Twilight was really getting sick of being captured.

First by Juniper Montage's magic mirror, then by Vignette Valencia's magic phone. Then the Mimics had captured her and tried to turn her into one of them, only to then use them as hostages. And now, as she woke up, she realised that was was once again tied up along with the rest of her friends.

Her glasses were hanging down her nose, dangerously close to slipping off. So as she held her head back to get them back on, Twilight realised her arms were being held above her head and looked up to find them shackled to a wooden post that was behind her. Her feet had also been chained to the bottom and rope was tied around her waist, keeping her held to it tightly.

Once her glasses were back on her face, she looked around and took in her surroundings.

She was in some kind of warehouse, which was completely empty with nothing but a few broken crates and a pile of broken typewriters in a corner. She then strained her neck to look around the post and spotted another one not too far away. And this one had Sunset tied to it, the same way Twilight was.

Twilight glanced in the opposite direction and saw Pinkie, also tied to the post. And as she strained harder, she saw Rarity on another post. As far as she could tell, her friends and her were all shackled to a bunch of posts that formed a circle.

"Girls!" She called out, "are any of you awake?" None of them answered, as Twilight looked up at her shackles and tried to summon her magic to unlock them. But her power wouldn't activate. "What?" She tried again, but nothing happened.

She glanced down and saw her geode was was still around her neck, but it wouldn't activate.

"What's going on?" She then heard a moan and glanced around, seeing Sunset was beginning to wake up. "Sunset!" The pony turned girl shook her head, then noticed the position she was in.

"What the?" She started looking around and saw Twilight, "where are we?"

"Some kind of warehouse. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Um...you girls were fighting Hydia and Reeka. Fluttershy and I were holding back, trying to get as much energy as we could for another rainbow blast. But...everything's a blur after that?" Twilight nodded, the same being true for us. She remembered fragments of what happened, but she couldn't really remember anything before feeling a huge amount of pain and blacking out. "We need to get out of here."

"I'm trying!" Twilight tried to open the shackles again. "But my magic isn't working."

"Applejack!" Sunset called out to the farm girl. "Wake up!" She seemed to rouse the girl away, along with all the other Rainbooms. Like the first two, they were all groggy and having trouble remembering what the heck had happened.

"We've gotta get out of here," Fluttershy cried. Applejack tried to break through the metal, but couldn't.

"Come on." The others all tried to use their magic as well. Rainbow tried to vibrate the post out, Rarity tried making a gem to cut the metal, Pinkie managed to get a tub of sprinkles out of her hair and Twilight still attempted to force the shackles open. But nothing worked. Their magic refused to activate.

"What's going on?" Rainbow asked, only for the lot to hear a loud cackle.

Those that could, turned to see the three witches walk into the warehouse. "I wouldn't bother using your magic." She pointed her staff at the tops of the posts. "Special rune that negates any form of magic. You're as weak as any other human."

The girls all glared at them. "What are you going to do with us?" Sunset asked, as Hydia just smiled whilst holding up the Infinigem.

"Amazing, isn't it? With this gem, any form of magic is supercharged. With this gem, I can do everything and anything I want. Any spell I ever dreamed of using. Ones I couldn't use because of how much power it required. Now they're all possible for me."

"That doesn't answer our question," Twilight stated. "What does any of that have to do with us?"

Hydia chuckled. "I can cast any spell I want with this. But some of them would require me to be constantly pumping magic into it. That would make me an easy target for the Riders and anyone else that wants to take me down. Which is why I need to use another magical source."

The Rainbooms quickly caught on. "You're going to drain our magic," Sunset stated. "And what? Use it in some horrific ritual?"

Hydia chuckled. "Pretty much, yes. Your power will go towards creating a monster of unbelievable power. One so strong, that nothing will ever be able to stop it." She smiled at the gem in her hands. "With the Infinigem, even your magic will be strong enough to create it."

"And what happens to us?" Fluttershy asks, clearly worried about what this process would result in for them. There was still much they didn't know about magic in their world, as Hydia hummed.

"Good question. I'm not sure. It depends on how connected to your magic you actually are. In my Equestria, magic is connected to one's very soul. Having it drained away is like having your heart taken out. It's very unlikely for you to survive. But then again, your magic doesn't appear to be naturally a part of you. More like you acquired it after you were born."

Sunset frowned, as Hydia stepped up to Rainbow and looked her in the eye.

"Do tell. How did you girls come to acquire this magic? Humans shouldn't have the potential to wield magic so easily. At least, my Equestria's humans couldn't acquire it." This surprised Sunset, who hadn't expected there to be any humans in Burst's home world. "I was a rare exception, not that it did me much good."

"Don't tell her anything," Sunset cried. "She doesn't need to know where our powers come from."

"That's right," Twilight nodded. "She'll probably try and steal more magic for herself. We can't let that happen." The girls all nodded, agreeing that they would keep their mouths shut.

Hydia sighed, shaking her head. "So naive. We could have worked together, but you chose the wrong path. You'll come to regret that decision, once your magic has been stripped away. I look forward to discovering the state you'll be in when it happens." With that, she and her daughters walked away.

The Rainbooms all frowned, as they once again tried to get their shackles off. But it was still no use.

"What do we do?" Rarity asked, turning to Twilight and Sunset. But neither of them had any idea what to do. It was clear that they only had one option. Hope the Kamen Riders could find and save them before it was too late.

Canterlot was in a state of panic, due to the red dome that had appeared around the city and encased the entire place within it.

The citizens were freaking out, wanting to try and escape but finding it impossible. Nothing seemed able to penetrate the force field and when they tried to go under the doom, subways, sewers and others underground routes, they found the dome phased through the ground and was more like a sphere that kept them trapped.

The attacks from the Raptorians had also worried many people, along with the bright light that had destroyed a large street earlier in the day. As such, that area of the city had been all but abandoned. People living there chose to stay with friends or family, or find shelter somewhere else like a stadium or a rec centre.

In one abandoned part of the city, Flash, Shining, Burst and Spike had taken refuge.

The four Riders were not in the best of moods at the moment. Flash and Burst were still recovering from Burst's little outburst and Hydia's attack, whilst Shining and Spike were angry about what had happened to the Rainbooms.

The only one not currently sulking, was the puppy version of Spike.

The talking dog had been hidden away before Twilight went into a fight, having stayed hidden until Hydia blasted his friends. Having become worried due to the bright light, he had rushed out of his hiding spot and arrived around the same time as Flash and Burst. When he had seen his owner and friends in jeopardy, he had almost run in to save them. But the witches and his friends had teleported away before he could do anything.

He had been quite shocked to discover who was under the Shifter suit, Flash almost fearing his secret identity had been ruined. But Spike promised to keep it a secret, as Shining and his Rider counterpart arrived.

As soon as Shining had heard what had happened to his sister, he had let out a roar and unleashed his anger on a pile of debris. That debris was now powdered, whilst the Riders had taken shelter in an abandoned apartment building.

The building had been lived in for several years and it was ironic that it was the only building, that had survived Hydia's attack.

Shining was leaning against a wall, his phone out trying to get in contact with Cadance and his family. Spike was sitting on the stairs, giving his counterpart a scratch behind the ears, whilst Burst was just standing in the corridor.

He heard Flash's voice, the teen having taken refuge in another part of the entryway on the stairs leading to the underground laundry room. "I'm okay," Flash stated. "I know you're worried about me, but I'm safe where I am. And honestly, I'm probably safer here than trying to brave it out on the street to get home."

Burst nodded, knowing that wouldn't be smart for someone who wasn't a Kamen Rider.

"I promise, I'm okay. I'm not alone. I'm with some friends and we'll all stay inside safe." He let out a sigh, "I promise to send a text every hour and right before I go to sleep." He nodded and listened. "Okay. Tell Scootaloo not to get into trouble. I know you're worried about me enough. You don't need her giving you grief." He nodded again. "Okay. Love you mom." With that, he hung up and sighed.

Shining heard this and moved over to the stair. "Everything okay?"

"Mom's freaking out about me not being home whilst all this is happening. Wish I could go home. But if she saw me in this state..." His wounds still hadn't fully healed yet, so he couldn't very well go home and show that he had been attacked by something. "She'd ground me for a month to make sure I'm okay. She definitely wouldn't let me back out to fight against those witches."

Human Spike nodded. "We've all gotta lay low until we find where Hydia's hiding with the others. They've gotta be somewhere in the city. It's just a matter of finding them."

"Then what?" Shining asked. "We couldn't beat them with the girls' help. Now that they've been captured, how are we supposed to win against them?"

"Don't say that," Burst told him. "Things might seem bad, but we can win this. The First E-Quest was able to stop the Infinigem. So can we. We've just got to approach this with clear heads." At that moment, his stomach suddenly growled. The others all followed suit, Burst frowning. "And full stomachs. I haven't eaten in a while." The others agreed. Being a Kamen Rider was an exhausting job.

"What do we do?" Human Spike asked. "I doubt any place is gonna deliver a pizza or something."

"Maybe there's something here that'll work." Shining stepped over to the stairs, planning to check out the apartments that had been abandoned long ago. "Canned food lasts a while. If we find some, it might help." The others nodded, knowing it was likely their best shot at getting food that didn't involve stealing.

Burst placed a hand on Flash's shoulder. "There's a convenience store down the street that's mostly still standing. I'm sure the owner won't mind us taking some of the stuff that he'd probably throw out later." Flash nodded as they headed out of the building, whilst Shining and the Spikes headed upstairs.

The sun was slowly beginning to set, as Flash and Burst made their way towards the store that had had its roof blown off.

Flash looked around, feeling guilty that he had let this happen. "I should have stopped this." He looked down in shame, as Burst patted him on the shoulder.

"This wasn't your fault. I'm the one that failed to stop Reeka and Draggle back in my world. If I had, Hydia wouldn't be back and none of this would be happening." Flash wasn't sure how to reply to that statement. "There's something you've gotta know about being a Kamen Rider. You can't win every fight. You can't save everyone."

Flash sighed. "You know a lot about this job, huh?"

"Yup," Burst stepped into the destroyed building and looked around. The shelves had all been knocked over, sending food spilling everywhere. "I've travelled to a lot of worlds, with lots of Kamen Riders. And they've all been through hell in one way or another." He knelt down and picked up a bottle of milk, which had spilled its contents all over the place. "Some of them had to pay the ultimate price to save their world."

"Really?" Flash wondered what they might have done, "like what?"

Burst thought for a moment. "There was one Rider. Blade. He was fighting a bunch of monsters called Undead. He made mistakes, but tried to do what he thought was right. And in the end, he had to make a choice. Let his world be destroyed, or defeat an Undead who was his friend and had fought to protect his world."

Flash wasn't really following. "What did he choose?"

"Neither. In the end, he turned himself into an Undead and chose to spend all of eternity alone so the world could be safe." Flash tilted his head, clearly missing context. "The point is, he chose to do something unthinkable in order to protect his friends and his world. He'll spend forever alone, but he does it because his suffering will allow others to live happily."

Flash frowned, clearly not liking this story. "Do all Riders have to sacrifice like that?"

"No," Burst shook his head. "There was another Rider named Fourze, who thought to protect his friends. Along the way, he faced many trials. But eventually, he managed to win without needing to lose any of his friends. And there are other Riders out there. Those that managed to get a happy ending, despite all the struggles they had to face. W, Drive, Ghost, Build and others. They all managed to make a future for themselves that they could enjoy. But not every Riders gets to have a happily ever after."

Flash frowned, as he thought about his own time as a Rider.

Ever since waking up on the street that morning, with nothing but his first Mimicore, Flash's life had been nothing but one bizarre situation after another. He never asked to become Shifter, but now he was risking his life fighting a war he had no idea what stakes he had in it. He had no idea what was waiting for him in the future. Would he need to make a sacrifice to stop the Mimics?

"I know that look," Burst frowned as he found a bag of undamaged chips. "Every Rider goes into battle, not knowing if it could be their last. Trust me, I know more than anypony. After everything I've been through, I wouldn't wish this job on anybody."

"So what do you do?" Flash asked. "How do you keep yourself from getting overwhelmed?"

Burst thought for a moment, clearly wanting to say the exact right thing. "I guess...I take time to remind myself I'm not just a Rider." Flash tilted his head, as Burst smiled. "Many Riders gave up everything to defeat their opponents. But there were just as many that only managed to win, because they had the help of others. Because when those Riders weren't fighting, they were spending time with those they fought to protect."

"Those they fought to protect?" Flash was suddenly reminded of all his friends. The Rainbooms, Trixie and the rest of his school mates. Thorax and other teens he had met. And especially, his mother and his sister.

"That's how I cope with the weight of duties. Whenever I can, I remind myself exactly why I'm fighting. I help Applejack on the farm, or Fluttershy when she's caring for her animals. I let Rarity use me as a living mannequin or help Pinkie at a kid's birthday party."

"Is it really that simple?"

"Of course," Burst nodded. "If I didn't remind myself of everything I was fighting for, I never would have had the willpower to get back up when I was knocked down." Flash picked up a bunch of candy bars and some soda. "Trust me, Flash. You'll always find yourself coming up against challenges. It's not just a part of being a Rider. It's a part of life. We come up against obstacles and it's how we overcome those obstacles, that make us stronger."

"I get that," Flash nodded. "But I just get worried. I've been lucky so far. Shining and I were able to save everyone who the Mimics have tried to hurt. But how long's it gonna be until we can't beat a Mimic fast enough, or get there in time to save someone."

Burst sighed. "I've been there. You can't save everypony. That's just a fact." Burst turned to him. "But that doesn't mean you give up. If you do, that just means even more will get hurt. When you fail, and you will, don't let it stop you. Accept it. Learn from it. And use that experience to help you in the future."

"I guess that makes sense," Flash nodded.

"Yup. And there's a saying my mother once told me, after I made my first big failure. A mistake is only a mistake, if you don't learn from it. It's okay to do something wrong. But it's not okay to do the same thing wrong many times."

Flash nodded, as he picked up a bunch of oranges. "Your mom's a smart woman...pony...um."

Burst laughed. "Yeah, she is. I guess that's what being over a thousand years old can do to you." He looked at the food they had gotten and nodded. "I think this should be enough for us. We might not get the chance again to eat after this, so let's pack our stomachs with enough energy to keep us going no matter what Hydia throws at us."

"I'm down for that," Flash nodded. "And hopefully, Shining and Spike will have found some more food for us."

"Hopefully," Burst nodded before spotting an aisle. "Better get a can opener, just in case that's all they manage to find." Flash nodded and the two did just that, Flash wondering what Shining and the two Spikes had found.

"Seriously?" Shining asked, as he opened another cabinet to reveal several cans. "All these apartments and the only thing we've been able to find, is dog food."

"What's so wrong about that?" Puppy Spike asked, as Shining frowned at him. As he grabbed a single tin, human Spike stepped in as the puppy ran off. In his hand was a single tin of something, Shining raising an eyebrow until the dragon Rider showed him the label.

"What's your opinion on canned mackerel?" Shining sticking his tongue out was all the answer Spike needed. "I hear that."

Shining, as he closed the cabinet and moved over to sit on the one chair that was inside the empty apartment. "My sister's in danger and here I am, sitting around looking for food. I should be out there. Searching for her."

"Maybe," Spike nodded. "But what would be the point?" Shining shot him a glare. "I mean, what would be the point of searching for her in the state you're in. You're hungry. You're tired. And you have injuries from all that fighting you did today. Even if you managed to find Twilight and her friends, you wouldn't be able to help them."

"I could try."

"You would fail. Trust me, I know what you're going through." Shining raised an eyebrow at this. "You obviously don't know much about dragons. They care about physical strength more than anything. And to them, the title of Kamen Rider Dragus is the most important thing in the world. So you can probably imagine, the title going to me was a big deal."

"How did you become a Kamen Rider?"

"The same way all the previous Kamen Riders got their powers. The Dragus Driver chose me. When Hydia started causing problems for the Dragons as well as the ponies, the former Dragus tried to fight them. But he'd gotten too old to really do anything. So he decided to pass his power onto someone else."

"You."

"He didn't pick me personally. He called upon every dragon and created a dangerous gauntlet that we all had to compete in. It wasn't easy and eventually, it came down to me and two others. We were all fighting for it, but one of us got knocked over the side of a bridge and was about to fall into the lava below."

"Aren't dragons fireproof?"

"You humans are waterproof. Hit a water surface from high enough and it's still deadly."

"Fair enough."

"Anyway. She was about to fall in and since her wing was hurt, she couldn't save herself. So I leapt in to help her. I managed to catch her at the last second and pull her up. But that allowed the other guy to get to the Driver."

"But...you're Dragus."

Spike nodded. "Yup. The Driver stopped him from touching it and instead, it flew over and slammed onto my waist."

"Why?"

"According to the last Dragus, the Driver doesn't just test the strength of our bodies. It tests the strength of our character. Since I chose to save someone over claiming the power, it proved I was worthy of that power. So I became the new Dragus and I've been helping Burst ever since."

"I guess that makes sense."

"But like I said. I've been in your situation. When I first got my powers, I wanted to prove myself to everyone. I kept fighting and training, pushing myself to the absolute limit. And when one of my friends was captured, I did everything I could to try and save them. But eventually, I pushed myself too far. During the fight to save her, my body just gave out. I couldn't even stay transformed, I was so exhausted."

"What happened?" Shining asked.

"I got captured and Burst had to rescue me. After that, I thought I wasn't worthy of being a Rider. But then Burst got into trouble and I was the only one who could save him. And I did. Because I hadn't pushed myself and gave myself time to rest."

"I get that," Shining nodded. "But Twilight and her friends. There's no telling what could be happening to them right now."

"Maybe. But at our current level, we can't do anything to save them. We're tired, hungry and injured. We can't save them in this state." Shining frowned. "Ever since you became a Rider, you've been focusing on helping Flash and everyone else. Making sure they're okay, right?"

"Yeah."

"That's good. But you've also gotta take care of yourself. Because even if we're super...human?" Shining nodded, "we're not machines. We can't keep going without proper rest and recovery. You must have been told this before, during your guard training."

"I'm not a guard."

"Oh...well you must have heard it at some point. The fact is, you need to let yourself rest. That way, you'll be ready to save your sister when the time comes. Trust me. We'll find her and save her. This is the best way to do it."

Shining sighed, but nodded. He didn't like it, but he knew Spike was right. He could only hope that Twilight and the others would be safe until they found them.

Back at the warehouse, the girls were also starting to get hungry.

Their magic was helping them heal, but that was also causing them to burn more energy and causing them to get hungry. The grumbling of their stomachs filled the place, Hydia and Reeka getting annoyed by the sound as they tried to work on their magic.

"Will you knock that off?" Reeka asked them, with Sunset glaring at her.

"We're hungry. That's what happens when someone's hungry." The others nodded, as Reeka frowned. But Hydia raised a hand.

"Relax. I had Draggle go out and get enough food for all of us. These ones will need to be fed if we're to use them for our plans." Rainbooms were surprised by this. Partly because they didn't expect to be fed and also because Hydia's words made them wonder what she could possibly be planning.

Draggle suddenly appeared, carrying multiple shopping bags in her magic. "Here. Everything we'll need to keep ourselves well fed for a good while."

"Excellent," Hydia chuckled. "Feed the hostages first. I'd rather not listen to their grumbling whilst I eat." Draggle nodded and put the bag down, then waved her staff to cause a large number of sandwiches to fly out of them and float over to the seven girls.

Each of them frowned, having no idea what they were currently being given. But since they knew they wouldn't get anything else, they all bucked up and opened their mouths. As it turned out, each sandwich was a combo of ham, chicken and beef with lettuce.

They quickly ate them up, as Hydia began eating her own sandwich. "Ha. Not bad."

Reeka nodded. "One good thing about this world. Meat is so much easier to come by." She turned to the girls. "You have no idea how horrible it is, living in a world of vegetarian creatures. Even the dragons rarely eat meat." She began to stuff her mouth, as the girls glared at them.

Applejack hoped the food boost would allow her to break through the shackles, but the metal cuffs still refused to give.

Hydia finished her sandwich with a sigh. "Once we've finished, we'll start getting to work. It might take us all night but once we're done, this world will find itself in a world of hurt." The girls didn't like the sound of that. They knew the Riders were probably resting right now, but they all hoped they would be able to find them before it was too late.

There was no telling how badly this could turn out.

By the time Flash and Burst returned, the other Riders had searched every inch of the apartment building.

The sun had gone down and the four, plus Spike the Dog, were on the apartment roof. The building's power was off, so they had no way of actually cooking anything. So they had started a small fire in a metal trash can and would be doing some old style cooking.

Flash and the two Spikes were sitting around the fire, whilst Shining was sitting on the edge of the building looking out at the city.

Burst had just returned from the bathroom and looked around, spotting Shining over near the edge and stepping over to him. "Flash," he heard dragon Spike say, "I don't think you're supposed to cook the candy bars."

"Back off, I know what I'm doing."

Burst stepped up against the barrier and looked out at the city, the night looking rather strange with the red tint of the forcefield around it. "Be honest," he turned to Shining. "Is this the weirdest thing you've ever seen since becoming a Rider?"

"Pretty much," Shining nodded. "I thought the Mimics were weird. This just takes the cake."

Burst turned to Flash, "what about you?" Flash glanced at him, "this the weirdest thing to happen to you?"

"Since becoming a Rider? Yes. Before that...hard to say. I've seen some pretty weird stuff in my time. Giant killer planets. Demonic ex-girlfriends. Monstrous horse fish creatures fighting a giant rainbow pony. This is still pretty high, but Hydia's gonna have to do something pretty crazy to get to the very top of the list."

"Tell me about it," Puppy Spike nodded. "I mean, I used to be just a normal dog. Now look at me."

"How did you learn how to talk?" Human Spike asked, making the dog smirk. "And actually, how did you get magic in this world anyway? From the looks of things, those girls seem to be the only ones able to use it. So what give?"

Flash chuckled, as Burst and Shining moved over to sit around. "I wasn't there for most of this, but I've heard the story enough to tell others. Trust me. This is gonna be a long tale." And so Flash told them everything. How Sunset escaped from her world, then returned to steal a magic crown that caused that world's Twilight to follow with her Spike.

He told them about Sunset's defeat and rehabilitation, followed by the Sirens attempting to use the magic she brought into that world for their own evil deeds. That was followed by Shining's Twilight, studying the magic and almost creating a portal that ripped their world apart. Then, he told them about how the girls had discovered their magical geodes at summer camp and gained their powers.

This was followed by all the small adventures they had had since then, along with the bigger adventures.

"So you really turned into a four legged pony with wings?" Shining asked, as Flash told them about their boating accident.

"Yup," Flash nodded. "That was definitely a weird experience. But I think I've been desensitised to getting weirded out by now. If something strange happens from now on, I'm probably just gonna roll with it."

"That's the best way to do it," Human Spike nodded. "So how did you guys become Riders?"

"Yeah," Burst nodded, "you never told me. Mostly because the girls were there. So how did it happen?" The pair frowned, unsure how to really answer that question. They still weren't entirely sure.

But they told them and the pair looked just as surprised. As they all enjoyed the food and drink, they kept trading stories about their times as Riders. Despite the worry for the girls, they couldn't help but laugh at some of the funnier stuff that was going on. It was the only thing that helped them stay relaxed, which would be needed for the battle that was to come.

No matter what happened next, the four would stop the witches and save the girls. They had to.

As the sun began to rise the next morning, the Rainbooms felt themselves beginning to wake up.

As they did, they all heard a sparking sound and looked around to see Hydia and Reeka still hard at work. Their staffs were grinding along the ground, burning images into the floor as they did so. Around the Rainbooms were two circles, one larger than the other. Lines also connected these two circles, splitting it into multiple even sections. And in each section was a symbol they didn't understand.

Reeka was making a similar circle off to the side, but this one seemed to have different symbols inside each section. There were also four smaller circles around the bigger one, forming a square of circles that each touched the larger one. "What are you doing?" Twilight asked, once again attempting to activate her magic with little success.

"What's with the floor graffiti?" Rainbow asked, as Hydia continued to burn symbols into the floor.

Sunset remembered what Hydia had said the previous night and began to worry. "It's some kind of magic draining circle, isn't it?" The others looked worried. "You're gonna use it to suck our magic out of us, then send it over to that circle to help create whatever monstrosity you're planning to conjure. Am I right?"

Hydia chuckled. "You're smarter than you look. Yes. This circle will transfer all your magic into our creation. It combined with the power of the Infinigem, will make it absolutely unstoppable. Not even the Riders will be able to defeat us, once this creature is born."

"You're insane," Rarity cried. "Why do all this?"

"Yeah!" Pinkie cried, "Burst told us what you did. Attacking your Equestria with monsters and terrorising the ponies there. Why?"

"WHY!?" Hydia shouted, making the girls jump. "Look at me. What do you see?" She moved closer, standing right in front of Rarity and forcing the girl to stare at her face. "I'll tell you what the ponies in my Equestria saw. A monster. Just because I wasn't pretty and huggable, they treated me like a monster."

"You can't be serious," Sunset told her.

"Oh, I'm very serious." Hydia moved away. "I never did anything to them. I actually tried to use my magic to help them. But they were always too afraid of my face to realise that. I don't know how things work in your Equestria, but mine is a place where not being pretty or horse-like, makes you a monster. Eventually, I decided to make those ponies feel as bad as I felt."

"So you started attacking the ponies," Twilight realised.

"I didn't just try and attack them," Hydia stated. "I tried to make them all look as ugly as they saw me. I made them suffer the way I suffered. I drained their colour, disfigured them and even turned them into monsters. All I wanted was for them to feel the way I felt."

"But it didn't work?" Fluttershy asked.

"No," Hydia growled. "It didn't. No matter what I did to them, those ponies never learned a thing. Every time I made one of them look ugly, their friends could come along and tell them it didn't matter how badly they looked."

"It doesn't," Applejack stated.

"Then why did it matter how ugly I looked?" Hydia asked. "What, does it only count if you were born like this? Or is a pony pretty no matter how they look?" The girls weren't sure what to think about these questions. If it was true that the ponies did that to Hydia, they wanted to be sorry. But they also knew there could be more to the story than what Hydia was saying.

"I'm sorry those things happened to you," Sunset sighed. "But that doesn't give you the right to do all this stuff."

"I'm just being the monster those ponies saw me as." Hydia walked back to the magic circle and continued adding the final marks to it, eventually completing it as Reeka finished hers. "There. Now, all we're missing are the final ingredients."

In that moment, a flash of light occurred and Draggle appeared. In her hands was a plastic bullet, full of many different things. "I got everything you need, mother."

"Excellent!" Hydia nodded before pointing at the circle. Draggle moved over to it and the girls that were facing the circle, watched her put the bucket down as Hydia raised her staff. "Four elements. four parts of the earth. Now, they will be used to create a monster of unmatched power."

The objects inside the bucket began to float out and separate into four floating piles. "Metal, for a strong and sturdy skeleton." She placed a bunch of knives and folks down into one of the smaller circles. "Earth, for strong muscles." She placed a pile of soil into another corner. "Ice. To act as the blood that flows through the body." She tore open a bag of ice cubes and emptied it onto another circle. "And wood, to be the skin that will heal no matter the injury." She placed a single twig down in the final circle.

The girls watching were confused by what they were seeing, as the circles each began to light up.

Then, the circle around them also started glowing. They all grew worried, as their geodes began to glow. And slowly, differently coloured streams of light began to flow out of their gems and into the circle.

In an instant, the girls felt themselves beginning to grow weaker. They all groaned, as if a part of their very soul was being stripped out of them. They tried to fight it. To hold onto their magic. But the circle's pull was just too strong. And so, their power was drained and they felt it being transferred over to the other circle.

Hydia, Reeka and Draggle all smiled, the three watching the magic circle glowing brighter and brighter.

They then held up the Infinigem and added even more power to the circle, giving the Rainboom's magic a power boost. The Rainbooms were forced to close their eyes, as the circle grew too bright to look at. Even the witches were blinded, as the circle's glow basically became a mini sun.

Then, the light shot straight up and smashed through the roof of the building. Debris began to fall, luckily nowhere near the girls, as a massive pillar of light exploded upwards.

The bright light could be seen by everyone in the city, even waking up a few of them that were still asleep.

This included the Riders, the four all jolting up as soon as the light appeared. The four stared at the pillar and instantly knew that the girls were there, the lot sharing a look as they all summoned their bikes. At the same time, the people in Canterlot were beginning to evacuate the area, wanting to get as far away from the light as possible.

As they did, the pillar began to change shape and curved downwards until it reached a large open street.

Back inside the warehouse, the witches watched as the four ingredients began to disappear.

The ice melted into water and then evaporated, whilst the metal spoons melted and slowly disappeared. The twig burned up and the soil dissolved, the four elements appearing to be sucked into the pillar of light and disappearing.

"Yes!" Hydia yelled. "Form the body. Create a monster too powerful to ever be defeated. One solely under my control!" She laughed, as the three witches ran out of the warehouse to watch.

Once they were gone, Applejack tried to break herself free. But with her magic blocked and being drained, she wasn't strong enough to rip through the metal. "Any ideas?" She looked around, but all the girls were clearly stumped on how to get out of this situation.

"We just have to hope the Riders can find a way to save us." Twilight hated being a damsel in distress again, but it seemed they didn't have a choice. Until the Riders found a way to save them, all they could do was try and slow down the rate that their magic was being drained away. Hopefully, they would be saved before they were drained dry. There was no telling what might happen to them if they were.

The four Riders were racing down the abandoned street on their bikes, the four turning onto a street as they spotted something appearing where the stream of light was flowing.

Floating in the air was some kind of silver liquid, which began to expand and form what appeared to be a spine. This was followed by ribs, shoulders, hips and everything else that could be found on a human skeleton. And as the structure was complete, the liquid began to harden and formed a metal structure.

Once that was done, something started appearing within the rib-cage. A bunch of mud and soil, which completely filled that area of the skeleton before expanding to completely surround it.

The mud then spread down the arms and legs, along with up the neck over and skull. And soon enough, the entire skeleton was covered by muddy flesh and muscle. In less than a minute, a thirty meter humanoid was standing in the middle of downtown Canterlot.

It didn't stop there, however, as the mud body began to ripple as ice began to grow out of it. Icicle spikes began to grow out of its chest, along with areas of its arms and legs. The top of its head grew a bunch of ice spikes, giving it a slicked back hairdo, with more growing out of its spine.

Finally, wood started to grow out of the soil and cover almost the entire body. The only parts not covered were its joints, allowing it to move, whilst the rest was encased within a wooden shell that the ice spikes were sticking out of. Even the head was covered, a wooden mast with a hole for its mouth and eyes appearing on its front.

The Riders stared in awe at the creature, which was now fully formed and began to move on its own.

It swung its arms around and let out a roar, which was so loud it shook the earth. As it did, blasts of ice exploded out of its mouth and flew into the air. In the blink of an eye, snow began to rain down on Canterlot.

"Well," Flash stated, "you don't see that every day." Flash had a feeling that statement got used a lot in Canterlot.

"What the heck is that thing?" Shining asked, as Burst and Spike nodded at one another.

"An elemental golem," Burst then explained. "Created using different elements as materials. But I've never seen one that big before. Even with the Infinigem, those three witches shouldn't have been able to make something that big."

It was in that moment, Flash remembered what Hydia had said the previous day. "What if they used the girls?" The others all caught on and grew worried. "If they used the Infinigem to supercharge the girls' magic, would that be enough to make something that big?"

"Maybe," Spike nodded. "But it'd still be a serious drain on their energy. If the drain continues, they'll eventually be sucked dry."

"Then we gotta stop it!" Shining revved his bike and flew off, the other Riders doing the same. As they did, they caught sight of something floating up onto the shoulder of the Elemental. And thanks to Spike's incredible eyesight, dragon eyes, he saw who it was.

"Hydia!"

The mad witch landed on her creation's shoulder and looked around, smiling at how small the city looked from her golem's shoulder.

As soon as she was on its shoulder, the giant finally started moving and stomped around. Every time it took a step, the ground shook beneath its feet. And with every swing of its arm and good, a building was reduced to rubble. Hydia could only laugh, enjoying the terror this was no doubt causing the people of the world.

"I'll reduce this city to rubble. Then, I'll move onto the next city. And every city until this entire world is nothing but a pile of debris!" She laughed, as the Infinigem glowed brighter. No doubt, the gem was doing as advertised and driving the woman even more insane.

As the Elemental reached the end of the street, Hydia happened to glance around and spot four little dots suddenly appear on the round to their left.

She had the Elemental turn to face them and with a flick of her staff, a magic bubble appeared that allowed her to zoom in on the dots. And sure enough, the four Kamen Riders stood before her. "Ah, good." She spoke into the bubble and her voice was projected down. "I was hoping you fools would show up. Now I get to watch my Elemental step on you."

The Riders didn't seem worried and all shared a look. "I'm going to find my sister." Shining stared at the Elemental and saw the stream of energy that was still connected to its back, originating from the same location. "If I can free her, this thing won't be able to drain their magic."

"Right," Spike nodded. "I'll go with you."

Burst turned to Flash. "Then it looks like we're on golem smashing duty. We need to take things down and beat Hydia. She's way too dangerous with the Infinigem."

"Alright." Flash looked ahead, as he noticed Hydia raise her staff and unleash a light. Said light flew down onto the street and formed a cloud of red and yellow smoke, which quickly faded to reveal a massive horde of Raptorians.

The wolf chicken monsters all squawked as they filled the street, a massive army of them now standing between the Riders and their objective.

Flash took out his Strike Mimicore, "ready?" The other three nodded, Burst and Spike attaching their Drivers whilst Flash and Shining's appeared around their waists. The others took out their Crests and Cores, as they revved up their bikes.

"STRIKE!"

"EARTH PONY!"

"BLITZ!"

"DRAGON!"

Their bikes shot off towards the Elemental, as they placed their devices into their Drivers before the four yelled out in unison. "HENSHIN!" With that, they activated their Drivers and they began to change. Flash and Shining were encased in amber, whilst Burst and Spike rode through a shield of light whilst the energy constructs of a horse and dragon appeared.

Soon enough, the four Kamen Riders were fully suited up and their armor formed upon their bodies.

"Illuminate the light, striking through the darkness!"

"Power of the Earth, unleashed in a single destructive kick! EARTH PONY POWER!"

"Power that shatters everything, contained in a mighty horn!"

"Roarofanunstoppablebeast, unleashingitsfurywithamightybladeofflame!DRAGONICPOWER!"

The Riders began to ride through the Raptorian army, knocking down several and kicking more of them away. They all fought with everything they had, Morphic blasting several more away whilst Shifter cut them down and E-Quest slammed his bike into them. Dragus even unleashed a blast of fire from his gauntlet, which burned even more of the beasts.

As they fought, the Elemental stomped closer to them and they all felt themselves fall into the giant's shadow. And as more Raptorians were destroyed, the giant opened his mouth and unleashed another blast of ice.

The Riders saw this and quickly swung their bikes around, attempting to outrun the attack. The ice hit the ground and turned the entire street into a giant ice rink, the Riders managing to outrun it whilst the remaining Raptorians were frozen solid.

As the ice attack ended, the Riders swerved their bikes around and glared at the Elemental. With the Raptorians taken care of, the Riders nodded with Shifter and E-Quest racing forward once again. They kept the giant's attention, as he tried to stomp on them with his giant wooden feet.

But the pair was able to avoid getting crushed and this distraction, allowed the other two Riders to race past the Elemental and head in the direction the magic stream was heading.

Hydia and the Elemental didn't listen, as Flash drove towards its leg and used his sword to cut into the monster. But as soon as he cut into the wood that made up its skin, the bark began to grow back with little difficulty.

E-Quest summoned his hammer and smashed it into the Elemental, shattering its wooden skin and revealing the soil beneath. But once again, the wood grew back and the Riders drove away before it could crush them. As they did, it raised its fist before swinging it down towards the ground.

The two saw this come and kicked their bikes into top speed, as the fist slammed into the pavement and created an earthquake and shockwave. One that slammed into the pair and sent them both flying. They screamed, as their bikes were sent flying away from them and they slammed onto the ice covered ground.

They slid to a stop, as the Elemental pulled its fist back up. As it did, Hydia laughed down at the pair. Both Riders pushed themselves up, the two staring up at the giant that threatened to flatten the entire city. They were gonna have a hard time taking that thing down, but they would find a way.

No matter what, they wouldn't let Hydia and her daughters win.

Author's Note

And so, the final battle begins? Will the Riders be able to stop the Elemental, save the Rainbooms and defeat the witches? Stay tuned to find out.