Spike woke suddenly from his dreams, glancing around the torn-apart library. ‘Flashbacks are weird.’ He shook his head and stood up, pulling the covers on his bed aside and walking downstairs where Twilight was already waiting for him, a cup of tea sitting on the table before her. “Hey, Twi…how long was I out?”

Twilight turned, shocked at first, but a relieved smile crossed her face. “You’ve been asleep for about half a day. It’s just past midnight.”

“Wait...if it’s past midnight, why are you still up?”

“Why am I…” Twilight seemed almost insulted, but more concerned than anything. “I was worried about you, Spike! That was only your second time using a Crystal Shatter successfully, and you were out for days the last time you used it! I was afraid you’d be out even longer this time…”

“Oh…yeah…” A bit of positive reinforcement was in order, Spike thought. “Well, if I got back up only after half a day, that’s a good thing, right? It means I’m getting stronger.”

Twilight sighed. “I guess that’s true…still, it doesn’t mean you should have to resort to a Crystal Shatter every time things get tough. You need to rely on your other strengths.”

“What I need to do…” Spike walked into the kitchen and began to heat up some water. “…is to find these other riders. If Onyx keeps sending bigger and badder monsters, I’m gonna have my claws full.”

“Well, were there any hints Jade left you regarding who the riders would be?”

The kettle whistled as the water boiled to perfect tea temperature. “All I remember that could help was that the riders were to be chosen by Jade’s brethren: Zephyr, Cascade and Terra. How much do you know about the ancient dragons, Twilight?”

“Only that they lived millennia ago…all the information we might have had on them was absorbed by Onyx when he broke free.” Twilight sipped her tea as she delved into thought. “There has to be some way we can find out what they’re linked to other than their base elements. We know Jade was your ancestor, but how can the other three relate to anyone in Ponyville?”

“Jade said the dragons gave ponies their gifts…Zephyr granted Pegasai flight, Cascade granted Unicorn magic, and Terra granted Earth Pony strength.” Spike walked in with a cup of tea of his own and sat down across the table from Twilight. “So it could literally be anyone we know, or even someone we don’t know?”

“Both are reasonable, and both could wind us up in even more trouble…”

Spike took a huge gulp of his tea. “What makes you say that?”

Twilight finished her cup and pushed it aside. “Say it’s someone we know. They might not be able to train their powers as well as you have in just a few months. They might get hurt, or worse…and the emotional toll that might take on you if it’s one of our even closer friends, like Fluttershy or-“

“Rarity…” Spike set his tea down and, unfortunately for himself, imagined the worst scenario. “If it’s Rarity, and I can’t save her in time…” The image of Rarity crying out in pain crossed through his mind again and again. He shook his head, temporarily purging the very idea from his train of thought. “That wouldn’t happen. I’m gonna keep training, so even if it is a close friend that becomes the next rider, I’ll be there to help them if need be.”

“Then that leaves the latter, which I worry more for…if one of the chosen riders is an enemy of ours or has…any degree of disdain or hatred of either of us, they might be completely opposed to the idea of working with us, even if it means saving the world.”

“Well, since it’s unlikely something’s going to happen this early in the morning-“

*BOOM!*

A violent explosion sounded across the night sky, shaking all of Ponyville. Spike groaned groggily. “I just had to open my big mouth, didn’t I?”

Twilight stood up and quickly moved towards the door. “I’ll check it out first. A blast like that had to have woken someone up.”

Just across the way, the general populace of Ponyville had amassed in the streets to see what all the commotion was about. As it turned out, a strange meteor of some sort had crashed in the center of town. As suggestions flew about as to what it was and what to do with it, Ponyville’s mayor, accompanied by her aides carrying her podium, stepped to the front of the crowd to quell the concerns of her townsfolk.

“Everyone, please settle down! I know you’re all rather bothered by the sudden noise and a meteor sitting in the center of town, but I’m sure if we can all calm down, we can figure out-“

“Are aliens invading?”

“Is it some kind of new magic?”

“Is it a muffin?”

The mayor sighed. “In this order: aliens do not exist, Princess Celestia would have informed us if she was testing some new magic, and for the hundredth time, Ditzy, not everything is a muffin.”

Ditzy grumbled as she walked back to her home. “It’s never a muffin in this town…shoulda never left Baltimare…”

Twilight pushed her way to the center of the action where she caught a first glimpse of the meteor. Normally, a situation like this would have her gasming with scientific glee, but something was off. ‘There aren’t any meteor showers on my schedule for months. Celestia would have definitely told someone if she was testing any kind of spell…if not the mayor, then she would have at least informed me. But if this was sent by Onyx, why isn’t it doing anything?’

Twilight hesitantly bent down and reached forward at the odd space rock, simply poking it with her finger at first. ‘It’s not hot or cold…this rock has no temperature at all…but what-‘Suddenly, a flash of light burst forth from the meteor. But it wasn’t like the emerald beasts she and Spike had encountered in the preceding weeks…

It matched Twilight’s cutie mark: violet.

The meteor suddenly rose up as if Twilight held it in her magic, but she was far too shocked to even form words at this point. In the midst of Ponyville’s arguing, someone pointed out the stone’s new activity, and panic was the first reaction of all but the still-stunned librarian. The majority of Ponyville’s civilians had fled to their homes or just far enough away to consider themselves safe, leaving Twilight still sitting there as the meteor reached almost ten feet into the air. Finally, it flashed once more, this bright light blinding Twilight temporarily. As the stone faded to a glow, Twilight removed her hands from her eyes to see what it had become: an amethyst golem resembling her.

“Ugh. This is really what I ended up looking like? Fantastic, I’m sharing the form of the loser Rider’s nerd friend.” The golem hovered down to the ground and glared at Twilight. “Is that really what you do? You just poke things that fall from the sky? I could have wound up looking like some well-built girl, like that Rainbow Dash friend of yours…but no, you had to be the first chick to touch the rock. Fabulous.”

Twilight’s shock turned to absolute confusion. “W-what? Why do you look like me?”

The golem smacked its forehead with its hand. “Do I really have to explain this to a nerd like you? I am what Lord Onyx calls a Resonance Gem. We are the souls of minor dragons who followed him in the past. When someone of the right gender touches the stone, we take on their form and power.” The golem examined its body and focused for a moment, forming a magic sword in one hand. “Well, now…I suppose, if I had to get stuck with any unicorn, I wound up mimicking the Element of Magic.”

Finally composing herself, Twilight managed a light chuckle. “You think you can just take my form and my powers without having any idea how to use them? Judging by your reaction to me being the first to touch the meteor and not Rainbow Dash, I assume you’re some draconic aspect of flight as opposed to magic, which can only mean-“

Twilight yelped and barely managed a jump to the left before a flurry of blades stabbed into the ground where she once sat. “Blah, blah, freaking BLAH! Do you EVER stop talking?! It’s any wonder why the whelpling Rider can even tolerate your company! If I’d been living with you this long, I’d have walked out ages ago! Seriously, you just don’t-“

A slash mark found its place across the golem’s stomach as Spike, already transformed, stood before the golem. “Seems like her looks and powers aren’t the only thing you got from her. Except all you seem to be spouting out is bullshit.”

Twilight gasped. “Spike, watch your language!”

“Twi, I really don’t think my language is really that important right now!”

“Well, you’ve finally shown yourself…Kamen Rider Jadefire. I suppose you can call me Amethyst. I’ve been looking forward to destroying you and bringing the shards of your Gem Driver back to Onyx as a present…” Amethyst manifested a sword in each hand and as her aura surged, a pair of violet wings sprung from her back.

“…And your head as a trophy!”

“Seriously? How much longer am I gonna have to deal with the ‘beheading the dragon’ crap? Isn’t that tired old cliché just a bit-WHOA!”

Spike quickly rolled back as Amethyst dropped down on him, both her swords cleaving through the ground with ease. She immediately recovered from the miss and rushed him again, swinging her blades one after the other with no rest. The armor gave Spike just enough of a speed boost to dodge, but his own stamina was wearing thin evading strike after strike. “You’ll have to stop running eventually, whelp! And when you do, you’ll taste my blades!”

“Don’t tempt me.” Spike switched things up and rolled forward past Amethyst, catching her completely off guard as he brandished his own jewel sword. “I could go for a snack right now.”

“How did-“

“Too slow.”

Spike went for a cleaving overhead strike, and met his target dead-on. Amethyst wouldn’t have been able to block that much force even with both her blades, and the gem golem’s two halves fell to their respective sides and shattered to dust, leaving little to nothing left.

“Damn. These shavings aren’t even enough to put on ice cream.” He glanced around, making sure nobody else was in the immediate area, and deactivated his transformation. He knelt down to examine the dust and found something surprisingly shiny among the golem’s remains. “Hang on a sec, isn’t this…“ He picked it up to examine it further, and his suspicions were swiftly confirmed. “…it’s a piece of your crown, Twilight.”

The small, curved metal bit was definitely a part of the princess’ crown, but that’s all it was: a shard. She sighed and walked over to examine it herself. “This one doesn’t even fit with the piece the bear dropped. But at least now we can definitely confirm one thing: Onyx has my crown, and he’s using it in bits and pieces to send his monsters out.”

“Wait, the bear had one too?”

Twilight nodded. “You were already out cold when I searched through the dust. It’s a part of the crest, but this shard’s a part of the tiara. And based on the size, I’d say Onyx intends to send out dozens of those things.”

“Then I’ll break them all.” Spike clenched his fist and punched forward. “No matter how many he sends, I’ll take them all down. We’ll get your crown back together, find the other Riders, and we’ll kill Onyx once and for all.”

“Oh, Spike, I’m so glad you could join me for lunch today.”

“You know I’d do just about anything for you, Rarity.”

Rarity and Spike walked through the park, a picnic basket held on Spike’s arm and a blanket in Rarity’s hands. “I’m just honestly surprised you felt compelled to ask me again after…well…”

Spike waved his free hand in dismissal. “Pshaw, the past is past. I was still a kid. I was trying to explore love without actually knowing how it worked. But I’m glad I’m finally able to spend such a beautiful Hearts and Hooves Day with such a beautiful woman.”

Rarity flushed as they approached the top of the hill overlooking Ponyville. “Back then, I saw comments like that merely as just men admiring my looks…but I can see it really means something when you say it now.”

“Just being the gentledrake I’ve been raised to be.”

Rarity nodded in reply. “Twilight certainly has taught you well.”

The young drake grinned. “But this is one trick I’ve learned on my own…”

From out of the picnic basket, Spike drew forth a bouquet of white roses. His date gasped in awe. “Oh, my…Spike, they’re lovely! White roses are my favorite kind.”

He smiled. “I know. I’ve kept that fact in my memory, as well as what they mean…they represent remembrance, so as long as you hang onto those, you’ll know I’m thinking about you.”

A genuinely caring smile crossed Rarity’s face as Spike handed her the bouquet and she took a deep inhale of the flowers’ fragrance. “I’ll make sure to take good care of these.”

“I know they’re in good hands. After all…” Spike pointed to the Fire Ruby necklace she wore. “You’ve taken such good care of that all this time.”

Rarity carefully set the bouquet down and clasped both hands over the amulet, practically swooning. “It was the first of many gifts you continued to give me. And though we hadn’t formally ‘dated’ up to this point, I’d honestly considered asking you out first. If not for, well…”

Spike completed her thought for her, “Your desire for the ever-so chivalrous knight to ask first?”

Her face went red once more. “Forgive me for being so old-fashioned about it, Spike. If I hadn’t-”

*BOOM!*

The ground shook suddenly as the basket, the blanket and the bouquet went tumbling down the hill and into the nearby river. The two gasped as their eyes quickly averted to the source of the blast: another meteor that fell just a few feet away from the riverbed. Spike cursed his luck, and added several other profanities as his perfect day fell apart. ‘Oh, come on, not here, not now!’

“What in the world is that thing? It looks like…it could be some kind of gem! Come, Spike, let’s investigate it at once!”

Spike panicked to come up with a quick excuse. Rarity could NOT touch that meteor. “Wait, Rarity, maybe we should get Twilight first. Space stuff is probably more her forte. She might have an idea of what it is already.”

“I’m sorry, Spike, but as a gem hunter, I feel my present expertise will be more than enough.”

‘I can’t talk her out of it…but I can’t just force her not to touch it or tell her why she can’t…whatever happens, I’m just gonna have to transform. I don’t have any other choice.’ Spike rushed after Rarity down the hill and stopped just inches away from the meteor. Rarity was already kneeling down, currently examining the stone without touching it.

“It’s definitely some kind of gem-like mineral, but not like any I’ve ever seen before. It’s magical in nature, and naturally-arcane gems are a rare find. It doesn’t seem to give off a temperature without contact, but let’s see what it feels like…”

Rarity reached out to touch the meteor, and Spike sighed and reached into his pocket. ‘Here we go.’ As her fingers traced the top of the stone, nothing seemed to happen. The young drake appeared shocked as he pulled his hand free, no gem necessary. ‘Well, that’s anticlimactic.’

“Hmm…It’s surprisingly cold, for something that just fell from the sky and made such an impact. I suppose we should call Twilight and have her take a look at it.” She stood up and brushed the stray dust and dirt particles off her pants. “And I’m awfully sorry about the flowers and the picnic, Spike. Perhaps another time, but I’ll treat.”

Spike smiled. “That sounds like a good idea-…Uh, Rarity? The Fire Ruby, it’s-“

*SHING!*

The ruby flashed brightly and surged with energy, severing itself from the amulet and knocking both Spike and Rarity into the riverbed. The meteor rose up, syncing with the energy from the ruby and absorbing the gem itself. As it did so, the meteor revealed its gem form: white marble. It manifested just as the one Spike had already faced did before, but this time it looked identical to Rarity. However, this golem held one feature different than the previous one.

In the center of its chest shone the Fire Ruby, which soon formed a mesh of crimson red armor across the golem’s body. ‘No way…these things can use gems as bonus armor? That’s not fair!’

“Well, looks like I got an interesting one…by amplifying your magic through my dark powers, I can do much more than find pretty rocks…” The golem dropped and punched its fist into the ground, creating a minor tremor. “…I can control them too. You can call me Pearl Heart, I guess. As long as I’ve got this stupid heart jewel stuck in my chest, that is. Then again, armor is armor.”

“Hey, that was a present for Rarity! Give it back!”

The golem finally turned its attention to Spike. “Ah, so you’re here, Rider boy. I don’t have to go looking for you. So, why don’t you transform and let’s get this over with.”

“Fine.” Spike climbed out of the river and pulled the gem from his pocket. His Driver manifested around his waist and he held the gem high. “HENSHIN!”

Spike’s jade armor formed and he conjured his sword, quickly rushing into battle. The golem chuckled and stomped the ground with its foot, forcing the ground to shoot up under Spike just before he could reach the monster with his first swing. Before he could get ahold of his bearings, more stones and rocks were flung at him, juggling him in the air with little to no visible effort given out by the golem. The creature merely roared with laughter at the jade Rider’s futile efforts. “And to think you beat the first one Onyx sent. How pathetic…you’re only as good as your opening move. You’re only as fast as a slow opponent. You’re only as bright as your dumbest foe! Face it! You might have been given these powers because the dragons thought you were ‘chosen’, but you’re just some stupid kid!”

“Now, I’m perfectly fine with you borrowing my form, but I know I’m not that arrogant.”

The golem ceased its attacks, letting Spike drop to the ground. The jade Rider struggled to rise up, but only managed to catch a glimpse of Rarity confronting her duplicate. ‘Why is Rarity still here? Why hasn’t she run away? And sweet mother of Celestia, that’s a revolver!’

Rarity had drawn a revolver from her back pocket, leaving Spike to wonder why he hadn’t noticed it on the way up. The thought was quickly discarded as she drew forth a blue gem shaped rather similar to Spike’s Dracogem. ‘No way…is that …’

“I didn’t think I’d have to be doing this so soon and with so little training, but I believe Cascade gave me more than enough information to use it well enough right now. And Spike…” Rarity looked back to the armored dragon. “I am a bit hurt that you didn’t tell me about this, but Cascade said you had your reasons. However, I would still like to talk to about all this after I deal with this degenerate creature.”

The golem sneered at Rarity. “You really think you can use your Dracogem any better than an actual dragon with practice under his belt?”

Rarity smirked back at the golem. “Through the power of love, anything is possible!” She tossed the gem into the air and opened a back slot on the gun, allowing the gem to fall into place. She cocked the gun and its borders began to glow. “Henshin!”

The blue light outshone even the sun for just a moment before the mystic lining of the armor formed around Rarity’s body. The framing having appeared, a light blue layer of metal formed across her chest, legs and arms. White steel formed the shoulders, knee plates, gloves and boots. The helmet took shape into that of a heart as the blue light formed the visor.

“And what ridiculous name are you going to call yourself?” mocked the golem.

“You may call me Heartfire.” Rarity took aim with the revolver, a blue mist emanating from the barrel. “Kamen Rider Heartfire.”

The golem scoffed. “Foolish little mortal. If the dragon boy can’t keep up with my attacks, how can you possibly hope to?” Pearl stomped the ground and summoned forth another barrage of stone shrapnel that flew in Rarity’s direction. With quicker reaction than either Spike or the golem expected, Rarity shot each and every stone out of the air before they even got within six feet of her.

“Is that all? Honestly, if that’s all you can do with my power, I’ll find someone else to play with.”

Pearl snarled in rage and raised her arms up, bringing up dozens of stones completely surrounding Rarity. “Let’s see you get out of this one!” She brought her arms back down and the rocks began to close in on Rarity.

“Gotcha.” Rarity aimed downward and fired a shot that released a powerful shockwave, disintegrating the stones just as they were about to reach her. “Now, if you’re quite finished, allow me to put you to rest.”

The golem panicked and began to rise up, heading off into the sky in an attempt to escape. Rarity cocked the gun three times and aimed upwards. “Crystal Shatter: Cascade Storm!” The trigger was pulled, and a spiraling blast of water and ice surged forth from the gun, chasing rapidly after Pearl. The fleeing golem was not nearly fast enough to outrun the torrent and became consumed by it, dissolving into nothing within seconds and leaving behind the Fire Ruby, which Rarity quickly rushed to and caught with ease. “Well, that was…rather…sim…ple…”

Rarity’s transformation faded out and her body began to fall over, only to have Spike catch her before even a lock of her hair could touch the ground. ‘Rarity’s the second Rider? And all that power…she’s still new to it, and yet she could activate a Crystal Shatter…’ Spike thought to himself as he carried her back toward the town.

‘Self; let me ask you a question: why were you worried she wouldn’t be able to handle herself?’

Author's Note

Next chapter's a straightforward crossover chapter with an existing Riderverse! Guess which one it is!