Chapter 2

The Revelations and Reveals

1,500 years ago

May breathed deeply as she calmed her pounding heart standing in what she knew would be her basic arms if her feelings were right. All around her, the ponies she had just freed were cheering wildly. And around them, many of the dog like beings were on the ground moaning in pain, knocked out, or dead while a few of them fled for the hills, not wanting to deal with the freed ponies or their hero.

“Thank you for saving our village,” May heard and turned around to see one of the ponies she had saved who had also took up arms the moment she was freed while rallying all the others to do so or help the ones who couldn’t

“Not a problem,” the new Kamen Rider replied as she sheathed her Musou Saber at her side while placing her O-Daidaimaru on her back where –to her surprise- it stayed somehow. “I may have just started out recently,” May said, not wanting to reveal her full past, “But I want to protect those who cry out for help.”

The mare smiled as she let her blood covered sword dangle at her side, “Then thank you for being here in our time of need.”

May just smiled as she took in the being before her fully. While her initial assumption of the ‘ponies’ before her were correct, some of the things she thought she would see were wrong. For one, their hands were more human like then the way most artists back home drew them as –having four fingers and a thumb instead of two or three-. Another thing she noticed was that most of the ‘ponies’ were much shorter than her 6 foot height . Even the mare before her, which was easily the tallest one there, was smaller at 5 feet, 8 inches.

Speaking of the mare, she was an interesting one that was certain. Not only because of her height; but her stature as well which reminded May of an Amazon or to be more precise a hard working farm woman. Her fur was orange in color with her hooves and finger nails a darker shade while her hair -or rather mane- and tail were a light blond in color which emphasized that she happily worked in the fields despite her clothing saying she was of high importance. Her eyes though, her candy apple red eyes was conflicting; both excited to have someone help them in their time of need as her voice said; but also a slight suspicion as to why May jumped into something that was none of her business.

“Anyways,” the mare said as she handed her sword to one of the nearby stallions she had borrowed it from -who nodded in thanks before going off to round up the last of the dog beings still left alive- before holding out her hand “My name’s Apple Jacqueline Smith, but most ponies just call me Applejack. I’m the leader of our small village; mostly because my family was the first to settle here.”

May smiled as she shook Applejack’s hands. “Well, I’m called Kamen Rider Bujin Gaim when I’m in my armor,” she began as the two released their grips before the Rider closed the Blood Orange Lockseed on her Sengoku Driver causing the Arms and weapons to vanish in sparkling golden light startling the ponies around her with how she looked, “But you can call me May out of it.”

Applejack blinked a few times before laughing and pulled May into a one arm hug, a big grin on her muzzle. “Well May, consider yourself part of our village here since you saved us from those Diamond Dogs.”

Despite being shocked by what was said, May could not help the smile that slowly crawled its way onto her face, “I have a feeling this is going to be an interesting friendship.”

Displaced Rider

Present Time

‘And it was Rinko-chan,’ May thought to herself as she saw Jacqueline’s descended right in front of her while getting out of her stance, before turning back towards Chrysalis who looked both irate and terrified at the same time, ‘I just wish I could have told you that you were more than that in those last few months you were alive.’

The Changeling Queen glared at Bujin Gaim, while slowly reaching for her own blade hidden by her folded wings. Thought with the way the armored warrior was tensing as she did so said that it was not as well hidden as she thought.

And it was to her immense surprise when the Warrior actually relaxed, placing her O-Daidaimaru on her shoulder while letting the arm with the Musou Saber hang at her side. “As much as I want to see if you are any better than your ancestors with a blade… I think the Bride and Groom had enough of your antics and want you out.”

At that moment, a bright purple light shined behind Bujin Gaim which caught everyone’s attention with only the Armored Rider not turning towards the light. There, next to the Astral Thrones, stood Shining Armor and Cadence sharing each other’s magic which combined into a royal purple. Unknowingly they had begun tapping into another part of the Elements of Harmony that Cadence was unsuspectingly connected to… The Element of Love.

A second later the purple Aura combined with Shining Armor’s original spell and supercharged it before shooting out to perform its sole function; evicting all Changelings from Canterlot. When the purple sphere pulsed out of the duo, May quickly shifted her body half a dimension over into Helheim –a neat little trick she unknowingly discovered the first time she was forced to tussle with Celestia and Luna- just in case the spell decided she needed to be given the boot as well.

Thankfully it wasn’t, as the spell took any and all Changeling’s within Canterlot and sent them flying ala Team Rocket. Hearing Chrysalis Screaming as she involuntarily flew as her ancestor did centuries past was music to May’s ears while shifted back without anyone the wiser. And with that, she reached for her base form’s Lockseed and closed it up, allowing the armor to vanish in its usual gold sparkles; but made the Musou Saber and Lockseed Holder linger. This revealed her clothing that resembled what a Samurai would wear off the battlefield when visiting their Lord called a kamishimo.

It consisted of a formal navy blue kimono with a burnt orange hakama over her legs all held closed by her Sengoku Driver, and navy blue tabi socks over feet with simple wooden geta on. Over the Hakama was a gold lined crimson kataginu –sleeveless jacket with exaggerated shoulders and her Rider Crest on chest the same place a samurai’s family crest would be.

“May…” Celestia softly said though everyone there heard it, especially the sadness in her tone, causing the warrior to turn to her along with everyone else. Her head was bowed as she said that with only Twilight seeing her teacher’s nervous face with tear filled eyes.

“I’m so sorry,” she began softly, “when you nearly killed Discord all those years ago, I thought you were similar to him and wanted to get him out of your way…” The princess of the sun kept quiet for a bit as her subjects, student, and niece stared at her and May in shock before she continued, “Luna didn’t believe that you were evil for a second; but I kept reminding her of our duties to our little ponies so she reluctantly helped me seal you.”

“It was only years later after I was forced to seal Luna that I found out the truth… That while you were similar to Discord… you only wanted to discover what your powers did… consisted of… what was possible. All the lies the nobles back then told me; thinking that I actually helping the common ponies… only to find out they were using me, my sister, and to an extent… You.... to further their own goals.”

May could not help the raised eyebrow at that… To think that Celestia actually took the word of her own nobles over the ‘common’ ponies and even her own sister. Though to be fair, the poor sun mare was more attuned to the elements of Generosity, Kindness, and Magic then Luna. That mare was truly connected to Honesty, Laughter (even if she did keep it hidden to an extent), and Loyalty to keep her hope about the displaced rider up despite all of the pressure coming at her from all sides at the time.

Then something happened that stunned Celestia. “I believe you,” May said, making the sun princess jerk her head towards the ‘human’ whose smile was much brighter than before as she added, “And I forgive you.”

Celestia’s eyes widen in shock before tears started to fill them again but refused to fall, until her own student; despite her pain, circled her arms around the princess that those tears were allowed to fall. At the same time, all the ponies looked between the two, beyond stunned that May willingly forgave the sun princess since something like that would have been very hard for them to forgive themselves.

Rainbow Dash even commented on this as she quietly yet swiftly –as per her nature- want up to the warrior and whispered, “I’m surprised you forgave her like that.”

“Well… yes and no,” was May’s whispered reply earning a confused look from the speedy mare, “While yes I do forgive her for what she tried to do… It doesn’t mean that I will forget… nor get a bit of revenge via a few pranks and trolls.”

RD looked at the Bujin in shock before a smirk made its way onto her muzzle, “mind if Pinkie and I join in?”

“Well... I wouldn’t say no to a helper, conspirator, or enabler.” the Warrior replied with her own grin, “You live for over 1500 years and you become very bored quickly; making one do whatever they can to get rid of it.” May then glanced over at Pinkie who was poking at the ‘remains’ of her statue self as she added, “Though would your girlfriend really mind you ‘volunteering’ her for services as a helper?”

The second she said that, Rainbow Dash quickly covered her mouth with a quiet yet hurried “shush!!!” The Pegasus mare looked around and saw everypony was busy and let out a sigh of relief before glaring at May. “Please don’t tell that to everypony!!!” she softly hissed, “I just figured it out recently and I haven’t a clue as to how to tell her or if she even likes me.”

“I would suggest just telling her,” May began as he looked over Rainbow’s shoulder to see the pink mare still poking at the statue –though for some reason not as enthusiastically as before. “But I don’t think it will be that easy,” she then gently clapped RD on her shoulder, “Don’t worry something will come up that allows you to tell her. Trust me… but you will need to tell her soon or you may not be able to at all.” The girl finished with a sad smile briefly taking a peek at Applejack who was busy trying to keep Fluttershy from fainting from all the stress.

Before RD could say anything, a dark blue blur shot through the cavity May created in the wedding hall which quickly skid to a haul revealing another Alicorn similar to Celestia, but different at the same time. Her fur was a dark blue compared to Celestia’s white while her mane/tail while a slightly translucent dark sapphire with a few pin sized white dots on them replicating a clear night sky. Her build was more muscular than the sun princess, thought that did not subtract at all from her look; rather it gave her an unearthly grace and elegance.

At least at times where she was not extremely worried like right now, enhanced thanks to the silver and dark blue armor that; while it did conform to her body, it was not skimpy in the least bit but covered everything very well without subtracting too much mobility. This changed her image from a lofty goddess to a warrior one that could rival the beautiful Greek warrior goddesses like Athena. In her hands was a navy blue halberd with a large silver arrow head shaped blade that had guard like horns on either side.

May’s mouth dried up seeing her old friend she had lost in front of her, no longer tainted by her own darkness which had been enhanced by her Alicorn magic; Princess Luna.

“Are you okay sister?!?!” Luna asked as she took in Celestia's appearance and her student who was still in her arms and was quite stunned by what she saw, “Twilight Sparkle; what has happened to you???”

“It was Chrysalis, Luna,” Celestia replied sadly, “She had disguised herself as Cadence and nearly taken over Canterlot for her nefarious scheme.” Her frown soon turned into a smile as she added, “Thankfully an old friend of ours had once again saved us like she did so long ago.”

“Old friend?” Luna questioned tilting her head to the side in a manner that would have looked cute if it wasn’t for her helmet. She then looked around, only to be shocked when her eyes met May’s

“Hey Luna,” the ‘young’ woman greeted a bit weakly, “It’s been centuries.”

The ponies who did not know their relationship gasped in shock by what she said, while Luna’s grasp on her spear loosened causing it to clatter to the floor before it vanished in a flurry of navy blue sparkles with her armor following behind. In its place was sheer navy blue nightgown with silver edging that was covered up by a hastily thrown sleeping robe that caused many ponies watching to blush and turn their heads –for the more courteous ones- or droll –the uncouth ones. May herself would have done the latter... if the Alicorn hadn’t jumped at her in a tackle hug that would have send them both to the ground if the human hadn’t anchored herself.

“MAY!!!” Luna cried out as she wrapped her arms around her oldest and most loyal friend hoping she was not dreaming –despite knowing if she was thanks to her dream walking magic. She buried her head into May’s neck easily enough thanks to the latter’s own height and let the tears she had been holding back for so long loose.

After her brief shock –and accompanying blush- wore off, May just smiled and held her dearest friend close to her for the first time in centuries. To be honest May had a bit of a crush on Luna that Rinko –her Applejack- knew about even if she didn’t know about the ‘human’s’ crush on her. She still had it mind you; but the years of separation/self-exile allowed for much reflection and made what seemed like a schoolgirl crush into true love…

Even if May was reluctant to say anything about it at the moment.

Celestia watched the reunion with a forlorn smile on her lips as she held Twilight a bit closer unconsciously. She knew about May’s crush on Luna all those years before the two were sealed. She was suspicious about it at first; but once the truth about May was revealed after Luna was sealed, she deeply regretted her thoughts at the time. Once her beloved sister was freed, the two of them took a long cleansing cry together with much heartbreak and sadness between then. Especially with how they were betrayed by their own ponies while unknowingly betraying the one had considered a friend –if not more for the lunar mare.

The other ponies just looked on with teary smiles at the reunion. Rainbow on the other hand suddenly began to understand where May was coming from saying what she did and snuck a peek at Pinkie who was doing the same causing both to look away with blushes on their cheeks.

After a while May noticed that Luna had stopped crying and looked down to see her asleep, a small content smile on her lips. With a similar smile on her lips, the samurai based warrior stood up slowly and looked towards Celestia.

“Look like Luna fell asleep,” she mentioned as she held the princess in her arms bridal style. This made Luna snuggle tightly against May making her blush lightly since it placed her head right on the warrior’s breasts, This made Celestia and Cadence –whose talent was based around love and could see the lines between the two- giggle at the scene with the other girls not far behind.

Clearing her throat lightly, May continued asking, “May I take her up to her room Celestia?”

“Of course,” The older sister replied as she schooled her chortles smiling at the warrior and her sister, “I will get one of the guards to guide you to Luna’s room.”

“No need,” The young woman replied making everypony look at her strangely as her eyes took on a mischievous shine, “When you and Luna ‘hit’ me with your Rainbow colored ion cannon, you didn’t really ‘seal’ me as you had wanted. Rather you had sealed away a portion of my power and abilities along with their catalysts.”

With that May turned around and looked at the pile of rubble that was once her ‘double’ so to speak. Her eyes began to glow in a kaleidoscopic way with her pupils taking on a crimson shine which was mimicked by something within the rubble. A second later two items pushed their way out of the pile and floated over to their owner. Both items were locks similar to the one May had used in her ‘fight’ with Crysalis but way different at the same time.

Celestia gasped as she saw the Lockseeds remembering how the forms attached to them had easily defeated her and Luna despite their own immense power. What really shocked here was their appearance which was not what she remembered. The first lock was a bulky block shape that barely fit it in a pony’s hand and was made of slightly transparent burnt orange plastic like material with a few crimson streaks on the sides, the back/arm a very dark grey. On the front of the lock was supposed to be a crimson octagonal orange with burnt crimson flames on a silver background with a green stem. Instead the crimson was a very dull grey with the burnt orange flames and silver now black with a rusted look to them; though the lock number could still be clearly seen: K.L.S. – 01; the Kachidoki (Triumph) Lockseed.

She quickly looked at the second lock that was shaped like a vertical oval with the bottom part flat except for a slight smaller part at the bottom making it look almost like a key, made entirely out of a the same dark grey material as the previous lock except for the front. The front itself was supposed to be gold in color with the top portion of it modeled after a fruit basket of sorts with seven fruits in it; a blood red orange in the middle with a strawberry, pineapple, watermelon, banana, grape, and a melon surrounding it. But just like the Kiwami Lockseed, the gold had turned to a darkish grey with rust on it while the crimson orange becoming black. In addition, the fruit surrounding the orange had vanished somehow as well. The only thing left was the number on the lock itself denoting what it was: L.S. - ∞: Kiwami (Extreme) Lockseed.

“W-what happened to the Kachidoki and Kiwami Lockseeds?” Celestia asked barely keeping herself from screeching as her niece and subjects looked at her with confusion.

“I’ll explain later,” May replied with a sad smile on her face seeing her cherished Lockseeds in the state they were in before sliding them into her kimono then turning to Celestia as her eyes reverted back to normal, continuing on, “I’ve been keeping an eye on you and Luna from the shadows since you ‘sealed’ me; so I know a few things. So if you don’t mind I’ll take Luna back up to her room.”

And with that, her eyes once again took on their kaleidoscope like form which also covered May and her passenger then vanished along with the two.

“Now that’s cool,” Rainbow Dash said which the other acknowledge. Unfortunately this caused Twilight to cringe in pain making her teacher look at her.

“Let’s get you and your friends to the infirmary…” She said softly walking to their destination, “And Twilight…”

The mare in Celestia’s arms looked up and saw her mentor looking back with a sad smile on her lips, a few tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry for not believing in you. You know your brother and Cadence better than I should have.”

Twilight looked at her teacher (and secret crush) in shock before smiling with tears in her eyes. “You’re forgiven,” she said, snuggling up to Celestia –which caused the Alicorn Mare to blush lightly- with a blush on her cheeks as she continued, “And thank you for everything you have done…” ‘Including stealing my heart.’

Celestia just smiled, unknowing what Twilight had just thought of, and was glad that her student didn’t hate her for what she had done. The sun princess didn’t know what she would have done if Twilight had hated her.

Despite the horror of the Changelings, all was right for the moment despite the wedding having to be rescheduled; with the right bride being given away this time.

Displaced Rider

Over in Luna’s room, our warrior and her princess appeared in the middle of the dark navy blue room in a flash of a rainbow before dying down again. May looked around the room and could not help but smile nostalgically; the room almost look exactly like Luna’s old room in the Everfree Castle with the addition of a few modern day appliances such as a large flat screen TV with a gaming system, air conditioning, and what not.

May took one step towards Luna’s bed… and had to stop as she felt the edge of a blade on her neck.

“Nice to see at least one Night Guard still trying to do their duty,” she said as the one with the blade walked around her revealing herself to be a thestral; an earth/Pegasus pony who had been ritualistically turned into what some would call a bat pony with a gray coat of various shades, cat like eyes, and bat wings on their backs. While the few Night Guards had armor opposite to their day counterpart –dark/light purple armor with various medieval decorations and such-; the huge majority were more like the Ninjas of japan.

Espionage, assassination, sabotage, infiltration, and other covert workings were the Night Guard’s bread and butter. In fact May herself gave Luna the idea to turn her guards into what they were today. When Luna was sealed into the moon as Nightmare Moon; May was the first one to secretly hide the Night Guard from the overzealous Day Guards at the time, sending many to Neighpon where the Shinobi Sect there welcomed them with open arms. And over the millennium that Luna was in the moon, the Night Guard never forgot the one who save them from extinction.

Even when Luna returned and they made the exodus back to Equestria, they still kept May’s status of not being sealed a secret.

Which was why the moment the mare saw May’s symbol, she quickly pulled her ninjato away from her neck and bowed at the waist after sheathing her sword. “William-sama,” she said with a slightly accented speech, “It is good to see you again.”

“It’s good to see you to Shadow Blade,” The Rider replied recognizing the mare and her silent blade that had killed many a threat and traitor to the Equestiran Crown unknowingly to the major populace. “I still see you’re keeping your skill sharp as your favored blade.”

“Doumo arigatou gozaimasu,” the mare replied as she stood up from her bow, “Are you going to step out of the shadows now William-sama?”

“To an extent,” the young woman replied softly as to not wake Luna up, “People will know I’m back; but I think I will keep hidden from the public eye unless needed.”

The mare nodded before looking at her master in May’s arms and quietly hustled the duo over to the bed before pulling back the covers. May followed behind her and placed the Night Princess down in the bad and would have stepped back… If Luna hadn’t grabbed her hand while she was asleep.

“The heck?” the warrior questioned as she tried to gently pull her hand back, only for Luna to whimper in her sleep and pull back nearly knocking May into the bed.

Shadow Blade quickly placed a hand over her muzzle to keep the guffaws from escaping making her species’ savior glare at her, though it was ruined by the blush on her face. “I think I’m going to see if the rest of my comrades need any help.”

“Wait a minute!” May hissed a loudly as she could without waking Luna up –the mare was not a morning/day mare and usually needed a few cups of coffee to wake up outside of extenuating circumstances. The mare just ignored her as she slid into the shadows and vanished like smoke in the night.

“Kuso…” the Rider groaned as she once again tried to escape the mare’s grip. She began to get tempted into using one of her two escape tricks when she heard something that stopped her in her tracks.

“Please don’t go May,” Luna whimpered in her sleep, “I’m sorry… so sorry…”

That crumpled all of May’s desires to escape and decided to follow the old proverb, ‘if you can’t beat them… join them.’ And so with that, she focused her power again, causing the rainbow like aura to briefly form over her clothes, switching them out for her night clothes –shorts and a long t-shirt.

Then with a gulp of fear and a quick prayer to anyone listening that Luna won’t shoot first ask questions later when she woke up; Slid into bed where the mare quickly and surprisingly wrapped her arms around the Rider making her light blush brighten considerably.

“Either this is going to be funny, or painful,’ She thought before shrugging and deciding to take a nap herself. May had kept herself awake last night trying to figure out what she was going to do and sleep was calling her name.

Later that evening

With a light groan, Luna started to wake up as her mind began to tell her she needed to do her responsibility of ‘raising the moon’. As she woke up she suddenly remembered a ‘dream’ she had where one of her dearest friends –and huge crush- had returned from being sealed. As she looked around she did not see anypony in her room making her sigh sadly.

“Another night, another dream about May…” she muttered looking down at the navy blue sheets of her bed, “I can control any ponies’ dreams easily… But controlling my own is hit or miss if I do not use my magic.”

“Huh?” a familiar voice suddenly uttered behind the princess making her sit up straight in shock, “You can’t control your own dreams without magic? I’m surprised you didn’t learn how to become a lucid dreamer without it… Guess some things just are too hard to learn at times…”

Slowly, as if dreading that the thought that the voice was an delusion conjured by her recent dream, Princess Luna turned around only to gasp in shock as she saw the one pony, or rather being she always wanted to see. Someone who she thought would never see until that time came in a year.

“I… Is that you May?” Luna asked with a shaky voice and she pushed her sheets to the side to stand on her hooves.

“It is Tsuki,” May said using Luna’s nickname making the mare gasp, “Sorry I wasn’t able to welcome you back when you’re finally broke free of your darkness.”

Before anything else could be said, May was once more the recipient of a tackle hug, one that actually made her fall to the ground. The young woman briefly saw stars as her head hit the floor but it cleared quickly when she heard Luna sobbing.

“I’m so sorry May,” Luna cried into May’s sleeping shirt which she wore, “I did not believe for a second the lies the ‘noble’ ponies back then told about you…”

Quietly hushing the crying mare, May made Luna look up at her with a sad smile on her own lips. “I know what happened back then Luna,” the Rider said making the mare jolt back in surprise, “Despite what everypony thought back then; you and your sister didn’t really seal me up… But rather my two more powerful forms.” She then pulled out the Lockseed for those two forms causing Luna to gasp seeing their state.

“How is that possible?”

May just shrugged, “Not really sure myself. I just meant to leave a clone of sorts to take the hit… but instead my two most powerful Lockseeds got sealed along with some of my powers and many of my abilities outside of the basic ones. All of which have not returned to me; though they probably will when Kachidoki and Kiwami are back to normal.”

Luna just blinked a few times then shrugged as she hugged her friend, “I don’t care. I’m just glad your back.

She then pulled back and began glaring at May who suddenly felt as if her head was on the chopping block, “Though I do not like that you needlessly made me worry for you when you were perfectly fine.”

Sweating Bullets, May quickly began to explain less she get sent to the moon or worse… “Well I was extremely low on power after I was grazed by the Artifacts. I was barely able to find a stop where I could rest in a in a healing coma to allow my body to adjust to the loss.” Then the girl’s voice got low as she concluded her story, “By the time I came to… You were already sealed in the moon.”

Luna just stared at the girl in shock, she was that incapacitated for that long!!! “But I thought those Lockseeds of yours were supposed to re-energize you if you were weak!”

“Keywords ‘supposed to’ Luna.” May replied, “Despite only losing Kachidoki and Kiwami, all of my Lockseeds were affected by the sudden energy loss; with the exception of my Energy Lockseeds, and I can’t even use them like normal Lockseeds even if they were compatible with my Sengoku Driver without the Genesis Core.”

Suddenly feeling very low, Luna could not help but blush lightly with embarrassment as she pouted and turned to the side, “W-well, how was I supposed to know???
‘Tsundere…’ May could not help but think with a quick giggle before turning off that road of thought and getting back to the present, “Well, since it’s probably time to raise the moon, why don’t we get dressed and something to eat if we have time?”

Finally Luna saw the predicament she was in, both warrior ladies in their nightwear with the Princess straddling May. The poor Alicorn’s blush could have allowed her to replace the moon with its glow before she suddenly vanished with such speed it could have been mistaken for teleportation. Blinking a few times in shock, May quickly began to laugh her butt off. While she respected and liked Luna; that didn’t mean she wasn’t above trying to get a rise out of her. Her moments of ‘vulnerability’ were absolutely adorable.

About an hour later, Luna and May finally made their way to the dining hall with the warrior in her original outfit while the princess wore something given to her a few days after her release from the moon. It was a Chinese style midnight blue Cheongsam; but with the skirt on it reaching Luna’s ankles on the front and trail slightly on the back. The sleeves reach just past the wrists and were flared out similar to a Kimono; though the upper portion of the sleeves where they would have met the shoulder were missing connecting just under the arms. In addition Luna’s cutie mark was situated on the side of her hip but in a Chinese style.

May could not help but smile seeing the dress and commented on it, “Glad to see you wearing my gift Luna.”

“Hmm?” the night princess hummed before she inquired, “What do you mean ‘your gift’ May?”

“Well…” May began, “Since I couldn’t exactly go see you in person, I decided to at least welcome you back with a small gift even if I had to stay in the shadows at the time.”

With a light blush staining her cheeks, Luna could not help the smile that made its way onto her lips. “Thank you May. Your gift allowed me to push on through the Nobles’ words until I finally met more ponies who liked me for me in Ponyville.”

“Not a problem.” The Rider replied with a smile of her own as they reached the Dining Hall.

The guards there were a bit wary of May; but still opened the door once the two walked over a specialty rune circle on the floor that was created to dispel any disguise magic. Once the two walked in, they saw every-pony that was in the wedding hall at the table all their wounds heal –or mostly healed- except for Twilight’s. While a lot of her wounds had been healed over, a few of them were a bit too severe to be healed by normal magic, and the doctor who could do so were sadly needed elsewhere at the moment.

The only exception was Shining Armor who was trying his best to make up for his stupidity by rounding up any and all stranglers and personally giving them to boot into the dungeons under the castle. In his place was a young dragon who looked about 15-16 years old wearing a pair of jean shorts and a purple shirt giving Rarity ‘discreet’ looks of love

May notice of this as everypony in the room quickly welcomed them. And while Luna quickly took a seat, she walked over to Twilight who noticed and became nervous until Celestia calmed her down with a hand on her shoulder.

“Celestia,” May said nodding her head to the princess who replied in kind before turning to Twilight. “Miss. Sparkle,” she began startling the unicorn mare shocking her that May knew her name, “While I am glad to see you’re feeling better after what Chrysalis’ drones had done to you… I can tell that you are not healed 100%.”

“Umm… that’s correct miss…” Twilight began but stumbled a bit on May’s name.

“May Elizabeth Williams,” May replied with a smile, “Just call me May, Ms. Sparkle.”

“Only if you call me Twilight,” the mare replied with a smile though she winched a bit as some of her more prominent injuries complained a bit. “I would ask how you knew my name,” Twilight began clenching her teeth in pain hunching over slightly, “Though I believe you kept an eye on Equestria despite having to stay hidden.”

‘Not as hidden as you believe,’ May could not help but think before reaching into her Hakama and pulled out a ‘belt buckle similar to the one around her waist. The only difference was the left side did not have a picture on it and the knife shaped lever was missing.

“Isn’t that was you used to transform into your armor, May?” Rarity asked sitting beside Twilight as she tried to keep her friend from falling.

“Only a prototype,” May responded as she placed the Prototype at Twilights waist where a yellow band quickly wrapped around her hips, securing it in place. She then pulled out another Lockseed, this on having a black and white sunflower seed with the code ‘L.S. – 00’ which she quickly unlocked and placed on the driver before relocking it.

Everypony watched as the lock briefly glowed before then watched in shock as Twilight blinked a few times before standing up in shock.

“Twilight!!!” Her friends, brother and future sister-in-law called out in shock only to be amazed when the mare move around a bit without any pain.

“I’m… Healed?” she asked stunned as she looked over her body then to the belt buckle.

“What you have around your waist,” May began explaining, “Is the prototype version of my Sengoku Driver. You can’t transform with it nor does it have the safety feature my Driver does that locks onto the first user’s DNA, making it so that only they can use it; unless the data is rewritten.” ‘Or they die.’ May mentally added.

“That’s cool and all,” Rainbow Dash said ignoring most of the explanation before pointing at the lock on the driver, “But what is that?”

“OH, OH, OH!!!” Pinkie began calling out waving jumping in her seat beside RD, “Are they some kind of lock that grows on vines and can summons monster from another dimension!!!”

Everypony gave the hyperactive mare the same ‘are you high or something’ look… AT least until they heard Celestia, Luna, and May giggling which confused them.

“She’s not that far from the truth,” the Rider replied making Everypony’s jaw drop in shock.

“How’s that possible?!?!” the young dragon –Spike- shouted in shock.

“Like this,” May replied as she looked over at one of the potted plants in the Dining Hall and waved a hand towards it as her eyes gain their rainbow glow again.

A second later, strange vines began glowing from the soil and gently wrapped around the tree, and seconds later… strange purple flower like fruit began to grow from it. Fascinated, Twilight and Applejack quickly raced over to the fruits as they watched to grow to full size. The main part of the fruit was a light purple in color with the bottom part a dark blue while the stem was shaped to look like the arm of a lock.

“Impossible,” Twilight spoke softly as she reached out and pulled one of the fruit off the vine. Suddenly it began to glow a familiar spectral color before hardening and transforming to something very familiar. The very lock Twilight had on her Driver at the moment.

“HUH?” Everypony watching shouted in shock.

“What you were holding Twilight is what called the Fruit of Helheim or immature Lockseeds.” May began as everypony turned to her, “it is actually a facsimile of another powerful fruit called the Golden Apple or Forbidden Fruit that is said to give God like powers to anyone who eats it.”

“Really?!?!” Rainbow Dash and Rarity shouted in shock as stars filled their eyes.

“Yep,” May replied, “Anyways, the Lockseeds are quite powerful no matter what for they take despite being only a facsimile. Unfortunately they can only be used in the form you have in your hand right now Twilight.”

Twilight looked down at the Lockseed in her hands in shock. Applejack decided to pick a fruit as well… only for it to stay the same.

“Well, how come this fruit here didn’t transform?” she asked showing it to May and her friends.

Celestia took over from here, “that’s because you need a Sengoku Driver to mature it into a Lockseed Applejack.” May took point here as she went over to the vines and grabbed a fruit herself. A second later it transformed as well, but instead of a sunflower seed, the face of it had a lime green musk melon on the front with a gold circle around its code: L.S. – 04.

“The Fruits,” May continued as everypony gathered around her to look at the new lock, “which come from a different dimension called Helheim by the first people to discover it, has the DNA of all fruits, nuts, seeds, and berries in existence, allowing it to transform into any kind of Lockseed depending on how much power it has at the time. Despite this there are only 12 Lockseeds that had what are called Armor Parts and Arms Weapons attached to them. Not counting the manmade ones that is…”

“Why is that?” Pinkie questioned, “If Lockseed can be any type of fruit, does are there only 12 weapons?”

“Never could figure that out myself,” May said as she handed the Melon Lockseed to Luna and pulled out another one from her Hakama. This one had a cover the shape of a coffee bean on it but no code on it at all. “This is the first Lockseed I found that didn’t fall under the known locks but didn’t have a weapons despite having the same power as my Blood Orange Lockseed.”

Twilight thought for a second as she took the fruit in Applejack’s hand and watched it turn into another Lockseed, this one with a bunch of bananas on the front with the code L.S. – 08 on it. “Maybe it was done to limit what kind of Lockseeds are available.”

May blinked a few times in shock, “That could be true. The first humans that found the Lockseeds that the dimension they are a part of were actually connected to a corporation called Yggdrasill.”

‘Sengoku Ryoma,’ the Rider thought as she looked at the coffee Lockseed remembering the original creator of the Sengoku Driver, ‘were your ambitions so great that you rather create a just few different Arms Weapons/Parts to appease Takatora Kureshima while you focused on your true goals rather than give humanity the fighting chance it needed them?’

May jumped a bit as someone placed their hand on her shoulder startling her from her thought. She turned around to see Luna looking at her sadly.

“Are you okay?” the moon princess asked seeing the looks of sadness and anger on her friend’s face.

Nodding, May continued with her explanation about Lockseeds. “As I said, Lockseeds are only found within Helheim where they guard the Golden Fruit until someone brave enough and strong enough both physically and spiritually comes and takes it.”

“Um… Excuse me,” Fluttershy said softly making May turn to her which caused the poor Pegasus mare to blush slightly, “W-what do you mean guard?”

‘Damn it!’ May said hoping not to approach the subject Fluttershy was asking before sighing.

“Immature Lockseeds grown in Helheim have a pheromone they secrete that causes anyone, be they human, animal, or pony, to want to eat them. If they do… They die.”

All the ponies, including the older Alicorn princesses, gasped in shock as they heard that.

“But that’s not all,” May continued turning away from the ponies not wanting to look at them, “AS they die, their bodies, their minds, their very DNA become rewritten… forcefully mutating their bodies into being known as an Invasive species or Inves for short. Only those with the strongest will or have some kind of immunity to Helheim’s poison can survive the transformation with their minds in tacked.”

“Otherwise…” gulping a bit May pushed forward, “They might as well be zombies…”

“W-wha-what?” Celestia whispered softly as she remembered an incident with May before she and Luna had ‘sealed’ where they had temporarily fought alongside the Rider against a dark being that even they had troubled fighting against, let alone weaken enough to use the elements on. She remembered the strange black monsters that were a cross between ponies and pupa like insects that fought alongside the dark being, thought they mostly focused on May for some reason.

“Those beings…” Celestia said softly not catching anypony’s attention except for Luna and May both of whom kept quiet for them moment.

Twilight looked at the Lockseed in her hands trembling as she thought about the curse hidden under the lock’s facade. She thought about throwing it away until May gently placed a hand over the lock bringing Twilight’s attention to her.

“Don’t worry,” she said with a sad smile, “In this form, the Lockseeds are harmless and only release their power when used with a Sengoku Driver or any object that had a Drive Bay on it. In fact they can actually replace the need for real food as Lockseeds can impart their nutrients through the Driver to keep you filled or heal you as the Himawari Lockseed is doing right now.”

Nodding, Twilight acknowledge May’s wisdom and looked at the lock once again. Seeing the mare had calmed down she went back to the vines and plucked all of the fruits off it before banishing the vines they grew on. One they had transformed, all into Himawari Lockseeds, and handed them to a confused Twilight.

“Lockseeds may be powerful,” May explained, “their power is not infinite and do run out. When you start feeling hungry or any pain quickly replace the lock on the Driver for another one. Save the Banana Lockseed for last since it is far more powerful than even all those other Lockseeds in your hands.”

“Thank you,” Twilight acknowledged with a small smile before looking around to for something to place them in. Only for Pinkie to suddenly appear holding out a bag.

“Here you go Twilight!!!” Pinkie said happily as a confused Twilight looked at her in shock, “What??? I always have a few bags on hand for a bag emergency!”

Sighing, Twilight just shook her head with a smile before placing the locks in the bag. Then she thought of something that just hit her before turning to her mentor. “Is the wedding still on Princess?”

“Of course!” Celestia chirped happily with Cadence, “And this time there will be no party crashers!”

The six mares squealed happily at that before gathering around the Mare of the hour with Shining Armor, who had just walked in the door, being dragged in. As the Mare happily chattered, Celestia and Luna discreetly went over to May who already had an idea as to what they wanted.

“May,” Celestia began, “Those strange monsters we fought when Sombra was sealed… Were they?”

May sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair, “I’m not sure Celestia… The lesser or Elementary Inves are normally grey with the only color being on their face and chest. Not the black colored Inves we had fought so long ago.”

“There is only one being I know that has the power to create their own Inves. I thought he had died at the hands of my predecessor all those millennium ago.”

The sister looked at each other with worry in their eyes before looking back at their old friend. “Do you know this beings name?

Nodding May continued, “He is an artificial being that was made in hopes of recreating the Golden Fruit. What was created was a being who thrived on war; feeding off of the sadness, hatred, angers, regret that comes from it; making it his fertilizer to cultivate the false Golden Fruit…”

“His name is…”

Displaced Rider

Deep in the frozen north, sleeping under tons of ice and rock… a being began to stir.

What was once a noble soul who wanted nothing more than to protect his ponies… had become a power hungry tyrant when he found a source of power that rivaled the princesses of the sun and moon.

Unaware that he was nothing more than a pot for a dark plant that wanted to gather enough power to free itself from the prison of its own making and walk the earth once more.

‘Soon I will rise.’ The being thought as he watched and waited for the right moment, ‘and this time I will become the God of this world. And not even HE will be able to stop my evolution.’

Author's Note

And yet another chapter down!!!

Sorry there wasn't much fighting in this chapter, just a lot of explanations.

Thought I get most of the boring stuff out of the way with a little bit of fluffiness to break it up some.

As for those of you who are interested in when my character's Lockseeds look like... Sorry don't have any pictures. Mainly because I don't have any that fit with what's in my head. I do have their original forms on the other hoof. If your interested, here they are. See you next time cowboy!

Original Blood Orange Lockseed

Origianal Kachidoki Lockseed

Original Kiwami Lockseed