above his head, making a ring of energy, before rushing at the monster. This attack shocked Constellar before he could react. Frozen in surprise, he was impaled by the energy blade. Achilles then lifted the monster over his head, throwing him up, before jumping into the air.

“No! You can't do this to the powerful Constellar!” The monster cried as the Rider aimed his spear toward the beast, toward the ground.

“You don't look too powerful to me, Airhead,” Achilles said. Then he strongly launched the spear downward.

“RIDER FEEDBACK!”

The monster fell, and fell faster due to the force of the powerful energy spear. When he hit the ground, a magic circle appeared out of the shockwave, before it began to close in on the monster. Once it reached his body, it exploded, with Achilles landing in front of it, his back to it. His spear twirled out of the explosion, and without looking, he caught it, and draped it over his shoulder.

When the monster was destroyed, an aura flew out of the explosion, and into what was left of Trixie’s fading body. She quickly regained her solid form, and her constitution looked much improved. When she opened her eyes, she saw the Rider extending his hand to help her up. “I guess that makes us even for earlier,” Achilles said, teasing.

“Y-you saved my life,” Trixie said, shell-shocked as she took his hand.

“It’s just what friends do,” Twilight said as Rainbow joined the group.

Trixie looked around, before tears began to run down her face. “I- I don't know what to say. You've all done so much for me, I don't know how to ever repay you,” she said, breaking out in tears.

“You really don’t have to repay us at all darling, really,” Rarity gently reassured her..

“I know what you can do to repay us,” Achilles suddenly spoke up, surprising everyone. He pulled out the flyer from her show and gave it to her. “You can prepare for your next performance, and go after your dream,” the Rider said.

Trixie took the flyer, and slowly, she started to smile proudly again. She then looked up to see the Rider walk towards his bike. He waved without turning.

"Don't let that dumb bear win. He doesn't know who you are, oh Great and Powerful One," he advised the show-woman.

”Hey, where are you going?” Rainbow asked, startled by his dismissal.

“Well, the monster’s gone, so there’s nothing left for me to do here,” The Rider said obviously. He started his bike up, revving it. “See you around!” Achilles gave a two finger salute to the girls. Before any of them could say anything the Rider peeled out of the construction site, and off towards the horizon. Once the girls made sure Trixie was totally fine, they all left to make their way back to the school.

Trixie, Twilight and all the other girls all stood in front of the destroyed gymnasium. Nobody was injured, but all of Trixie’s props were destroyed. “I’m so sorry your show was ruined,” Fluttershy said, hoping to console her friend.

“Yeah, that dragon finally would have been fantastic,” Pinkie followed.

“It’s fine,” Trixie said, picking up a broken projector from the rubble. “This just a minor roadblock on The Great and Powerful Trixie’s road to greatness!” She proclaimed.

“That's good to hear,” Sunset said as she patted Trixie’s shoulders. The girls all shared in a relieved laugh.

“Hey, where’s Flash?” Trixie asked. Rainbow pointed her to the parking lot where Flash was standing with his new bike.

Trixie rushed to meet him as Flash stashed his helmet.

“Oh, hey, Trixie. Really sorry I missed your show. Though, I guess it's good I missed the monster attack.” Flash said, trying to play the situation off.

“Don’t play dumb with me,” Trixie whispered, closing in on the blue-haired teen. “I know you're the Rider."

Flash was shocked by this claim, but tried his best to play it cool. “What? Me? No way!. I can’t be a superhero,” Flash tried to act innocent, but she kept holding him up on his bike.

“Yes, you can, and you slipped up big time,” Trixie informed him. She pulled out the flyer Achilles had given her.

“Trixie, you spread those flyers all over the place,” Flash tried to pass the fact back.

“Yeah, but you're the only person to have one that I signed,” Trixie said, bringing attention to her pink signature, "And "Oh, Great and Powerful One?" You said that to me today, Flash."

Flash’s jaw dropped. He’d forgotten that.“Stupid, Stupid, Stupid,” Flash said as he face palmed repeatedly.

“Hey! Don’t beat yourself up over this! I’m not going to tell anyone!” Trixie told him, grabbing his wrist.

“Really?” Flash asked, confused.

“Yeah, it's my honor as a magician to keep other’s secrets, not just my own,” Trixie said, crossing her arms. “Plus, you might need some help with all these monsters.”

“That's nice of you, Trixie. Thank you,” Flash said, giving her a kind smile.

“But!” Trixie interrupted with a raise of her finger. “My assistance isn't free, you will have to do me a favor, without refusal on a date of my choosing,” Trixie demanded.

Flash had no clue what Trixie was talking about, but to have someone he could trust with his secret did sound nice. The part about the favor did worry him, but since it was Trixie, he was positive he could handle it. “Alright, Trixie, you have a deal,” Flash said, smiling as the two shook hands to seal their partnership.

With a new motorcycle and a new ally, Flash had grown a little bit stronger against Cypher, the Magi-Beasts, and anyone else involved in all this chaos.

Ride 3: Thunderstruck!

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Ride 3

“... And that's all I was able to figure out from what Sunset said,” Trixie said, before taking a sip from her drink. Both she and Flash were sitting on a bench in the park. There was no one else around, so they were free to talk about whatever they wanted. Trixie had taken advantage of that, and finished explaining what Sunset had discovered during the battle with Constellar the other day.

“Geez, as if this whole thing wasn't already stressful enough,” Flash said as he took a large gulp from his own drink. “Now, not only do I have to worry about the monsters hurting people on their rampages, if I choke before I beat them, someone could lose their life,” he summarized. The boy threw his head back, and sighed.

“Well, you can just tell the girls that you, Flash Sentry, are the Great Achilles! No doubt having seven magical girls backing you up will make things much easier,” Trixie suggested.

“I can’t, for multiple reasons. Top of the list being, Sunset isn’t the biggest fan of Achilles, and honestly, I don't blame her. After everything she's been through, I’d be worried about anyone that got their hands on Equestrian Magic. Plus, I kinda don't want to ruin our friendship by saying I've been going behind her back and putting myself in danger,” Flash said.

“Flash, you are way too nice somet- No, all the time. But, I guess I can’t blame you wanting to stay friends with Shimmer. Especially with all you two have been through. But enough with that mushy junk!,” Trixie said as she stood up, and threw her soda can into the recycling bin. “We have a lot of work to do.”

“What are you up to now, Trixie?” Flash asked, suspicious. Soon, Trixie was standing in front of him, right on the table.

Trixie pointed to the sky in a proud pose. “It’s time that we work... on your branding!”

“Ummmmm, you mean with my music? If we’re talking about that, then maybe we should get Drum Roll and Ringo,” Flash suggested.

“Not your band, you dim bulb, your Achilles branding,” Trixie corrected. She put her hands on her hips and leaned into Flash’s face. “Right now, people are thinking that the Kamen Rider is just some guy that swoops in, and stops monsters.”

“Yeah, well, that is what I do,” Flash points out, confused by the conversation..

“No, no, Kamen Rider Achilles needs to be a hero. Someone the people can look upon, and have fear banished from their minds and souls,” Trixie went on dramatically. “And the best way to tell people that you have everything under control is simple: You need a catchphrase.”

“A catchphrase?” Flash asked. “Isn’t that just a thing superheroes do to be showie?”

“At first glance, yes. But think about it, when people hear those iconic words coming from you, they will know that they are in good hands. That you will be the one to keep them safe,” Trixie said triumphantly.

Flash couldn't help but smile. Trixie seemed to care, how invested she was. She was a performer at heart, and she wasn’t just limited to the stage. He was ultimately won over by her words and her zeal, and ultimately decided to hear her out. “OK, OK, I’ll give that catchphrase a try.” he agreed.” But what should it be?”

“How about…” Trixie started as she shifted, leaning into an almost crouch, throwing one hand forward and the other to the side. “I... have arrived!”

Flash considered it for a moment, before shaking his head.

Unfazed, Trixie then stood up, shifted sideways, bent one of her legs so that only her boot tip touched the table, and with a dramatic flourish of her arm, flicking her wrist, she pointed at Flash. “Now, count up your sins,” She said in a low, equally dramatic tone.

Flash tilted his head, before shaking it again.

But Trixie wasn’t done yet. She put one hand on her hip, and beat the top of her chest before pointing her fist forward. “Let’s settle this mano e mano,” She said with a cocky look.

“Those are some good ones,” Flash assured her, pulling her down from the table, “but, nothing I think really fits me.” Flash stood up, threw his can in the bin, and began to walk down the pathway.

Trixie, however, wasn’t up for giving up on any part of a show. “How about this: By the end of this battle, I'll have sent you to Tartarus.’” Trixie said as she caught up to Flash.

“Hey, that's actually pretty good. Matches my gimmick and everything,” Flash said with a smile.

The two continued to walk, discussing Flash’s pose, soon coming up to a more populated section of the park. Flash shut his eyes, trying to envision his pose- before hearing a sudden thud. Flash looked back to see that Trixie had been hit in the back of her head. Almost immediately, he noticed the soccer ball. “Who did that!?” Trixie demanded, grabbing the ball as she stood back up.

“Sorry, sorry!” Rainbow Dash yelled, running up to the two. Trixie was rather angry, and she chucked the ball back at the athlete. “Hey Flash, talk about good timing,” Rainbow remarked, catching the ball with a practiced ease, and seeming to forget what'd just happened, much to Trixie’s indignation.

“Hi, Rainbow. Um... what do you mean by good timing?” He asked.

“We have uneven teams, and mine just happens to need a goalie. I figured you could fill in,” Rainbow said, pointing to the soccer field, where several other teens were waiting.

“I didn't know the soccer team had practice today,” Flash remarked, putting a hand to his chin in thought.

“We don’t, this game is just for fun since one of my friends from middle school is visiting,” Rainbow explained.

“Well then, no problem,” Flash smiled. He removed his jacket, the driver safely nestled in the inner pocket. It was clear that there wasn't anything for Trixie to do, being a show woman rather than an athlete, so, with a huff and hair flip that slapped Dash, she took Flash’s jacket, and found a seat on the side lines. Rainbow glanced at Flash, who simply gave her a knowing shrug.

When Flash got to the field, he was greeted by the whole team. Flash knew some of the team could get pretty competitive, but it looked like they were fine with him acting as a sub, since this game was purely for fun. After saying hello to all the familiar faces, Flash saw a new one among them.

A brown skinned girl with white hair and violet tips tied into a very short ponytail. She was wearing a dark brown tank top with matching pants and a feathery belt separating the two. She also wore feather earrings and fingerless gloves. “You must be Rainbow’s friend? Nice to meet you,” Flash said, extending a hand.

“Dweeb,” was all the girl said before she slapped Flash’s hand and walked away.

“Well, she seems friendly,” Flash scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“I swear, Gilda was a lot cooler back when we were in middle school,” Rainbow defended.

“Well, people change with time, and not always for the better,” Flash sagely stated. However, he noticed Rainbow’s discomfort with his advice. “Maybe we should just get the game started,” Flash said, attempting to change the subject, and he made his way to the goalpost. Rainbow, grateful for the shift in conversation, agreed, the opposing teams got into their positions. The soccer ball was placed in the middle of the field.

“Here, Trixie, you can be the ref,” Rainbow said, throwing a startled Trixie a whistle.

“What!? I can’t be the referee, I know next to nothing about this sport!” Trixie complained.

“You'll be fine. All you need to do is blow the whistle to start the game, or if somebody gets hurt! ” Rainbow waved off Trixie’s concern, preparing herself for the game.

Trixie took a deep breath, calming her frustration, and sighed. She gave in, and blew, signalling the start of the game. Rainbow was the first to get the ball. Even without her super speed, Rainbow still had the skills to be Canterlot High ace. She made it a few feet before passing it to one of her teammates, but it was quickly intercepted by a boy with red hair. He waved around the players, before kicking it towards the goal. Flash reacted quickly, diving at the ball and blocking it.

“Nice shot, Heath. Too bad Flash was quicker than you,” Rainbow said. When Flash got up, he spotted Gilda sporting an annoyed look, bitter at what Rainbow said. He sighed, and grabbed the ball.

“Coming at ya, Cloudkicker!” Flash warned. He kicked the ball back to the players. The periwinkle girl with teal spiky hair kicked the ball towards the other goal once it hit the ground. The other players tried to stop her, but Cloudkicker was just too fast. She was winding up to make a score at goal, but Gilda, with a speed rivaling Dash’s normal pace, quickly came up from the side. Before anyone could react, she’d planted her leg in front of the ball and slammed Cloudkicker to the ground. Everyone rushed over to make sure the periwinkle girl was ok. But they were so distracted that they didn't notice Gilda steal the ball.

“Are you alright?” One of the players asked as he helped Cloudkicker up.

Rainbow was shocked at what she had witnessed. Furious and confused, she ran off to confront Gilda. “What were you thinking there?!” She demanded. “You know that would be a red card if this was a real game! You really could have hurt her!”

“Well, it’s not an official game,” Gilda replied coolly, glaring right back at Dash.

“That’s not the point. This was supposed to be a friendly game. You had no reason to slam into Cloudkicker like that,” Rainbow said, growing frustrated.

“Friendly, shmendly, the only thing you should be focused on is winning. Doesn't matter what dweeb gets in your way,” Gilda said, crossing her arms.

“That isn’t all there is to playing sports,” Rainbow started. “Yes you need to put your all into winning, but sports are much more than that. Some of the greatest people I know I met on the playing field. Both playing with and against them. You can’t just focus on winning all the time.”

“If you’re not a winner, you're a loser!” Gilda yelled in Rainbow’s face. “If that dweeb over there can’t handle herself against someone like me, maybe she shouldn't be on your team in the first place. Same goes for that Flash guy, he basically has loser written all over his face.”

“Hey, Cloudkicker can keep up with the best of them. And that goes double for Flash,” Rainbow replied, further getting worked up herself.

“You’ve gone soft. The Rainbow I knew would have done anything to win,” Gilda said turning around to walk off.

“Well, maybe the Rainbow you knew was dumb, and didn't know what it means to be on a real team,” Rainbow shot back, “And the Gilda I knew would never have stooped this low.” Gilda said nothing but Rainbow noticed her flinch. The white-haired girl's face showed angry, tears of frustration streaming down her face. She ran off, fleeing into the wooded area in the park.

“What was that all about?” Flash asked as he ran up to Rainbow.

“I don’t know,” Dash responded, calmer, but shaken. “I knew Gilda had a rough time when I moved, but I don't think she would have ended up so mean,” Rainbow said as she turned to him. She gazed in the direction Gilda had run, a pit of concern welling in her gut.

“Should we try and go after her?” Flash followed up.

“Nah, I think it’d be better if we just let her work off some steam,” Rainbow said. She looked back to where the rest of the group was heading. “By the way, how’s Cloudkicker?”

“She looks alright, but I think she may need to sit some of the game out. Gilda hit her pretty hard. She'll be fine after some rest,” Flash answered.

“Well, that's good to hear,” Rainbow said. She gave the woods a glance, before running off to see to her other friend.

Gilda ran deep into the woods, wanting to get away from the person she'd called a friend. “Losers, all of them. Why would Rainbow Dash even hang out with them?!” Gilda yelled, kicking a tree. “I didn’t think their loser...ness would have rubbed off on her.” She leaned her head against the trunk, her tears falling onto the grass and leaves. She growled, punched the tree listlessly...

“You're an angry one.” a mysterious voice rang out. Startled, Gilda looked around, but couldn't locate the source.

“What’s it to ya, you coward!” Gilda yelled out, whirling around, her fists clenched..

“I see no reason for you to be quite so hostile,” The voice admonished. Emerging from the shadows was an older man, with snow white skin and an ominous aura. His black hair was very unkempt, and his eyes had dark bags beneath them, as if he hadn’t slept in months. He had on a black parka with a gray t-shirt, with a hexagon design on it. “I can tell your friend doesn't understand the way you’re feeling,” the man said.

“What are you, some kind of psychic?” Gilda guessed.

“I do possess unique powers if that’s what you're asking,” the man said, taking a few steps closer. “Such as the ability to make your feelings known to everyone. To show your friend how much you're upset with how she has changed,” the man assured her. From his park, he pulled out a card with the image of a griffin on it.

“And how do you do that, with a children's game card?” Gilda asked rudely.

“Just watch,” The man instructed patiently. He took Gilda’s hand and placed the card on it. After he released it, the card transformed into an aura that floated behind the girl.

The aura began to take the physical form of a monster. The monster was bird-like, with yellow claws, and sharp wing blades on its arms. Its legs were covered in fur instead of feathers. It had a white feather collar around its neck, that draped down to its chest with wings coming off it’s back. The monster’s head was covered with feathers, leading to his beak and a red crest in the middle of his head. “I am Grifter, the personification of your anger,” The monster said, bowing respectfully.

Gilda was freaked out by the monster that had formed. She soon calmed when she realized that it wasn't attacking her.”Th-that thing came from me?” she asked.

“Yes.” the man affirmed. "Grifter here can show all your friends your feelings. That a person needs to do anything to win,” The man said, keeping a rather emotionless face.

“Really, now?” Gilda said with a sinister smile.“He-he, I think this may be just what I needed.”

The game carried on without Gilda. After her fall, Cloudkicker was sitting on the side lines with Trixie which evened out the teams. Flash was holding his own as goalie. He was up against the Canterlot high soccer team, so keeping up wasn't easy. But they were up against Achilles. Flash’s recent fights gave him a leg up in physical experience.

Rainbow continued to play pretty well, but what Gilda said still weighed on her. She didn't want to face the fact that her childhood friend had changed for the worse. Was it because she’d moved away? Or was it something else Gilda wanted help with? Why was Gilda so...so callous? These questions rested on her mind, but she shook her head. Trying not to let the thoughts get in the way of her performance was all she could do. She was in the middle of a game. Games were good to win, but you have to have fun playing. Couldn’t do that if you didn’t focus.

One of the opposing teams tried to block her, but Rainbow wasn't stopping for anything. She kicked the ball between her opponent's leg, before performing a slide, following it. This left the boy surprised as Rainbow jumped back up to kick the ball to a blond haired girl. The girl caught it before dashing right to the goal. The opposing team tried to stop her, but the blond girl kicked the ball before anyone could stop her. The Goalie tried to stop the sphere, but he reacted too late and the ball hit the net.

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL!” Rainbow roared at the top of her lungs.

At that moment, the alarm on Trixie’s phone went off. This caused Trixie to blow her whistle to get everyone attention. “Hey, that was the timer going off! The game is over! Rainbow’s team wins,” Trixie announced.

This not only made Rainbow cheer, but her team as well, including Flash.

“That was a great game, everyone. I hope you guys picked some stuff up, you can use in the match next week,” Rainbow loudly spoke to everyone present. “Also, a huge thanks to Flash for being our sub.”

Everyone cheered for Flash, even if his performance was probably the worst out of all of them- rather- he'd hardly been involved. “It was nothing. It was fun playing with you guys.”

“Now then, how about Victory Nachos at the diner, on me,” Rainbow offered. Now that's something everyone went wild for.

As they were celebrating, Flash noticed a glint of silver from the corner of his eye. “LOOK OUT!” Flash yelled. Moving fast, he tackled Rainbow to the ground. Right at that moment, the two narrowly avoided a blade of air that tore up the ground it hit.

Everyone looked up to see Grifter hovering in the sky. He raised his arm to catch a wing shaped boomerang that was returning, and attached it back to his arm. “Prepare yourselves, for I shall teach you all what it truly means to play,” Grifter said as he threw another boomerang. This caused everyone to scatter almost instantly. The weapon brutally destroyed more of the field.

“Quick, I need my bag!” Rainbow called. One of her teammates noticed such, and threw her the bag as they ran. Quickly, Rainbow took out her necklace and put it on. When she did her pony ears and wings appeared, and she zoomed right to the monster “Eat this!” Rainbow shouted as she wound up for a punch.

“Head’s up~” Grifter said, a small smirk on his beak. The comment came out of nowhere, so surprising that it caused Rainbow to stop and look around apprehensively. She turned to see the boomerang he’d launched coming right towards her. She ducked down as the blade flew over her head to return to its sender. “I guess I should have warned you from the start; I like to play with very dangerous toys.”

“Yeah, well, I’m the one that’s going to break them!” Rainbow declared, trying again to regain speed. However when Rainbow started to fly again, Grifter had already thrown another boomerang and it was heading right towards her. Rainbow had to move to the side to avoid the attack. In doing so a few strands of Rainbow’s red hair were cut off. “OK, so you're not just messing around,” Rainbow said, concerned. She glared at the bird man regardless. "Well, neither am I, feather-head!"

As Rainbow was busy avoiding the monster’s attacks, everyone else was running to safety. Flash was trying to find Trixie in the mix. He found her running, supporting the limping Cloudkicker. “Trixie, I need my jacket,” Flash said as he caught up to them.

“Don’t you have bigger things to worry about than your jacket?!” Trixie asked, incredulous.

“I know, I do,” Flash said as he took his jacket and pulled out the Legend Driver, letting only Trixie catch a glimpse. Her eyes widened with understanding. “Stay safe till I get back,” He said, before running off.

Rainbow continued to fly all over the place, avoiding air blades left and right. She couldn’t tell if an attack was coming from the front or behind her. “This is what victory really is- crushing your opponent so they will never oppose you again,” Grifter gloated. The monster let out a laugh, prepared to finish the girl. But without warning, he was struck by several energy shots.

After Grifter recovered, both he and Rainbow looked to the ground, to see Achilles standing there with his blaster in hand. “Hey feather brain, no one likes a sore winner,” Achilles said, continuing to fire at the Magi-Beast.

“Ah, Rider, come to join the fun I see,” Grifter said as he threw one of his boomerangs at the rider. Achilles tried to shoot down the weapon, but he wasn’t able to hit it- the blade whirled far to erraticaly.

“That thing isn’t like Constellar’s swords. The curve in its flight makes it hard to track,” the Rider thought to himself, noting the motions when it got too close. He tried to block the attack, but Rainbow quickly swooped to get him out of the way.

“Glad you could drop in,” Rainbow said once she let the Rider down.

“Thanks,” Achilles said. “Those boomerangs aren't the only problem. As long as he’s still in the air, there's not much I can do.”

“You want me to fly you up there?” Rainbow asked.

“No. I’ll just weigh you down and kill your speed. Make it harder for you to dodge his attacks. I am wearing armor,” the Rider remarked, before grabbing Rainbow, pulling out of the way of another attack.

“Then maybe we should flank him,” Rainbow suggested.

“Does that mean you have a plan?” Achilles asked.

Rainbow just smiled and nodded. “Just get his attention,” She said.

The two both separated as another boomerang flew between the two. Achilles rolled out of the way, opening fire on the monster as he did. “Hey, why don’t you come down here and face me if you're such a big shot?!” he yelled, continuing to shoot.

“And give up my advantage? No way!” the monster snarked as he threw a boomerang right at the Rider. Achilles was ready to block, but a rainbow streak rushed by and took the Rider to the skies. The boomerang flew and hit the area the Rider had been before going back to its owner, who caught it effortlessly. “Oh, you thought you could get me to hit myself with my own weapon? How dumb do you think I-”

Before Grifter could finish his gloating, he was hit with several shots from behind. Rainbow had carried the Rider in the sky to flank the beast. “Haha, I knew you needed to keep an eye on those things,” Rainbow snarked. Achilles took aim at the monster's wings. One of the shots hit, and Grifter fell to the ground.

Once the monster was grounded, Rainbow set the Rider nearby. “Now, I can end this before anyone gets hurt,” Achilles said. He placed the Rider card into the slot on his blaster.

“CHARGING!”

Grifter tried to get up, and once he did, his eye began to glow. “Yes, give me your anger,’ he said, oddly calm, as he crossed his arms to his shoulders. Before the Rider could pull the trigger, the monster performed an X shaped air slash that tore up the whole field. While Achilles and Rainbow were knocked down, Grifter took the opportunity to escape back into the air.

“What was that?” Rainbow asked, flabergasted, as she got up.

“I guess there was a spike in emotions with the Magi-beast’s host,” Achilles answered. “Now, the question is, who's the host?”

“I hope Gilda's alright,” Rainbow sighed, downtrodden and worried.

“You should go back, make sure your team is alright,” Achilles said. Rainbow nodded in agreement, and she used her speed to run to find them. When she was out of sight, Achilles took out the card, and reverted to normal.

Once it was all clear, Trixie popped up from the bushes she was hiding in. “So, any thoughts as to the host of the Magi-Beast?” Trixie asked.

“I do, but I don’t think Rainbow would like it,” Flash said, a little upset.

“You don't mean... Gilda?” Trixie asked.

“It makes sense. She was mad, the monster tried to attack Rainbow, and she doesn't even know what a Magi-Beast is. I think with all those negative thoughts going through her head when she left, she would be the perfect target,” Flash explained.

“If that's true, then Gilda has way less time then I did, with that short fuse she has,” Trixie said.

“I'm going to catch up with Rainbow,” Flash said before walking away.

“Wait, shouldn't we be looking for Gilda? She’s the one with the anger problem, and the emotion parasite,” Trixie asked.

“Rainbow Dash knows Gilda better than both of us. If that monster gets another power up from an emotional spike, maybe Rainbow will know how to calm her down,” Flash explained.

“Oh I get it, trying to get a tactical advantage,” Trixie said with a grin, understanding the plan.

“Well, kinda,” Flash said, turning back to Trixie. “I want to help Rainbow and Gilda out. Rainbow said they used to be best friends, and I want to see if they can be friends again. I can see Rainbow isn’t taking Gilda’s running off too well.”

“So, in your mind, fixing someone’s old friendship is more important than beating a monster?” Trixie asked incredulously.

“No, I’m going to beat a monster by fixing someone’s old friendship,'' Flash said smirking confidently.

In the midst of the chaos, the strange man that met with Gilda was sitting on a bench. Totally unphased by the destruction that had taken place before him. While everyone was running away, a single young man walked to meet with him. “Now, I didn’t expect to see that ugly mug,” Terra snarked as he walked up behind the quiet man.

“This form makes it easier to gather data,” the man said.

“Ah, and where is that pride you had for the Doc’s work, Cypher?” Terra asked.

“And what about your job?” Cypher asked.

“I’m just passing through,” Terra said with a smile. “Come on, we both know I’m your best friend.”

“Cram a burger in it Terra. We need this data,” Cypher snapped.

“Yeah, watching a Magi-Beast get his butt kicked,” Terra mocked.

“I assure you, Grifter is the best Magi-Beast so far to combat the Rider. He has the advantage of being in the air, and his host is consumed by anger. With that combination the only thing that saved the Rider was that wild card girl,” Cypher said.

“So next time, with more emotional power, your monster will beat the Rider?” Terra asked

“I’m positive my assistance won’t be needed,” Cypher declared.

“There he is, Mr. Man with the Plan,” Terra laughed as he put his arm over Cypher’s shoulder. “And when the Rider is gone, I’m gonna buy everyone burgers to celebrate. You, me, Doc, even her when she wakes up.”

“Speaking of her waking up, I'm sure the job The Doctor is making you do is to contribute to that effort,” Cypher said.

“There it is. That 'all business” attitude. Try to lighten up before Sleeping Beauty opens her eyes, k? ” Terra said, before walking off.

When he was finally alone in the park, Cypher stood up, and walked away as well. ”I don't care what you think of my demeanor, Terra. All I care about is fulfilling the doctor’s wishes. Starting with the Rider's destruction.”

Gilda paced back and forth in the forest, teeming with anger. Grifter was close by and tending to his wing. “Who the heck was that gold guy?” Gilda demanded.

“He is a Kamen Rider. Someone who has been fighting my kind,” Grifter explained simply.

“Well, he’s annoying too!” Gilda yelled as she kicked a rock. As Gilda got more worked up, Grifter’s wing healed itself even more rapidly. “I-I just…” she paused to try and gather her thoughts. “I want things to go back to how they were before. Before Rainbow had to move away…”

For a moment, her voice broke...

“But I had no choice in the matter. My dad was being transferred to Canterlot and he wasn't going to give up a good paying job, just so I could be with my friends,” Rainbow Dash said. Flash and Trixie managed to catch up to Rainbow, who had been diligently standing guard in front of Sugarcube Corner. The athlete was telling the two about the last time she saw Gilda. “I could see she was just as upset as I was when I gave her the news, but I also knew she was tough. I left believing she was going to bounce right back up on her feet, and make some new friends.”

“So you never tried to call each other or write? You’d think best friends would keep in touch.” Trixie stated.

“Oh, I called her house, every chance I got. Gilda’s mom always said she was too busy, and every letter I got back didn’t paint a clear picture of what was going on,” Rainbow explained.

“I guess Gilda wasn’t as tough as you thought,” Flash said.

“I wanted her to make new friends, but I guess she thought I was the only friend she ever needed...” Rainbow Dash trailed off, upset.

“And she must have felt betrayed when she saw how happy you were without her. She got angry when she saw that you didn't need her as much as she needed you,” Flash realized. “That would also explain why she decided to take some of her anger out on Cloudkicker's shin.”

“But I would never leave a friend like Gilda behind,” Rainbow insisted .

“Well, we need to let Gilda know that,” Flash said.

“Right, right, I’ll call so see where she is, so we can talk, face to face,” Rainbow agreed. She pulled out her phone, and made the call.

After a few rings Gilda picked. “Hey,” she answered briefly.

"Hey Gilda, you alright since you left?” Rainbow asked. "There was a monster attack, and all..."

“Of course I am,” Gilda replied coolly.

“Anyway, do you think we can meet up at the school? We need to talk,” Rainbow said.

“Sounds great, I have something I need to let you know too,”Gilda said, before hanging up abrutly.

“I hope things go well,” Rainbow said, worried as she looked at her phone.

“Well, we’ll be there to support you,” Flash said as he put his hand on Rainbow's shoulder. Even if Flash meant every word he said, supporting Rainbow Dash wouldn’t be the main reason why he and Trixie were coming. If Gilda still held anger towards Rainbow, then Grifter would be there, and stronger than ever before. The speedster would need Achilles's help

Rainbow, Flash, and Trixie all waited for Gilda on the stairs of the school. After half an hour, Gilda arrived with a dark grin on her face. “Gilda!” Rainbow yelled as she ran up to her old friend.

“Yeah, I’m here. What's this thing you want to talk about already?” Gilda said with a hint of annoyance.

“I didn't realize how much I hurt you when I left. I thought you were tougher, and that you could handle yourself on your own. I never wanted you to think I was better off without you. You were my best friend back then, and we can still be friends now. I can even help you meet some new people,” Rainbow offered her hand to the other girl, her eyes hopefull.

But Rainbow’s words seemed to have the opposite effect of what she’d hoped. Gilda's eyes flared, and she slapped Rainbow Dash's hand away. “What, you think I’m so pathetic that I need your charity?!” She barked “That I couldn't make it on my own? You got it right that I was mad when you left, but that just proved that I didn't need anyone! I was better off alone! What ticked me off is that the girl I used to call my best friend apparently can’t do the same. You’ve gotten soft Rainbow,” Gilda said as she pushed Rainbow away. “If you can’t see that much, then I’ll just have to show you!”

“Gilda!” Flash yelled, before he had to use his arm to guard against the sudden blast of wind.

Looking up, everyone watched Grifter, out of nowhere, appeared above Gilda. “Yes, let your anger run wild,” He said, before launching a boomerang at Rainbow and the others. The air blade created was much bigger than the ones he had made before. Rainbow acted quickly, and used her speed to grab Flash and Trixie, rushing them to safety.

“So, I guess we can safely say Gilda is that thing’s host,” Flash affirmed.

“Yeah, and I really don't like how that feather brain is feeding off of my friend,” Rainbow said, before grabbing her necklace. Her wings appeared and flared strongly.

“I don’t think Gilda has a problem with that,” Trixie said, concerned.

“Yeah, well I’m going to beat that thing down, whether she likes it or not. I'll knock some sense into her afterwards!” Rainbow declared before flying off to battle.

Rainbow flew right towards the monster before she had to duck down to avoid an incoming boomerang. “Gilda, are you really OK with hurting people like this!? I get it, you're mad. But taking it out on other's isn't a good way to show it!” she asked.

“This is how I choose to show my anger,” Gilda declared. “If any dweebs get in my way then it’s their own fault!”

“Yes!” Grifter yelled as he felt Gilda’s anger making him stronger.

While Rainbow was fighting, Flash and Trixie looked at each other. “Well, aren't you going to help her?” Trixie asked after a moment.

“I will,” Flash said defensively. “I’m just figuring out how. I can't get close to him when he's in the air and even if she can, I don't think Rainbow can hit hard enough.”

“Then work together, that’s what worked last time,” Trixie pointed out.

Flash observed Rainbow flying around, avoiding the boomerangs before seeing an opening he could take advantage of. He then pulled out his driver and put it around his waist. “Alright, I’m going in. Henshin!”

“OK!”

“A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

Flash ran through the magical circle, and transformed into Achilles. The Rider jumped, and nimbly landed on top of the horse statue. He used the statue as a jumping point, gaining the height he needed. He pulled out his spear midair, and performed a vicious slash on Grifter’s back. This took the monster by surprise, and he was slammed out of the air, onto the ground. “Hey, welcome back to earth,” he snarked, "Hope the landing wasn't too rough.” Achilles skillfully landed in front of Rainbow. He then spun his spear around, before pointing it at the monster.

“Great, now this bucket head is going to get in my way,” Gilda grumbled.

“Hey, I/he looks awesome!” both Achilles and Rainbow declared at the same time.

“Don’t worry, the Rider is no challenge for me,” Grifter said, arrogantly. He then raised both his arms as the boomerangs returned to their mounted position on his arms. He then lunged forward to slash Achilles with his arm mounted blades. Achilles did his best to block the attack with his spear. The two went back and forth with their attacks. Soon, the Rider found the strength to begin pushing the monster back. “Your efforts are useless compared to my full power!” Grifter snarled.

“I find that hard to believe,” Achilles said, attacking again.

“You clearly haven't learned from our last encounter,” Grifter said as he crossed his arms and charged up his energy. His eyes flashed with light, just like before.

“Yeah! Rip the bucket head to shreds!” Gilda yelled, cheering her monster on.

Once the attack was fully charged, Grifter launched both his boomerangs in an X formation like before. Achilles knew he wasn't going to be able to block this attack, so he instinctively jumped out of the way to avoid it. Unfortunately, the Rider noticed too late that Gilda was standing right behind him. There was no way that the Rider could save her from this distance, while he was moving already. Fortunately for Gilda, Achilles wasn't fighting alone. Rainbow swooped in to save her, moving as fast as her body would allow. The attack only destroyed the pavement Gilda had been standing on.

“What is wrong with you?! Don't you Magi-Beast need your host alive to survive?!” Achilles asked, horrified by what almost happened.

“What about you? I thought you Riders were supposed to be the protectors of all?” Grifter responded.

“I couldn't keep track of where she was with all your random attacking,” Achilles followed.

“Will you two shut up!” Rainbow yelled, dazed and exhausted.

“You-you saved me?” Gilda asked as everything that just happened caught up with her. “After everything I’ve done... you still helped me?”

“Of course, why wouldn't I?” Rainbow asked. Before Gilda could answer she doubled over in pain. Rainbow caught as she fell, cradling her, looking over her form. She was already starting to fade away. “Oh no, it looks like you're on your last leg!”

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this guy before she’s gone for good,” Achilles promised, spinning around his spear.

“Please, you can't even touch me with that thing,” Grifter said, taking to the sky once more. He threw one of his boomerangs, which Achilles knocked down before he could follow.

“Could use some help here,” Achilles called, forced onto the defensive.

“What do you want me to do? I can’t leave Gilda on her own!” Rainbow said. Soon her necklace began to glow before a red orb of light came out. The red orb floated in the air towards The Legends Driver on Achilles, before being absorbed into it. A large flash came out of the driver, forcing the Rider to shield his eyes.

When the light died down, Achilles felt something in his hand. The rider then found he was holding a new card. The card was light blue with a darker blue lighting bolt down the middle. On the bottom corner was a spark carved with the word “Storm” into the card.

“Where did this come from?” Achilles asked.

“How should I know? I don't pay attention when Twilight or Sunset explains this stuff!” Rainbow answered.

“I hope it's something useful,” Achilles said as he pressed the button on his driver.

“READY!”

He then put the new card into the driver. At the same time Grifter launched another cross attack at the rider.

“OK”

A new magical circle, this one blue, appeared in front of the Rider, blocking the attack before passing over him. When it did, Achilles armor changed to a cyan and dark blue color scheme. He now had two shoulder pads instead of one, giving him an aerodynamic look. Several parts of his armor were changed, making the Rider built for speed. His eye plates were now red rather than blue, and his V shaped crest looked to now have a lighting bolt design. The only thing that stayed the same was the driver around his waist and the muffler around his neck.

“KNIGHT OF THE WIND! A SWIFT VICTORY IS AT HAND!”

“[b]S-S-S-STORM!!”

The Rider looked at himself, amazed at this new form. It felt... different then how his other form felt. He felt faster and more agile. He wondered if this is what Rainbow felt like with her magic power. He looked over his hand in new armor, as a bolt of lighting jumped across his fingers. “Did the driver create a new ability from Rainbow’s Magic? Is that this thing's true power?” Achilles asked himself. Deciding to use this now, question it later, he turned back to Grifter. “Alright, bird brain…” Achilles announced. He clenched his hand into a fist, before swinging it out to the side as an open palm. “By the end of this battle, I'll have sent you to Tartarus!”

“Make all the threats you want, you will never be able to touch me rider,” Grifter said. He let out a hearty laugh, before a bolt of lighting flew by, cutting him off while he dodged narrowly. Looking back at Achilles, the monster saw the Rider’s arms were covered with blue lighting.

“You were saying? No, please, do go on. I found it riveting!” Achilles snarked as he started to throw more lighting at the Magi-Beast. This forced Grifter to start flying around, trying to avoid the attacks.

Rainbow continued to watch as the tides seemed to change for the Rider. Looking down, she saw Gilda was getting weaker. She bit her lip in concern, not knowing what to do…

“What are you doing just sitting around?!” Trixie’s voice rang out. Rainbow turned, and saw her friend running up. “I can stay with Gilda. You need to get in there, and help Achilles. This is the perfect time to get some hits in, while that monster is distracted.”

After a moment, Rainbow nodded before spreading her wings. She took off at top speeds towards Grifter, and before the monster knew it he was already on the receiving end of a full force supersonic kick. The impact caused Grifter to be thrown back a good ten feet before recovering in the air. “That's for messing with my friend,” Rainbow said as she crossed her arms.

“And she’s not the only one that wants a piece of you!” Achilles yelled out as he jumped into the air. He seemed to jump much higher than he normally would, which was already a surprise to everyone, but that wasn't all. The wind began to form a small cyclone around his body, carrying him even higher. This boost was enough to let the Rider meet the monster face to face, and he delivered a powerful uppercut. When Grifter recovered, he was shocked to see that Achilles was still floating in the air. The Rider looked to be suspended in place by the cyclone. “Holy crap, I'm flying!” he shouted joyfully, looking down at the twister.

“So cool,” Rainbow laughed, following and flying up next to him.

“So you think just because you guys are in the sky you can beat me? Not a chance!” Grifter growled as he threw his boomerangs.

Achilles and Rainbow scattered, avoiding the attack. The two flew all over to dodge, avoiding every strike. Rainbow took advantage of his recklessness, quickly turning around and kicked one boomerang out of the sky. Meanwhile, Achilles flew right towards Grifter, delivering several brutal punches supercharged with lightning.

The second boomerang attached back onto Grifter’s arm, and he tried to slash the Rider with it. The Rider dropped down in the air to avoid the attack, before flying up to the side and countering with a lighting kick. “I think I’m starting to get used to this flying thing,” Achilles said, excited.

“I know, it’s a lot easier than it looks,” Rainbow said, before she took off higher. Grifter tried to keep her in sight, before he was blinded by the sun. Stunned by this, the monster didn’t see Rainbow performing an axe kick, landing right on his head. The impact was so hard that Grifter was just barely floating above the ground. “Care to finish him off?” She offered the Rider.

“Oh, don't mind if I do!” Achilles said as he pressed the button on his driver.

“STORM FEEDBACK!”

The skies turned black, and the wind funnel helping Achilles fly expanded into a twister, forming and expanding around the Rider. Rainbow, reacting quickly, flew away as Achilles flew with the wind. The Rider began to pick up speed, and the tornado began to shrink around him. Achilles positioned himself for a kick, and the wind then threw him towards the monster like a spinning disc. A magical circle appeared, following his foot. When Grifter realized what was happening he was hit by the spinning kick. The wind surrounding the rider’s body pushed his leg, giving his impact much more power. Even after the first hit, Achilles kept spinning and kicking the monster back. Soon, Achilles began to fly skyward, before throwing the monster into the sky. “No, no, no, you can’t do this!” Grifter yelled, as he flew high into the sky, before exploding. The explosion was so strong that it blew away the dark clouds, and a rainbow appeared. Achilles and Rainbow Dash both landed on the ground, before performing victory poses.

"FEEDBACK END!"

Once the monster was destroyed, Gilda began to look solid again. “I-I feel better,” Gilda said as she got to her feet. Rainbow and Achilles ran up to the two girls to check on the former host. “Rainbow,” Gilda looked at the girl, “I still can't believe you would have done all that for me.”

“Gilda, how many times do I have to say it? We’re still friends, even if I had to move away. Yes, you were mean to, well, everyone, but that's still no reason for me to let you be drained of your life force. You’ll always be my friend,” Rainbow assured her.

“I can tell you’ve been alone for a long time. That’s enough to cause anyone to grow mean spirited,” Achilles chimed in. “You need to open up a bit or you're going to keep feeling that way. I understand wanting to keep your old friends close, but there’s no reason why you can’t make new ones.”

Gilda let out a groan. “Great, I must be pathetic if someone as lame as you is lecturing me,” She said.

“It’s not pathetic to lose your way. We all get lost from time to time. You just took a bit longer to find it again. And I think Rainbow here can teach you a lot on where to go from here,” the Rider said.

“Don’t sell yourself short. Without you, Gilda would be nothing by now,” Rainbow said before lightly jabing Achilles’ arm. Rainbow then glared at Gilda sternly. “Gil, he just saved your life. A little gratitude?” she scolded.

Gilda huffed, and averted her eyes. “Sorry,” she begrudgingly said to the Rider, to which he nodded, and patted her on the shoulder. Sighing, he then stood up. "It's a start."

“Anyway, it looks like everything is alright now, so I should be going,” Achilles said, before a cyclone formed around him, and he floated into the air. “Oh, and thanks for the power up. I promise I’ll put it to good use,” the Rider assured Rainbow. He gave her a two fingered salute, and flew away.

The girls looked on as the Rider soon vanished from their view. “So, Rainbow. You heard the guy, any advice on what I should do next?” Gilda asked.

“Ya know what, I know the perfect place to start,” Rainbow said.

“Here you go everyone, one order of Victory Nachos,” Pinkie said as she delivered a huge plate of chips, cheese, meat, and jalapenos.

“Thanks Pinkie, that'll be all for now,” Rainbow told her. The whole soccer team had met up at the diner. This was the celebration Rainbow promised the team before Grifter attacked. Even Flash and Trixie were invited. “Dig in everyone. When I promised nachos, I deliver.”

Gilda was uneasy. Being around all the people she was mean to, especially Cloudkicker was not easy. But the white haired girl took a breath before making her move. “Um, hey,” Gilda spoke up to get Cloudkicker’s attention. “I-I'm sorry for tripping you up on the field,” She said.

“Oh, thank you, but it’s no big deal. I didn't get seriously hurt or anything.” Cloudkicker said cheerfully.

Gilda was shocked by how nicely Cloudkicker seemed to act. Between her and Rainbow Gilda was learning that, maybe, making new friends wasn’t as hard as she’d thought. “Yeah, well, maybe next time you won't make it so easy to do it ya, dweeb,” She said, showing she still had a ways to go.

Flash was enjoying his share of the snacks till Rainbow got his attention, sitting down at his side. “Hey, I can't thank you enough for what you did today,” she said. This caused Flash to choke on a nacho, before managing to swallow, with Trixie slapping him on the back. He was afraid Rainbow had discovered his secret, and she was thanking him for stopping the monster. “Without you, we wouldn't have a goalie and I wouldn't have been able to reconnect with Gilda.”

“Oh” Flash said, somewhat dumbly. He worked to stop coughing, and exhaled in relief. A huge load was lifted from his shoulders. He’d been worried when Rainbow was thanking him for something his secret identity. “Anything for a friend,” He smiled, and Rainbow let out a laugh. Soon, both teams started partying at the diner.

To be continued...

Ride 4:Shine on You crazy Diamond

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Ride 4

Take this, lizard lips!” Achilles yelled, and he slammed the pole of his spear into the monster. After chasing the monster all across the city on his motorcycle, the Rider finally had cornered him in a parking lot. The monster in question was a reptile looking creature, with a long serpentine neck attaching his head to his body. On his shoulders, he had more serpents sticking out, two more poking out on his chest, and two more serpent heads adorning his knee armor. In his hand he held a halberd, with a saw toothed blade.

“Gee, real original insult there,” the monster remarked sarcastically, as he swung his weapon. The Rider dodged, scoffing as he rolled.

“You're the last one that should be talking about originality. I mean you’re a hydra and your name is Hydrax. How lazy can you get?” Achilles asked as he switched his weapon to blaster form.

Hydrax didn’t take kindly to the Rider’s words, and spat at him. Achilles jumped out of the way, but when the spit landed, it started to dissolve the pavement in a green haze. “There is no way you will beat me,” the monster declared. Hydrax then charged at the rider with his halberd. Achilles shifted quickly, and blocked it with the but of his blaster. He pushed back to aim his blaster at the monster, blasting Hydrax in the chest. The shots pushed the monster back, but he spun his weapon to try and defend himself. When the shots stopped, Hydrax spat again at the Rider, who had to jump out of the way.

As Achilles was dodging the monster’s acidic spit, his phone started to go off. He fired a few shots before pulling it out. “Hello?” He answered, putting the phone up to his ear.

“Flash , where are you? We have a chemistry club meeting today,” a girl's voice questioned.

“Oh man, Ditzy, that totally slipped my mind,” Achilles said, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s rude to take a call during battle,” Hydrax said as he switched over to swinging his weapon. Achilles waved his hand at the monster in a ‘Give me a second’ fashion, and the monster lowered his weapon. Hydrax tapped his scale foot against the ground impatiently.

“I’ll be there, soon, I promise” Achilles assured his friend before ending the call. “OK, now I need to try and end this fight faster,” the rider explained to Hydrax. The monster scoffed. “As if you could, boy!” When the monster swung his weapon, Achilles ducked to avoid it. He then jumped up, delivering a kick right to Hydrax’s head. With the monster recovering from that, Achilles then kept up the momentum, shooting the monster in the chest.

“Haha, try as hard as you want, with my powers, I am absolutely invincible!” Hydrax gloated.

“I’m happy to see someone like you so confident, but I really have somewhere to be,” the Rider said. He then pulled out his Rider card, and placed it into his blaster.

“CHARGING! CHARGING!”

“RIDER FEEDBACK!”

He aimed his blaster at Hydrax as a large magical circle appeared in front of him. The blaster began to charge up with energy, before Achilles fired a large shot that hit the magical circle. The blast was separated into many smaller shots, all homing in on the monster. “It’s too early for me to be defeated! There’s still so much more I want to do!” Hydrax cried out, before the shots hit. He was destroyed in a massive explosion.

With the monster eliminated, Achilles transformed back to normal. “Lucky I could get that done so quickly. Now whoever the host is no longer doesn’t need to be afraid of fading away,” Flash said to himself. He made his way to his bike, and started it up. “Now all that’s left is to get back to school,” He said. He strapped on his helmet, started his engine and rode out of the parking lot.

Unbeknownst to Flash, the whole battle was being observed. Cypher, in his monster form, was perched on a roof, watching the whole thing. “Hmm, this is an interesting development indeed,” The monster said as he flew down, landing right next to a manhole cover. He proceeded to tap on it twice, before removing his foot. “You can come out now. The Rider is gone.”

As Cypher moved out of the way, the manhole opened to reveal Hydrax, completely unscathed. “Awesome, I almost thought my plan wasn’t gonna work,” Hydrax said as he climbed out.

“Your powers are quite impressive, Hydrax,” Cypher complimented. Though, he soon noticed that Hydrax wasn't as unscathed as he’d first appeared. One of the serpent heads on his chest was now missing. “I hope fooling the Rider was worth it.”

“Oh, this?” Hydrax said, looking down at the now empty spot on his chest. “Don’t worry about it. Now that the Rider thinks I'm gone, I can drain my host, and this’ll be healed up in no time.”

“Well, since you’ll be in hiding, I guess the task of defeating the Rider falls to me,” Cypher said. He drew his sword, gazing at the blade. "I'll also need to keep an eye on your host, to make sure no one notices her fading away before it's too late."

“Go get’em, Cypher. Thanks for the hand!” Hydrax laughed, crawling back down into the sewers.

When Flash got to the school, he made a beeline for the science lab. When he opened the door, the only one there was Twilight. The girl in the lab coat was so focused on scribiling in her note book that she didn't even notice Flash. “Oh, hey Twilight,” Flash said, startling her. Giving her an apologetic grin, he grabbed a lab coat from the hook on the wall.

“Oh, Flash! I was afraid you weren't going to show,” Twilight exclaimed, trying to calm herself down from the scare.

“Yeah, sorry, I kinda got held up by something,” Flash explained, while he put on the safety goggles. “So where’s Rarity and Ditzy?”

“They had to get some stuff in the supply closet,” Twilight answered simply, resuming her notes.

“And they left you to work on your project?” Flash asked. He walked over to peek over her shoulder, looking into her notebook. Surprisingly, they were drawings of the Kamen Rider, with various details written out. What was even more surprising was that there was even a drawing of Flash’s new Storm Form.

“Yeah, The Rider has really piqued my interest. Especially after Rainbow Dash told me about his new form,” Twilight explained, letting Flash have a better look at the notebook. “Note that the Rider was able to gain new abilities from the power of Rainbow’s geode. But the interesting thing is that Rainbow has suffered no negative side effects, and also the Rider’s mental state didn't seem to change. From all of the encounters we’ve seen, an overload in magic tends to cause massive personality shifts, but not this time.”

“Wow, you were able to get all that from what Rainbow told you?” Flash asked. He scratched the back of his head. It was unreal to him that Twilight was able to gain so much more information about his Rider alter ego from a secondary source then he had from being the Rider. He chalked it up her previous encounters with the magic forces.

“I would love to get more data on him. Maybe if I used my magic scanner on him, I can get a better idea on how his powers work. Whoever this guy is, he's opening a new door in my magic studies,” Twilight said, as she continued to flip through her notes.

“Your incredible, Twilight. If anyone can figure this stuff out, it's you,” Flash told her, smiling. After he said that, his excitement died down instantly and was replaced with awkwardness. As much as he wanted to be happy for Twilight, something in his head was telling him to pull back. Flash didn’t trust his feelings, and he was afraid that Twilight would take his words the wrong way. It was a fact that Twilight would never return the feelings he had for her, and it would really hurt if she thought the feelings were disingenuous, considering where she would think they were coming from.

Flash had tried with all his might to move on from the girl before him, but he could never let go. Etched into his heart were feelings beyond the friendship he had formed with her. And those feelings were for her alone, not as a replacement for another girl who'd left without a goodbye, but for a girl he'd had the pleasure of getting to know and spend time with. “So, did you find anything else?” Flash asked, getting a grip on himself.

“Well, I do have a theory. If the Rider was able to gain new powers from Rainbow, it’s very likely that he can do the same with the rest of the geodes.” Twilight said as she showed off a graph drawn in colored pencil. “I’ve decided to call this event ‘Element Change.’”

“Element Change, sounds cool,” Flash said, a bit excited." I wonder if I can use that without anyone catching on to who I am?" he thought to himself, a bit excited.

As the two continued to make small talk, the door opened. Rarity and Ditzy rushed into the room, a bit panicked. “Sorry for the hold up, darling. But there’s trouble. One of my friends called, saying she was attacked by one of those dreadful Magi-Beasts,” Rarity reported, before noticing Flash had finally arrived. “Oh, Flash, you finally made it, we were getting worried.”

“Oh, it’s fine. That Magi-Beast is part of the reason why I was late,” Flash explained.

“Well, it looks like everything worked out in the end,” Rarity said as she sat down next to Twilight. “So, where were we last time?”

“Oh, I have it all right here,“ Twilight said, pulling out another notebook from her bag.

“Trixie has waited a long time for this. Your secrets, your riches, they will all be Trixie’s. A chance like this only comes once, and now Trixie has you in her hands. You, the Cake’s famous peanut butter and chocolate cake,” Trixie crooned, holding a plate with said slice of cake on it.

“Um, Trixie? Do you mind moving out of the way? We do have other customers waiting, kiddo,” Mr.Cake pleaded.

Trixie looked back to see the line forming behind her. “Fine, ruin my monologue, will ya,” Trixie grumbled under her breath. She still moved out of the way, much to the relief of the people in line. As she made her way to an open table, she was so wrapped up pouting, she didn’t notice another girl walking in front of her.

Before either of them could react, the two bumped into each other. Trixie kept her balance in a desperate attempt to protect her cake from falling. Unfortunately, the other girl couldn't do the same, and landed on her behind.

Trixie turned, and looked at the girl. She saw she was a cream skinned girl with powder blue hair. She also looked to be wearing a certain maroon school uniform. “I’m so-sorry, I should have been watching where I was going,” The girl stammered, picking up the contents of her spilled bag.

“Oh, it’s no problem, I should have been doing the same,” Trixie said as she guiltily looked down at her cake. After a quick moment, she put the plate on the table and held out her hand to the girl. “Hey, you're a Crystal Prep student, aren't you?”

“Yeah, I'm Coco Pommel,” Coco said, letting Trixie help her up. “Honestly it's all my fault. I’ve been really distracted today.”

“Really, what has you so worried?” Trixie asked, bringing the girl to her table, plopping down, and beginning to eat her cake.

“Oh, well, you know those monsters have been showing up? The Magi-Beasts? Well one of them attacked me. And then another monster...I don't know, came out of me,” Coco explained.

Trixie wasn't surprised by this. Especially after Flash had texted her about defeating another Magi-Beast, not too long ago. “Well, Trixie assures you have nothing to worry about now. One of my friends saw the Rider beat that thing with his own eyes,” She said, smiling as she took another bite.

“Are you sure? I mean, I know the Rider has beat the monsters before, I can still feel something is wrong. Like the monster is still out there, somewhere,” Coco said fidgeting nervously.

“Now you're just talking crazy. There is no way the Rider would have let a monster get away,” Trixie argued, her cake almost finished.

“I’m not trying to say your friend is wrong. I just can’t help but feel like something is off. Like I can feel like I’m being drained,” Coco said.

“Ugh..." she groaned, "Would you get over it? The monster is gone, and I know how to prove it.” Trixie put her empty plate in the trash, and grabbed Coco’s hand. “I’m taking you to Twilight. She’s been studying this magic stuff ever since she got to CHS. Odds are, she already found a way to tell if someone is a host to a Magi-Beast or not.”

“Are you sure she would help us?” Coco asked.

“Of course,” Trixie answered plainly.

“But why are you helping me? We only just met,” Coco followed.

“Because I know just what you're going through,” Trixie said sincerely. “Also, Mr. Cake ruined my monologuing mood, so this will occupy my afternoon,” She continued mirthfully. Coco giggled at that. The two left the cafe, Coco having mixed feelings of her predicament.

Without either of the two girls noticing, Cypher, in his human form, was in the doorway as they left. “So," he said as he turned around, "there’s someone else studying this magic?"

The chemistry club continued their experiment, obviously with Twilight being in charge of it. Flash was partnered with Rarity, who was in the middle of using the microscope. Flash couldn’t help but think about what Twilight has been doing during this whole monster fiasco. Could he help her with her research if he told her his secret? How would she react if he did spill the beans? How would this impact their friendship?

These questions buzzed in his head until Rarity decided to speak up. “Flash?” She asked, snapping the young man out of his thoughts.

“Oh, sorry, zoned out there for a moment,” Flash shook his head and turned to Rarity.

Rarity gave Flash a smile before speaking. “Soooo, what were you and Twilight talking about while you were alone together?”

The question took Flash off guard. “Why would you want to know that?”

“Oh, relax darling, it’s just a little gossip,” Rarity answered.

“Well, it’s nothing too interesting," Flash explained. "We just talked about her research into magic, and what she thought about the Rider."

This comment made Rarity laugh a little. “She would focus on that kind stuff. Another magic user comes out, and she wants to know every little thing about them. You should have seen what she was like when we told her about the Rider. Babbling on with theories, like Pinkie talking about cake.”

“Soooo... does she think Achilles will be corrupted like all the others, like Sunset does?” Flash asked.

“I don’t think so, or at least she’s hoping he doesn’t get corrupted. I’m sure she was upset that we had to destroy all those enchanted items before she had a chance to study them, but it was what it was.” Rarity said.

“Funny, she seems to find a man hidden behind a mask more interesting than me,” Flash said with a laugh.

This statement caught the girl's attention. Rarity turned to give him a suspicious look before she caught on. “Flash, are you still heartbroken?”

“Of course not," Flash said with a brave face. "I got over that a long time ago."

Rarity placed her hand on his. “You don’t need to act brave in front of me. If you're still hurting then I want to…”

“I’m fine, Rarity,” Flash cut her off in a forceful tone, snatching up his hand. “And even if something was wrong, what could you do to help me? If I’m still hurting, that’s my problem. That isn’t something magic can just poof away. I dealt, and I’m fine."

“Flash,” Rarity tried, before once again being interrupted. This time, by the classroom door flying open before Trixie marched in.

“Trixie," Twilight reprimanded, "why would you barge in like that? What if we were working with sodium laureth sulfate?” She wasn't too happy with people coming in unannounced during chemistry club, especially considering they might have been working with unstable materials.

“Then the mixture would have foamed up, and caused a mess. Anyway, I think I have something you might like, Twilight- a potential Magi-Beast host,” Trixie said as she presented Coco.

“Oh, Coco, darling.” Rarity said as she got up, pulling her friend into a warm hug. “Are you alright? Did the Magi-beast hurt you?” the girl asked with a sisterly concern.

”No," Coco replied, hugging Rarity back, "I’m not hurt. I just have a bad feeling, like I’m growing weaker or something.”

“Yeah," Trixie agreed, "when I bumped into her she told me all about it. I want her to stop worrying. I told her that Achilles destroyed the monster."

“And how would you know that?” Ditzy asked, sincerely curious.

“Flash texted me that he saw it,” Trixie said.

“Yeah," Flash added, "I think it looked like a hydra." He was half lying, trying to act as cool as he could manage. Give the girls part of the truth.

“He’s right. It did look like a hydra,” Coco agreed. “It’s like we’re linked.”

“Well, I would be lying if this didn't present me with a unique opportunity," Twilight said. "Since Magi-Beasts drain the host’s life force, then there must be a magical link. If the Magi-beast is still out there, then it should be easy to track it with my scanners."

While all the girls were talking, Flash noticed something by the door. Whatever or whoever it was, they quickly ran off when they noticed Flash looking right at them. “Hey," he alerted the girls as he got up and took off his lab coat, "I'm going to check something out."

“Well, come back soon," Twilight told him. "This is going to get interesting." She pulled out what looked like a kitchen cullender with spikes, and a bunch of wires coming out of it, and placed it onto Coco's head, affixing it like a helmet.

“Is this going to hurt?” Coco asked, suddenly much more nervous.

Looking to his left he saw the person turn the corner. Flash immediately gave chase to the figure, which soon led him to the main entrance of the school. “Stop!" He yelled out, "who are you!?”

The figure stopped and began to turn around. “Of course you wouldn't recognize me," a decidedly male figure snorted. It was a familiar man with white skin and black hair. “I was hoping to get the research notes from this Twilight girl. I didn’t expect to run into you, Rider.”

This took Flash by surprise. “How do you know about that?”

“That’s easy. I was there when you destroyed Kirinos,” The man said.

This caused Flash to think back to his first battle as Achilles. “You were there?!"

"Yes," the man continued, "but not just then. I also observed your fights with Constellar, Grifter, and your recent bout with Hydrax."

“Who are you!?” Flash demanded.

“I should feel insulted that you don’t recognize me, but I understand that it isn’t obvious” The man said as he pulled out a mechanical looking belt buckle and placed it on his waist. Straps came out of the sides to form a belt, to Flash’s shock.

The man then pulled out a card. The card had the image of a white Pegasus in flight. “Perhaps this will help,” he said simply. Without another word, the man slid the card into the slot on the belt.

"PEGASUS!"

Several balls of lights came out of the belt, before taking positions on the man’s body. They grew blindingly bright before dying down, revealing Cypher in his monster form. Flash was awestruck at the revelation. “Now I can destroy the Rider and get the research notes,” he said as he pulled out his sword. “A win-win.”

“You're not getting anywhere near Twilight!” Flash yelled. He placed his driver around his waist and pulled out the rider card. Cypher acted on his advantage, and charged at the human before he could transform, but he was too slow. “Henshin!” Flash yelled as the magical circle appeared, and knocked Cypher back.

When the transformation finished, Achilles expended his spear and lunged at Cypher. The monster blocked with his sword, but Achilles relentlessly continued to push till they both burst through the front doors. When they landed on the pavement, the two broke away from each other. Achilles spun his spear around before performing a slash at the monster. Cypher blocked it, before smacking the rider away, and took to the skies. “Remember, Rider, you would have been dead by my blade once before, if your silver haired friend hadn't stepped in. Fortunately, there's no one here to get in my way.” He swooped down, striking at the Rider.

Achilles blocked the attacks with the handle of his spear. They may not have connected but the Rider could still feel the power behind the blows. Cypher wasn't holding back at all. “Well fortunately for me, I've learned some new tricks.” Achilles pushed Cypher back before pulling out his blue card, then placed it into the driver. “Element Change!”

“KNIGHT OF THE WIND! A SWIFT VICTORY IS AT HAND!”

“S-S-S-STORM!!”

The magical circle appeared again to transform the Rider into his Storm Form. As he jumped up, a small tornado formed around his feet, and swiftly carried him higher. “The skies aren't just yours anymore!” Achilles yelled, the sudden speed boost taking Cypher by surprise. The Rider thrust his spear into Cypher’s chest, sending the white warrior back.

“Oh, so you can fly now?” Cypher asked as he recovered, rubbing the area struck. “That's just going to make it hurt all the more when you fall!” He sped towards the rider, quickly slashing his sword at him. Achilles countered equally quickly with his spear, the two beginning to exchange high speed attacks at one another.

The Rider managed to find an opening to stab Cypher with his spear, making the warrior cry out as he pulled back. With more room, Achilles began to spin his spear around in a huge circle. As it spun, the wind began to form a vortex around the weapon. By the time Cypher realized what was happening, it was too late. The Rider threw the spear like a javelin.

The spear flew with incredible speed, but Cypher was able to catch it within an inch of his body. But before he could counter with it, the wind that was following the weapon hit him. The gale was so strong that it managed to blow the spear into the monster, knocking back with great force. The attack sent him crashing, hard, onto the roof of the school. “Rock you like a hurricane,” Achilles said, closing in on Cypher.

“I bet you think that was clever,” Cypher said as he stood up, and threw the spear to the side. “I think you deserve to see some more of my power." Cypher’s sword began to give off waves of colored energy.

“I can take anything you got,” Achilles said, lightning sparking around his fist.

“Decode Refraction!” Cypher yelled, launching a huge blast wave of multicoloured energy towards the rider. Achilles retaliated to it with a blast of lighting. The two attacks passed one another and hit their marks, the Rider sent crashing to the ground. At the same time Cypher was hit with his lightning, causing the monster to stumble, and fall to his knees. “This is what I get for taking a risk," Cypher said, sparks cascading his body. "That attack... leaves me vulnerable... during the strike." He picked himself back up and spread his wings, though strained. “Retreat may be the better option. Hydrax will be whole soon, and with his abilities, the Rider will have no chance of winning.” With that, the monster took to the skies before flying off.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Flash had been knocked out of his transformation. Cypher’s attack was stronger than anything Flash faced before, but the armor had managed to withstand the bulk of it. “I-I need to warn the others,” Flash said as he tried to get up. He stumbled for a moment, but soon moved as fast as he could to the school. “Geez,” he thought, “has that guy been holding back this whole time? It almost makes me afraid to fight him again.”

In the lab,Twilight was hard at work, typing on her computer. Rarity and Trixie couldn't help but look over her shoulder at her work, curious even if they didn't understand it. Coco, now sitting on a stool, waited with the modified cullender still on her head. She was more nervous than usual, being hooked up to a computer. “And...got it,” Twilight said as she finished typing.

“Got what?” Trixie asked.

“The magical output signature. Like I figured, there’s a link between the Magi-Beast and it’s host. Getting a better look at this Magi-beast’s unique signature got me a ton of data,” Twilight answered.

“So that monster is still out there?” Coco asked, shocked.

“Calm down, Coco," Rarity told her gently. "The more you stress, the worst things become." Coco responded by taking a few breaths, in and out.

“According to this, your remaining life force seems to be fifty-two percent,” Twilight said as she showed a meter on her computer. “I can assume you won’t start to fade away until over eighty percent has been drained, so, it seems you’ve been handling yourself pretty well.”

“Barely,” Coco replied as she took off the helmet.

“I can't believe the Rider could miss a monster,” Trixie said. “Can we find it?”

“Yeah," Twilight replied, "I think I can use that output signal to tune my scanner to detect its signature.” Twilight returned to typing before pulling out a device from her bag, which had a screen and antenna on it. When she turned it on, the screen shined a bright light. “Wow! It's close.”

“I’ll go find Flash,” Trixie said, getting up.

“No," Rarity said as she stood up, "I can do that Trixie. Before you arrived, Flash and I had words. I believe I should clear the air before such a mission as this." The look on her face showed how serious she was.

“Okay, go find Flash.” Trixie affirmed, intimidated. She watched as Rarity left the room, then turned to the others. “What's her problem?”

“Maybe it’s a sign you should knock before entering a room,” Twilight answered while not looking up from her device.

Flash had to slow down to recover properly from his encounter with Cypher. He slowly made his way back to the science lab, before turning the corner and bumping into Rarity, who was just as surprised to run into him. “Rarity, thank goodness. I need to warn you…” Flash started.

“There’s a Magi-Beast, yes, we figured that out. Twilight and the others are tracking it,” Rarity said.

This was another mental blow to Flash. Not only did he lose to Cypher, but he also failed to defeat the first Magi-Beast he’d encountered today. “Well, we need to go help th-” Flash started, but all Rarity did was take both his hands in hers.

“We will, Flash, but there's something you need to hear first." The intensity of her tone surprised Flash.

“Um, Rarity, are you sure this is the best time?” Flash asked, impatient.

“No, I agree, this is a bad time, darling, but it needs to be said.” Rarity released his hands, shut her eyes, and took a deep breath, before looking Flash in the eyes. "I can see that you're hurting,” Rarity said. “You can say you're fine all you want, but I know the feeling of heartbreak first hand. I know what it looks like. And I can see, even so slightly, that you are still hurt.”

There was no getting around it for Flash. Rarity had him cornered, and there was no way of getting out of it. “Alright, you got me. It still hurts, but is there nothing I can do about it. What would you do here?” he snorted. “You can’t change the way I feel, Rares. And the pain makes me feel so… empty.”

Rarity smiled at him. “Well, you don't need to go through it alone. For as long as I have known you, you have been nothing less than a true gentleman. You are proof chivalry isn’t dead, and you try to make the lives of everyone you meet better. Any girl would be lucky to have you as their boyfriend, and I have faith you will find her. You just need to follow the red string of fate,” she put focus on Flash’s little finger.

“Rarity,” Flash said, looking up at his friend. “I appreciate what you’re saying, but why now?” He asked.

“The heart is like glass, when it shatters, it hurts to pick up all the pieces. I just want you to know that the pain you feel may be unbearable, but it will lead to what you're looking for. Like I said, I have known heartbreak before,” Rarity said. “Now do you feel better?”

“Actually,” Flash thought for a moment, "yeah. A little."

Rarity smiled hearing this. “Good, now let’s go catch up to the other.” Rarity led the way, Flash hot on her heels.

As they ran, Rarity’s words kept ringing in Flash’s head. And as he thought about it, the weight he had been holding felt a bit lighter. Rarity’s pep talk had helped him take time to recover from his fight with Cypher, and he was ready to finish off Hydrax once and for all.

Flash and Rarity soon found Twilight, Trixie, and Coco at the sports field. Unfortunately Twilight was already engaged in combat with a fully recovered Hydrax, with all seven heads. “How on earth did you find me?" Hydrax asked, avoiding the objects Twilight was throwing at him telepathically. "I was so careful to hide.”

“It was almost too easy,” Twilight said as she threw several rocks at the monster. Hydrax slapped them away, before spitting a spray of acid at the girl. Twilight tried to evade but was not fast enough. Fortunately, a wall of crystals formed, blocking the acid before contact.. Twilight turned to see Rarity running in. “Rarity, I know you like to be fashionable late, but you cut it pretty close there.”

“Sorry darling, but there was an urgent matter,” Rarity explained as she ran, forming several shards to launch at the monster.

As the two girls fought the Magi-Beast, Trixie and Coco were observing the fight from behind the bleachers. “Are you sure they'll be alright?” Coco asked.

“Absolutely,” Trixie answered. “I’ve seen them take on much bigger monsters.”

Hydrax swung his halberd, and smashed all the crystal projectiles. “You two are going to pay for interrupting my plan,” The monster declared.

“Well, you deserve it for what you've been doing to poor Coco,” Rarity shot him an angry scowl. Hydrax responded by spitting acid, which Twilight expected, and using her power, pulled Rarity out of the way. “Thank you, darling” she said as Twilight helped her up.

Hydrax charged with his weapon raised, roaring his rage. This was interrupted by a punch to the gut, sending him back, delivered by Achilles. “Hey, where did you come from!?” the winded monster demanded.

“I should be asking the same thing,” The Rider said, cracking his knuckles.

“Are you sore, just because you couldn't beat me?” Hydrax mocked, ignoring the cold sweat. The Rider was giving off... waves of unsettling rage- and Hydrax knew he had to settle thing quickly.

“I’m going to make triple sure that by the time this battle is over, you’ll be in Tartarus,” Achilles said, taking a fighting stance.

“And we’ll help you out,” Rarity said, coming up next to the Rider. “Right, Twilight?” She asked, only to get no reply. She looked around, "Twilight?" There she saw Twilight on the side with her magic scanner out.

“Yes," Twilight said to herself with a smile, "I finally have a chance to get first hand magic reading from the Rider."

“Twilight!” Rarity yelled.

“Don’t worry about it," Achilles told her. "This guy was a pushover the first time I fought him. I beat him, but he’s still somehow here. I wanna clear up that mystery first!” With that last statement, he pressed the button on his driver.

“RIDER FEEDBACK!!!”

Several magical circles appeared around the Rider, before he jumped onto them. After the last one, Achilles jumped off to perform an energy kick towards Hydrax. When the kick landed, something strange began to happen. All the energy from the monster’s body was focused onto Hydrax’s leg. It looked like the serpent head on the armor was coming alive, as it came off his body and formed into its own independent body. Once the two were separated, the original body blew up, Achilles landing after a back-flip. He looked at the explosion, before glaring at the Magi-Beast. “So, that's how you survived my attack the first time.”

“Indeed," Hydrax replied, "my power comes in handy in situations like this. But that’s not it's only use,” Hydrax let out a laugh as the other serpent heads began to show signs of life as well. They suddenly began to separate from his body, forming into reptile-like creatures themselves. Each one of the creatures were all holding daggers- and were ready to fight. “Lets see how strong you think you are when you're outnumbered.”

Achilles saw the army, and sighed deeply before turning to Rarity. “Now I need your help."

“I would think so, darling,” Rarity agreed as she elevated her arms and her crystal hexagons.

The Hydrax lackeys all charged on the two. One of them tried slashing at Achilles, which the Rider responded to with a side step, and countered the attack with a punch. Another lackey attempted to stab the Rider from the side, but missed, leaving him open for Achilles to grab his arm and throw him to the ground, before punching him in the face and stomach.

Three of the lackeys tried to gang up on Rarity, but the fashionista made quick work of them when the hexagon crystals began to rotate around her, knocking them all back. “You were a disgusting reptile before, and now you're just six times as revolting,” Rarity said.

“You want revolting? I’ll give you revolting, girly,” Hydrax said as he ran towards Rarity, swinging his halberd. Rarity responded to this by creating a wall that blocked the attack, successfully protecting herself. This opened the monster up for a punch from Achilles.

Meanwhile, Twilight was eagerly observing the fight just in front of Trixie and Coco’s hiding spot. “Um," Trixie spoke up, "shouldn't you be helping? You know, away from us?”

Twilight didn't look up from her scanner. “If you're worried that Achilles and Rarity are outnumbered, there's no need. I scanned those other reptiles, and they only have one seventh of the original’s power. It's nothing the two of them can't handle.” A giddy smile appeared on the girl's face. “Not to mention, this data on the Rider is incredible.”

She focused on the Rider’s fighting as he performed a kick right to the side of the monster's head. “The Rider’s armor does have an enhancement quality to it that boosts all of his attributes. It’s not to the extent of Applejack or Rainbow, but it is what I would consider superhuman.”

As the Rider fought on, the remaining goons started focusing all their attention on him, just as the fallen recovered, and followed suit. Suddenly Achilles found himself overwhelmed with the six monsters all attacking him at once. “Dang it, guys!" He pushed one away, only to almost get stabbed by another. "It’s really not sporting of you to all attack me at once! What happened to one at a time?” The next thing he knew, the lackeys all tried to slash him at once. He just managed to block using his spear, but felt himself be pushed down onto one knee.

“Oh no!” Coco yelled.

“I guess even Riders can have it hard overcoming a dogpile,” Trixie said, her worry clear on her face. She grit her teeth as she watched her friend struggle to help him.

As the Rider was trying to get a better defense up, Twilight noticed something… interesting. His driver was beginning to give off a bright golden glow. She then looked at Rarity, to see that her geode was giving off a similar purple light. “Rarity," she called out, "see if you can lone Achilles some of your power."

Hearing this, Rarity looked at her geode, and saw the light as well. “Are you sure that’s going to help?”

“It worked with Rainbow Dash,” Twilight replied.

Putting her faith in Twilight, Rarity put her hand to the geode and a purple orb of light appeared. She threw the orb toward the Rider, where it was soon absorbed by his driver. A large flash of light then exploded out of it, giving Achilles the chance to throw the goons back and gain some breathing room. He looked at his hand to see a purple and white card appear, the word “Glamor” on the corner, and pictures of diamonds here and there.

The Rider turned back to Rarity, and used the card to salute. “Thanks a ton,” he pushed the button on his driver.

“LETS GO!!!”

“OK!”

Achilles then presented the card before slotting it into the driver. “Element Change!” He yelled out, before a white magical circle appeared. Once it passed over him, the armor’s colors changed to white with deep purple accents. The rider now had a pair of bulky shoulder pads, each with five purple diamonds embedded into them. His head crest was now a single horn, and his eye plates were deep purple. His red scarf was now tied into a more stylish fashion.

“FABULOUS! THE SHINING CRUSADER ON DAZZLING DISPLAY!”

“G-G-GLAMOR!”

“Oh, yeah, looking good,” Achilles said, inspecting his new armor.

Rarity gave him a knowing smirk. “I wouldn't expect anything less from something created from my powers."

Hydrax growled “So? All you did was change colors. That still doesn't fix your numbers disadvantage,” He and his goons all laughed, only to be taken completely by surprise when one was hit by a beam of purple light that knocked him back. Looking at the Rider, the monsters noticed that one of the diamonds on his shoulder armor was smoking. Seconds later, the diamonds detached, before each one grew to the size of a baseball. They floated around Achilles, the Rider suddenly knowing exactly what he could do with them.

“I don’t think so!" Hydrax roared, raising his halberd, "We’re not scared of you or your little toys!”

“Suit yourself,” Achilles said as he directed the drones to attack. The diamond drones started to fly around the group of monsters, swarming them. The goons tried to swat at the drones with their daggers, but they were too fast for them. One of the drones got behind one of the goons, and shot a laser at it. The rest followed, shooting at the group of monsters. The monsters were helpless as the drones blasted them.

The others all watched, wonder filling their eyes. “This is incredible data,” Twilight said, her eyes skipping from the fight to her scanner, and back.

The group of monsters were so overwhelmed by the drones that they were all surrounded. “Shine on, you crazy diamond,” Achilles said, snapping his fingers. The drones then started to spin around the monsters at high speeds as they bombarded the group with laser blasts.

When the lasers stopped firing, only the original Hydrax was left. “Wh-what does that...even mean?” He asked as he stumbled forward.

"It means, goodbye,” Achilles said as he pressed the button in his driver for the final time in the fight.

“OK!”

“GLAMOR FEEDBACK!!!”

The ten drones all took a position, five on either side of the rider. A white magical circle appeared in front of each Diamond as they charged with energy. “You're out of scapegoats," Rarity said as she pointed at the monster. "So this will be your end!"

“Fire!” Achilles followed her lead. He thrusted his arm forward. On his command the drones all fired large blasts of energy, all aiming for Hydrax.

“No!" Hydrax yelled as he was struck, "My plan was perfect! I was supposed to win this one!” Those were his last words before he was consumed by the explosion. After the ten diamond drones all returned to their position on Achilles’ shoulder armor, he and Rarity turned for a victory pose.

A spectre like entity flew out of the explosion, zooming towards Coco and flying into her, restoring her.

Soon after the battle was over, Achilles used his new drones to make sure that there was no sign of Hydrax left. Once the rider was absolutely sure the monster wasn't coming back again, he went to see if Coco was alright. Twilight was already using her scanner on Coco, confirming if she was back to normal. “Everything looks like it's in order now. You have nothing to fear, Coco."

“Oh, that's wonderful,” Rarity said, gleeful as she brought Coco in for a hug.

“Everything looks back to normal,” Achilles said as he joined the girls.

“Yeah," Twilight said as she turned to the Rider, "Thanks for everything."

“Oh, yeah," Achilles noticed her device. "You were using that scanner thing the whole time?"

“Yeah," Twilight said with a smile, "I did get a lot of data. But you saved someone’s life again. That's kinda incredible.” She bowed, “Thank you for saving my friend.”

Achilles was at a loss of words. He was turning red, and he reflexively scratched at his face, but the mask itself helped him keep his cool exterior. “It was nothing. Someone was in trouble and I helped out,” he said, trying to keep his composure.

Twilight gave the Rider a nod, before she realized something. “Wait, you said 'Element Change' when you changed forms. That’s the same thing I called it."

“Oh...well,” Achilles slowly backed away. “Great minds think alike, I guess,” he said, before he ran off. Before Twilight could stop him, the drones on the rider’s shoulders flew out, and formed a stairway to the roof of the building.

“Geez, what was that about?” Twilight asked.

“People who were masks tend to be on the weird ones,” Trixie stated as she walked past Twilight. “Now that this whole ordeal is done, I need to get back to Sugarcube Corner before they run out of Peanut Butter Chocolate cake.”

Once Rarity saw Coco off, the two girls made their way back to the science lab. As they entered the room, they saw Flash packing up his things. “Oh hey, glad to see everyone is alright,” Flash said as he put on his backpack. “I figured we should end the day early after what happened. Already sent Ditzy off.”

“I think that’s a good call, Flash,” Rarity said as she walked over to the work station, gathering her things.

“Yeah," Twilight said as she did the same, "I need to get home to upload all the data I got."

“Are you sure you have to go home so early?" Flash asked, still trying to keep cool. "I was thinking we could all go to the diner, and see if Pinkie can’t score us some free onion rings."

“Oh," Rarity said as she slung her bag over her shoulder, "that sounds delightful! I do feel a bit peckish."

They turned to Twilight, who thought for a moment before shrugging. “Well if you two are going, then I guess finding out more about the Rider can wait." She put away her magic scanner. With a plan in mind the three left the school.

“So, Twilight," Flash asked as he and Twilight took the lead. "What info did you get on the Rider?”

“Well, I got a good look at his stats. Strength, speed, jump height,” Twilight said as they walked side by side.

As she walked behind them, Rarity couldn't help but smile. Those two do look cute together. Really makes me think what it would have been like, if things were different. Well, it can’t be helped. Whoever Flash does find in life, they are going to be very lucky. Rarity though to herself wistfully.

Ride 5: Clash!!!

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Ride 5

Thwack!

The bat hit the ball, and sent it flying into the out field. The young boy ran as fast as he could to the base. The bases were already loaded in the final inning of the game. It was the game before the play off for the freshman team. Walking up to the plate was a young orange skinned boy with deep blue hair that was covered by his helmet. It was clear on his face that the pressure was on, and by the looks of it, the pitcher was going to take full advantage of it.

The boy tightened the grip on his bat as he avoided looking at the pitcher. Then, after, taking a deep breath, the boy heard one of the spectators cheering from the crowd. “You can do it, Base!” The boy turned, to see that the cheering was coming from Flash Sentry. “Knock it out of the park, bro!”

Flash’s cheering caused the boy named First Base to smile, before taking his position. The pitcher gripped the ball tight as he prepared to strike the kid out and win the game. He pitched a fast ball, but Base was ready. His bat made contact. Hard.

The ball was sent skyward, and Base sprinted off of home. The outfield was scrambling to catch the ball, but it hit the ground before the players knew it. Seeing this caused Base to run towards second and then third while his team crossed the home plate. With three players home, the boy decided to go for a home run. The opposing team tried to catch up, to get Base out, but they failed. It was a grand slam and First Base had won the game for his team. The crowd cheered for the team’s victory, but none cheered louder than the one whose little brother was responsible for this win.

Once the team finished celebrating, Base met up with Flash in the parking lot. “Way to go, little guy," he said as he pulled his miniature into a hug. "I knew all that practice would pay off."

“Yeah," Base agreed, "Coach really put me through the ringer. But I guess it was all worth it.”

“The team really owes this win to you,” Flash said as he messed up his brother’s hair with a smile on my face. “I'm so proud of you.”

“Yeah," Base then looked down with a sheepish frown, "I just wish Mom could have seen it."

“I know Base, but we both know Mom works hard for the both of us. And we can tell her all about it later tonight,” Flash said as he tried to cheer up his brother. “Now, come on, why don’t we get home? I'm sure you must be exhausted after taking the team to the playoffs.”

The two walked across the parking lot till they got to Flash’s motorcycle. “I really miss your car."

“I know, but it was destroyed by a crazy Kirin monster, and there isn't much I can do about that.” Flash gave his brother a helmet and stored his gear in the compartment under the seat. When the two brothers were ready, Flash started the engine and drove off.

The baseball field wasn't too far from their house, so they arrived home in no time at all. As they pulled up, the two saw a purple sports car parked in the driveway. This caused Base to get excited. “That's Mom's car. She must have gotten off work early."

“Yeah, and it looks like we have visitors too,” Flash pointed out the red pick up truck in front of the house. “Looks like Big Mac’s truck."

He pulled his bike to a stop and killed the engine. The two entered the house, only to see that no one was in the living room. “We’re home!” Base yelled out.

“I’m in the kitchen!” An older woman’s voice replied from the other room. “We have company!”

“We saw,” Flash said, putting his helmet away. Base sat his gear next to the door, before running towards the kitchen, his face flush with excitement.. Flash followed behind, smiling. When he entered, he saw Big Mac and Granny Smith sitting at the table. Sitting across from them was an older woman, though younger than Granny Smith, with scarlet skin and long wild blue hair. She was dressed in a gray suit, with a white vest and a purple ribbon tied around her neck that had a pendant in the middle. “It’s a real surprise to see you home early mom.”

“Well, I’m working on something very special,” Flash’s mom said as she picked up some of the papers on the table.

“Helping the Apples?” Base asked. “Did something bad happen?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Their mother assured him.

“Ya ma here is just helping us out with some of our business happenings with Filthy Rich,” Granny Smith said.

“Well, finished at this point,” The mother said before handing all the papers over to Big Mac.

“Whoa, there," Granny Smith said in surprise. "You sure work fast, Ms.Phoenix."

“What can I say," the woman known as Glint Phoenix replied. "I’m an excellent lawyer. And I enjoy helping a family that is so important to our town’s founding." The two women shook hands, and after exchanging a few pleasantries, Big Mac and Granny Smith left.

Once she closed the door, Glint turned to her two sons. “Well now that that business is done with, I have some good news for you two."

“What is it?” Base said eagerly.

Glint shot him a warm smile. “Well, since those business dealings were so important to the Apple family’s farm, they invited us for dinner tomorrow night as a thank you.

“Really? That sounds great,” Flash said, grinning.

“Yes," Glint agreed, "this will be the first, in a long time, that the three of us will be able to be together.” She then brought her two boys in for a hug, her eyes a little wet. “I've really missed you two.”

Flash smiled as he and his brother leaned into the hug. “Us too, but we get why you can’t be around a lot. You work hard, so we can have a comfortable life. Ever since dad left...” Flash stopped talking, the mention of his father causing him to feel a mix of sadness and anger. Flash just pushed these emotions to the back of his head so as to not ruin the moment. "And this diner will be fun.”

“I can’t wait!” Base exclaimed.

“Good to hear,” Glint said as she released the hug. She then walked to the doorway to get her purse.

Flash gave her a confused look. "Where are you going?”

“Well," Glint opened the door, "there's still cases I need to work on so I can make it tomorrow." She turned back to them, “I’ll leave you guys money to order pizza. Don’t stay up too late. I love you two." And with that, she stepped out of the house, and went to her car.

Flash saw the money she left on the table and smiled before looking towards his brother. “I can't believe it," he said happily. "Tomorrow, we’re finally going to spend time with Mom."

The next day, at lunch, Flash was talking to Trixie about what was going on later tonight. “It’s gonna be great,” Flash said, grinning like an idiot.

“It sounds great," Trixie agreed. "You get to be with your family, and eat food made by the Apples. Sounds like a fun night."

"You bet." Flash’s smile fell, and he sighed, staring down at his hamburger as he thought back. "Ever since our dad left, Mom's always running herself ragged so me and Base have everything we need. I know I'm being a little selfish, but I wish she had a little more free time to spend with us."

“If you don’t mind Trixie asking," she started, a little nervous, "what did happen with your dad?”

This struck a nerve with Flash, but he took a deep breath. “He left my mom before she started her own law firm. I was just six at the time, and all I remember is that they were fighting before my dad just... left without a word. Since then, my mom has been working non-stop to provide for the two of us. Mom said that he was a dirt-bag, and we’re better off without him.”

“Oh my,” Trixie said, trying to digest what Flash just said.

“It’s fine,” Flash replied as he continued to eat his lunch, “I’m dealing OK.”

As the two ate, they were soon interrupted by Sunset and Applejack. “Hey," Sunset said, "mind if we sit with you?’

Flash and Trixie both smiled at their friends. “Sure thing."

"The more, the merrier," Trixie agreed.

The two sat down, with Sunset pulling out her favorite tome and began to write in it. “So whatcha writing there?” Trixie asked.

“Doing something I've been putting off for a while. I need to tell the Princess about all the crazy stuff that’s been happening these past couple of weeks.”

“Why haven't you told her earlier?” Flash asked after a moment, his face a little pale.

“Things have been crazy, and I needed more info to give her a better report,” Sunset said as she began to write.

“You think she’s going to come over to our side to help?” Flash asked, his discomfort obvious, but unnoticed.

“I don’t know, maybe. I’m sure she would jump to help out, but the last thing I want to do is drag her away from something important. Plus I’m telling her about the Rider, so that might put her mind at ease."

“Oh," Trixie spoke up, "so now you trust the Rider now?” She shot Flash a happy grin, knowing he'd been worried about Sunset's suspicions towards his alter-ego

“Not fully," Sunset replied bluntly. "But it may help the princess to know we aren’t fighting these monsters alone.”

“Oh," Flash said awkwardly, "I was hoping I'd be able to say hi to her again. We... need to talk.”

Sunset let out a sympathetic chuckle as she went back to writing. “I’ll be sure to mention that.”

“Hey, Flash," Applejack spoke up, "I hope yer excited for tonight."

“You know it,” Flash said, shooting her a smile.

“Glad to hear. Granny's pulling out all the stops tonight!"

“Can’t wait,” Flash said, before going back to his lunch.

Meanwhile

The loud echoes of smashes filled the air of the scrap yard. “Yahooo!” Terra, in his monster form, crying out joyfully. He was currently doing battle with a larger, more solidly built monster. This new monster was covered in armor and fur, with a navy blue cloth covering his lower body. On the creature's head were a pair of large horns. “Come on, give me another one, buddy!” Teraa beckoned, pumped.

The Magi-Beast let out a low snort, before getting into position, lowering it’s dangerous horns. ”RRRAAAAAAAAAA!” The monster roared as he charged at the orange monster. Terra took his position, centering himself, and caught his sparring partner, literally by the horns. Terra slid back a few feet, before he stepped to the side, forcing the monster to barrel head first into a pile of scrape.

“Ha-ha!" Terra laughed, watching the monster recover from his heavy crash like nothing had happened. "Cypher, this new Magi-Beast you created is great! He’s so strong, and he really gets my love of wrecking some havoc.”

“Well, I’m happy I could give you a playmate," Cypher told him, as he stood next to a pile of scrap, his arms crossed, his finger tapping against his left. "But as far as I’m concerned, it's a failure!” He whirled around, and punched a rusty car, denting it heavily in his frustration.

Terra frowned. “Hey, don’t call Crasher a failure. He’s great," he scolded his ally, patting the Magi-Beast's shoulder. "Strong, tough, and doesn't talk that much. A man of action, right after my own heart."

“Terra, The Doctor has given me four cards to create Magi-Beasts with, and none of them have become whole, or came close to defeating the Rider." He turned to the two, "I don’t see anything of worth in the work I have done. And worse, not even I could do anything to grant the Doctor’s wish to stop the Rider.”

“Well, you're going to have to go back to him," Terra pointed out as he threw his arms behind his head. "You're meant to report to him eventually. I mean, even I gave Doc the info I gathered on my mission. By the way, I still wonder why he needed me to do recon anyway?”

“It probably has to do with her awakening,” Cypher said, his tone sombre. He took a deep breath, before he started to walk towards the exit of the scrap yard. “I guess letting Crasher run free and gathering data will prolong me having to face the Doctor with my failure.”

“Aww, Cypher. You sound like a little kid who got in trouble with his parents. It ain’t like you.” Terra said, he and Crasher followed their winged ally. “You’re top dog with Doc, man. Just get it over with!”

“That comment stings more coming from you,” Cypher said, begrudgingly accepting Terra’s advice.

After classes had finished, school was out, so Flash and Trixie were busy on the sidewalk of main street. Trixie had changed into a performing outfit, and had a table set up in front of her. “...so, long story short, Drum Roll had to drive his grandma to the state Bingo Championship, and that's why we aren't having band practice today.” Flash finished his story as Trixie continued to shuffle a deck of cards. “So, tell me, is street magic how you usually spend your time after school?”

“When I don't have Ogres and Oubliettes. I always need to practice my up close magic and sleight of hand,” Trixie said as she cut the deck and fanned the cards, before having them vanish with a flick of her wrist. “Trixie can’t rely on smoke bombs for her whole career, after all.”

“So, are you going to pull coins out of kids ears?” Flash teased, before laughing. Trixie was not amused by his comment, and indicated so by her crossing her arms. All of a sudden Flash’s laughter was cut off, as somehow the deck of cards Trixie once had came flying out of his mouth. Flash was dumbfounded as a satisfied smirk started to take over Trixie’s face. “Ok, I need to know how you did that.”

“Yeah," Trixie pretended to think as she pulled a set of metal rings out of her hat, "never going to happen." She then gave him a suspicious look. "By the way, shouldn't you be getting ready for your dinner tonight?”

Flash pulled the seven of clubs from his mouth before answering. “We aren't doing anything fancy, so how I am now is fine. Now, if it was Rarity's, then I may need to break out my suit.”

“LOOK OUT!” A pedestrian yelled out to cut the two’s conversation short.

Looking down the road, Flash saw Crasher barreling forward. Cars were sent flying into the air as they made contact with his horns. When he finally stopped he let out a mighty roar. “RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Everyone else in the area went running, but Trixie responded to the appearance of the monster by turning over her table and hiding behind it. “Would you look at that, another magic act interrupted by a monster,” Trixie said as Flash joined her behind their barrier. “I wonder if I can incorporate that somehow. Can't be any harder than having a tiger on stage, right?”

“It looks like a Yak. I don't know how impressive that would be in a magic act,” Flash said as he poked his head out to analyze the monster. “Would Sunset’s world have yaks? I guess they would, otherwise… it wouldn’t really fit,” he reasoned.

“Looks like everyone ran off," Trixie said after scanning the area. "You're clear to transform.”

“Great,” Flash said, pulling out his driver. He ran behind Crasher, and put on the driver. He thought for a moment, before pulling out the Glamor card and pressed the button on the driver. “Henshin!”

“OK!”

“ FABULOUS! THE SHINING CRUSADER ON DAZZLING DISPLAY! ”

“G-G-G-GLAMOR! ”

Crasher turned to see Flash in his new white armor. Three of the drones detached themselves from the Rider’s shoulders and positioned themselves in front of him. “Hey, mop head," Achilles taunted, "Why don’t you pick on someone who isn't a parked car?"

The monster let loose a loud snort, and charged at the Rider, horns first. Achilles responded immediately, having his drones shoot at the beast. The attacks looked to have been doing damage. However, even under rapid fire, the hairy monster continued its charge. At the last minute Achilles rolled out of the way, and a lamppost took the attack instead. “What the!?" He watched as Charger pulled himself away from the decimated, sparking lamp post, not even appearing to be injured. "I would have thought he'd at least slow down if I shot at him. “

“Maybe he’s too dumb to register pain," Trixie suggested from behind her table. "He doesn't look too bright, and the fact that he hasn't said a word kinda supports that. I mean, the others were super loud, mouthy, and astoundingly literate."

“That just makes him even more dangerous,” Achilles said. “A tank with no goal but smashing? That's never a winning combo.” Achilles released the rest of his drones, and made them form a circle around Crasher. The drones took positions on the ground before shooting their beams straight up into the sky, forming a cage. “There, that'll keep collateral damage down a bit,” Achilles said, relieved.

Crasher looked at the lasers in bewilderment. He tried to touch the beam, but ended up burning the tip of his large finger. “RRAAAAAAA!” The monster let out a yell of pain and frustration, before bringing both his fists down to the ground, smashing it. The blast caused the drones to go flying and disrupted the cage.

“OK," Achilles said, dumbfounded by the display of brute force, "this guy'll just smash through anything, huh?” He pulled out another card. “Time for the direct approach." He slotted the card into the Driver.

“OK!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!"

In his base form, Achilles extended his spear and ran towards the monster. Crasher saw the Rider’s approach, and swung his arms widely, but Achilles jumped to avoid it. He then slashed the monster with his spear. Crasher threw another punched, but it didn’t make contact, too slow to strike his opponent. The monster let out a snort at his miss.

“Is punching really all you can do?" Achilles asked. "You need to throw in some combos...like this!” Achilles used his spear to hoist himself up to perform a kick to Crasher’s head, before pulling out the spear and performing a slash.

Crasher stepped back from the attack, but was quick to get back to the offensive. He grabbed Achilles by the head and lifted him into the air. The rider was powerless inside of the Magi-Beast’s grip. “SMAAAASH!” Crasher yelled, and he brutally forced the rider into the ground.

“AUGH!” Was the only sound that came from the Rider, as his body formed in imprint in the pavement. Once the Rider was down the monster let out a snort before running off.

“Flash!" Trixie rushed over to the rider, "are you OK?!”

Flash let out a moan as he sat himself up, “yeah. I would be a lot worse if it wasn't for the armor." Trixie helped him out of the him-shaped hole, then Flash proceeded to transform back to normal.

“Why did he run off like that?” Trixie asked.

“Like you said, he’s not that smart. Probably thought I was down and out after that last hit." Flash began to dust himself off. “Unfortunately, a stupidly strong Magi-Beast is the last thing I need. Now I need to track down the host”

“Where do you think we should start?” Trixie asked.

“I don’t know, but finding that living force of destruction needs to be my top priority. Flash pulled out his phone, “I need to call mom and say I can’t come to dinner.”

Trixie frowned at this. “But Flash, you've been looking forward to this!" She protested.

“I know, but I need to think of others first. That what a Rider does,” Flash said, just as his call went through. “Hey, mom…”

At the supermarket Glint was roaming the ales with a cart full of goods. She was just about to turn into the baking section, her phone went off. “Hello” Glint said as she answered the phone. “Oh Flash, I’m so glad you called. I have a bit of a dilemma about tonight. I want to make a desert but I can't decided what to make. I was thinking an apple pie, but then I thought that they might be sick of apple pie, or they already made one. Maybe a chocolate moos?,” the mother explained.

“Go with the chocolate moose. There is no way you can make a better pie then Granny Smith,” Flash answered.

“Good point. Thanks, Honey,” Glint said, as she took a bar of baking chocolate from the shelf. “So what happened to warrant a call in the middle of the day?”

“Well, ya see,” Flash started before struggling to get the words out. “Something happened and my friends need my help. I know this dinner is important for everyone, but I don’t think I can make it.”

Glint was silent for a moment before speaking. “I'm sorry Flash, but I can’t let you do that. You know I wouldn’t normally be saying this, but it has been a long time since we spent time together as a family. Unless you have a good excuse?"

Now it was Flash’s turn to be silent. He knew that his mother wouldn't let him go off to stop a Magi-Beast. She would probably try to take his Driver! He couldn't say that he was going to stop evil, or that he was the Rider. He couldn’t think of any kind of situation that his mom would believe. He definitely couldn't get out of this dinner. After a minute Flash let out a sigh. “I…I'll be there,” He finally said.

“Thank you, honey,” Glint said, smiling. “I’ll meet you at the Apple’s house, Love you, bye.”

Flash sighed as he put his phone away. “Well, looks like there’s no getting out of it."

“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Trixie commented, patting his back gently.

“It’s not, but that just means more time for that hairball to rampage and hurt people."

“How long till you have to be there?”

“About two hours."

“That still gives us a lot of time to try to find the host," Trixie assured him. "I’m pretty sure someone would have seen something, anything, to who that thing came from."

Elsewhere, Terra had rejoined with Crasher and was currently leading him down a back trail. As he often did, he had a bag of burgers to snack on. “Jeez buddy, I turn away for five minutes to grab a snack, and you go wreck six blocks. I’m so proud,” Terra said, before he took a bite of his burger. “Mmh, whoever decides to put pineapple on a burger is a friggin genius.”

Crasher simply snorted as he followed the humanoid. “Oh," Terra gave the monster a wrapped burger, " Sorry I didn't offer you anything sooner." Crasher looked at the morsel for a moment before putting the whole thing in his mouth, wrapper and all. After swallowing it, Crasher let out a series of grunts, indicating that he was happy. "Glad you like it. Consider it part one of the big surprise I have.”

The two continued down the trail before reaching their destination. Spread out before them was a large orchard of apple trees. “Ya want to know what's better than burgers? Becoming whole. And you'll get to do that in a way I know you love,” Terra said. He turned to Crasher, his arms stretched out. “Destroy this whole place, plunge your host into despair, and absorb all of their life force in one go."

Crasher responded to Terra’s words by letting out more grunts of joy and pounding his fist together. This caused Terra’s smile to grow. However, he wasn't prepared for Crasher’s immeadiate charging into the orchard of apple trees.

Glint was currently driving her purple sports car down a long stretch of road, First Base sitting in the passenger seat holding a covered tray. It wasn’t too long before the car pulled up to the the rural looking house. After knocking on the door, Applejack opened it to greet the two. “Well, howdy there!” Applejack greeted warmly, letting the two in.

“Mm, something smells good,” First Base said, taking a deep whiff.

“That'll be dinner cooking” Applebloom said as she ran down the stairs. She walked up to First Base to take the covered tray. “I’ll take this to the kitchen.”

Glint nodded. “That’s Chocolate Moose, so keep it in the refrigerator."

“So where's Flash?" Applejack asked. "I saw him at lunch, and he looked like he couldn't wait to get here.”

“Oh, he said he will be coming by later,” Glint said in a cheerful tone. Right before everyone was about settle down, a huge crashing shook the house. “What on earth was that!?”

“Ah don’t know,” Applejack said as she took off for the back door. “It came from the orchard. Ah need to check if Big Mac is alright." She ran out, Glint and First Base following out, curious to see what was going on.

When they got outside, Applejack found her older brother, flabbergasted at sight of the fallen tree. The odd thing about the tree was that it looked to have been ripped out of the ground, roots and all. “What is going on out here!?” Applejack asked. Big Mac responded with a shrug. He just didn't know.

As if to answer everyone’s questions, the sound of cracking wood filled the air. “AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!” Crasher yelled as he emerged from the orchard to make his presence know.

“Mom," First Base whispered, as he hid behind his mother, "It’s one of those Magi-beasts things I’ve seen online.”

“So, that’s what they are.” Glint backed up slowly as she tried to comfort her son, keeping him behind her with an arm.

“Didn't think that thing'd follow me home,” Big Mac said.

“You seen this hairball before?” Applejack asked, fear gripping at her.

“Eeyup. Some feathery monster swooped in front of me this morning and then that thing appeared out of nowhere."

Applejack frowned at this, before turning to glare daggers at Crasher. “So, yer usin' mah big brother as a host?” Crasher responded with a snort. “Mac, get Applebloom into the house. This just got personal,” She cracked her knuckles, Big Mac nodded, and took his youngest sister into the house.

“Applejack," Glint spoke up trailing behind the other Apples slowly, "do you want me to call the police or something?”

“No need," Applejack said, grabbing the downed tree. "I’m know how to hold my own with big guys like him!" With a single hand, she picked it up and threw it at the monster. Crasher simply held out his fist, watching as the javelin smashed into his fist. Seeing that was all Glint needed to see, so she and her son rushed into the house. “Ah feel ah ought to warn ya, we don’t take too kindly to trespassers.” Applejack said as she took a fighting stance.

“RRRRRAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Crasher responded.

“Alright then, you asked for it.” Applejack used her strength to launch herself forward. Once she got close she delivered a right hook into the monster’s face. Crasher rubbed the spot that was hit, before retaliating with his own punch. Applejack used her arms to block, but she was still pushed back by the force. The farm girl dug her boots into the dirt, hard, to stop herself. “Okay, seems like yer tougher than yah look, there.”

Flash was driving down the road to meet with his family. He has spent the time leading up to this moment to look for any sign of where Cypher may have been or the host of Crasher. “Well, that was a waste of time,” Flash complained into the headset in his helmet.

“Easy. We had to try,” Trixie responded on the call. “I’ll keep looking while you go to dinner.”

“Thanks Trix. Hopefully a break from all this will help me think of a way to beat him,” Flash ended the call. Oddly, as soon as he hung up, his phone rang again. He pressed the button on his headset. “Hello?” he responded.

“Flash!” Glint almost screamed, her tone panicked.

“Mom, what's wrong?” Flash asked, suddenly afraid.

“One of those monsters are attacking here,” Glint yelled, as huge crash rang out. Flash’s eyes went wide. He ended up pulling over on the side of the road, to focus on the conversation- and because he knew he would have to fool his mother. “Please, Flash, stay away till this thing is all sorted out! OK?”

“I understand, mom,” Flash said, before the call ended. He lifted up his visor, taking a deep breath. “I understand that I’m going to have to ignore your orders, mom." He pulled out his driver, staring at it for a moment. "But, I think you'd be way less happy than normal with it if you knew why." He placed the driver on his waist, before revving up his bike.

As he got back on the road, he pulled out the rider card before slotting it into the belt. “Henshin!”

“OK!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

As the bike passed through the magical circle, it was transformed into the Machine Balius, and Flash into his Rider form. Once he was transformed, he sped as fast as he could to Applejack’s house.

Applejack was fighting off the Magi-Beast as hard as she could. She picked up a large rock and threw it the monster, but Crasher didn’t even flinch as he used his horns to break the rock to pieces. “Jeez," Applejack said, ducking away from a flying piece of debris, "does this guy ever get tired?”

“RAAAAA!” Crasher yelled to indicate that he wasn’t happy with the prolonged battle. He crouched down on all fours, before charging at full speed, his huge size moving insanely quickly. Applejack steadied herself as the monster got closer. Once she got the moment, Applejack grabbed onto his horns and pushed back.

With all her strength she was able to slow the Magi-Beast down, but she was still pushed along the ground. “Ya'h think a’m gonna just lay down? Just cause some big, dumb, monster comes stomping by and destroying ma'h family's livelihood?” Applejack asked as she fought on. "Yah ain't the first dunderhead to try it- an' yah better believe you ain't gonna be the last!" The two seemed to be in a deadlock- untill the roar of an engine filled the air.

Coming around the bend was the Kamen Rider. Applejack saw this out of the corner of her eye, then used all her strength to push Crasher into the path of the motorcycle. Achilles reacted, pulling the handle bars up to perform a wheelie, hitting the monster with his still spinning front wheel.

Crasher cried out as the tire grinded against it, until it finally managed to jump a safe distance away

“Glad I could get here before that thing caused any major damage,” Achilles said, parking his bike next to Applejack.

“Same here,” Applejack said in response.

Achilles got into a fighting position as Crasher recovered from getting a face full of rubber. “Any idea on how stop him?”

“Not really," Applejack replied. "He’s like a bull with a bucket of crabs on his back." But then, out of nowhere, the farm girl noticed that her necklace was starting to glow- along with the riders driver. “But ah think this looks promising.”

Applejack took the energy in her hand, before handing it to Achilles. The Rider brought the orb of energy to the Driver, before it transformed into a new card. This new card was orange, with a red stripe. On the corner of it was the word “Knuckle.”

“This looks very promising,” Achilles said, admiring the new tool. Unfortunately, Crasher saw the opening and rushed at the two. Applejack and Achilles both dived out of the way, narrowly avoiding the attack.

“This guy sure is getting annoying,” Applejack said.

“Couldn’t agree with you more,” Achilles said, "so let's get him out of here!" He slotted the card into the driver. “Element change!"

“OK!”

"HUSSLE, MUSCLE, TRUE METAL OF STRENGTH!”

“K-K-K-KNUCKLE!"

An orange magical circle appeared, and passed over the rider. His colors changed to orange with red accents, and green eye plates, with new chest armor, but no shoulder pads. On his arms, the rider had a pair of large gauntlets with yellow knuckle bracers on them. “Hmm," Achilles contemplated. He shifted around to get a feel for the armor. "This one feels pretty solid," he remarked.

“GRRRRRRRRR!” Crasher growled. He didn’t seem to be phased by the rider’s new look.

Achilles put up both his fists, his scarf fluttering in the wind, as Crasher dug up the ground with his foot. The two started each other down as the sun began to set and a silence fell over the orchard. After a moment, Crasher charged at the rider. Achilles followed suit with a charge of his own. The two’s fists collide with one another. The Rider, moving far quicker then the monster, was able to get in a three hit combo on the beast. Crasher was thrown back- thanks to Achilles’ new increased strength. “Not so tough now, huh?"

“Hey," Applejack yelled out, running towards the Rider, "mind giving me a boost!?”

“No problem,” Achilles said as he crouched down, and locked his fingers together. Applejack gave the Rider a smile before jumping into the his hands. With the two’s combined strength, Applejack was sent high into the air. As the farm girl fell, she got into position, and performed a heavy kick, right into the chest of Crasher. After the hit, Applejack slid right back to the Rider’s side. “Wow, nice move!"

“Ah’ve had practice,” Applejack responded humbly.

“ME SMASH RIDER!!!!” Crasher yelled, to expressing how angry he was now. He once again charged at the Rider, delivering several punches. He got a few in before Achilles managed to raise his arms to block.

“You need calm down," Achilles told him. "People don't like it when you smash everything." He then held out his fist, before the front half of his gantlet launched out, hitting the monster in the chest. This rocket punch put a good amount of distance between the two. “See, he said, a cable reeling the fist back into its original position, "it’s not fun to be hit like that."

“Cool. I didn’t think you could do something like that,” Applejack said, with a tip of her hat.

“Yeah, I’m sure it will come in handy. But before anything, I’ll be sending this guy to Tartarus!” Achilles turned back to the monster, slamming his fist onto the button on the driver.

“KNUCKLE FEEDBACK!!!”

Two magical circles formed around the Rider's gauntlets, before he dashed towards Crasher. Once he was close enough, he unleashed a flurry of punches, one after another. The monster held strong for a moment before the hits began to do serious damage. The attack finished with Achilles delivering a glowing, powerful uppercut to Crasher's jaw. The hit landed Crasher onto his back, as dozens of magical circle marked on his body appeared, and grew brightly. “AAAAHHHHH!!!” Crasher screamed before he exploded.

“And ya better not come back,” Applejack said. She then let out a sigh as she took off her hat, and sat, hard, on the ground. “Whew." She was suddenly exhausted. But there was still one thing to do. "Thanks for saving ma'h brother,” she said, looking at the Rider.

“Oh, it’s no problem,” Achilles said. The Rider then returned to his default form, and walked over to his bike.

“Hey, wait!” Applejack yelled out, before running to catch up to Achilles. “We, uh, we're having a little get together. Why don’t you join us?”

Achilles was quiet for a moment, before he mounted his bike and started the engine. “That sounds nice, but I have somewhere I need to be, and I've already kept some people waiting long enough.” With that he began to drive off. "But thanks!"

As Applejack watch the Rider leave, everyone else ran out of house. “Jeez, Applejack! You were so cool out there!” Applebloom exclaimed as she jumped up to her sister.

“Achilles’ new form was so cool too. He has a rocket fist now!” First Base added.

“I didn’t think you and your friends dealt with such dangerous creatures,” Glint said.

“Yeah, things can get pretty hairy. Good things we don’t have to deal with it alone. A'h was lucky it was the same this time,” Applejack said. They all watch the Rider drive off into the sunset.

“ ...And then the yak monster exploded,” First Base recapped, throwing his hands up to punctuate his last word. “You missed such a cool fight Flash.”

After the dinner shared by the Apple and Sentry families, everyone was in the living room, enjoying dessert. “Yeah," Flash said. "But if I came in at that time, I would have just gotten in the way."

“We're all safe now, and that’s all that matters,” Glint said. She then scooped in a fork full of pie into her mouth. “Mmh, Flash, you were right. There was no way I would have been able to beat this,” She said, a look of delight on her face.

“Don’t sell yourself short, ma'am. This fancy pudding you made is just as good as it looks,” Applejack said as she took a bite of the chocolate moose.

“Well, I do have a talent for gourmet desserts,” Glint giggled a bit as she stood up. She walked over to Flash and First Base on the couch, and took a seat between the two, before pulling them bot into a hug. “But nothing is better than spending the night with my two favorite boys.”

“Moooom!” First Base yelled out.

“Come on First Base. No need to act that way. There is no shame in having your mom love you,” Flash said as Glint brought the two in for another hug. The Apples all laughed at the affection from the visiting family.

Miles away form the warm sight of family was an abandoned hospital. It was devoid of any hope, with no signs of life. However, there were those that called this decrepit building home.

Cypher and Terra walked down the hallway to the operating room. Though Cypher was his usual stone face self, internally he was dreading what was to come. Once they got to their destination, they saw that the light was on above the door.

“Just be cool,” Terra told him, patting his arm lightly.

Soon the doors burst open. Walking out was a single man dressed in doctors scrubs. The man’s face was covered by a surgical mask and goggles. “She is finally stable again,” he said, noticing the two in front of him.

“Doctor,” Cypher said, dropping to his knees. He bowed his head towards the Doctor. “I have failed you. Not a single one of the Magi-Beast I have created has become whole. Nor have I have been able to defeat the Rider. And for this, I apologies."

The Doctor was silent as he approached Cypher. He looked down at the younger man, who simply raised his head. The Doctor patted Cypher on his shoulder, an attempt at comforting him. “Cypher, you have no need to apologize. I could never be disappointed in my first success. I would rather you have defeated the Rider, but I will never be disappointed in you."

“D-Doctor.” That was all Cypher could say as he stood up.

“Come along,” The Doctor said, walking past the two. The three soon entered a large room, filled with odd machines. “I’m glad you came by. It’s about time for some restructuring.”

“What do you mean?” Terra asked

The Doctor opened one of the machines to reveal several new Magi-beast cards. “Terra," he turned to the man in question, "you will be taking over Magi-beast production, as well as data collecting."

“Aw man,” Terra groaned, before his eyes widened. “Wait, that means I can finally fight the Rider! Finally, I can have a real chance.”

“What about me?” Cypher asked, hesitantly.

“You are the only one I can trust to do this. All my planning has been for this moment,” The Doctor said. Though it was covered, his mouth turned into a twisted smile. Everything was starting to fall into place.

Ride 6: Another Brick in the Wall

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Ride 6

The students of Canterlot High were all wound up tightly.

It was exam week, and the students were stressing out over all the tests their teachers were assigning. To the student body, it was as if they were going through a war zone. Lunch time was the only time the students were able to relax, and Flash took full advantage of it.

“I can’t take all this studying anymore,” Flash groaned, as he pushed his grilled cheese away, and hit his head on the table. An action everyone else on the cafeteria seem to imitate.

“I thought you would be happy about this," Trixie said as she filed her nails calmly. "You get to be tutored by Twilight."

Her comment made Flash go red for a moment. Luckily his face was still planted on the table, so no one saw it. “I’m grateful that Twilight is helping me out, but that still doesn’t make exams (or that can of worms) any less stressful.” Flash spun his head around on the table, allowing him to look up at his friend. He shot her a quizzical look. “Why aren’t you tired? All these tests are exhausting.”

“Haven’t you been paying attention?" Trixie responded arrogantly. "I’m amazing."

“What about trigonometry?” Flash asked with a smirk, which grew when Trixie froze and donned a panicked look.

“This may come as a shock, but even the Great and Powerful Trixie has flaws."

Soon, out of nowhere, Fluttershy came to sit at their table, before setting her head down on it, right next to Flash’s. “Are the tests draining the life out of you too Fluttershy?” Flash asked.

“You don’t know the half off it,” Fluttershy remarked. She rose up, revealing that she was holding a purple and green puppy. “It’s so bad that I needed to ask Twilight if I could borrow Spike, to help calm me down. My other animal friends are trying to help as well, but it's not enough." As soon Fluttershy said that, her bag opened to let out her pet bunny, Angel, along with a few birds that landed in her hair.

“Glad to see you guys,” the talking dog greeted Flash and Trixie.

“Hey Spike,” Flash greeted, before returning his attention to Fluttershy. “I’ve never seen you so stressed out. Well, I actually have, when your on stage sometimes, but not with something like a school test.”

Fluttershy pouted, hugging Spike closer. "Well... it’s not just my tests that I'm worried about. It’s my brother’s."

“Ufff," Trixie groaned, knowing full well the extent of Fluttershy’s situation. "Zephyr. Now I understand why your so worried,”

Fluttershy prospected to hug Spike tighter to calm herself down, almost cutting off his air. “He's already failed one of his exams, and he can’t fail his makeup...” She stopped. She didn't want to think about that.

“What’s wrong?" Spike asked as he pushed Fluttershy's arms open, enough for him to breath. "Can’t you guys just help the guy study?”

The three gave him an 'are you serious' look. Flash, incredulous, asked, “You haven’t met Zephyr, have you?" Spike responded with a shake of his head. “There are only two things Zephyr has ever worked hard on- ways to slack off and flirting with Rainbow." Fluttershy sighed, and placed Spike onto the table as she laid her head down again. Angel and her birds moved to comfort her.

“Well, if your so worried about your brother, why not try to help him study?” Spike suggested.

“I really do want to help Zephyr out," Fluttershy explained. "But unfortunately, being around him tends to bring out a nasty side of myself." Spike raised an eyebrow at this, obviously unaware that Fluttershy even had a nasty side.

“Well, what if you had some help?” Flash offered. “We may still be whipped from our exams but at least their over for us.”

Fluttershy thought about this for a moment. “Well, it couldn't hurt. And I really want my brother to not fail." One of the birds in her hair tweeted, and Fluttershy nodded in agreement. “Beatrice thinks it’s a good idea too.”

“Hey!” Trixie yelled out in protest. “I didn’t volunteer to help that bum out.”

“What happens with you being amazing? Odds are we going to need all the help we can get,” Flash said with a mischievous smile. At this point in the two’s friendship, Flash knew just the right words to say to hey Trixie to assist him.

Trixie knew this as well and was not happy about it. Still, Flash challenged her pride, and that was something she was not going to take laying down. “Fine, but I take no responsibility if the guy blows it.” She then turned to Fluttershy, "And you have to help me with studying for trigonometry." Fluttershy smiled, before she nodded, agreeing to the terms.

“Alright," Flash stood up, "now where is he? We don’t have much time to prepare for make ups."

Fluttershy thought again, going over her brother's schedule in her head. “I think he’s in the back courtyard for his midday meditation."

“Then let’s go,” Flash declared as he picked up Spike. However before the three left the cafeteria, a loud growling filled the air. The two girls turned back to see Flash with a goofy smile, rubbing his head. “Sorry, mind if I finish my lunch first?” This made the other three burst out laughing at his antics.

On the roof of the school, Terra was in his human form while pacing back and forth.

He was staring furiously at the Magi-Beast card he was holding. The card portrayed a group of spherical looking insects with wings. “Why can’t you just tell me who your host is!?” Terra yelled at the card. The card did nothing but glow the same way it did when he entered the area. “One in a bunch of stressed out teenagers are the perfect host for making a completed Magi-Beast in no time. But you won’t tell me who your best host is. Why?! I'm trying to help you!”

Soon, the noise of an opening door caught Terra's attention. Looking over the edge, the young man saw Trixie, Flash, Fluttershy, and Spike walk out of the building. “Ooh," Terra told himself, "this may be interesting."

The three teenagers and talking dog moved to the back courtyard. It wasn’t long before the met up with Fluttershy’s little brother. The young man was currently 'meditating' under a tree. When he heard footsteps, he opened his eyes and saw four heading his way. “Oh hey big sis. Here to chill out with me?” Zephyr asked as he shot finger guns to the group.

“No," Trixie told him, "we are not here to 'chill out'."

“Um...yeah Zephyr, If you don’t mind…” Fluttershy started, before Flash tapped her on the shoulder.

“More assertive,” he suggested.

“Right,” Fluttershy nodded as she put on a more serious face. “Zephyr, we are taking you to the library and helping you study for you makeup exams.” This time, her tone was completely serious...but that faltered when Zephyr stared laughing.

“That’s a good one, Flutters,” Zephyr said as he got up.

“I’m serious!" Fluttershy cried “we will help you study! As your big sister, I won’t let your fail a second time.”

“Relax, Fluttershy. I know exactly what I’m doing,” Zephyr said with a cheeky smile.

“Really?” Flash questions the other boy, full of skepticism.

"Yup," Zephyr said. "I’m going to wing it." This statement caused the four to almost anime fall. Fluttershy was the first to straighten up and glare at her brother.

“That’s what made you fail in the first place!” Fluttershy was really losing her cool now. Luckily, after a few deep breaths, she regained her composure. “I’m sorry, but you can't just drift through life without putting in any effort.”

“But studying is hard,” Zephyr whined.

“That’s why we’re going to try to help you,” Fluttershy said.

"Emphasis on try," Trixie said, while Zephyr tried to come up with an excuse.

“Jeez," Spike said, "now I see what you guys were talking about."

As the two siblings were talking, Terra continued to spy on the group. The two going back and forth got boring very quickly, and Terra was about to leave- until he noticed the Magi-Beast card was glowing brighter. “So... that loser is the lucky winner. That'll work nicely,” He said, a nasty grin taking over his face. He then took aim, before throwing the card towards the teens. The card flew through the air until it hit Zephyr in the back of the neck. The teen fell to his knees while his sister stepped back, as a mass of energy emerged from Zephyr’s body.

The mass of energy soon formed into an oval-shaped insect like creature. It was cyan with pink horizontal stripes. It had an extra set of arms, as well as a pair of compound eyes covering the top part of its body. “Buzzzzzz, I’m hungry for destruction!” The monster announced as he raised his two right arms.

Flash acted quickly, giving Spike to Trixie, before dashing towards his other friends. He tackled Fluttershy and Zephyr to the ground before the monster swooped down, narrowly missing them. “You guys need to get out of here, fast. I’ll buy you some time,” Flash ordered.

Fluttershy stared up at him. “But... We can’t just leave you alone Fla-”

“You don’t need to tell me twice,” Zephyr interrupted, before he made a mad dash towards the building.

“I’ll be fine. Just go and get help." The monster tried to attack again, but Flash rolled out of the way. “ GO!” He yelled, causing Fluttershy to run away. Trixie gave Flash a nod. which he returned, before she followed Fluttershy in her escape. Once they were safe, Flash slapped on his driver and slotted the card in. “Henshin!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!!!”

Once the transformation was complete, the monster rushed up, ready to strike Achilles. The Rider dodged the attack easily, before pulling out his blaster. He began firing at the monster. “There’s no way I’m going to get beaten by a bug,” Achilles declared.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, buzzter. You won’t be able to swat me away.” The monster raised his top set of arms. All of a sudden, some of the stone benches began to levitate. He then thrusted his hands forward, launching the floating objects towards the Rider.

"WOW!" Achilles acted fast, and used his blaster to break up the benches. Unfortunately the debris kept moving forward, causing the rider to jump and avoid them. “Dang," Achilles said, "I didn’t think an insect would be telepathic." The Rider then went on the offensive, getting close to the monster to deliver several punches to its oval body. He then fired off a few shots point blank, to push the insect back. “I’m guessing that ability was the only trick you had,” he said, continuing to bombard the monster with his blaster.

Back on the roof, Terra was enjoying the fight. “ Looks like Pixybob needs some help,” he said as he rose from his perch. He jumped off the roof and landed three floors down, unharmed, with a bang. “Oh, I’ve have been waiting so long for this.” He rubbed his large hands together.

“What the?!” Achilles yelled as he took notice of the new arrival.

“Oh please," Terra said, smirking. "Don’t stop playing on my account."

Between the fact that this strange man doesn’t seem to flinch at the sight of the Magi-Beast, coupled with his impossible descent from the roof, Flash quickly came to a conclusion. “Are you connected to Cypher?” Achilles asked, as he avoided another attack.

“We’re besties. Of course, he would never admit it,” Terra said with a smile. "You know him, all business. I like to mix work and play, you know?" He then pulled his stylized buckle and placed it around his waist as well as a card. The card had the image of a normal house ready to attack. He slowed the card into the buckle with an unnatural smile. “And I have been looking forward to this fight.”

"EARTH PONY!”

The ball of lights came out and took their position on his body, before Terra was transformed into his monstrous form.

“So, your the same kind of Magi-Beast as Cypher?” Achilles said.

“HAHAHAHA!” Terra bellowed out so hard that he had to bend over. “Oh man, that’s funny. But I can’t blame ya for thinking that. The change is pretty similar, I'll give you that. But if I’m going to send you over to the next world, I want you to know just how hopeless it is to fight us.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” The Rider asked.

“First off," Terra took a step forward. "We like to call ourselves The Advanced.” His heavy, armored hoof hit the ground with such force that the ground shook beneath him. “We are the powers that a Magi-Beast unlocks when it becomes whole. After all we’re still human within these bodies, and that’s where a Magi-Beast’s power comes from. All the fights you’ve had so far are peanuts compared to us.”

This revelation caused Achilles to think back to his fight with Cypher. "He’s not all talk. I only made it out of that fight through pure luck."

“Hey Buzzz, I’m the one that’s going to take this guy out!” Pixybob said, as he hovered up to Terra.

“Come on" Terra said with a wave of his hand. "Let's all play nice here." Before anyone could have responded, the Advanced lunged towards Achilles, delivering a powerful blow to his chest. However instead of being sent flying, there was no real force at all. Achilles remained stationary, with no damage at all. Though the Rider couldn’t tell what was stranger: The lack of force in the attack or the fact that Terra seemed unphased by the anomaly.

After a second, Achilles decided to take advantage of the situation and grabbed onto Terra’s arm. In one swift motion, the Rider tossed the monster over his shoulder, and onto the ground behind him. “I can tell you're hiding something. A special power. No way someone who claims to be anything like Cypher could have such a weak hit. And you're the tank, aren't you?”

“Very perceptive of you, Mr. Rider,” Terra said, rolling over onto his stomach. “Well, no point in keeping you waiting. Here's the surprise,” he said before making a clicking sound with his mouth.

Out of nowhere, the Rider was blown right off his feet by an energy construct of Terra's arm coming out of his back. Achilles was speechless of the studded force in his chest. Achilles couldn’t even react, and he hit the ground. “Ufff! What was that? It felt like getting hit by a bus."

“Yeah, my powers aren’t as flashy as Cypher’s, but the look on a target’s face when I activate it? Priceless."

“Thanks pal, Buzzz. Now it’s my turn,” Pixiebob lifted all four arms, levitating any loose objects nearby. “Now it’s time for you to get crushed,” The monster laughed as he launched his attack.

Achilles barely had time to recover from the delayed attack. He quickly pulled out the Storm card and placed it into his spear.

“CHARGE!!!”

The rider then slammed the butt of his spear to the ground, forming a tornado around himself. Pixiebob’s attack was flung in all directions, before the tornado cleared- and the Rider was nowhere to be seen.

“Buzz!" Pixiebob almost yelled, "that buzzing Rider ran off!"

“I know," Terra followed, standing next to the Magi-Beast. "That wimp ran off before I even got warmed up. But I’m not too worried. Your host is still well, he's bound to be stressed out. You’ll be whole in no time. Now, why don’t we go have some fun?” He suggested as he led the lower Magi-Beast away.

Flash escaped the fight, managing to regroup with Trixie in the building. He didn’t get away unscathed since he had to stop by the nurse’s office to get an ice pack. “I’m telling you Trixie, this guy was crazy. It only took one hit to knock me off my feet,” Flash said, holding the ice pack on his head.

“Yeah, well, sounds like you have the better end of the deal here. I rather have to fight a crazy strong monster then help Zephyr study,” Trixie complained as she pulled her peanut butter crackers out of the vending machine. “I’m pretty sure he never read a book without pictures in it.”

“Oh man!" Flash face palmed, only to almost cry as he'd accidentally hit his injured spot. "I didn’t realize it, but Zephyr's the host. A teenager preparing for exams is probably the best thing for those Magi-Beasts. Specifically a slacker." Trixie sat next to him against the lockers to enjoy her snack. “Can you think of anything more stressful?”

“No," Trixie said as she opened her snack, "you have a point."

“By the way, how are things going?” Flash asked. As soon as he asked, the doors to the library flew open with Fluttershy stomping out. “Never mind.”

She walked over to the two, before resting her head on the lockers. “Uhhh. I'm sorry to say this, but my brother is really peeving me off.” The two went wide, unable to believe she'd use such language...through it wasn't exactly illegal to say.

“I know Zephyr can be hard to interact with, but we need to help him.” Flash stood up before patting Fluttershy on the shoulder. “You’ve never been one to deny help to anyone.”

“I know," Fluttershy replied. “But even I have my limits."

"Okay, that's fair," Flash nodded, "When you start using language like that, you're kinda counterproductive. Got it. Why don’t you take a break, and let me and Trixie take a crack at it?"

“Hey," Spike said as he walked up to the teens, "I can help too."

“And what would a dog know about world history?” Trixie asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I’m Twilight’s dog,” Spike answered simply.

There was a silence among the humans. After a moment, Flash cracked a smile. “Well, can’t beat that argument.” This made everyone laugh.

Flash sat Zephyr down with stacks of books all around them. Flash decided to start with the Roman Empire. "So tell me what you know about Julius Caesar? He’s always a good subject on essays.”

“Well," Zephyr leaned back in his chair, "I know must have been great if he has an amazing salad named after."

“Um...no. The guy actually is the reason why the whole empire fell."

“Ya know, all this talk of salad is getting me hungry. Want to take a break?

“We haven’t even started yet!” Flash yelled, flabbergasted.

“All the more reason we should make sure we have full stomachs,” Zephyr said. It was at this point that Flash was already starting to regret his decision to help.

“Ok Zephyr," Trixie said as she flipped through the history book. "Let’s try Portugal during the age of discovery. That should help you stand out.”

“Wow that sounds so cool!” Zephyr said.

Trixie was smiling that she now had his attention. “Okay, this was where a lot of major advances in seafaring were made. New forms of navigation, boat construction and trade routes.” However as soon as she started to get into the politics of Portugal and Spain, she suddenly heard snoring. She looked around, and saw Zephyr had fallen asleep. This caused Trixie’s right eye to twitch. “Flash," she said calmly, "hold...me...back.”

Flash reacted to her words quickly, and grabbed onto the magician’s arms “LETMEATHIM! LETMEATHIM!” She yelled out as she attempted to attack Zephyr. “No one ever falls asleep during one of Trixie’s performances. Even if it’s a history lecture!”

“...And through his vicious, yet brilliant tactics, Oda Nobunaga was able to take over the Kansai region. This was all before his eventual downfall at the hands of one of his generals, Mitsuhide,” Spike explained, using a pointer stick on a war map. The dog then turned to Zephyr, who looked to be interested in what he was saying. “So...any questions?”

“Um...yeah. You're a talking dog,” Zephyr said, clearly not paying attention to the lecture. This resulted in Spike face-pawing.

Flash looked at Trixie. “I think we can actually give him this one.”

Trixie opened her mouth to refute that- before shutting it, and nodding thoughtfully.

Later, Flash, Trixie, Fluttershy and Spike all met outside of the library. It was clear that none of their attempts to help Zephyr was working. Despite their efforts to relieve Zephyr's stress, they were the ones that were a nervous wreck. “Jeez, can you believe this guy. It’s like he wants to fail,” Spike said as Fluttershy petted him. The petting seems to calm both of them down.

“Fluttershy," Flash spoke up, "you have to be a saint if you can live with a guy like that."

“Eh," Fluttershy shrugged, "what’cha gonna do. He is my brother after all. I really wish he would apply himself. He wants to be a hair stylist and he’s really good at it, but he’s never going to get where he needs to if he fails. That’s why I want to help him so much. No matter how frustrated I get.”

The others nodded, agreeing with her and proud at how much she'd go through for Zephyr. “I know he may seem hopeless, but as his sister I need to support him....at least with his hair styling dreams." She shuddered, "I really wish he would take the hint from Rainbow." Everyone let out a laugh at that last part.

Once they stopped laughing, Flash spoke up. “Well the bright side is that he doesn’t look too stressed out. That means that the Magi-Beast won’t be draining him as quickly.”

“Yeah," Trixie agreed, "looks like his laid back manner is helpful for once." The Rider now has time to squash that bug.”

Flash then stood up. “Come on, why don’t we all reward all our hard work at Sugarcube Corner. My treat.”

“Now we’re talking,” Zephyr said out of nowhere. The slacker walked over to Flash, and draped his arm around his shoulder. “You're such a nice guy, Flash,” he said with a cheeky grin.

Flash groaned at Zephyr suddenly inviting himself. He’d no clue that Zephyr was within earshot, now regretting his words. Fluttershy and Trixie shared in his feelings of not wanting to spend any more time with Zephyr. Unfortunately Flash was a kind spirit, and had no choice but to let Zephyr tag along. However, Flash was gonna see to it that he wasn’t the one that was going to pay his bill.

“Batter up!” Terra yelled out in the middle of the wrecked Main Street. The monster was carrying a stop sign which soon held up like a baseball bat. “It’s so nice playing around with a new friend.”

“I must agree, buzz,” Pixiebob said, a good distance away. The Magi-Beast was using his powers to lift a car up over his head. He then threw his hand forward to launch the car at Terra. When the car was close enough, Terra swung the stop sign, and sent it flying.

“Dang," Terra said as he watched the car fly a good mile away. "foul ball, You need to aim right down the middle.”

“Got it buzz,” Pixiebob replied, using his powers to pick up another car. He repeated the process and threw it at Terra. Terra gripped his “bat” tightly as he hit the car away.

“There we go!” Terra cheered as he watched the car go flying. “Though, if I’m being honest, that's only a double.”

“Buzz, would you want to try again for a home run?” Pixiebob asked.

“Nah. This game is fun, don’t get me wrong, but something’s bugging me.” Terra threw the stop sign into a store window. He then turned to the Magi-Beast, an angry, thoughtful look on his face. “Why aren’t you getting stronger? It’s exam week, so why isn’t that loser host of yours stressing out? You should be almost whole now.”

“Buzz, buzz, buzz!” Pixiebob yelled, panicking. “How am I supposed to know something like that?”

“Well, if we can’t use stress to make you stronger, we'll just have to try a dose of good old fashioned fear instead. Now, can you sense where he is?”

“Yeah. Yeah, he’s really close,” Pixiebob said, intrigued at the luck as he led the way to his host.

Not too far away, Flash, Trixie, Fluttershy, Spike and Zephyr were all walking towards their favourite cafe. Zephyr was the only one of the group not still stressing out, the others considering this a failure in preparing Zephyr for his test. The group were hoping to drown their sorrows with some chocolate milk shakes, organic berry smoothies, and Dog Treat parfaits.

However their journey to the cafe was interrupted by a car crashing in front of them. “You don’t think?” Trixie asked Flash. He sighed. “What did you expect?”

“Hello again buzz,” Pixiebob greeted as he and Terra came into view. “We were in the neighbourhood, buzz, and thought we’d drop by.”

“Ahhhhh!" Zephyr yelled, "that ugly bug is back!”

Fluttershy understood his reaction, but tried her best to keep him calm. “Zephyr, please don’t be scared. You're feeding that thing and if you do that, you might disappear forever."

“You really shouldn't be scared," Trixie tried to help ease the situation. "They need you alive or the bug-face will disappear.”

After a few moments, Zephyr took deep breaths to calm down. “That’s a relief. For a moment there, I thought that thing was going to suck my guts out.”

“True," Terra said, stepping forward, "we can’t really harm him." He cracked his knuckles, "But that luxury doesn’t apply to the rest of you.” Everyone gulped, even Zephyr, as they realized he had a point. “Now tell me, which one would the bum care about most?”

“The pink haired one, Buzz!” Pixiebob cried, pointing towards Fluttershy.

“Good," Terra smiled, "Now do me a favour and take out the others." He wasted no time as he closed the distance between him and Fluttershy. In the blink of an eye, Terra had picked up Fluttershy by the front of her dress. “From what I hear, you're the weakest of the Magical Girls. If it makes you feel better, I don’t take joy in pummeling someone that won’t give me a challenge." He raised his fists, as Fluttershy flailed her legs around in an attempt to kick the Advanced. But it was no use, and her reflexes kicked in to just close her eyes, and hope help would come.

“Big Sis!!!” Zephyr yelled, before he froze up. All he could focus on was how his sister was in such a helpless position. Small wisps of energy started to come out of his body and into Pixiebob, who giggled maliciously.

“Fluttershy!” Flash yelled.

“Don’t ignore me, BUZZ!” Pixiebob yelled, making a dumpster float before throwing it on top of Flash. The young man pushed Trixie out of the way, before quickly putting on his driver and sliding in the Knuckle card.

"K-K-K-KNUCKLE!!!”

Once he was transformed, the rider caught the dumpster in his large gauntlets. “That was a close one,” he said before throwing the dumpster back at the Magi-Beast. “Time to go back to your natural habitat.” The dumpster landed, trapping the Magi-Beast and giving Achilles a moment. He fired both his fists at Terra, hitting him in the back and knocking him back a good deal while, with the added effect of dropping Fluttershy.

“Oh, thank goodness,” Zephyr said, running up to his sister to hug her. "I really thought you were about to eat it.”

“Well you don't need to worry, ‘cause she’s safe now,” Achilles said, standing ready. “But we’re not out of the wood yet. There’s still…” The Rider started before he was thrown forcibly to the side.

The dumpster slowly floated up to reveal that Pixiebob wasn't as trapped as Achilles had thought. One of his four hands was now clenched into a fist. “I bet you thought that was real funny, buzz. Well, let’s see how funny it is when you experience my power first hand!” The monster declared before swinging his fist around all over the place. This caused the Rider to be thrown in whatever direction, smashing into the ground, street posts, and buildings.

This caused a great deal of damage to the rider, who moaned as he was lifted back into the air.

“Oh man, the Rider is getting creamed!” Zephyr shouted, right before Achilles landed right before him. “Come on man, you have to throw in the towel. That bug thing is kicking your butt. Not to mention you have the big guy over there to deal with after. There's no way you can beat them.”

Achilles moaned again, rolling onto his stomach, “I...I can't just give up." He slowly picked himself up, managing to get onto one knee as he panted. “It’s my job to protect everyone. If I quit when things got tough, I wouldn't be much of a hero." He managed to push himself up onto his feet, though he was obviously struggling to find his balance. "Even if failure is certain, I still need to give it my all!” He rushed forwards once again, while his words struck a chord with Zephyr.

“That's really touching," Terra said as he stood up. "But it won't change the fact that you're on your last leg."

“YOU SHOULD LEAVE NOW,” Fluttershy spoke up. This caught Terra’s attention, as he saw the teenage girl with burning fury on her face. “You tried to hurt me, my friends, and worse...my baby brother. I think you’ve caused enough pain for today.”

“Pfff," Terra replied with his arms crossed, "and what is a weakling like you going to do about it?” It was then that he noticed an almost sinister looking smirk appear on the girl's face, which strangely filled him with an odd dread. He flinched.

“Me? Nothing. I'm not that much of a fighter like the other. But-" It was then that Terra began to notice something strange. Birds of all breeds and colours began to show up, surrounding him. He was suddenly reminded of that horror movie he'd seen a while back, as they stared down at him. “My friends here don't mind helping me out.”

“I...I’m not scared of some rats with wings,” Terra said, while trying, and failing, to hide the fear in his voice.

Fluttershy’s expression did not change, as she simply pointed at the Advanced. “Get him!” She commanded. At her words, all the birds flew towards Terra, swarming around him until he was nothing but a mass of feathers.

“Ahhhhhhhh! Get them off, get them off!” Terra yelled as the birds all attacked him. The constant pecking and feathers in his face sent the monster running away.

“Wow,” was all Trixie could say as she watched the event happen before her. “I’m just going to say, I’m sorry for every mean thing I have ever done to you.” She shot Fluttershy a frightened smile. Fluttershy replied with a much more cheerful smile, assuring Trixie that she was safe.

Back with Achilles, the Rider continued dodging the monster's attack. After a moment he took a large leap into the air before firing his fist at the monster, scoring a direct hit. “What's wrong?" He mocked as he landed, retracting his fist. "Can’t catch my fist with you telekinesis?"

“Oh, you've done it now, buzz. I’m going to buzzing crush you!” Pixiebob clenched his fist again. Out of nowhere, Achilles was suddenly suspended in the air. He then raised his arms and every object not bolted to the ground started to float up. He then put his four hands together and all the objects were pulled together with Achilles at the center. Once everything formed a large ball, the whole mass fell. “Hahaha, buzz, how do you like being squashed!?”

“Oh no!” Everyone said at the same time. Fluttershy was so shocked by the crunching, that she didn’t notice the ball of pink light come out of his necklace. The orb flew towards the mass of objects while Pixiebob danced with joy, then seemed to phase through it. After a moment a yellow light flashed from within the ball.

“DEFENDER OF CREATURES BIG AND SMALL!!!”

“B-B-B-BREEZE!!!”

It went silent as everyone’s attention was now on the giant mass. After a moment, Achilles managed to dig his way out of the mass in his new form. Everyone was shocked by what had emerged. The form itself wasn’t too different from his normal rider form. The colors were now two tones of yellow with pink eye plates. His head crest now extended out to resemble a butterfly’s antenna. The thing that set this form apart from all the others was the fact that Achilles now stood at a mere six inches tall. “Whoo," Achilles said casually, "it was getting cramped in there."

“He’s so small!” Trixie, Zephyr and Spike all yelled out in shock.

“He’s so cute,” Fluttershy followed, with a much more happy demeanour.

“Well,” Achilles looked himself over, "I didn’t think I’d be turned into an action figure today." Once he took stock of his surroundings, he noticed something crawling out of the collected mass as well.

Coming out was what looked like a squad of tiny versions of Pixiebob, each one being a different color and having different wings. “Hey, buzz, what are you doing here?” One of the copy’s asked in a high pitched voice.

“Yeah, buzz, we crushed you,” another one followed.

“You crushed me?” Achilles repeated. He then worked to figure things out, unbothered as the Pixiebob copies started to close in. “Oh so that's your trick. You're not telekinetic at all.”

“What is he saying?” Spike asked.

The rider pointed at the large Magi-Beast. “Your telekinesis is just these bugs, lifting things around and carrying them. We just didn’t notice, since they're so small. That's why you couldn’t catch my fist. It was moving too fast for these things to grab onto,” Achilles explained.

“Well you know my secret now. You still can’t beat me. Especially since you're such a short fry now,” the big Pixiebob gloated.

“And now you have us to deal with,” one of the small bugs mocked. The bugs all began to close in on the lone Rider.

The first one charged right at Achilles, to which the Rider smacked it away. The hit sent the small bug flying a great distance away, with very little effort. Achilles just blinked at this, then looked to his fist and realised what must have happened. “Wow!" he said. "My size may be small, but all my stats seem to be the same."

“Get him, Buzz! He can’t take us all down,” one of the bugs screamed- and in response, a huge swarm formed.

“You're right," Achilles agreed. "I can’t take on a swarm on my own, but I don’t have to. I just got to take one out." The rider then jumped the height of what would proportionately be the height of a building into the swarm. He then landed on the head of one of the flying bugs, before jumping onto the next one. Achilles made it through the swarm in no time, and was now falling towards the big Pixiebob. “Eat this!” He yelled, as he performed a drop kick on the monster.

“Buzz, buzz!” Pixiebob cried, flying backwards. The moment the monster recovered, Achilles jumped up to deliver a punch to the head from the ground. The Rider kept jumping around, delivering attacks to the monster, from all directions. Thanks to his small size, it was difficult for even Pixiebob to see where the attacks were coming from.

“This has to be one of the most ironic monster take down ever,” Achilles laughed, as he pressed the button on his driver.

"BREEZE FEEDBACK!!!”

Achilles’ body glowed with pink energy, before he jumped high into that air at insane speeds. A magical circle appeared and the rider clung to it sideways like a wall. He then turned his head towards the monster before launching himself. The rider got into position for a kick, before his body accelerated like a bullet. Like a beam of light, Achilles flew right through the monster and landed on the other side, only leaving behind a tiny hole in Pixiebob’s chest.

“BUUUUUUZZZZZZZ~!” Pixiebob yelled before falling backwards- and exploding.

“The bigger they are, the harder they fall,” Achilles said before he pulled out his Rider card. “Element change!” He cried as he slotted the card into the driver, changing forms and returning to normal size, before running over to the others.

“Are you ok now?” Fluttershy asked as she helped Zephyr up.

“Y-yeah I think so,” Zephyr said.

“Good. A few more minutes and you would have been a ghost,” Trixie said.

Zephyr dusted himself off before turning to the rider. “I still can’t believe you never gave up. Even on a slacker like me.”

“It’s just what heroes do,” Achilles replied with a thumbs up. “Overcoming hardships is the only way you can get stronger.”

“That’s a pretty corny line,” Zephyr said, lightly waving at the rider. “But ya know, it sounds cooler coming from a guy like you.”

“Thanks for saving my brother,” Fluttershy said.

“It was no problem at all,” Achilles said.

“Now we don’t have to worry about Zephyr disappearing into nothing. Now all that’s left is getting him through his make up exams,” Fluttershy said.

“I can tell you have your own battle to fight now,” Achilles replied. He held his hand, and clenched it into a fist. “Hold strong. I know you can do it somehow. You just have to put effort in.”

“I hope so,” Fluttershy said, letting out a long breath.

Night soon fell upon the town.

At home Fluttershy was cosily laying on her bed filled with so many stuffed animals, it was a miracle she was able to lay on it at all. Her bunny, Angel, was munching on his late night snack at the foot of her bed.

“Oh, Angel, I’m still worried about Zephyr. I still don’t think he understands how serious this situation is,” Fluttershy said. Angel paid her no mind as he ate the last bit of his carrot. Fluttershy let out a sigh, seeing that talking to her fluffy companion wasn’t going to help this time. “Maybe some tea will help me relax.”

Fluttershy got out of bed, and left for her drink. On her way to the kitchen, she noticed a light was still coming out of her brother’s room. Curiosity got the better of her, she decided to peek inside.

To her surprise, she saw Zephyr at his desk with a textbook open and his pencil writing notes. “Let’s see, the one that had the biggest impact on the hundred year war of France was…” Zephyr said out loud before pausing. He taped his pencil on his desk as he thought. “It was Joan Of Arc,” he answered to himself.

“Wow. I never thought I would see you actually studying,” Fluttershy said as she walked into the room.

“Yeah well I have to at least give it my all. Even if I end up failing,” Zephyr said as he turned to his older sister. “If the Rider didn’t give up on me even when the monster had him on the ropes, then I can give up when the test hasn’t even started. It’s not fair to you guys who helped me study either.”

Fluttershy smiled at the kind of impact the Rider had on her brother. She also noticed a distinct aroma in the air. “Hmm what’s that smell?” she asked.

“Rosemary,” Zephyr answered as he brought the air defused. “It’s supposed to help with focus and memory.”

“Wow. You're really pulling out all the stops,” Fluttershy said as she started to walk out of the room. “Well, don’t let me interrupt you then.” She closed the door behind her and let out a smile, silently thanking the Rider once again.

Fluttershy, Flash, and Trixie all waited outside the classroom for Zephyr to finish. It has been almost two and a half hours, but eventually he came out. “So," Flash asked, "how'd you do?”

“Prepare to be amazed,” Zephyr said, pulling out his test papers. Written in red ink was the score of seventy-eight. “I passed it”

“That’s great!” Fluttershy said, bringing her brother in for a hug.

“Way to go,” Flash followed.

“This is unacceptable!” Trixie yelled out in anger, surprising the others. “With me helping you out you shouldn’t have been getting at least an A-!”

Flash just rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. “Trixie, this is Zephyr we’re talking about. You’re not a miracle worker." Trixie crossed her arms as the other teens all joined in a group laugh.

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a few birds flew by an abandoned back alley. A normal looking pile of trash began to move before Terra stood up in his human form.

The young man was covered in feathers and totally out of breath. “Stupid birds," he grumbled. "That’s the last time those dumb animals get the jump on me." Up on a power line, a few birds began to chirp. This caused Terra to flinch- before he realized that they weren’t going to attack.

Ride 7: Tik-Tok

View Online

It's study hall for Twilight and Sunset and Twilight was spending her time updating her notes on the rider.

The new Breeze form was an odd one with its size changing ability, but was far from useless. Of course it was no surprise that such a passive ability could come from someone like Fluttershy. Once she was finished with her report on the new form, she turned the page to a drawing of Cypher with nothing but questions marks in all the note columns. “I wish I could figure out who could be cruel enough to make monster to steal people’s life force” Twilight said.

“Whoever it is, they're pretty messed up in the head,” Sunset said as she looked over Twilight’s shoulder. “We’ve seen Equestria magic be abused before but not like this.”

“The Magi-Beast are much more dangerous than Gloriosa or Vignettes" Twilight said. "Good thing we have the Rider on our side."

“Yeah," Sunset said hesitantly, "the Rider.”

“Sunset,” Twilight said in surprise. “How can you still not trust the guy? He save our friends multiple times."

“The guy where’s a mask all the time," Sunset replied. "Kinda hard to trust a guy we don’t even know what he looks like."

“He has to,” Spike’s voice said. The dog then popped his head out of Twilight’s bag. “He’s a superhero. If his secret identity is revealed, then all the villains will try and hurt all of his friends and family. It says so all in here,” he pulled out several comic books.

“Ok," Sunset said, "but what about his new forms? They all use our magic. How do we know he’s not trying to collect all our magic to do something nasty as well as drain is so we can’t fight back. Remember Jupiter Montage's mirror?"

“The new forms don't affect us at all," Twilight rebutted. "So even if he dose turn out to be bad, we can still fight back.” Soon the bell rang, signalling the students to go to their class. Twilight and Sunset exited at the same time to continue their conversation. “I think your worrying about nothing. The rider is here to protect everyone.”

“It’s never a bad idea to air on the side of caution. Especially when it comes to magic in this world,” Sunset said. She then turned her head to look forward only to bump into someone else. “Ufff!”

“Oh," they heard Pinkie's voice say, "sorry Sunset.” The young woman wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, because she was so focused of the music that was coming from her headphones. “Have you heard this new song. I absolutely love it~”

Pinkie pulled the cord out of her phone to play the song for her friends. The song was a bouncy melody and lyrics that got stuck in your head. Basically the stuff Pinkie loved the most. “It’s sounds good,” Sunset said after a moment to get into the song.

“Did it just come out today?” Twilight asked.

“Ya betcha” Pinkie said as she plunged her headphones in again. “See ya girls later,” she sung as she slipped away, jamming to her music.

“Pinkie’s cheerfulness is always the pick me up I need,” Sunset said she the two were infected by Pinkie’s large smile.

“Way to go Octavia!” One of the boy students said as the black haired girl in a purple dress walked by.

“Thank you kindly,” Octavia reply as she continued on her way.

“Your so lucky to get a call back,” Lyra said as she passed by.

“Luck had nothing to do with it," Octavia said. "It was all practice and skill." The young musician had recently audition with a famous orchestra. If she does well on the call back, she was guaranteed a musical scholarship when she graduated. Octavia had a smile on her face that said that she had no doubt in her mind, that she was going to be amazing. Nothing was going to ruin her good mood. Well maybe one thing.

“I’ll be your rainbow girl, La Da di da di da,” Pinkie sang as she walked down the hall. She had her volume so high on her phone that the song could be heard regardless of her headphones.

It only took two notes of EDM to ruin any good mood Octavia had. The digital beats and heavy bass was the worst combination of sounds ever to the classical fan. Pinkie was oblivious to Octavia’s sour face when she walked up to her. “Hey Octavia, I heard about your audition and you did great!” Pinkie yelled as she couldn’t hear herself over her music.

“Um Pinkie can you…” Octavia tried to get out, but unfortunately Pinkie was too focused on her music. This caused her to almost reach her breaking point. What pushed her passed it was Pinkie’s singing and hip shaking. Octavia couldn't take the overlap between Pinkie and the auto-tuned voices anymore

“Enough!” Octavia yelled, as she took the headphones off Pinkie’s head and threw them away. “That is not even music. It’s just noise and how anybody is able to enjoy it is a mystery to me!”

“Oh," Pinkie said, "I’m so sorry Octavia. I didn’t realise my music was so loud."

Octavia just let out a sigh. “It’s fine and I’m sorry as well for throwing you headphones. Just be more mindful about your music.” She started to walk away in a huff, only to pull herself to a stop when she found Pinkie was standing infront of her.

“No, it’s not fine. I can tell your still upset and you shouldn’t be after something so special happened.”

“I said it’s fine!”

“It’s not if your using that tone of voice.”

“Just leave me alone!” Octavia yelled before she started to run away.

As Octavia went off Pinkie's face turned into one of determination. "Don't worry Octavia. I will get your smile back or my name isn't Pinkamena Diane Pie!"

Literature class was in full swing as Ms Cheerilee was writing the notes on the black bored.

Octavia was focused and was writing down everything like the good student she was. Literature was her favourite class besides her music studies. Nothing could brake her focus...except for a "psssssss" coming from her right. Turning that way, Octavia saw Pinkie trying to get her attention. Octavia tried to just ignore her, but Pinkie wouldn't let up. It was a solid minute of pestering till the musician caved and asked "what," in a whispering yell.

"Tada," Pinkie whispered as she presented a simple looking card. It was just a plane piece of white paper with the words 'I'm Sorry' on it. Octavia just looked at her drily before taking the card. Despite her better judgement, Octavia knew that Pinkie wasn't going to stop until she did. Once the card was in her hand, Octavia put it in her bag and resumed note taken. "Aren't you going to open it?" Pinkie asked.

Octavia let out a groan at the question. Not wanting to have this distraction go on any longer then it needs too, she opened the card.

POP! POP! POP!

The card expanded into a bright and colorful display. Complete with noise makers and glitter firing out. The display caught everyone’s attention, including Ms Cheerilee, who didn’t look happy. “Ms Melody,” the teacher said.

“Would saying I’m sorry help?” Octavia ask with a nervous smile.

Octavia’s mood got worst with Pinkie’s stunt, but things were looking brighter. Her next class was physics and it was a class that she didn’t share with Pinkie. All she had to do was get her books from her locker. She dial in her combination and then opens is.

PFFFZZZZZZZZ~!

Octavia was surprised by the huge explosions of confetti. In the middle of the whole thing was Pinkie wearing a purple afro, red clown nose, a moustache, and a pair of large sunglasses. She blow into a party favour, but it seem to have no effect on Octavia’s sour face. “Hehe, are you cheered up yet?” Pinkie asked sheepishly.

“Not really,” Octavia answered as she slammed the locker closed and began to walk away. Only after a few steps did she realise she'd forgotten something. “Can you please hand me my physics book?” She asked before her locker opened.

“Hear you go,” Pinkie said as she fulfilled Octavia’s requests.

“Thank you kindly,” Octavia said as she closed the locker again and rushed to class.

Lunchtime came and Octavia was eating with her friends at there usual table.

Unfortunately, she couldn’t enjoy the moment. With her being Pinkie’s target, she would never be safe. The pink party animal could pop up anywhere, with any manner of surprise planed.

“Your looking a little tense there,” Bon-Bon pointed out.

“It has been a...stressful day,” Octavia said. Her friends didn’t dig any deeper into it, seeing as she looked to be in no mood to talk about it.

Unfortunately, Octavia’s peace was short lived as a voice spoke up. “Hi there,” Pinkies voice announced. The sound of her voice caused Octavia to jump right out of her seat. Pinkie has a rather bewildered face as she was holding a brightly decorated cupcake with sparklers. “Um is everything ok?” She asked

“No everything is not ok,” Octavia said a she got back up. “Pinkie, I understand that you want to cheer me up. That is your thing and I know for a fact that most people at grateful for it. But right now, all I need is to be left alone with some peace and quiet. So I am going to go outside for some fresh air and you won’t be there, Got it?” Octavia said.

“Okie doki loki," Pinkie said with a smile. "I’ll give you your alone time if that will make you happy."

Octavia gave a sigh of relief before walking out of the cafeteria.

As Pinkie set her cupcakes down she noticed that Octavia had left her bag behind. “Wait, Octavia!” She yelled out but the musician was already gone. “I need to get this back to her. Ooh, I hope she won’t be too mad.” Pinkie picked up the bag before running out of the room. She didn’t make it far before she came right back to the table to eat the left behind cupcake in one bite.

“Take this!” Achilles yelled, as he thrusted his spear forward. The rider was currently in the middle of a fight with Terra. He had just changed into his Storm form and was fighting with a lightning charged weapon. “Why can’t you leave this place alone?”

“It’s a bunch of hormonal youths in one place. The perfect place for new Magi-Beasts,” Terra said. He threw his fist towards the rider, only for Achilles to move out of the way. Achilles then swung his spear to blow a huge gust of wind to no real effect. “Haha as if that little breeze can knock me back.”

“Okay, your armor is heavier then I thought. But let’s see how it fares against this,” Achilles shot lightning at the Advanced. Terra moved out of the way before jumping towards the him.

The monster then threw a kick at him, only to be block by the spear before jumping away. Achilles realised that there was no force behind the attack. Terra let our a small laugh before making the clicking sound. Achilles knew what was coming and threw his spear away. Right before it hit the ground, a construct of his leg came out of the spear and made a creator in the ground. “That trick won’t work on me twice.”

“Oh, did it?” Terra asked as he landed a hit right on the rider’s chest. “Cause now you don’t have your weapon anymore,” he said as the rider was thrown back. Terra wasted no time in continuing with a kick. Achilles saw this and used a cyclone to fly up high up. He then charged lighting into his hand before unleashing a huge lighting bolt right down on the Advanced.

“So," Achilles asked as he landed, "are you ready to surrender?” He picked up his spear to then point at the monster.

“Not a chance,” Terra said as he started to get up. Unfortunately, the lighting attack caused a grate deal of damage to him but it also looked like the rider at his limits as well. One good surprise attack was all he needed to make an escape.

Meanwhile Octavia had walked out of a near by door. Inhaling deeply calmed her nerves. After the day she was having, a moment of peace was the best thing ever. But this moment wasn’t meant to last. “Octavia!!!” Pinkie’s voice yelled.

That was it. Pinkie had just worked Octavia’s last nerve. She wasted no time when Pinkie caught up to her. “Pinkie! I just told you I wanted to be alone and you said you would. How much of a pest are you that you must constantly be everywhere I turn!” Octavia yelled in anger.

Terra noticed one of his Magi-Beast cards were glowing and connected it to the angry young woman. “What do you know," he chuckled. "Something I can work with." In one swift motion, the monster took out the card and threw it. Achilles was caught off guard, as the card flew past him and head right towards Octavia.

Once the card made contact with the girl, it formed into a magical aura. The aura soon turned into a creature that looked very serpent like. It was covered in purple scales and had fins coming out of its for arms. It's head looked like a tall cylindrical hat with spike coming out if it. The monsters most notable feature was what looked like a bright orange moustache on the monster's face. "Hehehe," the monster laughed as he readied his whip.

"Get down!" Pinkie yelled out as she tackled Octavia to safety.

The events happened so fast that Achilles wasn't able to defend agents the whip that hit him. This allowed Terra to run up to his new monster friend. "Wait stop!" The rider yelled out.

"No way," the new Magi-Beast said as she shot several blasts of water at Achilles. "You're looking a little wet around the ears," the monster laughed. The rider was knocked back even further before the monster let out a large stream of water to cover their escape. With the monsters gone, Achilles ran behind a parked car and transformed back.

When Flash got out into the open, he ran right towards the two girls. "Are you two ok?" he asked as he held out a hand.

"I could be better," Octavia said as she took Flash's hand and got back up.

"Oh Octavia, I'm so sorry!" Pinkie yelled as she hugged Octavia tightly and began to sob. "If-If I wasn't playing my music so loud then you wouldn't have gotten upset this morning, and-and I wouldn't have tried to apologise so hard and you-you-you wouldn't have come out here and then you wouldn't be bonded to a life force draining monsters!" She weeped.

"Pinkie, let GO!" Octavia yelled as she tried to pull Pinkie off.

"Calm down Octavia," Flash warned. "You can't get angry or else the monster will get stronger."

"And poof, you'll be gone forever," Pinkie continued.

"Well it's kinda hard not to, since she has been pestering me all day!" Octavia said as she finally pushed Pinkie off. "Not a single moment of peace, so I'm sorry if I'm a "tiny bit" one edge. Especially since she agreed that she would leave me alone."

"But I..." Pinkie started but was soon interrupted.

"Pinkie," Flash said, "I know its your life's popups to make people happy but this time I think you need to stay out of it." He placed a hand on her shoulder "Leave Octavia to me, ok?"

"And why are you so insistent on helping out?" Octavia asked.

"Lets just said I seem to have been in the middle of these Magi-Beast problems before," Flash answered nervously.

Pinkie took a moment to compose herself before answering. "Ok Flash, I'll leave this to you." She turned and started, walking away, but only took a few steps before turning back around. "Oh, I forgot about this. Its the whole reason I came out here," she handed over Octavia's bag.

Octavia looked down at the bag, then back at the walking away party planer. She let out a long sigh as all of her anger quickly turned into regret. "When all of this is over, I'm going to have to be the one to give an apology."

Terra and his new friend had escaped to an abandoned building. Reverting back into his human form, Terra was in the middle of recovering with a bag of burgers he was saving for later. "I really need to thank you Serpentor," he said as he finished his meal. "If it weren't for you, that rider would have finished me."

"Oh," Serpentor said, "think nothing of it. From the moment I was created, I felt I could take anyone on." He flipped out a comb from the handle of his whip and began to groom his facial hair. "Whoever my host was, she was in a rather terrible mood. That really gave me a head start in becoming whole."

"I wish Cypher was around. If the two of us teamed up that Rider would be nothing but a stain on the pavement,” Terra said as he walked up to the monster. "By the way, you're water blast are pretty awesome. You were even able to tear up the ground back there. think we can use it to drain what left of your host?"

Serpentor stopped his grooming for a moment as he began to think. "Hmhmhmhm hmhmhmhm~" The monster hummed as he twiddled his moustache. Soon the humming gave him an idea to achieve his goal. An idea so devilish that his moustache curled up in delight. "I know just what we need to do," he said.

Flash brought Octavia to the empty music room in the school. This was a tricky situation the young man was in as he didn’t really know what he can do to stop Octavia from being drained faster. He didn’t want to call Trixie in, she may have been able to think of something but he feared their personalities would clash too much to be helpful. The good news was that Octavia didn’t seem mad anyone. The bad news is that now she felt miserable. After a moment Flash got an idea to get Octavia’s spirits up.Flash found the celo case Octavia kept in the classroom and presented it to her. “Hey why don’t you play something? I know I feel a lot better when I have a bit of a jam session,” Flash said, speaking as a fellow musician.

"Yeah," Octavia agreed, "maybe that would help." It took a moment, but once she was set up, she took a deep breath and began to play. She started to play but after only a few notes she stopped with a groaned. "Ahhhh I can't. I can't play with so much on my mind.

"It's how you yelled at Pinkie?" Flash asked. Octavia didn't say a word, so he took it as a sign that he was right. "Octavia, from the sound of it you had every right to be mad at her. But this is Pinkie we're talking about. She'll bounce back, she always dose. It would take more then a little misunderstanding to get her down."

Octavia sighed, "your right. And the next chance I get, I'm going to make it up to her. Of course, I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to before I disappear."

Flash was at a loss for what to do at this situation. Octavia was sad over getting mad at Pinkie, while Pinkie wasn't going to come near Octavia cause she yelled at her. They both felt bad about what they did to the other and he had no clue on how to get them to talk it out. Flash was now deep in thought till he herd knocking. He the. They turned towards the door and saw Pinkie poke her head out. “Um...can I come in?” She asked in a quiet tone.

“Um yeah, Sure,” Flash said. Pinkie walked in in a rather timed manor up to Octavia. There was a moment of silence between the two.

It was a solid minute till Pinkie finally spoke out. “Octavia I’m sorry. No confetti, no loud noises, just a simple apology. That’s it,” she then pulled out a small box she was holding behind her back. “Also, some sweets if you want.”

Octavia took the box and looked inside, seeing it was filled with cookies. She then looked back to Pinkie before cracking a smile. “Pinkie, I-I’m sorry too,” she said before bringing Pinkie in for a hug. “I shouldn’t have been so harsh with you. You were just trying to make me happy.”

“No, I’m sorry. I was being annoying and should have just left you alone when you said so. You had every right to be mad at me,” Pinkie managed to get out as she started to tear up.

“Well then,” Flash said as he clapped his hands together. “Looks like we have this whole mess sorted out and now we all can be friends again." He smiled at the two.

“Yeah," Octavia agreed, "everything is good now."

“Yay!” Pinkie smiled in her usual hyper active tone.

"Well it's great that this problem is solved," Flash said. The moment was soon interrupted by Flash's cellphone went off. "Oh sorry. Don't let me interrupt. I'll go take this over there," he pointed to the other side of the room. The two girls nodded as Flash went to take his call.

"Flash!" Trixie's voice yelled from the other side of the phone.

"It's nice to talk you too," Flash replied in a slight annoyed tone.

"You need to turn on the news right now," Trixie said.

"Alright, give me a moment." He turned back to the other two girls in the room. "Pinkie, can you boot up your laptop?" Pinkie nodded and pulled her computer out of her bag. After a moment, it was booted up and Flash logged on to the news stream. It showed images of the stage the Rainbooms had defeated the Sirens at. But then, to their surprise, the sounds of smashing and other loud noises flew out the speakers as Serpentor jumped in front of the camera.

"We're here at the Canterlot amphitheatre, which is under attack by some other worldly monster. The monster social media has dubbed a 'Magi-Beast' appeared only minutes ago and started destroying the outdoor venue. Any citations that were in the area have been evacuated but local authorities are at a lost as to what they should do to suppress the danger." The stream then went back to footage of Serpentor shooting out blasts of water that was tearing up the stage. He then swung his whip to slice a row of seats in half. Unknown to the other Octavia’s hand was already starting to turn transparent

"Yeah I was just about to get on that," Flash whispered into the phone.

"Oh no!" Octavia yelled out.

"Oh right, your call back is being held at the Amphitheatre tonight," Pinkie said as she tried to comfort the musician.

"It's not just that," Octavia said with tears forming in her eyes. "That was the first place I performed back in elementary school. It's kinda why I was so confidant during my performance. It's the place my love of playing started and it was going to be when I took my first step to achieving my dream. And now that place is being destroyed."

As soon as Octavia began to cry, Flash turned his attention back to the computer. Serpentor began to glow as he swung his whip around. The next swing he performed, the whip transformed into an energy construct of a sea serpent. The energy body flew thought the air and crushed the audience area. "Hahahaha!" The monster laughed on screen before his whip returned back to normal.

"The monster is getting stronger by the second. I need to take care of this fast," Flash thought.

"Don't worry Octavia. I'm sure the rider will take care of that nasty monster," Pinkie said as she consoled the upset Octavia. "Right Flash?" She turned to the young man. However when she did, he was nowhere to be found. "Huh, maybe he went to the bathroom."

Flash drove full speed towards the Amphitheatre. Time was of the essence with how strong the Magi-Beast looked. Flash twisted the accelerator of his bike as hard a he could to get there fast enough. Fortunately he was able to sneak past anyone that was around the perimeter of the amphitheatre when he got there. He then ran up to the lower rows of seats to get the attention of the monster. "Hey whiplash, why don't you cool it with the property damage!" Flash yelled out.

"Ah, I'm so glad your hear hero," Serpentor said. standing center stage the monster raised both his hands as if he was addressing a full audience. "You are just in time for the show of a life time. A number I like to call 'Requiem of the Kamen Rider.'"

"I'm honoured you would dedicate something like that to me. Unfortunately, this is you curtain call!" Flash pulled out his driver, then slapped it onto his waist. He then pulled out his rider card and slotted it into the driver. Serpentor Ignored this and shot several water bullets at the young man. "Henshin!"

"OK"

“A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

The magical circle appeared to block the attack before it passed over Flash, transforming him into Kamen Rider Achilles. He then extended his spear, spun it around, and then pointed it right at the monster. "By the time this battle is over, I'm sending you to Tartarus!" He announced.

"Ha! As if my mighty performance of destruction could be upstaged by a punk like you," Serpentor said as he cracked his whip. The rider jumped out of the way before the attack destroyed another seat. Achilles landed on stage to perform several slashes.

"Sorry to tell you this, but destruction isn't a performance appropriate for a public place like this!" He then stuck he spear into the floor before using it to swing himself around to perform a kick that knocked the monster back. "Maybe you should try some of the classics instead of something experimental."

"I'll show you experimental," Serpentor said. he then started to swing his whip wildly. Achilles couldn't avoid the weapon with how fast it was moving so all he could do was block with his spear. unfortunately the whip smacked the spear right out of his hand and far away from his grasp. "Let's see you try and beat me now."

"Jeez I have a major case of butter fingers today," Achilles said as he jumped back out of the monsters range. once he was safe for a moment the rider pulled out the Glamor card and slotted it into his driver. "Fortunately a good hero always have a backup plane. Element Change!"

"G-G-G-GLAMOR!!!"

Once he was Transformed, the rider sent out his drones to take positions all around the monster. Serpentor was soon bombarded by lasers from all sides. "Even something like this will not stop me from completing my performance," the Magi-Beast said as he threw out his whip. it then transformed into its sea serpent form and extended its body around the monster, knocking the drones back in the process. "Your toys are useless now."

The drones returned as the serpent prepared to attack. Achilles braced himself, as the serpent construct flew towards him. However, several cookies flew the air like flying discs and blew up into pink smoke upon impact with the ground, interrupting the attack. Achilles looked up to see Pinkie jump out of nowhere next to him. “Whooo," she smiled, "that was a close one."

“What the?!” Serpentor said in shock.

“Pinkie Pie!?” Achilles asked, trying his best to sound like he didn’t know the girl personally. “W-what are you doing here?”

“Oh I just had a feeling that you would need some help. The monster looked super strong on the news stream." She then pulled out a cookie from her fluffy hair that she then fanned out. The surgery snakes began to glow with a pink aura before she threw them like shurikens towards the monster. When the cookies hit the monster, they blew up in a festive explosion. “Haha! And looks like my feeling was right.”

“You never cease to amaze,” Achilles said. Pinkie’s sixth sense was always an enigma. Fortunately, this time it happened to save his butt. “Are you ready to help beat this guy?”

“Not yet~” Pinkie said. This confused the rider before Pinkie presented an orb of blue light. “You got new power for all my friends. Power to fly, laser drones, being tiny. I want to see what kind of amazing stuff you can do with my magic,” she explained with an existed look.

“Um...thanks," Achilles said as he took the orb. He was at a lost for words for just how cheery Pinkie was. The orb was soon absorbed into the driver before a new card appeared. A pink card with a cyan streak. On the bottom corner was the word “Explode” carved into it. “Let’s just hope this doesn’t turn into a self destruct. Element Change!” The rider yelled as he slotted the card into his belt.

"OK!”

“SAVING EVERYONE WITH A SMILE BOOM! BANG! POW!!”

“X-X-X-EXPLODE!!!”

The magic circle appeared and passed over Achilles’ body. His armor changed to a pink color scheme with cyan eye plates. Coming off of his shoulders were segmented ribbon like decorations that went down to his waist. “So far, so good,” Achilles said as he looked down at his hands.

“Ooooh~,” Pinkie followed as she looked over the armor. “Now it starting to look like a party.”

“My requiem was only meant for you rider. Though I don’t mind including your friend,” Serpentor said as he shot several bursts of water at the two. Both Pinkie and Achilles jumped out of the way.

Achilles was surprised by the sudden boost in his jumping ability. He flew threw the air before landing on the other side of the monster. “Of course Pinkie’s powers would be so bouncy,” Achilles said.

As he stood up a light came out of the driver. The light then formed into a stylised blaster with pink plating. The weapon was pretty much a hand held Gatling gun.

“PARTY CANNON MINI!”

Achilles pointed at the monster and starred running around him while shooting bolts of energy at rapid speed. The bolts exploited into small puffs of smoke upon impact. Serpentor turned around after getting hit only to be welcomed by a kick delivered by the rider. “You need to play something more lively for a party like this,” Achilles said. The monster stumbled back before shooting several water blasts that missed.

“Punks like you need to appreciate the classics more!” Serpentor yelled as he launched his sea-serpent attack. The energy construct was too fast for the rider, managing to catch him in its mouth. The sea-serpent carried the rider upward, as it tried to crush him. “You can’t resist my power for long.”

Achilles was holding strong, using his elbows to keep the construct’s jaw from snapping own him. He was firing the Party Canon Mini into the serpent’s mouth but the tiny shots weren’t doing much. “Time to pump up the volume,” Achilles said as he pulled back the top of the blaster. This caused a large barrel to cover the rotating part of the blaster.

“SURPRISE!!!”

Achilles pulled the trigger and launched a larger ball of pink energy down the serpent’s thorough. As it travelled down the length of the serpent, the construct began to fall apart. The rider was freed and the monster’s attack returned to its normal whip form. When the rider landed he aimed his blaster at the monster.

“Nice one, but now it’s my turn to keep this party going!” Pinkie said as she showed up next to the rider. She fanned out two hands full of cookies before throwing them all at the monster like a ninja. Serpentor managed to hit a few of the makeshift shurikens out of the air, but the rest hit their mark and caused heavy damage to the monster. “Care to light the fuse on the grand finally?” Pinkie asked.

“You know it,” Achilles said. He pulled the card out of his driver before inserting it into a slot in the side of the weapon.

“LET’S PARTY!!!”

Achilles took aim as energy began to build up around the blaster. An energy construct formed of a cartoon style rocket with a crudely drawn on smiley face on the top.

“EXPLOSIVE FEEDBACK!!!”

Once the trigger was pulled, the rocket launched out into the air. The trajectory was almost random as it flew around, with a purple, glittery smoke trail behind it. Serpentor was almost confused before he saw the smiley face coming right for him. The monster braced himself, but the rocket made a sharp ninety degree turn straight up. It assented a great deal before the side plating flew off the body to reveal several cylindrical bombs. They all dropped off and headed right for the Magi-Beast. When they all landed, it resulted in an explosion of different colored smoke and glitter. “It’s better to go out with a bang then a wimpier!” Serpentor’s voice yelled. When it all cleared up, nothing was left but a magical aura that soon flew back to where it belonged.

“That was AMAZING!” Pinkie yelled with her hands thrown in the air. “I’ve never seen a fireworks despair like that in my life and trust me, I have tried to make some spectacular fireworks. I guess it was for the best that fireman told me what was allowed in my neighbourhood. I never want my party to end with someone getting hurt.”

“It was a little excessive if you ask me,” Achilles said as he spun the Party Canon Mini on his finger.

“Yeah. I guess that is kinda what got us here in the first place,” Pinkie said as her mood lowered.

“Hey, we all get carried away sometimes,” Achilles said as he put a hand on her shoulder. “As long as you learn to show some self restraint every now and then, there’s no harm done.”

“Thanks Achilles,” Pinkie said with a smile. “Oh," she then realised, "I left Octavia all on her own. I need to get back right away." She then ran off to make sure she her friend was ok.

Once she was gone, the rider transformed back to his civilian for. “This superhero business is always so stressful. Good thing Pinkie’s happiness is so infectious,” Flash said with a smile on his face.

Night time fell and the slightly destroyed amphitheatre. Thanks to the rider, the auditions were able to go on as planned. When she was called up, Octavia walked onto the stage in a beautiful purple dress. She sat down on a stool and prepared to play her cello. Looking out to the audience she saw a very important looking older man in the front row. Further up she saw Flash and Pinkie, both giving her looks that showed they believed in her. “Whoooo knock their socks off Octavia!” Pinkie stood up and cheered.

“Pinkie!” Flash said as he pulled Pinkie back into her seat. “Remember, don’t go overboard.”

“Oh right,” Pinkie said. She calmed down and just clapped for her.

Octavia took a deep breath before she began to play. Bach’s Cello Suite Number One. The rest of the amphitheater was silent as everyone was lost in the enchanting melody. Octavia poured all her heart into her performance and it showed. Even a rock lover like Flash or a pop star like Pinkie had to appreciate the beauty of the piece. Once the performance was over the two applauded for their friend who smiled before taking a bow.

Once the audition was over the three teens met up outside the venture. “I can’t believe it. I got the scholarship. Next yeah I will be going to be a part of Everton’s music program,” Octavia said.

“That’s great,” Flash said.

“Yeah," Pinkie added with a reserved smile, "I’m really happy for you."

Octavia noticed this and she knew exactly what to say. “It’s ok Pinkie, I know what you want to do and I feel this is the right time to do it.”

Pinkie’s smile grew three times its size as she bright Octavia in for a hug. “This is sososososos grate. Oh we need to have a party to celebrate. I’ll invite Lyra, and Vinyl and all your close friends. Your favourite cake is still Marble Swear?” Pinkie went on, talking a mile a minute. Flash couldn’t help but be swept up in the storm of happiness as Pinkie did what Pinkie did best. It was Octavia’s night and Pinkie was determined to make it the best night ever.

Ride 8: Set Me On Fire

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The Canterlot High gardening club was a previously unknown group in the school. Being made up of three members, Sandalwood, Sweet Leaf and the president, Wallflower Blush.

Recently the club had had a boom in both popularity and new members joining, thanks in no small part to Sunset Shimmer and her friends. With the additional members the club was able to complete their big project. Turning a patch of land the school owned in the forest into a beautiful garden for everyone to enjoy.

Wallflower herself owed a lot to the magical girls. She was so shy that it was hard for her to make friends. Her anxiety was so bad, that she ended up using Equestrian Magic to erase any bad first impression she has ever had with anyone. Unfortunately this backfired and resulted in no one being able to remember her to begin with.

In her misguided frustration, she ended up using her magic to destroy the friendship between Sunset and the other. Fortunately for them, things worked out and now Wallflower is back on the right path with all the friends she could ever ask for.

It was getting to the time of season where the flowers were about to bloom and Wallflower wanted to show the girls that helped her the fruits of her labor before anyone else. “Come on girls, we’re almost there,” Wallflower, the green haired girl in the in a sweater, said. The seven girls were all present as they followed close behind.

“We can't wait to see what you've done,” Sunset said.

“I’m sure it'll be awesome,” Rainbow followed.

“We even packed a picnic for afterwards,” Pinkie added as she presented the basket she was holding.

“Well it won't be too far now,” Wallflower said. After a minute the girls got to a clearing. “Here we are girls. The garden we all worked so hard for." The seven were amazed at that they saw. Flowers of all kinds of colors and species were all collected in one place. Once the girls got a closer look, they were able to see just how beautiful they really were.

“Oh these Hydrangeas are absolutely lovely,” Rarity said as she examined the blue and white clusters of flowers. “Oh, they are actually giving me a dress idea. Oh where's my sketch pad.”

“You have Sweet Leaf to thank for those," Wallflower said. "They're her favourite flower."

“You guys sure did take good care of these little fellas,” Applejack said as she inspected the soil. “Ya'h could expand to planting produce if ya'h really wanted to.”

“Sandalwood would be happy to hear that,” Wallflower said. After a few moments, she noticed that Fluttershy seemed to be staring out into space. “Um...is something wrong?”

“I just noticed that there aren't any animals around. I hope you didn’t use any pesticides,” Fluttershy said with concern.

“Of course not,” Wallflower said with a smile. She then led Fluttershy to a patch of flowers. She pulled some of the plants away to show a bushel of green leafy plants. “We planted mint all over the place. The herb may smell nice to us, but most animal can’t stand the smell. It won’t hurt any of them or the plant life,” She explained.

Pinkie then came in to give the mint plant a sniff. “Mmmh Minty,” She said.

“That’s good to hear,” Fluttershy said with a smile.

“Yeah, but what about the insects?" Rainbow asked. "My dad can’t stand it when bug eat up his lawn."

“Ah, that’s where our own personal Garden Guardians come in,” Wallflower said. She then put her hand into another patch of plants before pulling out something held in her cupped hands. Opening her hand she revealed a praying mantis with a few ladybugs.

“EEEEEEEEEEEE!” Rarity yelled out as she saw the insects.

“Clever. Introducing natural predator insects to take care of the ones that will harm the plants,” Twilight said as she took a closer look. “That way you won't have any negative impact on the environment.”

“We do our research. We try to use as little artificial chemicals as possible for our garden,” Wallflower said as she set down her Garden's protectors. “Come on girls, I’m really proud of the rose bush we planted.” She moved over to that area, the girls following behind her.

Unknown to the humans, the praying mantis crawled back into the patch of plants. Soon out of nowhere a single strange flower sprouted up. The insect looked up at it for a moment before the flower moved on it’s own and ate the praying mantis.

A few minutes after the girls had arrived, a new sound of footsteps could be heard. The girls all turned around and were surprised to see that it was Trixie. “No need to keep waiting, Trixie has arrived!" The magician exclaimed in her spectacular way.

“Well this is unacceptable,” Rarity said.

“Who invited her?” Rainbow asked.

“Um...I did,” Wallflower said sheepishly. “She did help out during the whole incident.”

“Yeah," Sunset agreed, "without Trixie, we may not be standing here together as friends right now."

“Yes Rainbow, you owe me big time. So why don’t we all get along,” Trixie said.

Rainbow was not pleased with the tone Trixie was using. She was about to say something before someone else joined the group. “Jeez Trixie, why did you have to run off so fast?” Flash asked, slightly out of breath.

“Because the Great and Powerful Trixie always needs to make an entrance,” Trixie said in a dramatic way.

“Of course you do,” Flash said with a roll of his eyes.

“What brings you here Flash?” Twilight asked.

“I’m her ride,” Flash answered while jerking a thumb in Trixie's direction.

“Well this garden is for everyone,” Wallflower said. “Come on Flash, why don’t you take a look at the daffodils.”

“Oh my gosh are those orange lilies?" Trixie said as she got distracted by the flowers. "They're my favourite flowers."

“They sure are pretty looking,” Applejack said as she joined her.

“I’m going to go set up for lunch," Pinkie said before turning to the newcomers. "We packed extras, so you two can join us.” They gave their thanks before Pinkie skipped away.

Sunset and Wallflower continued to walk around and enjoy the beautiful day. “I still can’t believe you were able to organise something like this and still have time for the yearbook,” Sunset said.

“It can’t be any harder then you managing everything on your plate,” Wallflower replied with a laugh. “The one thing that is kinda hard is that everyone wants at least one picture of the Rider in the yearbook. He has kinda become the new you girls and I would be lying if I’m not a little bit of a fan myself. The problem is I don’t think I could ever get him to stop to pose for a proper picture.”

This statement caused Sunset to frown. “Um...Wallflower, I don't think you should go near the rider.”

“What do you mean?”

“Everyone may think the rider is good, but I don’t trust him.” Sunset crossed her arms. “Even if he has good intentions, we've all seen what could happen if Equestrian magic is used irresponsible. No offence, but you should know that first hand.”

Flash couldn’t help but overhear the conversation. A part of him wanted to come out and say the truth but he had already made his decision to keep it a secret. Even if he couldn’t say who the Rider was, at less he could ease her fears. “Sunset, I think your worrying for nothing. Achilles has done nothing but good for everyone.”

“For now," Sunset turned towards him. "But what about when he lets the magic go to his head? We don’t know who he is and everyone who has ever gotten their hands on magic has kept it a secret. Judging from past experiences, it’s only a matter of time before Achilles ends up going mad with power.”

Flash wanted to reply, but he couldn’t. Sunset was one of the smartest people he knew and she had every right to think this way. Sunset and her friends have been through a lot, so she knew what she was talking about. At the same time Flash didn’t want to see her like this, Somewhat paranoid and so distrusting. “I know you're just trying to keep everyone safe but maybe you should just give him a chance. Maybe he’s hiding his face to protect the people he loves.”

“You sound just like Spike,” Sunset said as she turned around. “I’ll trust him once I know his face. Till then, he’s just a magical time bomb waiting to cause chaos for everyone.”

“If you say so,” Flash said. He didn’t know what else to say to Sunset. All he could do was bite his tongue and hope she would come around eventually.

The day went on as normal, until Twilight noticed something odd. “Hey, shouldn’t Pinkie be back already?” She asked.

“Yeah," Rainbow followed, "how long does it take to set up a picnic?”

“If you want I’ll go see what she’s up to,” Trixie said.

“I’ll go too,” Flash said. Trixie agreed and the two went down the same trail Pinkie went down.

After a little while Flash and Trixie made it halfway to where Pinkie planed the picnic. “Now this is strange,” Flash said. He crouch down to see Pinkie’s basket on the ground with no Pinkie.

“I know," Trixie said as she picked up one of the cans of sweet topping. "Twelve cans of whipped cream and no strawberries." This made Flash sweat-drop, Trixie completely missing the point.

“Where could Pinkie have gone?" He asked while looking around. "She wouldn't just disappeared in thin air and leave behind the basket."

Trixie was looking around before her eyes went wide. “LOOK OUT!” she yelled. Both of them ducked down as something moved fast to try and attack them. When they looked up, they saw what looked like a large Venus Flytrap, growing out of the ground. It was green with red streaks on top and thorns coming out of the stem.

“Can't I enjoy one day without a monster attack?” Flash yelled as he put on his driver. As he pulled out the Rider card, another Flytrap grow out of the ground. Soon after a large plant body grew between the two monstrous plants. The bulb that acted as its head bloomed into a purple and green flower. “Henshin!”

One of the Flytrap head aimed for Flash, who dived into the magical circle to transform into Achilles. The Rider pulled out his spear to block the second Flytrap. He slashed the plant several times with the spearhead before he had to jump to avoid another attack from the other one.

As the rider was busy with the two Flytraps, he didn’t notice the flower head turning towards Trixie. The flower shot seeds out at the girl like a machine gun, which Achilles saw and acted quickly. He ran towards Trixie and picked her up before jumping out of the line of fire. Once The two were out of range, they looked back and saw a large mass of veins grow out from the seeds.

“that was close one,” Trixie said.

"No kidding," Achilles replied before running at the overgrown weeds.

“What on earth,” Sunset’s voice said as. She came into view. To say she was shocked to see a giant plant monster was a understatement. “Trixie are you ok?” She asked as she ran up to the other teenage girl.

“Yeah, I’m fine thanks to the rider,” Trixie said.

‘What is that thing?”

“Don’t know," Trixie replied. "I was hoping you might know, since I can't tell if it's just normal Equestrian magic going crazy or a Magi-Beat.”

“Yeah, I’m going to have to get back to you on that.”

Achilles managed to jump onto of one of the Flytraps. “I am not going to be on the menu for a salad!” He then raised up his spear before plunging it into the plant. Green slime burst out of it and covered the rider, "ah!" The plant slammed to the ground and became lifeless. This caused the rest of the monster to become enraged.

The plant took notice the two girls and shot seeds at them. Achilles saw this and sped into action. He intersected the attack and blocked it, using him back as a shield. Achilles dropped to his knees, as the vines began to sprout out of his back. “Quick, run! I’ll be fine,” he said as it was getting harder to move. “You got to make sure the others are safe.”

“Er...right,” Sunset said as she grabbed Trixie’s hand and ran away.

“Are we just going to leave him?” Trixie asked.

“You herd him, we need to make sure the others are safe,” Sunset said. "And for all I know, he may have lured that thing to us but at least we can agree on that."

The seeds grew around the rider, until he was nothing but a pile of vines. The flytrap’s mouth started to open up as it approached the downed rider. Acid was coming out of its mouth and dissolved the grass under it.

“G-G-G-GLAMOUR!!!”

The loud announcement caused the plant to stop as three diamond shaped drones flew out of the vines. The took positions around the stem of the flytrap before shooting their lasers and cutting the head off the body. The rest of the drones flew out and cut away the vines to free the rider, now in his Glamor form. “Talk about a thorny situation,” Achilles quipped.

The loss of the second flytrap sent the center plant into a frenzy. It was shooting seeds all over the place, which Achilles were able to dodge. “Time to prune this oversized garden weed!” Achilles yelled as two of the drones took positions at the palms of his hands. Lasers extended out to blade which the rider use to slice up some the the seeds heading towards him. He the jumped up to get close to the main body before swinging his arms to cut up the plant. In a matter of seconds the monster was nothing but green chunks left on the forest floor. “Whoever said gardening is suppose to be relaxing is a total liar,” he said as he turned around and transform back to normal.

Flash looked over the remains before he noticed the root part starting to move. “What’s that?” He said as he started to walk towards it before something jumped out and rushed into the trees. “Oh man, this is only the beginning isn’t it?”

Flash rushed back as fast as he could back to the garden. Thankfully Sunset and Trixie got away safely. As soon as the girls got back they both described the events that unfolded. As soon as they were don’t, they tuned to see Flash was alright. “Oh Flash, thank goodness you’re alright,” Sunset said as she ran up to him.

“Yeah," Flash said, "that killer plant threw me into the woods." Due to his battle, the young man had sustain some cuts on his body, so it was a believable lie. “I’m just happy no one else got hurt. Any clue on what that thing was?”

“None," Sunset replied. "I mean, it could be some rough Equestrian magic. This isn’t the first time it caused plants to go out of control."

“Yeah but is could also be a Magi-Best,” Rainbow injected. “I mean, that would explain why Pinkie would be kidnapped.”

“If it was a Magi-Beast, what would it be after?" Twilight asked. "None of us could be the host."

After a moment of everyone looking at one another, the group seem to come the the same conclusion. Soon, all eyes were on Wallflower. “What? No. I can’t be the host. I mean, I’m sure I would remember a monster coming out of me,” She defended.

“Wallflower," Sunset stepped up, "even if you are the host, we wouldn’t hold it against you. You would have no control over it.” She placed her hand on Wallflower’s shoulder. “But what I’m about to do, I’m doing for your own safety.” She grabbed both of Wallflower’s hands, right before her eyes glowed a solid white as the girl’s memories flash within her mind. After a moment, Sunset Let go.

“Did you find anything?” Flash asked.

“Not really. But if Wallflower is host she didn’t seem to notice the monster form."

Trixie spoke up. “Speaking from experience, you don’t really feel anything when the magi-beast links to you. It’s mostly just the shock from seeing it. I guess it’s possible that if it wanted to, the monster could form then hide without anyone noticing. You only feel it if it drains a large portion of your life force.”

“Well this is just exquisite," Rarity said as she crossed her arms. "We’re dealing with something we can’t be sure what it is."

All of a sudden a dark aura filled the air and sent chills down everyone’s spines. The group looked around as the healthy brown tree bark turned black before their eyes. The leaves started to turn more blue and grew out to block out more of the sunlight. Roots were becoming overgrown and sprouting out from the ground.

“I’m getting some really bad feeling now,” Fluttershy said as she hugged herself.

“Yeah I can feel it too,” Flash followed as he closed his open jacket. “We need to find whatever's causing this before things get creepier.”

“We should spit up to find what’s causing this,” Twilight said.

“No no no no no,” Rainbow said. “Haven't you ever seen a horror movie. There's something out there, so if we split up it'll be asking for that thing to pick us off one by one.”

“Then why don’t we just go in two large groups,” Fluttershy suggested.

“That sounds good," Wallflower agreed. "We can draw lots to decide who goes with who." Everyone agreed, and so the group prepared to form teams. All the while, they were being watched by a set of glowing blue eyes.

Team A was made up of Trixie,Twilight, Applejack, And Fluttershy. So far, they hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary besides the already mutated forest. Fluttershy couldn’t sense any animals nearby, unsure if they ran away or suffered the same fate as Pinkie. The spooky atmosphere of the forest wasn’t helpful her anxiety. “Don’t worry Fluttershy, we won’t let anything bad happen to you,” Twilight said as she conferred her friend.

“This reminds me way too much of my O and O campaigns,” Trixie said as Applejack took the lead.

“Really, cause it’s reminding of the last time we had to deal with killer plants,” Applejack said as he cleared away a wall of branches with her strength.

“Do you mean the time during the Friendship games or when we went to Camp Everfree?” Trixie asked.

“both,” Applejack responded as the group walked deeper in the woods. “Pinkie are you around!?”

“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight followed. All the girls called out to there friend with no response. Soon everyone had a sense of uneasiness. “I don’t like the looks of this,” she said.

Something began moving in the the trees. “Oh!” Fluttershy yelped as she heard a nose. “Is anyone there?” She said, slowly walking towards the sound. In the darkness she could see two round glowing eyes looking at her. Out of pure curiosity Fluttershy extended out her hand. Just when she was inches away from the eyes, a vine came out and wraps around her arm. “AAAHAHHHHH!!!” She screened out at the top of her lungs.

“Fluttershy!” All the girls yelled out as hey rushed to their friend. More vines began to cover Fluttershy’s body.

“Don’t worry sugarcube, we’ll get you out of this!” Applejack said as she tried to get the vines off. Once she ripped off a few of the plants, a purple and green flower bloomed right in front of her face. This cause Applejack to stop for a moment before the flower shot seeds at her. The girl flew back as the seeds sprouted and vines started to restrain her now. “Dang nabbit these things are tougher then grannies meatloaf!"

She tried to break through the vines, but they kept growing back thicker. Soon she was covered head to toe like a mummy. Fluttershy soon suffered the same fate, as the vines spread over her whole body. More of the monstrous vines fell from the trees and aimed for Twilight and Trixie. Twilight tried to use her own magical powers to restrain them all. “It’s no use. There’s too many for me to stop at once,” Twilight said as she gave up on keeping the plants at bay.

“Just run!” Trixie said as she pushed Twilight down the path away from danger. She then held out her arm towards the plans before flicking her wrist up. A small fireball came out of her sleeve, keeping the vines at bay. This only lasted for a few moments before the vines went back on the. “Haha! I knew it was a good idea to bring my mini fire ball launcher today,” the magician said before joining Twilight in running away.

“That was some quick thinking there,” Twilight praised as Trixie caught up to her.

“Yeah. Too bad I only had the one shot,” Trixie replied. The two managed to get a good distance away before before Trixie tripped. She looked down to see a root, which was the cause of her fall. The root then came to life and wraps around her leg, with other following. “Get off!” She yelled as she started to stomp on the plants with no effect.

“Trixie!” Twilight yelled as she turned around to see Trixie fighting back.

“Keep running! No need for both of us to be caught,” Trixie said as the vines made there way up to her waist.

Twilight was conflicted for a moment before following Trixie orders. “Don’t worry, once I find the other we'll save all of you!” Twilight yelled back as she ran away. Trixie gave a nod before her whole body was covered.

“Once I meet back up with the other we will sort this whole thing out,” Twilight said as she ran off.

Team B was made up of Flash, Sunset, Wallflower, Rarity and Rainbow.

Rarity was lighting the way with a crystal she'd formed as Rainbow scouted ahead with her speed. After a few seconds, the athlete returned. “This place is so distorted that I've got no clue where to go. I ether ended up at a dead end or right back where I started.”

“Any chance of getting airborne?” Flash asked.

The teens looked up to see the vines beginning to move on their own. “I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Sunset said. “It’s clear that whatever is causing this doesn’t want us to get out.”

Wallflower was taking up the rear of the group, not really saying anything. One would think she was trying to imitate Fluttershy with the way she carried herself. Flash saw this and knew what he had to do. “Hey, Wallflower. Are you holding up alright?” He asked next to the girl.

“I don’t know how well I can when I’m trapped in a dark domain of a magical monster,” Wallflower answered. After a few moment she calmed down. “Sorry Flash, I’m not use to people actually asking me if something is wrong. It’s just that this whole situation is way to scary for me. I love the forest and my garden, I never expected them to attack me and my friends like this,”

“Wallflower you need to know something,” Flash said as he brought her to the side. “We're all scared right now. I’m guessing Rainbow is freaking out because of how cramped it is in the forest. I’m sure Rarity is afraid of her hair getting messed up. And Sunset is scared of going agents something we know nothing about. So your not alone Wallflower. We just need to stick together and carry on."

“And what are you afraid of?” Wallflower asked.

Flash sighed as he looked around, a worried expression dawning on his face. “I’m afraid that all my friend will be trapped and I can’t do anything to help."

“Hehe," she couldn't help but giggled, "that’s such a you answer. Thanks Flash,” Wallflower said as she calmed down and let out a smile. “So what will you do if you can’t do that?”

“Well," Flash replied with a smile, "I'll just have to hope the rider comes in to save everyone."

“We can’t be sure that he will,” Sunset said as she walked up to the two. “He may be long gone by now after defeating the plant monster. He may not even know we're trapped here.”

“How can you say that?!” Rainbow yelled as she ran up behind her. “If there is a Magi-Beast here, then Achilles will come running to kick its butt.”

“We’re not even sure it is a Magi-Beast," Sunset replied. "We can’t rely on someone like him."

“Hey," Rainbow said, "you're the last person to be denying people changes."

Sunset looked annoyed by this. Obviously, she did not like being compared to the rider. “Hey, I laid everything out there for all to see. We don’t even know this guy's face, his name, if he goes to school or is an adult. We don’t even know if he’s a him and not using a voice modifier.”

Flash wanted to say something, but he had to bite his tongue. Sunset didn’t trust the rider, so that mean she didn’t trust him. At less, that’s the conclusion Flash came to. She would trust him even less if she found out he was rider. He knew Sunset was just looking out for everyone, but so was Flash. Flash thought there has to be some way to get Sunset to at least give the rider a chance. To see that he was on their side.

“Um guys,” Wallflowers spoke up.

“Not now,” Rainbow replied.

Flash looked up to see what Wallflower was seeing and his eyes went wide. “Um guys...you should really look at this.”

“What!?” Rainbow yelled as she saw them pointing upwards, she and Sunset following their fingers and seeing vines come to life. “Oh...that." One of the plants attacked, but Rainbow used her speed to move out of the way.

Flash grabbed onto Wallflower before dogging another attack. Sunset followed, jumping over the plants that tried to grab her ankles. “Rarity, we could use some help here!”

Rarity turn to see her friends were in trouble and sprang into action. “Don’t worry. All they need is a bit of a trim,” she used her magic to create a crystal hexagon with sharp point on them. The crystals began to spin as Rarity controlled them to cut down the attacking plants.

A rainbow blur passed by Flash, Sunset and Wallflower before they were thrown into a pile behind Rarity. “Don’t worry," Rainbow told them. "Not a signal weed is going to hurt any of you."

“Maybe a heads up next time,” Flash said.

The vines were regrowing faster than Rarity could cut them down. The fashionista soon gave up on this method and created a domed shield instead. “This should of hold them off,” she said and the vines covered the construct in no time.

Sunset picked herself up. “Come on, we need a game plan."

Things were starting to get to the point where Flash was considering transforming right then and there. Keeping his secret wasn't going to mean anything, if they were all trapped in vines. Flash reached for the driver in his jacket, but stopped short.

“AAAAHHHHHH!” Rarity yelled. Everyone looked at their friend to see the vines growing out of the ground under the dome and around Rarity’s body. Once the vines got up to her torso the dome broke. “OHHH NOOOOO!!!”

“Rarity!” Flash yelled.

“Take this!” Rainbow cried as she kicked the plant at such a high speed, that she broke the vines surrounding them. With a way open, Rainbow grabbed her friends and ran them out of harms ways. Sunset was about to say something. but another scream filled the air.

“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

“Twilight?” Flash asked as he got up. “The others must be the same trouble.”

“We should go help them but we can’t leave Rarity behind,” Wallflower said.

“You guys go ahead. I’ll take care of Rarity,” Rainbow said.

Flash was about to say something, but Rainbow ran off before he had the chance. “Looks like we’re going to have to trust Rainbow on this one,” he said before he ran off to the scream. Sunset and Wallflower followed as Rainbow ran head first into the monstrous plants.

“Nonono,” Wallflower said. With two more friends gone now, her fears were being realised.

Looking at her, Sunset was starting to see part of her body fading away. “Crud," she said, "it looks like it is a magi-beast behind all this."

“If that’s the case, then what are the odds that we will see it when we get to Twilight?” Flash asked.

“I'd say pretty good,” Sunset replayed.

Flash and company ran as fast as they could back to the garden. When they arrived, they saw Twilight do her best to fight off the vines. She wasn’t alone, as what could only be the culprit behind this horror filled forest was standing over her. Most of its body was a dark green with purple vines running all along it. It’s torso was covered by a cloak of leaves with thorny vines wrapped all along its neck. It’s right arm looked to be made of wood with the left just being a mass of free moving vines. It’s head was a dark shadow with glowing blue eyes covered by a hood. “Darn it, you are a slippery one,” The monster said.

“We...won’t let you...win,” Twilight panted as she struggled to keep the vines at bay.

“What do you mean 'we'? I've already captured most of you,” The monster said. “And once I’m done, that stupid weakling will be at my mercy. I am the mighty Dark Hollow, and nothing can stop me!" He swinging his vine arm at Twilight, hitting her directly and throwing her back.

Fortunately, Flash and Sunset were there to catch her. “I guess you already found out about the Magi-Beast,” Flash said.

“Yeah,” Twilight said as she stood herself up. “He has already captured Applejack, Fluttershy, and Trixie.”

“Yeah," Sunset followed, "same with Rainbow and Rarity."

“T-that means Twilight is the only one that can fight,” Wallflower said.

Twilight turned to Sunset with a worried look. “She’s right, my powers aren’t really battle oriented,” She said.

“Which means it will be easier for me to capture you all,” Dark Hollow said as he held his arm out and made the vines attack the group. “Soon my host will be all alone. Trapped in my dark domain forever.”

“NO!” Flash yelled as he ran forward to take the attack. The vines wrapped around his body before pulling him into the dark forest.

“A Noble endeavour but ultimately...useless,” Dark Hollow said. Twilight levitated a few rocks to throw at the monster, but they were ineffective as the beast wildly swung its vines around to shatter them. “Useless!”

Meanwhile, Flash was fighting back against the vines. “I need to get back there,” he said. He managed to break out of his trap to pull out the driver before placing it around his waist. “Henshin!” Flash said as he slotted in the card, right before his entire body was surrounded by the vines.

“OK!”

“A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

The vines suddenly found themselves being cut to shreds, as Achilles used his spear to slice them up. Once free, he started running back towards the battle field.

Back with Sunset and the others, thing we’re not looking good. Dark Hollow was holding Twilight my her wrist. “Don’t be so sad girl," the monster told her. "Your about to reunite with your friends."

Twilight was just about to fight back, but was interrupted by a slashing sound. In a second, the monster's arm was severed and Twilight landed on the ground. Turning to the side, the girl saw Achilles’ spear with the blade planted in the ground. The rider came in from the side and kicked the monster in the waist, making him cry out as he staggered away from Twilight.

“Looks like we have a bit of a weed problem here. but it seems like I got to the root of it,” The rider said with a laugh at his own joke. He then extended his hand to help Twilight up.

“I knew you would come back,” Twilight said with a smile.

“I bet you feel real proud of yourself ,” Dark Hollow said as he stumbled a bit. “But remember, your on my turf now.”

“Yes," Achilles said while picking his spear up, "I’m real scared of an “unarmed” opponent. Hehe," he chuckled again, "I’m getting good at these.”

“Oh," Dark Hollow said, "you’d be surprised just how dangerous I can be." He swung his vine arm and had them extend towards the rider. Achilles spun his spear to block the attack, quickly getting close enough to strike. He then performed several punches to knock the magi-beast back.

“Ahhhhhh!”

“Twilight!” Sunset’s voice yelled. Achilles turned to see the severed monster arm had somehow grabbed onto Twilight and had vines coming out of it. This took all of them by surprise so, they weren’t able to fight back. The rider turned back to the monster who had vines growing out of the stump of his arm. The then stretched to reconnect the two severed parts before pulling Twilight towards him.

“He-He can regenerate,” Twilight warned.

“Let her go you coward,” Achilles said as he charged. The vine arm started to move again and attacked the rider from multiples angels. He used the blade of his spear cut them up as he got closer. As he got ready to bring the weapon down, Dark Hollow held Twilight out like a shield. This caused the rider to stop mid attack before he was smacked away.

“You hero types are so easy to play,” Dark Hollow said.

“What do we do now,” Wallflower said. Both the rider and Sunset turned to her to see that she was starting to fade away.

“I don’t know what to do,” Sunset said as she turned back to the monster.

“I have an idea,” the rider said as the two looked at each other. “I'm just guessing here, but if you share your power with me then I think it'll be just what we need to stop him.”

“No way,” Sunset snapped back. “I would only do something like that with someone I know wouldn’t harm my friend. And ever since you showed up we have found out nothing about you.”

Achilles knew where Sunset was coming from. Ever since she embraced the power of friendship, she had only wanted the best for everyone. The rider shared that line of thinking and knew that the only way to save their friends was to work together. “I know you don’t trust me, but I don’t think we have any other choice. It may be hard to put your faith in someone you know nothing about, but if we don’t at least try to work together then we already lost."

Sunset looked back to see just how much distress she was in. She then look to Wallflower who was in the same position. That she was paralysed as her brain worked overtime to make a decision. She was so distracted that she didn’t notice the monster glowing green and launching a hail storm of seeds at her. Achilles saw this and grabbed Sunset to get her out of the line of fire. When the seeds hit they grew into a huge mass of thorny vines, more menacing then the ones before “We’re running out of time. The longer we wait the stronger he gets,” Achilles said. “I promise I will save you and all your friends.”

Sunset looked over at Twilight, seeing the vines around her growing tighter and beginning to cut off her air supply. Who knows what was happening to the others right now, while she was standing their having an inner debate.

“Fine," she turned to him, "but this doesn’t mean you have my trust.” Sunset put her hand onto the necklace and produced an orb of light. Achilles took the orb and brought it to his driver, where it transformed into a red and orange card with the word 'Blaze' written on it. “This is your one chance to earn it.”

“I won’t let you down,” Achilles said as he put Sunset down next to Wallflower. He then stepped forward towards Dark Hollow before slotting the card onto the driver, while yelling out a familiar phrase. “Element Change!” A magical circle made of fire appeared before passing over him.

“OK!”

“PASSION BURNING AT 100 DEGREES, CONSUMED BY THE FLAMES OF REBIRTH!”

“B-B-B-BLAZE!!!”

The riders body was consumed by flames. Two lines of fire came out from either side of him forming a ring around the battlefield. The rider crossed his arms and the ring turned into a tornado of flames the spiralled skyward. The flames soon came off of him to reveal that his armor had changed to a black and red colour scheme with a fire motif. His eye plates were now orange and his head crest being shaped like flames. "Grab your sunblock-" He crossed his arms, "It's gonna get toasty." Before he swung them around, causing the tornado to explode outwards and fry the closest vines. The fire then collected in the rider’s hand before turning into a new weapon. It was a long single edged blade with a handle almost equal in length. They were red lines that stretched the full length of the weapon.

“SOLAR SONIC!”

“By the time this battle is over, you’re going right to Tartarus,” Achilles said as he grabbed the handle with both hands. His anger had finally been unleashed, personified by the fire coming off the blade. “And for using Twilight as a shield, it’s going to be an extra warm trip.”

“Looks like your power got him pretty steamed,” Wallflower said.

“Honestly," Sunset replied, "I’m pretty mad as well."

“Hehehe what are you going to do now, start a wildfire?” Dark Hollow asked before holding Twilight up next to him. “Not a bad idea, but you run the risk of hurting her and destroying your other friend's garden.”

“Oh," Achilles said, "I don’t need a monster to tell me fire safety tips.”He charged towards the magi-beast, weapon raised to strike. The monster attacked with his vine arms, but the rider countered by slashing the plants with the Solar Sonic. The blade left behind a charred mark on the stubs where it had been cut, which caused the monster visible pain.

“AHH!" Dark Hollow yelled out, "my arms!” He retracted his limb, but soon found that something was wrong. “Why-why aren't they growing back?”

“It's actually quite obvious,” Twilight said as she looked up at the monster. “Achilles used the fire to cauterise the parts of your body he cuts off, preventing you from regenerating.”

“Well keeping my distance won't be a problem,” Dark Hollow said as he fired off a seed attack.

Achilles responded by turning his weapon upside down revealing its true nature. The Solar Sonic was an electric guitar and the rider pointed to the end of it towards the monster. Achilles played a few notes and several balls of fire shot out. The fireballs intersected the seeds and turned them all to ash. “You better watch out, cause the weather man predicted a heatwave!” Achilles raised his arm up, then played a power cord that sent a small pillar of fire below him and propelled him high up. The rider flew over the monster’s head before playing another cord, which sent a wave of flames towards the monster’s back. When Achilles landed, the attack hit taking, Dark Hollow by surprise and causing him to release Twilight.

“Twilight!” Sunset yelled as she ran over to her friend.

“I’m fine,” Twilight responded as she got up and the two got out of the way.

“Now that everyone is safe I can really heat things up,” Achilles said as he charged towards the monster. He performed several fire charged under handed slashes before turning his grip around again and knocking the monster back. “A weed like you has no place in a beautiful garden like this!”

“Hahaha," Dark Hallow bellowed, "you can’t beat me? I’m almost complete. The girl will vanish and I will be at full power.”

“Not happening cabbage face. Cause you're about to be nothing but charcoal!” Achilles held the Solar Sonic as a guitar, then opened a slot on the body before he inserted the Blaze card into it. A magical circle appeared on the body of the guitar with fire covering both his hands

“ROCK ON!!!”

“BLAZING FEEDBACK!”

The rider raised his hand before he started to perform a pulse pounding guitar solo. As he played, fire constructs of musical scores with notes began to come out of the weapon. The constructs surrounded the monster before they attached to its body. Dark Hollow was confused by this before each note burst into flames as Achilles played them. The blast knocked the Magi-beast around before the final cord was struck and the monster exploded into flames. Leaving behind nothing a green aura that quickly returned to Wallflower. “Ashes to ashes,” Achilles said as he gave his guitar one last strum.

Soon after the monster’s defeat the forest began to turn back to normal. The leaves turned back to a lush green and sunlight can shine threw again. Everyone all seem to have the same thought that their friends are safe now. “Are you girls ok?” Achilles asked as he stepped towards them.

“Yeah,” Wallflower said as she got up, "thanks to you."

“That’s good to hear,” Achilles said before turning to Sunset. “I hope this proves that we can work together. Though if you don’t trust me now then…” He trailer off as he held out his hand.

Sunset looked at the hand with a confused look. “I know about your power to look into people’s minds. I don’t want to take off my mask, but if it will show you I’m on your side you can take a look.”

There was a moment of silence between the two. After a few seconds Sunset smiled and slapped his hand away. “I think I’ve seen all I needed to. You kept your promise and saved my friends. I feel that’s worth giving you a chance,” Sunset said as she held out her fist. “But you're only getting one chance. If at any time I feel you starting to be a danger, me and the girls will rainbow blast you.”

“Well let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Achilles said as the two fist bumped.

“Um mister rider,” Wallflower spoke up as she approached Achilles. “I was hoping If I can get a picture of you for the yearbook? I know it would mean a lot for the students.”

Achilles smiled under his helmet. “No problem just let me change,” the rider slotted the Rider card into his driver. The magical circle appeared and he transformed back to his default form. He then made a pose with his spear resting on his shoulder and flashed a peace sign. Wallflower took out her phone and snapped a picture of the rider. “Did you get my good side?”

“Yeah,” Wallflower said with a smile. The rider said his goodbyes and ran off. Once the girls made sure that Twilight was ok, they headed out to find their friends.

Rarity, Rainbow, Fluttershy, Applejack and Trixie were all found where they were captured, completely unharmed.

Pinkie was found sitting under a tree east of the garden. She needed to be told what had happened and was bummed that she missed everything. Flash was the last to be found with the girls finding him in a random spot in the forest. Unbeknown to them, he was faking being unconscious to avoid them knowing he was just in a dangerous fight with a magi-beast.

When the group was back together they all sat down for the picnic Pinkie planned. “If I have to see another magical plant again it will be too soon,” Rainbow said as she laid down on the grass.

“That monster doesn’t know the efforts I go through to look my best each day,” Rarity said as she finished fixing the makeup the monster ruined.

“Even with this pie, I still think you pack too much whipped cream,” Trixie said taking a bite of dessert.

Pinkie smiled. “In my experience, you can never have too much whipped cream.” She sprayed the topping directly into her mouth.

Wallflower was showing the girl the picture she got. She was very happy that she got the chance and knew the yearbook club was going to flip. “That is a great picture,” Fluttershy said as she looked over Wallflower’s shoulder.

“Thanks, but this is was the less Achilles could have done,” Wallflower said.

“I’m sure he was more than happy to help,” Flash said with a smile

“And Sunset finally warmed up to the guy,” TwilightI followed. Sunset could only roll her eyes at that comment. Dispite the Magi-Beast attack, it was a lovely outing for the group of friends

Side Story: Story Of Cypher

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It was almost midnight. The clouds were so thick that the moon could not be seen through them. There was about to be a heavy rain storm and Cypher didn’t care at all for the forecast. In a remote area the young man looked at the only building for miles. Cypher pulled out his phone and played back the message left on it.

“Cypher, your the only one I can trust with a mission like this. This location is a storage facility for nonessential materials and failed projects. That won’t mean it will be any less dangerous to get into. We need the materials in the case marked WR5. It's the only thing that can stabilize The Unicorn Advance’s power. She is getting worse by the day. But if we can make her better she may be the key we need to destroying the rider. I have faith in you Cypher.”

When the massage ended Cypher put the phone back into his jacked. “Don’t worry Doctor, I won’t fail you,” He said as he pulled out his driver. He put it on then slotted in the card to transform into his monstrous form.

“PEGASUS!”

The Advanced spread his wings and took to the sky. He flew over the barbed wire fence and landed right at the door of the building. The guard at the front desk that looked like a military soldier was shocked by this and immediately hit the alarm. Cypher punched through the glass door as four other soldiers entered the lobby. “Stand down!” One of the guards yelled as they all aimed there rifles.

“Your not getting in my way,” Cypher said as he pulled out his sword. He lunged at one of the men before they had a chance to shoot. He picked up the soldier by the collar before throwing him aside. The other shot at the monster but he flew up to avoid the bullets. Cypher then swooped down to slice one of the men’s weapons in half. The solder was so shocked that he couldn’t react to the monster kicking him in to two others. “Really you think these toys can take on someone of my power.”

The last solder unloaded his whole clip at the monster only for the bullets to be deflected by his sword. The Advanced slowly walked towards the man, deflecting bullets before there was nothing left to shoot. “W-What are you going to do to me?” The solder asked as he dropped his gun and put his hands up.

Cypher was silent as he grabbed the guard and pulled him along. They soon got to an elevator which Cypher pressed the button to open. The Advanced entered and pressed the button labeled “B2”, this caused a panel to open with a scanner. Cypher held up the scared solder up to the scanner and after a moment all the lights turned green. “Thanks for letting me in,” Cypher said as he threw the guard out of the elevator before the doors closed.

The man was trembling but after second he came to his senses and pulled out his radio.

“Sir, we have an intruder making his way to sub level two. Should we send more men down there?” the guard said through the intercom.

In a dimly lit room was a desk with a monitor that showed everything that was happening in the lobby. Sitting at the desk was a blue skinned man with messy navy hair with a yellow streak in it. He was dressed in a black raincoat with a lighting bolts towards the bottom. “No, no. You grunts won't do anything to something like this. Instead I want you to lock down every floor but the roof. The elevator is the only way out of the basement and I want to meet this fool,” the man said.

“Yes sir,” The man on the other end said.

The blue skinned man got out of his chair and picked up the umbrella that was hanging off of it. As he got to the door, a boom of thunder filled the air soon followed by the heavy downpour of rain. “Hehehe, this intruder sure did pick the perfect night to attack.”

In a room Cypher closed a briefcase before walking out of a small room. When he walked out of the dark hallway two more guards appeared and were ready to shoot. Before they could shoot, Cypher already cut the rifles before knocking them out with the brawd side of his sword. With nothing left stopping him, Cypher entered the elevator. He hit the button to head back to the first floor.

As he waited for the doors to open he quickly noticed he had gone past his stop. Cypher prepared himself for what would happen when the elevator finally stopped. When the doors did open the Advanced was greeted by the sound of heavy rain drops hitting the roof. Cypher slowly walked out to see that he was not alone as he saw the blue skinned man under his umbrella.

“I hope you found everything you were looking for,” the man said.

“Who wants to know,” Cypher said as he pointed his sword at the man.

“The name is Downpour, and I’m head of security,” The man introduces himself.

“Well your doing poorly at your job,” Cypher said.

“I could have flooded the beament with guards, but this is such a boring place and I felt this would be a good way to stretch my legs,” Downpour said. He then looked up to the sky as a bolt of lighting flew through the sky followed by a boom of thunder. “I love nights like this. The rain is so calming and the thunder gives me such a surprise.”

“If a bunch of armed guards couldn’t stop me, What chance do you have?” Cypher asked.

“Well even though this facility had a bunch of candles projects there are still some that can be useful,” Downpour said as he pulled out a strange flash drive looking device. There was a lightning bolt on it shaped like a stylized L and pressed the button on it.

“LIGHTING!!!”

He then threw his umbrella to the side to reveal a circuit design on the top of his hand. He inserted the memory drive into the pattern and it was absorbed into his body. Electricity covered Downpour’s body before he was transformed. He was now a blue skeleton monster with two electrical transformers on his shoulders. His head was made up of the jaw part of a skull and several lighting bolts making up the rest. “It’s too late to surrender now,” The monster said.

“You will not stand in my way,” Cypher said as he lunged towards Downpour. When he swung his sword, it only sliced the air as Downpour transformed into lighting and avoided the attack.

The lighting monster reappeared behind Cypher to deliver a kick to his back. He then turned to lighting again to strike from the side in less then a second. He repeated this a third time to punch Cypher in the face and knocked him to the ground. “Another reason why I love the rain is that my power multiples when the weather is like this” Downpour said with a laugh.

Cypher held onto the briefcase like his life depended on it as he raised his sword. It charged with multicolored energy before launching a large slash attack. “Decode Refraction!” He yelled.

Downpour saw the attack as. Turned into lighting to avoid the attack. Reappearing on top of an antenna. “Pathetic,” The monster said as he pointed downward. As of to obey his order, the sky let down a mighty bolt of lighting right down onto the Advanced. Cypher was burned in several places as he fell to his knees. “Jeez, what a disappointing outing. Well I guess this just means I’m good at my job.”

Cypher held on with all his might but it was clear he was out classed. This guard was in a class of his own and was in his element in this storm. He saw no reason to continue fighting so he flared his wings and jumped off the roof. With another flap to took to the sky and flew away. “I need...to get back… to the doctor.”

“I said you can no longer serenade,” Downpour said. His body turned into electric again before shooting up into the clouds.

The abandoned hospital was just over a mile away But Cypher was starting to lose concentration. He started to fly lower before looking behind to see a bolt of lighting traveling through the clouds. The energy was right over him before coming right down on him.

Cypher was now in a free fall, letting go of the brefecase before landing with a loud crash. Downpour soon appeared not to far as he looked down at the Advanced. “What a failure. Not even smart enough to know not to fly in a thunderstorm,”

“I’ve had enough of you,” Cypher said as he pulled out his sword used it to try and stand up.

“And what are you going to do about it,” Downpour said as he kicked Cypher back down. “Your a failure. You lose what you stole from me and now I’m going to make sure you never steal again,” he said as his hand charged with lighting.

Cypher’s anger was at its boiling point. Being called a failure was something he wasn’t going to take. He was the Doctor’s first success. He carried out every order that was given to him to completion. The electrically guard was not only attacking his pride, but the Doctor’s and even the other Advanced. As Cypher’s emotions were going on a frenzy, his whole body was starting to glow. This caused Downpour to stumble back as Cypher slowly got back up.

“I should be the one to call you a failure. You lost something you were meant to be guarding and now your about to lose it all,” Cypher said as he pointed his sword to the sky. He let out a mighty yell as his blade charged with a blinding white light. “Ozone Lightstorm!” He yelled as he bright the sword down.

Before Downpour could react, the clouds were cleared away as large bolts of light came pouring down. The monster tried to turn I to electric to escape but the attack covered too much area. Before he could try and get one last hit on Cypher, the attack hit and resulted in a blinding light. When the light faded, Downpour dropped to his knees before landing face first on the ground. He returned to his human form as the memory drive flew out of his hand and exploded.

Cypher was breathing heavy. The attack took a lot out of him, but somehow he managed to find the energy to stand. “T-the briefcase,” he says as he turned around to find his target. As he did he suddenly blacked out. Not knowing that happened next.

The next thing Cypher knew was waking up in a plain room in his human form. It was nothing more than a bed, a Window, and a night stand. This was his room. The young man slowly got up in order to enter into the hallway.

After a short walk Cypher entered into an office with the sound of a heart monitor. The doctor was there tending to the unconscious girl. “Ah Cypher your awake,” The doctor said as he walked over to him.

“Doctor I’m sorry, I lost the last chance we had to reawaken her,” Cypher said as he bows his head.

“It’s ok Cypher…” The Doctor started.

“It’s not,” Cypher cut off. “You asked me to get the WR5 and I will get it. I’ve gotten stronger. That rage I felt when I was facing that guy turned into new strength. I will get it back and destroy the rider along the way.”

“That's good to hear,” The Doctor said as he patted Cypher on the back.

Dawn broke and a certain purple dog was going on a nice walk through the neighborhood. Spike always loved seeing the streets without any people around. However the dog found something new this morning. In a ditch he found a briefcase that was partly opened. Spike opened it to find a strange looking crystal like rock with an otherworldly glow to it. “Oh my goodness, I need to get Twilight.”

Ride 9: Savage Garden

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The sun was high in the sky over the quiet neighbourhood on this beautiful weekend. Everything was as it should be except for Cypher who was looking all over the place. There was no sign of Downpour from the night before as well as the remains of the destroyed memory drive. He was knelt down in the ditch he thought the briefcase fell in. So far the young man hadn't found anything before a smile graced his face. He found the case and it looked totally undamaged. As quick as he could he took the case and opened it to make sure to make sure everything was alright.

To his dismay the case was empty and his smile vanished. “Dang is!” Cypher yelled as he threw the briefcase. The stone was gone and he now had nothing to go on to help find it. Cypher was about to go into a rage before he noticed something on the ground. They were a set of dog paw prints in the dirt. “So a dog was involved.”

With this clue Cypher was on his way to finding his target. Looking around the young man found an elderly woman walking out onto her pouch. “Hey, do you know if there's anyone with a dog nearby?” Cypher asked as he walked up to her.

In the backyard of the Sparkle residents, there was a large tool shed. Ever since she was in the seventh grade, Twilight had converted it to her own lab. Over the years this lab had gone from where Twilight performed experiments she read about in books to being a full blown research facility. Or as close to one a teenager can get.

Earlier that morning, Spike had brought to Twilight’s attention a strange glowing rock he'd found.

Fascinated by this, Twilight followed her dog to where he'd discovered the rock. The rock looked similar to the geodes that gave her and her friends their powers, only much bigger. She noticed it was in a briefcase but there was no way of determining where it came from. She promised herself that she would try and find the proper owner.

But not before performing some tests first.

In her lab Twilight was performing all the tests she could think of. All matter of scanning and chemical tests were performed. She had just finished passing over it with her magic scanner before typing the data into her computer. As she did the door opened and friends showed up.

“Hey Twilight,” Rainbow said as she lead the group in. “What's the deal with the urgent text?”

“Girls," Twilight turned to them, "I found something very odd.” She present the stone to them.

“Ooh," Pinkie said, "did you find proof of aliens?!”

“No, not yet,” Twilight picked up some of the papers that had just finished printing. “But look,” she showed a set of diagrams.

“Um," Applejack hummed, "wotcha have there?” Despite being at this for a while, most of them still couldn’t get a grasp when Twilight explains some of this stuff.

“Trying to explain magic with science is practical impossible, but there are somethings that we can do to break it down a little. For instance I have been able to isolate a distinct wavelength that allows us to tell what's Equestrian magic no matter what form it takes,” Twilight explained showing a diagram of a wave. She then flipped the page to show a different diagram. “The wavelength the stone is giving off is a lot similar. Do you know what that means?”

Everyone didn’t know what to say except for Sunset who looked like she understood everything. “Wait your not thinking…” Sunset started.

“Well it’s only a theory but yes. This could be the first instant of magic that originates from our world,” Twilight said.

“Is that even possible?” Fluttershy asked.

Twilight nodded. “We thought it was a possibility, but never figured it would be confirmed. But I’m just scratching the surface. I can only imagine what we can learn if we found out where this came from.”

“So any idea where to find where this weird stone came from?” Rarity asked.

“No, but I did find it in a briefcase so I guess it belongs to a research facility. Maybe Everton,” Twilight turned towards her computer to continue her scans.

Meanwhile Flash had just parked his bike in front of the Sparkle residents. Today was Flash’s tutoring session with Twilight. She has been helping him out with math for a while and he was enjoying the time they spent together. Last week, Twilight invited Flash to her house to study. It was a change of setting from their usually study sessions at the library or Sugarcube Corner.

With his backpack slung over his shoulder, the young man walked up to the door and rang the bell. Flash was expecting to be greeted by Twilight’s mother but, instead the door was opened by a rather intimidating figure.

The man was tall with white skin and long blue hair. He was in a blue suit and a tie with a shield and stat design on it. He looked down at Flash with a mean look in his eyes. “Can I help you?” He asked.

“Um,” Flash said as he tried to find the words. He had no idea who this guy is. He looked way too young to be Twilight’s father. After a gulp, Flash finally got out why he was here. “My name is Flash and I’m one of Twilight’s friends. We had a tutoring session today and she said to meet her at her house.”

The man was silent for a moment before his face did a one eighty to a welcoming smile. “Ah, yeah. We were expecting you. Mom told me Twilight was tutoring today and to be on the lookout for you. Our mom just entered her office right now and nothing short of the house burning down will get her out.”

“Wait," Flash said, "so are you like...Twilight’s brother?”

The man nodded, “yeah." He then extended his hand, "the name's Shining Armor. I don’t think we met.”

“Flash Sentry,” he said as the two shook his hand.

“Come on in. Twily should be out of her lab soon,” Shining said as Flash entered. The two entered the living room and took a seat. Flash taking the couch while Shining took a chair. They sat across from one another with a coffee table between them.

There was a silence between the two before Flash decided to speak up. “So...I didn't know Twilight had a brother,” he said in an attempt to make small talk.

“Yeah, well my work keeps me pretty busy, so I’m not around much. I'm sure Twily's spent more time with my wife since she started high school,” Shining said.

“Really, what do you do for a living?” Flash asked.

“I’m a lieutenant in the police department and I’m expecting a promotion soon,” Shining answered.

“Oh, that's really cool. My mom says she works a lot with you guys. She's a lawyer."

“That's interesting. I might have bumped into her,” Shining said with a smile. “Though things have been hectic lately with all the monsters attacks.”

“Well you must be glad the rider is helping out. Twilight has been very interested in him lately. Mostly for her research,” Flash scratched the back of his head.

“Actually," Shining suddenly shifted to a serious tone, "the police aren’t big fans of the rider. The monster that are appearing are dangerous. As law informant, we're the ones that protect the people. We may have let my sister and her friends slide, but we can’t let some masked figure running around so freely.”

This statement made Flash’s stress go through the roof. He didn’t even think that what he was doing would have gotten him in trouble with the law. But Shining did have a point. It was really dangerous what he was doing and the police are the ones meant to protect people.

“But that’s the police’s stance on the matter,” Shining continued. “If you want my personality opinion, I’m actually quite thankful for the guy."

“Really?” Flash said in surprise.

“Yeah," Shining went on. "He’s just a nice guy trying to do good in the world. I’m not going to dislike someone doing that. He's even saved my sister a few times, so I couldn’t be more grateful."

This came as a relief to Flash. Even though Shining may have come off as a scary older brother, he was a nice guy all around. “Well I’m glad to hear that. I know you sister in really into studying the guy.”

“I know," Shining said. "She's always been like that. Once she finds something she’s interested in, there's no stopping her. Plus, I use to love those kind of old school special effect shows when I was young. Achilles reminds me a lot of those.”

“Me too," Flash followed feeling much more relaxed. "I used to wake up every Saturday morning to see them. My favorite was Butterfly and Silver Wolf.” The two continued to talk as they waited for Twilight to come back.

Cypher soon found himself just across the street from the Sparkle residents.

He pulled out his phone before activating the energy scope that was built into it. He looked at the house through it and found nothing of value in it before turning to the shed, causing the whole thing lit up. “So that’s where you are,” Cypher said. The young man then ran across the street, hopping over the fence to see Twilight and her friends exiting her lab. “So we meet again research girl. I should have known that somehow I’d run into you on this mission.”

Meanwhile the girls continued to take on their way to the house. “So do you think that rock has anything to do with the Magi-Beasts showing up?” Sunset asked.

“I don’t think so," Twilight replied. "The energy is similar, but we know for sure that the Magi-Beast are made from Equestrian magic. That being said, it's anyone’s guess if there's a connection.”

“Hey!” Cypher yelled out to get the girls attention. All of them were surprised with the strange man's sudden appearance. “Hand over the stone,” he demanded.

“Oh, so are the one that lost it?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, now give it!” Cypher continued, showing that he had no patience to spare.

“Hold on girls, something about this guy seems familiar,” Rainbow said as she held up her hand. “Gilda told me about a guy that created a magi-beast from her. She said the guy had black hair and a parka. This guys looks just like what she described.”

This put the girls on guard. “Who are you?” Sunset asked.

“I am Cypher,” The man declared as he pleased the buckle on his waist. “And it’s my mission to retrieve that stone,” he continued as he slotted the card into the buckle.

“PEGASUS!”

The young man transformed into his monstrous form and pulled out his sword. “I will not stop till I complete my task.”

“Well we now know the face behind the monster,” Rarity said as all the girls prepared for battle.

“Girls, we can’t let him get to the lab,” Twilight told her friends. “Spike, Get to safety. This guy's no joke.” Spike nodded before rushing inside, the girls quickly jumping into action.

Rarity shot several of her crystals at Cypher but he only shattered them with his sword. This distracted him enough to allowed pinkie to get close. Her mouth was full of gum and she blew a bubble right in Cypher's face. When it popped, Pinkie was gone only to show up right behind him. Pinkie wasted no time sticking her gum to Cypher’s back which alerted him to her presents. But before he could attack, the gum on his back detonated and threw him forwards.

Shining was in the middle of laughing at a joke Flash told him before he heard the commotion outside. He turned to see Cypher out the glass sliding door in the living room. “Oh great, just what we needed. Those monster right in our backyard." Her stood up

“Where are you going?” Flash asked.

“I’m going to make sure the girls are safe,” Shining responded as he walked towards the door. “You stay here. I don’t need to worry about more kids getting hurt.”

Before Flash could say anything else, Shining stopped outside. Cypher was too preoccupied with trying to hit Rainbow with his sword, but wasn't getting close. This is where Shining saw his opening and started to rush towards Advanced. Once he was close, Shining took the Advanced by surprise and elbowed the monster right in the neck. The shock of the attack caused the monster to stumble back. Shining continued his assault by using Cypher’s shoulders as leverage to knee him in the Solar Plexus.

The attacks Shining was using would have dropped a normal human to their knees, but Cypher felt nothing but his anger growing. “I don't need more interference in this matter,” he said before raising his fist. The punch hit Shining and sent him flying right into some garbage cans. “I’ll say this one last time, give me the stone.”

“Shining!” Twilight yelled as she ran to help her brother. “What were you thinking, doing something so reckless?”

“My job,” Shining replied as he got to his feet.

“Shining, I know you swore to protect people but this guy is really powerful. You don’t even carry your gun on you when your not on duty.”

While this is all happening, Flash crawled out of the bathroom window with his driver already around his waist. “I can’t believe this guy is after Twilight again. Why is he doing all of this?” He asked to no one. He pulled out the Explosion card and slotted it into the driver. The magic circle appeared as he ran through it into the back yard.

“SAVING EVERYONE WITH A SMILE BOOM! BANG! POW!!”

“X-X-X-EXPLODE!!!”

When he had Cypher in his sights, the Rider unleashed a burst of shots from the Party Canon Mini. “Sorry I didn’t bring anything for the barbecue,” Achilles said. He then fired again but Cypher flew away to dodge the attack. “It’s been a while Cypher.”

“Rider," Cypher smiled under his helmet, "I’m actually glad you're here. I can finally destroy you with my new power." The Advanced launched an energy slash at the rider, only for it to miss.

“So now you don’t need to waste time charging that attack,” Achilles said as he pulled back on his blaster. “But your not the only one with some new moves.”

“SURPRISE!”

He took aim and fired off several large shots at the monster. Cypher flew out of the way before he closed in quickly to slash at the rider. The Advanced was so focused on the rider, he didn’t see Applejack and Rainbow running towards him. Once they were close enough, the two blindsided him by each delivering a magically enhanced kick. The blow sent Cypher flying back.

When Cypher finally got up he was faced with both the rider and the girls all staring him down. “You may have gotten stronger, but we still outnumber you,” Sunset pointed out.

Cypher had his back against the wall. He let his goal blind him to the risks he was taking to achieve it. My new attack can level this whole please with these pests along with it. I can only use it once a day, but at this point I don’t think that will matter. The one downside it that I will get caught up in it as well with them all around me like this, he thought to himself. As he was weighing his options, Cypher noticed the door to the shed open. Walking out was Spike, seeing how things were going outside. That’s when Cypher saw it, the option that will most likely get him this situation without damaging himself.

“Are you going to surrender now?” Achilles asked.

“YYYAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!” Cypher yelled out. He performed his energy slash attack which caused everyone to duck down. He then lunged forward and grabbed the dog by the collar. With the captive in hand Cypher flew up to present Spike to the group and pointed the tip of his sword at the dog.

“SPIKE!” Twilight yelled out.

“TWILIGHT!” Spike responded.

"It’s only fitting that I take you since you took what was originally mine,” Cypher told Spike. He then turned to the others. "you have two hours. Bring the stone to warehouse district, or I won’t hesitate to put this mutt down." With that, he spread his wings before flying off. As they flew out of sight, Twilight fell to her knees.

“It’s going to be fine Twilight,” Shining said as he finally recovered and consoled his sister.

“If we give him the stone then Spike goes free. But we can’t let him get that kind of power,” Sunset said.

“That means I need to defeat him," Achilles said as he kept looking up at the sky. "But he has gotten way stronger." There was a lot going through his head, but he knew Twilight had much more going on in her’s. Spike was her best friend, even before transferring schools. “Don’t worry. I’ll get your friend back,” Achilles said before running off.

“Oh that reminds me. I need to see if Flash is alright,” Shining said before running back to the house.

“Flash is here?” Applejack asked.

“Oh yeah. We had a study session today,” Twilight realised. She, along with everyone else, all ran into the house. “Flash, are you ok?” Twilight asked.

“Um yeah, “ Flash said from down the hall. He had only just climbed through the bathroom window. He ran back into the living room to see the group waiting for him. “I was just um… hiding,” he said as he rubbed the back of his head.

“Good thinking,” Shining said as he patted Flash’s shoulder.

“Sorry I forgot about our study session,” Twilight said with a depressed tone.

“Oh don’t sweat it,” Flash said. He soon noticed just how badly Twilight was taking Spike being taken.

“Flash, Spike has been taken,” Sunset said as she saw Flash’s concern in his eyes.

“I see," Flash replied. "That must be pretty rough,” he tried his best to console his friend. “Do you have a plan to get him back?”

“Not right now,” Applejack said.

“I think I should just go then,” Flash said as he made his way out of the room.

“I’ll be sure to call you back when this is all over,” Twilight said.

Flash walked over to his bike and pulled out his phone. “Hey, Trixie, we have a situation. Where do you want to meet up?” Flash asked as he pulled out his helmet.

After a drive into town, Flash met up with Trixie at Sugarcube Corner. Flash then spent a few minutes catching Trixie up with the events that just happened. “This stone must be really important for Cypher to go through these lengths to get it,” Trixie said.

“Yeah," Flash agreed, "that tells me we can’t let Cypher get his hands on it."

“Kinda reminds me of that Fall Formal,” Trixie said.

“I think it might be worse than that. Sunset may have been mean back then, but she would never do the kind of stuff Cypher is capable of.” Flash slumped back in his chair, “that guy has gotten so much stronger. I don’t know how I can beat him." He pulled out and looked over his Element Cards, wondering which ones might possibly stand a chance against the improved Advanced.

“Hey," Trixie declared, "you've gotten stronger too. You've gone from helping random people at school, to saving the town from magical monsters in only half a month. And you've only gotten stronger. You;re going to defeat him the same way I create the tricks for my shows.”

“What do you mean?” Flash asked.

“I mean you are going to take everything you experienced up to this point and make something no one sees coming."

“No one sees coming,” Flash said as he looked at his Element cards again. A plan started to form in his head.

In an abandoned warehouse, Cypher had made a little base for himself. It was nothing more than a box of for him to sit on and Spike tied up nearby. The dog struggled to get out as Cypher sat patiently. “You’ll never get away with this,” Spike barked.

“Really? Going with that tired cliché,” Cypher said.

“Why do you even want that rock anyway?” Spike asked.

Cypher stood up to get closer to Spike. “One of my allies is in danger. She is another Advanced like me, but much stronger. That power has made her unstable and The Doctor believes that the stone is the only hope for her. when she returns, we will have the power to defeat the rider. And then we can fulfil The Doctor’s wishes.”

“Whatever it is your after, there has to be a better way of achieving your goal without hurting people,” Spike said.

“My goals are whatever The Doctor’s goals are. Nothing more,” Cypher responded. Spike let out a big gulp, seeing that it was pointless reasoning with this guy.

Meanwhile Shining had just gotten off the phone. He turned to his sister and her friends to give them an update. “I just got off with the chef. It'll take some time, but we are going to have a SWAT team head to the warehouses before the deadline,” Shining said.

“That’s not soon enough,” Applejack said as she confer the depressed Twilight. “Can ya see she’s worried sick.”

“I know, but this isn’t a normal situation. We don’t have a Monster Buster Division,” Shining replayed.

“Then let us take care of him,” Rainbow said as she stood up proudly.

“I can’t let you do that," Shining responded. "It’s one thing to respond to an attack. But as an officer, I can’t let citizens go running into danger."

“But…” Pinkie started.

“That’s final,” Shining said. Before any of the girls could continue, the older brother walked out the door without a word.

“It’s going to be ok Twilight," Fluttershy assured her. "Your brother with make sure Spike is safe."

“Yeah," Rainbow followed, "and the Rider will come in and show that wannabe who’s boss."

Sunset let out a small frown. “As much as I hesitate to admit it, I have to agree with Rainbow. The Rider may be our only hope. But with that being said, Cypher may be too much for him alone. We may have no choice but to give into his demands.”

“We can’t do that!” Applejack said.

“Maybe we don’t have to,” Rarity spoke up. “What if we made a fake. I could make a decent replica with enough time,”she suggested.

“What if it doesn’t work?” Sunset asked. “We might end up losing Spike in the process if we trick him.”

“It has to work," Twilight finally spoke up as she stood up. "Sunset and Rainbow might be right. The Rider might show up,” She looked over at one of the pictures on the wall, showing the day when she first got her puppy. “I can’t give up on Spike, he would never do that to me.”

“I hope your right,” Sunset replayed.

It was getting close to the deadline. It was now or never for Flash to enact his plan. Trixie was set up on a roof not to far away with a set of binoculars. “I don’t see anything yet,” Trixie said into her phone.

“That’s good. The last thing I need is Terra or a Magi-Beast coming in to give Cypher back up,” Flash’s voice said.

Flash was already in the Achilles suit, observing one of the walls of the building. Once he found what he was looking for, he pulled out one of his Element cards. “Here’s go nothing. Element Change!” He slotted the card into the driver.

“DEFENDER OF CREATURES BIG AND SMALL!!!”

“B-B-B-BREEZE!!!”

The magical circle appeared and passed over his body, the armor changing to the Breeze form before the rider shrank down to his six inch size. “Hold on Spike, help is on the way.” Achilles leapt up and through a crack in the wall, landing atop a stack of boxes before jumping off onto the floor.

After looking around, he found where Cypher was hiding. He moved as fast as his enhanced abilities will allow till he got close. He crept around the corner of a box to get a closer look at the situation.

“Hmm,” Spike let out as he spotted Achilles. The rider put his finger up to his mouth, which Spike responded with a nod. Achilles nodded back before jumping onto the stack of boxes “Um hay, do you have anything to eat? Kinda skipped breakfast today,” the dog asked.

“I’m not Terra. He always stuffing his face with something,” Cypher answered in annoyance. As Spike was trying to distract the Advanced, Achilles found some glass bottles placed up high. This was just what he needed and he ran up and pushed the relatively large bottles. When they crashed on the ground, Cypher herd it. “What was that?" He said before walking over to investigate.

With Cypher’s back turned, Achilles jumped down and sprinted over to Spike. “Don’t worry, I’ll get you out of this." He started to undo the ropes as fast as he could at his current size, making sure not to catch Cypher's attention

Cypher found the broken bottle and looked around for the one that caused this disturbance. “I'll be very mad if it wasn’t a rat that did this,” he said. At that moment he heard the doors of the warehouse opened. Walking in from the other side were the seven girls. Seeing this Cypher grinned. “A little early I see.”

“I don’t like being tarty,” Twilight said.

“Did you bring the stone, or are you here to fight?” Cypher asked.

“Of course,” Rarity said as she presented the stone. “Is Spike unharmed?”

“He’s safe,” Cypher said. “Give me the stone and then I’ll leave you all alone.”

“Give us Spike,” Twilight demanded.

“Very well,” Cypher said as he started to turn around.

It was at that moment that the dog in question rushed between the Advanced's legs and towards the girls. “Spike!” The seven yelled out and he jumped to Rarity. This caused Rarity to drop the stone, which shattered on the ground.

“A fake!?” Cypher yelled out. He then turned to see the united ropes and Achilles where Spike once was. “So it was all a trick you cooked up. Well then, I’ll show you what happens when you try to pull one over me,” He said as he performed a slash attack at the girls.

“Well this plan went belly up fast,” Achilles said as he sprinted towards the girls. When he got in front of the attack the slotted the Rider Card into the driver.

“R-R-R-RIDER!!!”

Achilles returned to normal size with his spear in hand, which he spun to block the attack. “Why don’t we finish what we started?” The rider asked as he got into a fighting stance.

“Alright. But one rule,” Cypher tightens the grip on his sword. “Your cheerleader can’t help!” He launched a slash at the ceiling, causing it to break apart and fall towards them. Pinkie acted the fastest and pushed Achilles and Twilight out of the way, right before the derby fell on top of the others.

“NO!” Twilight screamed, fearing she may have lost her friends.

“We’re ok” Applejack said. “Me and Rarity are keeping everyone safe. Just focus on kicking that guys feathery butt.”

Achilles gave Applejack a nod that she couldn’t see before Cypher came out of nowhere to attack. The rider blocked the attack and even managed to throw the monster outside. Achilles followed this with a charge that led to him planting his spear head into the ground to help perform a high kick. Cypher responded to this by landing a few slashes with his sword and delt some damage. Achilles recovered and managed to get a few hits in with his spear, knocked the Advanced back. Not happy with this, Cypher launched an X shaped slash at the rider.

Achilles jumped out of the way of the attack but the slash grazed him and cut of the holder on the side of his belt. This holder contended all six of Achilles’ Element Cards. “Oh no!” The rider yelled out. As if to add insult to injury, Cypher stepped on the holder.

“I will end both of you!” Cypher helped out as his blade glowed with energy. “Decode Refraction!” He yelled before launching several energy slashes at Twilight and Achilles.

“Stand back!” Achilles stood in front of Twilight to take on the blunt of the attack.

Twilight was frightened, but her focus shifted to her necklace as it stated to glow. It looked like it was her turn now to give Achilles some help. “Quick take this,” Twilight said as she tossed the orb of light towards the driver. Instantly the device glowed purple and the magical circle came out to pass over Achilles.

“CREATING A NEW FORMULA, A NEW WORLD OF DISCOVERY!”

“A-A-A-ALCHEMY!”

Achilles’ new form was a solid black bodysuit with purple armor. His shoulder armor was now a six pointed star with the pointed extending away from his body. Coming out of the belt were two long pieces of fabric that made the rider look like he was wearing a trench coat. His two pointed head create now had a third point in the centre.

Achilles couldn’t even observe his new form before his hands glowed with purple energy. Without thought, he slammed them onto the ground before sparks appeared all over the area. Before his eyes, the ground started shifting and soon formed a thick wall that was able to defend against Cypher’s attack.

“What the!?” Achilles said as his mind finally caught up with the rest of the world. “Where did this wall come from?”

“You altered the shape of the ground to make it,” Twilight explained. “This new form has the power of transmutation. You can alter the structure of objects.”

“Don’t count you victory yet,” Cypher said as he flew full force at the rider.

“Alright, let's take this for a spin,” Achilles said as he clapped his hands together before slamming them on the wall. Right when Cypher was close enough, sparks appeared around the wall before spikes shot out of it. This surprised the Advanced to the point he stopped in this tracks. “This power is incredible,” The rider said before jumped over the wall and punched Cypher.

The Advanced swung his sword, but Achilles ducked. Unfortunately this left the rider open with a kick. The rider recovered and soon came back with a few punches. “That was nothing,” Cypher said as he swung and missed with his sword a few times.

“Then how about we mix it up a bit,” Achilles said as he put his hands together and touched the ground with both of them. After the sparks went away, Achilles pulled a katana out from the ground. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

When The rider swung the sword, Cypher held up his own sword and the katana shattered upon impact. “Pathetic,” Cypher said as he took his sword and slashed Achilles and sent him flying.

Twilight used her powers to catch Achilles and gently bring him back to the ground. “What just happened?” Achilles asked.

“Looks like your not skilled with this new form enough to alter the molecular structure of objects. Your sword was still made of stone,” Twilight explained as she helped the rider up. “Which can’t hold up to Cypher’s sword as we just saw.”

That blow was the opening Cypher was looking for. It was now or never to finally end the rider. He raised his sword with both hands. A bright light shot out of the sword and into the sky. “Your finished!” He yelled out, putting all of his emotions into this strike. “OZONE LIGHTSTORM!!!”

Twilight saw the lights falling from the sky. “We need to run!” She yelled out.

“No time,” Achilles responded as he clapped his hands together. He grabbed Twilight before putting his hands on the ground to make a dome to protect them. The falling light storm hit, one of them crashing through the dome but avoided hitting the two. “I don’t know if I can keep up if he can use this kind of power,” The rider said out of breath.

“Don’t say that. If we can’t out-power him, we can try to outsmart him,” Twilight said. She grabbed onto Achilles’s hand to reassure him and here hands began to glow a bright purple. “What the?”

“Hey," Achilles looked at her, "doesn't your magic work better when you combine your powers?” Twilight nodded that what he said was true. “Well, since I’m using my own magic, maybe this is a sign we should combine our power.”

“Come on, what was that talk about finishing this?” Cypher said as he taped his sword on the ground. Behind the Advanced, the other girls finally got out of danger and were now spectators to the battle.

“Sorry Cypher,” Achilles said as he as Twilight crawled out of the dome. “We won’t be having that Mano e Mano fight you wanted.” He clapped his hands together.

“Cause our power is the power of friendship,” Twilight continued as her hands began to glow. “And friends never let their friends fight alone,” she said as they both threw their hands forward. A ball of energy formed where their hands met.

“Savage Garden!” Achilles yelled. The ball then erupted into a large shockwave. The ground around them began to transmute into all matter of swords, spears, axes and so on of all shapes and sizes.

“Wow,” Twilight said as she was amazed at what their combined power could do.

Achilles picked up two of the swords and hit them against each other. “Yeah, their steel,” He said. He then pointed the sword at Cypher. “I hope your ready cause by the end of this...we're sending you right to Tartarus.”

The rider then charged at Cypher and swung both his swords. When Cypher blocked the attack the swords didn’t shatter like last time. He then ducked down to get in a few slashes on the side. Cypher was distracted by this attack, that he didn’t see Twilight using her powers to levitate some of the weapon. With a flick of her wrist, the sharp weapons went flying and causing a lot of damage when they hit.

"Go get'em Flash!” Trixie cheered as she watched the fight from the roof.

Achilles swung his swords for another attack but Cypher avoided by going airborne. “Dang it,” The Rider said.

“Achilles!” Twilight yelled. He turned to see the girl levitate some of the swords horizontally. The rider, seeing what she was doing, dropped his swords to pick up an axe and jumped into action. He hoped on the footing blades, avoiding every attack Cypher threw at him. Once Achilles got high enough, the rider brought the axe down and sent Cypher falling to the ground.

“I-I can’t lose. The Doctor told be to win and I must fulfil his wishes. I must, he was all I had,” Cypher mumbled as he stumbled to get up.

“We need to finish him now,” Twilight said as Achilles landed next to her. “Care to do the honors?”

“Of course,” Achilles said as he pressed the button on his driver.

“ALCHEMY FEEDBACK!!!”

The rider held out both his arms as magic circles formed around his hands. He then threw the circles, which flew across the battlefield to bind Cypher by the arms. Energy began to build around Achilles, food before jumping into the air. He got into a kicking position before rocketing towards the Advanced. Cypher struggled to get out of but he could as the attack completed in an explosion. “Its finally over,” Achilles said as he turned around. Unfortunately what he saw was shocking to everyone when the smoke cleared.

Not only did Cypher survive the attack, but there was a new monster standing in front of him with a force field that was soon lowered. The monster was a feminine figure covered in lavender armor with black lines going through it. Her face was featureless with only large black eyes and long having purple hair with a black highlight. Her right arm had a long horn coming out of it with a spiral design going down the length. Around her waist was the same stylised belt Cypher and Terra had.

“You-you shouldn’t be here,” Cypher said as he fell to his knees and returned back to his human form.

The monster slowly turned to him. “If I wasn’t here, you would have suffered a humiliating defeat."

“Do you girls feel that power?” Sunset asked. The others nodded as they felt chills run down their spines.

“I’m guessing that has to be the Unicorn Advanced,” Achilles said as he picked up a trident from the ground.

“Are you sure your in shape to fight?” Twilight asked.

“I don’t know," Achilles answered. "But I have to try." He charged at the Unicorn Advanced, giving it his all. The horn on her arm began to glow blue before she shot a bolt at the rider. When it hit the Rider was frozen instantly. Though after this attack, the Advanced loses her balance and put her hand to her head.

“I need to finish this quickly,” The Adventure said before she walked over to the rider. She charged her horn with energy and prepared to deliver a final blow.

“STOOOOP!!!” Twilight yelled. This caused the Unicorn Advanced to turn to her. “Is this what your after?” She asked as she pulled out the stone from her backpack.

“Twilight are you sure about this?” Sunset asked as the group ran up to her.

“Do you trust me?” Twilight responded. Sunset nodded and stepped back.

“Hehe and what’s stopping me from destroying the rider and taking the stone myself?” The Advansed asked.

“Then you’ll have to deal with us,” Applejack answered. “And it looks like your in no condition to do that.”

As if it proves her right the monster lost her balance again. “Uh...fine,” she said as she took the stone and returned back to Cypher. “But don’t think this is the end. It’s only the beginning,” her horn glowed before it let out a bright flash.

When it faded, the two had vanished.

Once they were gone, Achilles was freed from his icy prison. “Twilight!” He yelled out as he ran up to give her a hug. After a moment he realised what he was doing and let go, his face turning red under his mask. “Sorry about that, I’m just glad your safe. I just hope your alright with your decision.”

“I am,” Twilight replied. “Even if they have the stone, I know we can beat them together. We couldn’t do that without you. I just know you will be there to help take on any challenge thaws guys can throw at us.”

“Thanks,” Achilles said as he rubbed the back of his head. “As long as your all safe that’s all that matters. And Spike too, is he ok?”

“You betcha,” Spike said walking up to the rider.

“That’s good,” Achilles said as he made his way to his bike. “I better get going, stay safe girls,” He said. They all said their goodbyes and the rider rode off.

It was starting to get dark out and Twilight invited her friends to have take out at her house. As the girls laughed and had a good time they heard the doorbell go off. “I’ll get it,” Shining said as he answered the door. The man smiled as he saw Flash and Trixie. “Hey Flash, glad to see you again.”

“Hey Shining, I just wanted to make sure Twilight was alright,” Flash said.

“I’m fine,” Twilight said from the living room where the seven girls were eating. “Care to join us,”

“Of course," Trixie said as they stepped inside. "I’m never one to deny a free meal.”

“Yup I know the whole story. The rider saved Spike and Twily returned the favour,” Shining said as he patted Flash on the back. “Now why don’t we dig in before the girls eat all the egg rolls.”

“Hey, don’t mess with my egg rolls!” Rainbow said as she stuffed her face. The young man and the older brother gained in the dinner.

At the same time the Unicorn Advanced stumbled into the operating room of the abandoned hospital with Cypher close behind. Once she got close to the bed she doubled over in pain, using the bed to hold her up. “Why are you even out of bed?" Cypher asked, "you're in no condition to do anything.”

“I tried to stop her,” The Doctor said as he rushed to the two. “I was monitoring your fight and she saw that you were losing. I told her not to but she didn’t listen.”

The Advanced growled. “I was sick of being useless, so I used whatever power I built up to take action. If I didn't, then we wouldn’t have this." She presented the stone. After another surge of pain the Advanced turned back into her human form. She was a lavender skinned young woman dressed in a hospital gown. Her light purple hair with a turquoise highlights was an absolute mess.

The Doctor took the stone before turning to Cypher. “Quickly, get her onto the bed." Cypher did as he was told, the Doctor putting the stone into a machine. Once Cypher finished hooking up electrodes to the girl’s head, the Doctor flipped the switch.

Purple energy flowed from the machine, threw the wires and into the girl. The pain the girl was feeling soon subsided as she fell into a calm sleep, with a magical aura covering her body. “Come on, you need to make it through this Starlight,” The Doctor said as he and Cypher looked over the girl.

Ride 10: Master of Puppets

View Online

"Cyber Journal. Day nine hundred and eighty-nine.

It's been a while since my last entry, so I have a lot to say.

At the time, Cypher and Terra were the only successful creations I had. The results of the two test subjects prompted me to go for a third. That’s when I found Starlight and she accepted my offer. I knew the Unicorn Card was the most unsustainable one, but I decided to take the risk.

Unfortunately, the gamble didn’t favor me and the power was too much for her. Humans were not meant to handle all that power at once, so Starlight’s body rejected the magical circuits she'd formed through the first transformation that caused her to become unstable.

I was so scared by this, that I worked tirelessly to create the Magi-Beast cards we use now. A way of making loyal soldiers, without the risk of their power source burning out. In the meantime, I tried my best to prevent the power from rotting her from the inside out, but I needed a permanent solution.

Finally, after many sleepless nights of research, I found my answer.

A rare stone that an organisation I once worked for, who had written it off as useless, was the only thing I could think of that could compensate for what Starlight’s body lacked. In the end, my hypothesis was successful and now Starlight was in a stable state.”

The doctor looked away from the screen as a beeper went off, making him stand up and head into another room.

There he saw Cypher, who was standing next to a calmly sleeping Starlight. He moved over to her and typed on the computer next to her. The process was finally over and for the first time in a long time, she wasn’t in pain. “Finally it’s over,” The Doctor said as he checked her vitals and saw she was perfectly fine.

“I’m glad,” Cypher said. The two left the room and returned to the one he'd previously been in. “So what’s next for us?” He asked as the doctor slumped into a chair.

He removed his surgically mask and cap as well as his goggles revealing a man in his late twenties-early thirties. His skin was dark blue with long grey-blue hair. The man picked up a purple book covered in gold ornamentation. He flipped through the book, which was filled with pictures and descriptions of strange creators. A white-furred ape, a bee-like bear, and a mass of slime. “Now we rest, because our work has only just begun. I still need data on magi-beast."

Cypher nodded. “I promise, I will get whatever you need."

“I know you will Cypher,” The Doctor said as he closed the book. He then placed it into a metal box and started to type on a computer. The machine came to life and lights flashed. After a moment, the machine opened up to show six new Magi-Beast cards. The Doctor picked up two of the cards and gave them to Cypher. “Here, two for you, two for Terra, and two for Starlight when she wakes up. I know she would want to see the Magi-Beasts in action.”

Cypher took the card, “I’m sure these will give you what you need.” With that, the younger man turned and rushed out the door.

Once he was gone, the Doctor pulled out a key and opened a draw. He pulled out a box which appeared to have a card in it, but it was filled with what looked like a miniature storm around it. “This is all for you. Once I understand how this power works, you will lead me to what I want

The sun had just started to rise over the Sparkle house. Twilight did her best not to wake the rest of her family, not even Spike. She went out to her Lab and waited for her visitor. It wasn’t long till the gate opened and to reveal Trixie. “Hello," Trixie rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "I'm so glad you could make an opening for the Great and Powerful Trixie- *yawn* at the crack of dawn.”

“Yeah but I couldn’t say no when you said you wanted my help with your next big illusion,” Twilight responded. She opened the door and the two entered. “So what are you looking for, something chemical like your last show or more mechanical this time?”

“Well, I was wondering what you know about projectors?” Trixie asked as she picked up one of the random unfinished projects Twilight had. “I have an idea of improving the projectors I use in my show. I just what to know if they're even possible.”

“Improve them how?” Twilight asked.

“Maybe have it where I don't need to fill the room with smoke to get a picture. Or maybe having them small enough where I can hide them anywhere,” Trixie said.

“Making them smaller would be easy,” Twilight said as she got to her computer and started typing. “But making full-on light holograms is going to be a bit harder.”

“Oh I see, well if it's too much trouble you don’t have to do that,” Trixie said as she put down the gadget.

“I said hard, not impossible,” Twilight cut in. “I’ve dabbled in the idea myself but if I really put my mind to it I might be able to have a working design by the end of the day.”

“Really?" She asked, "that’s great. Hehe, the Great and Powerful Trixie is about to get even more great.” Trixie smiled as she started looking around Twilight's lab, interest in seeing what she was cooking up, and noticed a strange machine in the back. It was around the size of a washing machine and had a plasma globe on top. Around it was seven containers, each with a colored energy within it. “Hey what’s that thing?”

“Oh, that’s magic containment unit. It holds samples of all of our magical energy,” Twilight said. Trixie walked up to it to take a closer look. She picked up the tube with orange energy contained. “Be careful Trixie. That stuff can be unpredictable if anyone but the original source is exposed to it.”

“Yes I’m going to smash the magic container and become some kind of power-mad demon girl,” Trixie said in a mocking tone. “Give me a bit more credit Twilight. I’m not some dimwit that will break anything she touches,” She said as she went to put the tube back. Unfortunately, a mouse ran across the floor and brush her leg causing Trixie to toss the tube into the air. Trixie tried to catch the tube but she kept missing till the tube fell on the floor and shattered. The caused the girl to be swallowed in a puff of smoke.

“Trixie!” Twilight yelled out she couldn’t see anything through the smoke but she could hear the sounds of fabric being ripped. A loud thud filled the room as the smoke finally cleared. Twilight’s eyes went wide as she saw what had happened.

“Ok, you can’t blame that all on me. You need to clean this place one and a while,” Trixie said as she gave her head a shake. She had fallen back which meant she needed to look to see that Twilight was staring at her. “What?” She asked before something felt a bit off. She took a look at herself as was show shocked that she stood right back up, causing her to see the full scope of what happened.

The magical energy transform Trixie's physique to that of a heavy weight lifter. Her shoulders were broader to help support her massive arms that were Apple sized biceps. Her hoodie was ripped up due to the sudden gain in mass. Her belly which was flat before was now an impressive six-pack. Her legs bulked up as well, stretching her skirt out as tight as it would go and her socks were ripped up. All the better to support such a bulky build. But her muscles weren’t the only thing that had grown. Trixie’s modest height of five foot, four now skyrocketed to a towering seven feet even. The magic had transformed Trixie into a modern aged Amazon.

“H-h-How do you feel alright?” Twilight.

Trixie was silent as she tried to process what was happening. She looked at her arm and gave it a flex. This caused a grin to show on her face. “I feel AMAZING!”

Most of the student body of CHS have already arrived. During the free period before class started, Flash was in the middle of talking to one of his good friends, Bulk Biceps. Executing Applejack and her magical powers, Bulk was one of the stronger students in the school.

Physically.

Emotionally the big brute was a total softy. Too kind-hearted to hurt a fly and quick to let his feelings get the better of him. That’s why what he wanted to do was so hard that he why he needed Flash’s support. “Come on bro you can do this. There is nothing to be afraid of,” Flash said in an attempt to boost his confidence.

“Do you really think I can,” Bulk asked.

“I know you can. now show me that Bulk Bicep Confidence,” Flash said as he put his hand on his friend’s shoulder. “Yeah!” He yelled out.

“Yeah,” Bulk repeated weekly.

“That’s not the Bulk I know,” Flash told the larger teen. “Yeah!” Flash yelled louder.

“YEAH!” Bulk yelled. His voice was so loud that it caused Flash’s hair to be blown back. After doing some flexes to pump himself up he walked off to achieve his goal.

“Go get em big guy,” Flash whispered, giving his friend a thumbs up.

Bulked kept up his courage as he walked towards an open locker. It closed to reveal that it belonged to Fluttershy. “Hey Fluttershy,” Bulk greeted.

“Oh hello Bulk,” Fluttershy said with a warm smile.

This caused Bulk’s outward courage to melt away. “Um, I was just…” Bulk managed to get out before getting tongue-tied. Bulk has had a crush on Fluttershy ever since freshman year and he had decided today was the day he was going to confess his feelings. Flash encouraging him as best he could but that proved to be useless in practice. Fluttershy’s adorableness was just too much for the teen to handle “...Just…” He stopped when the doors of the school’s front entrance slammed open to taking everyone’s attention.

“Look out Canterlot High,” Trixie’s voice boomed as her bulkier build walked into the school. Wither her normal outfit destroyed, Trixie rushes back home to change into something a bit more appropriate for the situation. A blue tank top with matching gym shorts which were stretched to there limits on her large body. She also tied her hair into a ponytail to give her a more sporty look. Usually, this ensemble would be reserved for gym class but Trixie really wanted to show off her new strong woman look. “For the mighty Trixie has arrived!” She announced with a grin. She then performed a double bicep pose to make sure everyone knew the kind of power she had.

Everyone’s jaws hit the floor as Trixie walked, acting like there was no big deal. She revealed in the attention she was getting. She dwarfed everyone she walked passed and all there shocked expressions just inflated her ego more.

This drastic change did not go unnoticed by Sunset and her friends. “Can you believe what happened to her Rainbow?” Rarity asked. Her question was only followed by silence. “Rainbow Dash?” She asked as she turned to her athletic friend. She turned to see that Rainbow was frozen in place as if her brain had a short circuit. “Rainbow Dash!?” She yelled as she started to shake her friend with no response.

“Was Trixie caught in the middle of a gamma radiation leak?” Sunset asked.

“Actually it was one of my Magic containment units braking that caused this,” Twilight answered as she walked up to the group of girls sheepishly. “The one that contained Applejacks Super strength to be more specific.”

“But why does she look like lived at the gym for twelve years?” Applejack asked. “I mean, I know I’m in shape but nowhere near that.”

“Remember Trixie’s body isn’t used to magic. I hypothesize that her body was forced to adapt to the specific magic in a very short time. Resulting in accelerated growth in muscle tissue and additional height. It was enough to not go unnoticed but not too much to cause a Midnight Sparkle incident,” Twilight explained.

“I guess that makes sense. In some kind of crazy way,” Sunset said as she scratched her head.

“It could have been worse. By my calculations, there was a possibility she could have transformed into a chicken,” Twilight added.

“How does that work?” Applejack asked

“The universe is run by a weirdo, that’s why,” Pinkie chimed in.

“Should we be worried?” Sunset asked.

“No more then we should with Trixie normally,” Twilight answered. She then turned to Trixie who has lifted a trash can singlehandedly only to crush it down to a baseball-sized lump, laughing all the while before tossing the ball over her shoulder. “I’m already working on my old magic collector as we speak,” Twilight said as all of the girl's pupils shrank, already fearing the worst.

Trixie continued to walk down the hall before spotting Bulk. “Oh Bulk, Trixie didn’t see you there,” Trixie said with a wide grin. “It’s hard for someone as big as the mighty Trixie to see someone so small by comparison. Her muscles are just so impressive that they eclipse anything you can dream of,” She gloated. She then punctuated her claim by putting bother her arms behind her head and flexing both her abs and thighs.

“Hey! I don’t know what happened to you but I can tell you my muscles are the result of my hard work, dedication, and a ton of protein powder. YEAH!” He yelled out flexing his large bicep.

Trixie said nothing ash she grabbed Bulk by the back of his shirt and lift him up with one arm. “Hmm to Trixie you seem to be a bit more of a lightweight,” she said as she did a few reps with Bulk as her weight. She soon dropped the teen before putting both her hands on her hips in triumphant. “If you want to keep up with Trixie maybe you should be hitting the iron.”

This was such a huge blow to Bulk’s started to tear up. Not wanting others to see him as weaker then what Trixie has shown he ran off. “Oh Bulk don’t cry,” Fluttershy said to Bulk before following him.

“Trixie, what is wrong with you? Well besides all this. I actually have several questions about this,” Flash said as he took note of Trixie’s new physics before looked up to meet her gaze. “You know how sensitive Bulk can get. You shouldn’t have humiliated him like that.”

“I'm sorry if Trixie just too big for the rest of you,” She said as she grabbed her right wrist with her left hand and flexed her biceps. ”I mean how can she help herself with guns like these.”

“The only thing that has grown more is your head” Flash mumbled under his breath.

“What was that?” Trixie asked.

“Nothing,” Flash answered with a roll of his eyes. “You really should watch it though. You know who will love to take advantage of someone as emotional as Bulk.”

“Trixie thinks you're underestimating Bulk. He can be a tough guy when he wants to,” Trixie said.

“I hope that’s the case for the big guy,” Flash said.

Fluttershy lost Bulk as he ran into the school’s weight room which was good since Bulk didn’t want her to see him like this. He went right to the free weights which he loaded to his max of 75lbs on two dumbbells. He attempted to drown to humiliation in the endorphins of exercise. So focused on his bulging biceps, the teen didn’t notice a familiar figure in a white parka.

“I can understand the frustration of having your strength undermined,” Cypher said as he held up the glowing card. “May your passion for strength mix with you humiliation to create a beat of untold strength,” he said before throwing the card into Bulk’s back.

The card turned into energy before reforming into a monstrous form. This Magi-Beast was of a large build and covered in black and white striped fur. Its head looked like a bear but with large. Red, bug-like eyes. On its right arm was a large bee stinger with a needle coming out of it.

“Bulk, are you here?” Fluttershy asked as she opened the door. She was greeted by the sight of the monster having just been created. “EEEEEEEEEHHHH!” she yelled out getting the attention of the other teen.

“Fluttershy?” Bulk asked as he turned around to see what was happening. He first saw the monster than to Fluttershy who was screaming. “DON'T HURT HER YOU WASP!” He yelled as he barreled across the room. Past the monster and tackled Fluttershy threw the doorway and out of harm.

“What was that all about?” the monster asked.

“Your host running off, but don't worry about that Swolsting. We can always get him later to increase your power,” Cypher said with a wave of his hand. “Right now I’m more concerned with seeing what your power can do so we can destroy the rider.”

“Sounds fun to me. I’m the beefiest Magi-Beast around,” Swolsting said as he flexed his arms. “That rider is going to be nothing but a toothpick compared to me. YEAH!”

“You better back up your words. The Doctor is in a good mood right now and I would hate to ruin it with another failure,” Cypher said as he led the monster out.

“I’ll bring the gains and the pain when I see that rider,” Swolsting said as he followed.

When the two left, Bulk poked his head from behind the corner to see if the coast was clear. “That was a close one,” Bulk said. He looked down at Fluttershy who he held close to his larger body to try and keep her safe.

“That Magi-Beast came from you. Are you scared?” Fluttershy asked with concern.

“A little, but I can deal with that until your safe. I know you don’t like to fight,” Bulk replied.

“That’s very kind of you Bulk but can you please let me go?” Flutters asked.

“Oh sorry,” Bulk said as she let go of Fluttershy, His face was turning bright red. “We should go find the others and tell them what’s happening.”

“Good idea,” Fluttershy said as she graves Bulk’s hand and they ran off.

Lunchtime came and many of the students went outside to see the feat of strength Trixie was putting on. Lyra, Bon-bon, Ditzy, and Octavia all sat on the roof of one of the student’s car. “You all better hang on,’” Trixie said after a moment. Soon after the car was lifted over the wannabe titan’s head with just a casual smile on her face. The act cause the girls on top to gasp in amazement at Trixie’s display of strength. As she kept the car up all her muscles flexed, showing just how defined they were.

“Rainbow is going to love this when she gets out of the nurse's office,” Pinkie said as she snapped a picture with her phone. Applejack and Sunset not too far away.

“Haha," she declared as she slowly lowered the car, "Is there nothing the Mighty Trixie can’t do." The student watching all gave her a round of applause

“A'h bet ya'h can't go five minutes without flexing or showing off,” Applejack yelled from the sidelines with Pinkie and Sunset not too far away.

“Oh, what's the problem Applejack?” Trixie asked as she walked up to the girls. “It's all in good fun,”

“Ma'h problem is how ya parade around like you're better den everyone else,” Applejack said as she poked Trixie in her well-defined pectorals. “Remember ya'h got the same magical powers than me so don't think ya'h all dat special.”

Trixie responded by putting a hand on her hip. “While it may be true that you and Trixie may have the same powers that it one key difference between us.”

“Oh," Applejack raised an eyebrow, "And what would that be?"

“Showmanship,” Trixie answered before turning around with a flip of her hair.

Applejack's face grew very red, while Sunset patted her on the shoulder. “It'll all be over soon."

“I don't see it much different than how she usually is,” Flash’s voice said as he walked up to the trio.

“What do ya'h mean?”

“I mean it's like she just traded jobs from a magician to the circus’ strong woman,” Flash explained with the mental images of the two kinds of Trixie’s in his head. one in her usual magican's outfit and the other in some kind of animal print dress. “Trixie loves performing. This is just her trying out something new for her audience.”

“She does pull the look off very well’,” Sunset mentioned. The others looked at her curiously, causing the former unicorn to blush and look away from them.

Applejack crossed her arms. “That may be fine and dandy on stage, but her attitude still rubs me the wrong way.”

“Oh," Flash nodded, "I’m going to make her apologize to Bulk when this is all over. But as long as her new strength doesn't go to her head and she does something stupidly dangerous, I think we're fine."

“You probably shouldn't have said that,” Pinkie said out of nowhere.

“What do you mean?” As if to give him an answer, there was a loud crash coming from the parking lot. Looking over, the group saw Swolsting flipping a car repeatedly across the pavement. It was at this point Flash realized what Pinkie was talking about. “I'll get everyone out of here. You girls, I think should try and keep Trixie from doing what we all think she’s going to do. I'm sure the Rider's gonna be here soon to take care of the Magi-Beast.”

“Sounds like a good plan,” Sunset said as she ran off.

Flash watched to make sure that everyone was safe before running off behind a dumpster and pulled out his driver. He pulled out the rider card and slotted it into the driver. “Henshin!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!!!”

The armor began to form over his body, causing him to be replaced by his alter-ego.

“YEAH!" Swolsting yelled as he raised both his arms up, "let's get that heart rate up.” His flexing was soon interrupted by a slash of a spear.

“Sorry," Achilles said as he rested his spear on his shoulder, "but PE's next period." He spun his spear around before pointing it at the monster.

“Glad you could come Rider,” Swolsting said as he kicked the car into the air and caught it with both hands. “I could really use a spotter.” He tossed the car at the armored teen, who quickly rolled out of the way to dodge the attack.

"Great," Achilles moaned, "I thought I only had to deal with one self-centered muscle head today.” Swolsting took advantage of the opening and rushed the rider, trying to stab him with his stinger arm. Luckily, Achilles managed to side-step it. He avoided several other attempts with the stinger before jabbing the monster with the butt of his spear. Swolsting recovered quickly and kicked the rider into a group of parked cars.

“Okay." he pulled out his Knuckle Card, "looks like I’m going to need to out muscle this guy."

“Oh no you don't,” The Magi-Beast fired his stinger at the rider. Achilles ducked out of the way and the stinger hit the car instead. Strangely, the stinger seems to have disappeared upon impact.

The rider let out a laugh as he picked himself up. “You should have been working on your aim rather than you arms,”

“Oh," the monster laughed as his eyes began to glow, "my aim isn't that bad.” Soon the car the stinger hit started up on its own and gunned it right into the riders back, knocking him to the ground. “It always pays to have an ace in the hole!" He let out a laugh before coming in close for an attack.

Meanwhile, Applejack was grappling with Trixie. “I know what ya'h thinking Trixie and ain't no way a’m gonna let ya'h get ya'self hurt doing something so stupid."

“Come on," Trixie moaned. "I’m just as strong as you. why can’t I help?”

“Ya'h may be bigger but ya'h are nowhere near ma'h strength." Applejack managed to push Trixie back, but the magician just smiled.

“That may be true, but I think you are underestimating something.” Trixie then broke away from Applejack before trapping her in a bear hug, “that sometimes size does matter.” She remembered clearly the moves the pro wrestlers used when Flash invited her over to watch matches. She performed a German Suplex on Applejack that got her out of the way. She then made a mad dash towards the battlefield.

It was in this moment Swolsting swung his arm around to knock Achilles off his feet. “And down for the count,” the monster cheered as he raised his arms up in celebration. He was so pleased with his victory that he didn’t notice Trixie rushing in and knocking the beast away.

“Hehe, now it’s time for round two." She then did a double bicep flex, "for now you face the Mighty Trixie.”

“Your a big one," Swolsing picked himself back up. "but you will never match me." He then rushed at Trixie with his stinger extended, but the buffed up teenager ducked out of the way. She then raised up to deliver a kick right in the chest.

“I'd say I’m a pretty good match,” Trixie said with a grin.

It was here that Achilles finally picked himself up. She couldn't tell due to his mask, but he was glaring at her. “What are you thinking!?" The rider marched up to Trixie, "this guy had some pretty strange powers and you just charged in like a crashing bull!”

“Well whatever powers he has, it's clearly no match for me,” Trixie gloated. As she did, she felt something pierce her arm. The pain caused her to double over as Achilles looked to see that Swolsting shot one of his stingers.

“Gotcha,” the monster cheered.

"Not good," the rider tightened the grip on his spear. “I need to take him out now before he uses that power again.” He jumped up and prepared to bring down the blade of his weapon. However, the attack was interrupted by another blade. Looking over Achilles saw the sword was being held by a familiar white-winged monster. “Cypher.”

The Advanced didn't respond as he swung his sword to throw Achilles back. “This fight is very enlightening. I would have never guessed the meathead would have such a useful ability." He pointed the sword at him, "I think this one is worth nurturing.” Before he could say anything else, several pieces of sprinkles fell on the ground before bursting into colourful smoke. Cypher raised his sword to protect himself before looking up to see Applejack and Pinkie run up to them and were ready to fight. Sunset, meanwhile, rushed to check if Trixie was alright.

It was now three on two as Achilles and the two girls cornered the Advanced and Magi-Beast. “Can you use your control stinger on the other girls?” Cypher asked.

“Sorry," he said while dodging a sprinkle explosion, "I can only use it on one target at a time. And even then I don't have enough power to control something with a will of its own.”

“I See,” Cypher growled as he took a look at the downed Trixie. “I guess you have some bulking up to do then.” he raised his sword before a storm of feathers kicked up and the two vanished into thin air.

With the monsters gone, Applejack and Pinkie turned to help Sunset while Achilles left without being noticed. “Are you alright Trixie?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah," Trixie held her arm, "the pain just passed." Once she moved her hand, she saw that there was nothing there. “That was a close one. Guess I wasn’t much help.”

“Well, ya'h lasted longer than he expected. Let’s just hope ya'h not allergic to bee stings. Now ya'h see why we didn’t want ya'h to get involved. Just because ya'h have powers, ya'h also need to learn how to use them.”

“Yeah," Pinkie pulled a cupcake out of her hair, "I can't tell you how many cupcakes I blew up before I mastered my powers."

“I get it," Trixie sighed. "Stick to performing and leave the fighting to the pros."

“I'm happy to hear that you learned something today but I'm pretty worried about that sting,” Flash said as he ran back to the group. “I saw that monster using it to control those cars back there.”

“There’s nothing to worry about, the rider sent that freak running,” Trixie said with a wave of her hand.

“I think we better call Twilight just in case,” Flash said as he pulled out his phone. But before he had a chance to unlock it, Trixie’s arm had a spasm. It was moving all over the place and even Trixie didn't even know why.

“Ahhhh I'm not doing this,” Trixie said scared of losing control of her limb. Her arm grabbed onto Flash’s Phone and crushed it in her grip. When she opened her hand to let the broken pieces fall out, she had gain control again of her arm.

“Oh man," Sunset observed. "I think that's a sign the Magi-Beast is getting stronger. We need to find the host.”

As soon as she said that, Fluttershy and Bulk both ran up to the group. “Sunset," Fluttershy waved to her, "we have an emergency."

“This is almost too easy,” Sunset remade.

The group got Trixie back to Twilight’s lab.

Flash and Sunset stayed behind as Applejack and Fluttershy went out to search down the Magi-Beast and Pinkie stayed with Bulk to keep him calm. Flash told Twilight about Trixie’s arm spasm and showed her his crushed phone, which she wanted to take a look at later. Right now, Twilight had electrodes attached to Trixie to see what was going on with her. “Hmm," she said as she pressed on the spot, "I am picking up a weak magical signal coming from this spot on her arm.”

“That's the spot I was hit,” Trixie pointed out.

“I saw that monster using its stinger to control some cars,” Flash said.

“You don’t think that monster was going to take control of her?” Sunset asked.

“No, well not yet." Twilight hummed, "odds are the spasm was her body syncing with the monster. It's very weak, but we all know Magi-Beast only get stronger with time.”

Applejack and Fluttershy were out to find the Magi-Beast. Their search brought them to a back alleyway. “We need to hurry," Fluttershy said as she ran ahead. "I don’t know how long Bulk might last.”

“Wow," Applejack said, "what has you all riled up?”

“Well," Fluttershy blushed, "I don’t want Bulk to disappear. After all, he saved me when the monster showed up."

Applejack raised an eyebrow, “Bulk saved you? That’s a surprise. Didn’t think he had it in him.”

“Bulk is just a gentle soul and I don’t think people understand that. They see his big bulky build and think he’s supposed to be a tough guy, but he’s really in tune with his sensitive side.”

“Wow, sounds like your kind of guy.”

“Oh um, I didn’t mean for it to sound like that,” Fluttershy said as she clammed up.

“Fluttershy, there nothing to be scared of. Whatever ya say will just be between the two of us.” Applejack placed her arm around Fluttershy’s shoulder.

“Well , but only cause I wanted to say it for the longest time,” Fluttershy blushed before letting out her next words into a whisper. “I have a crush on Bulk.”

“Well ya'h do seem like the kind of girl who’d want to be swept off her feet,” Applejack said. "After this is all over, ya'h need to tell the guy.”

“Do you really think he has feelings for me too?”

Applejack smiled as she brought her friend in close. “I think he was about to confess his feelings before Trixie made a whole show in the hallway.”

“Really?!” Fluttershy asked. Before Applejack could say anything, a shadow passed over them.

The two looked up to see the flying object land on a lamppost, revealing it to be Cypher. “There you are,” The Advansed said with his arms crossed. “It was a real pain trying to find you.”

“What do ya'h want, you feathered freak?!” Applejack demanded as she prepared to fight.

“I’m after the pink-haired girl.” Fluttershy let out an 'eep' before jumping behind Applejack. “I suggest you stand down. Someone like you may have a chance against Terra, but not against someone like me.” Applejack responded to this by grabbing a trash can and throwing it at the monster. Cypher spread his wings and dodged her attacks, then dive-bombed right at the girls. In a single motion, he smacked Applejack away with his wing before snatching Fluttershy and pulling up into the air. He landed on a roof with Fluttershy held under his arm.

“Fluttershy!” Applejack yelled out.

“If you want her, come get her!” With that, Cypher leapt off the building and disappeared into the sky.

"NOOOOOOO!"

“THIS IS TERRIBLE!” Pinkie yelled out with her phone in her hand.

“What’s going on?” Bulk asked.

“Applejack just texted everyone one that one of thoughts monster kidnapped Fluttershy,” Pinkie answered.

“NOT FLUTTERSHY!” Bulk yelled. As the emotions went wild over this news, colorful wisps of aura came out of his body and flew into the air.

At an unoccupied construction site, Swolsting was busy using some makeshift dumbbells to do bicep curls. As he was working out, the wisps of energy that were coming off Bulk was absorbed into his body. “Oh yeah, I’m getting jack. YEAH!”

“That’s good to hear,” Cypher said as he landed. He waisted no time tying the unconscious Fluttershy to a nearby poll. “Why don’t you try your powers on that one girl you hit now. You should be strong enough to take control of her.”

“Not a bad idea," Swolsting's eyes started glowing red. "I’ll use that girl as my own personally lackey."

Meanwhile, at Twilight’s lab, the group had just read the news of what had happened to Fluttershy. “This is not good, not good at all,” Flash said.

“I know," Sunset had gone pale when she heard what had happened. "Fluttershy must be scared out of her mind."

“Not just that," Flash continued. "When Bulk sees this he going to freak out. And that will just make that huge bee stronger."

“That just means it’s only a matter of time before- Twilight didn't get to finished, as a loud crashing sound caught their attention. "They all turned to see Trixie had just flipped over a table. “Trixie!?"

“I swear I didn’t mean to do this. My body just acted on its own." Trixie soon doubled over and held her head like she was having the worst headache of her life.

“Trixie," Flash stepped over to her, "are you ok?” He and Sunset tried to get her back on her feet. Unfortunately, Trixie suddenly used her strength to throw the two off. She turned to her friends to show her eyes started to glow solid red.

“RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

“Oh no,” Sunset said after Trxiei's roar. She charged full force towards the door, ripping it right off its hinges. “Trixie, get a hold of yourself!” Trixie looked around, lost for a moment, before using her strong legs to jump far off into the distance.

“Twilight," Flash turned to her, "how much longer do you have on the magic collector?”

“I only have a few tweaks to make on it." Flash only nodded before running off. He quickly mounted his bike and as he was putting on his helmet, Twilight and Sunset interrupted him. “What do you think you are doing?”

“I'm going to try and keep track of where Trixie is going,” Flash said as he started his bike.

“That's a good idea," Sunset nodded. "But how are you going to tell us where the hulking monster is when you find her. You phone is, for lack of a better term, out of service.”

“Oh, I think I might have something.” Twilight ran back into the lab as quickly as she could before returning with a device in hand. It looked like a normal smartphone, with a bit of a green color scheme and some extra bits coming off it.

“Oh great, you have a spare phone,” Flash said as Twilight gave him the device.

Twilight smirked. “Not just a phone, but the next stage of my drone technology. Press the owl looking app." Flash did what she said and as he pressed the app, the face of the phone split in half and opened. The two halves of the screen became wings as the whole phone transformed into a small robotic owl. “It's called the Owl phone. Not much of an original name, but now you have a copilot that can help you keep track of Trixie. It doesn't have GPS so we won’t be able to track you unfortunately.”

“That won’t be a problem. All I need to do is text you,” Flash said before pulling out on his bike. The Owl Phone flew out to follow and was keeping up surprisingly well.

Flash followed the path of destruction to the destruction to the construction site. The controlled Trixie stood before Swolsting and Cypher. The Owl Phone perched on his shoulder as they watched the monsters talk. “Hmm, she's not bad at all. I think she will make a great spotter,” Swolsting said.

“As long as she can beat the rider then you can use her to open cans of salmon for all I care,” Cypher followed.

Flash looked back at the Owl robot on his shoulder. “You don't have any camera or anything that will tell Twilight what will go on right?” The Owl Phone shook its head no. “Good, cause this needs to be our secret.” Flash then ran out to confront the two monsters. “Let my friend go!” Flash demanded to get the two’s attention.

“Well, well, well," Cypher smirked. "Thanks for making it and saving me the trouble of finding you.” Swolsting slowly stepped up as Trixie turned around, growling like an animal on a leash. “Are you ready to take on our new weapon?”

“Don't you dare call my friend a weapon!” Flash yelled as he placed the driver on his waist.

“Too bad, cause you're going to have to deal with her like one." Swolsting's eyes glowed again, as he willed Trixie to charge at him.

“Henshin!” Flash yelled as he quickly slotted in the Rider card and transformed. The rider suit appeared on his body to defend him from the freight train that was the punch delivered from Trixie.

Achilles got up but was attacked by Stingswol, who got an attack in with his stinger. “YEAH! You won’t hurt your own friend. That leaves you wide open for attacks from both of us.”

“Yeah," Achilles smirked, "I won’t hurt Trixie. But that won't help as much as you think.” The Rider pulled out his weapon in blaster mode and shot the Magi-Beast several times.

“Idiot!" Cypher ordered and slapped his own forehead, "fall back and let the girl take care of the fighting.”

“Oh right,” Swolsting said as he ran away.

Achilles tried to follow, but was intersected by Trixie. “Trixie, get a hold of yourself. You need to fight this guy’s control.” He tried to get through to his friend but it was useless. Trixie just charged at him and delivered several blows to the rider, knocking him back. “Honestly, I should have rethought you fighting before." He moaned as he tried to get up. "You're actually pretty good."

As the rider was trying to recover, Trixie jumped up and prepared to smash Achilles in with both her fists while she came down. Achilles raised his arms in defense, but something else seems to have taken the blow. Looking up, the rider saw Applejack caught the attack. “Come on partner, a'h thought ya'd put up a better fight than that.”

“Hey," Achilles stood up, "I didn't want to hurt the girl. I'm just glad you saved my butt.”

Applejack gritted her teeth before throwing Trixie back. “Well a'h was just in the neighbourhood, but now’s not the time for small talk. That giant bugger is getting stronger, ya'h need to save Fluttershy and squish that thing. A'h can keep Trixie busy here till Twilight gets here to get the magic out of her."

“Got it,” Achilles said as he started to dash after the Magi-Beast.

Trixie recovered and tried to stop him, but Applejack intersected again. She punched Trixie in the abdomen to let the rider pass. “Hey, a'm the one ya'h fighting now sugarcube.” Applejack, cracked her neck.

When Achilles finally caught up to Swolsting, he found Fluttershy as well. She was tied up and unconscious, but looked perfectly fine. “Let Fluttershy go!” Achilles demands as he pulled out his spear.

“Now why should I do that?” Swolsting extended his stinger. More whisps flew in to be absorbed into the Magi-Beast’s body, causing a more powerful aura to start radiating off the monster’s body. “As long as she’s here, the more pumped I get.” He then charged at the rider to swing his stinger. Achilles sidestepped before hitting him but Swolsting followed quickly with a punch that sent flash flying.

“Ok," Achilles picked himself up, "I think I figured how to beat you.” He pulled out the Knuckle card and then slot it into the driver. “Element change!”

“OK”

"HUSSLE, MUSCLE, TRUE METAL OF STRENGTH!”

“K-K-K-KNUCKLE!"

The magic circle appeared and Achilles ran through it to transform into his Knuckle guise. With his large gauntlet, the rider delivered a mighty punch to the monster’s head. “Let's see who can hit harder,” Achilles said as he launched another punch. Swolsting took the punches, but interrupted Achilles attacks with a blow of his own.

“Yeah, and that's going to be me.”

“YEEHAAA!” Applejack yelled while she performed a dropkick into Trixie. This was followed by Applejack pushing up from the ground to kick Trixie right in the jaw. This caused the larger girl to fall on her back like a pile of bricks. “There. That atta take care of ya'h.”

Unfortunately, Trixie did not stay down long as she stood back up and looked even angrier than before. “GRRRRRRR!” She growled as she tried to smash Applejack with her hand. Applejack caught the attack. This prompted Trixie to try again with her other hand, but the same thing happened. The two girls were in a stalemate as they tried to push into one another.

Applejack dug her heels in before picking up Trixie till she was upside down. She then tossed the hulking girl up to change her grip. Now Trixie was upside down with her neck resting on Applejack’s right shoulder and both her legs were restrained. “Honestly, a'h think this move is all kinds of stupid to use but since ya'h won’t seem to quiet down, a'h don't see another chose." This strange hold confused Trixie that she didn’t see it coming when Applejack started to fall backwards. When the two landed all the force was put into Trixie’s back, cause an insane amount of pain.

“Applejack!” Sunset’s voice yelled out.

Both Sunset and Twilight came onto the area and Applejack stood back up. “I got the magic collector working again,” Twilight announced. She held up a circulars device with wires hanging out of it.

“Well, what are ya'h waiting for? Use the dang thing."

“Get behind me or else you get caught up in it,” Twilight said. Applejack quickly ran behind the two. As soon as Trixie let out a groan, Twilight opened the device and a ball of light appeared. An orange aura began to come out of Trixie's body and into the device. Trixie’s body began to shrink down back to normal. When the process was over, Twilight closed the collector.

Trixie let out another grown as she laid on the ground in ripped clothing. the three girls ran over to their friend, Sunset crouching down to elevate Trixie’s head. “Are you ok?” She asked.

“My-my back is killing me,” Trixie answered. “You could have taken it easier on me.”

“Hey," Applejack replied with a smile, "ya'h didn’t pull any punches with me. Now, all we gotta do is hope the rider can finish things up.” She looked over in the direction of Achilles’ fight, hoping Fluttershy was okay and Bulk wasn't gone.

Achilles was elbowed in the face my Swolesting, but stood firm. The rider stayed strong as the two exchanged blows. Achilles held up his gauntlets to defend before finally clocking the Magi-Beast in the face.

“Lucky punch,” Swolsting said as he threw a slash with his stinger. “But you won’t stand a chance when I use my control stinger to make you another one of my minions.” He aimed his stinger arm and fired.

“I won’t let you have the chance,” Achilles said as he pressed the button on the driver.

“KNUCKLE FEEDBACK!!!”

An orange aura appeared around the gauntlets before Achilles leapt into the air to dodge the stinger. “This is for Trixie!” He came down on the monster with his fist to smash him to the ground. A magic circle appeared on Swolsting’s body before he exploded. Achilles was breathing heavily before he turned to see Cypher standing on a pile of building supplies. “Do you wanna take a shot, or are you still recovering from the last time I kicked your butt?” The rider asked the Advansed.

Cypher just glared at him for a moment. He pulled out his sword as prepared to attack but soon a pain struck his arm. “I’m still not fully recovered,” he mumbled to himself. “You may have gotten stronger, but don’t think I’m just going to sit by. I will use the Doctor’s power to create a Magi-Beast that will help me fulfil my mission,” The Advansed said as he speeds his wings and flew off.

Achilles ran over to Fluttershy and untied her. “Everything is alright now,” he assured.

“Thank you so much,” Fluttershy said as she slowly got to her feet.

“Your friends are outside and things should be alright,” Achilles as he helped her up.

The two walked out of the construction site to meet the others. “Glad to see you girls are alright,” The rider said.

“Glad to see you got our friend safe and sound,” Applejack said as she carried Trixie. “Now we can put this whole thing behind us.”

The next day everyone was more or less fully recovered. Trixie had not broken bones after her fight, but still needed to rest. So she just sat in her chair as Flash handed her her drink. “Thank you Flash,” Trixie said.

Flash smiled as she sat down on the other chair, his new Owl Phone perched on his shoulder. “So how did it feel being in battle?” He asked.

“It was alright, wouldn't mind doing it again,” Trixie said jokingly.

“Well hopefully if you are forced to fight, next time you won't let the power go to your head. Fighting monsters isn't like being on stage. There is a real risk to it,” Flash explained.

“I know, I know,” Trixie said. She then looked at her arm and flexed it seeing that it was indeed back to average size. “I am going to miss being strong,” She said.

“Well if you want, Bulk can help you out with that. But your not cut out for that kind of hardcore training,” Flash said with a laugh. He then looked behind Trixie with a smile. “Speaking of, looks like things are looking up for the big guy”

Trixie turned around to see both Bulk and Fluttershy were sitting on the couch in the cafe. Bulk’s large arm wrapped around Fluttershy’s shoulder, holding her smaller frame close as they sipped on smoothies. “Glad to see Bulk bouncing back after what I did,” Trixie said.

“The important thing is that you realize you did something wrong and you apologized. Plus Bulk is tougher than people credit for,” Flash said. He then stood up and waved to get the two’s attention. “I know you could do it, bro,” Flash said supportively.

“YEAH!!!” Bulk yelled, grabbing the attention of everyone in the cafe. Flash and Trixie both rolled their eyes as Bulk returned to spending time with Fluttershy.

Author's Notes:

So i want to apologist for the delay on this chapter. that month long hiatus came out of nowhere but I'm back. also i want to say i'm sorry for the cancelling of the Kamen Rider Wizard Crossover, it just wasn't working out in a way i was happy with.

so with apologies out of the way, This was a weird chapter but this is one i really wanted to write.

Also my friends at Blue Carnatiom Studios are working of there own Equestria girls comic. So if you want more of what you saw in this chapter, and by that I mean girls growing huge hulking muscle, go check them out. There grate guys and I felt like this chapter was the perfect place it give a shout out.

Link to there DA

thanks to my editor
Banshee531

like always please comment. your comments keep me going to make this thing happen

Ride 11: Basket Case

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It was a quarter past four and the chemistry club had just finished up for the day.

Two members of the club had to stay late to clean up. Today it was Flash and Twilight’s turn to clean up. Flash was lost in his thoughts as he was sweeping the floor. Trixie was at her part-time job so he could have hung out with twilight. However, there was something that he needed to do that required him to head to the library before it closed. Once he finished up his chores he looked over to twilight. The Owl Phone was just sitting on the table as it watched the two cleaned, its head turning around three hundred and sixty degrees. Twilight was walking all around the room, in search of something.

“Lose something?”

“My bag," Twilight replied as she opened a cabinet to check inside. "I’m sure I left it by my workstation but it disappeared.”

Flash just looked to his owl buddy before moving the conversation along. “So," he asked, "you gonna be hanging out with the girls this weekend?”

“Most likely,” Twilight answered as she closed the cabinet and moved on to looking under the tables. “We haven't made any plans yet, but we may end up going to Equestria Land. That's always fun.”

“Yeah, sounds great. It's probably going to be just another boring weekend for me.” He chuckled knowing he'd most likely be spending most of his weekend fighting against whatever abomination of science Cypher or the others would be sending his way.

Twilight continued to look around, but no matter where she looked her bag was nowhere in sight. It was then that Flash spoke up. "So, you're bag, remind me. It's purple with blue straps and has your emblem on the front, right?"

"Yeah," Twilight turned to him, "you find it?" Flash didn't answer and instead pointed up at a light fixture, Twilight looking up before her eyes went wide. Her bag was currently hanging from said light fixture, well out of her and Flash's reach. "How...when..."

"I've learned not to question these things," Flash told her. "Especially if either Pinkie or Ditzy are anywhere in the vicinity."

Twilight sighed, unable to argue with that. She picked up the second broom and started to poke at her bag to get it down but ended up getting it further stuck. “Dang it.” She could just use her magic but she left her necklaces in the bag she was trying to get down.

Flash looked up at the bag for a moment before he got an idea. “Stand back a bit,” he said as he took a few steps back.

Twilight did as she was asked as Flash spun the broom in his hand till the brush was facing up. He took the broom in both hands before sprinting. Once he got close to where the light was, he slammed the broom on the ground to volt him up and kick the light just hard enough to knock the bag down without breaking the light. At the moment that Flash was in that air, time seemed to slow down for Twilight. In seeing his movements, she couldn't help but see a ghost of Kamen Rider Achilles performing the same move. This caused Twilight's mind to go into overdrive as she watched Flash pick up her bad from the ground. “Here you go.”

“Um, thanks,” Twilight took her bag back. Before she could think of what she should say, Flash made his way to the door.

“Well, everything seems to be done here. I need to get to the library before it closes. See ya later,” He stepped through the door, the Owl Phone flying to him before turning to its phone and he pocketed it.

Twilight just stood in the middle of the room, silent for a moment as her brain finally caught up. “Is...is Flash, Achilles?”

“Flash can’t be Achilles,” Spike said as he rolled around in his dog bed. Twilight was in her room, typing away at her computer. “I'm pretty sure we would know if he of all people got magical powers”

“Yeah, but it just makes too much sense. I mean, there is at least a possibility of it.” Twilight spun her chair around to her canine companion.

“Well, what else do you have besides the fact that the guy can imitate the rider’s moves?”

“Have you ever noticed that we never see Flash and the Rider at the same time?”

“Really Twilight, you're using that argument?” Spoke asked with a dry looking face. "By that logic, your mom and dad could by the rider."

“ It's not just that either," Twilight told him. "What about all the strange names for his attacks?”

“Yeah, but heroes always name their special attacks.”

“Yeah, well, I found a common theme with them. Take the fight with Hydrax for example,” Twilight began to explain as she thought back to that battle.

The group of monsters was so overwhelmed by the drones that they were all surrounded. “Shine on you crazy diamond,” Achilles said as she snapped his fingers. The drones then started to spin around the monsters at high speeds as they bombarded the group with laser blasts.

When the lasers stopped firing, only the original Hydrax was left. “Wh-what does that...even mean?” He asked as he stumbled forward.

"It means Goodbye,” Achilles said as he pressed the button in his driver

“Or the battle with Cypher.”

“Savage Garden!” Achilles yelled. The ball then erupted into a large shockwave. The ground around them began to transmute into all matter of swords, spears, axes and so on of all shapes and sizes.

“They all have musical themes to them. I looked them up and they all seem like music Flash would be a big fan of,” Twilight showed her search results on the computer.

“All your proving is that the Rider has a hobby when he's not fighting,” Spike said as he got out of his bed and hopped up to Twilight’s lap. “Do you have anything else cause if you go bringing this up with the other, they're gonna look at you like you're crazy.”

Twilight patted Spike as she began to work out how she was going to prove her hypothesis. Using the scientific method, she decided to move on to the experimental phase. But what should it be?

After a moment, Twilight rose up abruptly, causing Spike to jump off. “I got it! I’ll spend the whole day with Flash. Never leave his side and if the rider shows up that would mean he’s not the rider. But if he tries to get away then there would be some cause for suspicion. Not to mention, I can try to get more info out of him.”

Spike let out a doggish hmm as he thought about it. “Well, that may work. But won’t Flash find it kinda weird if you're following him around all day. That will look pretty suspicious if you ask me.”

“Hmm," Twilight began to pace before a smile appeared on her face, "I think I know how to get past that.” She pulled out her phone.

“How?”

“I’m going to ask him,” Twilight answered. Spike’s jaw dropped in response to Twilight's bluntness. Once she selected Flash’s contact, she brought the phone up to her ear.

At home, Flash was intensely focusing on the many books he got from the library that were spread out on the kitchen table. The Owl Phone was perched on his mother's spice rack, watching him read.

Trixie, who was hanging out at his house, had just got some peanut butter crackers from the refrigerator when she noticed this. She took one of the books to see why her friend looked like he was studying for midterms. Trixie soon found that the books were all about chemistry and were very advanced. “I didn't know you were taking AP Chemistry,” she said as she placed the book down.

“I'm not,” Flash responded, not breaking his concentration from his studies. “This is all for rider business.”

“How so?” Trixie asked as she sat on the couch.

“You remember that fight with Cypher? The one where I got the Alchemy Element Cards,” Flash asked as he pulled out the card.

“Yeah," Trixie recalled, "you turned the ground into a bunch of weapons and kicked his butt till that Unicorn Advanced showed.”

“Yeah, well since then I haven't been able to repeat that. I'm back to just changing the shape of things and not the matter they're made out of. My guess is that the form needs some kind of knowledge of what I want to change in order to make it happen. That's why I could only do it with Twilight. Knowing the molecular makeup of steel is nothing to her.”

“Of course Twilight would create a power that requires homework,” Trixie said as she took her bag and dumped out a pile of machine parts as well as a contraption with several lenses on it. She then pulled out a screwdriver and began working on the gadget.

“And what are you working on?” Flash asked.

“I'm working on what will soon make me the greatest and most powerful magician in history,” Trixie said nonchalantly.

Flash just sat back till he heard a hooting, both teens looking up to see the Owl Phone's eyes flashing as it spoke. It flew down and landed in Flash's hand, morphing into its phone form. He saw it was Twilight and answered it. “Hey Twilight, what's up?”

“Oh, nothing much,” Twilight answered from the other end of the call. “I was just wondering, if you still have no plans, if you want to go to Equestria land with me?”

“Oh, yeah. I’d love to go to the amusement park with you and the girls,” Flash responded.

“Oh, the other girls had other plans so it will just be you and me,” Twilight said.

This news caused Flash to fall back on his chair. His phone flew out of his hand and onto the table. The crash also caused some of Trixie’s parts to fall on the floor. “Hello? Hello~” Twilight said through the phone. Flash tried to get back up but he just ended up tripping on a few of the nuts and bolts, crashing back to the ground.

Flash soon got himself back together and picked up the phone again. “Just you and me. At the amusement park?” Flash thought out loud. “Hahaha! Yeah just the two of us, at the amusement park, all day. It will be fun, as friends. Why wouldn’t I want to do that, sounds fun.”

“Glad to hear. Meet me by the front gate by ten,” Twilight side before disconnecting the call. Flash just placed the phone on the table with a black stare on his face. The phone changed back into its owl form, it and Trixie looking at him oddly.

“Sounds like you're going to the amusement park with Twilight." Trixie gave him a concerned look, "do you think you’ll be ok?”

“I-I don't know,” was all Flash could get out.

Twilight put down her phone and smiled, happy that her experiment had now been put into motion. “There, everything is set up.”

Spike smirked, a cheeky look appearing on his face. “Yeah, I hope you have a good time on your date.”

“It’s not a date Spike. It's an experiment,” Twilight snapped back. “Plus, I already have a boyfriend.”

“Hard to tell with how little we see the guy,” Spike mumbled to himself

“What was that?” Twilight asked as she wasn’t paying attention.

“Nothing,” Spike responded.

After a well-deserved rest, Starlight was active again.

She was looking herself over in the full-length mirror in her room. The room was just like Cyphers but not as plain. The place was filled with books with several formulas written on the walls. There was even a potted plant by the window. Starlight appeared to be just as smart as the Doctor and was very interested in the advancement of his research.

She was happy to finally be out of her hospital gown. Instead of slippers, she now had on a pair of dress shoes with knee-high socks. She had a plain purple skirt and a long sleeve button up lavender shirt. The shirt had a patch on both shoulders of a four-point white and purple star. Her hair was properly brushed and was tied in a ponytail. She tighter her necktie and gave herself one last look over. “Finally," she smiled, "something a bit more stylish than those rags.”

“Hey look who’s back on her feet,” Terra said as he barged into the room with a smile on his face.

“What do you want?” Starlight asked as she slipped her hand through a silver bracelet.

“I just want to welcome you back to the world of the living.” He then pulled out a bag from his favorite restaurant. “And I wanted to get you some real food.”

“Um thanks,” Starlight said as she was handed the bag. She opened it and pulled out a wrapped burger. “I appreciate the offer but I don’t eat food this greasy.” Starlight handed the bag back to Terra before exiting the room.

“Hey," he asked, "where are you going?”

“I’m going to get my own food," Starlight said as she walked down the hall. "I want the first food I eat to be Coffee Jelly.” She then pulled out two of the Magi-beast cards she was given, “I also want to see what Kurogiri’s work can do.”

Saturday morning was probably when most people were crowded around the front gate of Equestria Land.

Through the crowds and nightmarish parking lot, Flash found Twilight standing by the ticket booth. “Hey, Twilight!” He shouted as he ran up to her.

“Oh, there you are,” Twilight responded with a smile. “I already got the tickets, so you just need to cover the food.”

“Sounds fair. Just go easy on me with that. I don’t have that much cash on me.” Flash let out a laugh and smile before running off to the gate, Twilight lagging behind.

She pulled out her phone and opened the voice memo app. “Ten O seven am," Twilight logged into her phone. "My observations on Flash Sentry begins. I will be doing everything in my power to uncover if Flash really is the Kamen Rider that has been defending our town.”

“Come on Twilight," she heard Flash yell. "What’s the hold-up?!”

“Coming,” Twilight responded as she ran over to her friend.

When the two entered the park, they looked around to see which ride they should ride first. Flash suggested the roller coaster and Twilight was happy to comply. After a short wait, the two got in the ride. It was very exciting for both of them and they wanted to keep it going. Soon after, they rode on a large swing and a tower drop ride.

“Wow, I haven't had this much fun in a long time.” Flash laughed as he and Twilight continued to walk around the park. “Hey," he pointed off in one direction, "why don't we check out what’s down that way?” He ran off in a childlike manner, Twilight smiling with a shake of her head before following.

The two soon passed by the midway. One game caught Twilight’s eye. It was a shooting game that used air rifles and corks to knock down prizes. 'This may help in my research,' she hummed. 'The rider can use blaster weapons very effectively in his battles. Let's see if Flash can match up, Twilight thought to herself.'

“Hey, why don't we play some games? That could be fun,” Twilight said as she grabbed onto his arm.

“Aren’t those things rigged?” Flash asked.

“That depends on who’s running them and I don’t see those two con men anywhere in sight,” Twilight answered, seeing that it was only one nice looking man and not twin brother.

Flash gave the man the money to play and the man handed him the air gun with three corks. “I have to tell you," Flash said as he picked up the gun. "I've never been much good at these games.” He aimed the gun and fired, managing to hit three of the targets dead center. This shock everyone, including Flash. “Wow!”

'Interesting,' Twilight thought, 'Flash seems to match Achilles with his skills with a poll arm and a firearm.'

'Looks like all that time as a rider really improved my aim,' Flash thought.

“Looks like we have a sharpshooter here,” the man running the game said before he then pulled down a large stuffed elephant to give Flash for his prize. “Here you go, something for your lady there.”

Flash’s face turned red as he took the prize. “Oh no, she’s not my girlfriend.”

“Could have fooled me,” The man said. This caused both their faces to turn red as they turned away. They walked away from the awkward moment. Twilight pulled out her phone to record her observation.

At one of the cafes in the park, we find Starlight sitting at one of the outdoor tables. One of the waitresses served her a glass with brown colored gelatin cubes topped with cream. “Here you go ma’am, one order of Coffee Jelly.”

“Thank you and keep the change,” Starlight said as she handed the waitress a few bills. She took a spoonful of the desert to eat with utter delight. “Mmh," she moaned, "this is amazing." She looked down at the treat. "The whole time I was asleep, all I was thinking about was you."

She made it through half her Coffee Jelly before pulling out a MagiBeast Card. The card depicted what looked to be a large tidal wave of some sort. “Just want are you and why did you bring me here?” Starlight asked herself. She looked around the cafe, searching for any host the card will react to. It remained dormant till a mother and her daughter passed by and caused the card to glow. “There we are.”

The mother kept walking along till her phone went off. “Hold on sweetie," she told her daughter. "This'll only take a second.” As her mother took care of what was going on with her phone, the young girl looked up at the balloon she got. Unfortunately she accidentally let her balloon go. She tried to grab onto the string but it floated away too quickly.

However, the balloon didn't escape into the heavens. Instead, it was rescued by Starlight. “Oh my, that was a close one,” she said as she gave the balloon back the girl, holding her hand in her own. “You really should be more careful,” she continued with a friendly smile.

“Thank you, miss,” the girl said. Her mother grabbed the girl's hand and the two walked off.

Starlight waved goodbye as her friendly smile turned into a wicked one. Unknown to everyone, Starlight kept the Magi-Beast card hidden as she slipped it onto the girl as she handed back her balloon. The card quickly turned into a magical aura and formed into a strange ball no bigger than basketball.

Starlight scooped up the ball and quickly hid behind the stands. “My my you're a strange one,” Starlight said as she observed the ball. Green slime began to form from one of the seams on the ball and it began to attach to her arm. “Ewww gross!” Starlight yelled as she swung her arm around. The ball wouldn’t come off till she managed to fling it onto a wall. She then noticed that her silver bracelet was gone and the slimeball grew bigger.

“Stupid slime! Did you just eat my bracelet!?” Starlight yelled. The monster slipped around the ground till it ended up at a fallen over trash can. It then started to absorb the soda cans and foil wrappers and began to grow again. It soon formed into a more human-like form. “Hmm," she tipped an eyebrow, "so you like shiny things. Maybe I can use your single-mindedness. If anything, it will get the rider’s attention and finish what I started." She then pulled out her own card and slotted it into her buckle.

“UNICORN!!!”

Several orbs of light appeared around her body before she transformed into her monster form. After her transformation, the black lines along her body began to light up and change to turquoise as well as the highlights in her hair and eyes. “Let’s go find you some more to eat.”

After Flash and Twilight rode the teacup ride, they were taking a nice stroll through the park.

Twilight had collected some data, but it still wasn’t enough to prove her suspicions. She decided that she should take the time to get to know Flash better. Sunset had often talked about how he was a great guy, but they didn’t go in-depth enough for her to really know him. She knew Flash was in a band, but all her knowledge of his preferred music was just assumptions based on skin-deep knowledge of him. She decided that this would be a good time to get more data, maybe even get Flash to admit he’s the rider.

“So Flash," they turned to one another. "If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of music do you like? It’s obvious you're a big fan of rock, but who’s your favorite artist?"

“Well," Flash put his hand to his chin, "trying to pick out my favorite band is a hard one. I’m always changing which band I’m into. Right now I’m into MC4. Of course, Empress will always be my go-to. However, if we are talking about an individual artist it would have to go to the man that inspired me to play music, Ziggy Stardust.”

“He must be really impressive if he’s your inspiration. I actually think I heard of him,” Twilight said.

“Ziggy is my hero, I looked up to him for a long time. His music helped me throw my dad running off on us,” Flash said with a smile. “Hey, why don’t we take a break? I'll go get us something to eat." He handed Twilight the stuffed elephant and ran to some of the food stands.

Twilight sat on a bench as she tried to process everything. “Ok now, what have we learned?” Twilight asked herself. “Flash has shown skill with both of the Rider’s main weapons but that isn’t much. I also learned that Flash has gone through some tough stuff but managed to come out of it pretty well so he’s pretty strong. I almost want a monster to attack so I can see the Flash and the rider in the same place. Does that make me a bad person?” Twilight asked the toy elephant.

“Oh I don't think you're a bad person,” a voice caught her attention. She turned to see the Unicorn Advansed with her Magi-Beast standing behind her. “It would give us a chance to get to know each other better.”

“You!?” Twilight yelled as she saw the monsters. “What are you doing here?”

“The last time we met, my condition got in the way. Now that it has cleared up, I want to introduce myself properly to the rider.” The monster extended its arm towards Twilight. She dived out of the way as the mass of slime destroyed the bench. “He’ll come out if we cause enough destruction.”

'I need to find Flash,' Twilight thought as she ran.

Starlight let her go as the slime monster roamed freely. It approached the nearest woman, who let out a scream as the monster slammed both its large arms into her. After a moment, the monster let her go seemingly unharmed. She, however, noticed that all her jewelry was missing. “Hey!" She yelled out, "give back my earrings!” Starlight appeared before her with her arm-horn glowing. This caused the woman to run as the Advanced walked away to watch her creature.

Meanwhile, Flash was returning to Twilight with an order of fries and some drinks. As he was on the way back, a mob of people ran past him and caused him to drop his food. Looking to where the people were coming from, he spotted the slime monster wrecking the park. “Jeez, don’t these guys ever take a day off?”

Twilight found Flash and started to run towards him, but then…

“HELP!!!”

She saw a man was being lifted into the slime. Her mind was conflicted. Either she sticks to her research or helps the citizens. The choice was obvious and she ran towards the man in peril. At the same time, Flash ran out of view.

A purple aura formed around Twilight's hands and used her magic to grab the man with it. She managed to pull the man out and bring him to the ground. “Are you ok?” She asked.

“Yeah, but I think that thing took my belt buckle.”

The slime monster soon noticed Twilight’s necklace and found its next target. The monster launched its arm at her. Twilight held up her arms to defend the attack but it was interrupted.

Coming down from the sky was Achilles, using his spear to splatter the mass of goo. “So we're going with classic movie monsters now. Eh, guess even bad guys need to mix it up now and then.” The monster said nothing as its arm reformed. Achilles ran towards the monster and swung his spear down. The weapons went right through it. He performed several more slashes with no visible effect. “Of course my attacks won't work on it,” he said to himself.

The monster swung its arms and knocked the rider back. It swung its arms again, but Achilles ducked out of the way. “Ok, let's see what would happen if you electrocute this stuff.” Achilles pulled out the Storm card and slotted it into the driver.

“KNIGHT OF THE WIND! A SWIFT VICTORY IS AT HAND!”

“S-S-S-STORM!”

The rider ran through the magic circle and his armor changed. He held his spear forward and plunged the blade into the slimy body. Lightning started to emit from his hand and focused on the spear. The monster started to spasm out of control until the slime splatter all over the place, the core rolling away. The rider wiped the goo that flew onto his eye plates and flicked it away. “Gross.”

This defeat didn't last long, as all the slime started to move on its own and began to form around the core and the monster reformed. “If you haven’t guessed yet, this isn’t your run of the mill Magi-Beast.” The rider turned towards the voice, spotting the Advansed walking towards him.

“I was wondering when I'd see you again. Though the highlights look nice.”

“Watch out," Twilight said from the sidelines. "She has gotten much stronger. She won't be running away this time.”

“Yes, and now we can have all the fun we want,” Starlight as her horn began and shot out several blasts of magic. The bolts hit the rider, causing him to drop his spear. An aura then formed around Achilles that pulled him towards the Advansed. She then grabbed the rider by the armor. “You looked shocked to be fighting someone competent,” Starlight gloated.

Twilight saw this and knew she had to act quickly. She used her magic to grab Achilles’ spear and threw it at Starlight, which caused the Advansed to let go. Achilles quickly grabbed his weapon and converted it into its blaster form and fired several blasts of light at Starlight. “I don’t think you're all that great. Terra and Cypher are smart enough to fight alongside their monsters. Yours ran away with its tail between its legs,” Achilles said.

Starlight looked around quickly to see that her slime was nowhere in sight. Most likely scared off by that shock it got. “Grrrrrr! That thing is useless! Well, that's fine. I don't need that spineless sludge,” Starlight said as she pointed her horn at the rider and began to charge an attack. But when she fired it, only a few sparks shot out. This came as a shock to Starlight, but a pleasant surprise to Achilles, who had her in his sights. 'Still not synced with my powers,' she thought. 'Guess that time in bed did more damage than I thought.' She leaped back before teleporting away.

Achilles lowered his weapon as Twilight ran up to him. “Whoa," Achilles said, "that was a close one." He turned to Twilight, "I really owe you for the same there.”

“Oh," Twilight smiled, "it was nothing. I always help out a friend...Flash Sentry.”

The rider felt his soul leap out of his body when he heard Twilight say his name. “I’m...sorry, what are you talking about?” He asked nervously.

“You don't need to act coy with me," Twilight pushed. "I know it’s you under the mask, Flash."

“I promise you, I'm not your friend,” Achilles denied. He had to think fast before he had no way out of this situation. He soon looked past Twilight to see a knocked over table umbrella. He started to form an escape plan, whether or not it was good however he had no clue. “I think I saw your friend ran that way,” He said pointing the other way. In the split-second Twilight turned around, Achilles slotted the Breeze card into the Driver.

“B-B-B-BREEZE!!!”

When Twilight turned back around, the rider already shrunk down and used his enhanced speed to sprint across the pavement and behind the umbrella. The rider then transformed out of his armor and back to normal size. Flash then peeked out to see twilight confused at the Riders disappearance. “Hey, Twilight!" He called out, did Achilles take care of everything!?”

“Don’t do that,” Twilight said as she marched over to Flash. “Don’t act like I was not just talking to you right now.”

“What, you mean the rider? Pshh, I wish I was that guy. He probably ran off to find the runaway monster,” Flash said with the most innocent face he could muster.

Twilight returned this with a look that said she didn't believe a word he was saying. She knew he wasn’t going to lower the facade. so she was going to need to catch him in the act. “Ok, but I'm not going to leave your side.”

“Of course,” Flash replied. He put on a brave face but he was freaking out on the inside. He had two monsters in the park and now he will not get a chance alone.

Starlight soon found the slime monster and hid away under one of the rides.

After a few moments, she was able to recollect herself. “That rider is so annoying. No wonder the others want him gone.” She then looked over to her monster, seeing it was busy eating some game tokens from the arcade area. She wasn’t happy with how mindless this monster is and how ineffective it was. She has tempted to off this thing herself and call this outing a failure till she noticed something. Several wisps appeared around the slime before being absorbed and causing it to glow. This got Starlight thinking. Maybe this thing can be useful after all.

The scare caused by the Magi-Beast didn't seem to cause too much trouble for the other park attendees.

But things were getting more stressful for Flash. Not only was he spending the day alone with Twilight, but now she knew he was Achilles. She doesn’t have proof, but one slip up was all that was needed to reveal his secret. Not even a ride on the log flume ride could help his nerves. He tried to act like nothing was wrong, but he didn’t know how long he could keep it up.

Needing room to breathe, Flash noticed a restroom up ahead. “Hey, I need to take a quick break over there?”

“Of course,” Twilight answered with a calm look. “I’ll be waiting outside."

Flash nodded as he walked into the men’s room. He then locked himself in one of the stalls and started to dial his phone in a panic. “Trixie, we have an emergency!”

“You confessed your feelings to Twilight?” Trixie asked on the other end.

“What!?” Flash asked

“What?” Trixie responded.

“I don't have time for your games,” Flash said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “Twilight knows I'm the rider.”

“Jeez," she said, "Trixie didn’t know you were that bad at keeping secrets.”

“I didn’t say anything," Flash was close to ripping out his hair. "Twilight figured it out on her own. Honestly, it was only a matter of time. But she’s not going to let me out of her sight and we have monsters running around.”

“Well the good news is, with the help of my magnificent illusions, I can get her off your tail. The bad news is that I can’t really implement it yet." Flash swore could hear sparking and crashing in the background.

“So I’m on my own for the time being?” He asked as he brushed his hand threw his hair.

“Pretty much,” Trixie replied. “Oh, also. When you have the chance, ask Twilight to activate the camera on your phone. Not only have you been neglecting posting on Ponygram, it could really help find the Magi-Beast.”

“I’ll make a note of it,” Flash said, throwing his teeth. He then hung up and made his way out. As she said, Twilight was waiting for him outside. “So what’s next?” He asked.

“Hmmm," Twilight looked around, "we can go on the rollercoaster again."

“Sure. And along the way, can you unlock the camera on my phone? You never did that when you gave it to me.”

“Oh right," Twilight said as Flash took out the device. "Totally slipped my mind.” She took the phone and began tapping on the touch screen. “Just so you know, you don't need to worry about me spying on you. If you are the rider I want you to trust me.”

“Can we please drop that whole thing?”

On the other side of the park, Starlight was able to find the little girl she found earlier. A smile crept on her face as she slowly closed in on her target.

“Mommy, can we go on that ride next?” The little girl asked.

“Of course dear,” the mother said.

Starlight saw her opportunity and threw a few of the arcade tokens on the grounds in front of the girl. A storm drain nearby began to ooze slime and the monster formed before the little girl. This caused both the girl and her mother to scream in terror. Wisps of energy began to come off of the girl and absorbed into the slime monster. This caused the Magi-Beast to grow more, eventually turning into a flood of slime that rushed through the park.

Starlight quickly transformed and teleported to higher ground. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” She watched as soon, the whole park was turned into a sea of slime. Things were looking like a win-win for her. Either the monster will get rid of the rider or she will get more data on how to destroy him later.

As Flash and Twilight were walking, they noticed people running past them. They turned around to see a wave of slime coming rushing their way. The two ran but the slime was too fast and they were washed away like everyone else. Flash tried to swim but the slime just felt awkward for him to move in. He kept trying to surface till he falt a cable by his hand and grabbed onto it. He started to pull himself out of the goo and climb onto the roof of the building.

“Of all the things I was worried about happening today, this was definitely not one of them,” Flash tried to wipe off the slime he was covered in, very glad he didn't swallow any of it. He then pulled out his phone and pressed the transformation app, bringing out the robotic owl partner. “I need you to find Twilight and make sure she’s safe. Think you can do that?”

The Owl Phone let out a few mechanical noises before flying off. “Good. And while he’s looking for Twilight, I need to find the cause of all this.” Flash looked around, knowing he needed to find a way to stop this Magi-Beast.

Unknown to him, several arms started to form out of the goo and swung at him. Flash reacted swiftly and rolled out of the way. “Looks like this guy wants revenge for when I shocked him." He needed a way to hurt a monster that most of his attacks would just pass threw. He can try the lighting again, but that seems to just make it upset. Then he got an idea and pulled out the Alchemy Element card.

“Let’s hope this works,” He said as he put on the driver and pulled out the Alchemy card. He had to dodge more of the slime tendrils before slotting the card into the driver. “Henshin!”

“CREATING A NEW FORMULA, A NEW WORLD OF DISCOVERY!”

“A-A-A-ALCHEMY!”

The magical circle appeared and passed over Flash, equipping him into his armor. He swung his arm and splattered one of the arms trying to grab him. Achilles then pressed his hand together and made a dash towards the edge of the roof. As more of the tendrils were gunning for him, he dunked his hands into the slime. After a flash of light, all the slime in the immediate area turned to ice.

“Phew," Achilles sighed in relief, "all that studying actually worked.” He walked on to the ice, making sure it was solid enough before beginning his search for Twilight and anyone else that needed rescuing. On the edge of the ice, a tendril of slime came out and formed into a copy for the monster’s main body from before.

The body swung its arms like whips at the rider. Achilles was knocked to the side, the rider rolling to his knees and saw that he had company. “After the day I have been having, you are the last thing I need.” He held up his laser before reshaping it into two short blades. Achilles then charged at the monster. The slime kept swinging its arms, but the Rider slid right through them. Once he got close, he started hacking away at the Magi-Beast.

Meanwhile, Twilight had managed to pull herself up on the merry-go-round.

She was in the middle of pulling out people that were trying to swim out. She managed to save a lot of them till she noticed something in the slime. It looked like the orb that fell out of the monster when Achilles electrocuted the monster earlier. “Is that the monster’s core?" She asked herself. "Is that what we need to destroy to stop this thing?”

Curiosity got the better of her and she grabbed onto it with her magic. This caused the slime to suddenly spring out into spikes for a moment. It then formed into a giant tendril and grabbed Twilight by the waist. The young woman tried to fight back but was pulled away from her solid ground.

At the same time, the Owl Phone found Twilight as this situation was unfolding. Its head turned around to take a picture of the events. The robotic owl turned quickly around and flew back to the rider.

Achilles kept slashing at the monster’s body without causing any damage.

He jumped up to avoid an attack, threw away his blades, and placed his hand together before punching the monster. Once his arm entered the slime, it froze solid and was shattered when he pulled out. A few robotic chirps brought Achilles’ attention to the Owl Phone. It closed its wings to show the picture it took of Twilight in trouble.

“Dang it!” The rider cursed. He then activated his power to create a track of ice. “She shouldn’t be too far away." He started sliding on the ice, really wishing this form came with a figure skating option.

As he got close, he saw Twilight in peril. He skated off on the ice track and threw his spear. The blade cut the slime that was suspending Twilight in the air and Achilles caught her before landing on the roof of another building. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” Twilight answered. More tendrils began to show up around the two. “This thing has gotten more aggressive after I tried to pick up that strange ball. I think it’s the Magi-Beast’s core.”

“So that's how we are going to stop this thing,” Achilles said. More of the slimy tendrils spawned around them. “Think you. Can you keep these guys busy?”

“No problem,” Twilight said as her hand glowed with magical energy and an aura appeared around the slime keeping them in place.

As Twilight held the monster back, Achilles used his powers to create a spring pad on the roof and jumped on it. When he was high enough, he took a quick look around to find the core. As he began to fall, Achilles pressed the button on his driver.

“ALCHEMICAL FEEDBACK!!!”

A magical circle formed around his foot and he was propelled into the sea of slime.

The kick caused a huge splash without losing any force before smashing the core. As the core was destroyed, all the slime burst before evaporating into magical particles. Achilles slid across the pavement before he looked up to Twilight.

“Nice work Flash!” The young woman yelled out.

“I’m not your friend!” Achilles yelled back. Before Twilight had a chance to say anything else, he ran off. This just raised Twilight suspicious even more.

Rescue workers came to the park after the ordeal.

No one was seriously hurt but the park would be shut down for a few weeks. Twilight was waiting at the front gate holding the elephant souvenir. It was a while until one of the rescue workers led Flash out of it. “I’m glad to see your alright,” Flash said.

“Will you just quit the act!” Twilight yelled out. She had a very frustrating day fighting a monster and the last thing she wanted to deal with was Flash’s stubbornness. “I know you are the Kamen Rider. There is no use denying it so please tell me the truth.”

“Twilight I…” Flash started before he was interrupted by the sound of a motor. He looked behind to where the noise was originating from. Coming around the corner was the Kamen Rider on his Machine Balius. The bike sped past the two in the blink of an eye. Flash was surprised by this but ran with it. “I guess that proves what I’ve been saying,” He said with a smile.

Twilight's head was shifting from him to where the rider had disappeared. If she went any faster, she'd likely get whiplash. "But...I...you...how..."

"Believe me now?"

Twilight let ouf a sighed, “I guess you were telling the truth. It's kinda ridiculous now that I think about it,” Twilight said with a laugh. “Spike was right, if you were the rider you would have told us.”

“Yeah,” Flash said as a pit started to form in his stomach. The fact that he spent most of the day lying to Twilight finally sinking in. “I am honored that you thought I was heroic enough to be the rider.”

A honking filled the air and the two noticed a car waiting in the parking lot. “Well looks like my ride's here,” Twilight said before slowly walking off. “See ya around.”

“Hey, can you wait one moment,” Flash said. Quickly Flash took Twilight by the shoulder and brought her in for a selfie with the Elephant.

“What the?” Twilight asked about this action that seems to come out of nowhere.

“I didn’t have a chance before to ask," Flash explained. "Now that I have a camera on this thing, I wanted the first picture to be of the two of us.” He then frowned, “is that not ok?”

Twilight smiled at him, “it’s fine. I just wanted a bit of a heads up, that’s all.” The two said their goodbyes before Twilight ran over to the car, both not realizing she still had the stuffed animal.

“Aren’t I going to get a thank you,” Trixie’s voice came in. The magician walked up behind Flash with a confident grin. “After all, I just saved your secret.

“You really saved me there Trixie,” Flash said as he turned to his friend. “How on earth did you do that?”

“It was all thanks to my new assistant,” Trixie said as she held out her hand. Floating above it was what looked like a robotic jellyfish. It’s tendrils spun to keep it airborne and its main body was covered with lenses. “The Jelly Drone, a portability 3-D project of my own design. What you two just saw was a model I made.”

“Impressive,” Flash said. He then let out a depressing sigh. “You helped me lie to her,”

“Flash," Trixie patted his shoulder. "I can see this was an emotionally exhausting day for you, but you shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. You have your reasons for keeping this secret.”

“I’m not telling people so they don’t have to worry about me. It scared me to think of what would happen if anyone found out. Now I think Twilight would be exceptionally mad at me if she found out.” Flash thought out loud. “But there is no use worrying about that now. If the time ever comes, all I can do is hope that we can still be friends after.” He looked at his phone, staring at the picture he just took with Twilight.

He knew keeping things a secret from everyone was the best possible solution. The more people knew, the more likely it would be that the secret was revealed. If the public ever found out the truth, he could kiss a normal life goodbye forever. This was for the best.

Ride 12: Diamond Dogs

View Online

Many years ago.

In a room, blinds drawn, a young child was wrapped in a blanket. The door opened to allow Glint Phoenix to enter. “Flashy, are you alright?” she asked. The lump of blankets moved around but there was no response. Glint let out a depressed sigh as she walked to the bed and sat down. “I know you have been having a tough month. Your father walking out can’t be easy on anyone.”

“Why does this have to happen?” A young Flash Sentry asked as he came out from under his covers.

Glint was silent for a moment as she thought of how to handle this loaded question. “That’s hard to say,” was the best she could come up with. She could see that Flash was upset and didn't have the words that could help.

“What’s going to happen now?” He asked.

Glint still didn’t know what to say. She didn't even know what was next for her family. The only thing she had on her mind was trying to get her kids threw this. “I have a present for you,” she stated in an attempt to distract her son

This got Flash’s attention. Glint took out an old Cassette Player and a tape. “What is it?” He asked.

“It's a Cassette player, an older way of playing music,” His mother answered. “Music is a powerful thing. It can make you feel things normal words can’t. I hope this tape, in particular, shows you that you are not the only one who is scared about not knowing what’s next.” All of a sudden she could hear a baby crying in the next room. “Oh no, your brother woke up,” Gilt quickly left the room.

Flash looked as the tape player. He figured out how it worked and placed the Cassette into the player. Once he put in the headphones he pressed play.

Present-day

“Hey Twilight, I didn't know you went to Equestria Land with Flash,” Sunset told her. She was sitting with Twilight at the diner and was showing her her social media feed on her phone. “I wish you would tell us you were going.”

“Yeah,” Twilight responded as she scratched the back of her head. “It was kind of an interesting set of circumstances behind that,” she replied with a laugh.

“Dang it!!!” Flash yelled out, interrupting the two. He was in a booth next to the girls with his laptop. He was not happy, as indicated by him slamming his fist on the table. “Pinkie, grilled cheese!” Pinkie acknowledged as she skated into the kitchen.

This outburst caught the attention of everyone in the dinner which was just Trixie and the girls. They all came over to see what all the comparison was about. “Why so angry, Flash?” Rainbow asked.

“I was hoping to get concert tickets and they sold out,” Flash explained.

“Who’s playing?” Sunset asked.

“Sapphire Shores? Countess Colatura?” Fluttershy added.

“If it’s Rara, I think I can help,” Applejack continued.

“No it’s my hero, Ziggy Stardust,” Flash answered. “He’s getting up there in age but he can still play like no other. He’s the guy that got me to be a musician.”

“Ziggy Stardust?" Rarity raised an eyebrow, "never heard of him.”

“ I think I’ve heard of him," Rainbow thought for a moment. "My dad listens to him all the time."

“Well maybe there's another way to get tickets,” Fluttershy suggested.

Flash took her advice and started to type on his computer. His mind was so focused on getting tickets to the concert that he didn't even notice Pinkie had delivered his order. After only a few minutes he found something. “Hey, it looks like the radio station has the tickets as a prize in a contest.” Flash quickly got up, grabbed the sandwich, left a few bills, and ran out without so much as a goodbye. He was in such a rush that the girls were able to hear his bike peel out of the parking lot from inside the dinner.

“I guess I’ll hold on to his laptop till he realizes he forgot it,” Trixie took his seat. She decided to take a look at the article Flash was reading.

“Trixie," Twilight frowned, "you shouldn't look at his stuff without his permission."

“I’m just looking at what Flash is in for,” Trixie responded as she kept reading. “Like the fact the contest is for teams of two. I'm guessing he didn't read that part since he ran out without asking any of us to help.”

“Should we call him?” Pinkie asked.

“Naw," Trixie crossed her arms, "did you see the look in his eyes? He won't stop till he gets to the radio station.”

Terra was standing on the roof of the abandoned hospital.

He was in the middle of throwing rocks at the birds who were in his immediate area. “Yeah," he yelled, "you better fly away. I don't want to see any of you rats with wings around here anymore!”

Cypher was sitting by the door, watching his friend till the door opened. “Can you be any louder, Brick Head!” Starlight complained as she walked up to her fellow Advansed. “What is your problem anyway? They're just a bunch of dumb birds.”

“Oh, you don't know them like I do. You haven't seen the horrors I have,” Terra explained.

Starlight rolled her eyes at him. “I don't have time for your stupidity today. Do you have any plans on defeating the Rider?”

“Not really. I'm just planning to do this all day,” Terra threw more rocks at the birds above him.

Starlight shook her head and turned to Cypher. “And what about you? I would think you would be doing something productive. After all, you're basically Kirogiri’s pet,” She commented.

“I am no one’s pet,” Cypher snapped back as he stood up. “You're not our superior? The Doctor is the only one I answer to. He’s why you're not a vegetable and I suggest you show him the respect he deserves,” Cypher stated as he stared Starlight down.

“Kirogiri has my gratitude for my life but we might as well be equals when it comes to research,” Starlight says as she returns Cypher’s look. “The Doctor won't be able to move forward without my assistance.”

“That may be what you think but in the grand scheme of things, you, me, and Terra are all equals,” Cypher replied. “And as a matter of fact, I have been working. I found a host this morning. It wouldn’t be hard for the magi-beast to become whole in no time.”

“Oh boy, a new friend,” Terra cheered excitedly.

“And the Rider?” Starlight asked.

“I’m keeping an eye on him,” Cypher answered. He turned around to walk towards the roof entrance.

“Double dang it!” Flash yelled out. When he got to the radio station there was a table set up with a signup sheet.

“Sorry son, but that isn’t much I can do. This contest is meant for teams of two,” explained the man at the table. He was dressed in a number four shirt and a pair of blue sunglasses. “I don’t know what I can tell ya.”

Flash walked away, devastated. There were a lot of people who showed up, but they all looked like they were already teamed up. It was beginning to look slim for Flash to enter the contest. “Maybe I can ask one of the girls,” Flash thought out loud until he heard a female voice.

“Come on, I need to go to this concert. I wanted to see Ziggy live for the longest time,” the voice complained.

Flash turned around to find a girl with gray skin and short pink hair. She has a black leather jacket with pins all over it as well as a plaid skirt and dark pink knee-high boots. The symbol on her shirt was a star with two lighting bolts coming off it. The girl in question was pleading with a team of older men and women.

“I don’t think they allow trios in this contest,” the man explained.

“Dang it!” The girl exclaimed.

“You need a partner too?” Flash called out.

The girl turned around to see Flash walking up. “Really? You’d help me out?” The girl asked.

“Of course. I want to see Ziggy live as well,” Flash performed a second of air guitar. “The name’s Flash.”

“Holly Holly,” The girl introduced herself.

“Holly twice?” Flash asked.

“Yeah, weird name but you can just call me by the one Holly,” the girl smiled. The two shook hands and soon entered the contest as a team.

After a few moments, the man at the table got onto a microphone to speak to the crowd. “Attention everyone, the contest is about to begin!” The man announced to get everyone’s attention. “The contest is going to be a treasure hunt. You will all need to solve riddles and find clues hidden all over town. The first team to find the last secret location with all the clues will be the winner."

All the teams were given a piece of paper with their first clue. “You’ll find your next clue at the shop you can take a rest while taking notes,” Holly read aloud. She didn't know how to interpret the clue.

Flash thought about it for a moment before he figured it out. “The only place that can be is that furniture/office supply store," Flash tried to remember the name, eventually snapping his fingers. "Quills and Sofas.”

“That is an odd combination of businesses,” Holly commented.

“Yeah," Flash nodded, "but it’s where our next clue is." He led her over to his bike and the two quickly drove off, both hoping Flash was right about their location.

The two got to the store and began looking for the next clue and after a few minutes, they found their next clue between the cushions of a sofa.

The clues sent the team all over the town. They went from the movie theater to the conventions store before arriving at Sugarcube Corner. Holly was so amazed by the cafe that she was too distracted to help Flash. “Come on Holly," Flash told her. "We need to figure out this next clue or else we’ll lose our lead.” He turned his focus back on the riddle. “The middle of the green in a pool of blue. Where all paths lead to.”

Holly wasn't really paying attention as she watched Mrs.Cake serve a customer a fantastical looking cupcake. “Oh my," Mrs.Cake giggled. "You look like you've never seen pastry before.”

“Never anything like this,” Holly responded.

“Holly?” Flash asked. He walked up to his partner and saw a child-like wonder in his eyes. “Honestly you haven't lived till you had one of the Cake’s sweets.” Flash pulled out his wallet, “Why don't I get you something while you help out with the clue.”

Holly looked at the clue on the piece of paper before she put the pieces together. “I think this might be the park fountain,” Holly guessed.

Mrs.Cake handed Flash a colorfully decorated milkshake. “The park isn’t far from here. We could walk there faster than on my bike,” Flash mentioned.

“Those tickets are as good as ours,” Holly cheered as she took the milkshake. She took a sip of her drink and was amazed by the flavor. “OMG, I have never had anything like this before.” This caused Flash to raise an eyebrow.

“You say you're from Canterlot but you've never been to Surgercube Corner. I find that hard to believe.”

“I haven't had the easiest of childhoods,” Holly replied.

“Oh," Flash frowned, "you don't need to talk about it if you don’t want too."

“Oh, I didn't mean to bring anything up. Also, It wasn’t all bad. It did give me a chance to learn guitar."

“That’s awesome. You gotta meet my band. Maybe we can have a jam session.” Flash felt like he was starting to get excited.

“You have a band?" Holly asked with a smile. "That's awesome.”

All of a sudden Flash’s phone went off. He looked to see that it was a news report. People are saying that a monster, most likely a magi-beast was comparing across the roads leading out of town. The last post says the monster is not far if he uses his bike. He looked at Holly and began to go over his options.

“Hm, what's going on?” Holly asked.

“Oh it's just a family emergency,” Flash got out with a calm face. “Hey, do you think you can find the next clue without me? I should be able to take care of this real quick.”

Holly nodded with a smile, “I think I can handle finding a clue in the park."

“Good to hear,” Flash then rushed out the door.

Along a road entering the town of Canterlot, a limousine was being led by a police squad car.

Within the limousine, Shining Armor was sitting nervously. “I hope you don't mind the police stepping in for some extra security," he quickly explained to his co-passenger. "After all, Canterlot has been a bit of a dangerous state lately.”

“I Don’t mind at all. In fact, all of the news here is what made me want to have one of my concerts here,” a man responded with an accent. Sitting in the back of the limo was a man with pearl white skin and bright red hair in a stylish brown button-down shirt. He had a pale lighting bolt over his left eye that looked a bit duller than his right. “After all, I love seeing people being dangerous.”

“I understand that Mr.Stardust…” Shining started.

“No need to be so formal when it's just the two of us," the rock star interrupted with a friendly smile. Just Ziggy will suffice.”

“Alright Ziggy,” Shining continued. “I can understand wanting to see the strange creatures in the flesh but the Police are hoping not to have any incidents.”

“I understand that but it would be nice to be pleasantly surpris-." He didn't get to finish as all of a sudden, the driver braked abruptly.

Looking out the front window Shining saw that traffic was in a standstill. “Hey, what's going on out there?” Shining asked into his radio.

“I don't know," the officer in the squad car replied on the other end of the call. "Reports say it's a pileup.”

Soon the car shook and a loud crash was heard. Looking outside, Shining saw that it was something very furry standing on the crumpled hood of the car. “Looks like you're getting your pleasant surprise.' Shining pulled out his gun before turning to Ziggy, “stay inside. It may get hairy.”

He stepped out of the car and pointed the gun at where he saw the monster, hoping to get a better look at it. It was a large werewolf with glowing yellow eyes. It was dressed in what looked like a short blue robe. A chain was wrapped around his left arm and holding a spiked ball it was connected to in the other. “Let's rock!” The monster howled as he threw the spike ball at Shining. The officer rolled out the way only for the monster to swing the chain around to hit him only for the road to be torn up. The Magi-Beast pulled back to catch the spike ball. “I hope you're prepared, cause the true star is here. And his name is Rock-n-Rover!" He ended that sentence with a howl on the final R.

“Good to know," Shining cocked his pistol. "It'll save me time when I book ya!” With that, Shining opened fire on the monster. Rock-n-Rover used his spike ball to block the bullets before jumping up high and then falling. Shining ran before the monster could smash his Spike Ball into the ground, causing a shockwave that knocked him down.

“Oh my," Ziggy whispered as he peeked outside. "So this is one of the monsters that have been showing up.”

Rock-n-Rover turned to the rockstar with a toothy grin. “So your Ziggy Stardust. I heard you were a cool cat,” the monster cackled before pulling his chain tight and growling. “I hate cats!” With that, he started swinging his spike ball around and throwing it.

Ziggy ducked back into the car. But before the weapon could hit, it was knocked off course by a bolt of energy. Jumping over the pile-up was Achilles, riding the Machine Balius and his blaster in hand. When the bike landed, it skidded on the ground till it stopped just in front of Shining. “Are you ok?” Achilles asked.

“I am now that you're here,” Shining answered.

“Thanks for keeping things together until I got here," Achilles jumped off his bike. "You may have noticed, but traffic was awful.” Pointing his blaster at the monster, Achilles ran towards him before opening fire. Rock-n-Rover was also closing the gap between the two as he used his spinning chain as a shield.

Holly followed Flash’s instructions and found the fountain in the park. She looked all over the place and found nothing. “Oooooh, where is this clue?” She asked in her frustration. She sat down on the lip of the fountain to ponder till it hit her. She looked behind her to see a bunch of capsules in the water. “Bingo.”

She reached in and pulled one out, opened it and read the clue. “The Grand Finale will be held where the Starman first landed.” Holly tried to crack this, but it only got more frustrated. She looked over to see another team running towards her. Things were not looking good for her chances to win

Achilles dodged the flying spike ball and fired several bolts at Rock-n-Rover.

The monster needed to hold up his hand to block and Achilles used this opportunity to run up to punch him right in his face. The monster was sent rolling backward but recovered and threw his chain. It wrapped around the rider to bind him. “Hahaha, It's time for my smash hit!” Rock-n-Rover howled as he readied his fist.

Too bad for the monster, he was interrupted by two shots to the back.

Turning around, The monster saw Shining was pointing his gun at him with the barrel smoking. He then glanced down to see the bullets that bounced off his hide. “Dang it! That hurt! I hope feeling like a hero was worth it, cause now I'm gonna pound your face into the pavement!”

“Protecting people is my job,” Shining stated as he threw his gun to the side. He quickly reached to his belt and pulled out a baton that extended with a flick of his wrist. “So if you want to hurt that guy, you're gonna have to get thrown at me first.”

“Oh, you're in for it now!” Rock-n-Rover barked.

That small distraction gave Achilles the chance to pull out an Element Card, slotting it into the driver.

“OK!”

“G-G-G-GLAMOR!!!”

Achilles’ armor changed and the drones came off the shoulder pads.

The drones opened fire on the monster who ended up letting go of the chain. Now freed, the rider sent out the drones to distract the monster to allow Achilles to kick him back. Rock-n-Rover tried to grab onto his chain but Shining came from behind and whacked him on the head with his baton.

“Ahhhh! I've had it!” Rock-n-Rover yelled before he began to punch the ground. A dust cloud formed before it cleared and the monster was replaced by a hole.

“He got away,” Shining pointed out. “I'm going to get every patrol on the lookout for this creep.” He pulled out his radio.

“I really owe ya,” Achilles saluted as the drones returned to his shoulder pads. “The fact you were willing to stand up to a monster like that is amazing. Most people would have just run.”

“I took an oath to protect the people of this town. You may have that fancy armor but that doesn't mean I can’t lend a hand. My sister isn't the only one in the family that can kick some butt.”

“My, oh my," the two turned to see Ziggy step out of the car. "So you're the mysterious mask man who appears with the monsters. You put on quite the performance there.” Achilles’ eyes lit up under his helmet as the rock star approached him.

“I-I-It was nothing,” He was glad his helmet hid his face, since it would be so embarrassing or his idol to see him blush.

“Well, I really appreciate it." Ziggy patted his shoulder. "I don't know why that thing was gunning for me, but I don't need to worry with you around.”

“If anything happens to you, your fans would be destroyed,” the rider responded before saying thoughtlessly. “I know I would.” He slapped a hand over his mouth, forgetting he had a helmet between the two.

“Oh," Ziggy commented with a smile as he brought a hand to his chin, "so you're a fan. Well, that's flattering,”

“Well, it shouldn't be that surprising. A lot of people love your music, in fact, many may see you as their hero, why should I be any different,” Achilles answered as he scratched the back of his hand.

“Um...Ziggy,” Shining side as he put a hand on the rock star’s shoulder. “I think we should get going.”

“Can it wait one moment? I’m kinda in the middle of something,” Ziggy responded.

Soon a ringing filled the air. Achille pulled out his phone to see it was a text from Holly.

Hey! You better not have ditched me. I’ll be waiting at the park.

“I really need to get going too,” Achilles stated as he ran to his bike. “It was an honor to meet you, Ziggy Stardust.” With that, his bike tire skid along the ground before he shot off down the street.

“Well, that's a shame,” Ziggy sighed as he watched the rider drive away.

“Um, Ziggy, are you coming?” Shining asked.

Ziggy turned around and walked to the squad car. “Hey, do you mind if we take a bit of a detour?” He asked.

Flash found Holly to meet back up with her. “Where have you been?” Holly asked when she finally saw Flash. “I had to figure out the last clue on my own and now we’re falling behind.”

“I’m sorry, there was stuff I ended up getting tied up,” Flash apologized.

“Do you even want to win this contest?” Holly exploded.

This outburst caught Flash off guard. “Wow, wow, wow," he held his hands up defensively. "No need to snap at me. I want to go to the concert too.”

“I need to go to this concert. It's all I've ever wanted,” Holly almost screamed with tears forming in her eyes.

“Is-is something wrong?” Flash asked.

“It's just,” Holly started before sitting down on a nearby bench. “Flash, I have been in the hospital for a long time. Ever since I was young I was mostly bedridden. I had a pretty nasty disease and it was only about a month ago that I recovered and was discharged.”

“Well, I’m glad you recovered,” Flash mentioned.

“My parents helped me through all the doctor examinations but what really helped was Ziggy’s music and the hope that I will see him perform live. That’s why I need to win this contest. Because-”

“Because his music helped you see you weren’t alone in his world. That the unknown may be scary but things will turn out alright,” Flash finished. Holly agreed as she whipped away her tears. “I get it. I kinda went through the same thing.”

“So, you understand why this is so important to me?” Holly asked.

“I do," Flash nodded with a smile. "And mark my words, I'm going to make it happen." He was more determined than ever to win this contest. Not just for Holly’s dream, but to make up for the fact that he met Ziggy without her.

“Thanks, Flash,” Holly smiled as she got herself together. “I think this is the last clue but I can't make heads or tales of it.” She handed him the piece of paper, Flash looking it over and mulled it around in his brain for a moment before his eyes lit up.

“I know exactly where to go,” He exclaimed before running off.

“Where?” Holly asked.

“No time! we have tickets to win!”

“Who does that rider think he is? Beating up such a good boy like you,” Terra scratched behind Rock-n-Rover’s ear. The monster had met up with Terra and Cypher in a secluded warehouse. the Advansed gave his doggo friend a nuzzle as he recovered from his defeat.

“How is your progress coming along?” Cypher asked.

“I came this close to sealing the deal,” Rock-n-Rover growled as he showed his thumb and index fingers almost touching. “But then that rider showed up. I almost had him too, but then that cop got in the way.”

“Kind of disappointing that you were blindsided by a powerless officer. I expected better from you,” Cypher commented.

“Hey don’t be mean to him,” Terra defended. He then proceeded to scratch under Rock-n-Rover’s chin. “My fwuffy wittle monster was trying his best to cause mass havoc. Yes, he was, yes he was.”

This was followed by Rock-n-Rover letting out a huge grin at all the attention he was getting.

Cypher was a bit put off by the affection Terra was giving his monster. Terra has always had an odd relationship with the Magi-beast and Cypher never really understood it. What he was seeing now was stranger than usual. It wasn’t long however that Cypher noticed a few energy wisps flying through the air and into the Magi-Beast.

Rock-n-Rover’s eyes flashed before he sprung up. “AWOOOOOOO!” He howled.

Both Cypher and Terra were surprised by this sudden outburst. “Looks like we had a spike with the host. Maybe all hope isn’t lost on this one,” Cypher remarked.

“Oh yeah, I’m feeling it now!” Rock-n-Rover yelled as he pulled his chain tight. He then sniffed the air and his grin grew bigger. “I got you now, Stardust!” He howled before he began to dig underground.

Flash’s bike whizzed around the corner at high speed. Holly was holding on to Flash for dear life as he kept pushing the accelerator. “Will you tell me where we’re going? I'd like to know before I get flung through the air at high speeds!”

“Think about the clue. In his early days, Ziggy had this huge space theme that he was even calling him the Starman. So where was his first concert held on his first tour?”

“It was Trottingham Planetarium,” Holly answered. “But that's in a different country?”

“Yeah, but Canterlot does have its own observatory. That has to be where the finish line is.”

“Dang it! I should have known."

The bike zoomed right up to the observatory, Flash parking the bike as Holly made a beeline into the building. She entered into a big room with all kinds of displays including a large statue of an ancient alchemist who legends said lived in the town thousands of years ago. As she ran, she saw the man from the radio station was there. “Did-did we make it?” She asked between a few heavy breathes.

The man looked at her with a somewhat sad expression through his sunglasses. “I'm sorry, but you scored second.”

“Holly!” Flash yelled as he entered the room. The teenage girl fell to her knees as Flash came to comfort her. “It’s going to be ok,” He started. He then began to see magical wisps started to come off of her. Flash instantly knew what this meant. “Triple dang it.”

The wisps flew out before going towards the ground. This was followed by cracks starting to form on the floor. Rock-n-Rover bruised from the ground howling. “YAAAAAAH!" The Magi-Beast roared. "Looks like I don't need to go after Stardust after all. Maybe I can use him as bait to get the rider then!" The monster was glowing with energy before he threw his spike ball into the air. The ball turned into energy before forming into a pair of spiked gauntlets on the Magi-Beast. “Call me Heavy Metal Rock-n-Rover now!” He announced before smashing his knuckles together. He then ran down a hallway, destroying everything in his path.

“Wait, why would he be here if he's looking for Ziggy. Oh, don't tell me,” Flash said to himself.

“What is that thing?” Holly asked.

“It’s a long story. Just run and get to safety,” Flash answered. Holly wasn’t going to argue with him and went running. Flash ran towards the Magi-Beast, driver in hand. 'This is really bad,' he thought to himself. 'There was no way I could have stopped this. I need to make things right.'

“Hey, you dumb mutt!” Flash yelled out. The hallway leads to a large room with stairs leading to the telescope.

“Ooooh, someone’s cheeky,” Rock-n-Rover laughed. He then sniffed the air and grinned. “Hmm, the scent of the rider is on you. Looks like I didn’t need to go far to crush you.”

“You cause a lot of trouble and I’m going to fix it,” Flash said as he pointed the Blaze Card at the Magi-Best. “If you want to rock, then let’s rock. Henshin!” he yelled before slotting the card into the driver.

“OK!”

“PASSIONS BURNING AT ONE THOUSAND DEGREES, CONSUMED BY THE FLAMES OF REBIRTH!”

“B-B-B-BLAZE!!!”

Flash’s body was covered in flames before his arm rose up and came down in one swift motion. The fire was dispelled revealing Achilles in his Blaze form, holding the Solar Sonic. He then played a few chords before pointing at the monster. “By the time this battle is over, I'm going to send you to Tartarus!” He proclaimed.

“Bring it!” Rock-n-Rover howled before charging at the rider. Achilles strummed his weapon so he sent out several bolts of fire at the Magi-Beast, which had little effect in slowing him down. Rock-n-Rover threw a punch at the rider but was blocked by the wide side of the Solar Sonic.

Achilles pushed back to get an opening to perform several underhand slashes with his weapon. He then switched to holding the weapon with two hands and continued the attack. Rock-n-Rover was forced back before catching the blade. “Not bad. But the world only has room for one superstar!” Rock-n-Rover growled before delivering an uppercut right to Achilles’ head. “I hope you enjoyed the show, cause there won't be any encore for you.”

Rock-n-Rover curled into a ball and began spinning like a tire spinning out. The spikes on his gauntlets almost made him look like he was mimicking his spike ball. He then took off, circling the rider as he picked up speed.

Achilles slowly propped himself up with his weapon. “Sorry to say, but you're not the top dog you think you are. Not only are you endangering my friend, but you also attacked my hero. You need to pay for what you did and that’s what I’m going to make sure you do.”

“We’ll see about that!” Rock-n-Rover yelled as he spun towards the rider. Achilles strum a chord on the weapons to cause ropes of flame to appear from the ground and bind the rolling monster down. “You think this is enough to stop me. I’ll bust through and bring this whole place down on you!”

“You're no superstar, you look more like a falling star!” With that Achilles pressed the button on his driver.

“BLAZING FEEDBACK!!!”

Flames radiated off the rider’s body before being concentrated onto his leg. He then ran towards the rolling spike ball and performed a roundhouse kick. Upon contact, a magical circle appeared and sent the monster flying. “Light'em up!” Achilles yelled out.

In a blaze, the monster was slammed into a wall. “This is no way for a superstar to go out!” Rock-n-Rover screamed before the flames consumed him and he burst into a fireball.

Achilles let out a large breath before transforming back to normal. “Well, that's one problem down. Now I need to figure out how to make it up to Holly.”

Emergency services came rushing to the observatory. Holly got out safely and was standing clear out of the way from danger. She was looking out to the sunset overlooking the whole city of Canterlot. “You're looking better,” Flash said as he came up next to her. He offered her a can of juice which she took and opened.

“Looks like this is all my fault,” Holly stated as she took a sip of the drink. “That crazy dog came from me and tried to hurt Ziggy. And that thing got stronger when I broke down. I heard the rider took care of him but still I caused problems.”

“Hey, you didn’t do anything. If anything this is my fault. I caused us to lose."

“But there was an emergency, you shouldn't have abandoned that on my account.”

“But your dream. Now you won't be able to see Ziggy after all these years of waiting.”

“Blimey! You two are going to go on forever with this whole pity party,” A voice said. The two turned to see Ziggy standing in front of them. Shining was standing not too far behind.

“Z-z-zzz-z,” was all Holly could get out when she saw him.

“Ziggy Stardust!” Flash finally finished for her, being equally starstruck.

“The one and only,” the rock star posed with a cheeky grin.

“Oh man, it's an honor." Flash was finally allowing his inner fan-free as he was no longer burdened with keeping up his rider persona. “But, um, why are you up all the way up here? Isn’t your show in a few hours?”

“It's a bit of a pre-show ritual that I get a good look at the starry night sky right when the sun goes down. Shining was kind enough to help me out by bringing me here. Too bad the place looks trashed thanks to that monster.”

He then walked up closer to the two. “My bodyguard over there explained to me how those Magi-beats or what you call 'em’ work,” He started with a quick point to Shining. “So you're the girl that bloke was draining like a battery,”

“Y-yes,” Holly got out from her fluster.

“Oh, that's pretty terrible. Losing a race and almost drained into oblivion by some two-bit mongrel. That’s no fate for a lovely girl like you. Especially since I heard it was your dream to see me perform. That Rider is something else,” Ziggy stated.

“Your music helped save my life when I was in the hospital,” Holly explained nervously.

“It helped me a lot too. Mr. Stardust,” Flash added.

“Just Ziggy,” Ziggy mentioned before he started to dig through his back pocket. “I'm happy my song could help you two. And considering the day you had, I feel I should return the favor. I'm sure these would be much better than some radio station could provide.” And in that moment, he pulled out two laminated badges with lanyards attached to them.

The two teen's eyes began to go wide before lash spoke up. “Are...are those?”

“Backstage passes!” Holly finished.

“Of course,” Ziggy answered with a smile. “I wanted to give them to that rider to thank him for saving my life, but I think he wouldn't mind it if you get them instead. Ya know, to make up for the ordeal you went through.”

“Oh, I’m positive the rider would be more than happy with your decision.” Flash tried to act as cool as possible, all the while a chibi version of him was dancing around in his brain before he hugged a chibi version of the rider.

“Um, Ziggy,” Shining stepped up and tapped on the rock star’s shoulder. “I Just got a call. You need to get back to the venue soon.”

“Hm I guess it’s about that time,” Ziggy told Shining before he led him to the car. “We’ll chat more after the show.”

As the two watch the squad car drive away, Holly gives Flash a surprise hug. “Thank you so much, Flash!” She cried.

“What are you talking about, I didn't do anything,” Flash replied.

“Honestly you're my first friend I’ve made after being released. And it's thanks to you that I made it through this crazy, crazy day,” Holly explained.

This brought a smile to Flash’s face. “Hey, it's just what I do,” was all he could think to say at the moment when Holly let go. “But tonight, we are going to rock!”

“Heck Yeah!!!” Holly followed as the two partook in a bit of air guitar.

The next morning, Shining walked into the office, a mug of coffee in hand. He let out a yawn as he got to his deck and logged into his computer, Preparing to do the most vital yet most tedious part of being an officer, Paperwork.

“Hey Shining, herd you were on bodyguard duty for Ziggy Stardust last night. Bet it was a pretty awesome show,” One of Shining’s fellow officers stated as he walked up to his desk to start some morning chit chat.

“I wouldn't know. When I got him to the stage I clocked out, could barely keep my eyes open on the drive home,” Shining answered.

“Understandable with what I heard.” The fellow officer then pulled out an envelope and threw it towards Shining’s keyboard. “That came in for you today. Looks pretty important,”

The officer walked away as Shining opened the envelope. As he read Shining was pretty surprised at what was held within.

Ride 13: Helier skelter

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Flash’s house was unusually busy this morning. This was mostly due to mostly due to Glint being home to cook breakfast as opposed to how she is normally out of the door before her kids woke up. Flash and First Base Ware at the table with a large stack of pancakes between the two. “I have no clue why you didn’t become a chef mom. Your cooking is the best,” First Base commented as he dug into his breakfast.

“Well I've been practising since I was around your age. People were actually surprised when I said I wanted to go to law school,“ Glint said as she turned off the stove, Glint turned on the TV to the news and took her place at the table. “I do think what it would be like if i did choose to be a chef but I'm happy to just be cooking for my two beautiful boys.”

“...Today the tech company, Wave Technologies, has opened new offices in Canterlot,” The reporter on the tv said. “In interviews the CEO commented “this new venture will be what allows the company to better compete with their overseas rivals.” Known for its work in communications, Wave Technologies aims to break into new markets with this expansion.”

“Wave Technologies? I never heard of them. Wonder what they do to get so much buzz about,” Flash said.

“A big company moving to a town like this will cause some news,” Glint answered. “One of my friends at the police said that Wave wants to work with them. Very interesting if you ask me.”

I wonder if Shining knows anything about that Flash thought. The Owl phone flew out of his bag and perched on the table, showing Flash the time. “Oh man we’re going to be late,” He said as he shovelled the last bit of food into his mouth and grabbed his brother. “Bye Mom, love you,” He said before racing out the door.

Flash met with Trixie once he got to school. They were strolling down the hall for their first class. “It was amazing Flash, Dark Star never disappoints,” Trixie said as she recapped a TV special she saw last night.

“I guess it's easy to misdirect people when your make up is so distracting,” Flash said with a smirk.

“It’s called presentation,” Trixie responded.

“Eh-hem!”

The two’s conversation was interrupted. Turning down the hall to two boys standing there. “Oh Drum Roll, Ringo, how’s it going? Flash greeted his two bandmates.

“We need to talk,” Base Keys said in a serious tone.

“I’ll see you later,” Trixie said, reading the room and running off to her class.

“What’s up?” Flash asked.

“Flash,” Ringo started as he pushed up his sunglasses. “We’ve known each other for a while and you're not the kind of guy who keeps secrets but…”

“WHY HAVEN’T YOU BEEN TO PRACTICE!!!” Drum Roll shouted out, cutting right to the chase.

Though he was surprised, Flash quickly responded“Oh I’m sorry I should have called. I got tied up with some stuff,” Flash said as he scratched the back of his head. His mind flashed back said event he got tied up with.

On a rooftop with the moon up high, a blade clashed with the poll of Achilles’ spear. The rider pushed forward to cause Cypher to fly back. “Come on Cypher, I have things to do tonight. Don’t you have a life outside of these little skirmishes we have?” Achilles asked as he spun his spear around.

“My life is to my master,” Cypher said as he charged up his blade to launch an attack.

“Still you should have called us man,” Drum Roll said.

“I'm sorry, I should have let you guys,” Flash said.

“Flash, we’ve known each other since middle school. You were never one to flake like that. If something is up you can tell us,” Ringo said.

“There’s nothing up. You guys know I love being in a band,” Flash defended.

“It doesn't feel like that,” Drum Roll said with a nod of his head. “It’s not just the band. We miss hanging out with you.”

Flash’s double life has gotten in the way of his social life. Before the Magi-Beast appeared he would spend all the time with his band jamming out and writing new songs. Maybe getting back to his music would be a good thing. “I promise, I’ll be at practise today,” Flash said.

“Five o’clock, Drum Roll’s grandma’s house, don't forget,” Bass said before the two walked off to class.

“Uh, can you believe it, Silver Spoon?” Diamond Tiara complained. The young diva was painting her nails on the bleachers of the sports field. “Daddy said I couldn't go to the new Power Patrol movie tonight. Meanwhile, Applebloom and her friends get to go to it before I do.”

“Well, to be fair, you have really been slacking on your schoolwork lately. I think your parents are catching on that you have been skipping your private tutors,” Silver Spoon said as she continued to text on her phone.

“Pshh, as if I'm ever going to need to know this. I'm already set for life,” Diamond said as she blew on her nails.

Under the bleacher, someone was overheating this whole conversation. “Cypher was right, the whole school is a goldmine of compatible subjects,” Starlight mused as the card she held began to glow. The young adult walked out to approach the girls properly. “Hello girls, I couldn't help but hear your problem and I think I can help.”

The two girls were surprised by the sudden appearance but fingered that Starlight was just a student they haven’t met before. “ Really?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“You're going to help her in geometry?” Silver spoons followed.

“Shut up Silver,” Diamond Tiara snapped. “You can convince my dad you let me go?”

“I don’t know if I can do that but I can show him how much his decision upset you,” Starlight said as she held up the card with her classic friendly smile.

“Um Diamond, I have a bad feeling about this,” Silver Spoon said as she slowly backed away.

“I think you're right,” Diamond Tiara said. “Let’s go find Sunset.”

As the two ran away, Starlight's expression turned to one of annoyance. 'Dang it, I forgot how quickly things get around in highschool' she thought. She threw the card to hit Diamond Tiara’s back and turn into a pink aura. The mass of magical energy soon formed into a monster in front of Starlight.

This new Magi-beast was humanoid covered head to toe in bandages, leaving only a pair of pink eyes exposed. Its chest was covered in black and maroon armour with a gold line going down the middle, connecting the two large shoulder pads. Coming off the middle of the chest was a piece of gold cloth that came down to the monster’s knees. A large ring came off the collar, around the head making the mummy look like a large ankh. He had on a headdress with a lion design on the forehead. “The new ruler of the land has arrived. Bow before Snare-oh,” The monster announced.

“Bold claim for a newborn,” Starlight commented. “Think you can drain your host before the rider catches wind of this?”

“Oh that will be no trouble at all,” Snare-oh claimed as his hands began to glow a maroon light. He then slammed his hands onto the ground and infused the power into the earth. Stone coffins began to sprout from the ground before quickly turning to dust, revealing weaker looking mummy goon with an ankh mask. The simple-minded foot soldiers slowly made their way before Snare-oh. “With my personal guard, this town will be the start of my kingdom.”

“My my, your are definitely an improvement from my last creature,” Starlight said as she observed the group of monsters. She was happy with how things were shaping up.

Shining was a bit nervous as he straightened his tie. He was standing quietly in the elevator next to a dark-skinned woman with neat black and silver hair. She had on a black business suit with a set of stylized Spade pins on her color. She glanced over to Shining who returned it with a smile and a wave. “So have you worked here long?” Shining asked.

“I have worked with Mr.Wave for several years,” The woman answered before returning to whatever was on her tablet. The rest of the elevator ride was silent till the elevator stopped.

The doors opened to a large, fully furnished office. There was a deep purple color scheme to the office that gave it a rather ominous feel. On the far side was a desk with a chair facing the full wall window. “Come in, come in,” a voice said, inviting the two to enter. Shining was put off by the menacing aura the man was giving off. “Glad to finally meet ya,” The man said as he spun his chair around.

To Shining’s surprise, the man behind the desk was a friendly-looking man with light yellow skin and short navy hair. He had on a neat grey suit with a tie that was split in half with yellow and blue. On his suit was a pin of a circular wave symbol. The man also had what looks like a yellow monocle over his right eye. In his hand, he was twirling a pen between his fingers.

“Oh, the pleasure is all mine Mr.Wave,” Shining replied. “It was pretty surprising to get an invite but I would really like to know why I’m here in the first place.”

“If you’ve seen the news this morning I want to have my company compete with my overseas rivals, Primary Yggdrasil, and one aspect I want to work more in the realm of public security. Primarily when it comes to these monsters” Mr.Wave explained. “I assume you understand what that means.”

“You want to work on new weapons,” Shining responded. “Suddenly you opening a new office here makes sense. Perfect testing grounds with Magi-Beast showing up.”

“Well we can't fight these monsters with our bare hands now, can we? And I can't think of anyone better to help me with this Shining Armor,” Mr.Wave said.

“I'm very grateful for the opportunity but I would think someone with your resources would get someone better. Maybe someone at the G.S.P.O would be a better fit,” Shining said.

“I could ask for someone from the G.S.P.O but it was easier to clear it with your top brass, for the sake of public safety of course,” Mr.Wave went on as he leaned down onto his desk and taped the side of his monocle to activate a HUD. “from my files are you quite the overachiever lieutenant, even during your days as crystal prep. You even fought off one of the monsters yourself, with some help from the Kamen Rider that has popped up,” Mr.Wave read off from his personal display. “Why not accept my offer, do a lot more good then you would as a simple cop,”

It was a lot the CEO was putting on Shining that he had to think about it. Ever since he was young Shining wanted to protect people, especially his sister. He believed being a police officer was the best way to do it. Now he is being offered a chance to do more and be like the heroes of his childhood. Like the hero that saved his sister on multiple occasions. “Fine, I accept,” Shining answered.

“Excellent Mr.Armor,” Mr.Wave said with a clap of his hands. “I’ll have my assistant, River Spade, to get everything in order. She’ll be responsible for getting you up to speed with where the rider system is at. This is going to be quite the partnership,” the Businessman said as he extended his hand. Shining gave a nod before shaking it, sealing the deal.

“You must have known something like this was going to happen,” Trixie said. It was a study hall in the library and Flash had just caught Trixie up with his situation.

“I figured it would come up but I thought I could have handled it,” Flash responded. “I feel tribal blowing off Ringo and Drum roll. We’ve been friends since middle school.”

“Sounds like if you just go to practice and everything will be fine,” Trixie pointed out.

“But what if a magi-beast shows up. I can’t risk someone losing their lives just so I can have a social life,” Flash said.

“Yeah, that is a tough one. Especially since you want to keep this erohay usinessbay a secret,” Trixie said. Out of nowhere, her Jelly Drone flew in carrying a pack of peanut butter crackers which it handed to its creator. “And you can’t use this little guy to solve your problem either,” Trixie mentions as she gives her drone a pet. The drone let out a few beeps in response to this affection.

“It should be fine if a monster doesn’t show up,” Flash said.

“I feel like saying that is just asking for trouble,” Trixie said. With a roll of her eyes.

The doors then flew open with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon rushing into the library. “Have you guys seen Sunset!?” Diamond asked in a panic.

“What's wrong?” Flash relayed.

“There was this girl in purple, she was talking weird and then monsters started showing up,” Silver recapped.

“Girl in purple,” Trixie repeated.

The Unicorn Advansed, Flash thought to himself. “Wait, monsters. As in, more than one?”

“Yeah, they were popping out of the ground like zombies,” Diamond mentioned.

“That's not good,” Flash said as he grabbed his bag. “We need to find Sunset and the other. Things are going to get pretty crazy.”

Trixie nodded as she, Diamond, and Silver followed Flash into the hallway. The group made it to the school’s main forum until they heard an unnerving sound.

“Graaa~”

The group turned to the doors to find a group of the lesser magi-beasts trying to open the doors very badly. The two smaller girls shivered in fear until one of the monsters punched right through the glass of the door. “AHHHHHH! Every girl for herself!” Diamond screamed as she and Silver ran away.

“Well that made things a little easier,” Flash said as he pulled out his driver and pleaded it around his waist. He then pressed the button and slotted the Element Card in. “Henshin!”

The group of slow-moving mummies flooded the hall and made their way towards the two until a few were knocked back.

“X-X-X-EXPLODE!!!”

Achilles stood in his pink armored form as he aimed the Party Canon Mini at the horde. He pulled the trigger to unleash a storm of energy bolts at the monster all knocking them down. Soon the lesser Magi-beast started to take enough damage that they crumbled to dust. “Groovy,” Achilles quipped as the last goon crumbled.

“Come on, if a magi-beast created these, then they must be nearby,” Trixie said as she led the way outside.

The two looked all around the school’s courtyard for any sign of the monster. That's when the two were knocked to the ground by some bandage-like whips. The two look to see Snare-oh walking towards them. “How dare you attack the soldiers for your future ruler,” he announced

‘“Future Ruler, Jeez and people say I have an ego problem,” Trixie said as she got up.

“SURPRISE!!!”

Achilles pulled back on his blaster to change its mode. “Eat this!” He yelled as he fired a large blast at the monster. The blast hit Snare-oh and forced him to his knee. Unfortunately for the rider wisps of energy flew towards his body and absorbed into him, healing the damage. “Ah, crud.”

Snare-oh’s hands glowed with energy as he slammed his hand to the ground and summoned more of his goons. The new soldiers he summoned were different than the ones before. These new ones acted like proper fighters then meandering zombies. They were also sporting scimitars which they all pointed at the rider. “Cease him, my troops,” Snare-oh ordered.

“Trixie, you better start running,” Achilles said as he rushed into the group of monsters. He fired off his blaster but one of the goons got a slash on his back. Achilles responded by pulling out his normal sidearm in his other hand and fired several shots at the monsters. With two blasters in hand, the rider spun around, firing in all directions. The soldiers all backed away from the rider but his attacks were interrupted when bandages wrapped his arm and caused him to drop the Party Canon Mini. Achilles looked to see that it was Snare-oh who was holding a scimitar. “Oh, finally joining us after seeing how hard I whooped your goons.”

“You talk pretty big. That will make your demise so much sweeter!” Snare-oh began pulling the bandages to bring Achilles closer. The Magi-beast raised his weapon to attack, but Achilles changed his blaster to its spear form in order to block the attack. Snare-oh recovered quickly to attack again, but a rainbow blur flew between the two. “Who dares interrupt the execution?!”

With the two separated the rainbow blur stopped in front of Achilles. “You got a lot of nerve ganging up on a guy like that,” Rainbow pointed at the Magi-Beast.

“Cutting it pretty close there,” Achilles said as he got to his feet. “Thanks for the save.”

“I figgered it had to be one of these mooks. Those mummy guys are all over the place,” Rainbow explained.

“Crud. So there's more of them?” Achilles asked.

“Yeah," Rainbow nodded. "The others are out protecting people. Things got real hairy fast.”

“If that's the case, we need to stop this guy right now. Think you can help?” Achilles spun his spear.

“I’ll take care of these freaks in ten seconds flat,” Rainbow said as she dashed out at super speed. The rainbow blur zipped around the battlefield to knock down a few of the soldiers in the. Many of the lesser Magi-beast tried to defend but Rainbow kept running in circles to group them all together. She soon kicked up the speed to cause a whirlwind with the monsters in the middle. The goons were soon lifted into the air by the wind force. When Rainbow stopped and the winds died down, the soldiers began to fall before crumbling to dust. “Haha, that was almost too easy.”

“You insolent fool!” Snare-oh yelled at the sight of his army being taken out.

Meanwhile, Achilles took out the Element card from his driver and slotted it into the spear.

“CHARGING!!!”

A pink aura formed around the blade of the weapon before jumping high into the air. He swung the spear over his head as he started to come down.

“EXPLOSION FEEDBACK!!!”

When he swung his spear a burst of multi-colored smoke filled the air. Achilles swung his spear and cleared away the smoke. “I better have got him,” the rider said as he tried to catch his breath.

“Sorry to say but you didn’t,” Starlight's voice yelled out. Looking to the source, Achilles and Rainbow turned towards the roof of the school. They saw the Advanced standing proudly with the monster behind her. “I can't have you breaking my new toy. Not before I can fully examine him.”

Not wanting to waste a moment, Achilles pulled out the Party Canon Mini and fired it at Starlight. Rainbow also being true to her name ran at the Advanced but they were not fast enough. The spike on Starlight’s arm glowed before firing a blast at Achilles. The rider went down and was knocked out of his transformation.

With Rainbow’s speed, she got to the roof in no time but she was still not fast enough to stop Starlight and the monster from teleporting away. “Dang it, she got away,” Rainbow said before looking over the edge. However, she saw no sign of anyone in the courtyard. “Hmm guess he got away too.”

Unbeknownst to Rainbow Dash, Trixie was nearby and using her Jelly Drone to project a screen of the area behind them, making the rider momentarily invisible while she helped Flash’s escape.

“That was a close one,” Trixie said as she carried Flash to the side of the school. “Are you ok?” she asked.

“I think so,” Flash answered as he started to stand up on his own. “This is really bad. Even with the girl’s help, I have no clue on how to fight an entire army.”

“Shouldn’t destroying the main Magi-Bast solve the problem?” Trixie pointed out.

“I don't think destroying him will be a problem, It's his lackeys that’s going to be the problem. The more he drains Diamond, the stronger his soldiers get,” Flash explained. “And I don't like him being backed up by that Unicorn Advansed. She’s not like Cypher or Terra, her power is on a whole nother level.”

“Maybe we should find Diamond Tiara and make sure she’s safe,” Trixie said.

“Good idea, maybe find the girls too and make sure they're alright,” Flash said

The west hallway of the school was flooded with lesser magi-bests. The scene was right out of a zombie movie and the comparison was furthered by the fact these were the much more slower, unarmed version of the troops. Rarity has set up a barricade with her gem constructs to hold them back while Pinkie dug through her personal candy bag. “Anytime you want to help Pinkie Pie!” Rarity called out.

“Hold on, hold on,” Pinkie said as she continued to look through the small, festively decorated bag. She then pulled out a large jawbreaker. With a smile, she charged the ball of solid sugar with her magic before throwing it over Rarity’s barricade. “Fire in the hole!” She yelled. When it hit the ground, the soldiers turned to it before it blew up like a hand grenade. The two were shielded from the blast but the lesser Magi-Beast were not so lucky and were reduced to dust.

“That looks like the end of them,” Rarity said as she lowered her shields. “I hope the others are having similar luck.”

Meanwhile in the gymnasium Twilight and Applejack were holding off the horde of goons as Sunset and Fluttershy stayed back. Twilight was using her powers to lift the monster and throwing them into each other. Applejack charged through the crowd, grabbing one of the monsters by the back of the head and slamming it into the ground, reducing it to dust.

“Right when I think I have these magi-beast fingered out, they end up pulling something like this,” Sunset said.

Applejack performed a roundhouse kick and with her strength, used enough force to blast a group of the creep into a wall with a shockwave. Twilight lifted up the remaining monsters and flung them into the monster pinned on the wall, causing them all to crumble.

“Is it over?” Fluttershy asked as she brought her hands down from covering her face.

“Yeah, looks like the last of em,” Applejack answered.

“But I got the feeling we’ll be seeing them again,” Twilight added.

“I hope Rainbow is alright,” Sunset chimed in. “It’s just like her to run off on her own without thinking.”

As the group’s discussion was soon interrupted by a robotic chirping. Looking at the door, the girls saw the Owl Phone fly in with Flash and Trixie close behind. “Oh good, you girls are alright,” Flash said.

“Yeah. I’m guessing you ran into those creeps too?” Sunset asked.

“Yeah, we ran away when they started breaking into the school,” Flash explained. “have you girls happened to see Diamond Tiara anywhere?”

“No, why? Is she in trouble?” Fluttershy asked.

“Maybe,” Flash replied. “She is most likely where the Magi-Beast causing this came from.”

“Oh that’s not good,” Applejack said as she felt the gravity of the situation.

“We need to find her before the monster drains her like a battery,” Twilight chimed in.

“We could use the help in finding her,” Trixie added.

“Good, cause I think we’re going to need all the help we can get,” Sunset said.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hid in a broom closet. The door was open slightly to allow the two to keep a lookout. There was an announcement to evacuate but the two decided to hide. Diamond was crouching down with her hands on her forehead.

“What are we going to do? I don't want to be in some stupid zombie movie,” she cried.

“It will be fine Diamond, we live in a town with real-life superheroes. We will get out of this,” Silver said to calm her friend down.

“Easy for you to say, you're not the one linked to some creepy monster,” Diamond snapped back.

Silver was about to speak up but was interrupted by the door opening. The two jumped as they saw the Unicorn Advanced standing in the doorframe. “My, my, it's rude to talk about people like that behind their back." The two little girls screamed as they grabbed onto each other. “Get over here you little brat,” she said as she grabbed Diamond by the jacket.

“Get off me, you are going to be in a world of trouble when my daddy hears about this!” Diamond yelled as she kicked to try and get away.

“Your dad is nothing compared to me,” Starlight said as she looked her captive in the eye. The intimidated looks scared Diamond even more, causing wisps of energy to begin coming off her and flew away. “Haha perfect.”

“Get away from her!” Silver yelled as she tried to rush the Advanced only for the monster to vanish into thin air. The young girl fell to the floor as she saw her best friends in danger. “Diamond!”

Just as Silver Spoon yelled, Rainbow was running through the halls past her. She immediately stopped to consult the young girl. “Hey kid, what happened? Did you see those monsters come by?” She asked. Silver looked to the older girl and explained the situation.

The wisps of energy flew through the air and into Snare-oh’s body. The monster had made a base for himself in the middle of the road, a few cars used to make a roadblock. His hands began to glow as power was added to his body. “Yes, Yes! With this power I will build a new empire on top of the ruins of these weak humans. Now rise my army, Rise and conquer in the name of your king,” the Magi-Beast proclaimed. He slammed his hand on the ground and created his army. This time in a much greater number and all looking quite capable. “Now go my army!”

The soldiers gave a salute with their swords before flooding the streets. The Magi-Beast charged his hands with power as he created more minions.

In the lab of Wave Technologies, River Spade was at a workbench with her tablet. She was looking over the data she was collecting from Shining’s training. The police officer was in a chair with a VR headset on. “I must say Shining Armor, you are taking to the equipment quite well. Mr.Wave was right in choosing you. They again I always have faith in his decisions,” River said.

“Thanks. That means a lot,” Shining said as he took the headset off. “It kinda hard to believe you guys were able to make this kind of stuff.”

“Well, it's all thanks to Mr.Wave," River commented as she kept typing. "He’s the reason behind this whole company. He even had one of his game developer friends help in making the whole thing more intuitive.”

“Thank you very much River,” Mr.wave said as he snuck up behind his assistant. The young woman jumped as the CEO turned to the officer. “I’m glad to see things are going well cause something has come up,” Mr.Wave said before taping his monocle. A holographic display appeared showing the lesser Magi-Beast ransacking the town.

“Oh no!” Shining yelled out as he got to his feet.

“This is quite the opportunity. We may be able to get a proper field test today,” Mr.Wave said.

“Are you sure?” Shining asked.

“Oh I’m very sure,” Mr. Wave said as he picked the briefcase up off the table. “Take River with you to monitor you,” he said as he handed it over to Shining.

Shining took the case and gave his boss a salute. “Yes sir,” He said before heading to the elevator, River Spade following close behind.

When the two left, Mr.Wave picked up the tablet to look over the results River collected. “Alright Shining Armor, This is where the real interview begins.”

Rainbow was quick to alert the others of Diamond Tiara’s kidnapping. Seeing as she was no longer at the school the group spread out to the town to search. Sunset used her power to see if Silver Spoon’s memories could yield any clues but it was no use. Flash and Trixie hit the road with his bike with the Owl Phone and Jelly Drone taking to the skies. Trixie was looking on the phone with a video feed from the two robots. “Any sign of her?” Flash asked.

“Nothing yet,” Trixie replied. “I'm sure The Unicorn is hiding somewhere, waiting for Diamond to disappear into nothing.”

“The sooner we find her the better,” Flash said before he needed to slam on the brakes. The bike skidded to the side as the two watched Lesser Magi-Beast ransack Mainstreet. Many of the monsters assaulted some of the civilians who were trying to run. “I never thought things could get this bag.”

“I think you need to step in. leave the search to me,” Trixie said as she got off the bike.

Flash nodded as he put on the driver and slotted the element into it. “Henshin!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!!!”

Flash ran through the magic circle and transformed to enter the mayhem. He kneed one of the goons to the ground and got the attention of the others. Two of the soldiers tried to slash at the rider but he was quick enough to deploy his spear ro block the attack. Achilles slashes the monsters to get deeper into the army. The lesser Magi-Beasts tried to gang up on the rider but he fought them all off. One of the monsters tried to sneak behind the rider but was soon interrupted when the Owl Phone flew right in its face. Unfortunately, it looked like when he took down one, two more would take their place. “Where are all of them coming from?”

“Awww, is the hero starting to get tired?” A mocking voice asked. Looking up, Flash found Starlight standing on the roof looking down at the rider.

“I don’t know, are you having trouble finding a new stop to lurk?” Achilles replied.

“How else am I supposed to look down in the weak,” Starlight fires back. “Plus it keeps me safe from annoying do-gooders that can mess with my plans,” She said before holding up Diamond Tiara over the ledge.

“Get me down from here you monster!” Diamond demanded, struggling against the Advansed. More wisps of energy kept coming off her as Achilles noticed the young girl started to fade away.

“You need to calm down Diamond!” Achilles yelled.

“I will not calm down! This seems like the kind of situation where it would be very hard to calm down!” Diamond snapped back.

"Dang it, she’s just going to make things worse,” Achilles thought out loud. He swung his spear over his head before getting into a fighting position. “When this battle is over, I will send you to Tartarus,” he proclaimed.

“We’ll see about that,” Starlight said with a snap of her fingers. The soldiers raised their swords before charging at the rider.

Meanwhile Twilight and Applejack were on the lookout for Diamond. Their search led them to the park where more of the Lesser magi-bests were wrecking the place. “Dagnabit!" Applejack commented These things are like termites on eh log."

“This just shows the monster is getting stronger,” Twilight observed. A few of the goons noticed the girls and started to attack. Twilight countered by using her power to push them all back. More soldiers formed and began to get more aggressive. “I think we’re going to need to power through them.”

“Ah was hoping you were going to say that,” Applejack said as she ripped one of the benches out of the ground. She grabbed it with both hands in front of her. “Just stand back,” she said before charging like a bulldozer. She plowed through the crowd clear through to the other side of the park. Lesser Magi-Beasts went flying before something hit the farm girl’s plow and caused her to stop and cause a large trench to be dug up.

Looking up Applejack saw Snare-oh stirring on a throne his minions constructed for him. Two of the soldiers standing on either side of him with fans as their king retracted the bandages into his arm that was the cause the human bulldozer to stop. “Quite bold of you to treat your king’s elite servants in such a way,” the monster said.

“You ain't no king to us, ya no good varmint!” Applejack cried as she threw the bench to the side.

Twilight was not too far behind as she ran up to her friend. “You're going to have to go through us if you want to be king of anything."

“Oh, is that an invitation?” Snare-oh asked as he stood up from his throne. He clapped his hands and a line of lesser Magi-Beast appeared before him. “Men, dispose of these commoners. If they won’t recognize me as king, then they have no place in my kingdom.”

The soldiers obeyed with a raise of three weapons as they closed in on the two. “Twi, ah think we need to call in the others,” Applejack suggests.

“Agreed,” Twilight responds as she pulls out her phone. Unfortunately, one of the Lesser Magi-beasts attacks her and causes the phone to fall to the ground. They started to pile onto the girls, Applejack fighting them off but their numbers overwhelmed her. The two fought as hard as they could but their attention was soon taken by a siren which sounded like it was getting closer.

Racing down the road was a patrol car that ran into the park and skidded to a stop, turning many of the soldiers to dust in the process. “Twilight!” Shining yelled as he got out of the driver’s seat and ran towards his sister. He pulled out his baton and began smacking away the Lesser Magi-Beast.

“Shining!?” Twilight said in surprise as her brother cleared a way to her. Applejack held strong and found the strength to push back against the monsters allowing Shining to lead the girls out of danger.

“It’s going to be alright, I'm here to take care of it from here,” Shining said as the three ran for the squad car.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked.

“Shining!” River yelled as she threw the briefcase. Shining caught it and got the girls behind the car.

“Wait, who is she?” Twilight asked.

“A coworker,” Shining replied as he put the case on the ground and opened it.

Inside the case was a device made of a lever coming off the right side and an empty space with a bar coming off the main body. There was also a black rectangle with a stylized police badge engraved on it.
Shining took the device in hand and stood up towards the monster.

“One man taking on my army? I’ve never seen something so foolish,” Snare-oh mocked as he got his men into an attack the position.

The officer took a deep breath as he prosecuted what was happening.

A few hours earlier.

“Shining, have you ever heard of the story of Jason and the Argonauts?” Me.Wave asked as he looked out the window of his office.

“It was a story about a man named Jason and his quest for the golden fleas to save his kingdom,” Shining answered.

“Quite the amazing story. Many heroes of legend joined together for this fantastic adventure. And that’s what I wish to do with this new system. To have you and Achilles fighting side by sign for humanity,” The CEO went on. “It’s also the reason why I named this system after the ship that united these heroes…”

Present.

“ARGO DRIVER!!!”

The device announced itself as shining played it on his waist. Two metal straps deployed from the sides to form a belt. “It’s not foolish. It’s my duty as an officer to protect the people of this town,” Shining announced as he presented the badge to the monster before slotting it onto the bar on the left side of the driver.

“ACTAVARED!!!”

A stand by noise began to play as Shining brought his right arm over his chest as he grabbed the lever on the driver with his right hand. After a few seconds, he pulled the lever, causing the badge to rotate ninety degrees and flip open to reveal the close-up image of two purple compound eyes. “Henshin!” He yelled.

“SHIELD...OF...JUSTICE!”

A hexagon pattern began to wash over Shining’s body from the belt and formed into a back bodysuit covering all but his head. Several holographic windows opened around Shining showing several pieces of armor that flew out and attached themselves onto his body. The chest plate was gunmetal gray with a blue segmented stripe going down the middle. The shoulder gear was squared off and had the same stripe going down the sides. He had arm armor on his right arm in a similar color scheme but was sporting a buckler or his left arm in the shape of a small riot shield. A mask flew onto Shining's face and enclosed his head as a helmet. The face was made of a blue shield design with three spikes acting as horns and purple compound eye plates.

“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!!!”

“To protect and serve!” The rider announced as he stood at attention with a salute. He then got into a more fighting stance as he pointed at the monster. “Kamen Rider Argo is on the scene.”

“Shining?” Twilight said in surprise at the sight of her brother transforming.

“Henshin sequence startup successful. Rider System operating at optimal parameters. Everything is green,” River Spade said as she pulled up her tablet.

“That armor makes no difference. I will become your ruler or I will end you,” Snare-oh declared as he gave the single for his soldiers to attack. The Lesser Magi-Beast attack but Argo was ready for it.

He punched one of the goons as soon as it got in range. Another tried to slash him with its sword but the rider blocked it with his shield. Argo then countered by performing a kick that sent the Lesser Magi-beast flying before it crumbled to dust. “Looks like this calls for some crowd control,” Argo said as he reached to his side. From the holster on his belt, the rider pulled out a blaster that bore a shield and star symbol on the side.

“ARGO DEFENDER!!!”

He pointed the weapon at the monster and opened fire taking most of them out. One of the monsters slashed at Argo but the rider jumped to doughed, stepped on the monster’s face, and used it to gain more height. He used the height to fire as the group from above. “Looks like your men could use some better leadership,” Argo commented as he made his way towards the monster.

“My men will give their lives for me and they will never stop,” Snare-Oh declared as his men formed a wall between him and the rider.

“Didn't know monsters could be a fan of the Zerg Rush,” Argo observed.

“Shining, use the Battle Card, it was made for these kinds of situations,” River advised.

“Oh right,” The rider said as he tapped the butt of his blaster. This caused a slot to pop out of the front of the Argo Defender. Argo then pulled a card out from the holder on the left side of his belt. The card was black with a red stripe going down the middle with the word “Launch” engraved on the corner. He put the card into the slot and slammed it down into the blaster.

“LAUNCHER ACTAVAT!”

Energy constructs of machine parts appeared around Argo’s shoulders before assembling into a pair of missile batteries. The missiles launched and hit the group of monsters, reducing them all to dust. “You think that will stop me,” Snare-Oh declared as his hands glowed with energy. “Like I said there's plenty more where…” The monster was interrupted by several shots from Argo’s blaster.

The rider then charged at Snare-Oh to bash him with his shield. “Sorry, but you're not hiding behind your goons anymore,” Argo said before delivering a kick right at the monster's chest.

“Fine if that’s how you want to, I’ll play your games,” Snare-Oh said as he extended several of his bandages out to use as a whip and swung them at the rider. Argo blocked the attack with his shield but the Magi-Beast kept swinging. “Once I’m done with you, I’ll take out that other rider. Then maybe I’ll take care of those girls along the way. Then nothing will stop me from becoming king. Ahahahaha!” Snare-Oh laughed. His joyous cackling was interrupted by Argo shooting a blast right at his head.

“Oh, you screwed up now!” Argo growled as the whips stopped to allow the rider to holster his weapon. “Threaten me all you want, but I’m not going to let anything happen to Twily,” the rider declared as he grabbed the lever in his driver and pulled it, causing the badge to close and open again.

“ARGO FEEDBACK!”

The rider's hand glowed with a purple aura as he put them together and separated them, forming the construct of a shield that he then threw at the monster. Snare-Oh swung his whip bandages at the construct but it was ineffective. When the shields made contact, the monster was paralyzed with an electric shock. The same purple aura formed around Argo’s legs as he ran towards the Magi-Beast before jumping. The rider extended both his legs in a kick that hit Snare-oh before performing a flip back. When Argo landed the monster exploded with wisps of energy flying out of the blast and into the sky. Any remaining soldiers were reduced to dust. “And that settles that,” he said as he dusted off his hands.

“Shining!” Twilight helped out. The rider looked to see his sister running up to him before he was caught off guard by the surprise hug. “What is all this? How did this happen? Does Cadence know about this?” Twilight asked.

“I got a bit of a promotion at work. I'm a Kamen Rider now. And no my wife doesn’t know yet, things move pretty fast in this,” Argo replied. All of a sudden he let go of his sister as a shock serged threw his body and forced him to his knees. The transformation canceled out as Shining took a moment to catch his breath.

“It appears your body isn’t used to the strain the driver puts on your body. Good thing I got enough data to make adjustments to mitigate the problem,” River said as she helped shining up.

“Hey, just who are you?” Applejack asked.

“I’m a representative of Wave Technologies. As for the details about your brother and Kamen Rider Argo, there will be an official statement released soon,” River responded as she walked shining to the car. “Don’t worry about your brother, he is in good hand.”

“I’ll call you later,” Shining said before River got him into the car and drove away.

“Talk about surprising, who would have thought your brother would be a superhero?” Applejack said before looking to make sure her friend was okay. “Is everything alright?”

“I’m just happy,” Twilight answered as she watched her brother's car drive off. “He’s finally living his dream.”

At the same time, Achilles was fighting off the Lesser Magi-Beasts. He has switched to his Blaze form but the fire wasn't doing the damage he wanted to their numbers. Starlight simply laughed as the rider fought in vain to fight off her forces. Diamond wasn’t faring well either, almost completely faded away. “Back Off!” Achilles yelled out as he strummed the Solar Sonic to cause a wave of fire to clear some room. The attack caused the soldiers to step back but did very little to stop their advance.

Achilles was ready to fight to the bitter end however the rider was surprised to see the monsters that corner him crumbled to dust. Starlight was also surprised by this development before releasing the mass of energy returning to Diamond and restoring her back to normal. “Darn it!” The advance shouted as she realized that her monster lost somehow. “What happened!?”

“I’m as clueless as you are,” Achilles responded.

“Whatever happened, can you let me go now?” Diamond demanded

“Well, I guess I have no use for you anymore if Snare-oh was defeated. Sure I’ll let you go,” Starlight said. She did let Diamond Tiara go, by throwing her off the roof.

“AHHHHHHHHH” the little girl screamed. Achilles ran and caught Diamond before anything could happen to her. “thanks for saving me, hero. The other girls will be so jealous that I was saved by the rider,” she said as she pulled out her phone for a selfie.

“Um, No problem at all,” Achilles responded as he let Diamond down. “Just go off and be safe now young lady.”

When Diamond ran off and out of earshot, Trixie emerged from her hiding spot. So what was that about? What do you think happened to the mummy army?” she asked.

“I’m guessing the girls defeated the Magi-Beast,” Flash answered as he undid the transformation.

At Sugarcube Corner the group got together as Twilight recaps what happened with the monster and her brother. Everyone was surprised by the fact that there was a second Kamen Rider in town, especially Flash and Trixie.

“I can’t believe you got to see the new Kamen rider transform and everything,” Rainbow complained.

“And it’s Twilight’s brother of all people,” Pinkie said excitedly.

“Eeyup, the man was like a one-man army,” Applejack said.

As the girls were talking Flash was stirring back with Trixie. “Wow, another rider. Kinda hard to believe,” he mused.

“Yeah hopefully he and Achilles will be able to band together to fight the Magi-Beast,” Trixie followed.

That’s when something hit Flash that caused him to freeze mid-sip of his drink. “Band… oh, crud!” Flash exclaimed as he reached for his phone. As he expected it was filled with texts from Ringo and Drum Roll. “Oh man, I’m such an idiot. I forgot all about them,” he said before racking out of the cafe.

Ringo was looking at his phone. The clock read a quarter to six and still no response from Flash. “He flaked on us,” Ringo said in disappointment. “Again”

“Are you sure we should kick him out of the band? It was all his idea, to begin with,” Drum Roll commented. “Maybe he has a good reason.”

“If he had a good reason he would have told us,” Ringo said as he stood up and walked to the door. “I’m sick of waiting for so much as a text from the guy. As far as I’m concerned Flash Sentry is out of the band.”

Not too far Terra was stuffing his face with his favorite food. The young man was happily munching until he felt something. Putting the bag of burgers aside, Terra reaches into his pocket and pulled out two Magi-Beast cards that were glowing. “Oh boy. This is going to be real fun.”

Ride 14: Heart of Gold

View Online

Twilight had entered Sugarcube Corner for her morning drink on this most lovely of Saturdays.

The young scientist had a spring in her step as she made her way to the counter to place her order. However, on her stroll, she spotted Flash. He looked, to her surprise, awful. His hair was a mess, not in it’s usual non-intended way, he had marks under his eyes, and it looked like he was on his fifth cup of coffee. “Jeez! Flash, what happened. You look awful.’ Twilight pulled up a chair by her friend.

“I didn’t get enough sleep last night," Flash responded in a tired fashion. "My band-mates are mad at me and I've been waiting for a reply from the guys. I sent them like...thirty texts and still got nothing. If they were mad at me, I wish they’d tell me instead of giving me the silent treatment.”

“Did you try seeing them in person?” Twilight suggested.

“I’m scared of what might happen,” Flash answered. “I really screwed things up with them. They probably don’t want to see me again.”

“Aren’t you being a bit hard on yourself?” Twilight asked.

“I have been leaving them high and dry for weeks without giving them a reason why," Flash answered. "They have every right to be mad at me.”

“I'm sure you have a good reason behind it. You're not the kind of guy to just flake on people.”

“I do," Flash nodded. "But I can't tell them."

“What is it?” Twilight asked. Flash got an unpleasant expression on his face.

“Can’t tell you either. It's a very personal matter.”

“Well, you might as well try confronting them," Twilight suggested. "They might be mad but it must be better than being freaked out not knowing anything."

“I guess you're right. Might as well rip this bandage off now then dragging it out,” Flash said as he rose up. “Thanks Twilight. I know I can count on you.”

“No problem,” Twilight smiled

Flash was about to walk out the door till he remembered something. “Hey Twilight, any word about your brother?”

“Nothing?” Twilight answered. “I really want to talk about this. I mean he's a Kamen Rider, that's a big deal.”

“Same. I would love to see it first hand,” Flash mentioned before leaving the cafe. “Still cant believe Shining is a Rider. I certainly could use the help,” he said as he walked off to find his friends.

Meanwhile, at the offices of Wave Technologies, Mr.Wave was looking over footage of Shining's debut fight. Shining was present as well, sitting across from the CEO at his desk. “Amazing, Mr.Armor! I knew I picked right when i selected you to be my Kamen Rider. This is the dawn of a new age and I was the one to bring it about,” Mr.Wave monologue.

“I’m happy to live up to your expectations, Mr.Wave,” Shining politely responded.

“And this is only the beginning. Now that we have confirmed the Rider System is operational, we can produce new weapons and armor. The skies the limit here,” Mr.Wave continued, not hiding his excitement at all.

As the CEO continued to bask in the glory of his work. River entered the office with the briefcase in hand. “The technicians have finished calibrating the Driver Mr.Wave. it should no longer put a strain on Shining's body anymore,” The assistant reported before handing the case off to Shining as well as a card holder. “You have also been cleared to use the other Battle Cards we’ve developed. I trust you will use them wisely.”

“Of course,” Shining responded as he took his gear.

“And now that you are properly outfitted, I have a mission for you." The way Mr.Wave had said that made it clear to Shining he was serious about whatever he was about to say. “I want you to find out the identity of Kamen Rider Achilles.”

Shining was taken aback by the request. “Um, sir. I understand being curious about who Achilles is under the mask, but I don’t see how this will help us fight the Magi-Beasts.”

“It’s all a part of my plan. Alone the two of you are strong, but together you'll be able to take on any enemy. I know first hand the benefits of collaboration. After all, I didn’t get to where I am today without help. Isn’t that right, River?”

“Of course sir,” River responded.

“I get where you're coming from," Shining nodded. "But I don’t see the guy just showing me his face just cause I asked."

“I have been observing Achilles for a while now," Mr.Wave mentioned as he started to dig through the draw of his desk. "From my observations, I theorise that just like your system, if he takes too much damage the transformation would be cancelled out.”

“What are you suggesting?” Shining asked with a stern face.

“I’m suggesting that I’m allowing you to use any means necessary to complete this mission,” The CEO went on as he pulled out a few papers. “And if you can’t, I will find someone who will,” he ordered as he suddenly changes to a more serious tone.

These orders caused Shining to clench is fist tight but he had no choice. He was a man devoted to his duties and he was in no position to argue. “Very well sir,” Shining responded as he fixed his tie. “But as an officer, I am to only use force as a last resort.”

“Like I said, any means necessary. Just as long as the job gets done,” Mr.Wave said as he spun his chair to face the window. Just as Shining was about to leave the CEO stopped him. “Oh, and Shining. There is one last piece of equipment I almost forgot to give you.” He spun back around before sliding a set of keys across the desk. “You’ll find it in lot A-thirty two.”

Shining took the keys before attempting to leave again. “I’d be careful with the throttle if I were you,” River warned. Shining paused for a moment before finally leaving.

Starlight entered the Doctor’s lab to see that there was no one around.

She was struck with inspiration from the last monster she created. She wanted to get to work on it as soon as possible, but it all had to start with the thing Kirogire held most precious.

Sitting on their desk beneath piles of notes was the tome that started everything. Starlight flipped through the book, images of creatures only thought to exist in the world of myth and fiction passed before her. "Yes," she thought out loud. "A lot of these would work, but I need to be careful. I don't think my plan would work if I make them too strong. I don't want to risk being condemned to a hospital bed again."

“Working on a new project?” A voice asked. Starlight turned around to find Cypher standing in the door-frame.

“Best to get things done as soon as possible,” Starlight replied casually as she continued to flip through the tome.

“You know that book is very important to the Doctor’s research,” Cypher pointed out.

“Don’t worry, I'm not going to hurt the man’s precious toy. Are you going to tell on me like some snot nosed brat?”

Cypher was silent at her comment, till the Doctor's voice called him over. The young man turned to see the doctor standing in the hallway. He was no longer in his scrubs and in a navy blue suit with an overcoat draped over his shoulders. He got closer to Cypher and pleased a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll be going out for a moment,” Kurogiri said before getting closer. He then whispered, “don’t worry about Starlight."

“But we can’t risk her ruining your plans.”

“Whatever she's doing can be to our benefit. Plus, I have contingencies if Starlight gets too ambitious. One of them is you.” Kurogiri continued in a whisper, “do you trust me?”

“Of course,” Cypher whispered back.

“Then let Starlight do what she wants for now,” Kurogiri said before walking away. The young man looked at Starlight before leaving, letting her do her work.

Flash found his friends at a local music shop. He knew this would be a place to find them since Ringo worked at this place.

“Guys please you guys can at least talk to me,” Flash pleaded as his shades wearing friend sat behind the counter. Drum Roll was standing nearby with a mean look on his face.

“You blew us off again Flash,” Ringo responded in a cold tone after a long silence.

“Yeah but there was a monster attack. If you read my text, I said there were mummies all over the place. And you know for a fact I'm not making things up,” Flash explained.

“Oh, we know about the attack. But your text came long after the monsters disappeared,” Drum Roll pointed out.

“And it’s not just yesterday. We get there have been crazy things going on around town but that excuse can only work so many times. Have you been avoiding us or something?” Ringo followed, keeping his cool demeanour.

“You've been hanging out with Trixie a lot too,” Drum Roll continued, getting more worked up as he went. “Are you thinking of leaving us for her band? Or maybe you two are dating and rather spend time with her!?”

Flash was getting overwhelmed by Drum Roll pressing him so intensely. “Calm down, Drum Roll. First off Trixie doesn't even have a band, The Illusions was just for the music showcase. Second, if we were dating it wouldn’t be something I’d hide from anyone.” Flash defended.

“Then tell us what’s up," Ringo told him. "What is so important you need to hide it from your closest friends?”

“I…” Flash started. He stopped himself to think of what to say. “I-I can't tell you. You're just going to need to trust me.”

“Trust is a two way street,” Ringo replied.

Flash turned to his other friend. “Drum Roll?”

“Sorry Flash. I thought we were a band,” he turned away.

Flash tried to say something, but his words failed him. Deep down, he knew that his band-mates had every right to be mad at him. “You guys are right, bu-” Flash started but he saw something that made him stop. “LOOK OUT!!!”

The two musicians looked at each other before turning to the front window of the store to see something flying towards them. Following Flash’s warning the two duck down as the window was smashed. With broken glass all over the floor, the three boys looked up to see what crashed into the store.

“About time I found ya,” the figure said. It was clear to everyone that this was a Magi-Beast. This one in particular was very reminiscent of a lion with a large red mane. it’s right arm was covered in a dark purple exoskeleton, having a large scorpion stinger coming out of the forearm and a pair of bat wings coming out if it’s back. The monster turned to find Ringo trying to get up with his green eyes flashing. “Your coming with me,” he said as he reached over to grab the young man.

“Get away from him!” Drum roll yelled. The drummer picked up one of the mic-stand displays and charged at the monster, trying to hit it. However the monster caught it and threw it to the side. The Magi-Beast grabbed Ringo by the shirt before speeding his wings and flying off.

Flash saw this and quickly pulled out this Owl Phone. The device transformed and flew quickly to follow the monster. He then rushed to his bike and prepared to follow. “What are you doing?” Drum Roll asked.

“I’m going to get help," Flash responded as he put on his helmet. "You should probably do the same.”

“Uh, right,” Drum Roll replied as he ran away from the scene.

“Why would that monster attack Ringo? Unless” Flash thought out loud as he started the motorcycle. He peeled out after the monster and put the Legend Driver onto this waist. “Henshin,” he slotted the Rider card into the driver and transformed with his bike. The rider then pulled out the storm card and put it into a slot on the bike. the lines on the machine turned blue as he got a boost in speed to close the gap between him and the monster. “Put the guy down!” The Rider demanded.

“Not a chance,” the Magi-Beast replied as he pointed stinger towards the Rider to shoot out spikes only for him to swerve out of the way.

Achilles pulled out his blaster and began shooting till he hit one of the monster's wings. Unfortunately before he could fire off his attack, his bike randomly spun out in the road causing him to roll into a pile of trash. Thankful his armor protected him from the collision. “What the!?” Achilles exclaimed. Looking back on the road to see it froze. “Ice, at this time of year?”

“Haha! Smooth move, oh mighty hero,” a new voice said in a cocky tone. Walking into view was a new monster. It looked almost like a baboon with a red face surrounded by a white fur pelt. The fur covered its whole body besides its chest which looked like a large chunk of ice. “Stinger did a great job drawing you out, Rider.”

The winged monster landed just behind the new one, the one called Stinger. Ringo was held under his arm, wrapped up in binding that resembled a scorpion's tail. The young man struggled to get out but he couldn’t even yell for help with his mouth covered up. “Your trap was pretty funny to watch Slushball. He honestly believed he was going to catch me,” the monster laughed.

“Wait, two Magi-beats at once!?” Achilles yelled out. Slushball breathed out a stream of cold air but the rider rolled out of their way, the trash being frozen instead. The monster then tried to rush at Achilles but he ducked out of the way to get behind the beast and punch him. The monster flipped over to shoot out cold air again, but Achilles stepped back to avoid it. “Ok, time for fire.” He pulled out the Blaze Card, ready to replace the Storm with it.

Unfortunately, before he had a chance to transform, Achilles was drop kicked from behind. “Oh no you don't!” The rider heard as he glanced around, spotting Terra standing over him.

“I should have known you would be the one to bring two monsters at once,” Achilles said as he got up.

“What can I say. the more the merrier,” Terra followed. “And with a team up like this, you have no chance of stopping us.”

But Terra’s gloating was cut short as a blast hit Stinger and caused him to let go of Ringo. Looking down the road, everyone saw a tricked out patrol bike speeding down the road with a familiar police officer riding it. “Shining!” Achilles yelled out, happy to see he had back up.

“Who the heck is that guy?” Terra asked.

The bike stopped and Shining took off his helmet to observe the situation. “I already met the white one with the wings. So you must be the tough guy my sister told me about,” the officer said as he got off his vehicle.

“What’s it to ya, ya dang meter maid!” Terra yelled out.

“Hey! First some of my friends are meter maids,” Shining said as he put on his driver. He then presented his badge to the group of monsters. “And second, you're under arrest for the kidnapping and the disruption of traffic.” He placed the badge onto the driver and pulled the lever. “Henshin!”

“SHIELD! OF! JUSTICE!”

“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!!!”

The armor formed around Shining in an instant to the surprise of the monsters. “To protect and serve! Kamen Rider Argo is on the scene,” he announced.

“Wow. This is way cooler then I thought,” Achilles said in amazement in getting to see the new Kamen Rider or the first time.

“What!? There another one of you rider guys,” Terra followed, more in distress then amazement.

“Looks like you didn’t get the memo,” Argo said as he pulled out the Argo Defender. He then charged at Slushball with a kick. “Time to turn up the heat in this guy,” he quipped. The Magi-Beast was quick to respond by shooting a stream of cold air. Argo blocked it with his shield before bashing it into the monster. Stinger came into the side with his stinger arm raised to attack. Argo rolled out of the way when the attack came down and shot at the Magi-Beast.

“Why you!” Terra cried in frustration. He was getting ready to kick but he was smacked down by Achilles’ spear.

“He’s not going to hog all the fun,” Achilles stated as he performed a few stabs on the Advanced. Terra jumped up for an axe kick, but Achilles blocked it with his spear.

Meanwhile Argo blocked an attack from Stinger. Slushball swung his arm but, the rider ducked down and ended up hitting his fellow monster. “Hey" Stinger cried out, "watch it!” Before the icy monster could react, Argo bashed his shield into him and caused him to be shoved into Terra. Stinger tried to grab Argo from behind, but he reacted quickly to shoot at the Magi-Beast.

When Terra and Slushball got back up, they saw the two riders, pointing their weapons at them. “Dang it, we’re going to need to take care of these guys later. Was not expecting two riders to show up,” Terra said. Slushball agreed and breathed out a cloud to allow them to escape. Stinger followed by spreading his wings to fly off.

“Thanks for the assist there,” Achilles said as he rested his spear on his shoulder.

“No Problem," Argo replied. "I'm just happy to fight alongside you as an equal now."

Achilles rushed over to the tied up Ringo and used his spear to cut him out of his restraints. “Ah man, I really owe ya one. I have no clue why I was attacked like that,” Ringo said as the rider helped him up.

“You should really be thanking your friend Flash. He was the one that found me to help you out,” Achilles followed. In an attempt to give himself an alibi.

“Yeah, I guess I should thank him for that much,” Ringo replied before the rider told him to run off.

“Hey, Achilles, can I ask you something?” Argo brought up. Achilles turned to the other rider. “Do you mind telling me who you really are?”

Achilles let out a sigh. “I'm sorry, but I can't. There are a lot of personal reasons behind it.”

“I was expecting something like that,” Argo said with a shake of his head. “I can respect that, but I don’t think my boss would be happy with it.”

“I don't know who your boss, is but tell him that he needs to respect other people's privacy,” Achilles snapped back.

“I know. But I don’t really have a choice. I need to know who you are…” Argo started before he pulled out his blaster. “Even if, unfortunately, I need to use force” Achilles was quick to react, holding up his hands in a none threatening manor.

“Hey, man. No need for us to fight,” Achilles tried to deescalate the situation but it was no use. Argo opened fire, which caused Achilles to go running. The officer followed Achilles down a back alley. The rider soon turned into a dead end with Argo closing in from behind. "I thought you were cooler than this.”

“I'm sorry it had to come to this,” Argo aimed his blaster. Before he could fire, Achilles rushed in and knocked the Argo Defender out of the way, causing the bolt to hit a wall instead. He then threw a few punches before kicking the officer back into a pile of boxes. “You're really not making this easy,” Argo said as he took out a Battle Card. this one was blue with the word “Snipe” engraved on it. He hit the butt of his blaster and slotted it in. At the same time Achilles pulled out the Storm Element card and slotted it into the driver.

“S-S-S-STORM!!!

“SNIPER ACTIVATED!”

As Achilles changed forms, part constructs appeared around Argo’s right shoulder and formed into a sniper scope. Within his Visor, Argo had Achilles locked in his crosshairs. Pointing his blaster, Argo shot two bolts. Achilles created a whirlwind to launch himself up into the air.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Especially since you're a friend!” Achilles yelled out as he looked down at Argo. he also noticed the shots he fired changed trajectory and heading right towards him. His eyes went wide as he couldn’t avoid the attack and was knocked back onto the roof of a nearby building.

Argo jumped onto a wall and then onto the opposite wall to get onto the roof. Achilles responded by swinging his spear to blast several gusts of wind at the rider.

Argo blocked it with his shield, but Achilles didn’t let up on his attacks. Behind the shield, the officer fired his blaster to the side. The bolts flew out but then curved to head right towards Achilles, which caused him to use his spear to block. “I can't go back empty handed. If I get replaced I can't be guarantee the other guy will be as cooperative as me,” Argo cried out.

“I’m sorry but I can’t,” Achilles said as he taped the butt of his spear on the ground. A twister formed around the riser and when it cleared the rider vanished.

Shining let out a sigh as he undid his transformation. He knew the rider was long gone. With the mission failed, he kicked the ground in frustration.

“Wow," Trixie thought out loud, "that’s very weird. Why would Shining attack you like that? He’s a huge fan of Achilles.” Flash had called Trixie to inform her of what just happened. The two were walking together on main street.

“Yeah. All because I wouldn't tell him who I really am,” Flash added. “He seemed more scared than anything. Talking about being replaced.”

“Maybe it has to do with his boss?” Trixie suggested as they turned the corner. “What about your band? Did you manage to patch things up?”

“No," Flash answered, "they're still pretty mad at me. It's kind of the same thing. I know things would be a lot easier if I told them who I really am. But...”

“Why not just tell them?" Trixie asked, "they could probably help out."

Flash shook his head, “I can’t. The less people that know who I am, the better.” Flash tightened his hand into a fist, “I can't let a certain person know about this.”

“You mean the Advanced, cause I think they already know.”

“No, not them. It’s someone else. If they found out...I'm scared they would never want to see me again.”

“Dang it, Flash. You're going to give yourself stomach cramps if you keep holding things in like that,” Trixie said as she threw her arms behind her head. “Did you at least check on the guys after the fight?”

“No," Flash answered as two continued walking till they got to the crosswalk. "By the time I got back to the music shop, they were gone,”

As they waited for the light to change they saw a familiar motorcycle drive up and stop right in front of them. “Oh, Flash, Trixie. Surprise to run into you two,” Shining said as he pushed up the visor of his helmet. He greeted the two teens with a warm, welcoming smile. The friendly greeting filled Flash with mixed emotions. The man who was chasing him down was now trying to start up chit chat like good friends. Shining noticed the odd look Flash had and his training as an officer told him something was up. “Looking a little down there Flash."

“Oh, I-it’s nothing,” Flash replied. He knew Shining is a nice guy but their scuffle still stuck with him.

“Yeah," Trixie followed, trying to help Flash avoid any more conversation. "He’s just dealing with some friend drama. Ya know, teen stuff.”

“Well maybe I could help," Shining offered. "The diner isn’t too far, we could have some lunch, my treat."

Flash was about to decline but then the owl phone went off. Peeking at it, he saw it was a text from Drum Roll. He was texting to let Flash know Ringo was okay and they were heading to the diner. “Well, I guess it couldn’t hurt. I need to meet up with some friends there anyway.”

“Good to here,” Shining responded with a thumbs up.

At the diner, the three got a booth table. Flash and Trixie sitting on one side with shining sitting on the opposite side.The waitress quickly came up to the table to take their orders. “I’ll have a grilled cheese,” Flash answered. Ringo and Drum Roll still haven't shown up so all they could do was order some food and wait.

“Same here,” Trixie followed.

“I’ll just have some coffee if you don’t mind,” Shining ordered. The waitress wrote all this down before leaving the table alone. “So Flash, what's bugging ya?” Shining finally asked.

Flash was still not very nervous about being around Shining but he knew that he wasn’t hunting him right now. He was being his usual big brother self. Twilight was always talking about how reliable he was so why not see if he can help. “It has to do with my friends. I've been blowing them off and now they're pretty peeved.”

“What has you too busy to hang with them?” Shining asked as the waitress brought him his coffee.

“I can say,” Flash answered.

Shining took a moment to sip from his mug before replying. “I'm sure you have your reasons for keeping secrets. But if you're worried about your friends, you're going to need to ask. Is the secret worth losing these guys?”

Shining’s words resonated with Flash. He was telling himself that he was keeping the secret to protect someone, but he didn’t realize if he was hurting others. Who else beside his band was he hurting. Flash was pretty deep in thought till the ring of the bell from the door. He looked up to see Ringo and Drum Roll walk in. As the two approached, Flash got up to meet them halfway. “Hey,” was all Flash could say.

“Hey,” Ringo responded, equally as awkward. “So I heard you got the rider to save me back there. Thanks for that.”

“Well I couldn't leave my friends in danger,” Flash said as he forced a smile. “Guys, I know I screwed up. You guys have dreams of being musicians and I have been holding you back. Just doing this for fun.”

“Flash, our dream may be to be pros but that didn’t really matter. What mattered was that we were playing as friends!" By the angry way he was speaking, it was clear he was starting to get heated up.

Unknown to the three young men, wisps of energy was starting to come off of the boy. Fortunately, Trixie noticed them as she was watching their conversation. “Oh no, don’t tell me those two are the hosts,” she whispered. Shining heard this and looked over at the two, seeing the wisps coming off of him.

“Wait, those two are where the monsters came from?"

“Yeah," Trixie nodded, "and they couldn't have picked a worse host. Ringo may be good at keeping his cool but Drum Roll is almost as bad as Bulk when it comes to getting worked up.”

As if on cue, the windows behind the band began to freeze over. Cracks began to form, causing the three to turn to see what was happening, only for Stinger to burst through the window. “Haha, this never gets old!” The monster laughed as he slid across the tiled floor.

“Remind me to never go window shopping with you,” Slushball commented as he entered the restaurant.

Shining jumped out of his seat and pulled out his drive, “get back you guys!” Unfortunately, Stinger shot needles at the officer, who was forced to hide under the table along with Trixie.

Flash, Ringo, And Drum Roll all tried to run, but Flash soon found himself unable to go any further. Looking down he saw his leg was frozen to the floor. “Oh no you don’t!" Slushball cackled, "we figured out how to get the most energy from your friends.” Flash tried to fight back by throwing a punch, but the monster was faster and froze the rest of his body, leaving only his head left unharmed. “You're going to be the one that will make use whole. Thanks a ton,” he commented before picking Flash up.

“You got the kid?" Stinger asked before seeing Flash. "Ok, let's blow this joint.” With that, the two monsters leapt back out the way they came with Flash in their grasp.

“Dang it,” Shining said as he punched the ground. He saw that Ringo and Drum Roll were safe and rushed up to them. “Don’t worry you two. I won’t let your friend get hurt.”

“Your gonna need this,” Trixie yelled out. Shining turned to her as she threw something at him. He caught it and found that it was the Jelly Drone. “That little guy is synced to Flash’s phone. He knows where to find him.” Trixie explained.

“Thanks,” Shining said as he ran out to his bike with the drone leading the way. As he rode down the street, he attached his driver to his waist before taking out his shield. "HENSHIN!" In a flash of light, he morphed into his rider form and the patrol bike's sirens began to ring.

The two Magi-Beasts carried Flash into a warehouse. The two were very proud of themselves with their capture. “Oh yeah!" Stinger gloated. "Now all we need to do is wait till those two human vanish into nothing.”

“Ya know, I’m going to get out of this and when I do I’m kicking both of your butts,” Flash declared as he was placed down. “Shining is going to find me and get me out of this. If not Shining, Twilight and the other will. Your plan is not gonna work.”

“Yeah right," Slushball told him. "We’re getting stronger by the second.” Indeed wisps of energy were being absorbed into their bodies. "Soon, there won't be a human alive that can stand up to us."

Flash tried to struggle to get out. Even if he couldn’t, getting to his driver or the Owl Phone would be enough to get him out of this scrape. Unfortunately it was no use. He was trapped in a block of ice and all he could do was wait for someone to come and save him.

Just as hope seemed lost, the Drone flew in to fly around the monsters and annoy them. Slushball tried to freeze it but he missed and froze a bit of Stinger’s Mane. “Hey! Watch it!” Stinger yelled as he broke the ice.

“It’s always upsetting to see good friends fight,” Argo said as he drove up, sliding his ride to a stop and killing the sirens. He got off the bike and pulled out the Argo Defender. “You guys are under arrest.”

“Nice try, but we’re no pushovers!” Stinger taunted before he shot a storm of needles. Argo pulled up his shield before rolling to the side to take cover. He poked his head out and fired a few shots at the group.

“You're on your own this time copper,” Slushball followed as he created a wave of ice shards that forced the Rider back. “Come out and face us like a man.”

“You asked for it,” Argo said as he jumped out and opened fire. The two ducked out of the way but one of the shots hit Flash. Fortunately it didn't hurt him and only broke part of his ice prison. “Are you ok Flash!?”

“Yeah, I'm all in one piece,” Flash answered as he managed to pull his arms out of the ice.

“Too bad you're not so lucky,” Stinger cried as he snuck up from behind a slash with his arm claw. The rider was too slow and was knocked forward into Slushball’s arms. The icy monster was quick to hold Argo down and put him into a full nelson. Stinger’s grin grew as he cracked his knuckles. “This is you last chance to cry for mercy,” He said before he started to beat on the rider like a punching bag..

“Fat chance,” Argo replied before he swung his head back. His helmet smashed into Slushball's face and made him cry out, loosening his grip and allowing Argo to grab and flip him forward. Stringer jumped back as Slushball landed and then started firing needles at Argo, who leapt to the side to avoid them but was almost hit several times.

“Shining!” Flash yelled out. His body was trying to do anything to save Shining, but he couldn’t since he was still half frozen. The teen pulled out his driver, trying to figure out a way to free himself. If he could escape, then he could transform and help his fellow Rider.

Stringer tried to fire again, but before he could Argo spun around and blasted him. Doing so made him fly backwards and accidently fire his needles...straight at Flash. The teen gasped seeing this and did his best to roll out of the way, the needles hitting the ground before exploding.

"WHOOOW!" He cried as the explosion sent him flying backwards, his Driver flying from his hands until he was slammed into a tower of crates. "AUGH!" He cried as the crates began to wobble before falling over, Flash seeing this and gasping as he braced himself.

Argo turned towards Flash and gasped seeing the crates come crashing down onto him, burying him in the wood. "FLASH!" This distraction gave the two Magi-Beasts the chance they needed, Stringer picking himself up and jumping forward and slam a fist into Argo's guts. "Augh!" He cried as he was frown backwards, his blaster flying from his hands.

Slushball took the opening and fired some ice at Argo as the Rider tried to roll to his feet, the ice freezing them both to the floor. Argo pulled at his feet, but he couldn't pull himself free. His weapon was also out of reach, leading him with only his shield to protect himself.

"Ha!" Stinger cried, "I'm going to enjoy this!" He moved closer to Argo, while Slushball began to move so that he was on the opposite side. Argo raised Defender, but with dangers on both sides it couldn't completely protect him. As the monsters prepared to attack, the man behind the mask closed his eyes and awaiting the inevitable end.

They were all so distracted that none of them noticed the Legend Driver begin to glow and shake, eventually shooting into the air and flying towards the pile of wood. It was here that the three slammed into the wood, confusing them until they all saw a light creaking through the gaps in the light.

“A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

Suddenly, the pile exploded. Wood shot everywhere and the three found themselves flinching to avoid getting hit. But after that, they opened their eyes and seeing someone they hadn't been expecting.

"No way," Slushball whispered as the Rider stepped out of the remaining pile of wood.

"Flash?" Argo whispered in shock while Achilles took out his spear and changed it into its blaster form.

"My turn." He began firing at the two, making them cry out and forcing them to back away from Argo. This allowed Achilles to rush forward, shifting his weapon into spear mode, and slam it into the ice holding his fellow rider.

Argo looked up to see Achilles over him, realizing who was behind the mask. “Flash...you're the rider?”

“Yeah,” Achilles responded as he pulled Argo up. “You were going to find out sooner or later, given how dedicated you were.”

“Now I feel extra bad for trying to hunt you down like that,” Argo replied as Achilles helped him up.

“We can talk about it later," Achilles said before the two turned towards the recovering monsters. "Right now, we have these guys to take care of.”

“Let's show these mooks what a proper tag team can do,” Argo followed before the two charged in. The two riders were in sync as they both jumped up and kicked one of the monsters each. Achilles took Stinger and Argo took Slushball. Stinger tried to slash with his claw on Achilles and Slushball tried to punch down on Argo. However both attacks were blocked and the riders both roundhouse kicked their respective opponent. The riders then pulled out their blasters and faced the other’s monster before blasting at them.

The shots hit and the two monsters were blasted to the floor. “No," Stinger grunted, "it can't end here."

“We are so close,” Slushball followed. As the two riders approached, they soon saw more energy wisps enter their body. This caused the two to glow. “Wait I can feel it, it's not over yet!” The icy monster cheered as he got to his feet. The blue glow consumed his body before he transformed. The ground froze around him as he changed into a large, six legend mammoth covered in long white fur. The only kind of facial feature it has was a large red eye in the middle of his head. Crashing through the warehouse, Slushball marched to rampage the town.

“Oh great!" Achilles shouted. "We need to stop him before he turns Canterlot into an iceberg!"

“Oh you're not going anywhere,” Stinger’s voice declared. The two saw that he had recovered and now sported much larger claws on his right hand, as if each one was a sword.

“Don’t worry Flash. Leave the big guy to me,” Argo said as he patted Achilles’ shoulder. “Just make sure you take care of this guy.”

Achilles nodded as Argo pulled out a white Battle Card with the word Armor on it and loaded it into the Defender.

“ARMOR ACTIVATED!!!”

The Argo Speeder started up and began to drive on its own. The bike raced past Stinger and allowed Argo to hop to chase after the giant monster, the sirens blazing. The bike was then launched into the air as it started to transform. The front wheel detached and split in half. Argo hopped off the bike as the wheels attached to his legs. The bike’s main body split in half and formed into two arms connected by the front windshield section. The windshield section connected to the riders chest and he grabbed onto the handles connected to the arm. Claws deployed from the back wheels and completed the bike’s armor transformation. When he landed, the wheels on his legs acted like roller-blades as he rode off towards the monster.

With Argo taking care of the larger monster, Achilles could now focus on the one in front of him.

Stinger charged at the rider and brought his claws down, only for Achilles to block it with his spear. He then pushed back before slashing at the monster several times. “I'm gonna rip you to shreds,” Singer declared as he got a few slashes in on the rider.

"No." Stinger went for another slash, but Achilles was able to make some space with a stab. “I’m going to send you right to Tartarus,” Achilles proclaimed as he pulled out the Alchemy card and pleased it into the spear.

“CHARGING!!!”

“ALCHEMY FEEDBACK!!!”

Achilles’s spear began glowing purple before five energy constructs of the spear appeared around the monster. The five constructs then began to move as if they were being held by an invisible person mimicking the rider’s stance. Then, one by one, the spears moved forward and slashed Stinger till Achilles himself delivered the final blow with a vertical slash. When the last blow was delivered, the Magi-Beast yelled out before exploding right behind the rider giving his final pose. “That was for Ringo,” Achilles commented as he put his spear away.

Meanwhile, Argo raced after the large Magi-Beast that was currently wrecking the town.

The rider managed to get in front of the monster and fired a rapid blast from his chest place. The blasts didn’t seem to have much of an effect on Slushball, who swung trunk right into the Rider. Argo put the large robotic arms up to block the attack, which caused him to be flung back. “Ok," Argo moaned as he picked himself up, "giant monsters are harder to fight then normal monsters. Glad I'm keeping notes.” His wheel spun on the spot for a moment before he shot forward.

The large mammoth kept swinging its trunk around to hit some of the buildings, causing debris to fall down on the people underneath. Two citizens in particular were standing right under a large chunk of a building falling towards them. But at the last minute, Argo saw this and raced towards the citizens before raising up the robotic arms and catch the debris. “Don’t worry," He groaned under the strain. "I got this handled.” He finally managed to throw away the piece of building, allowing those almost crushed to escape.

“Get ready!" Slushball screamed, "cause winter's coming early!” He unleashed a large blast of cold air from his trunk, freezing almost everything around him. Argo slid under the attack to get to the other side of Magi-Beast before jumping up and bashing him with his robotic arms. Slushball blasted another freezing blast at him, but the rider was able to skate to the side. His six legs managed to turn his large body around before slamming his trunk down on the rider. “Take this!”

Argo was able to block the attack, but now he was pinned down by the mammoth trying to crush him. Ice was creeping along the ground and threatened to freeze him alive. “He’s just going to hurt more people if i keep wasting time,” The rider groaned before blasting the Magi-beat again with his chest blaster. This gave the rider the opening to get out from under the monster.

“You little toy won't stop my ice age,” Slushball declared.

“Not while i'm here to defend the people of this town,” Argo replied as he pushed and pulled the lever on his driver.

“ARGO ARMOR FEEDBACK!!!”

The sirens on the armor began to ring as claws on his armor opened and spun around, making a pair of holographic magical circles. Energy began to charge in his claws before Argo unleashed two pillars of energy at the monster. The recoil of the blast sent Argo back a great deal as the attack hit and began to burn up before the giant monster exploded and Argo stood up after being pushed back by his own attack.

As the rider stood, his armor fell off and formed back into his bike before his transformation cancelled out. The citizens who saw the rider’s fight came out of there hiding spots to cheer for the hero. Phone cameras went off as Shining gave them all a wave. “No need to cheer everyone. I’m just doing my job as a Kamen Rider,” Shining announced to the crowd. “I just hope I can keep protecting everyone,” he mentions under his breath.

Back at Mr.Wave’s office, Shining slammed a briefcase onto the desk. The CEO opened it to find that the Argo Driver and Battle Cards were all inside. “Is there something wrong with the Equipment, Mr Armor?” Mr.Wave asked.

“I'm sorry, but I'll have to stand down as a Kamen Rider. I was unable to complete the mission you gave me,” Shining explained as he stood at attention.

“You haven’t uncovered Achilles identity?” Mr.Wave asked with a deep frown.

“No," Shining shook his head, "I have found that out who Achilles really is."

“Then what’s the problem?" Mr.wave smiled as he leaned back in his chair, "please tell me. I'm dying to know."

“I can’t Mr.Wave. After finding out who Achilles was, I knew I had to keep his secret. He saved my life so I need to repay him somehow. If that means I need to step down as Kamen Rider Argo, then so be it,” Shining explained before he turned around to walk out of the office.

“So you found out who the rider was and are now working with him as a team,” Mr.Wave thought out loud. “I think you accomplished your mission Mr.Armor.”

“Um, Excuse me?” Shining said as he turned around. A bit confused by his boss’ thought process.

“I asked you to form a team with Achilles and you have. I never said you had to report to me who it was,” the CEO said as he spun around in his chair. “Take back the Driver and know that you are still under my employment.”

“Oh-um, thank you Mr.Wave,” Shining blurted out quickly. He ran over to take back the briefcase and ran out of the office. Happy that he was able to keep his friend’s secret. Once he was out of earshot, Mr.Wave spoke up.

“River, did you get the footage from Shining’s helmet camera?”

“Indeed Mr.Wave. We have deduced that Achilles is a student of Canterlot High School. Flash Sentry, age seventeen,” River read off of her tablet. “Are you sure we should keep the fact that we know a secret from Shining Armor?”

“Shining is the best candidate for the Argo System we have ever had,” Mr.Wave stated. “His sense of duty wouldn't have let him continue if I didn’t add that little technicality. And he would been crushed if he knew he broke his promise. Right now, we need Shining ignorant to what I know. All that matters is that he is fighting the monsters and protecting the City. We will leave Mr.Sentry alone in the meantime. We have no need to medal in a teen’s life. As long as my rider system continues to grow, that’s all that matters.”

After the whole ordeal, Ringo and Drum Roll were happy to hear that Flash was ok. They did get a text from him to meet him at Sugarcube Corner, mostly because it was the only place left that wasn’t attacked by a monster. The two waited on the sofa in the cafe till Flash walked through the door. “Flash dude, are you sure you're ok?” Ringo asked.

“Ah man, I was so scared,” Drum Roll followed as he came in for a hug with his band-mate.

“Yeah guys, I'm fine,” Flash answered as he taped his friend’s back to let him go. “But guys, you were right. I have been pretty lousy blowing you guys off. The Flash Drives don’t deserve someone that is not going to give their all. And that's why I'm quitting.”

The two Teens were shocked by this announcement. “Flash, come on. I think you're going a bit over the edge. Quitting the band is kind of extreme,” Drum Roll commented.

“Like you said," Flash explained. "Trust is a two way street and it’s not fair that i haven't been showing you guys any."

Ringo let out a sigh. “You better not regret this later man,” he warned.

“I’m sure this is the right call,” Flash said as he hung his head low. “But don’t think I'm just going to leave you guys high and dry without a guitar player.”

As if on cue the door opened up and a familiar face entered the cafe with a guitar case in hand. “Guys, this is Holly Holly. She’s an awesome guitarist and is definitely who the band deserves,” Flash said. Introducing the band to the pink haired girl.

“Flash told me all about you guys and if you're willing to give me a chance, I will do what I can to take this band to the top,” Holly said.

“Um...it’s nice to meet you. I'm Ringo,” the bass player introduced himself as he shook Holly’s hand.

“Well if Flash’s the one recommending you, then you gotta have some killer skills,” Drum Roll followed.

“You know it,” Holly responded with a cheeky grin. She then turned to Flash, “are you sure you want to do this?”

“I’m sure,” Flash answered with a bit of a melancholy tone.

“Well, we can’t make you change your mind. Just know you will always have a place with the Flash Drives if you ever decide to come back,” Ringo offered.

“Hope your solo career goes well,” Drum Roll Followed.

“Same to you guys,” Flash said with a smile before he walked out of the cafe.

“Come on guys. I want to see what you're made of,” Holly said with an eagerness to start rocking out.

When Flash left the Cafe, he was greeted by Shining and Trixie who were both waiting for him. “That looked like it was hard,” Trixie Commented.

“It was,” Flash responded. “But I couldn't keep hurting the band just cause I was keeping secrets. They were almost goners cause of me.”

“Why is this such a big secret if you don’t mind me asking?” Shining questioned.

“Like I said, it's because there is someone I know I will hurt if they knew I was the rider,” Flash answered.

“And who would that be?” Shining continued

Flash just let out a little chuckle. “Sorry man but one secret at a time. We only just became a team,” Flash replied was a cheeky smile. Shining responds with a light jab on his arm as the trio revealed at the start of their new partnership.

"Alright, but you gotta tell me how you got your Driver to go flying towards you like that. I could really come in handy if that ever happens to me." Trixie looked confused while Flash frowned.

"Honestly, I'm not sure how that happened. Everything between the crates falling on me and me breaking free is a complete blank. All I remember is that I really wanted to help you."

"It's possible that's what made it happen," Trixie explained. "Magical artefacts get more in tune with their users over time. That's what I heard Sunset say once. Flash has been using the Driver for weeks, so he must have become mentally linked to it...or something."

This statement made Flash stop, the teen frowning. If them magic in his Driver was starting to evolve, what could that mean for him in the future? Memories of his first few days as Achilles surged through his mind, the teen remembering the fear he had felt back then every time he transformed.

Before now, those fears were all but forgotten. But now...

Ride 15: Dragonforce

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“Come on Shining,” Twilight said. The young woman was sitting at the counter of Shining’s kitchen.

“I’m sorry Twily,” Shining responded as he poured himself a cup of coffee. “This was a last minute thing. I would love to do it, but duty calls.”

“But we can’t bring Spike with us. The guy that wants the Rainbooms to play is allergic. And I can’t leave him home alone,” Twilight followed. “Don’t cops work with dogs?”

“Not my department," Shining answered. "Plus, Spike isn’t trained to be in the K-9 unit."

“But he can talk," Twilight boasted. "And he's smarter than any dog on the force, maybe even smarter than some of the officers.”

As the two siblings continued to argue among each other, a woman with tri-coloured hair and a blue dress walked in. The woman poured herself a cup of coffee and walked over to the two siblings.

“I'm sorry, it's too dangerous for him.”

“Morning Honey,” the woman said as she kissed Shining on the cheek and interrupted the argument.

“Morning Dear,” Shining said as he broke away from the argument and returned the kiss.

“Spike has been through the worst,” Twilight responded, catching the woman's attention.

“Oh hello Twilight."

“Hi Cadance,” Twilight responded before going back to her argument.

“I hope you don’t mind, Shiny, but I’m taking Flurry with me to run errands,” Cadance said as she headed to the hallway. As she continued, she heard a knock at the door. “I’ll get it!”

When Cadance opened the door, she was greeted with the sight of Flash Sentry. “Oh hi,” Flash said nervously with a wave of his hand. Shining did mention he had a wife when he invited Flash over, but he didn’t mention that she was a very beautiful woman. “You must be Cadance. I’m here to see Shining.”

“Oh, you're Flash. You're younger than I thought when Shining said he was having a friend over. You wouldn’t happen to be one of Twilight’s friends?” Cadance asked.

“Yes, yes, in fact, that's how we met,” Flash explained.

“Well come on in, can I get you something to drink?” Cadence invited Flash in and led him back to the kitchen. “I'm afraid to say you won't be able to spend much time with Shining. Work called last minute and they're asking him to work on his day off.”

“Will you stop being so stubborn, Twilight!” Shining yelled out.

“Wait, Twilight’s here?” Flash asked.

“Yeah," Cadance answered, "sounds like she needs someone to look after Spike."

"Huh," Flash replied. “Would have thought with how smart the little guy is, he could be left alone without chewing up the couch.”

“Me too," Cadance nodded. "But apparently, he spent a lot of money on online shopping.” That just raised more questions for Flash.

Always one to help out, Flash decided to help out his friend. “Hey, Twilight, if you need a dog sitter I could do it.” This caught Twilight's attention and turned to see him step into view.

“Oh, Flash!” She exclaimed in surprise at seeing her friend at her brother’s house. “Wait what are you doing here?"

“I invited him," Shining explained. "Turns out, Flash and I have some things in common. So we decided to hang out. Spike would have been welcomed to join, but as I said, I can’t bring him along. But Flash looking after Spike does sound like a good idea.”

“Yeah," Flash said with a smile, "I can hang out with Spike. It'll be no problem."

“There, problem solved,” Shining crossed her arms.

Twilight pulled out her phone to check the time. “Spike is sleeping in the living room right now. I need to meet with the girls, but I'll text you everything you need to know to take care of him.” With that, she rushed out. “I'll be back by six." They heard her open and shut the door, leaving Flash and the adults alone.

“Oh," Cadance stated, "I should go get Flurry ready."

“Flurry?” Flash asked.

“Our little girl,” Shining answered.

“I'm taking her with me for today, so you will hear by yourself.” With that, Cadance headed upstairs. It was only when she was gone that Flash realized what she said.

“Wait, you want me to stay here?”

“Would you rather try and bring a sleeping dog back to your house on your bike?” Shining replied.

“Good point,” Flash nodded. “By the way, what is interrupting our planes?”

“There are a string of fires showing up in town," Shining explained. "Chief thinks it’s arson, but they don’t want to rule out it being a Magi-Beast attack. That's why I was called in."

“Could it be a monster attack?” Flash asked before moving in closer to whisper into his ear. “Do you want me to come with?"

Shining shook his head, “I’m only coming as a precaution. Not to mention what if it is just an arsonist? I know you wouldn’t use your powers on a normal human.” It was then that he looked at his watch, Flash noticed it looked overly designed and not something he would a man like Shining would own. “Not to mention, River wants me to test out some more equipment.”

“I see,” Flash said as he leaned on the counter. “It just sucks that it has to be today. I was looking forward to binge-watching the new season of Butterfly and Silver Wolf.”

“I’ll try to get back soon. Keep in contact,” Shining said as he headed out.

At a hole in the wall cafe, Starlight was happily eating a serving of coffee jelly with Cypher sitting across from her. “Are you sure you don’t want anything?" She asked. "I said I’d pay for it."

“I’m not hungry,” Cypher responded in his usually unamused way. “What did you cook this time to defeat the rider?”

“I’m very proud of this one," Starlight stated with a giggle. "I found a host that will create a whole Magi-Beast without fail. And should either of the riders try and interfere, I have a trump card." She giggled again.

“You mean that thing you made from the Doctor’s tome?” Cypher asked. “Will it even work?”

“Who knows. It could help us in battle, but it’s just the first step. It’s a test to see how far I can take it when I mix my magic with the magic of the tome. Should bring some interesting results.” Starlight ate another spoon full of the gelatin dessert, Cypher giving no response. “Awww," she teased, "are you jealous that I might end up being Kurogiri’s favorite? That my magic may be able to do what you couldn’t.”

Cypher simply glared at his fellow Advanced.

“Jeez, you need to lighten up, it was only a joke. It’s so hard to get a read on you with that same look plastered on your face.”

“You can help the doctor out with whatever he needs," Cypher declared. "But mark my words, I will be the one to take out Achilles."

“Gotta love that determination,” Starlight said as she waged her spoon in the air. She soon finished her snack before standing up. “Come on, my monster is going to attack soon.” She walked away, Cypher following.

The building was nothing but ash with officers all around. The area was taped off, the investigation taking place and Shining finally rode up on his bike. As he took his helmet off, Shining approached one of the investigators. “So did you find any causes?” He asked as the forensic officer stood up and removed his goggles.

“Unfortunately. There is no sign of it being electrical. I’ve never seen burn marks like this. It was a good thing that no one was around when this happened."

“Mind if I take a look?” Shining asked.

“Be my guess,” the officer said as he got out of the way. “I’ll go see if I can help the guys get some witness testimony.”

Shining gave a nod as he went on to look through the charred rubble. Digging through all the ash, the Officer came across a large clump of blue hair. “Hey," he turned to the CSI, "you said there was no one around when the fire happened?!”

“Yeah, the building was empty when the fire started. It was actually a few neighbors who called the fire department.”

“Then that makes this very odd,” Shining held up several strands of blue hair. He then took out a small plastic bag to place the hair in before handing it to the CSI. “Hey, once you submit this to evidence, can I borrow it? I want to look into this a bit further.”

“Um sure thing,” The officer said as he took the bag.

“Ok, let’s see how well this thing works.” Shining looked down at his watch before pressing a button. Immediately the watch sprang off his wrist, the two straps unfolding into legs as the main body formed into a quadruped. A heart flipped out of the digital face to make the whole thing look like a miniature Doberman. When the dog landed, it started to sniff around the area till it stopped short. “Did you find something boy?” Shining asked with the small robot nodding yes as its sensors picked up a faint trail that was being deployed on its optics. “Well, it looks like we have a lead. Think you can find it?” Shining continued. The robotic dog did a flip to show that it was ready and began to run with Shining not too far behind.

Once Spike woke up, Flash was quick to explain the situation.

The dog was cool with it and they just ended up crashing on Shining's couch. “Alright Black Dawn, your rain of terra is over!” The Heroin on the TV declared. On-screen was a girl dressed in a purple butterfly costume fighting in sync with a boy in a silver and black wolf-themed costume. The two were facing down a large shadowy hand with an eye in the middle.

The hand shot out several orbs of darkness but the two heroes jumped out of the way. The girl known as Butterfly pulled out a fan and smacked the orbs right back at the monster. The hand slammed down onto the rooftop but the attack missed and gave Silver Wolf the chance to flank the monster. With a giant kendama toy in hand, the boy smashed the hand with the hammer part.

Spike was actually enjoying the show flash had on. “Wow, this is pretty good. I can't believe I haven’t seen this before,” he said as he rested on Flash’s lap.

“I can’t believe Shining hasn’t shown you this before,” Flash replied as he petted the purple dog.

“Maybe he’s embarrassed that he still watches cartoons. He could be such a dork sometimes,” Spike said with a smile as he went back to watching the show.

“I think we should show Mr. Handsy here what we can really do,” Butterfly quipped.

“Ladies first,” Silver wolf responded.

“Oh here comes the big finisher,” He pointed out as the two heroes each charged their respective weapons.

“Shining Flutter!” Butterfly announced with a wave of her fan to send a swarm of butterflies at the monster.

“Silver Howler!” Silver Wolf followed, hitting an energy ball with a giant kendama toy. The attacks hit and caused the monster to dissolve in a pillar of light.

“Pound it!” The two hero’s declared as the fist-bumped.

“Pretty cool right?” Flash asked.

“Yeah, it was cool. But we’ve seen the Riders do stuff like this,” Spike replied. Flash agreed with the statement, especially since he took part in most of those final attacks.

As the show was wrapping up, a loud growl filled the air. “Was that you?” The two asked each other, causing them both to laugh.

“I guess we’re both getting hungry,” Flash pointed out.

“Oh, there is this new place at the mall. Twilight keeps saying we can go there but we never do. Let’s go there for lunch,” Spike suggested.

“Sounds good to me,” Flash responded as he got up. “Hope you don't mind riding on my bike.”

The Watch Dog lead Shining across town. Unfortunately, there seemed to be no sign of where this blue-haired person was.

In fact, the streets were empty. It would have been fitting to see a tumbleweed rolling around. The only thing of note was a familiar girl who was putting on a performance, right in front of the magic shop.

“Come one, come all,” Trixie announced to a crowd of no one. “Who is brave enough to see first hand which is stronger. The magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie or the legendary Sword of the Nameless King!” Trixie announced as she presented a very scary looking sword. Of course, there was no one around so Trixie just sighed. “Why do I even bother?” she asked the Jelly Drone, which was floating around her.

“Oh, Trixie," Shining said with a smile as he approached the street performer. "Didn’t think I would run into you today." The Watch Dog came up to the girl only, for the Jelly Drone to float down and greet the small robot. As he got closer, he noticed the gothic sword. “Wow. I never would have thought you'd be into Ogres and Oubliettes, let alone own a replica of The Sword of the Nameless King.”

“Yeah," Trixie said as she admired the prop, "it comes in handy for performances.” She then pointed it at Shining, “I’m surprised you like O&O too.”

“You kidding?’" Shining pushed the sword down. "I’ve been playing since I was in high school. I’ve been working on a campaign for years, but the only one I’ve been able to get to play is Spike.”

“Jeez, tell me about it. The Role Play club at school isn’t what it used to be. Snips and Snails aren’t the best to be around for long periods of time. Pulse nine times out of ten I have to be the DM. I mean, I can do it but I love being an adventurer more,” Trixie explained with her hand on her hip. “I even tried to get Flash to play but he’s not interested.”

“Maybe the two of us can convince him to try it," Shining suggested. "We were supposed to hang out today but work got in the way." It was then he remembered. “Oh, speaking of work, have you seen anyone with hair like this?” He pulled out the plastic bag with the hair in it, holding it up to try and see if Trixie's matched. It did not.

“No," Trixie replied, "this place has been deserted for like an hour.”

*arf arf*

Before Shining could respond, he was interrupted by loud barking. Running down the sidewalk was what looked like a dog with blue and indigo fur. The fur at the end of their ears was white. The dog was running as fast as they could between the two and turned into an alleyway.

“Whooow, Where did they come from?!” Trixie yelled out.

Before Shining could react, he noticed the Watch Dog by his feet pointing in the same direction as the blue dog. He then looked over at the sample of hair he was holding. “I think I just found my lead, Come on,” Shining said as he led the way.

“How is a dog a lead to a building burning down!?” Trixie asked as she followed.

“I don’t know yet, but it can’t hurt to look.” The two entered the ally to find the dog, who seemed to have stopped running and was now trembling. Looking further down, they could see why.

Leaning on the wall with his arms crossed was a lizard-like figure, with red scales and two large crimson horns coming out of its head. It had a black, rocky chest plate with garnet gemstones embedded in its shoulders, hands, and thighs. Two wings came off his back with garnets embedded on them as well. Two small flames were coming out of the sides of the monster’s mouth that didn’t look like they weren't going out any time soon. “Well, well, well, glad to see ya again you dang mutt,” The monster greeted in a gravelly voice.

“So those fires were caused by a Magi-beat,” Shining said as he pulled out his driver.

“Ah, a fan of my work I see,” the dragon said as he began to walk towards the two. “The name’s Pyralspite. The art of destruction is my passion.”

Shining put on his driver and presented his badge to the monster. “Sorry to say, but your path of destruction ends here. You’re under arrest for arson,” He proclaimed before slotting the badge into the driver. “Trixie get the dog out of here.”

“Got it,” Trixie replied as she dashed for the dog.

“Henshin!”

“Ya can’t stop me, I’m a force of nature!” Pyralspite said as the flames around his mouth grew more intense. When he opened his mouth, a deep red fireball came flying out. Trixie picked up the dog, but she was unable to get out of the way in time.

“SHIELD! OF! JUSTICE!”

The armor formed around Shining as he got between Trixie and the fireball, holding up his shield to block the attack. Pyralspite continued to launch fireballs at the rider, who kept blocking them but it was clear he wasn’t going to last long. “He has the advantages in this narrow ally," Shining analysed. "We need to get him out in the open.”

Trixie gave him a nod before running into the street with the dog clenched in her arms, while Shining blocked the fireballs. Once they cleared away, Argo turned and ran in the same direction. “You can’t escape me!” Pyralspite yelled as he charged up another attack in his mouth. These flames had a more orange tint to them and were going wild, “Draco Eruption!” He yelled as a giant explosion filled up the narrow ally. Argo had to dive to the side, right before a pillar of flames followed him.

“Wow," Argo cried as he sat him, "this guy's dangerous.” He got up and made sure Trixie and the dog were safe. The dragon monster walked out of the ally to find the rider taking a Battle Card out and loading it into the Defender.

“LAUNCHER ACTIVATE!”

Not wanting to give Pyralspite a moment, Argo launched missiles at the monster the moment the weapons formed. The missiles hit and caused an explosion that sent the Magi-Beast flying.

“Heck yeah, you got this salamander on the ropes,” Trixie cheered.

As Pyralspite got back to his feet, another figure walked up next to him. “Jeez, I didn’t think one of her Magi-Beast would be so weak,” Cypher said in his human form.

“He just got lucky,” Pyralspite grumbled.

“Your Cypher, right? I don't think we properly met,” Argo commented.

“I’m not here for small talk,” Cypher replied as he took out a card. This card looked like the ones used to create Magi-Beasts but it was black, depicting some kind of swirling. “I’m here to test out this new tool” He ripped the card in two, causing smoke to pour out.

As the Advanced threw the two halves to the ground, the smoke grew more intense. It soon started to form into six human-like shapes. They all looked like they were wrapped in shadows with red eyes peering through the darkness. They were all armed with shortswords that all curved into odd shapes.

A few hours early, at the cafe.

“You want me to test out one of your creations?” Cypher asked.

“Mmh yeah,” Starlight responded as she swallowed the coffee jelly. “The best I can deceive it is a kind of Lesser Magi-Beast. Creatures that we can make a large number of with little magic involved at the cost of them not being as strong as a normal Magi-Beast. Strength in numbers and all that. Got the idea from Snare-Oh and his lackeys. I felt we could use some help since our rider problem has doubled. I like to call them…”

“Nightmares!” Cypher barked, getting the attention of the creatures. “Attack!” He ordered and the lesser Magi-Beasts followed, swarming the rider. One of the Nightmares brightened their sword but Argo blocked it with his shield. Two more came in from behind and both slashed the rider on the back.

“What are you doing? I could have taken that guy!” Pyralspite complained.

“You're still a fledgling and very cocky. As you are now, that guy would have destroyed you in an instant. I've seen what happens to cocky Magi-Beast,” Cypher explained. “The witch said that it would be a success if they just wear down the rider.”

The Nightmares kept attacking Argo relentlessly. He was forced to use his shield to block the attacks, the missile batteries on his shoulders providing additional coverage from the onslaught. Once he had a moment, the rider took the Argo Defender and fired it off point-blank at one of the soldiers. This gave him the opportunity to counter-attack the group by bashing one of the Nightmares with his shield and shoving them into each other.

One of the Nightmares tried to slash Argo but was met with a kick before he could even bring the sword down. “I don't have time for this. I can't let them get away,” Argo said before launching his missiles into the sky. The rockets flew up before falling around the rider and blowing up, sending all the Nightmares flying. Once they were on the ground, Argo and Trixie saw the monsters dissolve away into nothing. Unfortunately, the rider was too late and both Cypher and Pyralspite were gone.

“Dang it, they got away!” Shining cried as he undid the transformation.

“Well at less you saved the dog, that’s something,” Trixie said as she ran up to the officer with the blue dog in hand. “Why would they be after a dog?” she asked as she gave the dog a confused look.

Shining brought a finger to his chin as he looked over the dog. He soon noticed that she no longer trembled in fear, but looked more annoyed than anything. “If I were to wager a guess, I think that Dragon’s host is the dog’s owner. The monster must be terrorising the dog to get more energy out of them,” Shining explained. “If we can find her owner we might be able to figure out their next move.”

“Well this isn’t the first time we had to deal with a hostage situation,” Trixie said as she started to bet the dog on the head. The dog responded by letting out a loud barking. “I think I know where we can get some info about who this dog’s owner might be,” Trixie said as she let the dog down.

At the mall, Flash and Spike had just gotten lunch from the food court.

The two both got burgers from one of the stands and were in the middle of a heated debate. “Spike there is no way Exterminator would be able to beat Cybercop. Cybercop took down way scarier robots,” Flash said as he took a sip of his soda.

“Are you kidding? Exterminator is from the future. Anything Cybercop has, he has something better,” Spike countered as he chomped on the last bit of burger he had.

“Hey, is it ok for you to be eating that kind of stuff?” Flash asked. Spike simply shrugged before the two just continued eating. This resulted in the two broke out in laughter. “Man, we should hang out like this more.”

“Yeah," Spike nodded. "Twilight and the girls are fun, but it's nice to have an afternoon with another guy."

“Same, since I left the band it's been hard spending time with friends. It's just been me and Trixie,” Flash explained as leaned back in his chair.

“You’ve been spending time with Shining too. Since when did you two become pals?” Spike asked as he started munching on his fries.

“Well he saved my life from a Magi-Beast attack,” Flash answered casually. “Things just kinda happened after that.”

“I get it and it's good Shining actually has a friend to do dorky stuff with. He's always busy, especially with the rider stuff now so I’m happy you're hanging out with him,” Spike said.

“You talk almost like he’s your older brother,” Flash pointed out.

“I guess I kinda see him as one even though he’s a human. I’ve always been by Twilight's side and she always looked up to him. I guess I started to see him in that way too,” Spike explained.

As they started to clean their wrappers off the table, Flash’s phone went off. Pulling it out he found that he got a text. It read.

Me and Shining ran into a Magi-beast, Looking for the host, meet us at the pet spa.

“Pet Spa?” Flash said out loud as he read it.

“You want to go there?” Spike asked as his ears perked up.

“Oh, no. Trixie is there with Shining. Apparently, they’re investigating a Magi-Beast thing,” Flash explained as he pocketed his phone.

“Oh, Shining could bring me but he’s hanging out with Trixie,” an upset Spike said.

“I’m sure he just ran into her. She tends to get mixed up in this kind of stuff a lot,” Flash replied as he picked up the dog. “Come on, let's go meet'em and see what they want.”

“What do you mean she’s not here!?” Trixie yelled at the pet spa worker.

“Like I said, it’s Fluttershy’s day off,” the woman responded with an annoyed look.

“Do you have any clue where she is then?” Trixie asked as she turned to Shining.

“She’s probably with my sister at a Rainboom gig,” he answered with the blue dog in his hands.

“And you couldn’t have told me this before?” Trixie snapped.

As Trixie continued to be cranky, Flash and Spike walked into the shop. "Hey," Flash called out, "what's going on that you guys ended up here?"

Shining turned around to show Flash that there was another dog in his care. “Hey, I’m starting to get the impression you don’t like me,” Spike said.

“I didn’t know things were going to end up like this,” Shining responded as he placed the dog down. “The Magi-Beast we ran into was attacking this poor girl. We think the host is her owner, but we don’t know who they are.”

“I was hoping to have Fluttershy help us find them but looks like she’s gone,” Trixie added.

“Man, that stinks,” Flash groaned as he began to scratch his chin. “Are you sure there's no other way to figure it out?”

“None that I can think of,” Shining replied.

“I might be able to help,” Spike chimed in. The humans looked down at him, “I’ll just ask her what we need to know.”

“You can talk to animals?” Trixie asked.

“I can talk to other dogs if that’s what you're asking,” Spike snarked back in a dry tone.

Trixie simply facepalmed. “I know it was a stupid question right when it left my mouth.”

Spike approached the blue dog with a mean look on her face. She didn’t look too thrilled that there was another dog in the room. “Hey, how's it going?” Spiked asked in a friendly tone.

“Bark, bark bark!” The dog responded.

“Jeez, no need for that kind of language. I get you have been chased around all day. Mind telling us who your owner might be?” Spike followed.

The dog didn’t take too kindly to that but continued. “Bark bark,” the dog replied.

“I See,” Spike said as he nodded his head. Flash, Shining, and Trixie were all lost in the conversation they were having.

“What is she saying?” Flash asked.

“Well first off, you were way off the mark with her owner. This girl is a stray,” Spike answered as he turned to the humans. “She also likes to be called Ember.”

“Well can Ember tell us why Pyralspit is after her?” Shining asked.

“Bark bark ruff bark” Ember went on.

“She says that the monster showed up when a girl slapped a card on her back,” Spike translated.

“Unicorn,” Flash said under her breath.

“The dragon torched her home in the trash along with the building as well,” Spike continued.

“So animals can be used to create magi-beast too?” Shining thought out loud.

“I don’t see why not,” Trixie followed.

Flash looked down at Ember, it was clear she was a small dog trying to be a big one. Even though he didn’t understand her, Flash could tell she was frightened. “Don’t worry, we’ll find that Pyralspite and make sure he doesn't hurt you again,” Flash said as he started to pet the blue dog on the head. The resulted in Ember biting his finger, “AHHHHHHH!” he let out a yell as he got his finger out of her mouth

“I’m glad my Nightmares were so useful to you,” Starlight said as she looked over another card exactly like the one Cypher used. Her fellow Advanced and Magi-Beast both met up with her at a deserted amphitheater.

“They made for a useful distraction,” Cypher responded as he kicked up his feet on the bench.

“That’s what they’re made for. Anything to make things harder for the riders. Of course, I will need to see it first hand. Maybe help my dragon become whole as well,” Starlight said as she took a seat on the edge of the stage. “And this is just the beginning, finding out my magic can let me modify cards like this make my plan much easier.”

“What plan?” Cypher asked.

“My plan to attack the source of Achilles’ greatest power,” Starlight answered.

“His greatest power?”

“His friends. The seven girls with magic who have been behind him all this time. Weakening their bond will be a massive blow to him. my plan will be to finally will be the first step to getting rid of our problem once and for all,” Starlight went on before letting out a laugh.

Cypher just looked at the young woman with a look of scepticism. He already didn’t trust what Starlight was doing and feared how it would affect the Doctor’s master plan.

Flash, Shining, Trixie, and the two dogs went back to the main street to find the Magi-beast. The crew was currently following the Watch Dog as it tried tracking down the monster. Flash looked down at Ember walking right next to him. “Just stay close, things may get dicey later,” Flash told the dog.

“Bark arf” Ember replied with her nose in the air.

“She said to just focus on keeping yourself alive,” Spike translated. “Why are you so gung ho on helping her anyway? Didn’t think you loved dogs so much.”

“I always loved dogs. I helped Fluttershy at the shelter, even when everyone at school was divided into clicks. Wanted to adopt one but I never got around to it,” Flash answered as he scratched the side of his face.

The group continued to follow Shining till the robotic dog stopped and hung its head down. “Looks like the little guy lost the trail,” Shining said as he knelt down to his little friend.

As the Watch Dog transformed back into its gadget form, the Owl Phone flew in with a loud chirp. “Did you find anything?” Trixie asked. The robotic Owl responded with more chirps and pointing with its wings. “Looks like he found it,” Trixie interpreted as the group before a loud boom filled the air. The group ran to the source of the blast with the Owl Phone leading the way.

Several citizens were running away from a horde of Nightmares that were attacking them. Pyralspite stood in the middle of the chaos, destroying buildings with his fire blasts. “Yes!" the Magi-Beast yelled as the fire spread, "yes! Burn!”

“Jeez, random destruction? I thought you were some kind of artist or something,” Flash quipped as the groups got on the scene.

“Just wiping the slate clean for my masterpiece,” Pyralspit declared before he took to the sky. The monster crossed his arms as Wisps of energy flowed into his body causing the gems on his body to glow brightly. With a mighty roar worthy of his dragon appearance, each garnet blasted out a narrow beam of energy in all directions. One of the beams went right for Flash and his group causing everyone to jump to the side. The beam left a glowing red trench in the ground before exploding. “This town will be my magnum opus when I leave it a molten crater!” Pyralspite announced, firing off more of his lasers.

“Trixie!” Flash called out.

“Got it! Running! seems to be all I'm doing today,” Trixie replied as she scooped up the two dogs and tried to get as far from the fiery destruction as she could.

“Wait, what about Flash?” Spike asked as he looked up at the magician.

“Shining can protect him. Don’t worry,” Trixie replied. She looked back at the two as they stood up to confront the dragon.

“You ready to take this guy down?” Shining asked as he put on his driver.

“Just keep the goons off me. I need to sock Dragon Breath here for what he did to Ember,” Flash put on his own driver.

“I think I can manage that,” Shining said as he held out his Badge. Flash pulled out the Blaze card as the two stood side by side.

“Henshin!” they both announced in unison before activating their transformations.

“OK!”

“ACTIVATED!”

“PASSION BURNING AT 1000 DEGREES, CONSUMED BY THE FLAMES OF REBIRTH!”

“B-B-B-BLAZE!!!”

“SHIELD...OF...JUSTICE!”

“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!”

The two riders stood stoic as they transformed into their armored forms. “By the time this is over I will send you to Tartarus,” Achilles said as strummed a cored on his Solar Sonic.

“To Protect and Serve!” Argo followed as he stood at attention. “Kamen Rider Argo is on the scene.”

The Nightmares saw the riders and began to attack the two. Achilles spun around to attack several of them with the Solar Sonic, knocking them back. One of the goons tried to bring down their sword, but Argo blocked it with his shield. He then put the barrel of the Argo Defender to the monster’s abdomen and fired, making some much needed room.

As the fires raged, the two Advanced stood to the side in their monster forms to protect themselves from the flames. They watched the chaos unfold between the horde of Nightmares and the Riders. “Are you really going to let this guy wipe out the whole town?” Cypher asked, turning to his acquaintance. “Not only will he destroy his own host, but it will make our operation much more difficult to carry out.”

“Are you saying I can’t be responsible for my creation?” Starlight asked with a hint of sarcasm. “Having him go all out gives us a better chance that he will turn these riders to a mark on the pavement. If he does go out of hand,” The Advance started as her horn began to glow. “I have no problem marking this one as defective.”

“Burn to ash!” Pyralspite yelled as fired his lasers. The beam missed the rider but hit a car, cutting it in half before igniting an explosion. The two riders jumped out of the way of the blast but were swarmed by the Nightmares who took advantage of the destruction.

As Argo blocked an attack, a Hazard alarm started to go off in his helmet, warning of the rapidly increasing temperature. “Achilles, things are starting to reach their boiling point...literally!” Argo called out.

Achilles slashed one of the goons. “Are you sure you can take care of these guys on your own?” He asked.

“I’m sure I can,” Argo replied as he pulled out a green battle card with “K-9” engraved on it. Achilles nodded as he ran off towards the Magi-Beast. Some of the Nightmare tried to chase after him but Argo shot them in the back. The lesser magi-beast turned back to the rider who loaded the card into the Defender.

“K-9 ACTIVATED!”

The construct of parts appeared around the rider’s left shoulder to form into what looked like a dog cage. He then crouched down and hit the cage to open the door. What came out was a small octagonal prism energy construct. The prism soon sprouted legs and showed a flat angry face. The Nightmares looked down at the strange thing before it started to grow till it was the size of a truck.

“RAAA RAAA RAAA!!!”

The dog-like construct looked down at the lesser Magi-beasts, as a siren popped up in its head before opening its large mouth. This resulted in the Nightmares running away as the construct gave chase with the siren going off. One of the monsters was unfortunately too slow and was bitten down by the construct. It shook the Nightmare around violently before it bit down hard and turned the Nightmare into black smoke. “Didn’t think I’d find a use for that one,” Argo commented.

Meanwhile, Achilles was charging at Pyralspite.

The Magi-Beast saw this and responded by blasting a fireball at the rider. Achilles switched his grip on the Solar sonic and strummed some of the strings. Right before the Fireball could hit, it stopped and changed form into a phoenix. The fire construct flew into the sky to struck Pyralspite in the back.

“How dare you change my art!” Pyralspite yelled, putting his hands forward and fired his beams. Achilles ran to the side to avoid the attack, jumping behind a car. A wall of flames appeared in the beam’s wake and when it died down it just showed the dragon was furious.

“This guy is about to blow his stack any minute,” Achilles commented. Pyralspite spotted the Rider and put his hands together. The gems on his arms glowed bright red before firing a massive pillar of flame. Achilles saw this and jumped up on the car. He brought down his blade and cut the pillar in half before it could hit. “Dude you need to chill. You're going to take everyone out like this. Including yourself” Achilles pointed out as he defected the attack. 'Why is he so strong?' He asked himself, then realized something. 'Wait! Dogs live shorter lives than humans, does that mean the draining rate is faster for them?'

“And what a way to go, bathed in such powerful flames!” Pyralspite replied as his attack stopped. The power he was absorbing from Ember was reaching its max, as the gems on his body started to spit flames. A massive wave of heat radiated off of him pushing the rider back.

“Flash!” Shining yelled out, accidentally saying his real name. Achilles turned to see Argo's construct finish off the last of the nightmares. “Time for some teamwork,” He continued as he sent his dog towards the other rider.

Achilles saw what he was getting at and jumped up, landing on top of the construct, riding it through the intense heat. The Rider took the Blaze card out of the driver and slotted it into the Solar Sonic.

“ROCK ON!”

“BLAZING FEEDBACK!!!”

The blade ignited with a swirling vortex of flames. At the same time, Argo pulled out a purple battle card and slotted it into the Defender. He held his weapon with both hands as it began to charge with energy.

“ACTIVATED! FULL-BLAST FEEDBACK!!!”

“BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN! BURN!!!!!!” Pyralspite screamed as he let out a beam towards the rider. Achilles jumped to avoid the attack but the construct wasn't so lucky and was cut in half. Achilles yet out a yell before cutting the Magi-Beast’s right across the chest. Argo immediately after pulled the trigger and launched a massive bullet with his shield logo on the front. “At least I will leave this world in glorious flames” Pyralspite yelled as the attack hit. The result was a massive explosion of purple energy and flame. A shockwave radiated from the monster’s defeat, causing the intense heat to dissipate and returning the area back to normal.

“Dang, looks like all his talk was nothing but hot air,” Cypher commented as he glared at Starlight.

“Is that your attempt at a joke,” Starlight replied. Even though her face didn’t show it she was very upset about this situation. “Stick to doing what Kurogiri tells you and leave the planning to me. One way or another, I will be the victor!” She declared before teleporting away.

As Achilles landed, his transformation was undone with a loud gasp. “Jeez that one was tougher than all the other,” Flash exclaimed as he took a seat on the ground. “Is Ember ok?”

As if on cue, the blue dog came out of nowhere and jumped into Flash's arms. “Dang it. I set her down for one second and she just bolts,” Trixie complained as she was quick to follow. “I think she was worried about you.”

Flash just smiled. “I kept my promise. No one is going to be hurting you again,” he said as he started to scratch the dog’s chin.

Shining undid his transformation as he walked up to his partner. “Well with the danger over, I think I know a way to relax after something like this,” Shining offered as he helped Flash up.

“After making quick work of Iron Skeleton’s lackeys, the wizard Garbunkle raises his staff up high as he forms three orbs of energy and casts the spell Mystic Darts,” Spike declared in a dramatic fashion. He climbed up on the table. Once the monster was dealt with and order was restored to the town. The group all returned back to Shining's house.

“Ok, Roll for damage,” Shining said. Spike took three four-sided dice and threw them on the table. The police officer was currently sitting at the head of the table with a small partition in front of him. A map was set up in the middle with game pieces in positions around a large skeleton figure. The three game pieces were a dragon wizard, a witch with pointy ears, and a Fishman with a large sword. After such a fight, Trixie and Shining wanted to play O&O. Spike was more than happy to join and Flash just ended up getting roped into it.

“I got ten,” Spike responded

“And the Iron Skeleton stumbles back as the bolts of magic hit his rib cage,” Shining said as he acted out what the Skeleton would be doing. “Alright Lunara, your turn.”

“Dang it, I'm really not doing well in this,” Trixie thought out loud. Over the course of the fight, Trixie’s character, Lunara Grimmhowl, seems to have been the one taking most of the hits. “The Powerful sorceress, Lunara, looks at her new friend Mica since she has been mortality wounded in this battle, her only choice of action. She looks to the Fighter and casts Blade of the Heavens on him.”

“You do what?” Flash asked. He hasn't really been able to follow most of what was going on throughout the campaign.

“As Lunarea casts her spell, Mica’s sword begins to glow with a heavenly light,” Shining explained. “Flash’s next attack will now do light damage. Is that all your doing Trixie?”

“All I can do,” Trixie responded.

“Ok Flash, it's your turn,” Shining said.

“Um, Um what do I do?” Flash asked as he was put on the spot.

“You swing your sword at the boss. Come on, you better not waste my buff!” Trixie yelled.

“Just move your character and declare an attack,” Spike followed in a calmer tone.

Flash did what the dog said and moved the fish man closer to the skeleton. “Ok, I attack the guy with my sword,” Flash declared nervously.

“Roll to attack,” Shining said.

Flash looked nervously at the group and then down to the floor where Ember was sitting and crewing in one of Spike’s bones. He nodded his head and rolled his twenty-sided die. Trixie and Spike looked at the die intently till it eventually stopped. When they saw the result, the two caster players yelled out in joy. “NAT TWENTY!!!” The two yelled out.

“Is that good?” Flash asked, confused by the cheers.

“Mica ran full speed at the Skeleton, his glowing sword held high before the mighty warrior cut right through the spinal column. The enchantment on the sword doing double damage,” Shining narrated as he knocked the figure down. “You defeated the boss.”

“WHOOOOOO!” Trixie and Spike yelled.

“Congratulations Flash. Pretty good for a first-timer,” Shining complicated. “Did you have fun?”

“Ya know I kinda did,” Flash said as he scratched the back of his head.

The celebration was soon cut short by the sound of the door opening. “Spike, I’m back,” Twilight's voice called out.

“Twilight,” Spike said as he hopped off his chair to run to his best friend. The others followed to see that she was accompanied by Sunset and Fluttershy.

“I hope you didn’t miss me too much,” Twilight said as she picked him up. “He wasn't too much trouble, was he?” She asked as he looked over to Flash and the others.

“None at all. We had a really great time,” Flash replied. He soon turned his attention to Fluttershy. “Oh Fluttershy, are you free?”

“Um yeah, why?” Fluttershy replies. She then heard a bit of barking and looked down to find Ember at her feet. “Oh, where did you come from?”

“That’s Ember, we ended up finding her today. She’ a stray and I was hoping I could help her out by taking her in. Was wondering if you can help me out. Being with Spike made me want to finally get around to finding my own furry friend?”

This causes Fluttershy’s eyes to light up. “Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes!” She said as she picked up the blue dog. One of Fluttershy’s favorite things was matching her human friends up with her animal friends. One of her happiest moments was introducing Sunset with Ray, her gecko. “We just need to stop by the shelter and I’ll get you everything you need.”

The young woman was overjoyed as she brought Flash and Ember in for a huge hug. Flash knew Fluttershy would be happy but not this happy.

Ride 16: Almighty

View Online

"Bonne Lecture!” Within a small and colorful cottage, a rather odd-looking man sits happily in his chair by the fireplace.

The pink-skinned man was dressed in a rather elaborate pink suit, with a matching top hat. His green hair reached all the way down to his shoulder and sporting a rather dapper mustache on his face. “My name is Tassel and I hope you excuse my poor English. I never had to address an audience like this,” The man fixed his glasses.

“Normally I would tell the story of the Swords of Logos, but today I figured we would do something different. I even got a guess with us.” Tassel pointed to the chair next to him, which had a young man sitting in it. He had gray skin and golden eyes, that peered past the bangs of his spiky black hair. He was dressed in a blue hoodie and black tights with goggles upon his head.

“Wait," the young man said looking very confused at his current situation, "what am I doing here? I thought I was buying a taco.”

“Axle," Tassel answered with a smile, "I invited you here cause I wanted to read some of your stories with everyone.”

“Wait," Axle raised an eyebrow, "you mean my Fanfic?”

“Indeed,” Tassel responded as he held up a stack of papers stapled together. On the front page was the title 'Kamen Rider Achilles: Chapter 16, Almighty.'

Axle's eyes went wide seeing it. “Wait, it’s not done yet, I don't like what I got there!” He tried to grab it, but Tassel jumped to his feet and avoided him as he opened the papers.

“Since you seem to be interested in the story of Kamen Riders, I thought it would be nice to share this tail with everyone.”

“Oh no you don’t, I'm going to kick the scrap out of you for pulling me into this weird mess,” Axle threatened. Unfortunately, his words fell on deaf ears as Tassel proceeded to read. “Don’t you dare Page Turn transition, I am not done here…”

Canterlot was made up of mostly suburbs, but there was a sprawling metropolitan area. It was mostly larger businesses, such as the Wave Industries’ offices, as well as Glint Phoenix’s office at the district office. It wasn’t often Flash would venture into this area of town, but there was something he needed information on that he could only find here.

After locking up his bike and putting money in the meter, Flash was ready to make the rest of the trip on foot.

He checked his pocket and pulled out a very strange looking purple book. It was much smaller than any book he has ever seen and looked very otherworldly. On the cover was a picture of a unicorn with its horn held up high surrounded by five other colorful horses. The title, 'Ponytails Adventures', was written out in fairy tail letters. When he opened it there was only one page with a picture of six small ponies and strange letters.

“I wish that guy wasn’t so rude when I asked him what this was,” Flash said to himself.

The other day.

Flash was walking down the street, headphones in his ear so he wasn't paying attention to where he was going. In his distracted state, he accidentally bumped into someone. “Oh sorry,” Flash said as he looked at the other person.

He was greeted by a man with a stern face. His skin was pink, or maybe more of a magenta, with brown hair. He was dressed in a black suit with a red undershirt and an old camera around his neck. The man didn’t respond, just messed with his camera as he walked.

“Jeez some people,” Flash said to himself. He soon looked down to find a strange book laying on the sidewalk. The teen picked it up and looked over it for a moment before turning to the man. “Hey, You dropped your book!” He called out.

The man turned around with a bored expression on his face. “That book isn’t mine,” The man commented before taking a picture of the young man.

“But didn’t it fall out of your pocket?” Flash followed.

“Do I look like a librarian?” The man asked.

“No, you look like a jerky photographer,” Flash answered as he was starting to get annoyed with this guy. Every response he gave sounded so condescending and he wouldn’t stop playing with his camera.

“Then I’m not the one you need to return it to,” the man said cryptically as he turned around and walked away. As he turned the corner, Flash chased after him only to find that once he got to the corner, the man had disappeared.

“What the? How the?” Flash was at a loss for words for what just happened as he looked down the empty street.

“If I ever see that guy again, I’m going to sock him right in his face.” Flash continued to walk down the street, then saw it a ways off. It was a small shop with a purple sign in golden letters right above a display window. It was one of the oldest shops in Canterlot but was kept in great shape. As he approached the book store, he noticed that there was a line of people forming. “Hmm, wonder what’s going on here?”

As he got closer, he noticed a single setup. It showed a man with a large sword and a kid sitting on his shoulder. He spotted a sigh and read it aloud. “New book release, The King of Fatherhood. Signing today only by famed novelist, Touma Kamiyama.” He looked back at the image, having never seen this story before. “Hmm, must be from overseas.”

“Yeah. In fact, it’s Kamiyama’s first time in the states.” Turning around, he found Twilight with a huge smile on her face. “This is going to be an event for the ages.”

“Wow," Flash smirked, "he must be good if he has you worked up like Rainbow on the primer of the Daring Do movie.” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Funny how we keep running into each other. We seem to be doing that a lot lately.”

Twilight let out a laugh, “you're right. I didn’t really notice that,” she commented while fixing her glasses. “Anyway, what brings you here? I’m guessing you're not here for the signing.”

“Naw, something else brought me here. Came across something very weird and I think I’m going to find some answers here.” This appeared to peak Twilight's interest.

“What is this weird thing? Is it another enchanted object?”

Flash pulled the book out from his pocket. “Maybe. Honestly, it’s not giving off the same vibe as the others. It’s too…” Flash started as he tried to find the world.

“Inactive,” Twilight chimed in as she pulled out her magic detector. When she passed it over the book, nothing happened. “Hmm, no Equestrian magic detected.”

“It has to be some kind of magic. This thing is way too weird not to be. And the guy that dropped it seemed to really want me to come here with it." He was starting to get worked up remembering that photographer before taking a deep breath to calm down. “Ya know what, while I’m here I might as well browse the place.”

“Sounds good to me," Twilight nodded. "My birthday day is coming up and I would love to see what I could add to my wishlist.”

“Oh yeah, your birthday is next week,” Flash remembered. ”Anything, in particular, you want me to get?”

“Hmm," Twilight thought for a moment before smiling, "I’m sure I will like whatever you pick for me.”

“Well I’ll see what I can do,” Flash said as he scratched the back of his head. “Don’t you think you should go get your spot in line?”

“I got here really early and reserved a spot," Twilight explained. "I’m actually going to get a smoothie while I wait for Mr. Kamiyama."

“Well I hope you have fun,” Flash said as the two parted ways. The young man headed towards the Bookshop.

A few minutes after entering the shop, Flash was looking through the shelves. He asked the owner about the book but he had no answers. He didn’t know what he was expecting. After all, Golden Oaks was just a regular book store. So since he came all this way, Flash thought he might as well look for a birthday gift for Twilight. “I know Twilight said she didn’t care what I get her, but I can't just get her any old thing. Daring Do, Time Thieves, maybe something nonfiction?"

“Looks like you have a lot on your mind,” a friendly voice pointed out. Flash was surprised as he turned, there was a man with light red skin standing next to him. He was dressed in a long black jacket with suspenders and a hat. There was a pen hanging off his neck by a long lanyard

“Oh sorry. I was just thinking about what book I should get. Not for me, for a friend.”

“Maybe I can help,” the man replied as he started to look at the bottom level of the shelf. “What does your friend like?”

“Well I know she loves books...a lot. Oh, she loves science too and like ridiculously organized.” Flash went on to describe Twilight.

“Hmm, well a few things come to mind. I think I saw some books for sale written by some famous scientist. Do you know who your friend might like?”

Flash thought for a moment till he remembered. “Oh, she loves Rosette Nebula."

“Hmm...Rosette Nebula,” the man stood up and scratched his chin. “Ya know what, she has a new book coming out in a few months. I may be able to get you an advance copy.” The man pulled out his phone.

“Wait, really? You would do something like that for me?” Flash asked.

“I’d love to," the man explained with a smile. "Especially if your friend is someone who truly loves books.”

“She really does,” Flash replied. As Flash talked with the man, he noticed someone go past the shop window. It was something fuzzy. “Um, do you mind holding on for a minute? I’ll be right back.”

Flash ran out of the store to catch a glimpse of whatever he saw heading behind the store. As he headed to the back he saw what it was that went past the window. It was a group of strange, brown creatures with white markings on the bodies and tattered robes hanging from their necks. They had on gray, insect-like helmets and holding short swords.

“What on earth are you?” Flash asked out loud. The weird creatures didn’t respond as they saw the teen and just jumped at him. Flash dodged a sword attack from one of the creatures before he shoved another to the side. “You guys aren't Magi-beasts or Nightmares, but I can tell you're not friendly at all!” He pulled out his driver. “Henshin!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!!!”

In an instant, Flash transformed into Achilles and extended his spear. Two of the creatures swung their swords down, only to be blocked by the rider. Achilles kicked them away and smacked them with the wide side of the spear. The rider then spun the weapon over his head, causing the remaining goons to back off. Unfortunately, it looked like more of them were starting to pop up. “Dang, these things are like cockroaches. They’re just popping up everywhere. I’m going to need to call Shining,” Achilles observed as he punched one of the enemies.

“Shimi!?”

As Achilles fought off the monster he turned to see the man from the bookstore showed up. “What are you doing? Get out of here!” The rider yelled out.

“Don’t worry about me," the man said. "You look like the one that needs help.” With that, the man pulled something out of his jacket. It looked like a sword with a red flaming hilt, housed in a black scabbard with strange golden letters on it. There were three slots visible on the scabbard. The man played the scabbard on his wait and straps came out to form a belt.

“SAKEN SWORD DRIVER!”

“A Driver!?” Achilles asked in surprise.

The man then pulled out a book, similar to the one Flash found apart from being red. It had the image of a dragon on it and The title of the book read 'Brave Dragon'. The man then opened the book to reveal the more simplistic picture of a dragon.

“THERE WAS ONCE A LEGENDARY BEAST, POSSESSING GREAT POWER THAT WOULD DESTROY EVERYTHING.”

He then closed the book and put it into the right slot on the belt.

“BRAVE DRAGON!”

The man then grabbed onto the handle of the sword. “Henshin!” He yelled as he pulled out the sword, the blade somehow extending to be three times the size it looked whilst in the scabbard. As he did, the image of an armored warrior with a fiery visor was revealed on the book.

“REKKA, BATTOU!”

The man swung the sword to make a flaming X slash. A large book appeared behind him and opened, releasing a red dragon that flew around the man. A flaming vortex appeared before coming into armor. The cross slash flew towards the man's face and formed a visor, dispersing the flames and revealing the armored rider.

“BRAVE DRAGON!”

The left side of the rider’s body was covered in black armor with white going right down the middle. The right side of the rider’s armor was read with a dragon head on the shoulder and a long piece of cloth at his side. His helmet had a flame themed visor with a large blade coming off the top. It looked exactly like the armor depicted in the book.

“REKKA, BOOK ONE. WHEN THE DRAGON OF VALOUR AND THE SWORD OF FLAMES MEET, THE CRIMSON SWORD WILL PENETRATE EVIL!”

The new rider charged into the group of enemies and swung his sword around. Some of the Shimi tried to slash at the rider, but they all blocked them with his sword. With a fiery attack from his blade, the rider caused all the goons to fall back. Achilles swung his spear, knocking back more of the Shimi that the other rider didn’t see.

“Hey, thanks for the save. But who are you?” Achilles asked as the two were soon back to back.

“I am Kamen Rider Saber, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Achilles replied as he performed a wide slash towards the enemies. He then spun the spear over his head before converting it into its blaster form and opened fire on the soldiers. "You can call me Achilles."

Saber spun his sword around, leaving behind a trail of flames as he took down any Shimi that got in his way. The rider caught one of the goons’ blades before throwing it up and performing a vertical slash. “I’m starting to get tired of this nonsense.”

“Agreed," Achilles replied as he took the Rider card out of his driver, "these small fries are annoying.” He slotted of the blaster. At the same time, Saber returned his sword back into the driver and pulled the trigger before pulling it out again.

“CHARGING, RIDER FEEDBACK!!!”

“REKKA BATTOU!!!”

Achilles held his blaster up were a magical circle appeared over him and fired a large blast of energy. When the blast hit the circle, it split into multiple bolts of energy that homed in on the Shimi. When the bolts hit the soldiers were destroyed instantly.

“DRAGON SLASH; VOLUME ONE FIRE!”

The red dragon appeared as Saber spun around. The dragon followed his movements, circling the riders to finish off any remaining Shimi in a burst of flames. “I didn’t think those guys would follow me here,” The rider said. He returned the sword to the driver, closed the book, and removed it. The armor started to turn into pages of a book that dissolved, undoing the transformation.

“So you know what those things are?” Achilles asked.

“Yeah, they're Megido. Awful monster that terrorizes people.” the man answered as he turned to the rider. “I wish you would have told me that you saw them. I would have been able to help out sooner.”

“Wait,” the rider asked with a puzzled look under his helmet, "what are you talking about?”

“Are you not the guy I was helping in the book store? I saw you transform as I was walking out the back. I would have helped out right away, but I left my driver in my bag,”

“Gah, dang it." Achilles smacked his helmet, "I guess I can't deny it now.” He undid the transformation, returning to being Flash Sentry. “Can you do me a favor and promise not to tell anyone? I'm trying to keep it a secret”

“Um, of course. You can count on me to keep a promise. But why do you need to be so secretive about it,” the man asked.

“It’s just…” Flash paused for a moment. “There are just people I know I’ll hurt if they know I was putting my life in danger like this.”

“I see,” the man replied as he put his hand to his chin. “Why don't we take this conversation somewhere else. I would like to talk more with the Kamen Rider of America.”

“Sure,” Flash answered as he followed the man walking away. "Oh by the way I’m Flash Sentry, what's your name?”

“Oh it’s Touma Kamiyama,” the man answered, finally revealing his identity.

“Touma Kamiyama? You mean the Author doing the singing today?” Flash followed.

“Yeah, you have my editor to thank for that,” Touma replied with a smile as he led the way.

As the city continued to move on, they were unaware they were all being observed. “My oh my, the swordsman of flames has followed me here. I was hoping to do this quietly, without Logos knowing,” Letting out a sigh was a man of black hair and deep maroon skin. One lock of hair was very long and he was outfitted in a long black coat. “No matter. The swordsman being here just means he can't call on help from the others. This might actually make things easier. Taking out one of the swords and creating an Alter Book all at once.” He then pulled out a book, this one having a black cover and filled with cracks.

The man opened it to reveal an image covered in chains. Through the chains, one could make out the picture of a princess running down a large flight of stairs with a prince following close by.

“PRINCESS OF GLASS!”

Books started to come out of the book and stacked on top of each other till they formed a humanoid form.

The stack then transformed into a dark pink feminine monster. She had on a large ballgown with a stained glass design that was covered in swirls of pink, blue, and yellow. Her lanky arms were black with pink cracks all along the length, ending in fingers like shards of glass. In the middle of her chest was the cover of a black book. Her face continued the stained glass theme, with one eye being able to be made out amongst the random shapes and colors. A large shard of glass sticking out where the other eye would be with cracks spreading out from it. Her hair was made of long white fibers, with streaks of pink flowing through it and a tiara looking like crystal. “Are you my Prince?” She asked.

“No, but this should help in your quest.” The man handed the monster a blank white book. “You know what to do, Cinderella. Collect some of the strange energy this city has so we can use it in our alter books”

“Yes, oh yes!” The Cinderella Megido spun around, holding the book up high as her sharp fingers coerced it. “I will have my happily ever after.”

The two riders found themselves at a street stand that was selling smoothies. After the two got a drink, Touma asked to know how Flash became a rider. And so Flash told the writer a brief recap of the last month, including a quick rundown of the Rainbooms and their powers. “Wow, that is quite the story you got there,” Touma said.

“Yeah, it’s just been one crazy event after another. But I wouldn’t change a thing if it means I get to protect others,” Flash responded with a proud look on his face.

“In fact...” Touma started before he pulled out a notepad and pen. “I think I have some inspiration for another book.”

“Really?” Flash asked as he took a sip of his drink.

“Yeah. The story of a gallant warrior, who protects everyone but must keep it a secret from the princess he loves. This is going to be great,” Touma spoke aloud as he wrote his ideas down.

This resulted in Flash doing a spit take. “What?! Who-who said anything about a princess and being in love or anything like that?” Flash yelled as he whipped his face.

“Oh sorry, that's just where my mind went with the idea. If it’s a sour subject I’ll think of something else,” the writer offered.

“No, it’s fine. It’s just a story anyway,” Flash replied as he regained his composure. As Touma took a sip of his drink, Flash remembered his whole reason he came here. “Hey, that book you used to transform, Can I see it?” he asked.

“Oh, you mean the Wonderide Books?” Touma dug through his jacket. He presented Flash with two of them. The red Brave Dragon book and a blue one titled 'Peter Fantasista', with a boy and girl flying through the sky. “These are the source of the Sword of Logos’ power. Cool, right?”

“Yeah,” Flash responded as he dug through his own jacket to pull out the Wonderide book he’s been carrying. “I ended up finding one and some guy told me to come to the book store. I guess he wanted me to run into you,” he put together.

“Pony TaIls Adventure,” Touma read aloud as he examined the book. “Looks very odd, but I can’t be sure if this is one of the books that went missing. I’m gonna need to call Daushinji-san to find out.” As he handed back the book, his phone’s alarm started to go off.

“Isn’t the book signing starting soon?” Flash asked, taking note of the reminder.

“You're right, we can talk more when I finish,” Touma said as he ran towards the shop, Leaving behind his smoothie.

Meanwhile, Cinderella spun around the rooftop with the blank book in hand. “Come to me, my Prince, so that you may take me away to live my dreams!” The monster declared as she opened the book. A golden aura emanated from the book as the construct of a larger book started to form over the section of the city. This event didn’t go unnoticed, as everyone looked up in shock.

“What the?!” Flash yelled out. A barrier formed between him and Touma.

“Ōno!" Touma whispered, "it’s worse than I thought!” He looked up at the construct of the books as it started to open.

Before Flash’s eyes, the cityscape on the other side of the barrier started to change into a fantasy world of purple sky and floating islands. “Is that an Orca!?” Flash yelled as the large creature resembling the sea mammals flew overhead. Bubbles filled the air, as everyone took notice of their new surroundings. “There is no way a magi-beast caused this. This is way too big of a scale for them. Especially if they were just created,” Flash thought out loud.

“AHHHHHHH!”

Flash’s train of thought was soon interrupted when he heard someone scream. turning around to see he saw Shimi swarm the area and attack many of the confused citizens. “These guys again!" Flash pulled out his driver and ran towards them as he placed it on his waist.

Outside the barrier, Touma looked up at the giant book. He wasn't the only one, as everyone took notice of what was happening. “This is much worst than I thought.”

“Was that Flash?!” Twilight asked as she ran up to the barrier. “What is this thing?”

“It’s an Alter Book. And everyone in there has been taken to Wonder World,” Touma explained.

“How do you kn-wait, your Touma Kamiyama!” Twilight yelled out. She was starstruck for a moment as she was now meeting one of her favorite authors.

“Hai. Are you one of Flash’s friends?” The writer asked.

“I'm his friend, yes,” Twilight replied. “We need to do something.”

“Don’t worry, I can help him out,” Touma said as he pulled out his driver. As he put it on his waist, a large book appeared in front of him. “I’ll be quick. It’s only a matter of time before they all disappear.”

“That a Driver,” Twilight pointed out. “If that means you're a Kamen Rider, then I’m going too.”

“I can’t let you," Touma responded. "The Megido are way too dangerous.”

“Can't be worse than a Magi-Beast,” Twilight retorted with a cocky smile. “Plus, I’m more capable than I look.” She held up her and with a magical aura glowing around it.

“Ok, but please stay close,” Touma said as he grabbed onto Twilight’s hand and guided her into the large book.

Within the barrier, Achilles was hard at work defending the citizens from the Shimi.

Swinging his spear around, the rider smacked several of the goons before they dissolve into nothing. “So we're on your turf now. Alright, I can handle this,” Achilles said as he leaned on his spear.

The tinging of glass hitting the pavement filled the air, making the rider turn to see the Cinderella Magido walk in. “Oooh, are you my prince?” The monster asked.

“Prince? Lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but there's no prince here,” Achilles retorted as he readied himself.

“Aww, that’s too bad. If you're not my prince, then I have no use for you!” The monster announced as she dashed towards the rider. With her shard-like fingers held high, she slashed down onto the rider. Achilles was caught off guard and was sent back with sparks coming off his armor. Achilles responded by swinging his spear and landed a direct hit. He attempted to go for a second attack, but the Magido caught the blade in her fingers. She then swung her arms to send the rider rolling. “Such a fragile thing,” Cinderella taunted.

“I’m not gonna be called fragile by a walking chandelier!” Achilles declared as he pulled out a card and slotted it into the belt.

“K-K-K-KNUCKLE!”

Achille’s armor changed into the Knuckle form. He held his fist up to launch the gauntlet at the monster. Cinderella sidestepped the attack, but she didn’t see the other attack. It struck, shattering almost a third of the Magido’s body. “Aaahhhhhh!” She yelled as she collapsed on the floor.

“Just as I thought," Achilles commented as he approached the monster. "You really are just a bunch of glass." The Magido tried to crawl away from the rider, clearly in a panic.

But as Achilles raised his gantlet he was hit by bolts of red and black energy that knocked Achilles back.

"AUGH!" He cried, staggering forward before turning to the attacker. He then saw the man that created this monster.

“I'm sorry, but I can’t have you hurting my princess,” he said. The man then transformed in a dark cloud into a frighting figure of crimson with dark green vines all over his body. He was wearing a white mask with a golden crest on his head and two large roots coming off either side. His body was covered with black spiky armor and a golden crest in the middle of his chest. The creature said as he looked over the rider. “Wait, you’re not one of the sacred swords.”

“You're talking about Touma, right?” Achilles asked as he smashed his fists together. “I don’t know who you are, or why you here in Canterlot, but I'm the one that protects this town.”

“Doesn’t really matter. It won’t be long until the Alter Book will be created. This one will be stronger than anyone before it,” the monster said as he summoned a two-pronged sword. “I am Storious. Remember it, as you fade to nothing." He then charged at the rider, raising his sword up.

When the monster swung his weapon, Achilles blocked it. This gave him an opening to deliver a few punches to the monster. The rider then raised both his arms and slammed them down onto the monster’s head. “You monsters always talk big. Guess things never change,” Achilles laughed.

“I never exaggerate,” Storious said as the roots on his head started to grow out and move. The large roots swung at Achilles, forcing him to use his large gantlets as a shield.

“Talk about a bad hair day,” Achilles quipped as he raised his arms to hit away from the roots. He then fired his fist at Storious. The monster sidestepped to avoid the flying punch, but Achilles swung the cable around and hit the roots out of the way before clocking Storious on the other side of his face.

He grunted as he staggered back, but quickly regained his balance. “Ok, you caught me off guard." He brushed himself off, "but don’t count on it to happen again.” As Storious raised his blade, he noticed Cinderella trying to get up.

“I...I can’t fall. Not without my prince,” The Magido managed to get out with pieces of glass falling off her.

“Dang it!” Storious yelled out as he threw down his sword and went to the monster. He picked up the remains of the Cindrella Magido and turned to the rider. “You're lucky I need her to stay around,” he said before teleporting away, avoiding Achilles charging at him.

“Dang it! They got away,” Achilles said before he undid his transformation. He then started to see parts of the pavement start to curl up like they were pages. “I really wish Touma was here. I don’t think this place is going to last much longer.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the area, a giant book appeared and opened like a flipbook. It showed the still images of Touma and Twilight running closer and closer to the page, then a flash of light had them both appear out of the still images.

Once Twilight was able to get her baring, she was amazed to see Wonder World just outside the barrier. “I-Is that a dragon!?” Twilight yelled out as she pulled out her phone to take a picture. “So this is what another world looks like. It's just like a fairytale come to life.”

“Yeah,” Touma answered. “Also, that won’t work. My editor tried the same thing. Cameras from our world can’t seem to capture images from Wonder World.”

“So where do we find this Magido?” Twilight asked.

“They should be close,” the writer replied. “Hopefully, Achilles is keeping everyone safe.”

“Achilles is here?” Twilight asked a look of curiosity on her face.

“Oh yeah,” Touma responded whilst nervously scratching his nose. “I saw him earlier. I think he ended up getting caught up in all of this.”

“Ah, visitors!” A male voice called out as a new fighter entered the battle. It was a tall figure, dressed all in black with a red line going down the middle of his suit and a black book on the right side of his chest. Tassels adorned his shoulders with a red cape coming off his back. The creature’s face was purple with five spikes coming off his head top from some kind of crown. The Prince Magido focused on Twilight. “You look like a fine gift for my dear princess.”

“Where did that creep come from?” Twilight yelled out.

“Speak of the devil,” Touma followed as he put on his driver.

The Prince wasted no time as he sent several flying slashes at the two. Twilight reacted quickly, using her powers to bring several large items to block the attack. The girl then threw the remains of the items at the monster, who knocked them all out of the way with his saber. “This guy isn’t playing around.”

“I think we can take him,” Touma said as he pulled out both the red and blue Wonderide books and opened them.

“BRAVE DRAGON!”

“PETER FANTASISTA!”

He then closed the books and slotted them into the driver. Brave dragon into the far right and the other in the far left slot. In one swift motion, Touma drew the sword. “Henshin!”

“REKKA BATTOU!!!”

The two books appeared behind Touma and opened, unleashing the dragon and a fairy. The two circled around the man to transform him into his rider form, but with additional pieces. The left side of his body was covered in blue armor, with a hook coming off his arm.

“WHEN TWO BOOKS STACK, THE SACRED SWORD GAINS POWER! WONDER RIDER!!!”

Saber raised his sword and charged at the prince. Their swords clashed with the two pushing against one another. “I will not let you take away this town!” Saber cried before he swung his blade to break from his opponent and launched the chain from his wrist.

The hook was closing in, but the Prince parried the hook. “My love for the Princess will give me the strength to slay any enemy,” The Prince declared as he lunged forward with his sword. Saber avoided the stabs as best he could, managing a counterattack with a few slashes. But soon the rider was blindsided by a diagonal slash that sent Saber to the ground. The Magido then turned his attention to Twilight. “Now come with me,” the Magido demanded.

“Twilight!” Saber yelled. Acting quickly he returned the sword to the driver, pulled the trigger, and drew it.

“DRAGON, PETER FAN! SLASH; VOLUME TWO F-F-FIRE!”

Saber drew a circle of flames with his sword that morphed into chains made of fire. A green fairy then flew out of his armor and through the chain circle. On the other side, the small fairy grew into a giant flaming construct of a woman with large muscle and fairy wings. With the chain and hook in hand, the construct wrapped the chains around the monster and hoisted him up high. “Let me go, you ogre!” The Prince demanded. The fairy didn’t take too kindly to his words as she gave the rider a nod. He nodded back and jumped up with his sword ablaze as he delivered a decisive blow to the monster, destroying him as the fairy let go of the chains and disappeared.

Saber gave a look around. “We're still in Wonderworld," he observed. "The main Magido must still be out there.”

“Quite prospective, Swordsman of flames,”

Turning around, Saber saw Storious standing next to Twilight who was trapped in roots. She tried to yell out but her mouth was covered. “Storious! Get away from her!” Saber demanded as he held up his sword, “she has nothing to do this.”

“Ah, but that is where you are wrong,” Monster explained as he held up the Altar Book and opened it. Before the Rider’s eyes, another Prince Magido appeared from the book. “The Prince senses a great power coming from this girl and so do I. With her, we can give the princess the power she needs to finally destroy you. There is nothing you or that American rider can do to stop me, hahaha!” The monster let out a laugh as Saber charged at him. Storious, The Prince, and Twilight all vanished before the Rider could finish his attack.

“Twilight!” Flash’s voice yelled out. The teen ran onto the scene but was unable to do anything, collapsing onto the ground. “How did she get here anyway?”

“That is my fault,” the writer responded as he went to console the teen. “I told her not to get involved, but she insisted on coming to save you.”

“So it’s my fault then,” the teen responded.

“No. If I knew Storious was here, I wouldn’t have brought her.” Touma helped Flash up, “you made a promise to protect the people you love. That includes Twilight and I'm going to help you keep that promise. Now, let’s go find them before the whole place is falling apart." Around the two, the world was starting to curl up like it was paper.

“You’re right," Flash nodded. "We need to find those guys.” They rushed off, all the while hoping they could get to Twilight in time.

On a rooftop, Storious stood in his human form before Twilight, who was now rooted onto a chair. The man was holding out a black book with a stream of magic pouring out from her geode into it. “I can’t wait to see what your magic can really do.”

“Whatever your doing will never work," Twilight proclaimed. "Touma and Achilles will stop whatever it is your planning. I have faith in them.”

“The Swordsman of Flames and the American Kamen Rider? Pshhh. By the time they find you, it will already be too late,” the man replied.

Meanwhile, The Prince Megido stood next to the remains of the Cinderella Magido. “My prince please, you must save me from this fate,” the princess said in a weak voice, shards of glass falling off her.

“Don’t worry my Princess, I will not rest till I have saved you,” The Prince declared.

Storious closed the book, cutting off the flow of magic, and opened it again. Shards of purple glass flew out and reformed into a slipper. “Here you go. This will save your princess,” Storious announced as he handed the glass slipper to the Magido.

The Prince took the slipper and proceeded to fit it onto his Princess’ foot. The purple magic flowed through Cindarella’s cracks and shards of glass started to assemble around her body, reforming into her body. “Yes, yes, yes!” The Magido said as she stood up and spun around. But the effects of the slipper didn’t stop there. The Cindarella Magido started to grow to the size of half the city. Everything from the waist down started to change into a giant chandelier and her chest formed into a castle-like structure complete with a tower. The process the section of the city was going through was accelerating with the building being reduced to hollow structures as the sky started to turn red.

“Amazing! This is working better than I thought,” Storious said as he admired his work. “Take the girl up to that tower and guard her!" He ordered the prince. "I don’t want the riders to get a hold of her.”

“Um, yes sir,” the Magido replied as he took the tied-up Twilight.

When the Magido grew, Flash and Touma noticed immediately. “Uh...does that usually happen with your monsters?” The teen asked the swordsman.

Touma shook his head. “I’ve seen them get bigger, but not transform into a floating castle. And they weren't that big.”

“Is that Twilight up there?” Flash asked out loud. He took out his phone and using the special telescoping app, he was able to confirm that Indeed Twilight was locked in the tower of the monster’s chest. “How on earth are we gonna save her?"

“So I'm guessing we're gonna really need to think outside of the box for this one,” Touma followed. “What about that book you found?”

Flash nodded, “it’s worth a shot. If we work together, I think we not only save your friend but the city." The teen pulled out the wonderide book and handed it to the Swordsman of flames. The two riders put on their Drivers, as Touma opened the red books.

“BRAVE DRAGON!”

But then, as soon as the book was opened, it glowed a red light that then flew off it. The two saw this and watched it float through the air for several seconds before shooting and into the Legends Driver. In a flash of light, a new red and black card appeared before Flash. He took the card out of the air and saw the word 'Saber' engrave itself in the card. “Is that normal?” The novelist asked.

“Kinda," Flash replied. "My driver tends to ask for help from others. Kinda scary that this thing has a mind of its own."

Touma nodded as he slotted the book into his driver and then opened the second one, revealing the page of the six ponies.

“PONYTAILS ADVENTURE!”

“A STORY OF HOW FRIENDSHIP CAN OVERCOME ANY HARDSHIP…”

He slotted the book into the far left slot and grabbed onto the sword. Flash got into position as he pressed the button on the driver. “Henshin!” The two yelled out at once.

“REKKA BATTOU!!!”

Two giant books appeared behind Touma as they opened. The dragon flew out the red one while the purple one opened to unleash a flying rainbow. As the two circled around his body, he transformed into his rider form. His right arm had a unicorn head as shoulder armor, a Pegasus wing coming off his back, and a horse head covering his forearm. The cloth on his side had a crest of five gems surrounding a six-point star.

“WONDER RIDER!!!”

“OK”

Flash slotted the card into his driver and the magic circle appeared to pass over him. The golden armor of his base form appeared around him. But when the transformation ended, the circle burst into flames. The dragon flew overhead before diving towards the rider. It spiraled around his right arm, changing it into red armor resembling the same kind Saber had. The blue eye plates turned red to complete the transformation.

“THE SABER IN YOUR HAND, IS A PEND TO WRITE IT DOWN! WORDS TO SAVE THIS WORLD!”

“S-S-S-SABER!!!”

“Wow! This feels a lot different from the others,” Achilles observed as he looked down at his hand. “Let's go save my friend.”

Saber gave a nod. “If you are going to storm the castle, you're gonna need a kyōdai steed.” He then pulled out a bulky looking Wonderride book. He slotted the book into the diver and put the sword back in just to pull it out again.

“LAUNCH BOMBING! OPEN THE TIRES AND CRIMSON BODY AWAKEN! THE SWORDS IS SYMBOL! SPECIAL ACCELERATION FOR EACH ISSUE! DAIGO SPEEDY!”

The book grew to a larger size and transformed into a motorcycle with a large sword in the front. “I hope this helps,” Saber said as he spread his wing.

“Yeah, I think I can make this work.” Achilles hopped onto the bike and revved up the engine. The two then charged forth, towards the giant monster as she floated over the city. Buildings were starting to collapse which, caused Achilles to swerve out of the way. A piece of the road started to curl up which gave the rider a ramp to get some air. He then maneuvered himself sideways, to drive up the side of the building, getting closer to the monster.

Meanwhile, Saber took to the skies, getting closer to the floating fortress of a monster. Swinging his sword, the rider launched several flame attacks. “Oh," the monster said, "so a little fly came to ruin my day." She raised her long arm to bring down her sharded hand on the rider. Saber blocked the attack and stood strong to push it back.

The eye of the horse head on his arm flashed, giving Saber a burst of strength to push the large hand back. “I'm not gonna stop, I made a promise to help save Twilight!” Saber declared as he took Rekka in both hands. With a vertical slash, the rider sent a wave of fire right into the Magido's head, causing the floating mass to lose altitude.

This was just what Achilles needed, as he was close to running out of building.

As the bike launched into the air, Achilles jumped up high to the castle portion of the monster, landing on it. The whole place looked like the courtyard of a castle, with Shimi crawling all over the place. In the middle was a tower with a spiral staircase leading up to the top.

"Of course, this wouldn’t be easy,” the rider observed. The goons all rushed Achilles, who ended up avoiding the soldiers. The eye on the dragon armor flashed as flames erupted from Achilles’s arm. The fire soon died down and formed into a replica of The Rekka. “Oh man, this is so awesome!” The rider cried excitedly. With sword in hand, he started swinging at the Shimi, making quick work of them as he made his way to the tower.

“Halt!” A voice yelled out. Guarding the stares was the Prince Megido with his saber in hand. “If you dare to storm the tower and harm my princess, you will have to go throw me first” He declared.

“You guys really don't make things easy,” Achilles commented.

Saber landed right next to Achilles. “Don’t worry," the rider stated as he pointed his sword at the Prince. "He wasn’t that hard to fight the first time. And with two of us, it will be no problem,” He gave his blade several powerful swings before striking a pose. “We will be the ones to decide how this story ends.”

Achilles held his sword high as he charged in, performing a diagonal slash that knocked the monster back before Saber leapt over him for a follow-up attack. The Prince thrust his saber at blurring speed, which caused Saber to hit the ground. Achilles tried to respond with an attack of his own, but the Magido simply deflected it.

“My love shall give me the strength to defeat you curds,” The Prince retorted.

“Jeez, can this guy get any more cheeser?” Achilles asked.

“Try using this,” Saber said as he threw a yellow book at Achilles.

Achilles caught it and saw the image of a hedgehog on it. “Ok," he then turned to the prince and pointed his sword it him. "By the time this is over, I'm sending you to Tartarus.” He then held the book up to the tip of the sword.

“HEDGEHOG, I SEE!”

Yellow energy radiated off the blade before forming into a large spiky club. Achilles then charged at The Prince and swung the weapons horizontally.

“FIRST READING FLASH!”

Spike started to burst out of the Magido’s body. “My Princess, Please forgive me!” the Prince yelled out before exploding. “NOOOOOO! MY PRINCE!” Cinderella yelled as the whole castle started to shake. The two riders looked up to see the face of the giant Megido looking down on them. Her signal eye started to glow as she shot a beam of energy, right down on them. Saber, thinking quickly, taped the page of the Wonderride book.

“PONYTAILS!”

Holding up how left hand Saber created a magical circle that shielded the two from the blast. “Flash, go save Twilight. I’ll hold her off!”

“I’m coming Twilight!” Achilles yelled as he ran up the stairs. More of the Shimi crawl out of the woodwork, but the rider made quick work of them. Fire followed his sword with every slash, some of the soldiers even falling off the winding stairway. The rider soon came to a locked door. Twilight?”

“Flash?” Twilight asked on the other side of the door.

“Oh...um...no. It's me, Achilles,” He tried putting on a deeper voice. “Stand back! I’m gonna break the door down!”After a moment, fire surrounded the blade of the imitation Rekka before the rider cut the door in half.

As Achilles entered the room, he was greeted by Twilight running up and hugging him. “What is going on out there?” The teenage girl asked.

“We just beat the monster’s boyfriend and she isn’t taking it well,” Achilles answered. The rider then took his sword and cut the bars on the window. Sheathing the sword on his back, the rider picked up Twilight and jumped out of the window. “Saber, we need to get out of here, fast!”

Saber nodded as he spread his wing. The rider grabbed Twilight and Achilles before flying them out of the fortress. The Giant Magido swung her arms to swat down the flying heroes. Twilight saw this and held out her hand, using her magical powers to push back against the large hand just long enough to let them escape. With most of the city almost reduced to nothing, Saber landed on the last rooftop still standing. “We’re out of time!" Saber yelled. "We need to destroy the Magido, now!”

“Do you think the two of us together can beat her in one shot?” Achilles asked. While this was happening, the crystals hanging off Cinderella’s lower half were starting to glow. The shard in her eye charging with energy that was now pointing at the trio.

“There is a chance you two may not be able to do it," Twilight chimed in before an idea popped into her head. "But if we add my power, our chances look a lot better."

“Are you sure you can do it?” Saber asked.

“You haven’t seen her in action. I know she can,” Achilles followed whilst giving Twilight the thumbs up.

“Well if we are gonna act, we need to act now,” Saber said as he sheathed the sword back into the driver and pulled the trigger.

“READING FINNISH!”

“I know we can beat her,” Achilles followed as depressed the button on his driver.

“SABER FEEDBACK!!!”

Twilight gathered her magic in both her hands till it formed into a construct of a bow and arrow. She then pointed the arrow at the monster and pulled back hard on the string. “I have her in my sights. Let's go!”

The two riders jumped high into the air with a burst of flames. Three magical circles appeared behind Saber. Each with a horse, unicorn, and pegasus depicted on them before being absorbed into his body. He then started to glow in a rainbow of colors as he got into the position for a kick. Several books appeared in front of Saber and opened to allowed the rider to fly through them towards the monster.

Meanwhile, as Achilles jumped up, the Brave Dragon spirals upward along with him. As he got into the position to kick, the dragon took a position behind him to breathe out a large fireball which accelerated his kick.

“DRAGON! PONYTAILS! TWO FIERCE BOOKS! F-F-FIRE!”

Twilight fired the arrow as it transformed into a giant purple dart that pierced right into the Magido’s chest. The arrow stuck out of Cinderella's chest, with cracks forming all over her body. The two riders soon follow as they simultaneously kicked directly into the arrow, driving it in further in. The cracks grew bigger till not only the monster shattered, but the world of the Altar Book as well. The sky turned back into its usual shade of blue and the city, as well as its people, returned back to normal.

From the eruption of energy, the bank book came dallying down. Storious was on the ground, Reaching up to grab the book, but it was destroyed right in his hand. “NOOOOOOOOO!” He yelled out, only to see a purple mist fly out of the remains and floated into the sky. When he was finished yelling, he turned to a giant book that appeared with a sneer. “I better get back before the other two get into trouble.”

The two riders fell back to earth triumphantly with the monster defeated. “We did it! Haha!” Achilles cheered as his transformation was undone.

“Twilight really is incredible,” Touma followed as he transformed back as well. “Um, what's going on with your driver?” The author asked. He noticed that something was going on with the card inside the Legends Driver.

Pulling the card out, Flash saw the Saber card begin to break down into nothing. “I guess the cards don't stay long if they're not Equestrian magic.”

It wasn’t long before the two saw Twilight running over to them. “Flash, Thank goodness you're safe,” the teenage girl yelled out as she approached.

“Yeah all thanks to Touma and Achilles,” Flash replied.

“Where is Achilles anyway?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, you know him, always the shy one. He probably ran off after seeing everyone was safe,” Flash explained.

“Somethings never change,” Twilight laughed. As she said that, the purple mist flew over to them and began to surround Twilight. They were all concerned until the mist was sucked into Twilight's geode. "That's good. At least I don't have to worry about my magic infecting something else." Touma looked confused, Flash just giving him a shrug.

“TOUMA!” A woman's then filled the air. Turning around, the trio saw a woman with opalescent skin and brown hair in a pink jacket running to them.

“Mei?!” Touma exclaimed as the woman joined them. “Oh, Flash, Twilight. This is my editor, Mei.”

“Oh, Hi,” Mei said as she looked at the two teens. “Touma, the book store said you missed your signing.”

“There was a monster attack, you know I couldn't just leave that alone,” the writer explained.

“Oh yeah. I totally forgot about the book signing. Um Touma, can you sign my copy of your book when you have time?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, sure thing”

“Do you know how much work it takes to reschedule something like that!” Mei yelled out. “And now we won’t have time to look for that really good bakery I heard about. I wanted to get something to tease Rintaro with when we got back.”

“You wouldn’t be talking about Sugarcube Corner?” Flash interrupted.

“You know that place?” an excited Mai asked.

“Me, Twilight, and all our friends hang there all the time,” Flash said with a smile. “We would be more than happy to show you guys the way.”

Mie bounced up and down as the two teens led the way to their favorite hang out. After such a hectic day, everyone involved deserved a break.

Back at the cottage, the whole place looked like a twister had just blown through. The only thing that looked untouched was Tassel, sitting in the chair with the makeshift book. “That was a very nice story. You really need to have more confidence in yourself, Axle.” The odd man closed the book and turned to his guest.

Axle was curled on the floor, beaten up, and his head through the frame of a chair. “Well, Tassel, it means the world to me that you enjoyed it,” The Fanfic writer said after coming out of his daze.

“Would you like me to give you a ride home?” Tassel offered.

“That would be lovely.”

Ride 17: The Man Who Sold the World

View Online

"Why did you need me to come over Mr.Wave?” Shining asked, currently standing in the office of the company CEO as he looked over the city through his window.

“Did you see that event that happened last week?" He asked before turning to face Shining, "a whole piece of the city vanished to another world.”

“Um no, I was busy with my daughter that day. But I heard Achilles took care of it.”

“Dang it!" He cried, slamming his fist onto his desk. "I was hoping to get some information on that.”Shining could tell he wasn’t in a good mood today, making him hope Mr.Wave wasn't gonna reprimand him for putting his family over his rider duties.

“Please forgive Mr.Wave,” River interrupted. “He gets this way when we have to make business trips.”

“Oh," the officer replied, "well...that should be nice."

“Yeah," Mr.Wave replied, "it’s nothing special. Just looking for some new talent for the rider system.” When he wasn't looking, River stepped over to Shining and whispered to him.

“He says that, but really we’re checking in on the main branches of the company. The Rider System may be his passion project, but passion won’t keep the lights on.”

“Well," Shining replied, "I just hope you’re safe on your trip.” Mr.Wave smiled at his professionalism.

“Yeah, good luck to you too. I’m sure you can handle things here without us.”

“You can count on me sir,” Shining stood up with a salute.

“Good to hear,” The CEO nodded as he made his way to the door. “Come on River, we’re burning daylight.”

“Coming sir,” the assistant followed.

“Well," Shining thought out loud, "I guess that means I don’t need to ask for time off to go to Twily’s birthday." He smiled at this and headed out, ready to go on patrol.

The final bell ran, signalling the end of the day at CHS. Students filled the halls to deposit and withdraw items from their lockers. Walking towards the exit was the Rainbooms accompanied by Flash and Trixie, all discussing their afternoon plans. “Hey, Flash. Want to join Sunset and me to the arcade?” Trixie asked.

“I don’t think I can," Flash answered as he looked down at his phone. "I have something important to pick up." The teen had just got an email from his new friend, Touma, who was telling him about how his book was being delivered.

“Eh," Sunset shrugged, "more Roads of Fury for us."

“That wouldn’t happen to be Twilight’s Birthday Present?” Pinkie asked as she tried to look over Flash’s shoulder to see his phone.

“Hey," the young man responded, "that’s none of your business.” He tried to keep his phone away from the curious girl, deciding to try and change the subject. “What are you up to Fluttershy?”

“Oh," Fluttershy smiled, "I have work today at the pet spa. Fortunately, Bulk offered to help me out. He loves helping with all the kittens we have today.”

“I’m gonna help Wallflower with the gardening club,” Applejack added.

“I got soccer practice,” Rainbow followed.

“So I guess it will be Twilight, Pinkie and myself to go to the Dinner,” Rarity stated. The young fashion designer turned to Twilight, who was also looking at her phone. “Um, Twilight?” The girl didn't respond, causing Rarity to politely tap her on the shoulder.

“Oh," she looked up, "sorry Rarity. I just got a text from Timber,” she explained. “He’s just saying that he has an amazing gift planned for me.”

“So does that mean the guy is finally gonna visit us after so long?” Sunset asked as she punched Twilight, playfully.

“Jeez," Rainbow put her hands behind her head, "it’s been like forever since we saw that guy.”

“He can’t help it," Twilight responded. "Taking care of Camp Everfree is a full-time job, even if it’s the off-season.” She looked back at her phone and smiled. “It just makes the time we spend when he does get time off all the more special.”

“He didn’t look all that busy when we were there,” Trixie whispered to Flash, who didn't seem to respond. “Um Flash?” Flash looked up from his thoughts, seeming kinda out of it.

“Oh sorry, kinda spaced out there.”

“Are you doing alright?”

“Just tired," he answered. "Been having a weird dream the last few nights. I keep seeing this weird figure, but it's always too fuzzy to make out who or what it is.” He focus back on them, “what were you girls talking about?”

“We were talking about Timber and how he may finally be showing up again,” Rarity answered.

“Oh...him,” Flash responded reluctantly. Flash didn’t like Timber all that much. He remembered back when they went to Camp Everfree. Gloriosa, the camp counsellor, was stressed out to the point that she went mad with magical power. Her and Timber were siblings running the camp, but he looked like he was just slacking off, mostly talking to Twilight. It was one of the things Flash didn’t like about him, but it wasn’t right to say in front of the girls. He made Twilight happy and that's all he really cared about.

As the group exited the building, they were greeted by someone a bit unexpected. “RUFF RUFF!” Barking filled the air, coming from a small blue dog waiting patiently in front of the stars.

“Ember," Flash rushed over to her. "Gash darn it. I thought I told you to stay home. I can’t bring pets to school with me." Flash said as he picked up his dog. "You won’t hold still long enough to hide in my bag,” Since Flash adopted the dog, she was now sporting a new purple collar with red gemstones around it.

“Looks like you have a rebellious one on your hands,” Fluttershy laughed.

“This is the third time in two weeks she’s done this. I have no idea how she gets out all the time,” Flash continued.

“She probably gets nervous when you’re not around,” Twilight stated as she gave the blue dog a scratch under her chin. “Spike went through something like that once I started middle school.”

“I’ll try and keep that in mind,” he said as he looked at his phone to check out the time. “I don’t have time to drop her off back home. Well, Ember, looks like your riding with me today,” He said as the dog crawled into his bag. “I really need to get going. I hope you girls have fun,” the young man said as he walked off to his bike.

At the abandoned hospital, Cypher has just walked into the room where Starlight and Terra were sitting at a table. As always, Terra was stuffing his face while Starlight was scrolling through her phone. “Hmm, didn’t take you as one to be into Social Media. Hope it’s not getting in the way of your master plan,” Cypher said.

“Oh," Starlight didn't even look up from her phone, "were you trying to make a joke again? It's a good attempt. And I will have you know, this is all research. You will be surprised how many people willingly put their lives on the internet. Like, take this, that Rainbow Dash girl has a pet tortoise. Talk about ironic,” she explained as she showed her fellow Advanced a picture of Rainbow with said pet.

“I like the cooking videos,” Terra chained in.

“And how does any of this help us?”

“You'll see." A smile appeared on her lips, "things are already in motion.”

“Till all the pieces are in place, we should still try to take the riders down and I know just how.” Starlight put away her phone and stood up.

“Are you gonna use some kind of weird modified Magi-beast?” Cypher asked.

“No, nothing so complex. Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.”

“What do you mean,” asked Terra as he scrunched up his empty chip bag and threw it behind into a bin overflowing with other food related trash.

“Don’t worry your pretty little head," Starlight stated. "All you need to do is make a Magi-Beast."

“Yes!" Terra shouted, "I love doing that!” He leaned back in enjoyment, only to go too far and fall backwards. "Ow." Cypher rolled his eyes, feeling this was gonna be a disaster.

At the mall, Sunset and Trixie were at the arcade stationed at one of the machines.

On the screen were too well muscled characters, walking to the left of the screen in an urban environment. Punching any enemy that came towards them. The two girls hammered at the buttons as they were focused on their game. As they got to the boss of the stage, they put up a good fight but were defeated by the enemy.

“Dang," Trixie groaned as she slammed her fists on the cabinet, "I always screw that one up."

“Yeah," Sunset nodded, "that guy is pretty tricky. Fortunately, we have all day to try and beat him.” An idea popped into her head, “why don’t we hit the vending machines and get back at it after a break?”

A moment later, the two got their drinks and sat at one of the tables. “Ya know, Trixie, there's something different about you lately,” Sunset pointed out.

“What are you talking about? I’ve always been this great,” Trixie responded with a flip of her hair.

“Well for one, you didn’t refer to yourself in the third person just now,” Sunset pointed out with a laugh. “But seriously you're not as standoffish as you were. You also got a bit more modest with how you talk to people,”

"What, are you missing the Great and Powerful TRIXIE!?" The magician yelled out in her showboating way.

“A little. You were so confident and not afraid to let everyone know it,” Sunset said as she sipped on her drink. “But I think I like this you more. Feels more real.”

“Maybe hanging around Flash helped me get more comfortable being more real,” Trixie responded.

“Why have you and Flash been hanging out a lot recently?” The fiery-haired teen asked.

“Jealous?” Trixie replayed with a grin, Sunset responded with a roll of her eyes. “Flash has been going through a lot the past few months or so. I've just been helping him out where I can.”

“Does he get a new job? Is something going on with his mom? I’m his friend, so if he’s having trouble I want to know about it,”

“I think your friendship is why he’s being so private about it. He values your friendship too much to let this thing ruin it. At least, that’s the impression I get from him,” Trixie explained

“But I can-” Sunset starred before being interrupted.

“I know you can help, but sometimes it’s good to give people their space. When he’s ready to tell ya, he’ll tell ya,” The Magician advised as she finished her drink.

Sunset was quiet for a moment, as she thought about Trixie’s words. “I guess you have a point. But why would he trust you with this stuff?”

Trixie just smiled as she put a napkin over her drink can. “Cause magicians are great at keeping secrets,” She answered as she pulled the napkin away to show the can had disappeared, emphasising her point. “Now come on. I got a roll of quarters and I’m gonna feed them to that machine till we beat that stage.”

“Alright, little green babies, drink up,” A young man with green dreadlocks said as he watered a whole bed of plants. The gardening club was hard at work with their upkeep with the school's garden.

Applejack had agreed to help Wallflower with preparing the land for expansion. The main part of it being a sapling apple tree Applejack wanted to add. It would have normally taken days to prepare the land. But thanks to Applejack and some Equestrian magic, it was taken care of in just a few hours.

“Well Bloomberg, hope you like your new home." Applejack said to the sapling. "Naw ah don't want ya to worry, the gardening club is great catering for the plants here. Ah’m sure as hay ya'h gonna love it here." The boy with Dreadlocks, Sandalwood, caused the farm-girl a surprise when he approached from behind. “Wow, sorry, guess ya think it's kinda weird to talk to plants like that.”

“No way man," Sandalwood shook his head. "Talking to plants helps them grow. I do it all the time.” He then took a good look at the tree. “Bloomberg here is gonna do just fine.”

“I’m glad ta hear that,” Applejack said with a smile. Before she could continue talking, a loud boom filled the air. Looking toward the forest, the group saw a large object fly into the air and landed with a slam. When the dust cleared it was revealed that it was Terra.

“Ok who is gonna be my new friend today?” the Advanced said. With a card in his hand, he began pointing at each of the humans. “Eenie-Meenie-Miny,” he stated as he pointed till he got to Sandalwood and the card started to glow. “There we go!” Terra yelled out as he prepared to throw the card.

However, he was interrupted by Applejack punching him right in the head. The impact caused the card to fly out of his hand and onto the ground a few feet away. “Oh no, ya don’t!" Applejack said as she cracked her neck, "there ain't gonna be any monster making today.”

“Sorry lady, but I don't think you're gonna be much of a challe…” Terra started before he was interrupted by a punch from Applejack. However, the Advanced caught the fist in his own hand.

“Best not underestimate me. Ah may not have any fancy armor, but that doesn’t mean I can't put up a fight.” Applejack then threw another punch with her free hand. The result was the same with Terra catching it.

“Ok, maybe this will be fun,” the monster said with a bit of glee. The two were pushing back and forth before with neither one giving an inch of ground. Soon Terra threw his head back before head-smashing Applejack right in her skull. The impact caused a shockwave that sent the teenage girl flying back with a splitting headache. Everyone was running and hiding from the conflict unfolding. “Now where’s that card!?” He yelled out as he searched the card. He found the card laying on the ground and lunged for it.

“You're not going anywhere!” Applejack yelled as she ran towards the Advanced. As their paths intersect, the young woman delivers a knee right into Terra’s abdomen. Terra doubled over before retaliating with a few punches. Applejack dodged them all before kicking the monster into the tree. “Having fun yet?” She asked.

“A little, but you know what they say,” Terra started as he slowly raised his head. He then showed the young woman that he did manage to get the card. “The more the merrier,” he finished as he threw the card towards the tree Sandalwood was hiding behind. Applejack tried to catch the card but it curved mid-air to connect with its target.

When the card hit Sandalwood, a magical aura came off of him before it formed into a Magi-Beast. The majority of the monster’s body was all back with, its chest sporting scaly green armor. There was a small bump for the head that had two bright green dots to indicate eyes. Its arms were massive looking, like thick pipes that ended with large beaks. When the beaks opened, three ways, a mess of tendrils came out. “RREEEEAAAAA!!!!” The monster let out a ghastly while as the tendrils warped around one of the trees, ripped it out of the ground before throwing it into the distance.

“Ooooh you are a big one,” Terra smiled. The giant monster turned its attention to Sandalwood, its tendrils going wild. Seeing this, Applejack jumped into action to save the teen by tackling him out of the way. Instead, the vines took out a chunk of ground.

“You alright?” Applejack asked.

“I think so,” Sandalwood answered.

When Terra got up, he walked over to the Magi-Beast and put a hand on it. “Well, then my dear…” he paused for a moment. “I’m gonna call ya Graboid. Why don't we level this whole forest.”

The young farm girl turned to Wallflower. “Get this guy out of here. And call the others. Tell em to bring Shining asap,” Applejack ordered.

“Way ahead of you!” Wallflower replied, her phone already out and sending emergency calls.

“So the reservations are made?” Shining asked into the headset in his bike helmet. The officer was currently riding his motorcycle onto the main street on his way home from the office.

“Yeah. Everything is set for Twilight’s birthday,” Cadance’s voice said on the other end of the call. “I just wish Pinkie didn’t bring this up to us at such last minute. Why couldn’t she make the reservations?”

“Apparently, she didn’t want to make Twilight suspicious,” Shining replied as he stopped at the light. At that moment the officer got a notification about a text. Pulling out his phone, Shining saw that it was from Rainbow Dash. It was an SOS message. “I’m gonna have to go honey. Duty calls,” he said as he ended the call. He turned on the sirens and skidded the bike around to go in the opposite direction, only to be stopped out of nowhere. “W-what the!?”

To the officer’s surprise, he and his bike were suddenly in the air. He quickly noticed the vehicle had a strange glow about it, and it wasn't the only one. He spotted many objects all around him, covered in a magical aura. “Hey, hey, where’s the fire,” Starlight said as she slowly walked up to the Shining in her monster form.

“Out of my way you,” Shining demanded.

“Is that any way for an officer to act?” Starlight asked as she released her magic, causing everything to fall to the ground. Shining acted quickly and jumped off his bike before it landed with a crash. Fortunately, it didn’t suffer any major damage. As Shining landed, he pleased the driver around his waist. “I just want to have a bit of a chat. We barely know each other.”

“You are aware interfering with police work is against the law?,” Shining explained as he presented the Argo badge.

Despite not having a mouth, Starlight was smiling ear to ear. 'My plan is working perfectly,' she thought to herself

Earlier, at the hospital

“That just sounds like what we always do,” Cypher addressed. As Starlight started to explain her plan.

“Yeah, but there are three of us and only two riders. We use our numbers to our advantage to divide and conquer. You and I will preoccupy the Riders, keeping them away from the Magi-Beast and from each other,” Starlight continued as she stood up. “I mean, why haven’t we worked together before?”

“Cause I don’t trust you,” Cypher replied as he crossed his arms.

“Cause we seem to just have different goals in mind when we make Magi-Beast,” Terra followed.

“I’ll let you take Achilles...” Starlight offered the grumpy advance.

“Tch,” Cypher turned away for a moment before turning back to the group. “Fine, your plan does sound like it has a chance of working.”

“Of course it will, I have calculated every possibility,” The young woman said as her face twisted to an evil grin.

“Oh yeah," Terra tried to put his arms around their necks and pull them into a hug. "The dream team is finally on the same page!"

“Don’t call us that!" The other two stated, dodging his attempts to grab them.

“Henshin!” Shining yelled as he put the badge into the Driver and pulled the lever. In a flash, he transformed into his armoured form.

“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!”

Starlight was quick, as she fired several magical bolts at the rider. Argo ran out of the way to charge right at the Advanced. As he approached. he rammed into the monster with his shield and knocked her back a good deal. “If your not gonna get out of my way, then I’m gonna have to bring you in as well!”

Starlight quickly recovered from her tumble. “That’s easier said than done,” She replied as she raised up her horn. A pink glow started to emit from the tip, as two orbs flew out and took positions on either side of her. These orbs then formed into exact copies of Starlight, all looking ready for battle. “Alright girls, you know what to do." The two copied nodded, as all three rushed at the rider.

“You act like I haven’t had to do multiple bookings before,” Argo said as he pulled out his blaster. But one of the Starlight’s lunged forward with her horn, attempting to stab the rider. Argo ducked out of the way but soon found himself between the two other copies. The fire started to ignite around one of the copies while the air around the other begun to freeze.

Both fired their attacks causing the rider to be caught in a vortex of freezer-burn. The attack sent the rider flying. As he started to fall, he saw the third copy with an electrical discharge coming off her horn.

Acting quickly, Argo pointed his blaster at the Advanced and started firing, hitting Starlight and giving him a chance to land safely. However, he was greeted with the other two copies slowly approaching. “Flash better get to the girls. I think I bit off more than I can chew here,” he said as he put up his shield.

“Please sign here sir,” the woman said on the other side of the desk.

Flash had to go to a shipping office to pick up the book Touma ordered for him. It would have cost extra to have the book delivered to his house, due to how much it cost to have things imported, especially to have it delivered within a week, so Flash chose to pick the package up himself.

“So is that everything?” Flash asked as he handed the forms back.

“Yup," the woman said as she handed Flash the package, "everything should be in order,”

As Flash left the office, he saw Ember was chasing after the Owl Phone and getting tangled up in her leash. “Ember No!” The teen yelled as he managed to stop the jumpy canine. “I thought keeping the Owl Phone around would calm you down. Apparently, a dog will always try to chase after birds,” Flash said to himself as he untangled Ember. “We really need to do something about this behaviour. I get that you may be anxious when I’m not around, but you can’t act up like this. I can’t be worrying that you will cause trouble when I’m not around,” he explained to the dog.

Ember just turned her head to the side like a young child. As Flash was talking, her ears perked up and animal instincts kicked in. she jumped at her owner and tacked him to the ground. “Ember what the!?” Flash started only to be interrupted by a sword piercing the sidewalk and cutting the dog’s leash.

The teen soon recognised the wing-shaped hilt on the sword. “You got lucky!” A voice yelled from the sky. Looking up, Flash saw Cypher staring him down. “Next time, the dog isn’t gonna save you.”

“It’s not like you to attack in the open like this!” Flash yelled back as he stood up.

Cypher remained silent as he flared his wings and dived down at the teen. Flash and Ember both ran away as the Advanced landed, grabbing his sword before giving chase. As Flash turned the corner, he picked up Ember and tried to hid her in an ally way.

“Ok girl, I need you to stay here and stay safe.”

“Quit stalling and transform," Cypher said as he caught up. "I’m feeling kind in giving you a chance to fight back,”

“Was just about to get to that,” Flash pulled out his driver. But as he placed it on his waist, he heard a loud barking.

“BARK AFFF!!!”

Ember was standing in front of Flash, a serious look blazing in her eyes. “If you think I have any sympathy for animals, you are mistaken!” Cypher declared.

As Ember stared down the monster that stood before them, something clicked in his brain. When he first found ember, she was a scared stay and he was the one who took her off the streets. Flash crouched down to comfort his angry dog. “It’s ok girl, I’m not going anywhere. It’s gonna take more than this guy to stop me from taking care of you or mom or First Base or...” He paused for a moment as listed all the people he cared so much about. “Or Twilight.”

“Time’s up!” Cypher yelled, taking advantage of the distracted teen to launch a slash attack.

Flash came to his senses quickly as he slotted the Rider card into the driver. The magic circle appeared from the driver and blocked the attack. Flash then sprinted forward and jumped through the circle and transformed into Achilles. In his armoured state, the rider punched out Cypher, followed by a spin kick. “See girl," the rider turned to his dog. "Everything's gonna be alright!”

“Don’t be too sure!” Cypher followed as he swung his sword. Achilles caught the sword, but the Advanced charged and pushed the rider back. Once they stopped, Achilles shoved the monster out of the way before pulling out his spear and extending it to hit the monster.

“As long as I'm able to protect others, I’m never gonna give up,” Achilles said as he spun the spear. The blade slashed the monster several times before the rider hit Cypher in the abdomen with the butt of his weapon. “You guys should have figured that out by now.”

Cypher stumbled back but didn’t go down, his sword firmly gripped in his hand. “And you should have fingered out I will not stop till I complete my mission,” he replied

Applejack managed to wrestle Graboid out of the forest and into the parking lot of the school. When the monster tried to attack with its tendrils, Applejack quickly grabbed them and wrapped them around her hands. With a firm grip, the farm girl swung her arms and threw Garboid over her shoulder. “Well that au’t ta stop ya from destroying any more of the woods,” she commented.

Terra wasn’t far behind but was dealing with his own battle. Soon after Wallflower sent the text, Rainbow Dash was already on the scene to assist with Terra. The rainbow blur kept hitting the Advanced without giving him a moment to react. Once the two parties met up, Rainbow, still in her soccer uniform, finally stopped to catch her breath. “So, had enough?”

“So you’re the speedy one,” Terra said as he finally had a moment to speak. “I gotta, say you have been making this fight interesting. I’m always excited to have someone new to play with,” He added with a crack of his neck.

“You’re not bad yourself,” Rainbow replied.

“Quit with the small talk, Rainbow!" Applejack interrupted, "ya can’t get distracted with these guys!” Gardoid took advantage of the distracted farm girl to sneak up from behind and slam his arms down. Rainbow Dash, seeing the large monster approaching, sprinted to pull her friend out of the way and caused the Magi-Beast to smash the pavement instead.

“You were saying?” Rainbow asked with a cocky grin, as she held Applejack in her arms.

“Shut up.” Applejack said with a roll of her eyes. Graboid went into a rage, swinging its tentacles faster than the two could react. Thankfully, a wall of hexagonal crystals appeared to black them.

“Sorry for being fashionably late,” Rarity said as she ran up behind the monsters.

“Always have to make an entrance,” Applejack commented as Rainbow finally let her down.

Graboid continued to rage but was unaware of the purple aura that surrounds his body. As the Magi-Beast was lifted into the air, the girls soon saw Twilight had also arrived and struggling to keep her concentration. “It’s really hard to hold this guy back with him thrashing around.”

“Just hang in there, Twilight!” Pinkie yelled as she ran past her friends.

“Hahaha this just keeps getting better,” Terra laughed as he put up his fists. When Pinkie got close, Terra brought down his fist only for the girl to sidestep it. He tried again, with the same result. After another miss, Pinkie slipped next to him to wrap a rope of liquorice around the arm. “What is this?’ He asked as he looked at the candy. As if to reply, the rope began to glow before exploding and blowing him back.

“Guess my little surprise was too much for him,” Pinkie laughed. As she checked to see how her friends were doing, Terra charged out of the pink smoke and tackled the teen. she was sent flying into Twilight which caused her to lose her concentration and doping the monster.

“I don’t think he was too happy with it,” Twilight commented with Pinkie on top of her.

“That was a cheap shot,” Terra huffed, coming out of the explosion with a few scuff marks.

The Magi-beast was really angry now as it started to dig underground. “Oh great, now where did that thing go?” Rainbow asked. As if to answer her the monster’s tendrils came out of the ground and wrapped around her. “Never mind, found it,” she said as she struggled to get out.

“Don’t worry Rainbow,” Twilight said as she got up and ran towards her friend. However, before she could get close she was tripped. Looking at what could have caused this, the purple-haired girl found a set of tendrils wrapped around her ankle. More of the tendrils came out and began to wrap around her.

“Twilight!” Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie yelled out simultaneously.

“I think they are the less of your worries,” Terra announced. The three girls saw the Advanced pound his fists together as a taunt. “I still wanna play.”

Energy bolts flew through the air, as Argo tried to hit one of the Starlight clones.

One of the clones performed a flip out of the way of the blast and landed on a car, returning fire with an electrical blast. Argo rolled out of the way just as another copy jumped to deliver a fiery punch but Argo blocked it and pushed back with his shield. After the rider threw off the magical construct to the side. He then turned to the third copy and opened fire which the Advanced sidestepped out of the way of.

“Gotta say, you’re a lot nimbler than I thought,” Argo said. As he reached for the cardholder on his belt

“This isn’t some game where the mage is some scrawny nerd,” Starlight replied. One of her clones blindsided the rider by bringing bother arms down on him behind. This gave an opening for the third copy to shoot a fireball that the rider needed to roll away from. “As you can see I’m very capable of fighting without my magic.”

“Are you really saying that when you have me outnumbered with clones of yourself?” Argo replied as he loaded the card into the Defender.

“SNIPER ACTIVATE!”

When the scope appeared on his shoulder, the rider started to fire in random directions. “Jeez, I don’t think he’s even trying anymore,” The Starlight copy said to the other.

Outside the clone’s view, the bolts started to curve and home in on the copies. The sudden bombardment sent the advanced flying and the copies to disappear. With Starlight down, Argo took the opportunity to get the monster into a hold. “I hope this show’s I’m not some tank that can’t strategize,” he said as he pulled out a set of handcuffs.

“Yup, you sure showed me,” Starlight said, surprisingly showing little resistance. “And all it costed you was time you could have been using to save your sister from a magi-beast.”

“I’m sure Achilles could handle it,” Argo replied as he was about to cuff the Advanced.

“Oh, didn’t I tell you?" Starlight continued. "My associate is currently keeping the other rider occupied. I don’t think he’s gonna get the message that they’re in trouble before Terra and his new buddy take care of those magical girls."

Argo stopped. “Why tell me this now?” he asked.

“Cause ether you will waste even more time bringing me into custody, or you can let me go and save your darling sister,” Starlight answered as she turned to meet the rider’s gaze. “I think we both know which one you're gonna choose.”

Argo was silent for a moment before letting out a grunt of anger. As much as he hated to give this crook the satisfaction, she was right. He pushed the Advance to the ground before getting onto his bike. “This isn’t over!” He declared before revving the engine.

As he drove off, Starlight got back up and rubbed her wrists. “Those hero-types are so predictable. Not that I'm complaining, since it’s already too late. The wheels are already in motion."

Blades clashed as Achilles’ and Cypher’s fight moved to the main street.

Achilles spun his spear around before slashing Cypher across his chest. The rider then tried to grab the winged monster with the butt of his spear, but Cypher blocked it with his wing. The Advanced then spread his wings to get some more space between him and the rider. “What are you guys up to?” Achilles asked as he went on the defensive.

“As if I would just tell you,” Cypher responded with an upward strike that threw the rider off balance. “And I really don’t care what the others are doing. Just as long as I turn you to ash,” He then lunged forward and slash at Achilles, sending him flying back.

Achilles landed onto a fire hydrant and bent it out of shape. As he tried to get up, he saw Cypher standing over him with his sword raised and ready to deliver the final blow. Achilles came to his senses fast and rolled out of the way, causing the blade to hit the hydrant and shoot a jet of water right onto the monster. “You needed to cool down for a bit,” Achilles quipped as he pulled out a card and slotted it into his spear.

“CHARGING!”

Lighting covered the head of his spear as he threw it into the water. The electricity spread all over the wet areas and gave a massive shock to Cypher who was now paralysed for a moment.

“STORM FEEDBACK!”

“If your not gonna stop, then I’ll just have to make you stop,” Achilles said as he pressed the button on the Driver.

When the electrical current finally stopped, Cypher saw Achilles begin to charge. Smoke was coming off of his body after the shock but he was still standing. “I would like to see ya try,” the monster said as a white light covered his sword.

Magical circles began to form around Achilles' ankle as he ran till he got within range. At the same time as the rider raised his leg for a roundhouse kick, Cypher swung this sword. The two attacks clashed, causing a large flash of light that blinded the two. The two powers clashed and caused both of them to be thrown in opposite directions. When the two combatants hit the ground, their transformations were cancelled out.

As Flash tried to steady himself, he saw Cypher doing the same. Their eyes met and only one thought came to Flash’s mind. “Why?!” he yelled. Cypher didn’t respond. “Why do you attack me. Why do you hate me so much? All I have been doing is protecting my friends from your experiments. You attacked me out of nowhere so I deserve some kind of reason to it!” Flash yelled out as his temper started to flare up.

“You want to know why I do this?” Cypher started as he staggered towards Flash. “It’s what the Doctor ordered me to do.”

“This Doctor's orders are hurting people. Can't, you see that?” Flash responded. “You are not some tool, You don’t have to do what this guy says.”

“Doing what the Doctor says is all I ever knew,” Cypher responded as he continued to slowly close the gap between him and Flash. “Ever since the Doctor saved me, I owe him everything.”

“That’s enough Cypher!” A voice yelled out. Out of nowhere, Starlight teleported between the two and sucker-punched the pale man, knocking the wind out of him. “The plan failed. There is no point in continuing this,” Starlight said as the man fell into her arms.

“Darn you,” Cypher managed to get out.

“Wait, what plan?” Flash asked at the confusion of what is going on.

“Oh you’ll be finding out about that shortly,” Starlight answered as her horn glowed and teleported away.

After being left alone, Flash just stood there, thinking about what he saw in Cypher.

He finally discovered the man he had been fighting’s true nature. He even started to feel bad for him and wondered what happened to cause Cypher to turn out this way. All these thoughts continued to swirl in his head till interrupted by a mix of barks and chirps. Turning to the side, Flash saw Ember and the Owl Phone coming towards him. The blue dog tackled the teen to the ground and started to lick his face. All Flash could do was laugh as his dog was showing how happy she was to see him. “Didn’t I promise nothing was gonna happen. Though I’m a bit beaten up,” Flash said as he managed to get Ember off of him.

The Owl Phone landed in his hand to show that throughout his battle Flash has been sent a long stream of texts from both Shining and Trixie. All telling him about the Magi Beast attack at school. “Oh crud, so that is what they were doing, but why did unicorn say it was a failure?” Flash asked. Another message from Trixie popped up saying that things have turned dire. “Dang it, no time to think about that, the girls need my help,” Flash got back up and ran to his bike. Making sure Ember was safe in his backpack, Flash hit the throttle and headed to the school.

Explosion after explosion were set off, but nothing seems to slow down the advanced.

Pinkie was doing her best to keep Terra busy, but she was starting to hit her limit. “Girls, I'm almost out of sweets!” Pinkie warned as she jumped out of the way of one of Terra’s punches.

“Just hang in there,” Applejack replied as she tried to pull Rainbow free. Even with her magical strength, Graboid proved to be a match for her.

At the same time, Rarity was using one of her crystals to cut the tendrils off of Twilight. Unfortunately, the appendages seem to regenerate faster than she could cut them. “Uh these things are so repulsive,”

“Rarity!” Pinkie yelled. Turning around, Rarity saw Terra tearing up the pavement with his punches as Pinkie kept dodging his attacks. Running out of ammunition, the hyperactive teen resorted to playing decoy.

“Are you all out of party favours?” Terra mocked.

“Rarity," Twilight cried. "Go help Pinkie. She needs it more than I do right now.”

Terra caught up to Pinkie and was about to bring his fist down on the girl. Before he could make contact, a crystal hexagon appeared between the two to block the attack. The shield shattered but gave Pinkie a chance to escape. “Wow, you girls are really fun,” Terra said with glee.

“I never thought I would be so scared to hear those words,” Pinkie responded as she regrouped with Rarity near Twilight.

“Dang it, where are the riders?” Applejack asked before the tendrils started to grab her as well.

“Looks like the heroes got tied up in traffic,” Terra laughed as he approached the three girls grouped together. They all felt panic overflow them, the lot fearing this might be the end. But then...something happened.

“Well then it’s a good thing I came around!” A voice announced.

Everyone looked up to see the silhouette of a figure standing on the roof of the school. The figure was holding what looked like a double-bladed axe and threw it. The weapon flew through the air before hitting the ground. In the process, it cut through all the tendrils that were holding down Twilight.

“What on earth?! Who’s this guy?” Rainbow said as she looked up.

Twilight got to her knees and got a better look at the axe. The blades were a metallic green with a brass body that had a four-point star in the middle. Before she could say a word, the tendrils started to reform and shot forward to attempt to grab her. In a flash, the figure swooped down to pull the teenager out of the way.

Out of harm’s way, Twilight found herself in the arms of her Savior.

Looking up, she saw the figure’s helmet. It was a deep bronze-coloured armor with bright green compound eyes and two curved horns coming off the top. His chest was covered in green lines that branched off to resemble root. The green lines design continued through his leg and arm armor, with a grey under-suit showing between the segments. Around his waist was a belt with a rounded grey buckle and a slot on top along with a circular green gem in the middle.

“A-are you a rider?” Twilight asked.

“Of course I am,” The rider replied as he let the girl down. It was at that instant Twilight’s eyes widened as she recognised the voice.

“Here comes a new challenger!” Terra yelled with excitement. “You riders always manage to get my blood pumping.”

Before the Advanced could take any action, the ground around him started to crack and Graboid erupted to the surface. It let out a horrific scream as it pointed its arms at the Rider. “Ah I see, you want the first shot at the new guy," Terra said as he leaned up against the monster. "Ok, ok, but I’m not gonna leave ya alone.” He then pulled out a card and ripped it in half, summoning a troop of Nightmares. “Have fun champ!” Terra cried as he began to walk away.

Released from her restraints, Rainbow ran up next to the figure. "Don't worry, we can take them all out together."

"No need for that," the rider said with a wave of his hand. "I'm more than enough for these goons." The Nightmares charged at the rider, but the figure was ready. One of the goons swung its sword, but the rider ducked out of the way. Taking the opportunity, the rider delivered a chop to the Nightmare's head. Another tried to attack, but the warrior pushed the goon in the chest into another Nightmare. He then followed with a kick to send both of them to the ground. Two more of the soldiers tried to charge him from both sides, only for the Rider to stop them both by grabbing their chests and shoving them aside. "See, too easy," the man cockily chuckled.

"Heads up!" Rainbow yelled.

As he was showing off, he didn't see Graboid behind him swinging its tendrils and sent the rider flying. “Hey," Pinkie yelled, "that was a cheap shot!”

The rider stopped himself and landed near his axe, which he picked up and spun in his hand before pointing at the Magi-Beast.

"GAIA-HATCHET!"

“Don’t worry girls, it will take more than that to stop me!” He announced before charging in. The rider used his axe to cut the tendrils and he closed the distance. Once he got close, he jumped up and brought his axe down on the monster. The rider continued to slash Graboid till the monster spun around to try and hit his attacker. Though the Magi-beast was successful in hitting him away, the rider continued his assault.

As the fight continued, Sunset, Fluttershy, Trixie, And Bulk finally made it. “Is everyone alright?” Was the first thing Fluttershy asked as she ran to her friends.

“Did Achilles finally show up?” Trixie followed.

The new arrivals saw the rider fighting Graboid, figuring out the fact that it wasn't their usual masked hero. “Who’s that guy fighting?” Sunset finally asked.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told ya,” Twilight answered.

“You should have just stayed in the ground, you worm!” He cried as he smacked the monster with the flat side of the weapon.

The monster was in a total rage now, as his tendrils started thrashing around. The ground was getting smashed as the Magi-Beast went wild. “Quit playing around!" Applejack yelled, "that thing is gonna level the whole school!”

“Hey," the Rider leapt back away from the monster, "I was trying to have some fun. This is my big debut.” The Rider threw his axe to the side. “But if you want to skip to the grand final, who am I to argue.” The rider then pressed the two buttons on either side of the gem on his belt. A green, leafy aura emitted from the driver and around his body.

“GAIA FEEDBACK!”

Graboid's tendrils swung towards the rider, but he jumped into the air to dodge. The fighter then did a flip spin in the air before getting in position for a dropkick. An energy construct of the Gaia Hatchet formed around his body. As the rider’s kick came down on the monster, the axe followed, cutting the monster right down the middle before the two halves exploded in green flames.

"Huh," the rider laughed as he dusted himself off whilst walking away from the flames. “I think that went better than expected."

As the dust cleared, Flash and Shining finally rolled up to the parking lot. They were shocked to find that not only that there was no monster causing destruction, but that a new rider was standing triumphant from his fight. The two walked over to the group with the same sense of confusion. “What just happened?” Shining asked.

Before he could get an answer, Twilight ran to the rider and gave him a hug. The rider returned the affection to the teenage girl. “Wha-" Flash asked, "who's this guy?”

“Oh," the rider pulled away from Twilight, "I guess I should let you guys know who the new hero is. Of course, it’s not gonna come as too much of a surprise." He pulled a card out of the driver. The suit dissolved to reveal a young man in a red vest and camouflage cargo pants. His skin was light brown and his green hair was covered by a grey bennie. "Who else could be this unequally cool."

“TIMBER!!!!” The group yelled in unison.

“The one and only!” Timber boosted as he turned to Twilight and gave her a wink. “I hope you like your birthday present,”

Ride 18: High Voltage

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Out of all of the candidates to be a Kamen Rider, Timber Spruce wouldn’t be the first to come to mind. Despite this out of left field revelation, it was a pleasant surprise for the girls. To celebrate his first victory, the group all came to Sugarcube Corner. The seven girls plus Timber all cheered their drinks and sat down around the couch.

“Man, it has been too long since we were together,” Timber said as he wrapped his arm around Twilight’s shoulder. Flash, Shining, Trixie were present as well, wanting to get more information about their potential ally.

“This is all great Timber," Twilight smiled. "But I think we need to address the elephant in the room."

“Oh," Timber asked with a coy face, "what do you mean?”

“You know what I’m…” Twilight started, "how-"

“How did you become a rider!?” Rainbow yelled out, interrupting her friend.

“Rainbow!” Twilight frowned

“Yeah," Flash added, "I’m pretty curious about that as well.”

"No, no it’s fine." Timber smirked as he leaned back on the couch, putting one knee over the other. "This is all a lot to take in so, I feel I should explain how I became Kamen Rider Timber." Flash’s eyes rolled so hard they almost came out of his head at the mention of that name.

"So what happened?" Trixie asked impatiently.

“It all started when I was finishing my work at the camp," The young man started to explain. "I was always planning to visit Twilight for her birthday as a surprise. "But right when I got the truck all packed up, a woman walked up to me out of nowhere.”

“A woman?" Shining asked, "did she give a name?”

“She didn’t give her name but she was dressed in purple,” Timber answered.

'Was that River?' Shining pondered. 'Is this the new talent Mr.wave was talking about?'

“Anyway, she said her organisation found a way to use the Magi-beast’s power against them,” Timber continued as he showed off a card. It had an image of a wolf made of wood and plants. “She said with the Gaia Driver, I was the best choice for this mission. Not just to fight the Magi-Beasts but the mastermind behind all of this.”

“You mean the Doctor?” Flash asked, but Timber turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

“Doctor?" He shrugged, "never heard of him. Probably one of the mastermind’s agents.”

This perplexed Flash, as he thought back to his last conversation with Cypher. With the way he talked about the Doctor, it was hard to believe there is someone above him. “The real person pulling the strings...” Timber started as he put on a serious demeanour, “...is Achilles.” Silence filled the room as everyone took in what he said, a good half minute passing before Trixie broke the silence.

“AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-Ha!” she let out a laugh. All the others were confused at this revelation, but the magician was hysterical. She held her sides as tears were forming near her eyes. “This has to be a joke right?" She managed to say as she wiped her eyes, "I knew you had to get a good one in eventually,”

“I’m serious," Timber replied coldly. "The woman told me everything when she gave me the Driver.”

“That just doesn’t make sense," Sunset responded. "Achilles has done nothing but help us ever since he got here.”

The others nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly as Pinkie spoke up. “If Sunset is willing to trust him with Equestrian magic then you know he’s a good guy. Even if he’s super private about it. I still really want to throw some kind of party for him.”

“Y-yeah, you have no clue what the guy is about,” Flash defended, trying his best to hold back. He wanted to show everyone right there that Timber was wrong, but his fears were still getting in his way.

“It’s that privacy that's why we can’t trust him,” Timber stated. “You all remember what happened with my sister, how she kept the magic she found a secret. I say it’s only a matter of time before that 'hero' starts turning into some kind of monster.”

“But that makes no sense,” Applejack objected. “If Achilles is the guy runnin' things, why would he be fightin' the monster?”

“I don’t know," Timber shrugged. "But he did show up when these monsters appeared. Maybe he wants to look like a hero to trick you all."

“Could something like that be true?” Fluttershy asked.

"Hmm~" Rarity let that thought sit with her for a moment. “Yes, know now that you mention it, Achilles has used all of our powers for his forms. He might be planing something with them.”

“Timber," Twilight asked, "are you sure about this?”

“I'm positive,” Timber confirmed. The girls all looked at each other, as they started to question the motives of the hero that had saved them all in the past.

Flash clenched his fist in anger at what was happening before him. All of his hard work to protect everyone was now being questioned. The young man was about to yell out something, but he felt someone grab him by the shoulder. “No need to get worked up Flash," Shining told him before whispering to him. "Don’t want you saying something you’ll regret.” That was enough to get Flash to calm down, at least enough to stay quiet. “Now Timber, I don’t know what this woman has told you but I've worked with Achilles personally. He is definitely on the up and up.”

Timber just smiled as he finally got a good look at the officer. “So your Twilight's brother. Glad to finally meet ya,” he grabbed onto Shining's hand and forced him into shaking it. “You can forget all about Achilles. I’m gonna show that I'm a much better partner. And then, we can take him down together.”

“Well, I guess we will be working together,” Shining said through his teeth with a wide smile. As an officer, Shining was a pretty good judge of character. In the short time he had spent with his sister’s boyfriend, he already got everything he needed to know. “Flash, do you mind coming with me. I want to get some more drinks for the girls.”

Flash didn’t need to say anything. He just followed the officer and left the group alone.

“Hey Timber,” Rainbow spoke up to get the attention of the green-haired young man. “You have to let me give your bike a spin. From what I’ve seen riders have some of the coolest wheels.”

“My bike?” Timber responded in confusion.

“Your motorcycle. From what I’ve seen, all of the coolest Kamen Riders have one,” the athlete told him excitedly whilst almost bouncing in place.

“A motorcycle. Are you kidding?” Timber exclaimed, almost in shock at what Rainbow was saying. “There is no way I would get on one of those death machines. I want to save people, but I can’t do that if a car rams into me.”

“Lame,” Rainbow stated, very disappointed in the excuse Timber has given her.

Meanwhile, Flash and Shining had snuck away to the back of the cafe where no one will see. Shining was repeatedly banging his head at the wall out of frustration. “Why! Did! Twilly! Need! To! Pick! Him!?” Shining asked between hits to the wall.

“Wow," Flash mused as he leaned his back on the wall, "you came off as an overly protective brother type but I didn’t think you really were one."

“It’s not that I don’t want my sister to have a boyfriend,” Shining started as he turned around. “I just didn’t think Twilly would pick someone like Timber. He’s just so…” he paused trying to think of the right words to use.

“Loud, shallow, Has a bigger ego than Trixie and Rainbow combined,” Flash chimed in.

“All of the above,” the older man responded. “I take it you don’t like the guy either.”

“He didn’t make the best first impression when we met,” Flash shrugged. “I don’t see what everyone sees in him, but I guess he just has that kind of charm that wins people over.”

“That doesn’t explain why Mr.Wave would pick him to be a rider. Then again the guy is kinda eccentric.” Shining mused. Flash didn’t seem to listen as he looked over to the group, specifically at Twilight laughing at something Timber had said. Shining took note of how Flash was talking as well as his body language. “Did you have a crush on Twilight?” Shining asked as he started to put the pieces together.

“I rather not talk about it, it is a very long story,” Flash answered reluctantly. He let out a sigh as he pushed away from the wall. “As long as Twilight is happy, there isn’t much I can do about it. I’m her friend and right now, I’m just happy I’ve gotten that far without things getting weird.” That was all Flash said, as Shining watched him walk towards the counter to get the drinks.

Later that night, Flash was restless in bed. As Ember was fast asleep at the foot of his bed, the teen tossed and turned.

The realm of his dreams was strangely devoid of anything. As he walked in the endless whiteness, he started to see something. Like the times before when he had this dream, Flash started to approach the fuzzy blob. He couldn’t tell what it was, but it was definitely something familiar to him.

However, this time the blob started to act differently. Has Flash reached out to the mass, it started to move as well. It almost looked humanoid and mimicked his moments, reaching out what could be assumed was its hand. As he got closer, the figure didn’t get much clear but it did speak. “Don’t worry, I’ll always have your back.”

The moment Flash heard that phrase, he woke up in a cold sweat. The commotion was enough to knock Ember off the bed, which she was not very happy about. “What was that?” Flash asked. He then turned over to the driver that rested nightstand, trying to process the dream.

The next day.

In a quint little cafe, two men were sitting there laughing.

“It has been great catching up with you, Nightlight,” A man said. Sitting across from him was another man with blue skin and even darker blue hair. He was dressed in a black blazer and a turtleneck. The man across from him, who was a bit older and in a suit, handed Nightlight back a photo. “I never expected you would be a grandfather this soon,”

Nightlight laughed as he looked at the photo. It was a recent picture of Twilight and Shining with Cadence holding a baby in a blanket. “You're one to talk, how old is that boy of yours Kurono?”

“Point taken,” the man known as Kurono responded. "Sometimes, I forget how long ago our college days were. You know I didn’t come all the way here just for some friendly chit-chat,” he started, reaching for something in his pocket. He pulled out a flash drive and slid it over to his old friend.

“Is that what I think it is?” The blue-haired man asked.

“Almost. The framework for the future of AI is right there. Unfortunately, we hit a bit of a roadblock,” Kurono explained. “The programmers I hired gave up on complicating it. Said that a system this complex was beyond their skills. So I figured I needed someone more skilled. I need the best programmer I know.”

“Well I wouldn't say I’m the best, but it’s still nice that you thought of me,” Nightlight smiled as he took the drive. “But if you are trusting me with your dream, I would be honoured to help.”

The two men finished their little meet-up and went their separate ways. With a spring in his step, Nightlight continued on his way till he was eventually jumped by a group of Nightmares. The shadowy goons held the older man in place as their leader started to walk up. “Oh my, you are quality the fascinating specimen. Much smarter than the other ones,” Starlight observed.

“So you’re the guys my son has been fighting,” the blue-haired man replayed as he tried to get out of the soldiers’ grip. “So what is it? Need me to make some kind of super weapon? Cause I gotta tell yeah, I’ve already been hired by another client,” he went on, putting up a brave front to the monster that stood before him.

“Sorry, we’re not using that plot-line this week. I have a high spec Magi-Beast and I want to see how that mind of your will influences it,” Starlight Explained as held up a card. She gave it a quick kiss before placing it on the man’s chest.

Electricity began to discharge off of the card which grew more intense. The sparks were so strong that they caused the Nightmares to dissolve. The electricity formed into a giant ball before flying off a distance away. What emerged faded, what was left was a lean insectoid creature with a pale blue exoskeleton. A mass of cables came off its head and his whole body gave off sparks. “You all better stay away. This is a high Voltick area!!!” The creature yelled.

“Ooh, I like this one” Starlight smiled as she watched the electrical insect start to shoot sparks all over the place. With the monster no longer paying attention, Nightlight took the chance to run away.

A few minutes later…

Shining, Flash, and Trixie were the first to find the source of the destruction. People were scrambling as Voltick was blowing everything around him up. One of his blasts caused a power-line to fall, which he rushed to like an insect to food and started sucking on the live wire. This caused the electrical field around him to grow stronger. "Nothing like a giant bug causing explosions to start the day off right," Trixie commented.

“Looks like we should call in an exterminator on this one,” Shining joked. He turned to Flash, who looked as if he wasn’t really paying attention to the cop’s quip. “Oh come on, it wasn’t that bad...was it?”

“No, no it was fine,” Flash said as he slapped his face to wake himself up.

“Are you still upset about Timber?” The officer asked.

“I'm just a bit out of it," Flash responded. "Let’s just try and wrap things up quickly." Shining nodded, though he was a bit concerned by the way Flash responded. They equipped their drivers and started their transformation. “Henshin!” The two yelled

“R-R-R-RIDER!!!”

“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!!!”

The two transformed and Achilles extended his spear. Without missing a beat, the rider charged at the monster before jumping and preparing to bring the blade of his weapon down on the electric insect. “Didn’t anyone tell you to beware live weirs,” the rider called out. However, as he got closer, a bolt of electricity came off Voltick’s body and blasted Achilles out of the air until he crashed into the ground next to Argo.

The Magi-Beast finally noticed the Rider's arrival and turned to face them. “Looks like someone didn’t learn that you shouldn’t hold a metal poll in a lighting storm,” Voltick commented back. “But please, don’t let me stop you from trying again.”

As Achilles got up, he noticed that the electricity coming off his body was jumping right to any metal object that was close by. “This guy looks like a walking tesla coil," the rider observed.

“Hmm, I remember Twily building one of those for her sixth-grade science fair. Getting close is gonna be hard,” Argo added. Achilles converted his spear into its blaster form and the two pointed both their weapons at the Magi-Beast. “Fighting from a distance for now looks like our only option.”

They opened fire on the insectoid. Voltick didn't seem to react as he watched the bolts of energy heading towards him. Once they got within a few feet of the monster, the blasts started to dissolve into nothing. "Pathetic," The Magi-Beast cried. He held out his hands and discharged a massive blast of electricity at the riders.

Acting quickly, the two jumped out of the way before the monster's attack caused an explosion where they once stood. "Why didn't our attacks land?!" Achilles asked.

Argo played his fingers on the side of his helmet as the heads-up display gave him some readings on their enemy. "This guy is no joke. He's giving off so much electromagnetic energy that it's interfering with our weapons.”

“Is that really how that works?” Achilles asked. The two turned over to Trixie, standing on the sidelines, who responded with a shrug and a confused look on her face. “Well if we need to avoid getting shocked, I think I have an idea.” Achilles pulled out an Element card.

Voltick said nothing as he put the wire back into his mouth. The electricity grew more intense as he focused it into his hands.

“Shining, Hold up your shield!” Achilles ordered. Without question, Argo did as he was told to defend both of them. Voltick launched a huge ball of lighting that went right for the two. At the same time, Achilles slotted the card into the driver to change forms.

“OK!”

“CREATING A NEW FORMULA, A NEW WORLD OF DISCOVERY!”

“A-A-A-ALCHEMY!!!”

As quickly as he could, the rider clapped his hands and pleased them on the backside of the shield. When the smoke cleared the two riders found themselves unharmed. “What happened there?” Argo asked, confused by the situation. He then turned to his shield, which was now a dark shade of navy blue as opposed to the royal blue it usually is. He passed his hand over it to find that it now had a new coating over it. “Rubber?”

“Yeah. If the electricity is why we couldn’t get close to him, then we needed to deal with that first,” Achilles answered as he clapped his hands again. In a flash of light, the armor around his hands changed to the same navy rubber coating as the shield.

The two started to rush at the monsters with lighting heading right towards them. Achilles held up his arms to block the attack and continued to charge. “Not so strong when we figured out your gimmick!” Achilles announced. He delivered two good punches to Voltick before pushing him back with an uppercut. Argo wasted no time and crashed into the Magi-Beast with his shield.

“Okay, so you insulated yourselves a little bit. I still have more tricks up my sleeve,” Voltick declared. The monster pulled out a Nightmare card and ripped it, summoning reinforcements.

“Your other tricks don’t seem too impressive,” Argo observed as he pulled out his Defender.

As the two prepared for a fight with a mob, Voltick surprised the two by charging at them. Before Achilles could react, the Magi-Beast trapped him in a bear hug. He crouched down and with a massive discharge of electricity, the insect jumped up high towards the distance. “Ah, that’s your plan, clever,” Argo said as the Nightmares started to swarm the rider.

Achilles and Voltick crashed into the ground and ended up cracking the pavement. “Get off me you creep!” The rider yelled as he kicked the monster off of him.

“Watch it. You're lucky I don’t fry you here and now,” Voltick replied as it looked like he was about to charge up again.

Achilles got back up to his feet to find it wasn’t just the two of them in this alleyway. “That is enough. I will take it from here,” Starlight said as she walked towards the two.

“If you say so,” Voltick responded, letting out some electrical crackling noises to show his annoyance with the orders.

Achilles responded to the arrival of the Advance by transforming back to his Rider Form and extending his spear.

“Hey, hey hey!” Starlight shouted as she put her hands up. “I just want to talk. I’m not shooting magical bolts or wrapping you with chains so can we take it easy?”

“I think a simple phone call would have worked better than sending out a monster,” Achilles snapped.

“Oh please. I would love to know a better way to get in contact with someone that we’ve been fighting the past few months.”

Achilles was silent for a moment before putting away his spear. “What do you want?”

“I want to join forces,” Starlight answered.

Flash raised an eyebrow under his mask but he was still very sceptical. “I’m gonna call you on that and say this is a trap.”

“Oh, I am being a hundred percent truthful with you,” Starlight responded. “Kurogire is wasting his research. The Magi-Beast are powerful, but wasted on his petty goals. If we can take him down as well as his little pets, the two of us can change the world."

“A world where people get hurt?”

“A world where everyone is treated fairly and rewarded for the work they do. I can tell you have done a lot to help people, even before you became a rider,” The Advanced started. “And yet you haven’t gotten anything in return. Wouldn't it be nice to finally get your due? To be validated? To be rewarded for all you have done for others? My vision can give you all that and more. You deserve to be happy Rider and we can help each other achieve that.”

Her words ran into Flash’s head. He thought back to all the people he has helped, all he sacrificed for the sake of others, and how invisible he felt. Starlight’s words started to bring certain feelings to the surface.

Don’t you deserve to be happy too?

Is protecting others worth all this pain you put yourself through?

Why should Timber get all that attention when you worked so hard?

Do they even care about you or just the man you pretend to be?

What about Twi-

“ENOUGH!!!” He yelled out, clearing the voices from his head. His breathing grew heavy after the internal struggle. “Whatever you're selling, I’m not buying. Seeing people happy is all I want. Even if I don’t get any credit, as long as my friends are safe and happy that’s all I need.”

“I was hoping you would see it my way, but oh well,” Starlight said with a shrug. “Oh by the way, what are your thoughts on coffee jelly?” She asked out of the blue.

“The desert? It’s ok I guess,” Achilles responded, confused at the question.

“I knew it!” Turning around, the Rider saw that Timber had just arrived with the girls not far behind. “I knew you were working together.”

“Oh look who dropped in on our little chat,” Starlight spoke in mock surprise as she slowly backed away.

“You can’t think I’m actually working with her?” Achilles tried to defend.

“Timber" Sunset started, "hold on. We don’t know-"

“Shut it!” Timber cried as he pulled out his driver. He pleased it on his waist to form a belt. “I know all I need.”

“Timber," Twilight suggested, "why don’t we just talk things out?”

The young man ignored it as he pulled out his card and slotted it into the top slot. “Henshin!”

“DEFENDER OF EARTH, THE HUNTING HOUND HERO!!!”

“G-G-G-GAIA!!!”

The gem on the driver turned solid green. A system of roots spread from the belt all over his body, as green particles collected around Timber to form his armor. “Hope you’re ready to lose,” The Rider started as he pointed at Achilles. “Cause Kamen Rider Timber is here to put you in your place!” He then pointed to himself with his thumb.

“Timber, please listen. This is all-” Achilles tried to explain himself, but Timber had already grabbed his axe and attacked the Rider. Achilles used his spear to block him. “Will you just listen? Working with a Unicorn is the last thing I want to do.”

The two broke away, but Timber kept attacking recklessly. “I’ve heard it all before!” Timber yelled as he pushed Achilles to the ground. “You say you’ll use the magic help, but all you cause is problems,” Timber mussed as he raised his axe and brought it down on the rider.

Achilles rolled out of the way of the attack. “I know what you’re talking about. And honestly, I would agree with you. But I swear on my life that I have no intention of hurting anyone.'' Unfortunately, his words fell on deft ears as Timber continued to swing at him. It was taking everything Flash had to not counterattack Timber out of frustration. If he were to throw a punch, that would only make the situation worse between the two so the Rider was forced on the defensive.

“If that’s true, why don’t you show us who you really are?” Timber asked.

Everything went silent. Flash looked at the other Rider, then at the girls who were watching the fight. He didn’t know what to say as his mind raced. In the end, he just remained as Timber tightened the grip on his axe.

“That’s what I thought,” he held the head of his axe up to his belt. A beam from the gem shot into the axe, as a root system lit up within it. Timber grabbed the handle with both hands, as the blades glowed green and grew in size.

“GAIA CRASH FEEDBACK!!!”

When the Rider swung the axe, a large spinning blade flew toward Achilles who held up his spear to block. The blade hit the rider and ricochet off of it. Timber continued to swing around the axe and the spinning blade followed his moments, hitting the Rider each time. As Achilles was forced back by the attacks, he didn’t know how much more punishment he could take. In an effort to escape, Flash reached for his cardholder as the blade came around again.

When the final attack hit, it caused an explosion. Timber let out a sigh but it was soon interrupted by a yellow blur zipping out of the smoke.

“B-B-B-BREEZE!!!”

The tiny blur bounced off the walls before finally escaping to the roofs. “Dang it, he got away!” Timber let out. Before he could do anything, he felt something hard hit him in the back of the head and cancel out his transformation.

“WHAT IN SAM HILL WERE YA THINKIN!!!” Applejack yelled out.

“What?" Timber defended, "you saw him. He was working for the enemy."

“All we saw was them talkin, that is hardly proof,” Applejack snapped back. “You’re allowed to be sceptical, but don’t start a fight till we get his side of the story.”

“Applejack is right," Sunset added. "You need to give him the benefit of the doubt."

“I’m sure Timber didn’t intend for things to get that heated,” Twilight interrupted as she grabbed Timber’s shoulder. “If he has reason to suspect Achilles may not be all that he seems then we should at least investigate.”

“Are you sure Twilight?" Rainbow asked, "cause all he’s going on is what some random woman said."

“If Timber trusts her, then so do I,” Twilight answered. “For now at least.”

“Thanks, babe,” Timber gave Twilight a kiss on the cheek. Rainbow and Applejack both looked at the couple with a less than enthusiastic look about it.

With the last of the Nightmares defeated, Shining was using his Watchdog to investigate the area. “Did that guy really think that was enough to beat you?” Trixie asked.

“His goal was to get Flash and me separated," Shining answered. "Guess that giant bug thought it was easier if he didn’t have to fight two of us.”

“Naw, he was trying to get me into a trap where Timber attacked me." They looked around and spotted Flash as he strolled up to the two, looking a bit worse for wear.

“Jeez, how did that happen?” Trixie asked.

“He saw me talking to Unicorn, she asked what I thought about coffee jelly. It was all an awkward conversation,” Flash explained as he brushed off his jacket. Even though the Advance’s words still rang in his head, he chose to leave out the details about her offer. “It was just a misunderstanding,” 'At less, I hope it was.'

“Anyway, we need to find that giant tick fast. If it was that strong before, I’m scared what could happen the longer it’s out there,” Trixie explained.

“Our best bet then would be to find the host," Flash told them. "Did you guys find any leads?"

“Not yet," Shining answered. "But we have our best team on the case.” As if on cue, the group’s three robotic companions had returned. The Owl Phone and Jelly Phone landed in Trixie’s hands as the WatchDog jumped into Shining’s. The drone projected a map with a red line, leading to where the host might be.

“Good job little guys,” Flash said as he petted the miniature dog. The three robots let out a variety of happy noises as they were patted. “We need to get to this guy first before Unicorn and the others.”

Meanwhile

"Would you look at that, there was a Magi-Beast attack while all you were fighting," Rarity was looking at the news on her phone.

"Good thing Shinny was there to clean things up," Pinkie continued to read the news post with her friend.

"Ya see," Timber smirked. "That Achilles guy is planning something, and that's why we need to find him."

"Or we can hunt down the monster before something awful happens," Sunset suggested with irritation.

“Of course, of course,” Timber replied with a wave of his hand. “I just need a way of finding the…” He paused, not knowing anything about the monster.

“Looks like a giant bug spent too much time in the zapper,” Rainbow chimed in as she looked at the pictures over Rarity’s shoulder.

“Why don’t we try and find the host?" Fluttershy suggested. "Usually, those monsters will try to cause problems for them. It seems like a good place to start and we can help them out with whatever problems they may have.”

“Not a bad idea,” Timber nodded as he started to scratch his chin. “And when that nat shows up, that’s when I’ll nail him. And with some luck, Achilles too.”

Applejack rolled her eyes. “Well if you say so, big shot. A'm gonna text Flash. He seems to have a knack for findin people that need help.” She pulled out her phone and started texting away at it.

"Yeah, I guess he could help out when he can," Timber responded. What none of the girls noticed was a major frown that appeared on his face, when Flash's name came up.

Twilight’s phone starts ringing to a text being received. The young woman checks to find that it’s from her father.

Hey sweety, I just want to check if you’re alright. I saw those monsters are on the attack again.

Timber sees her smile as he puts his around her, reading the text. “You can tell your dad he has nothing to worry about, You have me to protect you.

Twilight smiled if a little worried at how casually Timber seemed to be taking things. She has seen firsthand what the magi-beast can do and Timber seems to not be taking it as seriously as he should.

Following the trail, the trio found themselves approaching a small office building. Walking through the doors, they found that there was no one around. "I guess it must be off hours," Shining suggested.

"Then why would the doors be wide open?" Flash asked. "Can't be because the janitors are cleaning the place."

"Hello!" Trixie yelled out, "anyone here!?"

"Who's that?" A voice answered from down the hall. Poking his head through his office door, Nightlight saw the visitors slowly approach. "Oh, Shining. Didn't expect you to come to visit your old man," he said, surprised but happy to see his son.

“Dad?” Shining responded equally surprised.

“Wait, this is your’s and Twilight’s Father?” Trixie asked.

“Oh, you must be my daughter’s friends,” Nightlight observed with a laugh.

“Yeah, this is Flash and Trixie. They've been helping me a bit with my work,” Shining introduced the two teenagers. “Guys, this is my dad Nightlight. He’s a computer engineer.”

“Yeah, I’ve been part of a lot of important projects. Even worked with the space program a few times,” The older man said, trying to act impressively. “So what brings you kids here?”

“Oh, we needed to ask if anything estranged happened to you today?” Shining asked.

“You mean besides a group of monsters attacking me,” Nightlight answered. “I’m lucky I could escape before I could be electrocuted.”

“That’s good,” Flash nodded as they have found the host they were looking for. “Is there anything else you need help with?” He asked. The riders didn’t want this Magi-Beast to get stronger so the more they help Nightlight, the less likely things could get out of hand.

“I doubt you could unless any of you know about advanced AIs,” Nightlight answered. The three looked at each other, which told the older man that they weren’t. “Ah, it’s fine. Heck even I'm having some trouble with this one.”

Nightlight led the three to his desk and showed a bunch of code on the screen of his laptop. “Jeez, just looking at this mess is making my head spin,” Trixie complained.

“This is the source code for an AI my friend is trying to make. He said it will bring in a new era of robotics. Kurono was always like that, Jumping towards his dreams, even if they were pretty lofty ones.”

“Sounds like he’s putting a lot of faith in you,” Flash pointed out.

“Yeah, and honestly it’s a lot of pressure,” The older man admitted. “Kurono is putting it all on me to make his dream come true.”

"Jeez, I know how that feels," Flash said as he scratched the back of his head.

“Yeah it’s hard work but I couldn’t be happier to do it,” Nightlight replied. “There is nothing better than having someone relying on you, helping my friend achieve his dream.”

“Hmm, I think I see where Twilight gets it from,” Flash smiled.

However, the moment was interrupted by the sound of breaking glass. The group ran to see Voltick standing in front of the entrance he had just made. “I know you here, make it easy on us and come out.”

“I knew it was only a matter of time,” Flash said.

Shining pulled out his driver, but the Magi-Beast moved at such a high speed that he couldn’t transform in time. Pushing the humans out of the way Voltick grabbed the laptop, but Trixie grabbed it and tried to pull it back. “Oh no you don’t!” She let out, only for the monster to overpower her, and jumped back.

“No!” Nightlight shouted out.

“Mr. Nightlight’s work!” Flash followed as he started to run after the monster. The group followed the electric insect till it was out in the open.

When the monster finally stopped by a fountain, Twilight and her group finally ran into it. Flash’s group was not far behind. “Dad?!”

“Ah, having an audience. Perfect!” Voltick cried as he held up the computer. Rainbow tried to get close to the monster to kick him, but a bolt of lightning struck the ground and stopped her.

“Please, don’t!” Nightlight pleaded. It was clear to everyone that this was causing his distress and he was already starting to show signs that the Magi-Beast was nearing completion. “That computer doesn’t have just my work on it, it all of my friend’s life’s work. I can’t let it all go to waste.”

“Haha, too bad! Because my life's on the line as well!” Voltick cried before a surge of electricity traveled through his claws and into the computer, causing the battery to blow up and the whole thing to catch fire. He dropped the device and stepped on it, smashing it to pieces.

This causes Nightlight to fall to his knees and his body to turn transparent. The wisps of energy were absorbed into Voltick's body and caused his chest to transform, a large rail-gun quickly protruding out of it. “Now this is what I call amped up!” The monster yelled as he fired off his new canon all over the place.

“Dad!” Twilight and Shining yelled as they rushed to their father. “Keep it together dad!” Twilight shouted as she hugged her dad. Shining joined for a moment before turning to Flash. The two nodded and the teen ran off from anyone who might be looking.

“Finally, I’ve been looking forward to this. I hope your ready to lose cause no one messes with twilight’s family,” Timber declared with his driver on. “Henshin!”

“G-G-G-GAIA!!!”

Timber transformed and spun his axe, charging right at the Magi-Beast. But Voltick saw this coming and fired his canon. Timber tried to counter this by attempting to hit the ball of lighting with the flat side of his axe. But when it made contact, he was electrocuted. His skeleton was visible for a moment before he got blown away and landed on his back, his transformation canceling out.

“Hey, dumb-dumb didn’t anyone tell not to stick a fork in a toaster, cause this is what happens when you do,” Trixie said as she looked down on the green-haired young man. Timber said nothing as smoke came off his body.

The monster then turned his attention to the concerned siblings with their father. “If you're this upset over a computer, imagine what it’ll be like when you lose your kids! ” Voltick said with glee, firing his cannon at the siblings. The three closed their eyes braced themselves for the oncoming attack.

“Too bad, we won’t find out!” Flash's voice yelled out, as magical energy shot through the ground before a cage built up around the family. The lighting ball hit, but the three occupants were safe to the shock of the Magi-Beast. Twilight opened her eyes to examine the cage before she and Shining saw Achilles walking up in his Alchemy form.

“How dare you!” Timber yelled out as he got to his feet. “Capturing Twilight and her family to help out your friend, how cowardly!” He cried as he was preparing for another fight.

“Timber, wait!” Twilight interrupted. “This is a Faraday Cage. They're used to block out electromagnetic fields.” She turned to Achilles and smiled as the Rider stepped up to the family.

“How is he?” He asked, his gaze on the currently fading man.

“He doesn’t have long,” Shining responded.

“It’s too late riders," Voltick taunted. "There's no stopping the process now. All of that man’s dreams were on that computer and I crushed it.”

The Rider saw the worry in Twilight’s eyes, causing him to clench his fist and turned to the monster. “Well, then I better make this quick." With that, he brought his hands together. The rubber coating started to form around his arms, but this time it spread all across his body till only his eye plates were left uncovered. With the Rider done coating his armor, he charged at the monster.

"That won't work this time!" Voltick laughed as he fired a ball of lightning from his cannon, which Achilles smacked away without even a second's thought. Even though the rubber coating, Flash could feel the power of the electric attack to the point the coating melted off his arm. When Achilles got close enough, he delivered a punch to the insect's head, melting more of the coating. He then performed a roundhouse kick and knocked the monster to the ground.

With most of the coating melted off, Flash switches to his Rider form. He took out his spear and jabbed the monster with the butt end of it, pinning him to the ground. “You have a lot of nerve. Not only trying to hurt Mr.Nightlight, but his family as well” Achilles reached for his cardholder. “Let’s see what happens when I do to you what you did to that computer.” He pulled out the Storm card and slotted it into the spear.

“CHARGING!!"

The sky turned black with storm clouds, lighting cracking as a magical circle formed around the head of the spear. “No, no!" Voltick cried as he struggled to get up. "If you do this, you will take both of us out!” Achilles said nothing as he looked down at him.

“STORM FEEDBACK!!!”

Several lightning bolts struck and were all focused on the spear. Achilles lit up, feeling the lightning traveling through his body before flowing into the Magi-Beast. Cracks began to form all over Voltick’s body before they both exploded. Everyone looked away from the blast, the light bright enough to blind anyone who looked at it. After a few seconds, the light faded and they glanced back at where the two had been. There they saw a smoking crater, replacing where the two stood.

The Magi-Beast was gone, but Flash was knocked out of his transformation. He was covered in scratches and bruises from the final attack. Fortunately, the smoke observed the other’s view so he could escape before anyone noticed, with only his outline running away being what told the girls he was alright.

Applejack ran to the Faraday cage and bent the mesh to let the Sparkle family out. “Ya'll ok Surgarcube?” She asked.

“Yeah," Twilight nodded, "we’re fine. Maybe a bit banged up.”

“Is this what you deal with when you talk about all this magic stuff?” Nightlight asked.

“More or less,” Rainbow answered.

“That was intense what Achilles did,” Shining pointed out.

“Yeah, I didn’t think he would risk his life like that,” Twilight mused.

“See," Sunset said as she nudged Timber with her elbow, "Achilles isn’t that bad after all."

“Ehh," Timber looked away and crossed his arms, "I still don't like that guy. Something is definitely up with him.”

Nightlight found the remains of the laptop, picking up the hard drive before he blew up in his hand. “What am I going to tell Kurono. He trusted me with his dream and I let it all crumble, literally.”

“I think you're wrong about that,” Trixie chimed in. As the older man turned to her, the magician presented the flash drive his friend entrusted him with. Nightlight was on the verge of tears as she tossed it to him.

“Trixie, that’s amazing,” Sunset praised.

“HAHA, was there ever any doubt,” Trixie responded to the compliment.

With a day of combat finally at an end, Twilight and her friends had decided to finally rest at the diner. There, the group found Flash, all beaten up but happy to see all of his friends. “Flash, what the heck happened!?” Sunset yelled.

“Would you believe I got jumped by some Nightmares,” Flash answered as he scratched the back of his head. “Don’t worry. I managed to fend them off,”

“Burgers are on me girls,” Pinkie cried excitedly as everyone sat down.

“That’s great Pinkie, but I think I should be going." Flash rubbed his eyes and yawned, "I’m not feeling so hot right now.”

He made his way to the door till Timber spoke up. “Hold on Flash, mind if we chat a bit?” He asked.

“Um...sure,” Flash said as the two walked out. “So that monster was crazy wasn’t it?” The teen asked, trying to make small talk.

Timber was quiet for a moment till they reached the corner. “Quit it with the friendly act!” He shouted, then grabbed Flash and pinned him to the wall.

Flash was surprised by this act, about to say something but stopped when he met the guy's eyes. Timber was staring him down with a mean look, a total reversal of how he was at the dinner. "What...are you doing?"

"Don't think I don't know what you're after," Timber instructed as he took out his phone. He showed Flash some pictures of him and Twilight off her MyStable page. The two spending time studying, at the school play, and most recently at the amusement park.

"What? It's just me and Twilight hanging out."

"Oh don't act like I didn't see you at camp, the way you looked at her. You have feelings for her," The young man accused.

"Hey!" Flash responded, his face turning red. "That's none of your business. And what does it matter if I do? It's clear you're the one she loves."

"Your right I am," Timber’s expression changed to a wicked grin. This caused the teen to raise an eyebrow. "So for everyone's sake, I recommend you should just stay away from her. Don't want anything bad to happen."

"What are you saying?"

Timber took out his driver, tossing it into the air and catching it casually. "I'm here to protect people, and I'd hate to see anything happen to a nice kid like you."

"Is that a threat?" Flash asked, his fists were clenched trying to hold back what he really wanted to say. "And who are you to say who Twilight can spend time with?"

Timber just let Flash go and turned around. "If you really care for Twilight, you'll stay away from her."

As he walked away, Trixie passed him. "Flash, Sunset wanted to ask…" she started before seeing the sick look on his face. "A-are you ok?"

Flash said nothing for a moment before he bolted towards a nearby trash can. "BLAAARGH!!!" He threw up. Trixie ran to her friend and patted his back, trying to provide comfort in his time of need.

Ride 19: Paper Moon

View Online

Lightning crackled through the room in all sorts of colors, hitting everything but the doctor that stood in front of the machine. Walking into the room, Cypher saw the chaos unfolding. “I know there must be a way. You will bend to my will!” Kurogiri declared. It was then that a stray bolt of pink lightning exploded towards him.

“Doctor!” Cypher yelled out as he ran forward, activating his transformation.

“PEGASUS!”

Morphing into his armoured state, he tackled the doctor out of the way before he could get hit. The lighting was growing more intense as the Advanced tried to get closer. He smacked down onto an emergency shut-off. The energy died down and only the cube with a storm cloud inside remained on the machine.

“What was that?” Cypher asked as he helped the Doctor up.

“It is what might be my greatest work yet,” Kurogiri answered as he approached the machine again. “When I was just starting to work on the Magi-beast cards, this was one I had never seen before. Something that has a power we could only dream of. It was something I dabbled and tinkered with before, but was too busy with helping Starlight to really focus on. I just know there is a way I can master this power.”

“So this thing will lead to the next phase of your plan?” The winged creature asked.

“Indeed," the doctor answered. "I was hoping observeing the different magi-beast would give me a clue as to how to unlock its power, but the data I have so far has been useless." He soon made his way to a small vault in the room. After typing in a code and going through several scanners, Kurogiri opened it and pulled out a pane of glass. Within the glass was a set of different magi-beast cards. “These are some of the first cards I created. After the incident with Starlight, I had to put testing with them on hold. However, one of them appears to share many characteristics with the card trapped in the cube. Maybe observing that one will give me more useful data.”

“Leave it to be Doctor, I will not fail you this time!” Cypher declared.

“I know you won’t Cypher,” The Doctor said as he handed the card to the Advanced.

"THAT ABSOLUTE JERK FACE!!!"

Trixie was pacing back and forth in the hallway of the Sentry household. When Flash told her what happened yesterday, Trixie still hadn't calmed down. "Not only does he have the gall to say who Twilight can and can't be friends with, but to threaten you with his rider powers. Isn't there like a rule that says he can't do that?"

Flash, In his pyjamas, opened the door to the bathroom partly. He looked very sickly, with bags under his eyes and his hair a mess. "Yeah. He's the worst," Flash's voice was very weak.

"Are you going to do something about this?" She asked.

"I'm in no position to do anything right now," the rider responded. After saying that, the teen dry heaved. “I can’t be more than five feet from this bathroom.”

“Ok, you have to deal with this flu thing. But after that, you need to stand up to this guy.”

"Yeah, I'll tell the girls about it when I'm able to keep down solid foods. Twilight needs to know how two-faced the guy is." Out of nowhere, his eyes went wide and closed the door. The sound of vomiting soon filled the air.

"Jeez, this bug is doing a number on you. Good thing there isn't a monster attack," Trixie pointed out.

"Shining can take care of anything that comes up," Flash replied through the closed door.

"What about Unicorn and what she said?" Trixie asked. "That whole 'a world where everyone gets what they deserve' thing. Does she somehow want to be a good guy or something?"

"I have no idea. Maybe she has an axe to grind with the doctor," Flash responded whilst opening the door again. "I would be lying if I said it didn't sound pretty good. But I don't trust any of those guys more than I can throw them."

"Jeez," Trixie leaned back on the wall opposite the door, sliding down till she joined Flash sitting on the floor. "Ever since Timber showed up, it's just been one thing after another."

Flash let out a laugh. "Yeah, just fighting monsters on a weekly basis sounds pretty good right now."

“The number you have dialled is unavailable to take your call. If you wish-”

“Gosh darn it!” Shining yelled at his phone for the fourth time within the hour.

“Trouble at work Honey?” A gray-skinned woman in a purple sweater vest asked. Her hair was violet with a streak of white in it, not unlike the magenta highlight Twilight had. She had served Shining a plate of waffles as he put away his phone.

“Sorta mom,” Shining answered as he took his fork. “I'm having trouble getting in contact with my boss. I wanna know why would he do something like this without telling me beforehand?”

“I’m sure there is a reason for all this,” Shining’s mother, Twilight Velvet, replied as she returned to the stove-top. “I do appreciate you staying over for the night, I just wish you brought Flurry with you.”

“Dad did look pretty beaten up after that Magi-Beast attacked. I just wanted to make sure he was doing alright,” the officer took a sip of his coffee.

“Your such a good son, Shining.”

Twilight soon came into the kitchen, sitting down and digging at the pate her mother set for her. “Your looking chipper today,” Shining pointed out as he observed how happy Twilight looked after almost being burnt to ash.

“Today, Fluttershy got me an early birthday gift,” the younger sister answered as she took a bite out of her breakfast. “The both of us plus Rarity and Pinkie are all gonna have a spa day.”

“Well, that’s very nice of her,” Shining commented. “Are you excited? The big day is just two days away.”

“Of course. Especially now Timber is here to celebrate with us.”

“Haha yeah im happy for you,” Shining said as he tightened his grip on his mug.

Spike ran across the floor to sit on Twilight’s lap. “Pinkie keeps talking about the party she has planned.”

“Pinkie loves surprise parties.” Twilight followed.

“Your real lucky to have made so many great friends Twilight," Velvet commented. "Far more than you had at Crystal Prep. as far as I know Moondancer was the only one you really talked to."

“It’s kind of funny. By the time I transferred out of Crystal Prep, everyone got a lot friendlier. I wonder what they’re up to now?” Twilight pondered

“Well if you don’t hurry up, your gonna miss out on spending time with your current friends,” Spike said.

“Oh, your right! I’m gonna miss the bus!” Twilight yelled, her breakfast only half-finished. She scooped up Spike into her bag and ran out of the door.

As the teen was on her way to the bus stop, a pickup truck drove up next to her slowing down to match her pace. "Hey babe, where are you off to?" Timber asked through the open window. He slowed, allowing Twilight to walk and talk.

"Oh, just on my way to a spa day with the girls," Twilight answered.

“Oh that's a bit disappointing,” Timber replied with a depressed look.

“Why’s that?”

“I was hoping we could get lunch together. I mean, how long has it been since we had a date? Not since the thing at the observatory,” Timber explained.

“Awww, that's very sweet. Maybe we could do it tomorrow,” Twilight suggested.

“Oh, that's a shame I would think like to spend some time with a rider. Ya know, trouble is bound to show up. Could be a great way to study a Rider up close,” Timber said with a bit of a grin.

The genius thought about that. “I mean...that is very tempting. And if it’s for scientific study...”

“Twilight," Spike interjected, "you can’t just blow off the girls."

“Are you scared I'm gonna leave you behind? Don't worry, I don’t mind dogs in the truck." Spike was not amused by that comment.

“I’m sure the girls will understand," Twilight said as she made her way to the passenger side of the truck. "I can go to the spa anytime."

“You won’t regret this," Timber smiled as his girlfriend got in the truck and buckled her seatbelt. "I know just where to go."

After a short drive, Timber and Twilight arrived on the north side of town. “I hope you’re hungry." Timber lead the teen down the sidewalk. "The restaurant I heard of is supposed to be amazing.”

“What is this place anyway?” Spike asked.

“It’s one of those noodle places that just opened up. I think it was udow or something,” Timber answered.

“I think you mean udon,” the dog corrected.

“Spike has really been getting into anime lately,” Twilight mentioned. She looked in the window of a fancy-looking cafe to see a group of friends sipping on an espresso. “I can’t tell you how long it’s been since I've been by this part of town.”

“Hmm, why’s that?”

“This is where some of the students of Crystal Prep would come to hang out. It's where more high-end stores are located. Use to come here cause everyone said I needed to 'branch out,' but I rather stay in my lab,” Twilight answered. “I'm pretty sure Rarity comes by here a lot. Oh, that reminds me,” she pulled out her phone. “I need to tell the girls what’s going on.”

Before she had a chance to finish typing the text, someone bumped into Twilight and the two fell to the ground. "HEY!" An angry yet familiar voice yelled out, "WATCH WHERE YOU’RE-" It then stopped, "Twilight?"

Twilight saw that the girl that bumped into her was one of her former classmates. "Sour Sweet!?"

The two picked themselves up. "YOU’RE THE LAST PERSON I WANTED TO SEE," Sour Sweet yelled, a bit annoyed as she brushed herself off. "But you might be who I need," she said, switching her demeanour.

“Twilight," the rider asked, "who is she?”

“Oh, Timber, this is Sour Sweet. She goes to my old school. Sour Sweet, this is my boyfriend, Timber,” the young woman introduced.

“Nice to meet you,” Sour Sweet responded in a kind tone. “I never thought you would even talk to a boy. Guess the world is full of surprises.” She continued offhandedly.

“Um, what were you saying about needing help?” Twilight asked. Changing the subject.

“Oh well you see I was out for my morning jog when all of a sudden-” the Crystal Prep Student started before she was interrupted by an explosion of fire. People started to run as a blast of ice and lightning came out of the cloud of smoke. Timber took a few steps back in shock as the cause stepped out, revealing a Magi-Beast.

It was a creature covered in a patchwork of fur and scales. Its feet were hoofed and a belt adorned its waist with large spikes jutting out. It had three heads on its body. The main head was that of a tiger, a goat head on its shoulder and a snake that was functioning as its tail.

“Where is she? Where is that girl!?” The monster's tiger head yelled out.

The goat's head turned to the tiger. “I told you, Flair, I saw her go the other way.”

The snake's tail then let out a hiss. “I wouldn’t trust anything you have to sssay Frost. She will sssay anything just to make it ssseem you're right.”

“ Frost, Fizzle, Will the two of you shut up! Your not helping me find her,” The tiger head yelled. The three heads kept fighting with one another, not seeing Sour Sweet and the others were right in front of them.

“When did this thing show up?” Twilight asked.

“About an hour ago, I was on my way to…” Sour Sweet started.

“Don't worry Sour Sweet, I got this,” Timber interrupted as he put on his driver.

The Chimera monster, named Try-Mera, soon noticed the green-haired young man. “Hey, who’sss thisss guy?” Fizzle asked.

“I’m the guy that's gonna kick your butt. Or butts since there’s three of your” Timber declared as he pulled out his card.

“Henshin!”

“DEFENDER OF EARTH, THE HUNTING HOUND HERO!!!”

“G-G-G-GAIA!!!”

Timber transformed into his rider form, which caught the attention of the monster. “Check this out, Sour Sweet. I'm about to save you and the town in record time,” He boasted as he grabbed his axe.

“Even I can see you're just spitting out hot air. You need to cool it,” Frost said as she raised her left arm. Ice crystals began to form before she threw the attack at the rider. The crystals grew into giant shards mid-air, which Timber needed to jump out the way of.

Flames began to form around Flare’s mouth as she charged at the rider. She tried to bite Timber, but he was able to block it with his axe. "I'm sorry, but I'm not on the menu," Timber groaned as he pushed Tri-Mera back. He slashed the Magi-beast a few times before delivering a kick.

“They say two heads are better than one, but you are proving that three is one too many,” Timber tainted.

“Say that again, I dear ya!” Flare replied as she charged at the rider. Her fiery fangs almost cleaved Timber in half but were blocked by the axe. The monster pushed on, but Timber kept his defences up.

Fizzle moved on her own, sliding around her main body's legs to end up behind Timber unnoticed. Twilight saw this as well as the monster giving off an electric discharge. "Oh no, you don't!" Thinking quickly, the teen used her powers to grab Timber and pull him out of the way seconds before Fizzle wrapped around his leg.

"Timber, you need to pay more attention. You were almost gonna get electrocuted. Again!" Twilight yelled.

"Hey that's why I got you, always watching my back, ma lady," Timber replied.

“QUIT WITH THE FLIRTING AND BLOW THAT THING UP!”

“Jeez, someone has no sense for the theatrics,” Timber quipped.

“Way to miss your chance," Frost complained as she eyed down the snake-head. "How could you not hurt the guy if he was just standing still?”

“Well, I don’t ssssee you doing anything. At lessssst Flare was being more useful than you,” Fizzle snapped back.

“I would if the big lug we’re attached to would stop charging at anything that moved,” Frost responded as she gave Flare the side-eye. “Seriously, it’s like you can’t focus at all.”

“Ya want to talk about focus, how about the stupid rider coming back for seconds,” Flare pointed out.

Just as she said, Timber was back, standing on top of a car to prepare his finisher. He took his axe and brought it to his belt.

“GAIA CRASH FEEDBACK!”

“Dang it! This isn’t over between us,” Frost said as she took a deep breath and blow out a fog cloud of cold air. When it cleared, the monster was gone.

“Running with their tail between their legs,” Timber commented as he got off the car and undid his transformation.

“Well at least everyone is safe for now,” Twilight observed.

“DANG IT, I THOUGHT YOU RIDERS WERE SUPPOSED TO GET RID OF THOSE PESTS. THAT'S WHAT EVERYONE GOES ON ABOUT ONLINE!” Sour went off.

“Hey hey, These things will always come back. I’ll get it then, especially now I know its tricks,” Timber replied.

“Everyone calm down." Twilight got between them. "Getting bent out of shape is the last thing we want to do. Especially since it’s just gonna make things a lot worst.”

Sour took a deep breath. “I don’t need this right now, I have a job interview today, and having a crazed monster stalking me isn’t gonna help.”

“If this um...Tri-Mera is anything like the other Magi-Beast, it’s gonna try to do anything to screw up your interview,” Spike chimed in.

“Well looks like we will be hanging out together Sour, just like we never did in the old day,” Twilight commented.

“Um Twilight,” Timber said as he pulled the young woman to the side. “This was kinda meant to be our date. I wasn't really prepared for a third wheel.”

“Jeez, not even third wheel worthy,” Spike said out of earshot, hearing the not so private conversation.

“I know how you feel Timber, but we have to help her. After all, that’s what heroes do,” Twilight replied.

Timber looked back at his girlfriend with a smile. “Like always, Twi, your right,” Timber said as he turned to approach the maroon-haired girl. “Sorry about that, why don't we try to think of what that thing will do next. They're usually easy to predict.”

“WHY THE HECK ARE YOU ASKING ME?” Sour shouted. “I would have thought you were smart enough to figure it out.”

“How am I supposed to do that!?”

“Sour, Magi-Beast tend to form their plan around causing some kind of distress,” Twilight explained, getting between the two again. “Is there anything important today?”

“I have an interview,” Sour responded. “It's for an internship my dad set up. And if anything happens, IT COULD RUIN EVERYTHING I'VE WORKED FOR!” As the teen yelled, more wisps started to come off her body and flying away.

“Alright, alright no need to get all worked up. I get it, big important interview,” Timber said as he raised his hands. “What if we help prepare you for it and then come with you if the monster tried to get in your way.”

“Great idea,” Twilight chimed in.

“Really? You are gonna help with this. I know how much of a pushover you were,” Sour said.

“Hey, I don’t know what you two had but this isn’t the same Twilight you knew. This one is amazing” Timber defended. Twilight responded by giving her boyfriend a quick hug. This prompted another eye roll from Spike.

The Tri-Mera was hurt badly, as they limped along out of sight. They leaned on a dumpster as they tended to their wounds, Frost using her ice breath to cool her burns whilst Flare used her flames to seal up the open wounds.

“This is just great," Frost mused. "After all our hard work we just ended up in the trash."

“I would have gotten the rider if that girl didn’t get in the way,” Fizzle added.

“Next time I see him I’m gonna-” Flare started before they were introduced by footsteps. Looking around the dumpster, Tri-Mera saw Cypher walking up. “Oh no, it’s the boss,” the tiger head cried as all threes’ eyes went wide.

“Bosssss, we’re sssory, I almost had the guy,” Fizzle started

“No, I did!” Flare interrupted

“No, I did!” Frost followed. It soon devolved to the three arguing with each other again.

“Enough!” Cypher yelled, getting the three-headed monster to be quiet. “I'm more disappointed in the fact that it was that guy and not Achilles,” he mused.

“Wait, so you're not mad?” Frost asked.

“I don’t get mad,” He answered, to the Magi-Beast’s relief. “But I would have preferred it if you were fighting Achilles.”

The monster looked confused as the heads looked at each other. “But wouldn’t us beating any rider be a good thing?” Flare asked.

Cypher crossed his arms as he took a deep breath. “That is true, the less we need to fight the better. But Achilles is the bigger threat. The Doctor asked me specifically to defeat him and I have never failed him. Whatever he’s working on, you are the key to it and if I get data on you fighting Achilles, I'm sure it will more than make up for my delay.”

“Why Achilles?” Frost asked

“I don’t know. I don't question the Doctor’s wishes, I just follow them to completion.” Cypher answered as he put his hands in his pockets, switching to a sombre tone. “Defeat this Timber guy if you can. Even if it isn’t the data I want, it's the data the Doctor wants.

“You got is bosssss!” Fizzle responded. The others join.

“Oh and please stop fighting with each other. If working with Terra and Starlight taught me anything, it's that fighting within a unit gets you nowhere.”

The three looked at each other for a moment before turning back to Cypher. “Yes Sir” they said in unison, showing that they were finally in agreement.”

“So Ms.Sweet, your resume is impressive but why do you think we should have you on our team?”

Sour Sweet twirled a lock of hair in nervousness. “Well...I'm a very capable person. As you can see my grades, extracurricular, and teacher evaluations show that I am more than worthy of this spot,” She went on.

“ I see. And after your time is done what do you plan for the future?”

“Well I plan to apply to Golden Vine University and…and,” she paused for a moment, struggling with her words. “THIS IS STUPID!” She yelled. The teen was sitting at an outdoor table, sitting across from Spike who was using Twilight’s spare glasses to help act like the man performing the interview.

“Sour, you need to control your temper better,” the dog pointed out

“TWILIGHT! There is a monster on the loose, trying to devour my soul, and you want me to play pretend with your dog?” The magenta haired girl asked as she turned to her friend.

“I read that if you're nervous about an interview then doing a mock one would help you get used to it,” Twilight explained. “and Spike volunteered.”

“And if you won't calm down for the mock interview, do it to not get drained anymore than you already are,” Timber pointed out.

Sour saw the wisps of energy come off her and quickly took a deep breath. “Alright, you have a point.”

“Why don’t you go cool down for a bit and we can try again,” Spike suggested.

“Fine, I need something to drink anyway,” Sour said as she walked towards the smoothie cart.

Timber just watched Sour and Spike leave as Twilight continued to look at stuff on her phone. “Looks like eye contact is very important for interviews. If you have trouble with this you can focus on the area in the middle of their forehead,” she read off, pointing to the spot on Timber’s head.

“Good to know Twi, but I don’t think Sour is nervous. Has she always been this temperamental?”

“She’s always been like that. At a drop of the hat, she could go off. The only time I've ever seen her calm was during the Friendship Games, especially on the archery challenge.” Twilight started. “Sour has always been hard to read. Maybe it’s the pressure of trying to be the best.”

“I get that, you always tend to get in your own way when you're trying to do what you love.”

Twilight nodded. “That makes sense. Sour always went on about how she was gonna make it big one day back when I went to CPS.”

Timber smiled and rested his arm on his girlfriend’s shoulder. “She just needs to get out of her head for a little bit, try to take off some of the pressure. Then again she may just need some anger management,” He joked causing Twilight to let out a little laugh.

Meanwhile, Sour was ordering her drink at the smoothie stand which the cashier went to make. As she walked away, she passed another woman who looked to be in her mid-thirties. “Excuse me, sir,” the woman started. “I have been waiting for ten minutes for my drink, where is my drink?”

“Oh sorry ma'am, I’ve just been really swamped with orders, I promise I will get to yours right away.” the worker replied.

“I wanted it when I ordered it, right now I want my money back. It’s the very least you can do for wasting my time!” The woman complained. She stared down the worker who was starting to tremble.

As the woman continued to complain, Sour and Spike just watched. “Jeez, what's her problem?” Spike asked. Sour reconciled the words she was saying and how she was saying them. He saw how the Smoothie guy was trembling as he was berated. It was similar to how not just Twilight, but most weren’t her close friends would look when she had an outburst. Only this time she was one of the onlookers. “Um, are you ok?” Spike asked, wondering why the teen didn’t move for a moment.

Without saying a word, Sour approached the woman. “Excuse me, miss,” she interrupted, her face emotionless.

“Not now!" She replied, "don’t you know it’s rude to interrupt a conversation?”

“Well, that’s what I wanted to talk about, cause you know what is really rude,” Sour started. She took another breath. “CAN'T YOU SEE THERE ARE OTHER CUSTOMERS? HE IS THE ONLY ONE GUY AND HE NEEDS TO SERVE OTHERS. WHERE DO YOU GET OFF COMPLAINING LIKE YOU'RE SOME BIG SHOT!” she lashed out.

The older woman was taken aback by the outburst. After a moment she collected herself. “Hmf, this slop wasn’t that great anyway,” she huffed as she left.

“Wow, I owe ya one,” the worker said. “Your next order is on the house.”

“Oh, it was nothing. She was just getting under my skin,” Sour replied.

“That was great Sour,” Spike praised. “But I think you picked the worst time to blow up like that.”

Sour looked at her hand to see it starting to fade away as more wisps started to leave her body. The two watched as they flew away but they didn’t go far. The Tri-Mera was already walking down the road towards the host. The extra energy they just absorbed causes their elemental powers to be put on full display.

“Come out little girl!” The three called out simultaneously. Sour's eyes went wide and she started moving backwards, but Tri-Mera spotted and all three chuckled. "There you are," Flare smirked. "Time to fry!" She launched a fireball that flew towards Sour and hit the ground, causing it to explode and send her flying. Spike had leapt away just in time, running off to get Twilight and Timber.

"Or freeze!" Frost unleashed a burst of cold air, that made the ground it touched ice over as it got closer to Sour. It began to creep up her shoes, but the girl managed to pull them free of the ice and jump up to her feet.

"Of getting a rather nassssty static ssssshock!" Fizzle hissed before shooting a thunder bolt at her, hitting the ground around her and making Sour's arm hair stand on end.

The girl began to pant in fear, causing more specks of light to come off her and fly into Tri-Mera. They all laughed as their began to charge up another attack. But before they could-

"HiYAAH!" Timber, already suited up, leapt into the fray with his axe at the ready. He tried to deliver a strike to the tiger head, but his outcry and caught the beast's attention and allowed it the opportunity to leap back. "Time to finally take you down!" Timber cried as he started swinging his axe around, but Tri-Mera easily avoid each and every strike. Fizzle then short forward and bit the axe's blade, sending a jolt through it that caused Timber to cry out and drop it.

"Weak!" Frost cried before Flare unleashed a flamethrower, which struck the rider and knocked him flying backwards.

"Gyah!" He cried from the eat, then from the impact of him hitting a tree. "Ahhh!" He hit the ground and moaned whilst pushing himself up to his feet. "How is this thing so much stronger then before."

"It powered up from me," Sour pointed out as she fell to her knees from feeling the drain. More and more of her body started fading away.

"Well get out of here!" Timber cried, pushing himself up to his feet and charging again. "I'll beat this thing, just you watch!" Frost launched an ice breath attack, but he leapt forward and rolled towards his axe. He grabbed the weapon and threw it at the Magi-Beast, making it leap back as Timber jumped back to his feet.

Meanwhile, Twilight had run into the scene and grabbed Sour. "Come on!" She cried, pulling her to her feet, "we need to go!"

Sour decided to do as she was told, not wanting to be in sight when the loser Rider was taken down. But just as they were about to leg it, Fizzle unleashed a thunderbolt and Timber used the flat of his blade to deflect it. Unfortunately, he ended up deflecting it into the girl's direction.

"Look out!" Spike cried, as the girls saw the attack coming and Twilight managed to use her magic in order to summon a piece of blow up pavement. The rock flew in front of them seconds before the blast struck, exploding with enough force that they were all thrown backwards.

The girls cried out as they hit the wall of a nearby building, Twilight landing on the ground and knocking herself out. Luckily, as weird as it sounded, Sour's head went transparent the moment she hit the wall. This meant she didn't feel as much pain and stayed conscious as she fell to the floor.

"Twilight!" Timber cried, growling as he turned to Tri-Mera. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!" The Magi-Beast looked confused, the sisters turning to one another.

"Wasn't he the one that sent that attack flying towards them?" Flare asked, the other two nodding.

"Not our fault he has bad aim," Frost agreed as Timber roared and charged forward. He swung his axe wildly, but Tri-Mera easily managed to dodge before unleashing a trifecta of attacks at him.

"Ahhhhh!" Timber cried as his body was engulfed by the flames, only for the frost to then hit him. The sudden change from hot to cold was making his body feel horrible, the only thing protecting him from hypothermia being his suit. And as he did, the lightning slammed into his chest and he was blasted backwards. "AUGH!" He crashed into the ground, his axe being sent flying.

As this happened, Sour moaned as she began to pick herself up. More and more of her body was beginning to fade away, but she forgot about that as she noticed Twilight and Spike laid out on the ground.

"No!" She cried, rushing over to shake her. "Take, you have to get up!" She was unresponsive, "SNAP OUT OF IT FOUR EYES!" Still nothing from her. "Ahhh!" More specks flew off her, as she looked over to see Timber in trouble. "He's completely useless. What do I do?" She looked around, only to then notice what building she had crashed into. "Sporting goods?" She asked, looking the building over before an idea popped into her head. "I hope this works!" She rushed inside, leaving Timber to continue getting his rear-end handed to him.

"Raaaaah!" He cried as he tried to punch the beast, but all that did was hurt his hand.

"Pathetic!" Flame cried before Fizzle wrapped around his boot and pulled his leg out from under him, Timber crying as he fell to the floor. Tri-Mera stamped her foot onto him, making the Rider cry out as he was winded. "Now," they opened their mouths to fire all at once, "say goodbye!" But before they could do so-

"HEY!" They looked over, just in time to see an arrow flying at them and slamming into Flare's head.

"Augh!" They all cried, staggering back and reaching up. The arrow had barely entered Flare's head, with just a few inches of the tip being all that got passed its steel skin. Timber rolled back to his feet and when he did, he was greeted to the sight of Sour Sweet armed with a bow and arrow.

She notched another arrow and fired, the projectile shoot through the air at Tri-Mera. But this time, the beast was able to shoot a fireball that destroyed it. "What are you doing?" Timber asked, "get out of here. I can handle this."

"Yeah right!" Sour cried as she drew another arrow, "I'm done letting someone else fight my battles. If you wanna hurt me, come and get me." She fired and this one skimmed Fizzle's head, making her hiss in annoyance.

"Get her!" The snake cried, with the rest of the body charging at her. Flare shot a fireball and Sour, showing amazing athletic skills, did a cartwheel to avoid the fireball as Frost launched an ice attack. Sour once again showed her amazing agility by leaping onto a bench and spring-boarding off of it avoid getting frozen solid.

"Take this!" She fired another arrow, but Tri-Mera dodged it as they charged forward.

"Tag-team!" Fizzled told her sisters, Flare firing a fireball before Frost sprayed ice breath. Soul leapt back to avoid the flames, but this was what they wanted. The ground where Sour landed had become frozen, causing her to slip and hit the ground hard.

"Ow!" She cried, as the monster got closer.

"Now to finish your off!" Flare cried, her mouth filling with flames. But before she could fire, Frost grabbed her mouth and closed it.

"No, you fool!" Flare's cheeks expanded from the flames as smoke came out her mouth, nose and ears. "We can't destroy her. We need her to completely fade away or we'll be done for." Sour used this chance to jump to her feet, only for her legs to go ghost again. "And by the looks of things, it won't be long.

At that moment, Timber ran up behind them. He watched Sour try to fire an arrow, but her hands kept going through the bowstring whenever it faded in and out of existence. "Time to end this!" He cried as he hit the buttons on his belt, causing the leaf green aura to be unleashed and surround him.

“GAIA FEEDBACK!”

Timber rushed forward as Sour Sweet fired another arrow, only for it to be burned to a crisp by Flare. As they did, they sensed the energy behind them and spun around to see Timber getting closer and preparing for a final attack. The sisters each unleashed a stream of their attacks, all aiming at the same spot. But Timber leapt into the air seconds before they struck, which caused an explosion that only doubled the force behind his next attack.

As Timber got into position for the final strike, the energy axe appeared around him. He let out a roar as he swung his foot down, the construct following and striking the triple-headed Magi-Beast. Flare screamed as her head was split down the middle, whilst her sisters both screamed her name.

As Timber leapt backwards away from them, the monster exploded into green fire that consumed the other two's heads and made them scream out as they were burned to absolute dust. From the flames, energy flew into the air and began to fly towards Sour. She was freaked out by it, but quickly realised it was a good thing as the light flowed into her body and began to make it reform. "I'm back!" She cheered before looking unhappy, "IT'S ABOUT TIME!"

"Wooow!" Timber cheered as he leapt up and powered down, "all in a day's work for Canterlot's number one hero."

"Hardly," Sour told him. Timber turned to raise an eyebrow at her, "you hardly did anything. That creep had you on the ropes until I stepped in." They then heard a groaning and looked over to see Twilight and Spike beginning to come around, "plus you probably gave Twilight a concussion." She ran over to help them up, "you okay?"

Twilight corrected her glasses and rubbed her head, feeling a bump but not getting any serious pain from it. "I think so."

"Good," Sour smiled before she frowned, "because your boyfriend sucks at what he's doing. He would have been toast if I hadn't saved his sorry but!"

"Oh please," Timber smirked. "You might have helped out a little, but I would have figured out a way to take it down eventually. All you did was speed up a given outcome. So I guess thanks, but I totally didn't need any help."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS!" She cried, but took a moment to take a deep breath. Remembering what the others had said about keeping her temper in check at important moments, she controlled her breathing to calm herself down. "Whatever. I don't have time for this." She checked her phone and saw what time it was, "I need to get to my interview."

"We'll give you a ride," Twilight told her.

"Seriously?" Timber asked, "I thought we were only hanging around her because the monster was after her. That thing's gone now, so why don't we go celebrate with some ice cream?"

"Come on Timber," Spike told her. "Being a hero isn't just about fighting monsters and saving damsels. Helping Sour get to her interview on time is what a real hero does." Timber still didn't look so sure. After the hard day of fighting, he was really craving the frozen treat. "I bet Argo and Achilles would happily do it." That seemed to push Timber over the edge, the teen agreeing to take Sour to her interview.

"Thank you!" The girl nodded before looking angry, "NOW LET'S GO ALREADY!" Timber led them over to where he had parked his truck, the four of them quickly getting in as he started it up.

"Be happy you got the only Rider with the common sense not to ride those death machines," Timber told her as they drove off. Sour looked like she was going to say something, but decided to remain quiet and focus on her interview. As they drove, Twilight began talking about all the tips she had found online to help Sour. The girl happily listened, not trusting herself to speak.

Later in the day, Twilight and Timber were driving back to her house with Spike asleep in her bag. After they had dropped Sour off, they went off for their ice cream and had a rather pleasant experience.

Twilight had spend the entire time telling him stories of other Rider events, thought Timber only half listened. He wasn't really interested in hearing about anything he wasn't apart of. Twilight had told him hearing about previous Rider fights might help him if he ever went up against a Magi-Beast with similar powers to the ones previously defeated. But Timber didn't think he needed any lesson. "I'm the best Rider that's ever lived," he said after seeing Twilight had also fallen asleep. "Just watch, Achilles. Next time we face off, I'll show everyone that I'm the real hero this city needs and you're nothing but a criminal out to make yourself famous."

He was interrupted from his thoughts by Twilight's phone, which started ringing as the girl suddenly woke up. "Huh?" She looked around and realised where she was, then looked down at her phone. "It's a text from Sour." She smiled, "she got the job."

"Yay," he said sarcastically.

"She also said the tips I gave her really helped." She held her phone to her chest, "it's good to be helping people." Timber nodded in agreement as they turned into Twilight's street. But as they drew closer to her house, the girl was spotted three figures standing outside it.

Rarity, Pinkie and Fluttershy were all looking upset, as they saw Timber's truck pull up with Twilight stepping out of it. "Twilight," Rarity frowned, "where have you been?"

"We were worried," Pinkie pouted as Fluttershy nodded and held her phone tight. Twilight looked down at her phone and realised she had a bunch of missed texts and calls, all from the three of them. She remembered she had set the phone o silent when they ran into Sour Sweet and had only just set it back to normal before falling asleep.

"I'm sorry girls," she told them. "It's been a really busy day. There was a Magi-Beast attack and I had to help someone." The girls were surprised to hear this, but nodded. "I'm really sorry I didn't answer your calls."

"It's fine darling," Rarity told her. "Saving somebody's life is far more important then a spa day." The others nodded as Twilight sighed in relief.

"So you're not mad?"

"A little miffed that it happened and you couldn't call us to explain," Rarity went on. "But no, not mad." As she said that, Timber stepped up to them.

"Hey girls," he smiled. "Twilight tell you what happened?"

"Yeah," Pinkie nodded, "so were you the one that beat it?" Timber smirked and flicked his nose with his thumb.

"You have to ask. Of course I was the one who beat it. Totally sucks that it showed up though. Ruined our day out."

"Wait," Fluttershy looked confused, "day out?"

Twilight panicked, but Timber kept talking. "Yeah, Twilight and I were having such an awesome time together. But then that monster showed up and we had to deal with it. Took a huge chunk out of our time together." The girl's shocked expressions turned back to annoyance as their gazes shifted back to Twilight.

"So," Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Magi-Beast or no Magi-Beast, you were going to blow us off."

"Well," Twilight suddenly felt very sweaty, "yeah...I guess I did."

"Twilight," Pinkie pouted, "how could you. We were gonna have so much fun together."

"Hey!" Timber frowned, "Lay off her. It's a free country. If Twilight wants to spend the day with me, that's her decision." The girls turned their anger on him.

"She's well entitled to doing that," Rarity told him before Fluttershy went on.

"But she should have told us she was doing it. It's not fair to us, since we ended up spending most of our day waiting for her." Twilight felt bad about that.

"I'm really sorry girls."

"Don't apologise," Timber told her. "Don't forget, if you hadn't come with me I wouldn't have taken you out to that part of town. Then what would Sour Sweet have done." Twilight realised he was right. Her blowing off her friends had saved a life...but still...

"You got lucky," Rarity told them. "Well...not lucky, but on any other day you wouldn't have had that excuse."

"Whatever," Timber told her, "you're just jealous that Twilight would prefer to spend a day with me instead of you. Not that you can really blame her." The girls all frowned at this and had clearly had enough.

"Well," Rarity sighed, "I guess we don't need to be here anymore. Come along girls, maybe we can salvage this day and have some fun as well. Leave these two lovebirds alone." Pinkie and Fluttershy nodded before they began to walk off, Twilight wanting to ask them to stay but feeling like she didn't have the right too. "You know Timber," she then heard Rarity say. "I thought you were a perfect gentlemen when we first met and an excellent boyfriend for Twilight. I was happy when I discovered you were a Rider. Now I'm not so sure." With that, she was gone and the two were confused by what she meant.

But then Timber shrugged it off, "whatever." He wrapped an arm around Twilight, "who needs those guys if this is how they treat you. It's better when it's just the two of us...three of us," he corrected after Spike popped his head out the bag.

Twilight, meanwhile, only stood there feeling like she was torn. Her blowing off her friends had saved a life, but she still felt guilty. Had she done the right thing...or the wrong thing?

As the sun began to set over Canterlot, Twilight and Flash were both sitting on their living room couch feeling terrible.

Twilight was feeling emotionally terrible whilst Flash was feeling physically terrible, both feeling being equally bad. "I'm home," they both heard their mothers say as they shut the door and headed into the living room. When they saw their child on the couch looking like crap, they frowned. "You don't look so good."

The two teens sighed before saying, "I've had a really bad day."

Ride 20: Wolf in Sheep's Clothing

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Monday had once again arrived and the students of Canterlot High were preparing for another week of school.

This included Flash, who had spent the entire weekend over the toilet bowl. To Flash's surprise, he had woken up that morning feeling completely fine. This had shocked him and his mother, though Flash had always been a quick recover when it came to colds. Even so, getting over the flu in just three days was a surprise for sure.

His mother had offered him the option to stay home to be extra safe, but Flash was sick of being cooped up all day and decided he would go to school but be ready to head home should he find himself feeling under the weather again. So here he was, rolling up to the school on his bike.

As he parked up, he thought about what had happened right before his sudden bout of flu occurred. Timber's threat was fresh in his mind, the teen knowing he should tell Twilight and the others about it. But would they believe him?

Everyone in school knew about his history with the other Twilight and the weird situation between Flash and this world's Twilight. If he told them about what Timber did, would they believe him or think he was just trying to stir up trouble. He knew he could get Sunset to read his mind and see he was telling the truth, but then she might accidentally see something Achilles related. Flash didn't want that to happen.

As he entered the school and headed down the hallway, he spotted the Rainbooms further down. Twilight was on the edge of the group, not partaking in the conversation. Flash had heard about the incident on Saturday and had also heard Twilight had begged her friends the next day to forgive her. They had, but she was still on thin ice.

That was probably why when she saw him, she waved and gestured for him to come over. But Flash, still thinking about Timber's warning, chose to simply wave back and pass them without a word said. This did not go unnoticed.

"Is Flash alright?" Pinkie asked, of course being the one most likely to notice when someone was upset.

"He's probably still feeling like heck after being sick all weekend," Rainbow told her. Twilight wasn't so sure. He looked fine until he noticed her. After what had happened during the weekend, she was a little on edge about friends being upset at her.

Sunset was also curious about Flash's sour attitude. But before she could think of talking to him, a familiar sound coming from her bag caught her attention and she reached in to take out her journal. The fusion of her and Princess Twilight's cutie marks was glowing, signalling the alicorn had sent a message.

"What's up?" Applejack asked as Sunset opened the journal, reading through it.

"Dear Sunset Shimmer. The tales you've been telling me about these Magi-Beasts and the strange armoured heroes that have appeared using Equestrian Magic has me worried something bigger might be on the horizon. As such, I've been looking into a way to help you and your friends fight them on a more even footing. I'll need a little more time, but once I've found it I'll be heading over to your world."

"Awesome!" Rainbow smirked, "something to help us actually fight against the Magi-Beasts instead of playing backup."

"Oh," Fluttershy began playing with her hair. "I hope it's something we can handle. I'd hate to become overwhelmed by it if it's too powerful."

"I'm sure we can handle it," Applejack assured her as Rarity nodded.

"Twilight wouldn't give us something that could put us in danger."

"I hope you're right," Sunset agreed as the bell rang to signal the start of classes. "Let's head over to the portal during break and after school. Twilight will want us there as soon as possible to show us what she has." They all nodded before heading to their classes, all the while human Twilight was still curious about Flash's reaction to her earlier.

At the same time, one student of the high school was running as fast as he could. Norman was one of the more...normal people of the town. He had normal hair, normal skin and normal...everything. He was so normal, it was kind of what made him stand out in the town.

Right now, he was running late after having overslept and missed his bus. "Stupid alarm clock!" He cried for what might have been the twelfth time, "I'm so gonna get detention for this!" If only he new being late would be the least worst thing to happen to him that day.

For atop one of the buildings of the school, Starlight was watching him run whilst holding up a card that was glowing "Perfect."

Meanwhile, across town, we find Timber Spruce in a music store listening to some hard rock. The microphones were on his head as he shook them around, jamming to the sounds abusing his eardrums.

He was so preoccupied with his music, he didn't noticed the little gadget known as Watchdog jump into the store and begin to bark at him. The other occupants turned to stare at him, only for Shining to show up and flash his badge. "Good boy," he told his little gadget. Watchdog happily yipped as he folded back up and Shining pocket him, turning his attention on Timber.

The police officer moved over and tapped him on the shoulder, "gyah!" He spun around and threatened to punch Shining, also reaching for his Driver until he saw who it was. "Oh," he smirked, "hey bro."

"Please don't call me that," Shining told him with a sour expression.

"Why not. We're practically family." Shining had to fight back vomit at the image of what could possibly make them family, but quickly shook it off and took a deep breath.

"I need to talk to you about something."

Timber smirked, "oh I get it. Finally realised we need to do something about Achilles. Well, the first thing we need to focus on is all those other forms he has."

"What?" Shining asked, "no. Nothing like that. Achilles isn't a bad guy so stop-" He took a deep breath, "I'm not arguing with you. I wanna know about the woman who gave you your Driver. Specifically, what she looked like." Timber raised an eyebrow at this, "come on."

"Honestly," Timber scratched the back of his head, "I can't remember. At the time, I was more focused on the Driver." Shining groaned, clearly unhappy with the response. "I guess...sorry, can't think of anything."

"How can you not remember what she looks like?" Shining asked.

"Come on man, most brothers would be happy their sister's boyfriend can't remember what a girl looks like."

"Most people would remember the face of a woman who gave them super powers. Well has she contacted you at all? A text...email...smoke signals."

"No," Timber shook his head, "and that's kinda worrying me. I figured with how good I've been doing, she'd send me some kind of message congratulating me." Shining rolled his eyes at this, "guess she must be busy. Maybe she's working on another Driver to give to someone, not that she'll need to since I'm on the job."

Shining was moments away from strangling the arrogant teen. But luckily, or unlucky, Timber was saved when Shining's phone went off. He took it out, finding it was an app he had that told him whenever the words Kamen Rider or Magi-Beast appeared on social media. As it turned out, someone had just snapped a picture of one.

It was pretty blurry, but Shining could tell it was definitely a Magi-Beast. A furry one if he had to guess, looking pretty strong. And considering the one who posted the photo was a CHS Student, had a feeling that's where it was.

"I gotta go!" He cried, turning to leave. But Timber began to follow.

"It's a Magi-Beast, right?" Shining sighed, but nodded. "Great, our first team-up together. With us two working together, we're gonna have this thing in the bag before lunch. Shining groaned, but couldn't think of a way to get rid of him. Looks like he was forced to team-up with him...for now.

Back at the school, Flash was sitting on the front steps of the building.

Second period was likely about to end and Flash had missed the entire thing. His mother had given him a note saying he could leave if he was feeling sick and whilst he wasn't he had used it to get out of Mr Doodle's class. Flash hated doing it, but he couldn't focus. His first period hadn't gone great with how much he got lost in his own mind.

All he could think about was how he was gonna tell the girls about Timber without making them made. However, nothing he through of felt like it would work.

"Flash!" He spun around and as he did, he noticed Trixie standing at the front door frowning. "What are you doing here? There's a Magi-Beast attacking." That got Flash's attention.

"What?" He stood up, as Trixie stepped up to him.

"Norman's the host. Sunset and the rest of the girls are trying to stop him, but they need a Rider." Flash frowned at this, still not sure if he could handle being around Twilight with what was hanging over him. "Flash!" She snapped at him, "wake up. It's hero time."

"Sorry," he looked away, "I'm not sure I can do it right now. I'm sure Shining is on the way."

"Is this about what happened with Timber?" Trixie asked, Flash's frowned giving her the answer. "Dude, you've gotta get over this. You can't let Timber get away with what he did. Twilight deserves to know the truth."

"I know," he told her. "But...I don't know why I'm feeling this way." He thought about what Timber had told him, making him remember all the strange feelings he felt around Twilight. "This just feels so...different." He looked over at the portal. "My feelings for the pony Twilight were nothing like this. She was nice and had an air of mystery to her, which was why I liked her. But I didn't really know anything about he. I thought my feelings for this Twilight were just run offs from my feelings for her, but they're so much stronger. I've spent time with her, gotten to know her. We have a load in common and when I'm with her...I just can't help enjoying myself."

"All the more reason to tell Twilight the truth. If you care about her, don't let her be with that jerk."

"Oh yeah," Flash rolled his eyes. "That'll work so well. I tell her about Timber and if she believes me and breaks up with him, I can just swoop in and start going out with her. That's a really great way to start a relationship." Trixie frowned, but knew he was right. She wanted to help, but had no idea how.

Flash was about to give up and leave, but before he could a light caught his attention and made him look up. Trixie did the same and they were shocked to see the portal to Equestria activating, both of them rushing up to it just in time for Flash to catch someone as they shot out of it. "Wow!" She cried as Flash wrapped her arms around her, the teen's eyes going wide seeing who it was.

"Twilight?" It was Twilight. The pony Twilight, who was dressed as she always was when visiting. She looked up and locked eyes with Flash, the two staring at one another for a moment before Twilight pulled away.

"Flash!" She smiled, "it's...good to see you."

"Thanks," Flash nodded. "So what are you doing here? Is something happening that needs you here to fix it? Or did Sunset tell you to come?"

"It's...a long story," Twilight explained. "But I do need to see Sunset. Do you know where she is?" Before Flash could say anything, a loud scream made them turn to see Norman running around the side of the school.

"Help!" He cried, as something leapt out from around the corner and unleashed a sound so loud it created a shockwave that hit the teen and knocked him flying.

Flash gasped and rushed over, managing to catch the teen before he could hit the ground and break his fall. Flash did end up falling to the ground however, Norman landing atop of him. "Ow."

"Sorry," Norman stated as Flash pushed him off and sat up to get a better look at what was attacking them.

In a way, it looked like what most people would assume a werewolf would look like. It was a giant humanoid canine, with the head of a dog that had a long snout with sharp fangs. Its body was mostly covered in yellow fur, but it had a green mane around its neck and head with purple ears sticking out the top. Its right arm ended in a human arm, though still covered in fur with long sharp claws at the end of the fingers, but its left arm was nothing like that. Instead of a hand, it hand another dog's head sticking out the end of it. This dog's head was purple and had spines running from the top of its head up the arm and all the way to the shoulder.

"What are you supposed to be?" Flash stood up, "a flea market on legs."

"I'm Twice-Bite!" The Magi-Beast cried, raising his arm head and snapping his second mouth shut. "And you're gonna be in trouble if you get between me and my prey!" Norman became terrified seeing the beast focus on him, as balls of light flew off of him and into the Magi-Beast.

"You don't scare us," Trixie told him as she stepped up. "You might look tough, but you're probably all bark and no bite."

"Oh, I am all bark. And that's why I'm so tough!" He thrust his head arm forwards as the mouth opened and unleashed a powerful howl, which was so strong in fired a stream of sound towards them. The teens gasped an all leapt out of the way, the sound sailing passed them and almost hitting the portal.

Twilight gasped at this, fearing her only way home's destruction. Flash also noticed this and quickly jumped up, running at Twice-Bite whilst Norman turned to leg it. The two-headed dog monster swung his claws at him, but Flash avoided them and grabbed both the beast's wrists as he tried to chomp down on him.

"Flash!" Twilight cried, only to realised Flash was wrestling the Magi-Beast so that his back was to the portal. He was protecting her way home. "We have to do something."

"Like what?" Trixie asked, "we don't have any way of fighting that thing." Twilight frowned and took off her bag, unzipping it to look inside. As she did, a soft light escaped.

Flash grunted as he fought against the monster, really wishing he was morphed right about now. Alas, with Twilight there he couldn't.

Meanwhile, Starlight was up on the school's roof watching. She smirked as she thought back to the situation earlier.

The Rainbooms were fighting against Twice-Bite, Rarity using her shields to protect them from his sound attacks whilst Pinkie threw exploding sprinkles at him.

But nothing they could do was causing any serious damage to him, the lot really wishing Princess Twilight was there with whatever she had promised to bring.

"A'll give him a right punch to the face," Applejack cried from behind Rarity's shield. "Er...both faces. Break their jaws and see how they howl then." But as she rushed forward, passing Norman who Fluttershy and Sunset were protecting, something shot down and hit the ground at her feet. "What the hay!" She cried as she found the grass of the field was suddenly liquid. "What's happenin?" She sunk into the ground up to her waist, the ground then solidifying.

"Applejack?" Twilight cried before another beam of light hit near Rainbow's feet. Even she wasn't fast enough to save herself from sinking, as the others soon followed. Once everyone except Norman was trapped, Starlight let herself be known.

"Don't worry," she told them. "It'll ware off in about ten minutes." She turned to Twice-Bite, "long enough for you to do your job." Twice-Bite nodded and began to chase after Norman, who ran off screaming for help whilst the girls tried to pull themselves free. But whatever Starlight had done had turned the ground iron hard. Even Applejack couldn't break free of it.

"Now let's see how this turns out," she smiled as Twice-Bite broke free of Flash's hold and tried to claw at him.

Flash leapt back and as he did, he heard something. "Transform." Flash looked around, wondering who was saying that. "You have to transform now." The teen had a strange feeling he knew who was saying that, Flash taking out his Driver and looking at it. He felt a warm come from it, confirming it was the source of the voice.

"But...Twilight," he looked up at her for a second before Twice-Bite unleashed another sonic blast. This one he wasn't able to dodge and was blasted backwards, Twilight crying out to him as he hit the ground. "Augh!" He groaned, sick of getting his but whooped. "That's it!" He jumped back to his feet, "now you've done it." He held up his Driver and Trixie's eyes went wide.

"Flash, wait!" He slapped it onto his waist and took out the card, Twilight and the monster wondering what he was doing. But they soon got their answer.

"Henshin!" He yelled as he placed the card inside, causing the device the activate.

"OK!"

“A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

The magical circle appeared, and passed over the teen’s body. In an instant, Flash was transformed into his Achilles persona. Twilight's eyes went wide at this sight, as Achilles took out his spear and began spinning it around before charging.

The Magi-Beast was also surprised by this, but a slash from the spear quickly snapped it back into action. "So what if you're the Rider!" He cried, clawing at Achilles who blocked with his spear. "You don't look so tough!" He pushed the suited teen back before raising his hand mouth, letting out a might howl that shot towards Achilles.

"Oh no you don't!" Achilles leapt up, the sonic blast making the ground explode as he shifted his spear into gun mode. And as he landed, he placed one of his other cards into the slot.

"ALCHEMY FEEDBACK!"

"Polymorphing!" As the Magi-Beast closed his mouth, Achilles fired a bright light from his weapon that shot towards it. It tried to blast it away, but before it could open its arm mouth the light struck it and suddenly morphed into a gooey substance that spread around the whole head. "What did you do!?" He roared as the goo suddenly solidified, turning into metal that sealed up his best weapon.

It was so focused on the loss of its weapon, it didn't realise Achilles had changed his weapon back to spear form until he charged. And in the blink of an eye, he was behind the monster with his spear pointed forwards seconds before the front of Twice-Bite exploded.

"AUGH!" He cried as he staggered around, but regained his footing and panted as Achilles turned back to him. "You've won this round!" He cried, quickly punching the ground and shattering the metal off of his arm head. He then fired a blast at the ground, kicking up a bunch of dirt that masked his escape.

Monster gone, Achilles looked around to be sure nobody was watching before transforming back to his human form. He turned back to Twilight, whose mouth was still hung open is shock. "So," he scratched the back of his head, "I'm guessing you have questions."

Up above, Starlight was watching in amusement. "This could be interesting." But she knew she had to go find her Magi-Beast, so left whilst Flash began to explain.

A few minutes later, the Rainbooms were starting to escape their prisons.

The ground slowly began to soften enough for Applejack and Twilight to pull them all free. As they did, a car and bike engine filled the air. They looked over to see Shining and Timber pull up in front of the school, both seeing the girl's current state.

"TWILIGHT!" They cried, rushing over to the girl who was trying to focus on freeing herself. "How'd this happen?" Shining asked as she finally managed to rip the ground apart, making an opening that allowed the Riders to pull her out.

"It was one of the Advanced," Twilight explained as Applejack broke through the ground and pulled herself up. "Unicorn. She trapped us here so her Magi-Beast to attack Norman."

"Where is he?" Shining asked.

"He ran," Rainbow told them as Applejack broke through the ground holding her. "Only thing he could do against that monster."

"Oh," Fluttershy quivered as Twilight used her magic and pulled the rest of them free, "I hope he's okay. Who knows what that thing will do in order to make him panic."

Shining sighed. "I hope Achilles found him."

"No you don't," Timber frowned. "Achilles is probably gonna hand him over to the monster. Or trick him into thinking he's a good guy and make him panic more then he normally would."

"Seriously dude?" Rainbow asked, "we don't have time for you Achilles hate. We gotta find Norman."

"I'm all over it," Pinkie told her as she pulled her phone out and started looking through her contacts.

"You have Norman's number?" Sunset asked.

"I have everyone's number," Pinkie explained. "Every one of my friends is in my phone. Takes me a while to find the right number though." She kept looking. "Norman...Norman. Normic, Normulch, Norwhal-"

"You really need to alphabetise your phone correctly," Twilight told her as Pinkie finally found the number.

"Got him," she put it on speaker and they all listened as it rang. It picked up on the third ring, a very terrified sounding Norman answering quietly.

"Hello?"

"Norman," Sunset called to him, "are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Where are you?" Rarity asked, "we have the Kamen Riders with us. They can protect you from the Magi-Beast." She then frowned, "what happened to the creature after you two ran off?"

"Flash, Trixie and that girl that looks like Twilight saved me." The Rainbooms smiled hearing Princess Twilight was there, Shining also smiling at the mention of his partner whilst Timber frowned. "They managed to hold it off long enough for me to escape. I don't know what happened after that though."

"Where are you?" Shining asked again.

"I'm by that soap store. You know, the one that sounds like a million different bottles of perfume fell onto the floor." They all knew that store, which only the girliest of girls went too. "I thought that since this thing came from me, it might know everything about me. So I tried to think, where's the one place I'd never normally go."

"Well hold tight," Sunset told him. "We're on our way."

"Okay. But hurry up. All these aromas are giving me a headache." He hung up and the lot of them headed towards the Rider's vehicles, Shining jumping onto his bike and taking off at high speed whilst Timber waited for the girls to climb into the truck.

"Couldn't do this with a bike," he told Rainbow before starting up the engine and driving off.

At the same time, Flash, Trixie and Princess Twilight were on the hunt for Twice-Bite. Flash had sent his owl phone out to get a birds eye view, but so far there had been no sign of the Magi-Beast.

At the same time, Flash came clean about everything to the alicorn turned human. How his Driver appeared. How he discovered what it could do. How he started fighting against the Magi-Beasts and protecting people whenever he could, and how his Driver was able to create new powers based on the Rainboom's abilities. Princess Twilight was certainly intrigued by all this. But she was also worried.

"You took a big risk using Equestrian Magic," Twilight told him. "You've seen what it's done to overs in this world." Flash nodded, remembering those events vividly.

"But it's also not transformed people," Trixie pointed out. "The Rainbooms have only ever gotten good powers from Equestrian Magic. Well...most of them."

"I'll admit I was sceptical about using it at first," Flash told her. "And recently, I have been worrying about it." He remembered the voice he had heard before, "but I have to trust in this magic. Without it, a lot of people would have lost their lives."

"I guess," Twilight nodded. "Just be careful. Getting to comfortable with it might result in problems." Flash frowned, but knew she might be right.

"So you never told us what you're doing here," Trixie pointed out. "We kind of got off topic with the whole monster problem." Twilight nodded and took off her bag, unzipping it and opening it up. Doing so caused a light to come out, the pair looking inside and seeing something within it.

It was a disk made out of a deep blue crystal. around the top was a set of orange runes that nether human could reconize.

"What is that thing?" Flash asked, though he could feel the pulse of Equestrian Magic coming off of it.

"This is a powerful relic," Twilight explained. "I'm hoping the girls can use it to increase their own magical power enough to be able to defeat the Magi-Beasts and these Advanced they told me about. I'm not sure how it could work, but it's better then nothing."

"I guess," Flash nodded. In that moment, they heard the mechanical hooting and looked up to see the Owl Phone flying towards them. "Hey bud," he held out his hand for the machine to land on. "Find anything?" The owl shook its head, hooting apologetically. "Don't worry. I know you did your best. Take a break for now." The robot nodded before folding up, but then flashed to show its owner several missed calls he had gotten from Pinkie. . He pocketed the phone and as he did, he noticed something on Twilight's hand he hadn't before. A ring. "Twilight?" He frowned, "that's that?" He pointed at her hand and Twilight looked down at it, looking surprised before reaching up to her head.

"Oh, right. No horn. Guess this had to go somewhere."

Trixie looked at the ring and was shocked. "Is that...an engagement ring?"

Twilight blushed, "yes. I've recently gotten engaged to someone from my world." She turned to Flash and looked sad, "I'm sorry. I don't want to hurt you, but we both know there's no way a relationship between us could work out. This is your home and mine is in Equestria."

"Yeah," Flash sighed, "I know. It's fine. I'm happy for you. I'm sure you and Timber will be very happy together." Twilight looked surprised by this.

"Timber? Whose Timber?" Flash frowned, now thoroughly confused.

"I figured...since the other you was dating the Timber of this world...I mean everyone else seems to share romantic partners with their counterparts."

"True," Twilight nodded, "but I'm not engaged to anypony named Timber." Flash couldn't believe he was hearing this. What could that mean?

"So what's your fiances name?" Trixie asked, giving Flash a knowing look.

Twilight blushed as she pushed her hair behind her ear and focused back on Flash, "he's your counterpart." Flash's eyes went wide, unable to comprehend what he was being told. "He's Captain Flash Sentry, head of the Royal Guard in Equestria."

"Are you serious?" The Rider asked, with Twilight nodding.

"Yeah, I know it sounds crazy. Honestly, when we first started dating I was worried I was just forcing the feelings I had for you onto him. But over time, I got to know him and realised we had a lot in common. We like the same books, the same type of treats and even our music tastes are similar. We have a lot in common, but he also showed me many new things I never thought I'd enjoy. It was amazing."

Flash let all this information sink in. If this Twilight was engaged to another Flash, could that mean what he thought it mean? He shook his head, not wanting to get ahead of himself. Twilight was with Timber and even if Princess Twilight was engaged to Flash's counterpart, it didn't mean he was destined to be with her. Heck, for all he knew Princess Twilight could end up breaking off her engagement and eventually meeting the pony version of Timber. That thought made his head hurt.

Over with the others, they had finally arrived at the store and found Norman.

Sure enough, he was doing everything he could to stay calm but still a few stray lights flew out of him. "Are you okay?" Shining asked as he knelt down in front of him, Norman nodding.

"Yeah, but I'm worried about Flash. Do you know if he's okay?"

"No," Pinkie shook her head, "I tried calling him but he's not picking up." She looked worried, "I hope he and the others are okay."

"He's a tough kid," Shining told her. "He'll be fine, even without magic or Rider powers." He turned to Norman, "right now we need to focus on keeping you calm so that Magi-Beast doesn't get any stronger." Norman nodded as Timber smirked.

"Don't worry kid. You've got me protecting you. I haven't lost a victim yet." Norman frowned, clearly not liking being called a victim since several lights flew off of him.

"Me and Achilles haven't lost any either," Shining told him. "Just...go keep an eye out. If you see the Magi-Beast, do whatever you can to take him down."

"Got it partner," Timber saluted before walking off. Shining let out a sigh and turned back to Norman.

Twilight and the Rainbooms went with Timber as they looked around, Timber appearing suspicious of everyone that walked by. "What are you doing?" Sunset asked, seeing Timber give a little old lady the stink eye.

"Any one of these people could be one of those Advanced people, or Achilles, just waiting to get the drop on us and terrify Normile."

"Norman," Rainbow corrected. "And...I guess you've got a point."

"Of course I have a point," Timber told her. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. As soon as one of those guys shows up, I'll blast'em right in the Driver. That'll power them down and we can finally see whose under those stupid suits."

"You're not really going to attack Achilles, are you?" Fluttershy asked him, Timber throwing her a look that told her that's exactly what he was planning. "He's such a nice person. He saved my brother."

"But you can't trust him," Timber stated. "I don't care what you guys think of him, he's a bad guy. He's keeping his identity a secret because he knows as soon as he makes his move and betrays you, he'll be able to slip back into hiding cause you don't know anything about him. Trust me, nobody who hides their face from public knowledge has good intentions."

The girls all frowned, having grown tired of Timber's constant accusations of Achilles. But then Sunset remembered something, "he did try to tell us who he is." The girls and Timber all looked at her in shock, wondering what she was talking about. "I didn't always trust Achilles either, but then I saw him help a friend of mine. And afterwards, he offered to let me read his mind. He was willing to let me know who he was."

"Yeah!" Pinkie smiled, "that proves he's not hiding something because he wants too. He must have his reason for keeping his identity hidden."

"Or he was planning to do something to you," Timber stated. "You guys said he got a power up from each of you. Maybe he was only pretending to let you read his mind and when you touched him, he would have zapped away the rest of your magic and get even more powerful." The girls, minus Twilight, all groaned at how stubborn he was acting right now. It's like he couldn't accept he was actually wrong about something, even when it was completely obvious.

Twilight, who was still unsure whether Timber was right or not, wanted to defend him but also didn't get into another arguement with her friends. She could tell both sides were wanting to hear what she thought, making her feel ready to throw up at the choice she had to make. Luckily, she guessed, something appeared to distract them from the question.

"Hey there!" They looked around and gasped as someone suddenly slammed onto the street in front of them, hit with so much force that it shook the ground and made them all fall over. When the dust settled, Terra stepped out of the crater he had made and smirked at them. "What's up. Just heard I got a new friend whose having trouble finding his host. Glad I spotted you guys." He cracked his knuckles, "now I can help him fully form."

Norman gulped as Shining pushed himself back to his feet and rushed forward, taking out the shield badge. "Don't get any closer. You're under arrest." Terra heard this and laughed.

"You really think you can arrest me. Get real!" He charged and as he did, Shining slotted the badge into the Driver.

“SHIELD...OF...JUSTICE!”

"Henshin!" He cried as he charged forward, pulling the leaver that spun and opened the badge.

“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!”

In a flash, he transformed and raised his shield to guard against Terra's fist. The Advanced threw a punch and it had so much force, Argo couldn't help but stagger backwards. As he did, he pulled out his blaster

“ARGO DEFENDER!!!”

He quickly started blasting the monster, but Terra's armor protected him from the shots. "Nice try!" He cried as he started throwing more punches in his direction. "But nothing you do can stop me." Argo did his best to avoid the punches, but it wasn't an easy task.

By this point, Timber had recovered enough to push himself up and place his Driver onto his whilst. "Henshin!" He cried, slotted the card inside and charging forward.

“DEFENDER OF EARTH, THE HUNTING HOUND HERO!!!”

“G-G-G-GAIA!!!”

He transformed and just as Argo was about to fire at one of Terra's less armored sections, Timber leapt over him with his axe raised high. "I got this!" He yelled, swinging the weapon at Terra but the Advanced simply held up an armored glove in order to block it.

Argo had to pull his blaster back, "are you trying to get shot?" Argo tried to move around Timber to get a better shot, but Terra seemed to notice this and grabbed Timber's axe-handle, swinging him around so that he was constantly between him and Argo. "Drop your axe and move!"

"No way!" Timber groaned as he tried to pull his weapon from Terra's grip, "I'm not letting this oath out muscle me!"

"Oath?" Terra growled, "only Cypher's allowed to call me that." He began to spin around, Timber managing to keep hold of his axe and follow him as he did. He gave it one mighty pull and as he did, Terra let go.

"WOW!" He staggered backwards and tripped, falling into Argo and forcing the other Rider to leap backwards.

"We gotta help'em!" Applejack cried, rushing forward with Pinkie, Twilight and Rainbow. But before they could do anything, Terra raised his heavily armored boot and slammed down into the ground with all of his might. This shook the ground again and caused several building to break apart as the girls fell to the ground.

Norman almost fell as well, right as part of the building began to break off and fall towards him.

They all gasped at this, but a laser fired from Argo destroyed the debris before it could hit him. However, this allowed Terra to rush in and grab the teen, throwing him over his shoulder. "NO!" Argo pushed himself to his feet, but Terra gave him a salute before running and hulk jumping into the air. He cleared several building before landing on another, making the whole thing shake.

Argo let out a frustrated cry as he jumped to his feet and rushed over to his bike, getting on it and racing off before Timber and the girls could call out to him. "Come on!" Rainbow cried, the lot getting up. "We gotta follow them." Timber powered down and rushed over to where he had parked his truck, jumping in as the girls climbed aboard.

"How the heck are we gonna find them?" Timber asked as they began to drive away, "we have no idea where they went."

"My brother might have a way to track them down," Twilight hoped.

And she was right. As Argo rolled down the street, he took out his watch and slotted it into a small opening on his bike.

Watch Dog activated inside the machine and connected with the vehicle, allowing him to sniff a single scent from an even greater distance away. Luckily, Shining had taken the liberty of scanning Norman's scent in case something like this happened. And soon enough, he got a lock. "Perfect!" He then activated his suit's inbuilt phone, bringing up Flash's number and calling it.

Flash and the girls were still searching for Twice-Bite when Flash's Owl Phone went off, the teen taking it out and seeing it was Shining Armor. "I'm here," he answered. "What's up?"

"Terra showed up and kidnapped Norman," Flash's eyes went wide hearing this. "I've got their location and I'm sending it to you now."

"Got it!" Flash nodded as they hung up and Flash checked his phone, getting a text a few moments later. "Alright, I gotta go."

"I'm coming with you," Twilight told him. "I might not have any magic, but I can still help. Besides, if the girls show up I can give them the disk." Flash frowned, not liking this idea all that much. But then he nodded.

"Alright, but you gotta be careful." Twilight nodded and they headed off, Twilight going with them and preparing her jellyfish drone in case they needed a little holographic help. Flash knew the area Shining had sent him and the three managed to get there pretty quickly, seeing it was an industrial estate.

As they approached, they spotted Shining waiting outside. He spotted them and smirked, then looked confused. "Twilight?" He asked as they approached, "how'd you get here so quick. What happened to your glasses." He then began to worry. "Wait," he turned to Flash, "does she know?" Flash wondered what he meant, then realised what was going on.

"Shining, this is Twilight's Equestrian Counterpart. The one from the pony world." Shining looked surprised by this, "and yes she knows. I had to transform to save our butts."

"It's nice to meet you," Twilight smiled. "I'm sure my brother back home would be amazed to hear about you being a super hero in this world." Shining seemed a little weirded out by the sight of someone who wasn't his sister looking like her. But before he could say anything, the Watch Dog ran up to them and barked to say it had located Norman.

"Come on!" He told them before rushing inside, putting his Driver back on with Flash doing the same.

They followed the Watch Dog between multiple warehouses until they moved through an alleyway and the robot stopped, the four looking out at the street and seeing Norman. The teen was cowering as both Terra and Twice-Bite glared down at him.

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Twice-Bite roared, scaring Norman and making several lights fly out of him. "Come on," the monster moaned. "Is that seriously all you're gonna give me."

"Guess after a while you get used to it," Terra chuckled. "Well bud, we'll need to find another way to make him give you is life force."

"How?" Twice-Bite asked, "we can't hurt him."

"Correction," Terra smirked, "we can't kill him. There's plenty of ways to make him hurt without killing him." Twice-Bite seemed to like this idea, giggling like a hyena whilst Norman grew terrified. But before either of them could do what they were planning.

"HENSHIN!" The pair spun around in time to see Achilles and Argo leap out of an alleyway and fire their blasters, hitting the pair and knocking them away from Norman as they landed. As they did, Achilles slotted a card. “Element change!"

“OK!”

"HUSSLE, MUSCLE, TRUE METAL OF STRENGTH!”

“K-K-K-KNUCKLE!"

The magic circle washed over him and morphed him into his physically strongest form, Achilles rushing forward as Terra regained his baring. He thrust his fists at him, Terra barely having time to put up a defence to block, duck and weave around him.

As they though, Argo focused on Twice-Bite and started firing at him. The double-headed wolf howled in pain as the lasers bounced off of him, making him stagger backwards. Both Achilles and Argo were doing their best to push their opponents away from Norman, allowing Twilight and Trixie to rush in and help him.

"You okay?" The pony turned human helped him up as Norman continued to unleash lights.

"I'm slowly being drained by a psycho monster who just threatened to bite my feet off."

"So," Trixie thought, "could be better." Norman rolled his eyes as he heard Achilles and Terra connect fists, the force of their punches sending out a shockwave that sent the others staggering. "Come on!" Trixie grabbed his arm and pulled him back towards the alley they had run out of, Twice-Bite noticing this and growling.

"Oh no you don't!" He roared before jumping up to avoid Argo's lasers, then unleashed a sonic howl from his second mouth that struck them.

The three cried out as they were knocked flying and hit the side of the building, all falling to the floor as Twice-Bite landed and launched another blast. This one struck the wall behind them, causing the metal of the building to break apart and fall towards them.

They all flinched and braced themselves, but the pain never came.

They looked up to see the items floating right above them, the lot glowing purple as they heard a grunting and looked over to see Twilight on the other side of the alleyway. "Move!" She cried as the three got up and ran out from under the debris, which she dropped seconds after they did. As she did, the rest of the Rainbooms and Timber arrived.

"How'd you find us?" Trixie asked, as Argo began firing at Twice-Bite again and Achilles threw another punch.

"Tracked my brother's phone signal," Twilight explained before turning to Norman. "How you feeling?"

"I could be better," he replied. That little scare had caused a lot of his energy to be drained from him.

"Well don't worry," Timber smirked as he stepped forward. "I'm here to save the day." But before he could focus on Twice-Bite, he heard sounds that made him look over and see Achilles and Terra fighting. "Those two." He put on his driver, "time to end this at the source." He ran forward and transformed before anyone could tell him to focus on Twice-Bite, the Rider leaping up and raising his axe high.

Both Achilles and Terra heard him yell out and looked around to see him above to slash at them, the two jumping away as Timber slammed his axe into the ground. "You again," Terra growled. "Get lost, I don't wanna fight you."

"Why?" Timber held up his axe, "scared you'll lose."

"Hardly. Fighting you is boring. Achilles is much more fun to play with." Timber didn't seem to like this and charged, swinging his axe at the guy who easily dodged despite his size. "Face it, you can't compete against Achilles. He's got more power then you'll ever have. And you're not even good at this whole Rider things, considering how much you're getting in your teammate's ways. Heck, those girls are better at this then you."

Timber glanced back and saw Twilight and Applejack throwing metal at Twice-Bite, distracting him enough to allow Argo to hit him several times. Achilles then transformed back to his base form and turning his spear into a blaster, trying to work around the other Rider in front of him.

He turned back to Terra and beneath his helmet, he growled. "I'm the best Rider that'll ever live."

"Beach please," Terra laughed. "You couldn't even kick Kuuga Mighty's ass!" He then leapt up and stomped on the ground with enough force to send shockwaves out, Achilles leaping up to avoid this as Timber was knocked off his feet. "Yeah, real good. Only the best fall for the same trick twice." Achilles fired at him and he blocked the attacks with his gloves, the grabbed Timber by the chest and lifted him up.

Achilles was forced to stop shooting before Terra threw the other Rider at him, Achilles leaping to the side whilst Terra leapt towards the others. "Guys, look out!" But Terra slammed his feet into the ground, knocking the girls and Norman off their feet.

He then reached down and grabbed Norman, throwing him over his shoulder. "We're leaving!" He yelled before taking several steps and leaping high into the air, Twice-Bite unleashing a sonic blast that distracted Shining enough to allow his escape.

"No!" Shining cried, "not again!" He gave chase after Twice-Bite, whilst the girls picked themselves up.

They were a little dizzy from the shockwave, making it hard to stand. "Just once I'd like to come here and have an easy visit," Princess Twilight moaned as Achilles rushed over to them.

"We've gotta help them!" He yelled. He turned to chase after them, but before he could he found Timber's axe swinging at him. "WOW!" He leapt back, as Timber got between him and his destination. "What are you doing?"

"Keeping you away from Argo so you can't stop him from stopping that thing." The others were shocked by this as he pointed his axe at Achilles, "it's time I took you down once and for all. I'm gonna find out who's under there and destroy you!" With that, he charged forward and started swinging his axe at Achilles. The other Rider did his best to evade him, but Timber's attacks were so strong he had no way to block without risk of injury.

"Stop it!" Twilight told her boyfriend, but he didn't listen. She tried to use her magic to keep them apart. But whenever Timber was grabbed, a strange green energy shot out of his Driver and acted as a shield to protect him. "Timber!"

"He has to be stopped!" Timber yelled as he leapt forward and swung his blade down.

"I don't wanna fight you!" Achilles told the older teen as he blocked his axe with his spear, "but you're not leaving me any more choice!" He pushed Timber back and took out a card, placing it into his Driver as he charge forward.

"S-S-S-STORM!"

He leapt through the magic circle and morphed into his electric form, quickly taking to the air on his cyclone and flying out of Timber's reach. He then started throwing one lightning bolt after another, making Timber stagger back as Achilles slotted another charge.

"B-B-B-BREEZE!"

He flew down and transformed as he landed in front of Timber, going small to avoid his axe swing before leaping up and hitting him in the chest. Timber suddenly found himself on the receiving end of multiple small but powerful blows, knocking him away as Achilles returned to normal size and slotted another card.

"X-X-X-EXPLODE!

He morphed again and held up his Party Cannon Mini, firing the energy bolts that struck Timber and exploded into pink clouds. The Rider cried out as he endured these attacks, then before to charge forward and use his axe to deflect them. Achilles was forced to duck to avoid getting beheaded, only to then feel a foot slam into his chest and knock him to the ground. Timber raised his axe up, ready to swing it down, but before he could-

"SURPRISE!

Achilles switched his weapon into cannon mode and fired it into Timber's chest, blasting him backwards with incredible force that caused him to throw his axe away. As he landed, Achilles got up and reverted back to his base form. He looked Timber over as the Rider moaned, but pushed himself up.

"Stop this," Achilles begged. "You've made a mistake, but don't make another by continuing."

Timber growled, "I never make mistakes." He reached for his Driver and pressed the buttons, making the Driver unleash the energy.

“GAIA FEEDBACK!”

The others gasped and Achilles sighed, "so be it." He pressed his Driver's button.

"RIDER FEEDBACK!"

The two Riders powered up their final attacks, the magic circles shooting out of Achilles' Driver and surrounding Timber. Before the older Rider could react, Achilles leapt into the air and started bouncing off the circles. "Quit leaping around!" He roared, as Achilles reached the final circle. "THERE!" He rushed towards it and leapt into the air, the energy flowing off him and forming the axe shape above him.

Achilles leapt off the circle and flew towards Timber, spinning around to bring his leg around to strike.

Both Riders roared as they swung their feet at one another and collided, the energies from their attacks merging together as they tried to overpower the other. And eventually, this caused an explosion that consumed them both.

"NOOOOO!" The girls cried, as the shockwaves shattered the glass of the nearby building. They watched and waited, until the two Riders fell out of the smoke. Achilles managed to spin around and land on his feet, though he staggered and needed his spear to keep himself up. As for Timber...

"AUGH!" He cried as he crashed into the ground, rolling along the ground and glowing as his transformation suddenly shattered off of him. He lay there panting, some of his cloths burned and ripped with cuts and bruises seen on his body. He tried to push himself up, but his arms and legs gave out as he fell to the ground.

The girls frowned at him, most believing he deserved this. But then Twilight began to step towards him, the lot worrying she might try to help him. But she didn't.

Instead, she stopped a few feet away and stared at Timber as if she was staring at a pile of mud someone had just walked on her carpet. "Why?" She asked, "why are you doing this?" Timber looked up at her, "I thought you were a good person. You always seemed...so nice. What made you into this paranoid jerk."

Timber didn't say anything, simply looking away. In the end, it was Achilles who spoke. "You can't put all the blame on him." They all turned to the Rider, as he pushed himself up. "He just...wasn't the right person for the power he has. You've all seen it more then anyone, how having just a little more power than anyone else can change a person."

The girls all thought about it, remembering Sunset and Twilight's first attempts at using magic. At Gloriosa, Juniper and all the others who ended up getting Equestrian Magic. The seven of them could handle the power, but that didn't mean everyone could.

"I don't know Timber well enough," Achilles explained. "Maybe he was the good person you say he was. But when you give someone the power to do whatever they want, it can give life to a side they might never have known existed." He looked over at Timber, "a side that wanted things that seemed impossible to get. Many believe they can create a perfect world if they had the power to do it, but because they don't they keep those thoughts buried. But when one is given power, suddenly those ideas don't seem impossible. And when nothing is impossible, nothing else matters. Many people are nice and kind because there is no other way of getting things. But with powers like Timber has, suddenly being nice isn't convenient. In short...power corrupts."

Twilight turned to Timber and frowned, knowing Achilles might be right. If they took Timber's Driver away, would he return to his old self?

“You idiot!” Everyone spun around and both Princess Twilight and Sunset gasped, for Starlight had just appeared from out of an alleyway between two warehouses. She did not look happy and when Timber saw her, he quickly pushed himself back to his feet and ran over to her.

"Please," he told her, "I'm sorry. I did my best, but Achilles is just too strong." Starlight glared at him before anyone could say anything else, she swung her hand around and smacked him. Timber staggered backwards and fell onto his but, he and the others all shocked by what had just happened.

"You really are pathetic," she told him. "Give you a tiny piece of power and you let it go to your head and make you think you're invincible. You should have called yourself Icarus. I'm starting to wish I'd given someone else that Driver." These words rung in everyone's ear, the lot quickly putting this and Timber's reaction to her together and realising what it must mean.

“You're the one that gave Timber his Driver?” Sunset asked, looking Starlight over and noticing her purple appearance. The girl in question smiled and flicked her hair over her shoulder.

“Of course," she told them. "He was my experiment."

“Experiment?” Timber repeated, wondering what the heck she was talking about. "No, you said you wanted me to take Achilles down. You said I could become a hero."

"Of course I said that," Starlight told him. "How else was I gonna get you to take the Driver. You were supposed to drive a wedge between Achilles and the girls, making them turn against him. You were supposed to drive away his closest allies and make him feel betrayed, allowing him to become more willing to join us instead of fight against us."

"You want him to join you?" Timber asked.

"Duh, look at him. He has more power then you'll ever dream of wielding. And he doesn't let it all go to his head. But you couldn't even do the simplest of tasks. But don’t feel too sad. I still have use of you.” Starlight then took out her driver and placed it one her waist, everyone's eyes going wide at this.

"That Driver," Twilight whispered.

"She can't be," Sunset's eyes went wide as she took out a card and slotted it into the device.

“UNICORN!”

In a flash of light, the teen girl was replaced by the armoured horse-themed monster. There was now no doubt in anyone's mind who she was. "Timber!" Twilight called out to him, "get away from her!" Timber, for once, did as he was told and tried to leap back to his feet and escape.

"Oh, I don't think so!" Starlight held up her horn arm as it glowed, the same glow appearing around Timber before he was lifted into the air.

"Timber!" Twilight cried, as Achilles pointed his blaster at Starlight.

"Put him down!"

"Or what?" She asked, "there's no way you can fire before I break his neck. So unless you want him dead, drop it!" Achilles glared at her for several seconds, then growled before lowering his weapon. Starlight smiled before turning back to Timber, who looked rather terrified. “You were meant to see what would happen if someone used the Advanced Driver without the comparability surgery. I did add some limiters to prevent the worst.” She held up her other hand as Timber's Driver shot out of Twilight's hand and into hers, clutching it tightly.

And slowly, the Driver began to crack and break apart. Falling to the ground like dried mud off the side of a car, the Driver's outer layer was destroyed. And in doing so, an Advanced Driver was revealed.

"No way," Rainbow whispered. Starlight smiled as she turned back to Timber, the Driver flying up and attaching itself to his waist. "Since you failed, I might as well see what happens to a human when given its full power.” She took out out a card and Timber's eyes went wide.

"Please," he begged, "don't." But she didn't listen and the card flew up, Achilles rushing forward as it slotted in.

“TIMBER WOLF!”

Starlight let Timber go before leaping back, seconds before Achilles reached her and tries to slash at her with his spear. She teleported away, appearing on a nearby rooftop to watch the fun.

Achilles turned to Timber, who had fallen to a staggering landing as the Driver activated. "Timber, take it of!" Timber nodded and tried to remove the Driver, but it wouldn't come off.

Before anyone could think of a way to remove it, a green light shot out of the Driver and began to spread to Timber. Her cried out as the light morphed into a bunch of vines, which wrapped themselves around his entire body until only his head and the driver could be seen.

"HELP ME!"

Achilles slashed at the vines with his spear, but any he cut were instantly replaced. Then, the Driver started generating a bunch of branches. They began to fall to the ground and as they did, they started forming a shape. Achilles kept trying to free Timber, but nothing he did worked. Eventually the sticks finished forming a giant wolf's head, minus a lower jaw, which formed behind Timber. Once it was completed, the head swung down and Achilles was forced to leap back as it surrounded Timber.

Everyone gasped at this, as the wolf's head started admitting a green light between the branches. The light grew brighter and brighter as the sticks rattled and shook before, finally, it exploded and everyone was forced to leap away to avoid getting stabbed. They focused on the spot and to their shock, something un-human was there.

Where Timber used be, now stood a large mass of wood and leaves in the shape of a wolf. As the beast picked itself up, they got more details. It stood on all fours with metal armbands around its legs, whilst its chest had metal chest plate covering it. The Advanced Driver was around its waist and as it opened its eyes, they saw nothing but a green light.

The beast looked around and when it saw them, it began to growl and slowly stalk towards it.

“Oooh!" Starlight smiled from the building's top, "my own hunting hound." She tapped her chin. "I think I’ll call you...Splinter Hound!”

"Timber!" Twilight cried, "are you in there?" But the beast only let out a mighty howl before leaping into the air, flying straight at Twilight with its claws ready to tear her apart.

Ride 21: Love will come to you

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Twilight gasped as the transformed monster that was once her boyfriend leapt at her, ready to tear her limb from limb.

Luckily, Achilles jumped in front of her. He raised his staff and blocked the claws, Splinter Hound's fangs biting into the metal and making him stagger back as the full weight of the beast overwhelmed him. "Augh!" He almost fell onto one knee, but kept himself standing and glanced back at Twilight. "Move!"

Twilight nodded and rushed over to the rest of her friends, as Achilles used all the strength he could to throw the beast away. As it landed, Achilles pointed his staff at the creature whilst still trying to get his head around the fact that the Advanced were the ones who turned him into a Rider and now into this monstrosity.

"Timber, you're gonna owe me one heck of an apology after I save your sorry butt." With that, he charged forwards.

Norman was trying his best to stay calm, not wanting to give over any more of his life force to the two-headed dog monster currently using him as a battery.

He was also trying to get out of Terra's grasp, but the Advanced's hold on him was just to strong. "That's it," Twice-Bite chuckled behind them. "Struggle all you like. All your doing is giving me more energy." Norman groaned as he kicked at Terra's chest and punched his shoulder, which only caused him to feel pain.

"Face it kid," Terra told him. "It's over. Just accept it and let yourself fade away. Trust me, you'll enjoy becoming part of the Magi-Beast." But before he or the other two could say anything, loud words filled the air.

“LAUNCHER ACTIVATE!"

"Huh?" Terra turned to the voice before seeing a bunch of missiles flying towards them, exploding at the ground and causing the three to be blasted into the air. Norman cried out until someone leapt up and caught him, the pair landing upon the ground and allowing him to see who it was.

"Argo!" He cheered, the Rider nodding and seeing he was alright.

"Go hide over there!" He pointed towards a nearby dumpster, Norman nodding and rushing over to it as Argo turned to the monsters. "I'm ending this now." He grabbed the lever in his driver and pulled it twice, causing the badge to close and open again two times.

“DOUBLE ARGO FEEDBACK!”

Argo slapped his glowing hands together and formed the energy shield, which he threw at Terra. As it shot forward, he repeated the process and formed another shield that he threw at Twice-Bite. As the two Magi-Beasts picked themselves up, the shields slammed into them.

"Augh!" Terra cried as he was electrically paralysed along with his buddy, the Advanced turning to see Twice-Bite unable to unleash a roar. "No!" He cried, as he saw Argo charge forward whilst his legs became changed with the same aura as the shields. "Don't do it!"

Argo leapt into the air and thrust both his legs forward, slamming them both into Twice-Bite. The Magi-Beast howled in pain as he was knocked backwards, the energy from the attack flowing into him. And as he crashed into the ground, he exploded and released the energy he had stolen from Norman.

The teen saw the lights flying towards him and smiled, the energy flowing back into him and making him feel better than ever. Argo, meanwhile, turned towards Terra. "One down."

Terra, clearly angry about the lose of his friend, used all his strength and managed to break through the paralysis. "RAAAAH!" He roared as the shield shattered off of him, the Advanced them leaping into the air before crashing down on the earth. This unleashed a shockwave that struck Argo and sent him flying, the Rider crying out as he was knocked into the side of a building. "I'll make you pay for this," Terra told him as Argo rolled to his feet and raised his blaster. "But not today." With that, he turned and ran off. He built up as much speed as he could before leaping into the air, clearing several building and disappearing behind them.

Argo sighed and powered down, panting as he got his breath back and looked back at Norman, "you okay?"

"I am now," Norman told him. "Thanks for saving me." He looked around and appeared confused, "where are the Rainbooms? And the other Riders?"

"Good question," Shining looked around. He was about to call the others, but before he could something shot down in front of him. "Wow!" He staggered back and saw it was Trixie's Jellyfish Drone. "What's up little guy!" The device created a hologram of Trixie, who looked absolutely terrified.

"Shining, things have gone south over here. If you've saved Norman, get over here!" Shining frowned at this, wondering what could be so bad.

Achilles grunted as he rolled away from Splinter Hound as it tried to claw at him, the Rider shifting his spear into blaster form and firing. The attack flew forward and struck the beast, blowing large holes in the sides of it whilst it whined.

"YEAH!" Rainbow cheered as the rest of the Rainbooms smiled, hoping Achilles could save Timber before it was too late. But as soon as Achilles stopped firing, the beast's body started to repair itself. The sticks that made it up started glowing bigger before snapping, creating new sticks that completely rebuilt the monster.

"Seriously?" Achilles asked as he fired at it again, but no matter how many times he blasted it the creature rebuilt its body. Achilles reached for his card case and took out his Blaze card, but stopped himself before he could use it.

"What's he waiting for?" Pinkie asked, "Blaze Form can burn that thing to a crisp."

"That's not just any old Magi-Beast," Sunset reminded her. "If he burns it he could kill Timber." Rainbow resisted the urge to say 'so' and they continued to watch the fight, as Achilles put the card away and ran forwards. "There's gotta be something we can do to help." As she said that, Achilles leapt at the creature and used his spear to try and cut it in half. "A way to stop that thing."

"Gyah!" Achilles was knocked backwards, hitting the ground and causing his staff to be thrown away from him. The girls frown and were about to attack, but before they could Splinter Hound unleashed a howl that caused pieces of its body to go flying towards them. They all screamed out and Rarity barely managed to shield them in time, but the sticks packed quite a punch and her shields slowly began to crack.

Achilles saw this and gasped, quickly pulling out one of his cards and slotting it. "Element Change!"

“A-A-A-ALCHEMY!”

He quickly morphed into his most versatile form and slammed his hands on the ground, causing it to glow before the ground rose up into a giant wall. "No, wait!" Twilight cried as she rushed forward, but the wall grew to five meter in height.

The Rider spun back to his opponent and hoped this form would help him, then looked around for his staff. But it was gone.

A growl made him turn back to the monster and too his shock, the beast had his staff in its mouth. "Oh, come on!" The beast spun around and launched several sticks from its tail, Achilles dodging and slamming his hand into the ground. Multiple blades flew out of the ground and started flying towards the Magi-Beast, slamming into it and cutting away large sections of its body. But everything that was cut away was quickly regrown almost instantly. Achilles frowned at this, really wishing he knew what this creature's limits were.

He quickly tapped the ground and focused, a spear quickly forming out of it. It wasn't his best work given the limited time he had to think up its composition, but he knew it was the best he would get at the moment and charged. Splinter Hound charged as well and actually swung spear he stole around, the two weapons clashing against one another. Achilles could move the weapon better, but his real spear was stronger so they were about even. For about a minute.

The wolf swung the spear around again and locked it with Achilles', then used its superior strength the throw Achilles' weapon into the air. The Rider gasped at this as Splinter Hound spun around and smashed its tail into him, hitting with enough force to send him flying backwards.

"Augh!" He cried as he slammed into the wall, the day's experiences being too much for him. He fell to the ground and his armor shattered off of him, the teen panting as he tried to pick himself up. All he could do was lean against the wall and stare at Splinter Hound, who growled around his spear which remained despite his Rider Form fading. The creature looked ready to end it and sure enough, it pounced with claws primed.

But before they could sink into him, a large chain flew down and wrapped around the beast's neck. It whined as it was suddenly pulled back, Flash just out of reach for it.

Flash looked passed the creature and saw who was holding the chain currently saving his life: Starlight. The Advanced smiled at him as she got closer, magically holding the chain so the beast couldn't overpower her. "Isn't he such a good boy. Quite an excellent fighter, wouldn't you agree?"

"Change him back!" Flash growled.

"Now why would I do that?" She asked, "he's so much more manageable this way. And face it, you still prefer this creature to the jerk he was before. Now, have you had any thought to what we discussed before?"

"What?"

"My offer to join me," Starlight reminded him. "This is your last chance to accept. I won't be making this offer again."

Flash frowned, unsure what to do. If he refused like he wanted too, he would be ripped the shreds before he could even hope to morph again. But there was no way he was gonna accept her offer. He could try and bluff his way out of the situation, pretending to agree. But he had a feeling Starlight would see through him within five seconds.

"Last chance to say yes," her magic slackened on the beast. Flash just glared at her, having chosen his answer. "Very well." But before she could let it go, they heard a voice.

“ARGO ARMOR FEEDBACK!!!”

Sirens filled the air as Argo shot out from one of the alleyways in his armored form, the Rider slashing at both Starlight and Splinter Hound with is claws.

Both leapt back and Argo turned to Flash, rolling forward on his skates and grabbing the kid. "You okay?" He asked, as he started racing along the newly built wall.

"I've been better!" He replied as they ducked into an alleyway, Starlight letting her pet go to chase them. But the alleyway was too small for it to get through, allowing the pair to race out the other side.

Starlight let out a sigh, "oh well. I'll deal with them next time." She turned to the wall and charged up her arm horn, firing a blast of magic that struck the wall and caused it to shatter. As it fell, it revealed that Trixie, Princess and the Rainbooms were all gone. "Decided to run off I see. Typical." She turned back to Splinter Hound and used her magic to grab him by the chain again. "Come along. I'm sure Cypher and Terra are interested in meeting you." And so the pair left, not caring if anything or anyone saw them. What could they do if they did?

Twilight frowned as she and the rest of the girls arrived at her house.

After Achilles had separated them, the Rainbooms had prepared to fly over the wall. But before they could, Twilight got a call from Shining demanding to know what happened. She had had a time explaining everything and Shining quickly told them to leave and go to her house, whilst he helped Achilles.

The girls didn't like this, but also didn't want to upset Shining when he was clearly already unhappy. So they all rushed off, leaving Achilles as much as they hated it, and headed to Twilight house.

When they got there, Twilight was relieved that her parents weren't there. Spike was a little surprised to see another Twilight, but he at least knew about Equestria so it wasn't hard to catch him up. Now the lot of them were in the living room, waiting to hear if Achilles and Shining could save Timber.

"I can't believe one of the people doing this is this world's Starlight," Princess stated. They had all agreed to call her that so things didn't get annoying when the others wanted to talk to the two Twilights. "I knew Starlight was a little warped when I first met her, but I never figured she'd actually try and hurt people." Stealing Cutie Marks and Altering the space time continuum might have caused a lot of harm, but it was never an intentional aim of her Starlight.

"That girl is so different from the Starlight we met," Sunset replied. "I knew she had problems in Equestria, but for her doppelganger to do something like this." She quickly remembered that just because their worlds had a lot of similarities, that didn't mean they were perfect one to one creations. "Clearly something happened to her that made Starlight like this. Your Starlight needed you to help show her the way, so maybe we can do the same."

"You wanna help the bad guy?" Rainbow asked.

"Why not?" Sunset replied. "Is she any worst then I was back before Princess and you guys helped me see the way?" They couldn't deny that. "There must be some spark of good left in her

It was at that moment that they heard the doors open and two people step inside. Shining and, too all except the Trixie and Princess' surprise, Flash. "What are you doing here?" Sunset asked, only to then notice Flash looking a little beat up. "What happened.

"I accidently walked into a fight between Achilles and some freaking wooden wolf creature," Flash lied. "The thing stole the guy's staff and almost beat him up. It then noticed me and...let's just say I've felt better."

"Is Achilles okay?" Twilight asked.

"I managed to get him out of there," Shining replied. "But Unicorn and that wolf creature managed to escape."

"That wolf creature is Timber," Applejack stated. Flash pretended to be shocked by this, whilst Shining nodded. "That girl was playin him for a fool."

"Not exactly hard," Fluttershy whispered so Twilight didn't hear.

"Well we've gotta do something," Flash told them. "You've gotta find a way to save Timber." Hearing this, Trixie was incredibly shocked.

"Seriously?" She asked, "you of all people are saying that? Why do you care after what he did to you?" Flash shot her a look whilst the others turned to him curiously.

"What's she talking about?" Twilight asked, the others also eager to hear this.

"It's nothing," Flash told her. "Trixie's just running her mouth again." Trixie frowned at this and the others weren't buying it, Rainbow turning to Sunset.

"Do it," she told her and Sunset actually looked like she was considering using her magic.

"Okay," Flash feared she would learn his secret, "okay. Timber...threatened me." They all gasped hearing this. "He...told me to stay away from Twilight. And he showed me his Driver when he did so, which...you know..."

"Was his way of saying stay away from Twilight or I'll use my Rider powers to hurt you," Shining growled. "I knew that punk was no good." The others agreed, many turning to Twilight.

She appeared to be having a hard time processing this information. Timber, who had been so nice when they met, had threatened one of her friends to stay away from her. Had that been why Flash had kept his distance?

She turned to Flash, "why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I...didn't wanna look like I was trying to ruin your relationship," he told her. "I figured it would be easier just to do as he said."

"You should have told us," Shining stated. "We would have protected you and I would have had all the reason I needed to try and take that Driver away from him." He stood up and looked out the window, "I should have known someone like him would have never been chosen by Mr.Wave. I should have taken that Driver away from him as soon as I saw it."

"You're not the only one who was tricked," Sunset sighed. "We all thought Timber would be a good rider when he first showed up. But he quickly showed the kind of person he is."

"Hold on," Twilight stood up. "Maybe it's not Timber's fault."

"Honestly Twilight?" Rarity frowned, "I know it's hard to realize your boyfriend isn't who you think he is but..."

"It was the Driver," Twilight explained. "Starlight gave him that Driver hoping to make him turn us against Achilles, so she wouldn't have wanted him to start trusting him like we did. She must have made it so that the Equestrian Magic in his Driver started corrupting him as soon as he started using it. If we get the Driver away from him, I'm sure he'll go back to normal."

The others frowned, knowing Twilight probably wasn't going to accept the truth about Timber. However, they also knew she made a good point. The only way to confirm whether Timber really had been mentally manipulated was to turn him back to normal and get rid of the Driver. But how?

"Achilles couldn't put a scratch on that wolf monster," Pinkie pointed out. "And our magic is tough, but it's had trouble beating normal Magi-Beast. How's it gonna beat a supercharged one with a human inside it."

"Good question," Twilight frowned as she tried to think of something.

It was then that Sunset remembered something, "Twilight!" Both girls with that name turned to her, "sorry. Princess Twilight. You came to bring us something that should help us fight the Magi-Beasts, right." The others realised she was right and Princess reached into her bag, taking out the disk.

"Here," she handed it over to Sunset, "this ancient relic should help power up your magic."

"Should?" Applejack asked, as Sunset took the disk.

"Well it works in Equestria," Princess explained. "But with how different Equestrian Magic works in this world, I can only hope it'll do the same." The Rainbooms all looked the device over, wondering how exactly this thing was supposed to help them save Timber.

"Here goes," Sunset held up the device whilst channeling her magic. The others did the same and placed their hands on each other's shoulders, the Magic of Friendship that flowed through them going into the disk. Everyone watched, some a little worried it could boost the power too much and cause the girls to monster out. But as they waited, nothing happened.

The magic the girls fed it did nothing to the disk, which didn't react at all to their power. After a while of trying to get a response, the girls stopped. "It's not working," Fluttershy quivered.

"Why not?" Rainbow asked, as Princess took the disk and looked it over.

"I'm not sure," she frowned. "Like I said, Equestrian Magic works differently here. I guess it's so different that this thing can't connect to it like in Equestria."

"So we can't power up?" Applejack asked, Princess' frown giving her all the answer she needed. "Great. So what do we do now?"

"We'll have to leave this up to me and Achilles," Shining told them. "We'll have to find a way to save Timber on our own." He glanced over at Flash and the teen nodded when the girls weren't looking. Timber might have been a jerk, but they still needed to save him. If they didn't, he might never return to normal and the Advanced would have another weapon to use against them.

"So what's the plan?" Trixie asked, the lot of them knowing they would need to come up with something to find and neutralize Splinter Hound. This was gonna be a long night of planning.

"Alright boy," Terra smirked at Splinter Hound in an open area of their base. "Ready to wrestle?" The beast growled as he circled the Advanced, then leaped at him. Terra raised his hands and grabbed its paws, the beast snapping its fangs at him as he laughed. "You're a playful fellow, aren't you?"

Off to the side, Starlight and Cypher were sitting around a table. Starlight was enjoying some iced tea as Cypher stared at the beast, then glanced at Starlight. Despite his stoic appearance, inside he was not a happy bunny. "Problem?" He heard the girl ask after sipping her tea.

"The doctor will not be happy about what you've done," Cypher told her. "When he discovers you've-"

"Don't get your panties in a bunch," she told him. "I'll have you know I asked permission to do this little experiment." Cypher was surprised to hear this, "the doctor even let me borrow a spare Advanced Driver." She turned to smile at him, "I guess it pays to have more successful experiments then you."

"What did you say?" Cypher glared at her, "the Chimera Magi-Beast I created gave us a lot of useful data. With it, the Doctor is getting closer and closer to his goal."

"Is that so," Starlight smiled. "And yet not one of the Magi-Beasts you've created has survived." She glanced over at Splinter Hound, "whilst mine is complete and ready do what you never could."

"You think that thing can defeat the Riders?" Cypher asked, "don't be foolish. It's powerful, but it has no mind to help it strategize. Eventually, Achilles and Argo will find a way to destroy."

"Not if we destroy them first," Starlight announced. She got up and began to leave, whistling and actually commanding Splinter Hound to follow. It did so, picking up Achilles' staff along the way. When Starlight was finished, Achilles would regret not joining them.

The next day.

Having spent all night coming up with ideas, the Riders and Rainbooms were ready to try and save Timber. "Alright," Shining turned to them, "everyone remember the plan?" They all nodded as Sunset repeated it.

"We split up and find Splinter Hound, then call the others. "When they arrive, we'll use our magic blast to try and revert Timber back to normal. If it doesn't work, hopefully, it'll weaken it enough for you and maybe Achilles to finish it off." They all nodded and split into their decided groups. Flash and Shining jumped on their bikes while Rainbow and Pinkie jumped on the prismatic-haired teen's ride. Sunset, Twilight, Princess, and Trixie would head off in one direction whilst Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy would head in another.

"Alright," Shining revved his bike, "let's do this thing." He rode off and Flash was about to follow, but then stopped and turned to the girls.

"Twilight," she stopped and turned to him, "I know this isn't the best time but...happy birthday." Twilight's eyes went wide at this, as she realized she had completely forgotten it was her birthday with everything that had happened.

Before she could say anything to him, Flash raced off after Shining as Rainbow and Pinkie did the same. Twilight then smiled at this whilst her counterpart smirked, hoping they would soon realize what she and her love had realized a while back.

Down on main street, Starlight and Splinter Hound stood atop a building looking down at the people that were just living their day to day lives.

The armored girl chuckled before turning to her monstrosity. "Go." The beast let out a howl before it exploded into a cloud of twigs and leaves, which shot into the air before diving down towards the street. When it reached the ground, the people there were suddenly shocked to see a giant wolf monster begin to form and all ran, whilst Splinter Hound began launching twigs and leaves in every direction to do as much damage as she could. "Now, Riders. Come try to save the day...and meet your doom."

Twilight, Princess, Sunset, and Trixie had been searching for a good while.

So far, there had been no sign of Starlight, Splinter Hound, or any of the other Advanced. "Where the heck are they?" Trixie groaned after almost two hours of searching. "A giant wolf monster can't be that easy to hide. You'd think there'd be some kind of clue around here."

"Those guys are tricky," Sunset told her. "For all we know, they turned Timber back to normal and have him locked up somewhere until they plan on using him again. And who knows when that'll be."

Twilight frowned hearing this and Princess turned to her, seeing the look on her face. "Can I ask you something?" Twilight turned to her. "You and Timber. How...why...I just wanna know what makes you like him so much."

"I don't know," Twilight wanted to defend him but also remembered what Flash had told her the previous day. "When we first met at Camp Everfree...he was so nice. We had a lot of the same interests and honestly, he was the first guy that ever showed any interest in me. The guys at Crystal Prep were so snooty and didn't find anything I enjoyed at all interesting."

"I see," Princess nodded. "So you weren't used to guys having an interest in you, that you were swept off your feet by the first guy to smile at you nicely."

"Weren't you the same way when you met our world's Flash?" Trixie asked, remembering Flash telling her how he and this Twilight had first met. Princess blushed at this but quickly shook her head.

"This isn't about me. This is about Twilight." She turned to her and gave her a reassuring look, "you need to think about your relationship with Timber and decide if it's really a good thing to keep going."

Twilight looked at her curiously, "you're telling me to break up with him?"

Princess shook her head, "I'm not telling you to do anything you don't want to do. I just want you to think. There are many relationships that seem great at first but can turn bad over time. You need to ask yourself if you and Timber really are compatible with one another."

"Aren't we?" She asked, "we like the same things?"

"It doesn't matter how many things you share interest in," Princess stated. "It's quality over quantity. You have to ask, what is the most important thing in your life. Something you can't live without. Then ask yourself if Timber cares about that as much as you do."

Twilight thought about this and wondered. Had she been asked this before going to CHS, she would have said science and math. Timber would have qualified then. But now was different. The thing she cared about more then anything else, that she couldn't live without, was her friends.

Then she remembered the many interactions Timber had had with her friends. He had gotten into an argument with them and asked her to blow off her friends, though it was mostly her fault for agreeing too, then he told Twilight she was better off without them. Twilight didn't think that. She would be nothing without her friends.

Twilight frowned and realized Timber didn't care about her friends. If she never saw them again, he would probably be happy about it. Then there was what he did to Flash. Was he really so possessive of her that he would threaten any guy that wanted to be her friend? That had to have been the Driver...right?

Before she could say anything, Sunset's phone buzzed and she answered it with a surprised look on her face. "It's Pinkie!" They had set up a group chat for this operation and Pinkie had just texted on it, "she said they found Splinter Hound!"

They had indeed found the beast, tearing up down town and terrifying as many people as possible.

"Let's go fleabag!" Rainbow cried as she ran forward. The wolf turned to her and growled, firing a bunch of sticks and twigs in her direction. Luckily, his speed allowed her to avoid most of them and continue rushing forward. "Take this!" She tried to punch it, but the beast quickly exploded into a cloud of sticks and leaves that completely evaded her. "HEY!" She cried as she slid to a stop, whilst the cloud reformed behind her. "No fair!"

The beast growled at her and was ready to strike, but quickly found a cupcake slamming into its head seconds before it exploded. The beast staggered away and quickly regenerated its damaged face, then turned to glare at Pinkie. "Bring it on, you big meanie!" Pinkie's arms were full of candy bombs, ready to bombard the beast.

Meanwhile, Flash and Shining were racing towards the area Pinkie had sent the text from. "You ready to do this?" Flash asked Shining as he put his Driver on his waist.

"Oh yeah," Shining nodded as he did the same. "I don't wanna admit this, but I've been dying for an excuse to punch that guy in the face. Flash smirked at this as he took out a card, Shining holding up his badge and placing it on the Driver as Flash opened up his slot.

"OK"

"ACTIVATED!"

The two Riders looked ahead and both slotted their card and pulled the leaver of their Driver together. "HENSHIN!" The magic circles appeared before them and they quickly drove through it.

"A HERO’S STORY YET TO BE TOLD! FIGHTING TO PROTECT ALL!”

“SHIELD...OF...JUSTICE!”

Flying though them, the Riders were quickly decked out in their suits. Flash's bike also transformed, the two riders how racing side by side towards their targets.

“R-R-R-RIDER!”

“AR-AR-AR-ARGO!!!”

"WOW!" Rainbow cried when she had to duck down in order to avoid several wood missiles flying towards her, as Pinkie threw another explosive baked goods at it.

Unknown to them, Starlight continued watching and frowned as she twirled Achilles' staff around. "I don't want the side characters. Where are the Riders at?" She watched Rainbow charge at the beast, as Pinkie threw another muffin at it. But then Starlight whistled, giving a command to Splinter Hound and causing it to explode. The cloud of wood split in two, Rainbow running through it along with Pinkie's muffin.

"YAAAAH!" Rainbow cried as she ran into the exploding treat, which went boom and sent her backwards.

"RAINBOW!" Pinkie cried, rushing over to her friend as the beast reformed behind her. "You okay?" She sat the girl up and Rainbow let out a moan, holding her head as she did.

"I've been better." She then noticed Splinter Hound reform and glaring at them both, Rainbow picking herself up only to stagger due to her dizziness. But as the beast prepared to charge, they both heard a pair of engines moving towards them.

"Hang on girls!" Argo yelled as he and Achilles raced forward, Splinter Hound turning to glare at them before launching several sticks. The Riders saw this coming and both reacted the same way, the two jumping up so their feet were on their seats before leaping into the air from them. The bikes both swerved off and through magic and self driving technology, drove off to the side to avoid the sticks before parking.

Now midair, Achilles and Argo go into a fighting stance as they fell. Argo pulled out his blaster and fired at the beast, hitting it in the head and making it stagger back. "I want my staff back!" Achilles then yelled as he thrust his foot forward into the creature's snout.

It howled as it staggered back, the Riders landing as Argo prepared another round of blaster fire. But before he could the beast exploded into a cloud of twigs and shot forward. Argo fired but it did little to the cloud as it swarmed around them.

"This is bad," Pinkie cried as the Rider were back to back trying to fight against the swarm.

"We've got no other choice!" Argo told Achilles. "Blaze Form, it's our only hope!" Flash frowned, but knew he was right. By the looks of things, Timber wasn't physically within the beast. Hopefully that meant he wouldn't suffer from any of his attacks.

"Got it!" He took out a card and slotted it into his Driver, "Element Change!"

“PASSION BURNING AT 100 DEGREES, CONSUMED BY THE FLAMES OF REBIRTH!”

“B-B-B-BLAZE!!!”

The magic circle appeared and flew over his body, transforming him into his fiery form. He quickly formed a ball of fire in his hand and threw it like a bowling ball, the flames shooting forward and hitting a section of the wood cloud before exploding. This caused the wood to move away from that area, allowing the Riders to leap up and through the hole it formed.

As they landed outside the cloud, Achilles created another fireball that quickly took shape.

“SOLAR SONIC!”

The axe-guitar hybrid appeared and Achilles started rocking out, unleashing several flaming notes that shot towards the cloud. They struck and exploded, sending the sticks flying off until it was a safe distance away. There it reformed and despite smoking, Splinter Hound appeared unharmed.

"This is getting ridiculous!" Starlight growled before holding up Achilles' staff and throwing it at the beast, Splinter hound seeing this and leaped up. It grabbed the weapon in its mouth, the others looking up and seeing Starlight, whilst Splinter Hound landed with the weapon ready.

Achilles strummed some more fire notes but as they shot towards it, Splinter Hound swung the staff around and created a powerful air gust. The two elements combined and canceled each other out, Achilles growling at this. Splinter Hound then fired another air blast that both Riders used their weapons to defend against, whilst Pinkie and Rainbow were forced to take cover behind a trash can. They really wished the disk had given them a power-up.

The two Riders were so focused on defending against the wind, they had forgotten about Starlight. "Smile for the birdy," she smirked as she pointed her horn at them and charged up the most powerful blast she could. "Fire in the hole!" She launched the laser and it was so strong, she was actually blasted backwards off her feet.

The light from this blast caught Argo's attention and he looked around to see it coming. "LOOK OUT!" He cried as he jumped between Achilles and the attack before raising his shield.

"SHINING!" Achilles cried as the attack struck the shield and caused an explosion that sent both Riders backwards. Shining cried out in pain as they struck a wall and both fell to the ground, the two Riders glowing as their suits began to cut out. Luckily for Achilles, he only reverted to his base form whilst Argo returned to human form. The Rider moaned as he pushed himself up and looked over at Shining, "you okay?" Shining didn't reply, "bro!" He shook him but Shining appeared to be out cold. "Great." Growling brought his attention back to Splinter Hound, who still had his spear in its mouth. "Double great!"

"Get out of there!" Rainbow yelled as she and Pinkie rushed over to them, whilst Achilles pushed himself back to his feet and got between Shining and the monster.

"Stay back!" He told the creature, who simply growled before leaping forward. Before Achilles could react, it thrust a paw into him and pinned him to the ground. "Ahhh!" The girls gasped, Pinkie trying to find an exploding sweet but found she was completely out.

"Girls!" They looked around to see Trixie and the rest of the Rainbooms running towards them, the lot gasping when they saw Achilles was in danger. The lot of them tried to run forward to help him, but before they could Starlight had recovered.

"I don't think so." She tore a card she had just taken out and threw it into the air, the pieces unleashing a vapor that filled the air and flew down. The girls quickly found themselves staring down a bunch of Nightmares, which now stood between them and Achilles.

"Get out of our way!" Twilight cried as she tried to use her magic to push them away, but the creatures seemed able to throw off her magic. "What?"

"Did you really think I wouldn't make these things to be immune to your magic," Starlight chuckled as the Nightmares charged and forced the girls to fight as best they could. She turned her attention back to Splinter Hound, who still had Achilles in its grasp. "Finish him."

Splinter Hound pushed down on Achilles' chest, making him cry out as he felt unable to breathe in. He tried to push the paw off of him, but his strength was waning. "Please," he whispered to nobody in particular, "someone... helps me." As he said that, about to blackout, his Driver slowly began to glow.

As the girls tried to fight through the Nightmares, Princess' bag also glowed despite her not knowing. Inside, the disk was letting off a strange light.

Flash opened up his eyes and looked around, finding himself in a very familiar white void.

"Where am I?" Slowly, he realized he was in the same realm he had seen in his dreams. "Did I black out?" He began to worry, fearing Splinter Hound would likely use this chance to bite his head off or something. Then, he saw something moving towards him. The fuzzy blob that appeared humanoid. "Hey!" He called out, once again reaching out of it. "Can you hear me?" He tried to get closer and this time, it actually worked. He could feel himself moving and so was the blob, who also reached out. "Who are you?" He cried, as his and the figure's hands got within reach. And then, then grasped.

In that moment, the figure instantly became clear as day. It was like he had been wearing non-prescription glasses that had just been removed. And the figure he was now looking at was...himself. More specifically, himself in his Rider suit.

He looked himself over, wondering what the heck was going on as he let go of its hand. "Who...who are you?"

"Isn't is obvious?" The suit replied. "I am the one who gives you the power you've been using to protect those you care about. The one that has aided you when you need it most." Flash had no idea what he was talking about, but slowly put the pieces together and looked down at the suit's waist. At the device strapped to him.

"No," he shook his head.

"Oh yes," it nodded.

"You're my Driver?"

"Legend Driver," he corrected. "I'd rather not get mixed in with the rest of those mindless machines. But yes, I am it."

"You...you really are alive?"

"I am now. At first, I was simply a piece of gear Equestrian Magic had infected, reacting to you. But the more you used me, the more a piece of yourself merged with me. A tiny spark of your soul, like the smoke of a flame, fused with the Equestrian Magic and gave me life. We are two separate being, who share a link that allows us to communicate like this."

"Why haven't you spoken to me before?"

"I have," the Driver replied and Flash remembered the last dream. "The link we shared allowed me to grant you power, but it wasn't strong enough to properly allow full communication. Until now. Now the two of us have truly awoken, likely due to the great stress you were under. But mostly it's because I can feel another source of Equestrian Magic nearby. One we can use."

Flash wondered what he was talking about, at first assuming it was the magic currently transforming Timber. But then he remembered, "the disk." He looked at the Driver, "the disk Princess Twilight brought with her."

"Exactly. It might not have reacted to your friends, but it appears we can use it."

"So we can get another new form," Flash was a little excited and wondered what he would be able to do in this form. But then he frowned, "what if it makes us too strong? What if we lose control?"

"We won't," the Driver assured him. "And this power won't be like the others." Flash raised an eyebrow at this, "unlike the others this Equestrian Magic won't be a formless mass I can merge with and create a stable form with. I can link it to us and manipulate what it looks like, but the power won't be completely remain for as long as we want it to."

"How long will we be able to hold it for?"

"I'd say about five minutes. Possibly longer the more you use it, but five minutes should be all you'll have this first time. But it should be enough." Flash nodded as his Rider suit held out a hand, "ready to do this?"

Flash took a deep breath and nodded, grabbing his hand. "Let's do this!" With that, a light erupted from where their hands met and Flash was blinded for a moment.

The girls continued to watch from behind the Nightmares, as Achilles stopped moving. They were beginning to fear that Achilles was unconscious or worst, but then something happened that took them by surprise.

Achilles' Driver suddenly exploded with light, which spread across the rest of his body. As it did, he raised his arms crossed them over his head. "Get...OFF ME!" With that, he swung his arms around and the light exploded off of him. It shot off in every direction, blinding Splinter Hound and making it stagger backward in pain.

It also caused the Nightmares to suddenly be disinterested whilst Starlight was blinded. "What's happening!" She screamed, unable to take the light even in her monster form.

Shining also seemed to come around at this moment, the man moaning as he raised his head and looked over at his partner. Achilles stood up, standing tall and strong as Shining smirked. "Get him."

Achilles held his hand up and as he did, Twilight's bag suddenly started moving on its own. "Huh?" She asked as it moved around, then suddenly jerked upwards as the disk broke out of it and shot towards the Rider. "What?"

Achilles grabbed the disk and as he did, the light coming off him flowed into it. The artifact changed in his hand. It turned into a device similar to a minimalist record player with a thin CD sandwiched within it. The disk was mostly exposed with a circular meter in the middle. The Rider presented the new item and pressed the button on the side. “Here gose nothing.”

“SPARK CREST

He slotted the crest over the driver and spun the disk. when he did, it unleashed a bright light that formed a ring around his abdomen. That ring then split into two, one right moving up his body whilst the other moved down. As this happened, Achilles' suit began to change. The black sections of his bodysuit turned metallic blue, whilst the golden armoring turned silver. The crest of his head split into four spikes whilst his arms and legs turned orange that ended at the elbows and knees creating a flame pattern. The end of his scarf also gained the orange flame pattern, whilst in the center of his chest appeared five crystal triangles positioned to form a circle. His eyes turned green and the crystals all glowed red, completing his transformation.

"THE GALLANT ONE RISES, LET THE NEXT CHAPTER BEGIN!!!”

“RIDER PLUS-PLUS-PLUS!!!”

Everyone stared at Achilles in amazement, marveling at this new form of him. Starlight was absolute horror struck, "are you serious? Pick a look already and stick with it!"

Splinter Hound also didn't appear to be too happy about it and leaped forward, ready to crush him under-paw. But before it could reach him, Achilles vanished in the blink of an eye. As it landed, Achilles appeared behind the monster.

"Wow," Pinkie cried, "he can teleport!"

"No," Rainbow shook her head, "he just moved really fast!" Her geode's ability had allowed her eyes to keep up with him, but only barely. "He's even faster than me."

Achilles turned to Splinter Hound and took up a fighting stance. "By the time this battle's over, you're going straight to Tartarus!" With that he warped forward as it turned to him, punching the wooden monster in the face and knocking it backwards. As it did he warped to where it was staggering and punched it again, repeating this process several times and moving so fast it was like there were five of him.

On the last attack, Achilles leaped up and swing his foot into the monster. This made it howl in pain and it dropped Achilles' staff, the Rider warping under the monster and catching the weapon before warping back over to a safe distance. "Gotcha," he smiled as he held the weapon. He was glad this creature didn't have saliva, or else the spear would have been soaked.

Before he could do anything else, he noticed one of the glowing crystals on his chest stopped glowing. He wondered what this could mean, but then remembered what the Legend Driver had told him. The lights must be indicating how much energy he had left, the Rider figuring he had another four minutes before losing this power-up.

"Gotta move fast," he told himself as he spun towards Splinter Hound.

He rushed forward and as the beast picked itself up, Achilles warped all around it and started slashing at multiple areas of its body. It howled in pain, constantly attempting to turn towards the area it was struck and slashing. But every time Achilles moved to a different spot and struck. He did this for about a minute, the second crystal losing its light and leaving only three.

Eventually, the beast had had enough and let out a mighty loud howl. This caused it to explode and transform into nothing leaves and sticks that started flying around the place like a cloud of bugs. Achilles stopped moving at this point, which allowed the cloud to find him. Before the Rider could escape, the wood and leaves spiraled around him into a giant tornado that even he couldn't leap over.

"Not good," he gulped as several twigs shot towards him. In the blink of an eye, he was struck and cried out as they slashed him with more force than twigs should have. As another attack came, he spun his star around to deflect it. But this cost time and the third crystal stopped closing, "I gotta get outta here!"

Outside the vortex, the others watched with worry. "He needs help!" Rarity cried.

"But what can we do?" Fluttershy asked, "we're not strong enough to beat that thing."

"Maybe not," Sunset frowned. "We might not have gotten the power-up we were expecting, but that doesn't mean we can't help." She clutched her geode and once again ponied up, the rest doing the same. "Let's go girls!" She held out her hands and the girls grabbed hold, the magic flowing and combining together.

One by one, they all lifted themselves into the air as the magic surged around them. Each focused on their friendship, the fuel of their magical power. When the energy reached its peak, the girls focused on the vortex and unleashed all their power.

Those on the ground were forced to shield their eyes, as the girls unleashed the rainbow blast towards the tornado. It struck and created a bright explosion, almost knocking some of them off their feet. The force of the explosion blew the tornado away, hitting the ground and quickly beginning to reshape itself back into Splinter Hound.

Now freed, Achilles turned to the girls as they began to float back to the ground. He gave them a thumbs up but realized he only had about a minute or so left.

He turned back to the reshaping Splinter Hound and tried to think of a way to end the battle once and for all. Then he noticed something that made him have a eureka moment. The Advanced Driver. "That's what turned him into this thing," he realized as he stood tall. "And that's what I've gotta take down!" With that, he spun the disk which began to light up as the Driver spoke.

“RIDER FEEDBACK PLUS!”

The light exploded off the Driver, flying outwards and turning the entire world black and white. In this state, everything was frozen. Everything except Achilles, who stared down Splinter Hound as the disk unleashed a line of magic circles between the two of them.

Achilles then rushed forward, an energy construct of himself being left standing behind him. He ran through the first circle and another construct appeared before and after it, looking like a bunch of still photos taken and stuck on the same image. He rushed through the second, then the third. On the fourth, he leaped through it and was propelled towards Splinter Hound as he left more images of himself in midair.

Before he shot through the final circle, he spun around and thrust his foot forward into it. He was shot through the circle, leaving another after imagine behind, and thrown out the back where he smashed his foot right into Splinter Hound's Driver. At this moment, the world turned back to its normal colors and time started. As they did, the images all began to move together. One after another they all moved the same way Achilles had, each one eventually merging with the Rider and causing him to glow.

When the final image merged with him, the energy shot through his body and into the Driver. This caused a massive explosion that completely consumed the Driver and blew Achilles and Splinter Hound away from one another. Achilles flipped through the air and managed to land on his feet, sliding back several feet before coming to a stop. As he did, the last crystal stopped glowing and the Spark Crest deactivated. Achilles' new form cracked and shattered off of him, his base form appearing underneath as he was overwhelmed by the sudden loss of power.

"Ahhh!" He fell to his knees, panting heavily and turning to look at Splinter Hound.

The Magi-Beast lay on the ground, its Driver completely destroyed. The twigs and leaves that made up its body began to fall apart, the wolf form slowly collapsing into a pile of wood. Doing so revealed Timber, who lay in the pile barely conscious.

As he lay there, the card that had been in his driver fell to the ground at Achilles' feet. Before the Rider could pick it up, it burst into flames and turned to ash.

Starlight stared at the street and was absolutely horrified. Her best creation, gone in a matter of minutes. "This can't be happening." She stared at Achilles and saw how tired he was. It's possible she could finish him off. But this new power he had intrigued her. it was possible the Doctor would be interest in it as well. "Best to play it safe for now." She began to walk away, "enjoy your victory while it lasts."

Back on the ground, everyone was slowly moving towards Timber as the twigs around him slowly began to turn to dust. As they did, the teen let out a groan and began to move, pushing himself up. As he did, a gloved hand appeared in front of him. He looked up and saw Achilles staring down at him, offering to help him up.

Timber frowned and took the hand, allowing Achilles to pull him to his feet. "So?" The Rider asked once he was up, "still think I'm the bad guy?" Timber frowned at this and pulled his hand free, a glare on his face as he slowly moved backward.

"I don't know what you did to me, but I'll find out what happened and make you pay for it." He looked down at his waist and saw the Driver was gone, the teen realizing he was no longer a superpowered hero.

"It's over Timber," Achilles told him. "You were used by Starlight and turned into her personal lap dog. Be glad we were able to save you and move on."

"It's not over!" Timber cried. "She might have used me but I was able to show just how good I was as a Rider. Just you wait. I'll find a way to get my powers back!"

"Just give it up, Timber!" He turned to Shining and saw him and the rest of the Rainbooms, minus Twilight, glaring at him. "I don't know what Mr.Wave is looking for in a Rider but I'm certain now that it isn't you. Do yourself a favor and stop before you hurt yourself...or someone." Timber frowned at him, then turned to Twilight.

"Babe," he smiled at her as she slowly moved closer, "come on. You and me, we're a great team. With your brains and my talent, I bet we could find a way to make a Rider System that could crush these guys into the dirt. What do you say?" Twilight reached him and stared at him, then reached up and placed her hand on his cheek.

He smiled whilst the others looked worried, fearing Twilight would forgive him. But before they could say anything, Twilight's hand moved with lightning speed and a loud slapping sound filled the air before Timber cried out. "Augh!" He staggered back, holding his cheek and turning to Twilight. "What the hell?"

Twilight's face was full of anger and sorrow, her eyes leaking tears. "I know what you said to Flash, threatening him with your Rider powers. And then telling me I didn't need my friends. You don't get to decide who I can be friends with!"

"I was just doing what was best for you," Timber complained.

"I decide what's best for me," Twilight told him. "And I've decided that being with you..." She took a deep breath, "being with you isn't what's best for me." She turned away from him, "I'm sorry Timber. Maybe one day, we can try again. But you're going to have to do some serious thinking about what you've done before I can think of ever being with you again." With that, she walked away from him.

The others smiled at this, happy Twilight was putting an end to this relationship before it could become abusive. Timber, meanwhile, thought about what she said and spoke up. "So...are we still on for your birthday party?" Twilight stopped and glared back at him, the others frowning in disbelief.

"Ah think we all know the answer to that," Applejack stated. Timber got the message and watched as the teens walked away.

after a physically and emotionally exhausting day, Twilight's Birthday party was a well-deserved respite for all involved. even the princess wanted to stay a bit longer to catch up with everyone. it was a Karaoke party which the girls took great joy in. it was Shining's turn on stage and while all eyes were on him. as he san a pretty old-school rock song, Twilight took a seat next to Flash. "some party?" Twilight asked, trying to spark up a conversation.

"yeah, Pinkie always comes threw when it comes to parties, especially birthday parties," Flash replied.

there was an awkward silence between the two till Twilight spoke up. "I'm sorry about Timber, and how he treated you."

"It's not your fault, the guy was an A-class jerk and all the power made him worst. it was nothing I couldn't handle," Flash said as he leaned back in his seat. "he was your first love, I remember when I use to date Sunset, it took me a while before I saw how much she was hurting other so I get what your going threw."

"Still, it wasn't right the position he put both of us in. I should have seen it coming."

"Hey you may not be the same Twilight who cut herself off from everyone but that doesn't mean you don't have a lot more to learn," Flash pointed out with a laugh. "Oh speaking of learning, i want to give you your present."

The young teen got existed as he pulled out hit present in blue star wrapping paper. riping into it, Twilight was awestruck to see what it was. " Rosette Nebula"s new book, the one that isn't coming out for months, h-how?"

"I have some pretty interesting friends who never fail to deliver on their promises," Flash Answered as he thought back to his adventures with Touma. "so how did i..."

The teen was interrupted by a surprise hug. "I love it Flash." the young woman answered as she was about to cry for joy. "Im so happy to have friends like you."

"Ok, it's my turn," Trixie said as she took the remote for the song select remote.

"Oh no you don't," Rarity said as she took the remote away from her. "you had your turn and not everyone has gone yet."

Pinkie popped up between the two to take the remote herself. "why don't we do a duet to speed things along. Twilight, Flash, mind sharing a song?" the party host asked.

"Um sure," Flash replied as the two took the mics on stage. the lights dimmed and the lyrics to the song Pinkie picked showed up on the screen

"You know I want you, it's not a secret I tried to hide," Flash sand not thinking about the words but instantly recognizing them once they left his mouth. he wasn't the only one as Twilight was just as red as him when he turned to her. still, he kept singing despite all this. after all it was just a song Pinkie probably picked at random right?

"You think it's easy, You think I don't wanna run to you," Twilight joined when her part came up. it felt weird singing this song imparticular after her recent breakup and with Flash of all people. still, the Princess's words were fresh in her mind. the things she couldn't live without were right here in this room. all her friends, Shining and Spike, and she would even put Flash on that list as well.

"I hope things work out for you Twilight," the Princess said as she watched the two sing with all their heart.