Kiva: Symphony of Friendship

Chapters

Chapter 1: Overture
Chapter 2: Mystery's Melody
Chapter 3: First Meetings
Chapter 4: Apple's Lullaby Part 1
Chapter 5: Apple's Lullaby Part 2
Chapter 6: Entrance - The Knight

Chapter 1: Overture

Chapter 1

Overture

Equestria is a land filled with many magical creatures. From manticores and timberwolves to changelings, Equestria is home to many strange beings. However, there is a race of creatures stranger than any other. A race of creatures as old as Nightmare Moon herself, and just as vicious. Creatures born of darkness and stained glass, they have long since drifted into mere myth. However, they still lie in wait, waiting for their time to rise. These creatures go by many names, but the best known and oldest of them is: Fangire.

Our story begins in the small town of Ponyville, where unbeknownst to it's inhabitants, a battle of godly proportions will soon be fought.

Fluttershy had always loved taking care of her animals, it was her special talent after all. Though she did not make much money, she made enough to get her by by taking care of other's pets and acting as Ponyville's resident animal whisperer. Over the years, Fluttershy had managed to gain the trust and respect of practically every animal within a few dozen miles. However, the one animal she could never really control was her own pet bunny, Angel. Fluttershy had known Angel since she acquired her cutie mark. Since then, the two had become nearly inseparable. Though Angel was Fluttershy's closest animal friend, the small bunny had been spoiled rotten by the yellow pegasus. Because of this Angel had become used to getting whatever he wanted and had taken to pushing Fluttershy around. This was never more present than when it was feeding time.

Angel pounded his foot on the ground as he waited impatiently for his meal.

“Calm down Angel bunny, I've got your food right here,” she said as she placed a single carrot into Angel's food dish. Angel looked at the carrot in disgust, spit on it, then kicked it away. Fluttershy gave Angel a pleading look.

“Please eat the carrot Angel, I can't afford to keep giving you those expensive salad bowls every day. Besides, it's unfair to the other animal,” Fluttershy said as she retrieved the carrot and placed it back into Angel's bowl. Angel crossed his paws and huffed.

“Come on, just one little bite,” she said putting the carrot in front of Angel. Angel merely stuck out his tongue and proceeded to scamper off. Fluttershy gave chase, or as much chase as she could given her limited flying ability.

“Angel, please come back,” she pleaded as she chased after her pet bunny. Unfortunately, Angel's tantrum induced chase had lead them all the way to the edge of the Everfree Forest. When Fluttershy saw the edge of the forest, she came to a screeching halt as Angel proceeded to run into the forest.

“Wait, Angel! Don't go in there, you know how dangerous the Everfree Forest is!” she cried. But her warning fell on deaf ears as Angel scampered ever further into the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy flew closer to the edge of the forest, unsure of what to do. While she was deathly afraid of the Everfree Forest, despite living very close to it, she knew she had to go in and get Angel before he got eaten by one of the many carnivorous creatures lurking within the forest's boundaries. Fluttershy took a deep breath and let out a small squeak of fear as she entered the Everfree Forest.

As Fluttershy trekked deeper into the Everfree Forest, she called out for Angel in a voice barely above a whisper.

“Angel. Angel bunny, come on out. It's dangerous here in the forest. Come on out,” she said. She listened for any sort of indication that Angel was coming back, but heard nothing. She continued to search for another hour turning up the same result.

“I suppose he's probably back home by now. Not even Angel would stay in here for this long because of a tantrum,” she said as she proceeded to leave the forest. Just as she turned to leave, she heard a rustling from the bushes. Fluttershy yelped in surprise and turned to look at the source of the rustling.

“Angel? Is that you?” she said as she inched closer to the bushes. As she pulled apart the bushes, she did not find her pet bunny. Instead, she was met with the face of the scariest thing she had ever seen. The creature that stood before her was far taller than her by at least three feet. The creature looked like a giant spider, except it stood on two legs and had two arms ending in sharp talons. The creature looked as if it was made from stain glass. The creature growled at Fluttershy, causing her to scream in terror. She tried to run away, but her body was frozen with complete fear.

The creature grabbed Fluttershy by the neck and dangled her in front of itself, growling and hissing at her as it did so. Fluttershy looked to see that four glass shard looking fangs had materialized around her neck. Fluttershy closed her eyes, tears falling down her cheek as she prepared herself for her impending death.

Just as the creature was preparing to sink it's fangs into the Fluttershy's neck, a voice cried out “That's far enough Fangire!” the voice said as the creature was suddenly attacked by what looked like a golden bat. The Fangire dropped Fluttershy and swatted at the bat, which was now striking it wherever it could find an opening. The Fangire roared and swatted the bat away, sending it flying in the opposite direction. The Fangire turned to look for the bat, only to see a figure running towards him. Fluttershy weakly looked toward the figure, staring wide eyed at him. The figure looked like a stallion, but was clad in strange armor. The armor covered his whole body and comprised of a black body suit and other dark colored armor, a single silver greave on his right hind leg covered in chains, a red and silver chest piece with chains on the bat-wing like shoulder pieces, and a helmet with two big yellow eyes that gave the figure the look of a jack-o' lantern. The figure also had a red belt on his waist which the gold bat from earlier was now perched on, hanging upside down on the front like a belt buckle.

The figure yelled as he swung at the creature, landing a punch on the Fangire's head while following up with repeated strikes to the Fangires stomach. The Fangire staggered back, and after getting it's footing back fired a spray of webs at the armor clad figure, which he dodged.

Fluttershy could only stare in a mixture of awe and fear as the two figures fought. Fluttershy tried to stand and run away, but found that her vision was getting blurry. As she fell over, slowly slipping into unconsciousness, she caught sight of the two figures fighting. She saw that the armored figure had taken the upper hand, continually punching the Fangire and throwing kicks to it's midsection. The Fangire, seeing it was at a disadvantage, sprayed several strands of web at the armored figure. The armored pony was hit by a couple stands of web, and after regaining his composure, he looked around to see that the Fangire had fled as well as Fluttershy lying on the ground. The last sight Fluttershy saw as she fell unconscious was the armored figure running towards her, asking if she was okay.

The first thing Fluttershy noticed upon slowly awakening was a smell that smelled like boiling roots and mold. She rose slowly, a slight pain in her neck from where the Fangire had nearly strangled her. She looked around to see that she was in somepony's house in a bed. She noticed that she had a bandage around her head and that there was a bowl of water and a towel by her bedside. She grabbed the towel and used it to wash her face of the dirt and tears from her earlier encounter. When she was done, she looked around to see if anypony was in the house. She went up a staircase next to the bed and found herself looking at many violins in various states of completion. She noticed that their was one in a glass case in the corner, with a picture of a stallion playing the violin in the case. She reached out to touch it when she heard someone say “Um...excuse me. Could you please not touch that?” the voice asked.

Fluttershy “eeped” as she turned to see who had just spoken. She looked to see that standing by a door on the opposite side of the room was a beige earth pony stallion with a light brown mane, slightly golden eyes and a red scarf. The stallion was shifting on his feet, like he was nervous.

She gasped and said “Oh my, I'm sorry. I …I...I just thought it was pretty and wanted to get a closer look at it. Oh I'm so rude..I.” she began to cower into her mane. The stallion looked up nervously and started waving his hooves in dismissal.

“No,no, it's fine.....I ….it's just that violin belonged to my father. It's very precious to me,” he said almost as softly as Fluttershy.

“Oh my, I'm so sorry I.....I....” she said as she cowered in her mane.

“No, it's fine....but you should be resting...you're injured,” he said. This caused Fluttershy to look out of her mane and notice that the stallion had a new bowl of water and a towel next to him.

“Did you....save me?” she asked. The stallion laughed nervously and scratched his head and looked around in all directions.

“I..uh..I was uh..walking along when I found you. You were injured...and the hospital was too far...so I brought you here,” he said nervously, trying his best to look small. Fluttershy pushed her mane out of her eyes to get a better look at the stallion, seeing that his cutie mark looked like a red bat-like insignia next to a violin.

“Oh...well, thank you,” she said blushing in embarrassment.

“It's fine...it was nothing. But you should rest a bit more....I mean if you want,” he said in a soft, kind tone. Fluttershy looked to see that outside one of the windows that it was night time. Fluttershy gasped at this realization.

“Oh my...how long was I asleep?”

“A couple of hours..I think,” he said.

“Oh..I really appreciate the offer....but my friends are probably worried about me by now....so I should be getting home,” she said slightly blushing.

“At least let me walk you home....I mean...it can be dangerous walking alone at night,” he said, a slight blush on his cheeks as well. This took Fluttershy by surprise, but found that she was not against the idea. She was definitely scared to go out alone, especially after her earlier experience with the Fangire. Plus, she found herself strangely comfortable around this stallion. Fluttershy normally was only comfortable around her friends, and even then she was prone to her usual shyness.

“I..I suppose that would be..okay,” she said with a slight blush. The stallion smiled, then he looked down, digging his hoof into the ground.

“Well...I guess we should get going then,” the stallion said.

“Wait...um...I don't even know your name,” she said nervously.

The stallion blushed in embarrassment that he hadn't introduced himself “Oh....um. My name's Wataru. Kurenai Wataru,” he said.

Fluttershy smiled and said “Nice to...m-meet you Wataru. I'm....Fluttershy.”

“Nice to meet you....Miss Fluttershy,” he said in a soft tone.

“Um..just Fluttershy is fine,” she said blushing. Wataru blushed and said “O-okay....Fluttershy,” he said as the two ponies began to leave Wataru's house.

As they left, a golden bat observed them from a violin-shaped wall ornament. The golden bat smirked, saying “Interesting. It's not often Wataru is able to talk to someone that easily. I'll definitely have to keep an eye on that one,” the bat said as it snickered to itself.

Fluttershy and Wataru walked along in relative silence, both of them occasionally trying to start a conversation. Fluttershy's topic was always in response to why Wataru had changed into such strange clothes. Before they left Wataru's house, Wataru had changed into a heavy jacket covered by plastic, a hat, goggles, and a medical mask. He was also carrying a notepad with him, for what reason Fluttershy did not know.

After an hour or so, they had finally reached Fluttershy's cottage. She was relieved that none of her animals seemed to have gotten out. As she walked up to her front door, she noticed that the lights were on in her cottage. Wataru noticed this as well, and moved in front of Fluttershy to open the door. Hesitantly, Wataru turned the handle of the door and opened the door. The second the door opened, he was bombarded by a rainbow blur and knocked to the ground.

“Okay creep, you got ten seconds to tell me what you're doing here before I clobber you,” Rainbow Dash said as she twisted Wataru's right hoof behind his back.

“Um.. Rainbow Dash, could you let him go please?” Fluttershy asked. Rainbow Dash perked up at the sound of her friend's voice and released Wataru to wrap Fluttershy in a bear hug.

“Where have you been Fluttershy? That pet bunny of yours came running to Sweet Apple Acres about something and when we got here you were gone,” Rainbow Dash said as she squeezed the air out of her friend, who was beginning to turn blue. Thankfully Rainbow's hug was halted when the rest of Fluttershy's friends came out of her cottage and hugged her as well.

“We're so glad you're safe Fluttershy,” Twilight said.

“We were ever so worried about you darling,” Rarity said.

“Glad to see y'all in one piece Shy,” Applejack said.

Pinkie Pie wrapped Fluttershy in a tighter hug than Rainbow Dash “Yay! Fluttershy's safe!! By the way Fluttershy, who's he?” the pink party mare said as she released Fluttershy and pointed a hoof at Wataru, who was rubbing his foreleg from where Rainbow Dash had twisted it. Wataru saw that he was the center of attention and began to sweat.

“Yeah, who are you punk? Did you have anything to do with Fluttershy disappearing like that!?” Rainbow Dash said flaring her nostrils at the frightened stallion. Fluttershy tapped Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and said “Um Rainbow Dash, that's Wataru, he's...my......he helped me,” she said motioning to the bandages that everyone seemed to just now be noticing. They all turned to Wataru, who quickly got out his notepad, flipping through it until he got to a page that said “Hello.”

Rainbow Dash whispered to Fluttershy “Fluttershy, this guy seems really weird. Are you sure he's on the up and up?” Wataru seemed to have heard this and hung his head. Twilight saw this and gave her friend a quick smack on the head.

“Rainbow! Don't be rude, he helped Fluttershy, we should be thanking him. Even if he is a bit...peculiar,” she said, obviously trying to find the least insulting phrase to describe Wataru's appearance.

“Yeah Dashie! Besides, he might be fun! Plus, it's always fun to make new friends!” Pinkie Pie said. The word 'friend' caught Wataru's attention as his eyes widened.

“Friends?” Wataru said in disbelief.

“You would be my friends? Really!?” he said as if someone had just given him a bag of gold with no strings attached.

“Of course silly! Why wouldn't we?” Pinkie asked, confused as to why someone would be surprised about making friends. Wataru's eyes began to water, unable to contain his happiness.

“Wataru, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked concerned. Wataru shuddered and wiped his eyes.

“It's just....I've never really had friends before,” he said trying to contain his tears of joy. This revelation caused Pinkie to gasp in shock.

“WHAT!? Never had friends!? Well we're gonna change that right now, right girls?” Pinkie asked. Twilight and the other Mane Six sans Fluttershy looked at each other, unsure of what to do.

After a few moments Fluttershy spoke up “I'm sure we can be great friends Wataru. Right girls?” she said looking over at her friends. They huddled together for a few seconds, whispering to one another. They broke the huddle and Twilight said “Wataru, we would love to be friends with you. Any friend of Fluttershy's is a friend of ours”.

Wataru stood there silent for a moment, smiling with some tears rolling down his face before finally bowing and saying “Thank you so much!”.

“Well, that's wonderful darling, but it's getting awfully late and a lady needs her rest. What say we all continue this in the morning,” Rarity said. Everyone voiced their agreement and all left to their various homes after making sure Fluttershy was okay to stay by herself. Wataru bowed and turned to leave.

“Uh..W-wataru?” Fluttershy called.

“Y-yes?” he said.

“T-thank you again for taking care of my injuries, it was very kind of you,” she said with a slight blush on her cheeks. Wataru's face likewise began to glow a shade of crimson.

“I...I just did what anypony would do. Well, good night Miss Fluttershy, I'll see you another time,” he said as he took his leave.

Fluttershy walked back to her cottage, thoughts of the days encounters running through her head. The strange Fangire creature, the armored stallion who fought it, and meeting Wataru. Fluttershy could tell that something was beginning to happen, she just didn't know what.

The next morning, the Mane Six all met up at the library so Fluttershy could tell them of what happened to her the previous day. She told them of her getting attacked by the Fangire, about the armored stallion and the golden bat who had fought off the creature, and how Wataru had tended to her wounds. After she had finished her story, her friends were silent. Even Fluttershy had to admit, it was a crazy story and even she was still having trouble believing it.

“You said the creature was called a Fangire right Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.

She nodded “Yes, at least that's what I heard that golden bat call it,” she said.

Twilight's horn glowed with magic as books began flying off the shelves of her library home “Fangire? It's not any creature I've ever heard of. Maybe it's some kind of new species,” she said, trying her best to contain her inner scientist.

“Forget about that Fangire thing for now Twi, I wanna know about that armored stallion. He sounds pretty awesome to me,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Ah agree with Rainbow Dash, we should find this stallion. He might be able to tell us a little more about what's going on,” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash flew up to her friend and gave her a hoof bump.

“That's all well and good girls, but the subject I'm interested in is that Wataru pony. He seems rather intriguing. I bet Fluttershy would like to know more about him,” Rarity said looking at the yellow pegasus, who was now blushing.

“I..I...I would like to know more about him. B-b-but I'm sure he's very busy,” she said trying to hide behind her mane. Everyone gave Rarity a glare, who simply smiled and sipped some tea.

“I agree with Rarity, who is this Wataru guy? I say we go find him and learn first hoof,” Rainbow Dash said as she jetted out of the library before anypony could stop her. However as soon as she exited, the others heard a loud crash come from outside.

“I swear, she can't sit still for five seconds can she,” Twilight said putting her books down.

“Come on, let's go see what she crashed into this time,” Applejack said with annoyance. They all exited the library to find Rainbow Dash had crashed not into something, but somepony. Wataru and Rainbow Dash lay on the ground, their heads spinning.

“Oh my, Wataru?” Fluttershy asked seeing her new friend splayed out on the ground. Wataru tried to stand up, rubbing his head.

“Are you okay Wataru?” Fluttershy asked walking up to him. Wataru's clothes and mask were scattered across the ground, no doubt having been knocked off of him from the force of Rainbow's impact.

“Y-yes, I'm...” he said before he suddenly began gagging and gasping for breath. The Mane Six all looked at him concerned and confused.

“What's wrong Wataru?” Fluttershy asked. Wataru frantically searched for something on the ground before he finally found his mask and put it on his face.

“What was that all about?” Rainbow Dash asked. The Mane Six all glared at her, which shut her up.

“Are you okay Wataru?” Fluttershy asked. Wataru nodded.

“I'm okay. I just have allergies,” he said.

“Allergies!? Partner, what kinda allergies you got?” Applejack asked.

“The world. I'm allergic to the world,” he said softly.

“What, that's ridiculous. No pony can be allergic to the world,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Yeah, it's just all in your head silly,” Pinkie Pie said she suddenly popped in front of Wataru, took his mask, and held his hooves out to his sides.

“Now come on, deep breath in,” she said bringing his hooves inward “and deep breath out,” bringing his hooves outward. Wataru just stood their, disbelief and shock on his face.

“See, you're fine silly,” Pinkie Pie said.

“Pinkie!” her friends said.

“Wataru, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked. Wataru blinked and looked around. His eyes began to water and he turned and ran away.

“Wait, Wataru!” Fluttershy said as the shy stallion ran away. Everyone glared at Pinkie, who just stood their with an awkward smile on her face.

“Pinkie, why did you do that!?” Twilight said chiding her friend.

“I thought we'd be able to have more fun if he wasn't wearing that mask all the time,” she said. Everyone face-hoofed, unable to believe the pink party mare.

“I'm gonna try and find him,” Fluttershy said as she flew off to look for Wataru.

Fluttershy flew all over Ponyville looking for Wataru. She looked at all the spots that she would usually hide in when she was upset, but didn't find him. After two hours of searching, she was about to give up when she saw a familiar red scarf peeking out from under a bridge. She flew as quietly as she could up to the side of the bridge and peeked around the corner to find Wataru staring at the water, his eyes slightly red. She crept up as quietly as she could so that she didn't startle him.

“You don't have to sneak up on me like that. I already know you're there,” Wataru said turning to look at Fluttershy who was now frozen like a deer in the headlights. She looked down at the ground , trying her best to look small.

“I..I'm sorry Wataru. I...just didn't want to scare you after what happened earlier,” she said.

“It's alright. I was more shocked than anything else,” he said bringing his scarf up closer to his mouth.

“Um..if you don't mind me asking...why did you think you had an allergy to the world?” Fluttershy said. Wataru sighed and threw a rock into the water.

“It was something my mother told me. She told me that I was different from everyone else in a profound way. That I was destined for something great. I guess along the way I just developed a mindset that I shouldn't breath in the air of the outside world. Otherwise....” he fell silent.

“Otherwise what?” Fluttershy said sitting next to him.

Sighing, he said “Otherwise I would be just like any other pony. I wouldn't be special anymore.”

Fluttershy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Suddenly she realized what she sounded like when she looked down on herself in front of her friends.

“Wataru, that's just not right. You're very special,” she said placing a hoof on his shoulder. Wataru turned to look at her and smiled. Suddenly, both ponies realized how close they were and both blushed a deep shade of red and began to laugh nervously.

“I..uh...I didn't mean to...uh,” Fluttershy managed to stammer out.

“It's..fine, I...uh..we should probably get back. Your friends are probably getting worried,” Wataru said as he and Fluttershy both began to head back to the library.

Just as they walked up onto the bridge, they saw that another pony was there. He was dressed in a silvery dress suit with a wild black mane and pale white coat. He looked like some kind of mad composer. The strange stallion turned to look at the two and grinned a large and extremely creepy smile.

“Found you. NOW THE FUN CAN BEGIN!!!” he said as he began to twist about on his hooves before turning back to look at them, except now with a mouse puppet on his right hoof.

“Churihihihihihi!!!” he said.

“Who are you?” Wataru asked, himself and Fluttershy both quickly growing uncomfortable. The stallion with the puppet frowned He pointed at Fluttershy.

“You. It is not often that my prey gets away, and I can assure you it will not be happening again,” he said as he dropped the puppet and became shrouded in what looked like stain glass. Fluttershy's eyes opened in shock as the stallion's body morphed into the Fangire that had attacked her. The other towns people began screaming and running around at the sight of the monster before. Fluttershy was so scared she couldn't even scream. Her legs refusing to move. The Fangire advanced on them, Fluttershy's body remaining frozen.

What happened next was almost as shocking as the Fangire. Wataru leapt at the creature and began to try and fight it.

“Miss Fluttershy, get out of here! Run!” Wataru said as the Fangire swatted him away. This shocked Fluttershy out of her stupor as she quickly took flight. As she flew away, she stopped herself when she realized she had just left Wataru at the mercy of the Fangire. She quickly turned back, this time stopping just before she got to the scene of the fight and hid. Wataru was still attempting to fight the Fangire off, but the Fangire was tossing him around like a rag doll.

The Fangire's pony face appeared across it's stain glass body “Give up fool! You cannot win!” He bellowed as he punched Wataru and threw him against a nearby building. Wataru got up and looked around. Suddenly, his demeanor changed completely. The meek pony was no longer there. Instead, a confident pony stood in his place. The Fangire looked at him confused.

Wataru yelled “Kivat!!” as he advanced on the Fangire. Out of nowhere, the golden bat from the previous night attacked the Fangire before flying next to Wataru.

“Alright! Kivatte go!” Kivat said as Wataru stood up on his hind legs and grabbed the bat. He extended his other hoof as Kivat's mouth opened “Gabu!” he said as he bit Wataru's hoof. Wataru's face was suddenly covered in strange Stain glass markings as chains suddenly whipped around his midsection forming into a red metal belt with two attachments on the side.

“Henshin!” Wataru said as he clipped Kivat onto the belt and let him drop into place, causing the air around him to ripple as Wataru's body was transformed. Small bats flew off of Wataru's body as his transformation was complete, revealing to Fluttershy's shock, the armored stallion.

The Fangire was taken aback by this. Wataru however wasted no time in attacking the creature, his strength suddenly augmented. He punched the Fangire repeatedly in the midsection before he delivered a roundhouse kick to it's head. The Fangire stuttered backwards as he regained his footing and shot strands of webs at Wataru. Wataru however jumped up and hung upside down from a building, dodging the attack. He jumped down and charged the Fangire with his front hooves outstretched, kicking and punching him repeatedly.

Finally, the Fangire looked to be on his final leg. Wataru walked up to the Fangire and reached to the right side of his belt, pulling out of one of the side attachments what looked to be a glass whistle with a red coating on top.

“Alright,” Kivat said as Wataru put the whistle in his mouth.

"WAKE UP!!!!” Kivat yelled as he flew off of his perch and Wataru crossed his front hooves. The sky suddenly turned a dark red tinge as a full moon suddenly appeared in the sky. Wataru lifted his right hind leg high in the air as Kivat circled around it, breaking the chains to reveal a pair of red bat wings attached to his leg with a few green jewels placed on it as well. Wataru used his other leg to jump up high into the sky, quickly descending towards the Fangire with his right leg extended in a kick.

Wataru's kick made contact with the Fangire's body, shattering it into bits of stained glass, a bat like symbol appearing on the ground. After a few moments, the sky returned to normal, except now what looked like a giant castle with a dragon attached to it was flying towards them. From the bits of stained glass remains, a ball of light emerged, which the castle quickly ate before flying off.

Wataru's armor dissipated as Kivat flew around Wataru.

“Excellent work Wataru. However, you could've done this quicker. You must learn to fight better if you are to truly be able to wield Kiva properly,” he said to the stallion.

“Sorry Kivat,” Wataru said bowing to the golden bat.

“And stop apologizing all the time!” he said.

Wataru was about to say something before he was interrupted “W-Wataru?” Fluttershy said as she came out of her hiding place and approached the stallion. Wataru and Kivat looked at each other in shock. Wataru began sweating while Kivat began fluttering around nervously.

“Wataru, you were the armored pony?” she asked. Wataru and Kivat looked at each other nervously.

“This is bad Wataru, she knows who you are,” Kivat whispered to Wataru.

“Miss Fluttershy..I..uh..I can explain this,” he said. Unfortunately he never got the chance as Fluttershy proceeded to faint. As Wataru went to make sure she was okay, Kivat looked up at the sky.

“This is going to be a long day”.

Chapter 2: Mystery's Melody

Chapter 2

Mystery's Melody

Fluttershy awoke to the sound of someone calling her name and somepony shaking her. When she opened her eyes, she saw Wataru's face. This caused her to suddenly sit up in surprise and bonk heads with Wataru. As they both rubbed their heads, Fluttershy looked around in confusion.

“Wha...what happened? I...” she stopped as the memories came flooding back to her. The Fangire attacking and Wataru's reveal as the armored pony. Fluttershy looked at Wataru, who was still rubbing his head. She noticed that the golden bat, who she now knew was called Kivat, was nowhere to be seen.

“Um....Wataru?” Fluttershy said softly. Wataru looked at her with a nervous look on his face.

“Y-yes Miss Fluttershy?”

“So...you were the armored pony?” Fluttershy said, almost ready to faint again. Wataru sweated and rubbed the back of his head, trying to think of what to say.

Luckily, Wataru was saved by the Mane Six as they rushed onto the scene shouting for Fluttershy. When they spotted her they immediately ran up to her and began asking if she was okay.

“I'm fine girls..really”.

“We heard from some other ponies that the Fangire attacked again. We were trying to figure out where it was when we saw that dragon..castle..thing,” Twilight said.

“I was about to chase it when the thing disappeared into thin air!” Said a frustrated Rainbow Dash.

“Ah'm just glad nopony got hurt. That Fangire whatchamacallit seemed pretty dangerous,” Applejack said.

“Are you sure you're okay Fluttershy dear?” Rarity asked. Fluttershy nodded.

“I'm fine..W-Wataru helped protect me,” Fluttershy said. The other Mane Six turned to look at Wataru. Wataru was looking every direction and sweating profusely.

“You protected Fluttershy from the Fangire?” Rainbow Dash questioned.

“W-w-w-well...uh....I just did what I could. Besides, I didn't really do much apart from get tossed around. It was Kiva who really saved the day,” he stuttered nervously.

“Kiva? Do you mean the armored pony?” Twilight asked. Wataru's eyes turned to pinpricks.

“How do you know what he's called?” Twilight said.

“Um.......I heard him say it at one point during the fight. Yeah, that's right,” Wataru said as he laughed nervously. Twilight and everyone else raised their eyebrows.

“Did he say anything else?” Twilight asked.

“Um...he was kinda busy fighting and stuff. I'm sorry..I've got to go. I'll see you all later,” Wataru said as he began to walk away, stumbling a bit as he did so

“You okay partner? You're lookin' pretty banged up there,” Applejack said. Her words were certainly true. Wataru was bleeding in a few places and had a massive bruise on his head.

“I'm fine, just a bit bruised that's all,” he said laughing nervously. Fluttershy looked at Wataru concerned.

“Are you sure that you're okay Wataru? That Fangire threw you pretty hard,” Fluttershy said walking up to the nervous stallion. Wataru continued to put on a tough exterior, however weak it was.

“I'm fine, really. See” he began to punch and kick the air “I'm completely....” he said before he began to stumble and fall over. Fluttershy managed to catch him before he hit the ground. She looked him over and found that his head was now bleeding.

“Wataru!” Fluttershy yelled as the other Mane Six ran up to her.

“Oh Celestia, he's really hurt. Come on girls, we need to get him to a hospital,” Twilight said as she enveloped Wataru's unconscious form in a purple aura.

As they ran to the hospital, Kivat watched them from the sky.

“This is bad. Not only did he get hurt, but he's been found out as Kiva. I knew coming to this town was a bad idea,” Kivat said as he flew after the group of mares and one unconscious stallion.

Meanwhile in Canterlot

Celestia sat on a couch in her quarters, enjoying a cup of tea and a slice of her favorite strawberry cake. Celestia cherished these few times she was able to relax. Usually her day was filled with nothing but boring meetings, visits from dignitaries and ambassadors and the like. However, the things she hated most was....paperwork. Mountains upon mountains of it. She had secretaries to help her with most of it, but she still had a massive workload on her plate. A workload broken only by the sparse moments of rest, like the one she was currently enjoying.

As Celestia prepared to take the first bite of her cake, her peace was interrupted by her sister, Princess Luna, throwing the doors to her chambers open.

“Sister, we have a serious problem!” Luna said in an urgent tone. Celestia set her cake down with an annoyed look on her face. Ever since Luna had been redeemed for her actions as Nightmare Moon, she had been having some trouble adapting to modern society. She had interrupted her break time many times to complain about what she considered “serious problems”.

“SISTER, WE HAVE A PROBLEM. OUR SUBJECTS SEEM TO HAVE A PROBLEM WITH OUR ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE”.

“Sister, what has happened with this new, atrocious music?”

“Sister, the bathroom has changed location since we have been gone”.

Celestia loved her sister, but she was about ready to snap from all the interruptions. She put on a calm demeanor and turned to her sister.

“What is it this time Luna? Did you scare somepony with the Royal Canterlot Voice again?” she asked.

“We are afraid it is much more serious than that sister,” Luna said as she opened to blinds to her sister's quarters.

As Luna opened the blinds, she noticed something was off immediately. Primarily, that there was no sunlight shining in, despite it being the middle of the day. Celestia ran to the window to find that, instead of the sun being in the sky, the moon was in full view. She also noticed that the sky was tinged red and black. Needless to say, Celestia was shocked. Outside, the sky dissipated back to it's normal sunny appearance as the faint cry of a dragon was heard in the distance. Luna turned to her sister.

“Sister, you know what this means,” Luna said. Celestia nodded somberly.

“Yes. It looks like a new Kiva has finally arisen,” Celestia said somberly. She sighed as she walked up to her bookcase. She pulled a book down from the shelf, the cover bearing a familiar bat-like symbol. The book was wrapped in heavy chains with a lock placed in the middle.

“I had hoped the Fangire would just disappear into history as an old pony tale, but looks like I was wrong,” she said with sadness.

“We too hoped the Fangire had disappeared by now. We ask that you let us handle this matter sister. After all, we were the ones that.....”

“Don't, Luna. You were Nightmare Moon, you didn't know any better. If you wish, I will let you handle them. But not without my help, understood?” Celestia said. Luna bowed to her sister.

“Thank you sister. We shall correct our most egregious error,” Luna said. Celestia smiled at her sister.

“Come Luna, we have much to discuss,” she said as she lead her sister out of the room, making sure to bring the ancient book and her cake along with her.

Fluttershy sat by Wataru's bedside in the hospital as he slept. Luckily his injuries had not been as severe as they thought. He had however sustained some bruised ribs, a minor concussion, and a few minor cuts and scrapes. Fluttershy volunteered to stay by his side while the other Mane Six went to gather more information about the Fangire attack.

As Fluttershy watched Wataru sleep, her mind was racing with questions.

“How was Wataru able to turn into that armored form? Where did he learn to use it?” she thought as she looked at his sleeping and bandaged form.

“Who are you?” she thought to herself.

Suddenly, Wataru began to stir in his sleep. Fluttershy noticed this and got up out of her seat and moved closer to his bed. Wataru eyes opened and he turned his head to see Fluttershy standing there.

“Miss Fluttershy?” he asked. Fluttershy sighed in relief.

“Thank goodness, you're awake,” she said. Wataru tried to sit up but Fluttershy stopped him.

“Don't move just yet, you're still injured,” she said gently pushing him back down. Wataru merely nodded and laid in his bed.

The two sat like that for a long while, neither of them knowing exactly what to say. Both knew what the elephant in the room was however. That being that Wataru was able to transform into some strange armored form and fight monsters. The mere idea of it made Fluttershy think of something she'd see in one of the comic books Spike was always raving about.

It was Wataru who finally broke the silence “Miss Fluttershy?” he asked.

“Y-yes Wataru?”

“I...I know it must be shocking to learn about my little....secret”.

“Well.....um....I don't really know what to say about it. I mean...It's just so.....bizarre,” she said, trying to say it as nicely as she could. Wataru looked down somberly. Fluttershy saw this and tried to think of something else to say.

“Um...what was it you called your armor?” she asked. This caught Wataru's attention.

“It's called the Armor of Kiva. According to Kivat it's some sort of ancient and powerful relic. Truth be told I know very little about it, only what Kivat's told me,” he said.

“Kivat? The gold bat from earlier?” she asked. Wataru nodded and smiled.

“That's him. He can be a bit crabby at times, but he's pretty nice. He's the reason I'm even able to become Kiva,” he said.

Wataru's smile disappeared as his face grew serious “Miss Fluttershy, I need to ask you something”.

“Y-yes?” she said.

“I need you to keep me being Kiva a secret,” he said, his face completely serious.

“W-what?” she said. Wataru sat up and looked her in the eye.

“My job as Kiva is dangerous. If my identity gets out, people will get hurt. If I'm to keep fighting the Fangire, I need you to keep my being Kiva a secret,” he said in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

“But...what if I told my friends. We're the Elements of Harmony, maybe we could help you?” she said. Wataru shook his head.

“I don't want anypony else to have to put themselves in danger because of me. This is a battle I have to fight alone,” he said as his face grew sad. Fluttershy could see something in his eyes she knew all too well. Loneliness. She put a hoof on his shoulder.

“You don't have to worry Wataru....I'll...keep your secret safe,” she said. This made Wataru smile.

“Thank you Miss Fluttershy I really appreciate...”

“But...on one condition,” she said. Wataru looked at her confused.

“What?”

“I'll keep your secret on the provision that you let me help you,” she said with an air of confidence.

“Miss Fluttershy I,” he began before she stopped him.

“Wataru..please. Nopony should have to do something like this on their own. Even if I can't help you fight, I can still support you as your friend,” she said giving him a determined look. Wataru looked away in thought for a moment before he sighed in defeat.

“Okay. But when the fighting starts, you run as far as you can. Agreed?” he said. She nodded and smiled. Wataru couldn't help but smile as well.

“Um..Wataru...also,” she said.

“Yes?” he said. Fluttershy leaned in closer to him as she wrapped her hooves around him in a hug

“Thank you for saving me. You were very brave,” she said. Wataru sat there shocked for a moment before he returned her hug. After a few moments, they both broke the hug and smiled. However, they soon realized how close they were and had just been and both instantly blushed a deep red.

“Well, I-I-I-I guess I should be going then. My animals are probably worried,” she stammered out. Wataru nodded his head.

“Y-yeah. Besides, I-I.... need to rest,” he said as he laid back down, both his and Fluttershy's faces still bright red. Fluttershy nodded and began to walk out of the room.

“Um..Miss Fluttershy,” Wataru said. Fluttershy turned around to face the stallion.

“Y-yes?”

“Thank you,” Wataru said with a smile and his blush still present. This caused Fluttershy to blush even more.

“Um...you're welcome...Wataru,” she said as she smiled and exited the room, leaving Wataru alone with his thoughts.

Or, he would have been alone if Kivat hadn't flown in after Fluttershy left. Kivat flew up to Wataru and looked at him with a smug grin. Wataru jumped at the appearance of his bat friend.

“Kivat! Um..how long have you been here?” he asked embarrassed.

“Long enough to see you flirting with that Fluttershy mare,” he said making kissy noises at Wataru. Wataru blushed and threw a pillow at Kivat, who dodged it.

“Stop it Kivat! It's not like that,” Wataru said, though the blush and the smile on his face told otherwise. Kivat perched himself on Wataru's bedpost.

“Come now, I'm only teasing. Besides, I think it's nice you're finally pursuing somepony. I was worried you'd never find someone, especially as shy as you are,” he said as Wataru's blush grew deeper. Kivat merely laughed at his friend's embarrassment.

“Well, I've had my fun. I just wanted to check up on you and make sure you were okay. Get some rest, you're gonna need it,” he said as he began to fly away. This caught Wataru's attention.

“What do you mean Kivat?” he asked. Kivat turned to look at Wataru.

“It's only going to get tougher from here. You've revealed yourself, not just to that Fluttershy mare but to the world as well. You know what that means don't you Wataru?” he said ominously. Wataru looked down somberly before he nodded.

“I do, and I'm prepared for what's to come,” he said somberly but with some confidence. Kivat couldn't help but smile at Wataru.

“There may be some hope for you yet,” Kivat said as he flew out the window.

Author's Note

UPDATE!!!!! Seriously though, sorry I haven't updated the story for a while. College classes just started back up so that's eating up a good chunk of my time. I'll try to update when I can, but it might take a while. Well, that's about it. Hope you enjoy the new chapter, have a nice day, and party on.

Chapter 3: First Meetings

Chapter 3

First Meetings

“Are you sure you want to do this Wataru? You don't have to if you don't want to,” Fluttershy said trying to calm down a rather nervous Wataru as they walked towards Golden Oaks Library. Wataru was sweating buckets and was nervously playing with his scarf.

“N-no..thank you Miss...I mean Fluttershy, I'm fine. Besides....it'd be rude of me not to properly introduce myself to your friends after all,” Wataru said. After Wataru had been released from the hospital, he had asked Fluttershy if he could properly introduce himself to her friends. Fluttershy was at first happy about the idea, but was soon having second thoughts after seeing how nervous Wataru was. Fluttershy knew all too well that meeting new ponies could be a difficult experience at first.

“My friends really are very nice..even if they can be a bit.... eccentric at times,” she said thinking about some of the experiences she'd had with her friends.

“I think I'd fit right in. After all, my line of work is as eccentric as it gets,” Wataru said, which elicited a laugh from Fluttershy. This brought a smile to Wataru's face. He was worried at first about letting Fluttershy know that he was Kiva, but he was slowly liking the idea of having somepony else know. Plus, he found himself strangely comfortable around Fluttershy. She was the first mare he'd met that was not put off by his strange behavior. Most ponies either ignored him or called him names. Fluttershy was different. She actually gave him a chance, something few ponies had ever done.

Wataru found himself staring happily at Fluttershy. Fluttershy noticed this and looked at him confused.

“What are you smiling at Wataru?” she asked. Wataru realized what he was doing and blushed furiously. He wrapped his scarf around his face in embarrassment.

“Um...um..nothing. Just...looking forward to formally meeting your friends,” he said looking away. Unfortunately, Wataru's blush had not gone unnoticed by Fluttershy, who was now slightly blushing herself. They walked in silence from that point onward, each of them occasionally stealing a glance at the other.

After a couple more minutes of awkward walking, they had arrived at the library. Now instead of embarrassed, Wataru was back to nervous. Fluttershy gave him a sympathetic look and said “Are you ready Wataru?”

Wataru gulped and said “Y-yeah”.

“Don't worry, I'm sure they're going to love being friends with you.”she said knocking on the door of the library.

“Besides, we're just going to be having tea and talking. Nothing to be too worried abou-” she was cut off by the sound of the door opening and Pinkie Pie's party cannon firing at them. Then Pinkie Pie appeared in the doorway and blew a a horn.

“Yay!! Wataru and Fluttershy are here, now we can really get this party started,” Pinkie said as loud music began to play. Fluttershy looked inside to see that all of her friends were drinking punch, eating cake and cupcakes, and playing “Pin the Tail on the Pony”.

“Pinkie..um..I thought we agreed this was gonna be a quiet get together?” Fluttershy asked. Pinkie just smiled and laughed.

“But I never got to throw Wataru his welcome party. So this seemed like the perfect opportunity,” Pinkie Pie said, her smile still plastered on her face. Fluttershy merely sighed at her energetic friend's behavior.

“But I'm just worried about...Wataru?” She said as she realized the shy stallion was nowhere to be seen. She looked all around for him but found he had vanished.

“Wataru...where'd you go?” she said slightly above a whisper. A leaf fluttered down from overhead. Fluttershy looked up to see that Wataru was hanging on a branch and shaking furiously. Fluttershy flew up to him.

“Wataru..are you okay?” she asked already knowing the answer.

“Can I fight monsters instead..if you don't mind,” he said as his teeth chattered.

“Fight what now?” Pinkie asked, suddenly appearing on the branch opposite Wataru. Wataru and Fluttershy 'eeped' in shock with Wataru letting go of his branch in the process. He realized this about two seconds before he made contact with the ground. Fluttershy looked over at Pinkie, who still had a smile on her face.

“Pinkie, could you please not do that. Wataru's.....sensitive to surprises,” Fluttershy said, trying her best to not sound annoyed at her hyperactive friend. Pinkie nodded and saluted Fluttershy.

“Okie dokie lokie. But you might wanna help him up, or else he's gonna miss all the cake,” she said as she hopped off the branch and into the air, a parachute appearing on her out of nowhere. Fluttershy blinked in confusion before she shook her head and flew down to help Wataru.

After Fluttershy had helped Wataru and convinced Pinkie to tone the party down, though Pinkie was reluctant to do so, Wataru was finally able to introduce himself.

“It's...it's n-nice to m-meet you all. My name ...is...Kurenai Wataru. I..I hope we can get along,” he said bowing his head to the Mane Six. This gesture caught them off guard.

“Um..nice to meet you Wataru,” Twilight said. Wataru raised his head and stood there awkwardly. To be fair, no one really knew what to say or ask. That is, except Rarity.

“Well, tell us a bit about yourself darling. For instance, how long have you been in Ponyville for?”

“Um..about three weeks now.”

“Three weeks!! How did I not notice you till now!?” Pinkie asked, aghast that she hadn't known when somepony knew had come to town.

“Well..um...I live kind of out of the way,” he said blushing in embarrassment.

“That's still no excuse,” Pinkie said as she brought out the Party Cannon again. Luckily everypony stopped her before she was able to fire it again.

“Pinkie's outburst aside, what do you do for a living? I can see it must have something to do with violins and...whatever that red mark is,” Rarity said.

“Well..um...” he started before a crash came from the kitchen entrance. They all looked to see that Spike had spilled a tray of tea and sandwiches.

“Are you okay,” Twilight said rushing over to the young drake. He was rubbing his head and blushing in embarrassment.

“I'm fine, just tripped over my own feet,” he said as he tried to get up. He pulled a dish cloth out of nowhere to try and clean up the mess, but found Wataru standing in his way. Wataru was down on the floor examining the spilled tea.

“Um, is he okay?” Spike asked. Wataru picked up one of the sandwiches and looked at it. Suddenly his eyes widened.

“This might be it!” he turned to Spike “Can you get me some bags of this tea and a couple of these sandwiches....I mean...if you don't mind,” he said, going back to his sheepish mode. Spike looked at Twilight as she nodded her approval. Spike went to get what Wataru had asked. Wataru was still looking at the soggy sandwich with a rather odd smile on his face. When Spike returned with his items, Wataru dropped the sandwich and grabbed his items and ran out of the library. This caused the Mane Six to chase after him, all of them confused.

Wataru ran faster than any of them thought possible. Rainbow Dash was able to catch up to him, but was unable to get the stallion's attention. Fluttershy managed to maneuver her way so that she was flying right next to him.

“Wataru, where are you running off to all of a sudden?” Fluttershy asked him. When Wataru locked eyes with Fluttershy, his eyes opened wide in shock and he screeched to a halt. When the other Mane Six caught up to him, Wataru turned to them and bowed, making sure not to spill his items.

“I'm so sorry!! I didn't mean to do that. I just got a bit...excited,” Wataru said, bowing his head repeatedly in apology.

“Excited over what! Soggy sandwiches!?” Rainbow Dash said as she flew up to Wataru.

“Um..well...it's just..the color of the two mixed together...I thought would make a good varnish,” he stammered out. They all looked at each other confused.

“Varnish? For what?” Twilight asked. Wataru looked down at the ground, trying his best to look small.

“Well......maybe it's better if I show you all,” he said as he began walking. They all looked at each other as they followed Wataru. Luckily due the impromptu chase, they were not too far from their destination. On the outskirts of town, almost on the edge of the EverFree Forest. They finally came upon a creepy looking, old house. It was strewn with vines covering the outside and a slightly rusted gate out front. Wataru opened the gate and motioned for them to follow. Fluttershy had been here before, but it had been at night, so she didn't get a good look at the place except the inside.

“Do any of y’all ever remember seein' this place before?” Applejack asked. They all shook their heads.

“I guess this is why I didn't notice he'd moved in,” Pinkie interjected. Wataru opened the door and they all filed in.

When they entered the house, they found the outside was vastly different from the inside. The inside was clean and well kept. Pictures and violin ornaments hung on the wall. Wataru lead them into the main room, where they saw Wataru's work space. Violins were strewn about in various states of repair and a pot was boiling in the corner. That was when the smell finally hit them. They all began to gag while Wataru rushed over to the pot and opened it, only making the smell worse.

“Hmm, the color's not right. Better let it sit for another couple of hours,” he said putting the lid back on.

“For Celestia's sake boy, what in tarnation are ya cooking in there!?” Applejack asked.

“Just some boiled tree roots, fish bones, and syrup. It's a little experiment I'm working on,” he said as he grabbed another pot form underneath his sink and proceeded to pour the sandwiches and tea bags into the pot.

“An experiment in what, making something that smells like boiled crap!?” Rainbow Dash said. Wataru poured boiling water into the new pot and set it on the stove next to the other one.

“It's violin varnish,” Wataru said. Everyone's mouths hung open.

“Why in Tartarus are you trying to make violin varnish out of that crap!?” Rainbow Dash yelled. Wataru shrunk and sat in a depressed slump, sniffling a bit. Everyone glared at Rainbow Dash while Fluttershy walked over to Wataru and tried to comfort him.

“Wataru...um..why exactly are you using that stuff to make violin varnish?” she asked. Wataru pointed a hoof at the violin in the case. Everyone looked at it as Wataru got to his hooves and went to bring it out of the case. He pulled it out and held it in his hooves.

“This violin is my father's, the Bloody Rose. Ever since I can remember I've been trying to make a violin to surpass it. To do that, I need the right varnish. I've tried everything I can think of, but nothing seems to work, ” he said as he began to set the violin back in the case. However, Rainbow Dash grabbed the Bloody Rose and began looking at it.

“What's so special about some violin?” she said with the her usual lack of tact.

“DON'T TOUCH THAT!!” Wataru said as he grabbed the violin and cradled it in his hooves. Everyone was taken aback by Wataru's outburst. He continued to cradle the violin and looked up.

“This violin is more precious to me than anything. It's all I...” he trailed off staring at the violin. He closed his eyes as a stray tear escaped his eye. The other Mane Six glared at Rainbow Dash, who whistled and tried to act like nothing had happened.

“Rainbow Dash! Apologize already!” Twilight chided. Rainbow Dash walked up to Wataru and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up at her, a hint of fear and malice in his eyes.

“I'm..sorry Wataru. I didn't realize it was that important to you. Are we good?” she said giving a smile. Wataru looked between Rainbow Dash and the Bloody Rose. After a second he sighed and nodded. He placed the Bloody Rose back in it's case and sighed. Fluttershy placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Are you okay Wataru?” She asked. He smiled and nodded. Suddenly the newest pot on the stove began to boil over. Wataru ran over to it and looked inside. A smile appeared on his face.

“This looks like it might work,” he said as he put his apron on and began to work. The mane Six decided to sit down and watch while Wataru worked. Wataru felt self conscious being watched, but nonetheless he worked on his new project.

After about an hour of mixing, stirring, and some final touches, Wataru was ready to apply the varnish to one of the violins he had already made. During the down time, the Mane Six watched Wataru work. One thing they noticed was that Wataru acted much like Rarity did when she was engrossed in her work. The whole world seemed to disappear as he worked.

Wataru picked up a blank violin and carefully applied the tea and sandwich varnish. After he had finished applying it, he held it up to the light to check the coloring. After a few other minute checks, he smiled and picked up a bow.

“I think I've got it this time,” he said as he placed the bow on the strings and began to play. Wataru drifted away to the music, forgetting that the Mane Six were in the room with him. They all stood mesmerized at the music. Even Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who both hadn't the highest like for classical music, were enthralled by Wataru's performance. After a few final notes, Wataru stopped playing.

“Wataru that was....” Fluttershy said, her words lost. Wataru jumped at the sound and turned to the Mane Six. His eyes turned to pin pricks and he began to sweat.

“Um..you all..heard that?” he said nervously.

“Why yes darling, and it was simply magnificent,” Rarity said.

“I gotta say partner, you got some mighty fine skill with that fiddle,” Applejack said. The other Mane Six nodded in agreement. Wataru began to sweat and slunk down into a ball. They all looked at him confused before Fluttershy said “Um...Wataru...do you have stage fright?” Wataru turned to her and nodded. All but Fluttershy shrugged at this. Fluttershy knew what stage fright was like, and how awful it could be. She walked over to Wataru and patted him on the shoulder.

“It's okay Wataru, we thought your playing was wonderful,” she said. Wataru uncurled himself from his ball and smiled.

“Thank you,” he said before he frowned and picked up the violin “but it looks like this was still a failure,” he said as he threw the violin into the garbage. Everyone looked at him in shock and confusion.

Wataru sighed as he scribbled on a notepad that was on the counter.

“Looks like that makes failure #157. Maybe I'll have better luck next time,” he said.

“Wataru, why did you do that? You worked so hard on that violin,” Fluttershy said digging said instrument out of the garbage. Wataru looked at her and shrugged.

“No real reason. It doesn't surpass the Bloody Rose, and I don't sell any of the violins I make. So what else is there to do with it?” he said. Fluttershy opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't find herself able to come up with a rebuttal.

“Hold on a second. If you don't sell the violins you make, then how do you make any money?” Twilight asked.

“I may not sell violins, but I do repair them. I also give lessons occasionally,” he said.

Rarity shook her head as she looked over the violin that Fluttershy was holding “Such a waste of talent darling. With your skills, you could be the most famous violin maker in Canterlot,” she said.

Wataru laughed and said “I'm not looking to be famous Miss Rarity. All I want is to make a violin that will surpass my Father's. As long as I can do that, I'm happy,” he said with a smile. They all looked at him with a sudden respect. Fluttershy picked up the violin and looked at with a smile.

“I still think you should do something besides just throwing them away. It's a shame to see such beautiful creations destroyed,” she said. This caused Wataru to blush as he began to fidget.

“W-w-w-well..I s-suppose I could think of something to do with them,” he stammered out. Fluttershy started to blush herself and hid behind her mane.

“I mean...if that's okay with you,” she said, her blush growing.

Before the two could embarrass themselves further, Rainbow Dash flew between them and said “Enough of this mushy stuff already. I'm getting bored”. This caused each of them to blush even more.

Wataru coughed and composed himself “Well, I suppose we could try that welcome party one more time if Miss Pinkie doesn't.....where'd she go?” he said. They all looked around to see that Pinkie was nowhere to be seen.

“I could've sworn she was here just a second ago,” Wataru said. The rest of the Mane Six just shrugged.

“She does that. One second she's here and the next she's”

“Getting ready for the best welcome party EVER!!” she yelled as she appeared out of nowhere with her Party Cannon in tow. They all looked at her shocked and confused.

“But..how did.....where'd you..” Wataru stammered.

“Sorry, had to reload the Party Cannon and get some supplies. Now let's get this party started!” she yelled as she fired the Party Cannon. Wataru stood there dumbstruck, still trying to figure out how Pinkie Pie had accomplished such a feat.

“Don't try and rationalize it. The sooner you start accepting 'It's just Pinkie being Pinkie', the less headaches you'll get. Trust me on this one,” Twilight said. Wataru stood there for a moment still trying to process it all before he sighed in defeat.

“Don't worry, you'll get used to it. Eventually,” Twilight said. Wataru smiled at this as he joined in the party that was now being thrown in his house.

Unbeknownst to them all, Kivat observed them through a violin ornament on the wall which acted as his perch. He smiled and chuckled.

“Looks like Wataru's starting to finally make friends; with six mares no less. Lucky boy. This will be interesting to watch,” he said as he chuckled to himself and listened to the music that Pinkie was blaring through the house.

Meanwhile in Canterlot

Celestia lead Luna to a pair of giant doors with the symbol of the sun on the door. Except it was more straight and angular as opposed to the more flowing and wavy design. Luna looked at her sister confused.

“Sister, what is this place?” she said.

“After the Nightmare Moon incident all those years ago, the Fangire fell into hiding. My guards tried to find them all, but their efforts came up short. For a while, I just assumed they had died of or fell into obscurity. However, as the years went by we saw a resurgence in attacks. My guards were unable to fight them effectively, so I created an organization specifically to fight and study the Fangire,” she said as she pushed open the giant doors.

“The Wonderful Blue Sky Organization,” she said. Luna stared wide eyed at what stood before her. The massive room was filled with ponies in lab coats and numerous machines. Luna had never seen anything like it before. She was aware that technology had greatly advance since her absence, but not to this degree. Celestia tapped her on the shoulder.

“Come with me Luna, there is somepony I would like you to meet,” she said as she led her sister through the room.

On the very far end of the massive room was what looked like a training facility. Various exercise equipment were laid out. Strangely, the only pony who appeared to be using it at the moment was a dark blue stallion with a black mane on an elliptical. His cutie mark was a shield with the same strange sun symbol on it with two wings extending from the sides. He turned to look at the two ponies and smiled, yet strangely he did not bow and continued pedaling on the elliptical.

“Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, to what do I owe the pleasure?” he said.

“Luna, I would like you to meet Mamoru Shima, the head of the Wonderful Blue Sky Organization,” she said. Shima stopped for a moment and bowed his head to Luna. Luna bowed in response.

“A pleasure my Princess,” he said.

“We are pleased to meet you as well,” she said. With that Shima went back to his pedaling.

“So, I assume since you're here it must have something to do with the Fangire. Am I correct?” he said in a matter-of-fact sort of tone.

“It is more than that Shima. Kiva has returned,” Celestia said. Shima stopped his pedaling suddenly and looked at Celestia.

“Kiva?” he said in a very serious tone. Celestia nodded. Shima sighed and got off of the elliptical. He dried the sweat off with a towel and grabbed a suit that was hanging on a bar next to the machine.

“Do we know where he was sighted?” he asked. Celestia shook her head. Shima nodded.

“I will get my top people on it right away my Princess,” he said bowing.

“Thank you Shima. I hope you learn of his location soon,” Celestia said. Shima bowed and prepared to leave.

“One last thing before you go,” she said. Shima turned to look at her “How are the developments coming along on the Rider System?”

Shima smiled and said “They are going well. We're almost done with the latest upgrade. We've also finally got a candidate to use it,” he said. Celestia smile at the news.

“Thank you Shima. I will leave you to work,” she said as she and Shima bowed to each other. Shima bowed to Luna as well, with Luna returning the bow.

“Always a pleasure to see you Princess. Wonderful to meet you as well Princess Luna,” he said.

“We agree good Shima. We pray you are successful in your tasks,” she said. Shima smiled at the two Princesses and walked away.

“What did you mean when you said Rider System sister?” Luna said.

“A project I've had in the works for many years. If it works, it may be able to stop the Fangire and Kiva alike,” she said as she turned to leave, Luna following right alongside her.

Chapter 4: Apple's Lullaby Part 1

Chapter 4

Apple's Lullaby Part 1

Wataru sat at his workbench, shaping and shaving the wood on a new violin base, humming to himself as he did so. Ever since his encounters with the Mane Six, Wataru's normally gloomy nature had taken a turn for the positive. He actually smiled for a change and was even beginning to go outside without his set of anti-germ clothes. However, his shy nature still remained, as evidenced by his freezing up as his doorbell rang.

Wataru stopped his work and was about to go see who it was before Kivat spoke up.

“Don't Wataru, it's probably just another sales pony trying to sell you another magazine subscription,” Kivat said in a rather annoyed tone.

Wataru frowned as he looked over at the massive pile of newspapers and magazines that had shown up in the previous weeks. Forty different ones in all. Wataru fidgeted as he struggled deciding whether to go to his door or stay inside.

The bell rang again.

Wataru started to go back to his workbench, but was interrupted as the bell began to ring incessantly. Finally, Wataru had enough and went to his front door. Kivat shook his head in disappointment.

“When is this fool gonna learn?” Kivat said as he flew to the window to watch Wataru's exchange.

When Wataru approached the door, he steeled his nerves to try and say no to whatever the pony outside was trying to sell him. His confidence at peak, he swung open the door.

“I'm sorry, we're not interested! Sorry!” Wataru said as he bowed. He waited a second for a response. After no response, he lifted his head to find Fluttershy standing at his gate. Wataru blushed a deep red.

“F-F-F-Fluttershy!” Wataru sputtered. Fluttershy looked at Wataru with a somewhat dejected look and turned away.

“I'll just come back later then,” Fluttershy said as she began to walk away. Wataru, panicked, ran to his front gate.

“Wait, Fluttershy wait a moment!” Wataru said as he caught up with the yellow pegasus. She turned to look at him, a confused expression on her face.

“I'm sorry, I thought you were another sales pony trying to sell me something. Sorry,” Wataru said in apology. Fluttershy turned and smiled at Wataru.

“It's okay Wataru, I have the same problem,” Fluttershy said, a hint of an embarrassed blush gracing her cheeks. Wataru and Fluttershy laughed at themselves for a minute before they smiled. They stayed like that for a few moments before Fluttershy suddenly remembered why she had come to Wataru's house in the first place.

“Um..anyway, I was wondering if you could help me with something,” Fluttershy said.

“Of course, what do you need?” Wataru asked. Fluttershy pulled out a violin case from her saddlebags.

“An old friend of mine was telling me about how she missed playing the violin. When I asked her why, she said her violin was broken and she refused to play with any other. She'd tried getting it repaired before, but she couldn't find a specialist skilled enough who could do it. When I told her about you, she asked me to have you take a look at it. Would you please? I mean, if you don't mind,” Fluttershy said. Wataru smiled and nodded.

“Of course I can take a look at it. How bad can the damage be?” Wataru said as he opened the violin case. What he saw made his jaw drop.

The violin was in the worst shape he'd ever seen an instrument. Their was a hole about the size of his hoof going right through it. The wood was in terrible shape and it looked like it hadn't been properly taken care of in years.

Wataru's eye twitched “How.....how did this happen?” he asked.

“She didn't say. Only that somepony broke it a long time ago. Do you think you can fix it?” she said. Wataru sweated under her gaze. He'd never seen a violin in worse shape. However, he had to try. If for nothing else than to help Fluttershy.

“Of..of course! I'll need to find the right type of wood to use though,” Wataru said.

“Maybe I can help you,” Fluttershy said. Wataru smiled at this.

“I'd...I'd like that, thank you,” Wataru said as he and Fluttershy began to walk towards Ponyville.

Meanwhile

Three figures sat around a table with a deck of cards laid out before them and a chess board set up. The figures each looked at the cards with interest. On the cards they could see what appeared to be Wataru and Fluttershy walking down a road.

One figure, a diamond dog in a black suit with a blue tie, looked at the cards and sighed.

“So he continues to get close to this Fluttershy mare,” the diamond dog said The two other figures, a minotaur in a butler outfit and a small green dragon, who oddly enough was dressed in a Neighponese schoolfilly's outfit, looked at the card.

“Hey hey. Do you think we should dispose of her? It could be dangerous for Wataru if we just let her be,” the dragon said. The minotaur looked at the card and snorted.

“El-im-i-nate,” the minotaur said slowly. The diamond dog raised a paw to the two.

“For now, we stay as observers. If she looks like she'll be a threat, then we act,” he said as he
picked up a diamond that was sitting on the table and crushed it to dust in his paws.

Fluttershy and Wataru walked around Ponyville trying to find the right type of wood to use for the violin.

“So what type of wood are we looking for exactly?” Fluttershy asked. Wataru pulled out the violin and examined it.

“Judging by the color and the feel of it, I'd say we're looking for something like oak or cedar,” Wataru said.

“Why so specific?” Fluttershy asked.

“If you use the wrong type of wood when repairing it it will cause the sound to be different.,” Wataru explained.

“Oh”.

“So that means we have to...” Wataru said before he suddenly stopped. Fluttershy looked to where Wataru was looking and saw him staring at the sign for a music store.

“Huh, I didn't know we had a music store here,”Fluttershy said. Suddenly Wataru hoofed the violin to Fluttershy and ran over to the sign. Fluttershy managed to catch the violin as Wataru rubbed his face against the sign and began to examine it.

“This is perfect. This is just the type of wood I need,” Wataru said as he examined the sign more.

“Um, can I help you?” a voice asked. Wataru looked up to see a white unicorn mare with a wild blue mane and purple sunglasses. Wataru froze.

“Um....I.....um.....” Wataru stuttered. Thankfully Fluttershy came to Wataru's rescue.

“I'm sorry Vinyl. Wataru can get a bit overzealous with his work. We were looking for some wood to use to repair this violin and I guess Wataru thinks the sign would work,” Fluttershy said showing Vinyl the broken violin.

Vinyl Scratch raised an eyebrow at the two. She knew Fluttershy was a pretty nice mare, and had saved Equestria a few times, so she trusted her. But she couldn't help but question the stallion rubbing his face against her sign.

Vinyl looked at Wataru “You need my sign to repair this violin right?” she asked. Wataru nodded his head. Vinyl shrugged.

“Go ahead, take it. I was thinking about replacing it anyway,” she said in her usual laid back tone. Wataru's eyes lit up as he got to his hooves.

“Thank you very much Miss Vinyl!” Wataru said as he bowed to the DJ. Wataru's action began to draw some stares from other ponies.

“Okay, okay pal, easy with the bowing. I'm not a Princess you know,” Vinyl said. Usually she liked being the center of attention, but only when she was on stage.

Wataru raised his head and smiled.

“Thank you so much Miss Vinyl. How can I repay...” Wataru said before he suddenly stopped and closed his eyes.

Back at Wataru's house, the Bloody Rose began to make a sound. A single solitary note that rang out. Kivat heard this noise and flew off his perch.

“Finally, some action!” the gold bat said as he flew out the window.

“Wataru, are you okay?” Fluttershy asked as Wataru's eyes shot open.

“Please excuse me,” Wataru said as he took off running. Fluttershy and Vinyl were left behind, confused.

“Weird friend you've got there Fluttershy,” Vinyl observed.

“Could it be a Fangire?” Fluttershy thought.

“Excuse me Vinyl, I'm gonna go see what's wrong with him,” Fluttershy said as she flew off after Wataru.

Vinyl was left with a confused look on her face.

“What is with everypony today?” Vinyl questioned as she went back into her store.

“Help!!!! Monster!!!” Apple Bloom yelled as she ran towards the farm house.

Hot on her tail was a Fangire with a purple upper body, tentacles running along her arms, and stained glass markings all across her body. The Fangire shot an ink ball at the young Apple Bloom, which grazed the young filly's leg. Apple Bloom tripped just as she was about to cross the gate into the main farm house. She backed up as far as she could as the Fangire advanced on her.

“Someone, help,” she said as tears formed in her eyes.

“Henshin!!” a voice rang out. The Octopus Fangire and Apple Bloom both looked to see a figure running towards them encased in a rippling aura. When the aura cleared, Kiva stood before them.

“What in the hay?” Apple Bloom said as Kiva ran up and began to repeatedly punch the Fangire, leading it away from Apple Bloom. Soon, Applejack and Big Macintosh were running over to her from the farm house.

“Apple Bloom!! Are you okay!?” Applejack yelled as she ran up to her little sister. Big Macintosh and Applejack hugged Apple Bloom close.

“Ahm fine, but look,” Apple Bloom said pointing over to Kiva and the Fangire fighting a distance away.

“What in tarnation?” Applejack yelled.

“I was playing over by the pond when that monster popped out of the water. I tried to run but it got one of my legs. I thought I was done for when that feller in the armor showed up,” Apple Bloom said. Applejack and Big Macintosh looked over at the battle.

Kiva was managing to subdue the Fangire fairly well, landing a round house kick to it's jaw. The monster shot a few ink shots at Kiva, one of them hitting Kiva square in the chest.

“That must be that Kiva feller that saved Fluttershy,” Applejack said. Kiva stumbled from the hit he took, which gave the Fangire ample time to kick Kiva through a tree.

“He needs help! Big Mac, take Bloom back to the,” she said. Unfortunately, Big Macintosh was already running towards the Fangire, his face one of anger, a rarity for the usually calm stallion.

“Big Mac wait!” Applejack yelled. But she was too late as Big Mac came upon the Fangire and proceeded to swiftly buck it a few feet back. Kiva got up form the remains of the tree and noticed Big Mac.

“Stay out of this you fool! That thing will kill you!” Kivat yelled at the red stallion.

“Can it! This thing hurt my sister! Nopony does that and lives to remember it,” Big Mac said as he charged the Fangire.

Bad move.

The Fangire had recovered from Big Mac's little attack and fired an ink shot at him. Big Mac tried to dodge it, but ended up getting hit in the side. The red stallion fell to the ground, blood dripping from his wound.

“Mac!!” Applejack yelled.

“This is bad. We need to end this,” Kiva said as he grabbed the Wake Up fuestle from his belt and placed it in Kivat's mouth.

“Agreed. WAKE UP!!!” Kivat yelled as the sky darkened, a blood red moon replacing the sun. Kiva raised his right hind leg, Kivat spinning around it and breaking the chains on it. Kiva launched himself into the air and proceeded to fly at the Fangire. The Fangire saw this and released a cloud of ink.

Kiva's attack didn't stop however as he continued to fly toward the smoke cloud. Finally, Kiva made contact, the ground shaking and cracking as he did so. When the smoke cleared, Kiva's mark was on the ground, but no remnant of the Fangire was to be seen.

“What!?” Kiva said as he looked around.

“Damn, it got away! Sneaky octopus,” Kivat said in frustration.

“Big Mac, wake up!! Big Mac!!” Applejack yelled as she and Apple Bloom examined the downed Big Macintosh. His wound was bleeding and his breathing was heavy.

Soon enough, Fluttershy appeared on the scene. When she saw Big Macintosh on the ground, she ran up to him and examined his wounds.

“What happened to him?” Fluttershy said.

“One of them Fangire attacked Apple Bloom and suddenly that Kiva feller you were talking about showed up. Big Mac tried to fight the Fangire himself but ended up getting beat pretty bad,” Applejack said. Fluttershy looked for Wataru, but he was nowhere to be seen. Applejack noticed this as well and snorted in anger.

“Darn that armored pony!! My brother gets hurt and he just runs off like a coward,” Applejack said.

“Applejack, we can't worry about that right now. We have to get Big Macintosh to a hospital,” Fluttershy said as she and Applejack lifted the red stallion and proceeded to take Big Macintosh into the farm house.

Within an hour of the attack, the Mane Six and Wataru had gathered at the farm house while a doctor examined Big Macintosh. Applejack paced around, worried about her big brother.

“So you said Kiva showed up and fought the Fangire?” Twilight asked.

Applejack nodded “But he ran off before I could ask him anything. That coward!” she yelled. Apple Bloom went up to her sister and tapped her on the side. Apple Bloom had luckily gotten off with just a small graze on one of her legs.

“That Kiva feller wasn't a coward sis. He saved me and Big Mac,” Apple Bloom said. Applejack looked at her sister for a moment before hugging her.

“I know Bloom. I'm sorry. I just wish I coulda asked him some questions,” Applejack said. Everyone in the room nodded.

“I'd like to know more about him as well. But he seems pretty keen on playing the mysterious hero,” Twilight said. Everyone in the room nodded except for Wataru. Wataru looked utterly ashamed of himself. Fluttershy looked at him concerned.

“Are you okay Wataru?” Fluttershy asked. Before Wataru could answer, the doctor came down the stairs. Applejack rushed toward him, startling him a bit.

“How's Big Mac? Is he okay?” she asked.

“Your brother is fine Miss Applejack. He's pretty sturdy, so the wound thankfully wasn't too deep. I've cleaned and dressed the wound and he's resting right now. He should be fine with a few days rest,” he said. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank you doc,” Applejack said.

“You are very welcome Miss Applejack. However, this means he cannot do any strenuous activity for at least the next week. Understood?” the doctor said. Applejack froze at these words.

“How long did you say?” she said.

“At least a week, maybe two,” he said. Applejack nodded and smiled.

“Just checking. Thank you doc,” Applejack said as he doctor left.

Once the doctor had left, Applejack slumped into a chair.

“This whole Fangire business is getting out of hoof,” Rarity said.

“I agree. First Fluttershy, now Apple Bloom and Big Mac. Our only lead on these things is Kiva, and Celestia knows where he's always running off to,” Twilight said. The Mane Six all looked at each other worried. Wataru sweated profusely, out of both shame and fear.

“Have you been able to find anything in the library about them Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked. Twilight shook her head.

“The best I was able to find was a small mention of them in an old legend. Nothing that could help. I think it's time I contact Princess Celestia about this,” Twilight said. The rest of the Mane Six nodded.

“I think that's a good idea. Maybe she can shed some light on this whole thing,” Applejack said.

“Alright then. I'll contact the Princess tonight and ask her for whatever information she can offer. For now, I say we all get some rest. Applejack, do you want one of us to stay with you?” Twilight asked.

Applejack shook her head “Nah, I'll be fine. Thank ya'll though,” Applejack said as she hugged her friends. With that, everyone left the Apple Farm.

Wataru and Fluttershy walked together in silence. Fluttershy would occasionally look over at Wataru, who had a serious but sad look on his face. She tapped him on the shoulder concerned.

“Wataru, are you okay?” she asked. Wataru shook his head.

“Listen, what happened today wasn't your fault. You tried your best and fought to protect Apple Bloom and Big Mac. You were very brave,” she said, trying to comfort the young stallion.

“I know, that's not what I'm worried about,” he said.

“What's wrong then?” she asked. Wataru looked like he was about to say something, but then didn't.

“I'm sorry, I can't say right now. All I can say is that I don't want to see another family go through something like that again,” Wataru said. Fluttershy looked at him in a mixture of concern and admiration. Fluttershy hugged Wataru, which made him freeze in place.

“I know Wataru. You're a good pony. I know you can protect others, I've seen it. You can fight these things and win,” Fluttershy said.

Wataru looked at Fluttershy and smiled “Thank you Fluttershy,” he said. Soon enough, they arrived at Fluttershy's cottage.

“Well, I'll see you tomorrow I suppose,” Wataru said. Fluttershy nodded and smiled.

“Good night Wataru,” Fluttershy said as she entered her cottage.

“Good night Fluttershy,” Wataru said as he began walking back to his house.

Once Wataru was a good distance from Fluttershy's cottage, Kivat flew up beside him.

“Well, today has certainly been interesting,” Kivat said. Wataru nodded, which caused Kivat to sigh.

“Are you gonna be all mopey again Wataru? Listen, I've told you before, people will get hurt. That's just a fact. You can do all you can but people will still get injured Wataru,” Kivat said.

“I know Kivat. It's just...seeing Miss Applejack and her family like that. It just.....,” he said. Kivat got the message.

“Wataru...”

“Kivat, I think it's time I start making myself a little more known,” Wataru said.

“What!? You can't reveal your identity to all six of them. Just revealing it to Fluttershy was risky enough. Who knows what'll happen happen if you reveal your identity to all of them,” Kivat said.

“I said I want to make myself more known. I never said I was going to reveal my identity,” Wataru said as he took a side path toward Ponyville. It took Kivat a second before he understood what Wataru was trying to say. When he finally got it, he smiled.

“Devious. I like it,” Kivat said as he followed Wataru.

“So Big Mac's okay?” Spike said. Twilight nodded as she wrote a letter to Celestia.

“That's good. I wish I could've been there to see this Kiva guy. He sounds pretty awesome!” Spike said.

“I could care less how awesome he is. I just want to know what his goal is and what his connection to the Fangire is,” Twilight said as she finished the letter. Just as she was about to seal it and send it off to the Princesses, a knock came at the front door.

“Who could it be at this hour?” Twilight said as she went to get the door. When she opened, nopony was there.

“That's odd,” she said as she looked around to see if anypony was hiding. When she decided it must have been some prank, she heard a rustling above her.

“Up here,” a voice said. When she looked up, she was met with the armored face of Kiva, hanging upside down from a tree branch like a bat.

She was about to scream when Kiva dropped down and put a hoof over her mouth.

“Be calm, I'm not here to hurt you,” he said as he released his hoof. Twilight stepped back a bit, taking in the image of Kiva for the first time. Even in the low light of her outside lantern, she could make out his red and black armor. His most striking feature though was his masked face, which gave him the appearance of a large bat, and strangely enough a jack o' lantern.

Twilight gulped and said “So you're Kiva?”

Kiva nodded

“So what did you want to talk about?” she asked nervously. Now that she was actually in front of the mysterious Kiva, she was terrified. The armor made him seem very imposing. She had fought evil monsters before, but Kiva unnerved her somehow.

“I realize I have not exactly been open about my mission here. So I wanted to clear some things up,” he said.

“Okay. Would you like to sit down?” she said, motioning for him to come inside.

“It's better if I keep this brief. To start, I am sorry about what happened earlier with Big Macintosh. I should have been able to stop that. Secondly, I want you to leave the Fangire to me. If any of you try to fight them, you'll just end up getting hurt. I don't want that to happen. They are my responsibility,” he said

“Okay. May I ask a question?” Twilight said.

“Of course”.

“Why are you here, why now? What connection do you have to the Fangire?” she asked. Kiva was silent for a moment. After a while, he finally spoke again.

“That I cannot tell you. Not now,” he said. Twilight knew he was dodging the question, but chose not to address it.

“One last question. Why do you wear that mask. Why hide your face?” she asked. Kiva stood silent before he turned away from Twilight.

“Good night Miss Sparkle,” Kiva said as he jumped up and disappeared. Twilight tried to chase after him, but she found no trace of the strange armored figure. When she went back inside, Spike was staring wide eyed.

“Was that?” he asked. Twilight nodded.

“What did he want?” Spike asked.

“He wanted to talk. He let me know that none of us should try and fight the Fangire, to let him handle it”.

“Anything else?”

Twilight furrowed her brows in thought “He's hiding something. I don't know what but he's hiding something,” she said. She shook her head.

“For now, he's not our enemy. The mere fact that he came here to talk is enough to show he's on our side. Plus, he saved Fluttershy and the Apples. I want to trust him, but he's still not giving us enough information,” Twilight said.

“So what now?”

Twilight looked at the letter she was going to send the Princesses and threw it away.

“Spike, take a letter,” Twilight said as her assistant began to write.

Outside, Kivat and Wataru listened to the conversation. Kivat detached from the belt and flew up besides Wataru.

“Wataru, are you sure this is wise? What if the Princesses decide to label you an enemy?” Kivat said. Wataru sighed and stood up.

“Then I'll have to prove to them that I'm not,” Wataru said. Kivat looked at Wataru and sighed.

“Jiro and the others are not going to be happy about this,” Kivat said. Wataru shuddered a bit,his knees buckling a bit.

“We'll...we'll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Wataru said as he leaped off of the library and ran back to his house, Kivat following him.

Dear Princess Celestia,

I have some troubling news to report. In the past few weeks here in Ponyville, a strange series of monsters have been appearing known as Fangire. So far nopony has been fatally injured, although one of the Apple Family, Big Macintosh, did sustain an injury from an attack earlier today. I deeply apologize for not reporting these incidents earlier, but I wanted to wait and see if they were isolated incidents or a widespread threat. I have tried to find any information on the Fangire that I can, but I have come up with nothing. I ask for any assistance you can give on this matter as myself and my friends are deeply troubled.

Also, along with the Fangire, a strange armored stallion calling himself Kiva has appeared. He has been fighting the Fangire and has saved two of my friends. He has said that he is here to fight the Fangire and that we should leave the fighting to him. While I do not believe him to be an enemy, I do believe he is hiding something.

I worry for the safety of my friends and Ponyville. I know we have defeated tough foes in the past, but I know nothing of this enemy. That thought alone frightens me. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle

Chapter 5: Apple's Lullaby Part 2

Chapter 5

Apples Lullaby Part 2

“So Kiva has appeared once again,” Celestia said as she paced around her study, the ancient book with Kiva's symbol opened on her desk. She had seen the sky darken and the moon make an unscheduled appearance earlier that day. She looked out the window at the night sky. Hanging in the sky was a full moon, courtesy of her sister Luna. Since Luna had returned, Celestia had been taking her now freed up time to take some much needed rest. But Kiva's return had been preventing her from doing so.

She knew all too well that Kiva's return was a bad omen. An omen she intended to heed.

Suddenly, a cloud of sparkling green smoke flew in from outside. The smoke materialized in front of Celestia into a rolled up scroll. Celestia lifted the note with her magic and looked at it slightly confused.

“Why would Twilight send me a letter this late at night?” Celestia questioned as she read the letter. As she read, her eyes widened in shock. When she finished reading, she rolled the letter up and closed her eyes. She made her horn glow in a golden light for a few seconds before going out.

Within a few seconds, Luna had transported into the room.

“It has been quite a while since you have used our secret signal spell sister. What is wrong?” Luna asked. Celestia showed her the letter, Luna mimicking Celestia's shock.

“This is a most troubling turn sister,” Luna said.

“I agree. However, what troubles me the most is Kiva's actions. From Twilight's letter, it sounds like he's acting as a protector,” Celestia said.

“But how can that be? We remember Kiva being a monster, not a hero,” Luna said. Celestia looked over to a photo on her desk and levitated it towards her.

“I have seen much of Kiva's power and evil. But he is not without weakness. An old friend once showed me that,” Celestia said as she smiled sadly at the photo.

“Sister?” Luna said. Celestia placed the photo back on her desk and began to walk out of the room.

“We need to let Shima know of this development. Come along Luna,” Celestia said, her sister quickly following suit. As Luna followed her sister, she looked back at the photo on the desk.

In the photo was a familiar stallion in a tacky suit playing a violin.

“Is Big Mac doing well?” Wataru asked Fluttershy as the two made their way into Ponyville to get the sign from Vinyl Scratch's music store.

“Yeah. He's pretty durable, so he's able to walk around some now. Unfortunately he won't be able to help out on the farm for a while,” Fluttershy said. Wataru's face fell. He was still hung up about Big Mac getting hurt because he couldn't destroy the Fangire.

“If I'd been a little faster I could've stopped him,” Wataru said solemnly.

“You can't keep blaming yourself Wataru,” Fluttershy said as she tried to comfort the shy stallion. Wataru nodded his head. Just as they were about to cross a bridge into Ponyville, suddenly Wataru's ears rose.

“Do you hear that?” he said. Fluttershy raised her ears to try and hear what Wataru was talking about. She suddenly heard a low rumbling sound.

“Yeah, what is that?” she questioned. As the rumbling got louder, they looked behind them to see a large dust cloud was forming. In the cloud, they could see a large herd of cows running towards Ponyville at top speed.

“Stampede!!” they heard Rainbow Dash yell. Ponies began to scream and run in panic all throughout Ponyville.

Pinkie Pie, in her usual happy-go-lucky fashion was standing still and letting the vibrations of the ground bounce her up and down.

“Hey, this makes my voice sounds silly,” she said in a bouncy and shaky voice.

“Pinkie Pie, are you crazy? Run!” Twilight yelled.

Mayor Mare was trying to calm everypony down while Wataru and Fluttershy stood paralyzed at the bridge like deer in the headlights. As it looked like the cows would destroy the town, they heard a loud “Yee Haw!” from somewhere behind the stampede. Coming up behind the stampede was Applejack and her pet dog Winona, who were trying to herd the stampede away from the town.

As the stampede was quickly approaching the bridge that Wataru and Fluttershy were standing on, Wataru snapped out of his stupor.

“Look out!” Wataru yelled as he pushed Fluttershy out of the way of the stampede. Luckily though, Applejack and Winona were able to herd the stampede out of the way of the town, narrowly missing the bridge that Fluttershy and Wataru were previously standing on.

As the town cheered, Wataru sighed in relief as he turned his attention to Fluttershy.

“Are you okay Flutter.......” Wataru cut himself off as he took in the sight that was before him. Fluttershy was rising to her hooves and shaking off some of the water from the river.

Wataru was awestruck by Fluttershy's beauty at this moment. He had always considered Fluttershy to be cute, but in this moment she looked positively breathtaking. Her mane wet and hanging down in a way Wataru had to admit he found very alluring and sexy. As she looked at him, she unknowingly gave Wataru a rather seductive look.

Fluttershy shook the water out of her mane and wiped her eyes before she said “I'm fine Wataru. Thank you for pushing me out of the way, it was really....Wataru?” Fluttershy noticed that Wataru was staring at her, an awed look on his face.

“Wataru, are you okay?” she asked, waving a hoof in front of his face. Wataru snapped out of his stupor and looked at Fluttershy. Before he could say anything, however, his nose suddenly began to bleed. It was so powerful that Wataru fell backward into the water, his eyes spinning and a dopey smile on his face. Fluttershy gasped in shock as she rushed to Wataru's side.

“Wataru!” she said. Wataru's nose was still bleeding and his face was burning red.

“Father, I have seen a truly beautiful sight this day. I regret nothing,” Wataru thought as he laid there in Fluttershy's hooves.

Kivat watched this scene from the sky and laughed “He really is that stallion's son,” Kivat said as he continued with his fit of laughter.

Meanwhile

The three figures once again stared at the cards on the table. In the cards they saw Wataru lying in the river, his nose bleeding.

The diamond dog sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose “Just great, at this rate he'll turn out just like that old tail chaser,” he said.

The minotaur snorted and nodded at the diamond dog's words.

The green dragon giggled “Hey hey, is it really that bad? He's finally starting to act comfortably around other ponies. That's a big step if you ask me,” he said.

The diamond dog looked at the dragon and said “That's what worries me. He's already let slip his mission to Celestia's neurotic apprentice and his true identity to that Fluttershy mare. Who knows what else he'll tell them?”

The minotaur and dragon looked at each other worried.

“I trust Wataru's judgment, but he has a secret to protect,” he said as his paw began to glow an ethereal blue color.

“We also have something to protect. Or did you both forget our promise to that stallion?” the diamond dog asked as his paw suddenly transformed into a streamlined, blue armor like appearance.

The dragon and minotaur looked at the diamond dog with serious faces as they both began to glow an ethereal green and purple.

Back in Ponyville

After Wataru's nosebleed had stopped and Fluttershy had dried off, everyone gathered around Applejack and Winona.

“Well that was oddly familiar,”Twilight said.

“Familiar!? That was an exact repeat of episode 4!” Pinkie Pie said. Everyone looked at the pink mare confused before shrugging.

“What did the cows say Applejack?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Not much, they were real flustered. All I could get out of them was something popped out of the lake and spooked em'. Y'all think it was one of them Fangire?” Applejack said. Everyone looked at each other worried.

“It's possible. For now, we'll just keep an eye out for anything”.

“Maybe it was that Kiva guy?” Rainbow Dash said.

“You really think he'd do something like that Rainbow?” Rarity asked.

Rainbow Dash shrugged and said “It's possible. I mean we know next to nothing about the guy. Who's to say he wouldn't do something like that?”

“Actually, speaking of Kiva, there's something I need to tell you all,” Twilight said.

The group reconvened at the library where Twilight told them about Kiva's sudden appearance at her front door the previous night. They all looked at each other with mixed looks of confusion and concern. Fluttershy looked at Wataru for an explanation. He mouthed “I'll explain later”.

“Why is he doing all this now? Why not sooner?” Rarity asked.

“I don't know. I've contacted the Princess about it, so hopefully she'll be able to help. Maybe she could send a squad of guards to help,” Twilight said. Everyone nodded except for Wataru.

“Do ya'll think this had somethin' to do with what happened to Big Mac?” Applejack asked.

“It's possible. Either way, for now he's at least starting to open up to us. Plus, from what he said he's serious about getting rid of the Fangire,” Twilight said. Everyone in the room nodded. Applejack looked up at the clock and gasped.

“Shoot! I gotta get back to the orchards. I'll see ya'll later,” Applejack said as she rushed out of the library. Before she got out, Twilight stopped her.

“Applejack wait! Do you need any help at the orchard? We know Big Mac's gonna be out of commission for a while,” Twilight said.

Applejack smiled “Ah appreciate it Twi, but ah got this covered. 'Sides, we're not too busy right now. Just gotta fill some small orders. Nothin' ah can't handle on my own,” Applejack said.

“Okay, but let us know if you need any help, okay?” Twilight said.

“Ah will, thanks Twi,” Applejack said as she darted off.

“I worry about that mare sometimes,” Rarity said. Everyone else nodded in agreement, knowing Applejack's stubborn nature.

Wataru and Fluttershy were continuing on their way to Vinyl Scratch's store after the meeting at the library. As they walked, Fluttershy noticed that Wataru was acting strangely. Well, stranger than usual.

Wataru had been quiet ever since their little scene at the river. For some reason he couldn't look Fluttershy in the eye, and when she did see him look at her a deep red blush creeped onto his face. As they neared Vinyl's shop, Fluttershy finally spoke up.

“Wataru, are you okay?” Fluttershy inquired. Wataru's head quickly popped up.

“Never better! W-why d-do you ask!?” Wataru stuttered. Fluttershy looked at him confused.

“You sure? You're face is beet red,” she said noticing the stallion's blush.

Wataru began to freak out “I-I-I just have a bit of a cold! Yeah, just a cold. Might've stayed in the river a bit long,” he said.

That's when Fluttershy did something that caught Wataru completely off guard. She put her forehead to his and tried to take his temperature.

“Hm. You do feel a little warm,” she said. All the while Wataru was having an internal freak out.

“Okay, stay clam Wataru. Nothing to worry about. You just have quite possibly the most beautiful mare you've ever met pressing her head against yours. This is absolutely no reason to get a nosebleed or anything else or..............think about her mane clinging to her body........or that look she gave you....not now damn it!” Wataru mentally screamed at himself.

“Am I interrupting something here?” Vinyl Scratch said.

“Oh thank you sweet Celestia!”

“Oh hi Vinyl. Just checking Wataru's temperature. I think he might have a cold,” Fluttershy said as Wataru began to sweat and breath a sigh of relief.

Vinyl raised an eyebrow at this, especially after noticing that Wataru had a slight trail of red coming from his nose.

Finally she shrugged and said “Whatever, you're here for the sign right?”

Wataru nodded. Vinyl's horn glowed as she produced the sign and it floated into Wataru's saddle bag.

“Thank you very much Miss Vinyl,” Wataru said bowing.

“Easy with the bowing pal. Also, don't call me Miss Vinyl, I'm not old enough to be called Miss yet. Just call me Vinyl,” Vinyl said.

“O-okay”.

“So Vinyl, why are you running this shop? I thought you had become a DJ in Canterlot,” Fluttershy said.

Vinyl sighed “Well, my pops called me and said that he had finally saved up enough money to open his own music store here in Ponyville. I thought that sounded great, he'd finally be able to quit his crappy job. But, about a month after he'd opened this place he hurt his back really bad,” Vinyl said.

“That's awful! Is he okay?” Fluttershy asked concerned.

“Yeah, he'll be fine in a couple months. But he can't work during that time. So he basically dumped this place on me. I'm glad to help, but I had to cancel so many gigs because of this. I swear sometimes that old stallion can be so-”

“You shouldn't talk about your father that way,” Wataru said. Fluttershy and Vinyl looked at Wataru, who had a somber but serious look on his face.

“Pardon?” Vinyl said.

“You shouldn't talk about your father that way. Think about his feelings. He'd finally been able to achieve his dream, only to have it wrenched from his hooves because of some injury,” Wataru said, his voice growing in intensity.

“I-I guess I-”

“And who did he turn to in his time of need? You, his daughter. You should be happy your father has that kind of trust in you. You should be happy you even-” Wataru said before he caught himself. His face fell as he lowered his eyes.

Fluttershy and Vinyl looked at each other for a second. Both look concerned, even if Vinyl was slightly annoyed.

“I'm sorry, I said to much. Please forgive me,” said bowing his head.

Vinyl approached Wataru. Wataru braced himself as he was certain Vinyl was going to punch him.

The only thing Wataru felt was a hoof on his shoulder. Wataru looked up to see Vinyl smiling at him.

“Don't sweat it bud. It takes guts to say something like that,” Vinyl said as she smiled at Wataru.

“You're not mad?” he said hesitantly.

“Nah. Besides, you're right. I may be annoyed that I had to take time off from my DJ-ing, but it's worth it to help out my dad. You're a good pony Wataru,” Vinyl said giving Wataru a slight love tap on his shoulder. Wataru smiled as he rubbed his shoulder.

Fluttershy smiled as she walked up to Wataru “Looks like you've made a new friend Wataru,” she said.

Wataru smiled at that.

“So you said you were gonna fix a violin with that sign right?” Vinyl asked.

“Yes”.

“Do you mind if I see the final product when you're done? My dad's been complaining about not being able to find a good luthier. If you're works up to snuff, I could hire you out as a violin repairer. What'd you say?” Vinyl said.

Wataru considered Vinyl's words. It was true his business hadn't been doing very well as of late. Not to mention he was running low on food.

After a few more moments Wataru smiled “I-I suppose that could work,” he said.

Vinyl smiled “Great. Just come by when you finish it. By the way, I don't think we've been properly introduced. I'm Vinyl Scratch,” Vinyl said extending a hoof.

Wataru extended his hoof and shook hooves with Vinyl “Wataru. Kurenai Wataru,” he said.

Fluttershy smiled at this display. Seeing Wataru starting to come out of his shell. It had been difficult for her to interact with others after she had moved to Ponyville. But after meeting Twilight and the others, she had started to become more confident. Well, at least in the sense that she didn't cry whenever she talked to someone. Baby steps.

“Well, I'd better get to work. See you again Mis.....Vinyl,” Wataru said as he and Fluttershy began to walk off.

“Oh Wataru, one more thing,” Vinyl said. Wataru looked at her confused.

“You might wanna hide your nosebleed a little better next time,” Vinyl said snickering. Wataru blushed as he wiped his nose.

“What's she talking about Wataru?” Fluttershy asked innocently.

“Nothing!!” Wataru yelled as he blushed. Vinyl could be heard laughing as the two walked off.

As they walked away, Vinyl had a thoughtful look on her face.

“Hm, Kurenai. Where have I heard that name before?” Vinyl thought to herself as she returned to her work.

“Maybe ah shoulda asked Twi for her help after all,” Applejack said as she looked at all the work she had ahead of her. The apple bucking itself was no problem, it was everything else that was.

Contrary to what everyone thought, Applejack's job wasn't all apple bucking. She also had to write up orders, organize documents, make sure the orders were correct, collect payments, and makes sure the rest of the farm and equipment were in proper working order.

Normally this was no problem with Big Mac helping. With both of them doing the apple bucking, with the occasional help from Apple Bloom, they could usually get everything else done no problem. But with Big Mac bedridden, Applejack had to do all of it herself.

Applejack wiped her some sweat off of her brow and sighed “Can't stop now. After ah do this ah gotta-”

“Applejack!!!!” the voice of Granny Smith called.

“What is it Granny!?” she called back.

“Come back to the house for a bit!” Granny Smith called. Applejack raised an eyebrow at this, but walked back to the farm house nonetheless.

When she arrived, she said “What is it Granny? Y'all know ah still gotta clear the south field and write out that order”.

“Oh hush up for a second girl. Ah know all that already, that's why I decided to hire some help while Big Mac's restin',” Granny Smith said.

“What! Granny you didn't need to do that. Ah could've asked Twi and the others if ah needed-”

“Don't you sass me now Applejack. 'Sides, we have a few bits left over from the last harvest so it's no problem. Now quit yer whining and say hello. Come on in deary” Granny Smith said. Applejack bit her tongue as she looked up at the new help.

Through the doorway stepped a pegasus mare maybe a few years older than Applejack. She had a purple pelt, a blue mane, and an ink blot for a cutie mark. She walked with that same kind of haughty grace that Rarity walked with, albeit without some of Rarity's arrogance.

“Hello, my name's Serenity Wave, a pleasure,” she said extending a hoof. Applejack hesitantly shook it.

“Likewise. Not trying to be rude Miss wave, but are y'all sure you can handle farm work?” Applejack said.

Serenity wave smiled “I assure you I can handle whatever is thrown my way. Apart from that, I will mostly be handling the paperwork. Rest assured you have nothing to worry about,” she said.

Applejack looked over the mare once more. She couldn't put her hoof on it, but something about this mare unnerved her. However, never one to be overtly rude, Applejack smiled.

“Alright. Good to be workin' with you,” Applejack said.

Serenity Wave smiled back at her as her eyes flashed for a split second.

“Soon I'll pay you back pretty mare,” Serenity wave thought as she went about her work.

Fluttershy watched as Wataru worked on repairing the violin. She was surprised at just how intricate everything was.

First Wataru had to take the entire violin apart. After that was done, he inspected every part to see what he could salvage. Once that was done, he used the sign he had gotten from Vinyl Scratch and traced an outline of the violin. After that he had to cut it out, sand it, shape it, and make sure it would fit.

Once Wataru had gotten all the pieces together, he put the violin back together and glued it together. After that was done, he varnished it, re-strung it, tuned it, and played out a tune to make sure it was perfect.

After he was satisfied, he smiled as he placed the violin back in it's case.

“Alright, I think that should just about fix it,” he said.

Fluttershy clapped her hooves and smiled “Where did you learn how to make violins?” she asked.

“My mother mostly. She and my father were big music lovers. They both taught me how to play and my mother taught me how to make them,” Wataru said as he walked over to the Bloody Rose.

As Wataru cradled the Bloody Rose in his hooves, he smiled “Ever since I was a foal I've wanted to make a violin to surpass the Bloody Rose,” he said as he began to play.

Fluttershy sat there entranced by the music. She loved hearing Wataru play. Without meaning too, she began to sing along with Wataru's music. Nothing major, just a few light notes to accompany the violin. Wataru heard this, but didn't pause in his playing. If anything, he played even harder, so as not to offend Fluttershy's angelic voice.

When Wataru finished playing and Fluttershy finished singing, the two just stared at each other. Neither said anything, but stood mesmerized at the other.

“Why......why is my heart beating so fast?” Fluttershy thought.

“Why does she have to be so cute?” Wataru thought.

The two probably would've stayed staring at each other for hours had not a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Aw, this was just getting good,” Kivat complained, causing the two ponies to blush. Wataru placed the Bloody Rose back in its case and went to get the door.

When Wataru opened the door, in the doorway stood Serenity Wave.

Serenity Wave smiled and said “Hello. I was told this was where my violin was being repaired?”

Fluttershy walked up behind Wataru and smiled as she saw Serenity Wave.

“Serenity, you're here,” Fluttershy said.

“Hello Fluttershy. So this must be the reclusive thulier you were telling me about,” she said.

Wataru nodded and bowed “I'm Kurenai Wataru, a pleasure to meet you. You actually have perfect timing, I just got done with you're violin,” he said.

Serenity's eyes lit up “Excellent! May I see it?”

“Of course,” he said as he led her in.

“So how do you and Fluttershy know one another?” Wataru asked.

“Serenity and I used to play together with Rainbow Dash when I lived in Cloudsdale. She used to help me out a lot with my shyness too. She was sort of like an older sister. We kind of lost touch after I moved here to Ponyville though,” Fluttershy said in a somewhat remorseful tone.

“Think nothing of it Fluttershy. Besides, from what I'm seeing you've gotten over you're shyness quite well. You even managed to snag yourself a coltfriend,” Serenity said with teasing tone.

Wataru and Fluttershy both blushed profusely and began to stutter nervously as they were caught off guard. Wataru nearly dropped the violin in his stunned state.

“W-w-w-we..I mean....I'm...” Fluttershy tried to say.

“I-I-it's not like that,” Wataru said. Serenity raised an eyebrow.

“Oh? You sure seem like a couple to me. I mean a mare and a stallion, alone in a house together? What else would I-”

“Serenity!!” Fluttershy said as she covered her face with her hair. Wataru tried to cover his face with the violin case.

Serenity completely lost her composure as she began to laugh at the two. Wataru and Fluttershy stared at the mare confused.

“Relax, I'm just teasing you two. I do think it's nice you've made new friends Fluttershy. I remember when we were foals you would always hide whenever Rainbow and I tried to introduce you to new ponies. You've made leaps and bounds since Cloudsdale,” Serenity said as she smiled at Fluttershy.

After everything had calmed down, Wataru opened the violin case and showed Serenity the repaired violin.

Serenity picked up the violin and cradled it in her hooves “It's...it's perfect. It doesn't even look like the same violin,” she said. Wataru blushed at her words.

“You flatter me. It wasn't that hard. I used an old sign from a music store to repair it,” he said.

“Most impressive. I'd expect nothing less from Kurenai Otoya's son,” she said. Wataru perked up at these words.

“You....knew my father?” Wataru said. Serenity looked shocked for a second before she regained her composure.

“There isn't a musician alive who doesn't. They said he was the greatest violinist since the classical age,” Serenity said as she placed the violin back in the case. Fluttershy looked at Wataru with a concerned look as his face fell. Serenity saw this as well.

“I'm terribly sorry, did I say something wrong?” she said. Wataru perked up and shook his head.

“Not at all. I'm glad you're pleased with the violin. However, I'm afraid I'll need to keep it just a little longer....if that's okay?” Wataru said.

Serenity smiled “No problem at all dear,” Serenity said.

“I've waited this long for my time to strike back. I can wait a little longer,” she thought to herself as her eyes flashed for a second.

Kivat watched Serenity from his perch and stared at her intently.

“That mare,” he said as the three ponies exited the house. Once he was certain he wouldn't be seen, he flew off after them.

As much as Applejack hated to admit it, she was happy for Serenity Wave's help. Not only was she able to buck apples almost as good as herself or Big Mac, she was also an ace accountant. After the south orchard had been completely harvested, they had set to work on writing up and finalizing the order. Serenity had gotten it done in practically no time flat.

Applejack and Granny Smith sat on the porch relaxing.

“Ah gotta admit Granny, you were right to hire Serenity, she's an amazing worker,” Applejack admitted.

Granny Smith smiled “See. Ah may be old, but ah know how to pick good help better than cider apples,” Granny said as she knitted.

“Speakin' of Serenity, where is she? She took off after everything was done,” Applejack said.

“Ah think she said somethin' about having to get something repaired or somethin' like that,” Granny Smith said.

“Hm. Well, I guess we'll see her when she-” Applejack stopped as she heard something.

“Y'all hear that Granny?” Applejack asked. She looked over to find that Granny Smith had fallen asleep.

The noise steadily grew louder until Applejack could make out.....music? Normally, Applejack would've just ignored this. However, something about the music drew her curiosity.

As if a puppet on a string, Applejack began to walk toward where the music was coming from.

After walking for what felt like forever, Applejack came upon the source of the music. Standing by the lake, playing a familiar violin, was Serenity Wave.

Applejack wanted to say something, but found herself still entranced by Serenity's hypnotic music.

“It has been twenty long years since I have last played this violin,” Serenity Wave said as Applejack continued to walk toward her.

“My coming here was no mere chance. I owe your mother quite a bit Applejack,” she said as stain glass markings appeared on her face.

“And now I'm going to pay her back in spades,” Serenity said as two glass fangs floated beside Applejack's neck.

Back at Wataru's home, he was laying on his bed, smiling as he thought of the days events. After Serenity's visit to his home, the three had gone to see Vinyl Scratch so she could inspect the violin.

After seeing Wataru's work, and numerous praises from both Fluttershy and Serenity, Vinyl agreed to hire Wataru as her store's official violin specialist.

Kivat flew up to Wataru and perched himself on Wataru's table.

“Hey, Wataru, don't you think that mare from earlier today seemed a little off?” Kivat said.

Wataru looked at the golden bat and frowned “Now what makes you say that? She seemed nice to me. Plus, she's friends with Fluttershy. I find it hard to believe any friend of Fluttershy's could be untrustworthy,” Wataru said. Kivat scoffed at Wataru's words.

“Bah! You're too trusting. That Serenity Wave wasn't normal, I can feel it,” Kivat said.

“You're just being paranoid. Last week you said Miss Pinkie Pie was some kind of psychopath out to turn everypony into cupcakes,” Wataru said.

“I'll admit that may have gone a little too far, but she's still suspicious! How can anyone be that happy all the time!?” Kivat said.

Wataru was about to say something when he suddenly sat up. Going up the stairs, he took the Bloody Rose out of his case and put his ear to it. He could hear a faint humming coming from the violin. Curious, Wataru began to play.

Serenity Wave prepared to sink her fangs into the orange mare's neck when she noticed something was wrong. Her playing seemed off somehow, as if something was disrupting it. Suddenly, a sharp jolt of pain shot through her hooves as she ceased playing.

At the same time Serenity Wave stopped playing, Wataru too stopped. His violin however didn't. The Bloody Rose let out a shrill note that signaled battle. Wataru placed the violin back in its case and rushed outside, Kivat in tow.

Once outside, Wataru flung a tarp off of something sitting in his yard. When he flung off the tarp, it revealed a motorcycle with red casings along the body and frame.

“Do you think this'll get us there fast enough?” Wataru said. Kivat smacked Wataru on the head.

“You dare question the craftsmanship of Motobat the 16th, the greatest craftsbat of the Kivat race!?” Kivat said insulted.

“I....guess not,” Wataru said as he got onto the bike, put on the helmet, and started the engine. Wataru quickly took off towards his destination.

Sweet Apple Acres.

Applejack rubbed her head “Ugh,..what in tarnation just.....Serenity? What are you doing here?” Applejack questioned.

Serenity looked at Applejack with pure malice as she shot an ink ball at her. Applejack dodged the attack as she stared at Serenity.

“What in Celestia's name is wrong with you!?” Applejack questioned. Serenity's face became covered with stain glass markings as a tentacle suddenly appeared from her back and shot towards Applejack. Applejack didn't make it out of the way in time and was ensnared by the tentacle.

“Now, I can finally get revenge for the destruction of my precious violin by that mud pony mother of yours,” Serenity said as her fangs once again came towards Applejack's neck. However, Applejack bit Serenity's tentacle, which stunned the Fangire just enough to let her slip free.

When she landed, she ran up to Serenity and bucked her square in the jaw, screaming “Don't you dare say that about my Ma!!”

Applejack's kick sent Serenity flying into a nearby tree. Serenity got to her hooves, only to hear the crunching of wood. She looked down to see that her violin had been crushed to splinters from the impact.

“You bitch!!” Serenity yelled as her body glowed and she assumed her Fangire form and shot a tentacle around Applejack's neck. Applejack struggled as the Fangire drew her closer.

As this struggle was going on, Wataru pulled up on the Machine Kivaa. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the Fangire turn back into Serenity.

“It can't be,” Wataru said.

“Told you. You're far too trusting Wataru,” Kivat scolded as they continued to watch the struggle. Serenity's fangs appeared close to Applejack's neck.

Wataru saw this and steeled himself “Kivat!”

“Alright! Kivat go!” Kivat said as Wataru gripped the bat in his right hoof.

“Gabu!” Kivat said as he bit Wataru's hoof. Stain glass markings appeared on Wataru's face as his belt appeared around his midsection.

“Henshin!” Wataru yelled as he clipped Kivat onto the belt and let him drop into place. The air around Wataru warped as it broke apart to reveal Kiva.

Kiva rushed forward and chopped the tentacle that had been strangling Applejack. As Applejack wretched on the ground, Kiva rushed towards Serenity, who resumed her Fangire form.

Kiva threw a punch to the Fangire's midsection and followed up with a swift kick to the head. The Fangire staggered back and shot a few ink balls at Kiva, who dodged by hanging upside down form a tree. Kiva swung from the tree and flew at the Fangire, delivering an axe heel kick as he landed.

The Fangire, seeing it was going to lose, shot an ink ball at the lake. When the ink ball connected, the whole area was covered in mist.

“Not this time,” Kivat said as Kiva lifted a fuestle form the left side of his belt. This fuestle was blue and had a wolf head carved into it. Kiva placed the fuestle into Kivat's mouth.

“GARURU SABER!!” Kivat yelled as a shrill noise filled the air.

Inside Castle Doran, the diamond dog looked up as he heard the shrill noise. He smiled as he placed some cards down on the table.

“I guess I will go breath in the air of this corrupt world,” he said as he sprang from his seat, crouching and running his claws along the floor, blue electricity crackling as he did so. The diamond dog snarled as he became encased in a blue aura. Soon he transformed into a blue statue and flew out of Castle Doron.

Kiva looked toward the sky as he saw the statue flying toward him. He lifted his left hoof as the statue flew into his hooves. As the statue landed in his hooves, it folded out into a wavy wolf themed sword. Chains ran around Kiva's body, changing the armor on his left arm and chest a deep cobalt color. Kiva's eyes became this color as well, the image of a blue wolf creature shimmering around his helmet. Kivat's eyes to changed to a blue color as they flashed.

The biggest change however was to Kiva himself. As his armor changed, so did he. His body began to twist and grow as he changed into something different. His hooves changed to long, clawed paws and his tail grew longer and more shaggy. He grew in height until he was about as tall as the Fangire. His helmet remained the same, though it took on a more wolf like appearance.

As the transformation ended, Kiva sniffed the air. After a few seconds, he turned his head sharply to the right, bringing his sword down. Sparks flew as the Fangire staggered back, the smoke clearing as well.

When the smoke cleared, the Fangire stood shocked at what it was seeing. Applejack, still weak, watched as well.

Gone was the pony who had stood there before. Now there stood a creature which reminded Applejack of the old stories Granny Smith would tell her about monsters. Kiva now looked like the depictions she had seen of werewolves.

Kiva stood there for a moment, unmoving as he looked at the Fangire. The Fangire looked at Kiva with fear.

“What the...this can't be possible!?” The Fangire said as Serenity's face flashed along the stain glass. Kiva raised his sword and howled as he rushed towards the Fangire. The Fangire tried to fire more ink balls at Kiva, only to have them slashed in half as they exploded behind him.

Kiva rushed the Fangire as he slashed wildly at the creature. The Fangire tried to run, but Kiva was too quick. Everywhere the Fangire tried to run, Kiva would appear in a flash of blue.

Kiva brought the sword to his chest, pointing the wolf head on the blade's hilt toward the Fangire. As he did, a howl emanated from the wolf head, knocking the Fangire back.

“Now!” Kivat said as Kiva brought the sword's blade to Kivat's mouth.

“GARURU BITE!!” Kivat yelled as he bit down on the blade. Kiva brought the blade to his chest as the day began to shift to night. Blue clouds engulfed the sky as a full moon appeared in the sky.

Kiva placed the Garuru Saber in his mouth and took a stance. Kiva ran towards the Fangire before leaping into the air. He turned his sword towards the Fangire as he fell. Finally, Kiva made contact with the Fangire, splitting the stain glass monster in half as an ethereal wolf face appeared.

The Fangire shattered as a glowing ball appeared from the remains. Quickly the sky changed back to day as Castle Doran descended, gulping the orb down before flying away.

“Make sure to chew properly,” Kivat called to the dragon castle. Kiva's armor morphed back into it's normal appearance as the Garuru Saber flew back to Castle Doran.

Kiva walked over to the injured Applejack, who was staring wide eyed at the armored stallion.

“Are you alright, Miss Apple?” Kiva said as he helped Applejack to her hooves. Applejack nodded as she rubbed her neck. Satisfied, Kiva began to walk back to his motorcycle.

“Wait!” Applejack called. Kiva halted his steps.

“Thank you for saving me, and my family. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't helped,” Applejack said. Kiva looked at the mare for a second, regarding her words. Then he continued to walk toward his motorcycle.

“Please, let me repay you somehow,” Applejack said as he Kiva mounted his bike. Kiva looked at Applejack for a second before his helmeted gaze shifted toward the now broken violin.

After a few moments, Kiva spoke “Do you truly want to repay me?”

“Yes. An Apple always pays her debts,” Applejack said a fire in her eyes.

“So be it. You will not tell a soul about the fate of Serenity Wave or her identity as a Fangire,” Kiva said.

“Why?”

“I have my reasons. Do this and your debt will be payed,” Kiva said as he revved the Machine Kivaa's engine.

“But what if my friends ask me what happened?” she said. As much as she wanted to repay Kiva, she wouldn't lie to her friends.

“You may tell them you were attacked by a Fangire, but that is all. Fair?” Kiva asked.

Applejack looked down in thought for a moment before saying :Ah..ah guess so”.

“Good, then we are in agreement. Farewell Miss Apple,” Kiva said as he sped off.

“So long Apple lady!” Kivat called as the two sped off in a cloud of dust.

Meanwhile in Canterlot

“So he's in Ponyville then,” Shima said as he looked over the report Celestia had sent him as he worked out on an elliptical. However, this time, he was not alone.

Sitting across the room from him lifting weights was a griffin with white and black feathers, also having a patch of gold feathers on his chest.

“Looks like you'll get to test out the new upgrades after all,” Shima said as the griffin dropped the weights he as lifting, the ground cracking a bit as he did so.

“Indeed. This is looking to be a fine crusade,” the griffin said as he put on a sport coat with holes cut for his wings and a tie.

“Remember. You're mission is to stop the Fangire. Leave Kiva be for right now,” Shima said as he stopped pedaling and looked at the griffin.

“Am I understood, Nago?” Shima said. Nago turned to look at Shima. In his talons he held a necklace with numerous buttons on it.

“Of course Chairman. I will do only as my goddess commands,” he said with a smile.

Shima nodded “Well then, you leave tomorrow. Have a safe trip,” Shima said as he resumed his pedaling. Nago bowed as he walked away.

“My battle may be for the goddesses, but I have my own reasons for entering this fray,” Nago thought as he reached into his coat pocket and pulled a gold and black device that looked like a set of brass knuckles.

“Kiva, I will send you back to Tartarus where you belong. Then we'll see who the strongest is,” Nago thought to himself as he took flight, thinking only of how he would defeat Kiva.

Author's Note

Behold, an update!!!!! Sorry it's been a while everyone {Insert Reason for Lack of Updates Here}.
Anyway, I finally decided to get off my lazy butt and write a new chapter. It took me a while to figure out whether I wanted this story to follow the show explicitly or whether to follow it's own story. Well, I've finally decided and I'm gonna have this story follow its own story. I'll still throw in elements from both shows, so don't worry. Also, if you want a placement for a timeline, let's say it takes place after Season 2. That's all I'll say on the matter.

Well, that's my time everyone.Enjoy the new chapter, stay classy, and party on.

(Next Chapter: IXA makes his debut!)

Chapter 6: Entrance - The Knight

Chapter Six

Entrance - The Knight

“I wonder what the person the Princesses are sending is gonna be like?” Pinkie asked as she jumped and down in anticipation. Her, Wataru, and the rest of the Mane Six were waiting on the platform at the Ponyville train station.

“Me too. The Princess didn't mention much about this person. Only that he'd been highly recommended for helping with the Fangire,” Twilight said as she remembered the letter Princess Celestia had sent her the day before.

“Ah think he'll be fine. 'Sides, maybe he'll be able to shed a little light on the Fangire,” Applejack said.

As all this was going on, Rarity kept looking around nervously. Fluttershy saw this and walked over to her.

“Rarity, are you alright?” she asked. Rarity looked shocked for a moment before she regained her composure.

“Never better dear. I'm just.....admiring the train station is all,” Rarity said with her normal level of composure.

Fluttershy was about to say something when she was suddenly bumped by a unicorn stallion in a trench coat and hat. She looked down and saw that he had dropped what looked to be a necklace.

“Um...excuse me sir....you dropped this,” Fluttershy said. The stallion quickly turned, eyes wide with shock as he grabbed the necklace in his magic and stuffed it back in his pocket. As the train pulled up to the station and the stallion turned to walk away, three ponies in police uniforms ran around the corner, one blowing a whistle.

“Stop that stallion! He's a jewel thief!” one of the uniformed ponies said. The stallion grabbed Fluttershy and pulled a knife out of his coat with his magic.

“Nopony moves or she gets it!” he yelled. Fluttershy screamed in terror as the police ponies stopped.

“Fluttershy!” Wataru and the Mane Six yelled.

“Let her go creep!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she extended her wings.

“Stay back!” he said as he put his knife close to Fluttershy's face. Dash snorted as she folded her wings. As this was going on, the train pulled to a stop in the station. The doors opened, shocked ponies stopping as they saw what was going on.

“Nopony moves, nopony gets hurt,” the stallion said as he inched his way towards the train doors.

“Good thing I'm not a pony then,” a voice said behind him. The stallion looked up to see a griffin in a sport coat and tie looking at him with calm, piercing eyes. The stallion's eyes nearly shot out of his head at the sight of the griffin.

“That life, please return it to God,” the griffin said as he proceeded to grab the stallion by the throat as well as grab the knife. The stallion struggled, only to stop as the griffin looked him in the eye. The griffin threw the knife away as he reached into his pocket and took out a notebook.

The griffin flipped through the pages until he stopped at a page with a picture of the stallion the was currently holding by the throat.

“Silver Wing, you are wanted on several accounts of theft and assault. Bounty – 800 bits,” he said as he closed the notebook.

“Excellent. I didn't expect I'd get to make some extra bits on my way here. How convenient,” he said as he reared his other arm back, clenched his talons into a fist, and punched Silver Wing into the train station wall. The stallion looked up for a moment before he fell unconscious. Nago walked over to the stallion and snatched a button off of his coat, adding it to a necklace with many others on it.

Everyone in the vicinity stood shocked at the display before they all came back to reality. The police ponies went over and cuffed Silver Wing and lead him over to a cart with bars on it as the other ponies cheered for the griffin. The Mane Six and Wataru rushed over to Fluttershy and consoled her. One of the police ponies walked over to the griffin.

“Well, thank you for your assistance sir. It was dangerous and foolhardy I won't lie, but you got the job done,” the police pony said.

“No problem officer,” the griffin said as he dusted himself off. The police pony looked at him for a moment before his eyes widened.

“Wait a minute, I know you. You're that famous bounty hunter,” he said. The griffin nodded as he bowed.

“You are correct, my name is-”

“Keisuke Nago,” a voice said. Nago looked over to see Twilight Sparkle staring daggers at him.

“Twilight Sparkle, a pleasure to see you again,” Nago said. Twilight fumed at the griffin.

“You two know each other?” Rarity asked.

“Unfortunately,” Twilight said as she continued staring angrily at the griffin.

“Are you okay Fluttershy?” Wataru asked. Fluttershy nodded weakly, tears still staining her face. Nago walked over to Fluttershy and offered her his talon. Fluttershy back away for a second before taking his talon and letting Nago help her to her hooves.

“T-thank you for-” Fluttershy said before Nago raised a talon to stop her.

“Your thanks are unnecessary Miss. Though I am saddened that you were a part of this, it was merely part of my job. Capturing the filth that riddle this world and bringing them to justice,” Nago said as he clenched his fist.

Twilight Sparkle huffed at this “What a sanctimonious snob,” she thought.

“How cool,” Wataru thought as he stared at the griffin in awe.

“What are you even doing here Nago?” Twilight said in a rude tone.

“I am here on business,” he said as he reached into his jacket pocket.

“What business could someone like you possibly have here in Ponyville,” she asked as Nago took out a roll of parchment. He unfurled it and presented it to Twilight.

Twilight looked it over for a moment before her eyes went wide, crumpling the parchment in her magic as she began to tremble.

“You cannot be serious,” Twilight said with a slight snarl.

“Afraid I am. The Princesses have sent me here to help aid with the Fangire situation,” Nago said.

“Uh Twi, you okay?” Applejack said as she noticed Twilight was beginning to shake and smolder, one eye twitching.

“I need to be alone,” Twilight said as she teleported away. Soon after, a loud yell of anger echoed throughout the town.

“Such a warm welcome,” Nago said. Everyone raised their eyebrows at the griffin.

“Anyway, nice to meet you Mistah Nago,” Applejack said as she tipped her hat to the griffin.

“Likewise Miss Applejack,” Nago said bowing.

“You know me?”

“You are the Elements of Harmony after all. I'd be foolish not to know who you all are,” Nago said.

The Mane Six looked at each other for a moment. Yes, they had been widely regarded as heroes in the past, but this was one of the few times somepony, or griffin in this case, acknowledged it.

“Well, we're happy to have you here. It's nice to see the Princesses have sent us help. The only help we've had thus far is that mysterious Kiva stallion,” Rarity said. Nago's face contorted into a look of annoyance.

“Ah yes, Kiva. I do hope to speak with him. Personally,” Nago said as he balled his talons into a fist, which went unnoticed by the group.

“Well, while Twilight cools off, why don't we show you around Ponyville and you can tell us a little more about your mission,” Rarity suggested.

“That sounds lovely,” Nago said as the group left the train station.

However, unbeknownst to them, a figure watched them as they left.

“Soon my dear, I will make you mine,” the figure said as he began to follow the group.

“Rarity, are you sure everything's okay?” Fluttershy asked as she and Rarity sat getting hooficures at the Ponyville Spa.

“I..I'm sure I don't know what you mean Fluttershy dear,” Rarity said, trying to keep her composure.

“Well....it's just the whole time we where showing Mister Nago around the town you kept looking around. Like you thought someone was following you,” Fluttershy said.

Rarity struggled to think of an answer before she finally sighed.

“Aloe, Lotus, could you leave us alone for a bit?” Rarity said.

“Of course Miss Rarity,” Aloe said as she and Lotus left the room. After they left, Rarity turned to Fluttershy.

“Okay, the truth is........I think I have a stalker,” Rarity said.

“Oh dear!” Fluttershy said.

Rarity sighed “A few weeks ago I found a letter on my door. A love letter. At first, I thought it was sweet, like having a secret admirer in school. However...it quickly got out of hoof. Instead of letters showing up rarely, they started coming every day. Then it was flowers, then chocolates. Then I noticed things starting to go missing from my boutique. Finally, I can't shake the feeling that somepony has been watching me wherever I go,” Rarity said, her voice cracking a bit.

“That sounds awful,” Fluttershy said as she moved over to comfort her friend.

“I didn't say anything because I wanted to try and handle things myself, but I just don't know what to do,” Rarity said, putting her head in her hooves. Fluttershy comforted the distressed unicorn.

“It'll be alright Rarity. The others and I will help you through this. Plus, I'm sure Wataru and Mister Nago would be willing to help as well,” Fluttershy said. Rarity suddenly perked up.

“Wait, that's perfect!” Rarity said as she threw off the robe and towel she had been wearing and raced out of the spa. Fluttershy sat there for a moment before she flew after her friend.

“Twilight, you really need to calm down,” Spike said as he, Wataru, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack sat in the library, watching Twilight angrily stack books.

“I am perfectly fine Spike,” Twilight said as she noticed a book was out of order, which she responded to by taking the book and ripping it apart with her magic. The group watched as the pieces of the book fell to the floor.

“Yeah Twi, you're cool as a cucumber,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Really? Because she looks reallyreallyreallyreallyreally mad,” Pinkie Pie said. Applejack and Rainbow Dash groaned at Pinkie's blunt attitude. Twilight apparently heard this as well, angrily slamming a book down.

“OF COURSE I'M MAD!! I can't help it whenever that pompous jerk is around,” Twilight said. The group looked at each other confused.

“What in tarnation do yah have against Mister Nago Twi?” Applejack said.

“Yeah, I think he's amazing. I wish I could be as confident and strong as he is,” Wataru said, fanboying a little bit. Twilight huffed at this.

“Trust me Wataru, you don't want to be anything like him. He's an obnoxious, elitist, fanatical, sanctimonious-”

“Ah! Enough big words,” Pinkie said. Twilight cleared her throat.

“Point is, Nago isn't to be trusted,” Twilight said.

“Look Twi, we're gonna need a little more to go on than that,” Applejack said. Twilight slammed a book down and turned to her friends.

“Fine, here's my problem with Nago. He-” Twilight said before the library door burst open. Everyone turned to see Rarity, with Fluttershy hovering beside her.

“Oh wonderful, everypony is here. I have a little problem I need help with,” Rarity said.

“Can it wait Rarity, we're kind of in the middle of something here,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Actually Rainbow, I don't think it can. I mean....if that's okay with you,” Fluttershy said.

“Yes Rainbow, I'm afraid this is a very serious matter,” Rarity said.

“Well for land sakes Rarity, what is it?” Applejack said.

“Before that I need to ask Wataru something,” Rarity said as she walked over to the stallion.

“What is it Miss Rarity?” Wataru asked.

“Please dear there is no need to be so formal. I have a little request of you,” Rarity said.

“What do you need?”

“I was wondering if you would be my colt friend,” Rarity said.

The library was a very tense place. Fluttershy and her friends all sat around the couch, watching over Wataru as he lay unconscious in Fluttershy's lap. Spike was sulking in a corner, drawing circles into the floor with his claws. Needless to say, Spike wasn't too happy about his crush asking somepony else out in front of him. The group looked at Rarity, who sipped tea as she messed with her hair. She noticed the stares and looked confused.

“What?” she said.

“You know darn well what missy. How could you just ask Wataru to be your coltfriend out of nowhere like that!? For Celestia and Luna's sakes, the poor boy passed out sprayin' blood out of his nose when you asked him,” Applejack said. Rarity looked down for a moment in shame.

“I am truly sorry about that, but I needed to ask that of him,” Rarity said.

“And you couldn't have asked him this after you had told us you were being stalked why?” Twilight said.

“Why dramatic flair darling,” Rarity said Everyone facehoofed at Rarity's remark. Wataru groaned in Fluttershy's lap as he began to regain consciousness. Fluttershy looked down at him and smiled, relieved that he was okay.

Wataru's eyes opened to see Fluttershy. Wataru's face blushed as he realized where his head was laying, sitting up abruptly. Twilight and the others smiled at Wataru.

“I'm glad you're okay Wataru,” Fluttershy said. Wataru nodded.

“Um....what happened exactly?” Wataru said.

“Rarity asked you to be her coltfriend, you turned redder than Big Mac, your nose started bleeding and you passed out,” Rainbow Dash with her usual level of tact, none. Wataru blushed again.

“Right,” Wataru said embarrassed. Rarity set down her cup of tea and cleared her throat.

“I'm terribly sorry for surprising you like that Wataru. I should have explained why I asked you that,” Rarity said. Wataru squirmed in his seat, still blushing.

“I....I....suppose that would help,” Wataru said.

Rarity explained her situation to Wataru. While this was going on, Spike had come away from the corner, now sitting next to Twilight, who tried to comfort the pouty dragon.

“So that's my predicament Wataru. Will you help me?” Rarity said in a pleading tone. Wataru was still blushing.

“Well......um......wouldn't it be better to ask somepony else to do this? I mean what about somepony like Big Mac ?” Wataru said, trying his best not to sound rude.

“Big Mac is a sweetheart, but I don't think he'd be exactly convincing. Besides dear, he's even shyer than you are when it comes to romance. Plus, I think Cherilee would kill me if she saw me with him,” Rarity said. It was no secret the school teacher was sweet on Big Mac ever since the incident with the CMC and the love potion.

“What about Mister Nago? I'm sure he could help you far better than I could,” Wataru said, now sounding a little desperate. Rarity thought for a moment before shaking her head.

“Mister Nago certainly is dashing, but I'm afraid I wouldn't want to ask something like this of someone I barely know,” Rarity said. Twilight huffed when Rarity called Nago dashing.

“Oh,” Wataru said as he began to sweat. Rarity went up to Wataru and grabbed his hoof.

“Please Wataru, I need your help with this. You're the only one I can ask to do this. Please,” Rarity said, tears starting to form in her eyes.

Wataru blushed red before saying “I....I guess if there's nopony else,” he said before Rarity grabbed him in a bear hug.

“Oh thank you ever so much Wataru!” Rarity said as she hugged the shy violinist. Realizing her lapse in manners, she let go of Wataru and cleared her throat.

“Sorry dear. In any case, thank you Wataru,” Rarity said as she smiled.

“Woah, hold up a sec Rarity. The plan to lure this guy out sounds plausible at least, but what if he gets violent? This isn't safe,” Twilight said, trying to bring logic into this conversation. Rarity giggled as she flipper her hair.

“Oh Twilight, you didn't seriously think I was going to go about this with just myself and Wataru did you?” Rarity said. Everyone looked confused as Rarity smiled.

“Here's what we're going to do,” Rarity said.

Wataru stood by the fountain in the center of the Town Square. He had on a simple scarf, he had fixed his mane so he looked presentable, and wore a red vest. Wataru cantered in place, nervous about the plan. Wataru had never been on a date before, albeit this wasn't technically a real date, but he was still nervous.

From a bush near the fountain, Twilight popped up, shaking a few leaves out of her mane.

“This is silly. Why do we have to hide like this?” Twilight said. Twilight looked up to see Rainbow Dash observing from a cloud, Applejack observing from her stall in the market, and Fluttershy and Spike observing from a tree. Pinkie Pie popped out of the bush next to Twilight.

“Because Twilight, this way that mean old stalker pants won't know we're here and we can catch him,” Pinkie said, for some odd reason wearing a mustache on her face.

“I'm inclined to agree with her Twilight. This is a sound method in catching criminals,” Nago said, his larger body barely being hidden by the bushes. Twilight sneered at the griffon.

“Why are you even here Nago? I thought you're job here was to help with the Fangire,” Twilight said, shooting daggers at the griffin.

“I help wherever I am needed. Besides, it would leave a bad taste in my beak to let scum like stalkers walk free,” Nago said

Twilight huffed at the griffon “We don't need any help from you Nago,” she said.

“So much for all those etiquette lessons with the Princess,” Nago said in a dry tone. Twilight looked like she was about to punch the griffon before Pinkie shh'd them.

“Shh!! Rarity's coming,” Pinkie said as she disappeared back into the bush. Twilight huffed at Nago once more as she and the griffon followed suit.

“Hope I didn't make you wait long,” Rarity said as she trotted up to Wataru. Wataru blushed at Rarity's appearance. Contrary to her normal extravagant style, Rarity had toned it down to styling her mane a bit, wearing some simple earrings in the shape of her cutie mark, and a light sundress with some fancy trimmings.

“Sorry I took so long darling. I simply couldn't decide what to wear,” Rarity said.

Wataru blushed nervously “N-no trouble Miss Rarity, I just got here as well,” Wataru said. Rarity frowned.

“Remember Wataru dear, we're supposed to be on a date. Please just call me Rarity,” she said smiling at the shy stallion.

“Okay.....R-Rarity,” Wataru said as he continued to blush. Rarity smiled at this.

“Excellent, now let's get going,” she said as she and Wataru began to walk around town.

From a nearby tree, Spike and Fluttershy watched this scene play out. Both of them had dangerous, jealous gleams in their eyes and dark shadows looming around them.

“He better not try anything,” Spike thought.

“She better not try anything,” Fluttershy thought.

Rarity and Wataru's date proceeded fairly well. Wataru eventually got comfortable enough around Rarity to not be blushing the whole time. They went around to various spots in Ponyville, looked at some of the stalls in the market, and generally seemed like they were having a good time.

“I must say Wataru, this has been a lovely day. You sure know how to treat a lady,” Rarity said teasing him. Wataru blushed at this.

“W-well...I..just didn't want to be impolite is all. Besides, you payed for everything,” Wataru said, rubbing the back of his head with his hoof. Rarity giggled at this.

“It was the least I could do after asking you to do this,” Rarity said.

“Y-yeah,” Wataru said. Rarity was about to say something before she stopped in her tracks. Wataru looked to see that a pegasus stallion with a grey coat, glasses, and a black mane was standing in front of them.

“Can we help you?” Rarity said. The stallion fixed his glasses and pulled a letter and hoofed it to Rarity.

“Miss Rarity, I've admired you from afar for a long time now. Please accept my feelings!” the stallion said blushing. Rarity grabbed the letter in her magic, opened it and examined the letter. Her eyes went wide when she recognized the hoofwriting.

“Are you the one who has been sending me the lover letters and packages?” Rarity asked, trying to keep her composure. The stallion blushed and nodded. Rarity sighed.

“Look dear, I appreciate your feelings, I really do, but I can't accept them. I already have a coltfriend as you can see,” Rarity said as she leaned up against Wataru, causing him to blush. The other stallion's face fell at this.

“Oh,” he said, hanging his head. Rarity looked at the stallion with pity. She never liked rejecting potential suitors, but this stallion had crossed one too many lines.

“I'm sure you'll find your special somepony someday dear, but alas it won't be me,” Rarity said. The stallion nodded.

“I understand,” he said.

“I'm truly sorry dear,” she said as she and Wataru began to walk away. The stallion took off his glasses and smiled.

“I guess I'll just have to eliminate the competition,” he said as stain glass markings appeared on his face and his eyes glowed. This caused Wataru and Rarity to turn around just in time to see the stallion transform into a Fangire. The Fangire looked to be based off a sheep or ram, with horns curling around his head and long dreadlock-like tendrils covering his body.

Rarity screamed as she proceeded to faint, Wataru catching her. As the Fangire approached, Wataru placed himself in front of Rarity to try and protect her.

The stallion's face flashed across his stain glass body.

“She will be mine!” the Fangire said as he pulled out a flintlock pistol with stain glass designs on it and pointed it at Wataru. Wataru grit his teeth.

“If only I could become Kiva,” Wataru thought as the Fangire clicked the hammer on his gun.

“Disappear,” the Fangire said as he put his finger on the trigger. As Wataru closed his eyes, he heard a loud boom as he felt a rush of air go over him. He opened his eyes to find the Fangire had been hit by something. Wataru looked over his shoulder to see that Nago was standing behind them, holding a strange black and gold object in one of his claws and pointing it at the Fangire.

“Well, isn't this interesting. A bounty and a Fangire all in the same day. The goddess must be smiling upon me today,” Nago said as he walked over to the Fangire. Twilight and her friends came out from their hiding places and converged around Wataru and Rarity.

“Nago, are you crazy!? You can't fight that thing!” Twilight yelled. Nago turned to Twilight and made what could be considered a smirk with his beak.

“You underestimate me Twilight. Watch and you'll see why,” Nago said as he clicked a button on the strange device in his talons. Suddenly, a black belt with various attachments on the sides appeared in his left talons.

“What in Celestia's name?” Twilight said. The Fangire looked at Nago annoyed.

“That life, please return it to God,” Nago said as he swung the belt around his waist, the belt clicking in place as he did so. He lifted the strange device and pressed one end of it against his other talon.

READY?

Nago threw his right arm to the side “Henshin!” he said as he crossed his arm across his chest before placing the device on the belt.

FIST ON!

The belt sounded and beeped as a golden, stylized cross appeared in the air in front of Nago before passing through him. When the light dissipated, Nago was encased in white armor with blue and golden accents along it.

The visor on his helmet opened, releasing a blast of heat forward that caused explosions to go off in front of him, which harmed the Fangire.

“Bastard! Who are you!?” the Fangire said.

“I am IXA, and I'm here to send you back to Tartarus,” Nago said as he charged toward the Fangire.

Author's Note

*GASP* BladeSpark actually updated a story!? What sorcery is this!?

Yeah, I'm a lazy bum. Sorry for the lack of updates guys. I should probably explain why. Part of the reason I don't update very often is because it gets difficult for me to actually come up for ideas for this story as it progresses. Grand scheme, I've got a lot of ideas. However, it's the little in between bits that get me stumped. However, I am working on fixing this so there's hope there.

Anyway, enough about my problems. If anyone's wondering about the whole deal with how the belt actually appears, the show never gave a proper explanation for how that thing just appears out of nowhere, so I figured I'd give one.

The explanation?

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter, you're all lovely people, and I hope you all have a wonderful day/week/month/year, whatever.

This is Bladespark, signing out.