My Little Pony: Subarashii Harmony!

Chapters

Hole in the Sky, Frightening Figure and the Otherwordly Hero
Ravenous Filly, Royal Combo and a Reunion
The Terrifying Threat, Celestia's Strategy, Approaching Danger

Hole in the Sky, Frightening Figure and the Otherwordly Hero

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -X-Kamen Rider OOO - Subarashii Harmony!

by: Toma Tanuki

Chapter 1: Hole in the Sky, Frightening Figure and the Otherwordly Hero

It was a typical quiet night in Ponyville. However, while most of the residents were tucked away in their beds a certain purple unicorn was wide awake. Twilight Sparkle was perched on the library's balcony, peering up at the starry sky with her telescope. She had done this many times before but she never tired of it. Glacing down at her brand new copy of 'The Astonomical Astronomers Almanac to all things Astronomy', Twilight readjusted her scope and smiled.

"Hello there Taurus, how are you tonight?" she chuckled quietly, not wanting to wake Spike, and sighed.

Twilight marveled at how gorgeous the sky was. Luna's moon was nearly full tonight, covering the small town with it's soft white glow, and her stars were out in force.

"No wonder Princess Luna was so upset that ponies were scared of it, she obviously pours her heart into every night." Twilight's face fell for only a second as a wonderful idea came to her. "Maybe I should send her a letter telling her how much I enjoy looking at the stars!"

Looking back into her room Twilight used her magic to levitate a blank scroll, a quill and an ink pot out to the balcony. Carefully laying the items in front of her, Twilight began to brainstorm what to put in the letter.

"I suppose I should start by complementing her on some of the constellations." Dipping her quill in the ink, Twilight looked up at the sky and dictated her letter. "Dear Princess Luna. I would like to pay you my most sincire compliments for your gorgeous night. The weather ponies kept the sky nice and clear so I was able to see all of my favorite celsetial bodies such as the Milky Way, Capricorn and that scary black distortion in the sky that-" Twilight cut herself off and gasped at what she was seeing.

Just below the moon a swirling black void had appeared. From Twilight's prespective it was about the size of her ink pot but it was growing bigger and bigger with each passing second. When it reached the size of a pumpkin it began to twist and shake as it it was unstable as dozens of small blinking lights appeared in it's center. Even from so far away she could see the many different colors; red, yellow, green, blue and silver, begin swirling around each other.

Suddenly one of them shot through the sky like a shooting star. Another followed soon after, and another. Twilight quickly lost count as they scattered all across the sky. The void itself began to shrink when two more objects, much larger and brighter than the others, appeared in it's center. Just as the swirling vortex collapsed into itself the two lights flashed and went flying in opposite directions. One of them went soaring into the Everfree Forest while the other-

"AHH!" Twilight screamed and dashed back inside as the object came flying right at her. She slammed the balcony doors shut just as it crashed onto the balcony. Panting heavily and trying desperately not to panic, Twilight watched as the eerie red glow surrounding the object faded away. She very carefully opened the doors again and-

"Twilight! What the heck was-" Spike was cut off when Twilight screamed again and dove under the table. "Was it something I said?"

Twilight sighed and crawled back out again. "Don't sneak up on me like that Spike. I was almost crushed by a meteor so I'm a little on edge."

The baby dragon gasped and ran over to her. "A meteor! Are you okay! Where did-..." He cut himself off as he looked outside. "Umm, Twilight? A meteor is like a...well, a rock right?"

"That's right Spike." The unicorn replied matter-of-factly when something clicked in her head. "Oh my goodness a real meteor! I've never seen one up close before! Ooh I need to get all my instruments so I can examine-" Spike's claw grabbed her muzzle before she could finish her tangent.

"Twilight...that's not a rock."

Blinking in confusion she turned to look for herself. Indeed, rather than a space rock there was a strange creature lying unconscious on her balcony. Twilight had never seen anything like it before. It reminded her a little of the Diamond Dogs except it had alot less fur. In fact, aside from the little black patch on it's head it had no fur at all, leaving the pinkish skin on it's arms and legs exposed. The rest of it's body was covered by it's clothes; a multi-colored shirt, tie-dye style if she recalled Rarity's fashion trivia correctly, very light brown pants and a pair of weird shoes on it's feet. Finally around it's waist was some kind of metalic belt with a large blue and black buckle.

Tilting her head to the side as she examined the creature, Twilight pulled the balcony doors open to get a better-

"Oh my gosh Twilight are you okay!"

"AHHHHH!" Twilight and Spike screamed and grabbed hold of each other as the hyperactive pink pony looked them both up and down then sighed when she saw that neither of them were hurt.

"Thank goodness! I was just lying in bed dreaming about swimming in a pool filled with banana pudding when all of a sudden my tail started twitcha-twitching like crazy! I knew something was going to fall so I jumped up and looked outside and saw that big scary hole-thingy in the sky. Then all these little glowy specks went Zoom-Zoom-Zoom-Zoom all over the place! It was kinda pretty actually but then these two big HUGE things came out and one of them was all like-WHOOOOSH -coming right for you so I-Mmfrff..."

Twilight calmly covered Pinkie Pie's mouth and sighed, smiling at the earth pony. "Thank you for your concern Pinkie but we're just fine. Whatever it is landed on my balcony."

"OH! Let me see!" Pinkie bounced over to the balcony door and took a good look at the strange being. "Oh wow! That's amazing! I can't believe it!"

"Pinkie..." Twilight looked back and forth between Pinkie and the creature. "Do...do you know what that thing is?"

"Nope, not a clue."

"Ugh." Twilight groaned and rubbed her forehead with her hoof. Before she could say anything else she noticed the scratches and cuts all over the creatures arms and face, as well as the rips and burn marks on it's clothes. With a sigh she turned back to Pinkie and Spike. "Well, whatever it is, it's hurt. Help me get it inside. I'll send a letter to the Princess and hopefully we can figure this out in the morning."

"Okie-dokie-lokie!" Pinkie Pie saluted and pushed the balcony doors open. Twilight used her magic to lift the creature up and laid it across their backs. "Oof, he's heavier than he looks."

"What makes you think it's a he?" Twilight asked, her voice strained by the weight as they carried it upstairs to her room.

"My right ear fluttered a little, that means he's a boy." Pinkie replied simply, making Twilight roll her eyes. "If my left ear fluttered it would have meant-"

"I get the idea Pinkie." Twilight said patiently, knowing better than to argue with Pinkie Sense.

Feeling him start to slip, she bucked her hips gently to reposition him. As she did so, however, his arm bounced and a small object fell from his hand. It bounced down the stairs and came to a stop at Spike's feet.

Spike picked it up and took a closer look at it. It was some kind of red coin that had been snapped in half. It was made of a crystal-like material with a bird design etched into it and a gold rim.

"Weird." He gave it a quick sniff and stuck his tongue out. "Gross! Well, it's definitely not a ruby."

"Spike what are you doing down there? Hurry and give us a hand!"

"Oh, sorry! I'm coming Twilight!" Spike set the coin on one of the book shelves and hurried up the stairs to help.

The Everfree Forest was widely considered to be the most dangerous place in Equestria. Ignoring the fact that the plants grew and the weather worked completely independent of anypony's assistance, it was also home to some of the most vicious and frightening creatures in the world. From the territorial manticores to savage hydras, any pony would agree that it was wise to avoid the forest.

However, on this night there was a unusual stillness throughout the forest. Something new had appeared there and everything else seemed wary of it. The stranger made it's way through the foliage, taking in all the sights, sounds and smells of his new surroundings. Birds took flight, inscets scattered into the underbrush and even a pack of timber wolves ran and hid when they caught the creature's scent. It appeared very unassuming, if anything it looked frail. It was scrawny, had no claws or fangs. Its black hair and clothing were a little unkempt but nothing a few pats from it's hand could not fix. Yet, despite this, something about it seemed to scream 'danger' to all the animals in the forest.

Finally the stanger arrived at the edge of the forest. From here it had a clear view of Sweet Apple Acres and beyond that, in the distance, he could see the faint outline of Ponyville.

"I see...so that is what happened." It spoke in a slow deliperate tone as it reached up to remove the pair of spectacles it wore. "Another world. So different from my own. No matter...it's end will still be a beautiful thing to behold." It's eyes flashed purple as it said this but then something strange happened.

It's body seemed to distort as flashes of violet light surged through him. It doubled over in pain as several silver coins fell from it's body to the ground. As the pain passed the creature panted for air, it's mouth twisted into an irritated sneer.

"OOO..." It spat as it gripped it's chest, a single purple light flashing inside."Only one Medal left. I will have to find some way to-" It was cut off when it noticed something on the ground in front of it. Brushed a few dead leaves aside it picked up a single yellow coin, the image of a lion carved into it.

The creatures lips curled into a barely visible smile as it closed it's hand around the coin, absobing it into it's flesh. "So these were brought here as well. Excellent." Feeling a little of it's strength return it rose to it's feet and looked out towards Ponyville. "I need only a few more to recover my power. Then I will bring about the ending I desire."

Applejack sighed as she watched Twilight circle the room for the 15th time. "Twi, would ya please settle down fer a spell? Yer makin' me dizzy."

"Sorry." The unicorn stopped in her tracks and moaned softly as she flopped down onto the floor. "I just wish Princess Celestia would-...I-I mean I know she's a very busy pony but all this waiting is driving me crazy."

"And there's the fact that you didn't get any sleep last night." Rainbow Dash flinched as four pairs of eyes shot angry looks at her. "What? I'm just saying."

Twilight let out a tired sigh and sat up. It was still early, Celestia had only risen the sun a few hours ago, but Pinkie was so eager to show everyone the...whatever-it-was she bolted out the door right at daybreak. Then again she should probably count herself lucky she stopped at their friends instead of bringing everyone in Ponyville.

"Umm, Twilight?" Everyone looked up as Fluttershy gingerly flew back downstairs. "I put some bandages on him. Thankfully there were no serious injuries so he should be just fine. He just needs rest now."

"That's wonderful news darling." Rarity began as she walked over to the yellow pegasus. "But are you absolutely sure you can't answer the big question? We're all simply dying to find out what he is."

Fluttershy shrank back a little at the question. "I'm sorry Rarity but I've never ever seen an animal like him before."

"Don't you worry none Fluttershy." Applejack smiled as she gave her a few gentle pats on the back. "Ah'm sure the Princess'll know. Ah mean she's been around long enough to see just about everything there is to-"

*Knock-Knock*

"That must be her!" Twilight cried out as she rushed to the door and opened it. The purple unicorn smiled ear to ear when she saw none other than the ruler of Equestria on the other side flanked by two of her royal guards. "Princess, thank you so much for coming." She stepped to the side to let Celestia inside, bowing respectfully.

"Good morning, Twilight Sparkle." The regal alicorn smiled at her faithful student as she and her friends they raised their heads. "I'm very sorry to have kept you waiting. As soon as I received your letter I tried to postpone all of my other meetings but it seems you aren't the only one who witnessed last night's phenomenon. Between the journalists looking for an explaination and the royal astronomers trying to explain it I was lucky to get away at all."

"Oh, it's quite alright your highness. I understand completely. Please, come inside." Twilight replied as Celestia entered, her guards remaining outside to watch the door. "I just hope this isn't too much trouble. I probably could have just sent you a report and..." She trailed off as Celestia held up her hoof.

"Nonsense. As your teacher it's my duty to lend you a hoof whenever you should need me. Besides, a strange creature nopony's ever seen before falling from a hole in the sky; who wouldn't be curious?" The princess chuckled softly. "Now, shall we go have a look and see if we can solve this mystery?"

Twilight returned her smile, feeling much more at ease. "Of course your highness. Right this way."

The princess followed Twilight up the stairs to her bedroom nook, the other Elements not far behind. Once there they gathered around the bed and watched as Celestia examined the creature. She leaned in and narrowed her eyes for a moment before turning back to Twilight.

"I must say, this is quite a find. I've never seen or even heard of a creature like this."

Applejack sighed. "Well that sure ain't comfortin'. Fer all we know this thing could be some kinda monster that came 'ere to eat our brains!"

"What?" Fluttershy gasped and moved closer to the bed. "But he looks so gentle. No claws, no sharp teeth..." She gently stroked the creature's hair. "and his mane is really soft."

Rainbow Dash snorted at this. "Maybe that's how he gets you. He makes you think he's all innocent and then WHAM!" She stomped her hoof on the floor, startling everypony. "Next thing you know he's 20 feet tall and breathing fire!"

"He can do that!" Pinkie gasped, grinning. "Cause I've always, always wanted to make a great, big, ginourmous birthday cake but I could never figure out a good way to light the candles!"

Everypony started at Pinkie Pie for a few seconds but Celestia gently cleared her throat to get their attention. "Did he have anything besides his clothes on him?"

"Well there's this thing." Twilight lit up her horn and levitated an object from the nightstand over to the Princess. "This was actually a belt when we first found him, but when we took that piece off the rest sort it...retracted into it. There was also an extra pair of underwear in his pocket but they seemed pretty ordinary."

Rarity grimaced. "Ugh, aside from being completely horrid you mean! One thing's for sure, he has no fashion sense whatsoever. I mean just look at those clothes, they are so three seasons ago."

Celestia took the buckle with her own magic and looked it over. It was roughly rectangular in shape and primarily black with a few light blue designs etched into it. She also noticed that it had three slot like openings along it's length.

"Hmm, it looks like something fits inside of this." Celestia lowered it so the others could have a look. "But what could possibly-"

"OH!" Spike suddenly exclaimed before rushing downstairs again. Before anyone could ask he came running back up with the broken coin in his hand. "He dropped this when Twilight and Pinkie carried him upstairs. Do you think they might go together? If it wasn't broken I mean."

Celestia took the coin from Spike and held it up next to the belt smiling down at the baby dragon. "Why, yes, I believe they do. Well done Spike." Spike blushed at the praise as the princess took a closer look at the coin, her eyes suddenly going wide. "This...this is..."

"Is something wrong Princess?" Twilight looked up at her mentor with concern.

The princess shook her head and turned the coin over with her magic. "I'm not sure Twilight. For some reason this seems very familiar to me. I just can't put my hoof on it."

"Umm, everypony?" Fluttershy squeaked nervously, her voice barely audible.

"Is it something dangerous?" Rainbow asked as she hovered in place, glaring at the coin.

Applejack rolled her eyes at her. "She jus' said she wasn't sure Rainbow. Try to keep yer ears open."

"Everypony?" She tried a little louder, waving her hoof in the air.

"I was listening!" Rainbow shouted as she turned her gaze to the farmpony. "It's called a follow-up question!"

Rarity groaned and stepped between them. "Honsetly can't you two at least show a little civility? Do remember who we are in the presence of."

Both Applejack and Rainbow glared at the fashionista. "Who asked you, you-"

"Girls!" Everyone froze and looked at Fluttershy, who blushed and shrank down a little bit. "Oh, sorry. I just thought you'd all like to know that...he's awake."

Shifting their gaze a little they all saw that, indeed, the creature was now sitting up in Twilight's bed, his eyes wide with shock as he stared at them. After quite a few seconds of silence, Twilight gathered her courage and took a step closer, clearing her throat.

"Umm, hello there. My name is Twilight Sparkle, what's yours?" Twilight gave him a big nervous smile as beads of sweat dripped down her head. The creature looked even more shocked than before but slowly his mouth curled into a very faint smile followed by...

"AHHHHHHHHH!" Everypony jumped back when as he screamed in absolute terror and stumbled out of the bed.

"Wait! Please don't be scared! We-"

"H-Horses! T-T-T-Talking horses!" Twilight's words fell on deaf ears as he continued to panic, shakily pointing his finger at the group and trying to untagle himself from her sheets. He managed to get up to his hind legs but he didn't notice he was perilously close to the staircase.

"Stop! Be careful or you'll-" Twilight tried to warn him but it was too late. He took another step away from them and began to fall down the stairs. However, he suddenly froze in mid air, his body covered with a faint golden light. Twilight sighed and looked up at her mentor. "Nice catch Princess."

Celestia smiled and gently lifted him back up. After she released him from her magic he fell to his knees and panted for air, trying his best to calm down. He felt something touch his arm and looked to see Fluttershy nuzzling him gently.

"It's okay, we're not going to hurt you." She spoke very softly, even by Fluttershy standards, as if she was trying to coax a scared animal out of hiding. "There's nothing to be afraid of, I promise."

He looked into her eyes for a moment and seemed to calm down, smiling back at the pegasus. "O-Okay." Everypony let out a sigh of relief as he looked back to the rest of the group. "Sorry. I'm not exactly sure what's going on but I suppose that was rude of me."

"That's alright." Twilight replied stepping closer to him. "We're not sure what's going on either. If things were the other way around I'm sure we'd react the same way. Shall we try this again Mr..."

"Oh, Eiji." He replied, chuckling as he held out his hand. "My name's Eiji Hino, a human if you're wondering. Please to meet you."

Twilight chuckled back and held out her hoof to shake. "Pleasure to meet you to. These are my freinds. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rartiy, Rainbow Dash and Spike." She pointed out each of her friends as she introduced them and Eiji gave each of them a friendly nod and wave. For a split-second he seemed to give Spike a strange look but then again he did stand out from the others. "And this is Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria."

Eiji gasped and pointed at the alicorn. "P-Princess!" Twilight nodded and then jumped a little as he leapt to his feet and bowed deeply at his waist. "My deepest apologies! It is an honor to meet you your highness!"

While the others were dumbfounded by this Celestia couldn't help but chuckle and roll her eyes at his deference. "The honor is all mine Mr. Hino. Please, raise your head, there is no need for formality."

Eiji straigtened himself out and smiled, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. "Thank you. So, 'E-Equestria?' Is that where I am now?"

Twilight nodded, gently nudging him back towards her bed. "Yes. Last night some sort of weird hole appeared in the sky. You came flying out of it and crashed into my balcony."

"Crashed?" Eiji sat down on her bed and suddenly seemed very solemn. "Was anyone hurt?"

"Well, aside from you, no. Nopony else was around."

"I see." He nodded and perked back up. "That's good then."

"Huh?" Twilight raised her eyebrow at him.

"Whaddaya mean 'that's good?'" Applejack asked. "Ya do realize that fallin' outta the sky ain't normal."

Eiji chuckled and nodded at her. "Maybe, but the fewer injuries the better right? I'd feel terrible if someone else was hurt because of me."

Everypony looked at each other in surprise but Celestia just smiled at him. "That is very noble of you. Oh, I believe these are yours." She levitated the buckle and coin over to him, his face lighting up at the sight of them.

"Ooh! Thank you so much!" Eiji cried joyfully as he took them, his face suddenly falling as he held up the coin. "...Ankh."

Celestia raised her eyebrow a little at the whispered word and decided it was time to get some answers. "Mr. Hino, do you think you can explain to us why you fell from the sky? Judging by your reaction it doesn't seem it was by choice."

Eiji nodded and sighed. "Well, it's kind of a long story. Where should I begin?"

"Duh!" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounced in front of him. "You should start at the beginning silly. Otherwise you'd have to start at the end and work backwards and your story wouldn't make any sense. Of course you could always start in the middle but that would still-mmmrfff..."

Rainbow Dash covered Pinkie's mouth, though she continued to talk anyway, and groaned. "Just give us the short and simple version."

"Alright then." Eiji took a deep breath and thought for a moment before starting. "In my world there was a group of monsters called the Greeed. They were basically phsycical embodiments of desire and they drew their power from their Core Medals."

"Ya mean that coin-thingy?" Applejack pointed at the coin in his hand and he nodded.

"Exactly. This one belongs...belonged to Ankh." Everyone noticed the sad tone in his voice but didn't interupt. "While I wouldn't exactly call him a 'good' guy, he was my friend." He held up the buckle. "He gave me this so I could use the Core Medals as well. By putting three of them in this belt I could transform into a warrior called OOO and fight against the Greeed."

Pinkie Pie squealed and slipped out of Rainbow's grip. "That is sooooo cool! So you were like a real super hero weren't you!"

Eiji blushed and smiled at her. "W-Well I don't know about that. I just wanted to protect people."

"Hang on a pony-picking minute." Rainbow shoved Pinkie out of the way and eyed Eiji suspisiously. "This 'Ankh' guy was one of these Greeed things too right? Why would he help you fight against his own kind?"

"Well..." Eiji paused and tried to come up with a good answer. "It's kind of complicated. But Ankh once said that: 'as bad as humans can be, the Greeed are still worse.' I-I think he really hated being a Greeed."

Twilight saw the sadness in his eyes and tried to probe a little deeper. "What happened to him? They way you talk about him it sounds like he's..."

Eiji nodded as she trailed off, composing himself. "Aside from the Greeed there was also a man named Dr. Maki. He was human like me but he was obsessed with the 'end of things.' Using the Core Medals, he transformed into a Greeed himself and tried to bring the entire world to an end." Everypony gasped upon hearing this but he continued. "I fought against him in a long battle. Ankh gave me the last of his Cores to use when Maki had either stolen or destroyed all the others. I finally managed to win but when I delivered the final blow, it tore open a strange hole in the sky." He looked back up at them and smiled. "I think you can guess the rest."

"Wow...that's incredible." Twilight was at a loss for words, as was everypony else. Even Celestia appeared overwhelmed by Eiji's story. "So, that coin. That's all that's left of your friend isn't it?" Eiji nodded, wiping a few tears from his eyes as Fluttershy snuggled up next to him for comfort.

"So, umm, Eiji?" Rarity began as everything finally sank in. "How exactly are you supposed to get home?"

Eiji stared off into space for a bit as the thought about it before smiling at her. "Dunno." He chuckled at his answer, confusing everypony. "But, Maki was defeated and all of my friends back home are safe, that's what's important. They're probably worried about me but, even if I never see them again, I'm just happy that I could protect them."

"Eiji..." Twilight could feel tears welling up in her eyes, along with the others. Even Spike and Rainbow Dash seemed to be having trouble keeping their emotions under control.

Celestia stepped forward and leaned down to nuzzle Eiji's cheek, smiling at the human. "Mr. Hino, no, Eiji. Your words were incredibly touching. Your selflessness is truly inspiring." Eiji blushed as the princess rose back to her full height. "I promise you that I shall do everything in my power to find a way to return you home. Until that day, I am certain you will be more than welcome here in Ponyville."

Eiji appeared completely awestruck by this. His face slowly broke out into a huge smile as he jumped to his feet and gave the princess another deep bow. "Thank you so much your highness! I-I don't know what to say..."

"Just the 'thank you' will do nicely Eiji." Celestia chuckled softly. "Now, until proper arrangments are made I'd like you to remain here in the library. That is, if my faithful student doesn't mind the imposition."

Twilight positively beamed and shook her head. "Of course I don't mind, it's no imposition at all your highness. I'll make sure he feels right at home."

"It's settled then." Celestia declared cheerfully. "Now, I need to return to Canterlot for a little while and look into a few things. When I return I'll have a word with the Mayor about finding a proper place for Eiji to stay. Until then, please go about your business as usual everypony, I'm sure Eiji could use some more rest." She gave Eiji a little wink and gracefully flew down the stairs. "It was a pleasure to meet you Eiji, and it was lovely to see all of you as well. Farewell my little ponies."

The six mares, plus Spike and Eiji, followed her downstairs and bowed as she departed with her guards, her chariot flying off towards Canterlot.

"Welp, I should git goin' too. I've gotta git some apples to the market before the crowd shows up." Applejack tipped her hat to Eiji and smiled. "Was a real pleasure Eiji, see ya 'round."

Rarity nodded followed Applejack outside. "I should be on my way as well, I need to come up something for you to wear Eiji darling. That outfit of yours simply won't do."

Eiji looked down at his clothes and shrugged, smiling nevertheless. "Thank you, that's very nice of you but you really don't have to go through so much trouble."

"No trouble at all darling." Rarity chuckled and waved him off. "This'll be my biggest challenge yet. I can't wait to get started!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes and stretched her wings. "I should get going too, I'm late for my mid-morning nap. See ya Eiji! Later gals!" With that she took off through Twilight's window.

Fluttershy hovered next to Eiji and patted his shoulder. "You make sure to get plenty of rest, okay?"

"I will, thank you again." Eiji gently touched her hoof in gratitude as she flew out the door.

"I better go too!" Pinkie chirped, bouncing all around the room. "I need to get started on Eiji's 'Welcome to Ponyville, Congratulations on Saving your World, I Hope you Make Lots of New Friends' party! But first I'm gonna need an extra large banner to fit all that on it. I should probably stock up on ice-pops too. See you later." With that she darted out the door, even faster that Rainbow Dash flew, leaving Eiji dumbfounded.

Twilight chuckled, knowing that face all too well and gave him a comforting pat on the back. "Don't worry, you'll get used to her eventually. So...do you like books?"

On the other side of Ponyville, tucked away in Sweet Apple Acres to be exact, Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell were in their club house waiting for Applebloom to join them so they could start their Cutie Mark Crusaders planning session.

Scootaloo paced back and forth, occasionally glancing up at the clock. "Ugh, where is she? What's taking her so long?"

"Maybe she went to Sugar Cube Corner to get a snack!" Sweetie Bell offered, her voice cracking ever so slightly. "At least I hope she did. Mr. and Mrs. Cake just put out some fresh double chocolate cookies. I wanted to get some but Rarity said it was too early for sweets." The young unicorn pouted and sighed. "They smelled really really good too."

"Hey gals!" Applebloom cried as she rushed up the steps and into the clubhouse.

"Finally!" Scootaloo sighed as the third of their group ran up to them. "What took you so long?"

Applebloom blushed a little and smiled. "Sorry. Applejack ran off to Twilight's so Ah had to help Big Macintosh move some apples out of the barn to bring to market. But that's where Ah found this!" The young farmpony smiled as she pulled her new treasure out of her saddlebag, a bright red coin with a gold edge. "Isn't it neat?"

"Whoa!" Scootloo exclaimed as she and Sweetie Bell looked at it. "That's really cool Applebloom! What is it?"

"I dunno. But it's got some kinda flower thingy on it." She pointed out the design etched into the surface.

Scootaloo looked a little closer. "A flower? That looks more like fire to me."

"I think it looks like a peacock!" Sweetie Bell cried, getting blank stares from the other two fillies. "You know, those birds with the big pretty tail feathers. You can kinda see it's head in the middle." Applebloom and Scootaloo both looked a little closer at it.

"Hey, yeah I can kinda see it too!" Scootaloo chuckled. "Good eye Sweetie Bell."

Applebloom nodded. "Really good. Ah never woulda guessed that's what it was. So what are we gonna do toda-Whoops!" As she tried to put the coin away it sliped out of her hoof and rolled towards the door, only to be stopped by a black shoe.

Applebloom yelped at the strange creature standing in the clubhouse's doorway and backed towards her friends. "W-What the hay is that!"

Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo turned and gasped at the thing, huddling around each other in fright as it bent down to pick up the coin.

"I'll take this." It said in a creepy voice, clenching the coin in it's fist before looking up at the girls again. "Indeed, this is a very strange world. However..." He took a step closer, pulling a single silver coin from his pocket as the Crusaders backed away. "It seems some things are similar enough to my own." His eyes and the coin suddenly flashed yellow as he held it out towards them. "Let's see what happens if I do this."

As he approached them Sweetie Bell let out a frightened cry. With a flick of his wrist he tossed the coin at her just as a stange slot appeared on her forehead.

To Be Continued...

Ravenous Filly, Royal Combo and a Reunion

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -X- Kamen Rider OOO - Subarashii Harmony!!

Chapter 2: A Ravenous Filly, a Royal Combo, and a Reunion

"Amazing!" Eiji exclaimed as he watched Twilight levitate few books off the top shelves, "That's incredible, can everyone in this world do that?"

Twilight giggled, blushing at his praise. "It's really not that special. The levitation spell is one of the most rudimentary magic skills. All unicorns can use it."

"Aww, she's just being modest," Spike said as he came upstairs with a tray of food, "Twilight is the best in all of Equestria when it comes to magic, except for the Princess of course. She can pull off all kinds of amazing tricks."

"That's enough Spike," Twilight admonished softly as she set the books on her bed, "It really isn't a big deal. I've studied magic ever since I was a little filly. I just have a gift for it," She snuck a quick glance at her cutie mark and smiled, "I'm certainly not the best though."

Spike just rolled his eyes at her. "Sure, whatever you say," He chuckled and gave Eiji's arm a little nudge, "But if you ever want a swanky mustache, she can help you out."

"Haha, I'll keep that in mind," Eiji laughed as he picked out an apple. As he took a bite his face suddenly lit up. "Mmm! Wow, I don't think I've ever had an apple this good! Even the food here is incredible!"

Twilight had to cover her mouth to keep from laughing as he devoured the fruit, "I'll be sure to tell Applejack you said so. Just try to take it slow okay? You're still recovering after all."

Eiji blushed a little but smiled all the same. "Right. But really you don't have to worry about me. I'm already feeling much better."

"Be that as it may..." Twilight began in a firm motherly tone, only to be cut off as someone downstairs started pounding on the door. "Hold that thought, I'll be right back."

Twilight trotted downstairs as the knocking became more and more frantic.

*knock-knock-knock-knock*

"Okay, okay I'm coming." She muttered as she pulled the door open with her magic, revealing a rather frantic looking Applejack flanked by Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. "Applejack? What are you-"

"Sorry Twi, ain't got time fer pleasantries," Applejack interrupted, "Ah need yer help lookin' fer Sweetie Belle. The girls said they ran into some kinda monster at their clubhouse."

Twilight gasped in shock and turned to the two fillies. "Oh my gosh that's terrible. Are you girls okay? Did it-"

"AHHHH!!" Scootaloo suddenly screamed and pointed at something in the library as she and AppleBloom darted behind Applejack. "T-There's another one! Look out Twilight it's right behind you!"

"Huh?" Twilight looked behind her and saw Eiji standing on the stairs looking a little sheepish. Rolling her eyes, she turned back and smiled at the two fillies, "It's alright girls, don't be afraid. Eiji isn't a monster. Granted, he may look a little strange to us but I promise you he isn't dangerous."

Scootaloo, still trembling, glared at the human suspiciously. "Y-Yeah well something that looked a lot like him attacked us and did something weird to Sweetie Belle."

Twilight raised an eyebrow at this. "That's impossible. Eiji came here from another world. He's literally the only one of his kind in Equestria. You must be mistaken."

"B-But it's true Twilight," Applebloom argued as she peeked around Applejack's flank, "H-he didn't look just like him but he walked on two legs, was all pink, an' was wearin' clothes like him too!"

"Can you remember anything else?" Eiji asked gently as he descended the stairs, moving slowly so he wouldn't scare the two fillies, "If another human was brought here they might have been just as scared as you were." He blushed and chuckled a bit, scratching his head. "I-I know I was."

Scootaloo scoffed at this. "He sure didn't seem scared. He just waltzed right into our clubhouse and threw some kinda weird coin into Sweetie's head."

Eiji's eyes suddenly went wide but Twilight just tilted her head in confusion. "You mean he threw a bit at her? That doesn't sound so-"

"No, yer not listenin'!" Applebloom cried, "He took out a big, weird coin, threw it at us and it went inside Sweetie Belle's head. Then these weird bandages appeared all over her and she ran off towards-"

"What did he look like!?" Eiji asked franticly, "Did he have short black hair and glasses?"

"Yeah he did!" Scootaloo shouted. "See? I knew he was in cahoots with him!"

"N-No it's...it can't be," Eiji shook his head, looking like he was going to be sick. "He's...I saw him..."

Twilight looked up at Eiji, noticing how frightened he looked. "Eiji? What's wro-"

"Applejack! We found her!" Everyone turned as a light blue unicorn ran up to the library, "Sweetie Belle is at Sugarcube Corner but something's really wrong with her! She's tearing the place apart and eating everything she can get her hooves on! Whenever somepony tries to stop her she just snarls at them and-AHH!"

The unicorn cried out as Eiji rushed out of the library and ran past her, heading the direction she came from.

"Eiji wait! Come back!" Twilight cried as she and Spike chased after him.

"W-What was...A-Applejack? What in-"

"Sorry Lyra. I'll explain later!" Applejack apologized before hurrying after him as well with Scootaloo and Applebloom right behind her, leaving the unicorn standing there wide-eyed.
___________________________________________

*Crash*

"Ooh!" Ms. Cake cried as a dish smashed against the wall, barely missing her head. She and Carrot Cake huddled closer together, cradling their terrified foals in their hooves, as they watched the horror show before them.

Sweetie Belle, one of their favorite customers, was standing atop the counter messily shoveling cake into her mouth. Her mane and tail were disheveled, her body was covered in filthy grey bandages and, most worrying of all, there was an eerie yellow glow in her eyes. The walls were splattered with frosting and discarded plates littered the floor, the remains of dishes she'd already comsumed and she showed no signs of slowing down.

"More! Give me more!" Sweetie Belle demanded as she finished the cake, knocking he empty platter off the counter, "I want more!"

"Sweetie Belle, please listen to me!" Rarity pleaded, recieving only a glare from her little sister. She fliched at the unatural look her eyes had but continued, "This behavior is completely unacceptable! You can't just-Pinkie! Stop bringing her treats!"

Pinkie Pie ignored the command and set a tray of cupcakes up on the counter, which Sweetie Belle immediately began to devour. "But she keeps asking for more. The customers always right, right?"

"That isn't the point!" The unicorn bellowed, "Can't you see there's something wrong with her? I was trying to-Ugh, forget it!" She turned to the filly and gave her the sternest look she could muster. "Sweetie Bell, drop those cupcakes right now! I'm taking you to see Nurse Redheart."

"No!" Sweetie replied with a mouthful of pasty.

Rarity narrowed her eyes as her horn began to glow. "That wasn't a request young lady."

Sweetie Belle's body was suddenly shrouded by Rarity's pale blue magic as she tried to forcefully drag out of the building. The younger unicorn yelped and latched onto the counter, holding on with all her might.

"Come...on..." Rarity said through clenched teeth as she pulled her with her magic. "Don't be difficult! We're going right now!"

"I....said..." Sweetie Belle growled, her eyes suddenly filled with the yellow glow. "NO!"

Rarity was suddenly thrown back by the force of Sweetie's scream. The shockwave also sent Pinkie sent flying against a wall, knocked over the tables and chairs and shattered the front window of the shop, scattering the crowd of ponies that had gathered outside. As Rarity pulled herself up she gasped at the horrific sight before her. Sweetie Belle's glowing eyes were glaring right at her as a menacing black and yellow aura swirled around her.

"S-Sweetie Belle?" Rarity whimpered, struggling to her feet "W-What's happening to you? I-"

*Slam*

Rarity yelped as the door suddenly burst open behind her. She looked back and saw none other than Eiji standing in the door way with Twilight, Applejack, Spike and Sweetie Belle's friends behind him. All of them were out of breath and shocked at what they saw inside but Eiji appeared especially horrified. Sweetie looked up at him and the two stared at each other for several seconds. After composing himself, Eiji took a deep breath and slowly stepped closer to her.

"Please, listen to me. You have to stop right now before it's too late!" He said, a very slight note of panic in his voice. He paused for a second, clearly searching for the right words, before continuing. "You...There is a monster inside of you." Everypony within earshot gasped in shock but Eiji ignored them. "I know it's hard to believe but it's what's making you act like this. It's called a Yummy. It feeds on your desires and makes them go out of control. The more you let it control you the stronger it gets. You have to fight it before...before something terrible happens."

"Leave me alone!" Sweetie screamed, an otherworldly echo in her voice, "You're just like my sister! You think just because you're bigger than me you can tell me what to do!" She turned and looked spitefully at Rarity. "Well I'm not listening to you anymore! Why don't you just go...away..." Sweetie trailed off as her eyes fell on Rarity's saddle bag. It had been knocked off by the shockwave and it's contents spilled out onto the floor, inclucing a small bag filled with chocolate cookies. "Those...those are...When did you...?"

"T-These?" Rarity pointed at the cookies and smiled, remembering why she came to the shop in the first place, "I got them as a treat for you and your friends."

Sweetie Bellw's face softened, the glow in her eyes fading significanly. "But...But you said I couldn't have any."

Despite everything, Rarity couldn't help but chuckle. "Sweetie Belle, I said that earlier because you had just eaten breakfast and I didn't want you to end up with a tummy ache, that's all. After you went off to play with your friends I thought I'd surprise you when you came back for lunch."

"But...But..." Sweetie Bell trailed off into a whimper as she looked away and shrank down on the counter. The aura seemed to fade away as she came to her senses, "I-I'm sorry...I didn't mean..."

Everypony, plus Eiji and Spike, breathed a sigh of relief as Rarity walked up to her sister.

"It's alright Sweetie," She said gently, smiling at her. "Everything is going to be-"

"AHHHHH!!" Sweetie Bell suddenly screamed in pain as her eyes flashed yellow once again. She toppled off the counter and began thrashing around on the floor, screaming and sobbing at the top of her lungs, "AHHH! I-IT HURTS!! HELP!! PLEASE HELP ME!! IT HURTS SO MUCH!!"

Rarity and the others looked on helplessly as the filly curled into a little ball, trembling and shaking from the pain. Slowly she lifted her head and looked pleadingly towards her sister.

"H-Help....Help me..." She whimpered fearfully as hundreds of silver coins began appearing all over her body. Before anypony could react the coins swarmed around her and quickly enguled the terrified filly, leaving only her head exposed. "Help me! Please! Somepony help meeeee..."

Rarity seemed to wilt as Sweetie Belle was completely swallowed by the mass of coins. However, they continued to build up until the pile was as tall as Eiji. At that point they began to glow bright yellow, the strange swirling aura returning, as the coins seemed to meld together into a solid shape. In the span of only a few seconds Sweetie Belle was gone and a horrifying creature was standing in her place.

Like Eiji, it was bipeadal but the similarities ended there. It's top half and head resembled a monstorous leopard. It had yellow spotted fur, long arms ending with razor sharp claws and a mouth full of equally sharp fangs. It's bottom half, however, appeared to be reptilian. It's legs were covered with dark violet scales and it's feet had several vicous looking talons.

Snarling, the monster's eyes fell upon a trembling Rarity and it took a menacing step towards her. "You..." He spoke in a deep gutural voice. "Annoying! Insect!" It raised its arm to strike but Eiji suddenly threw himself at it, pushing it back against the counter.

"RUN!" Eiji screamed as he struggled to hold the thing at bay, "Get out of here! Hurry and get to safety!"

Snapping out of his shock, Carrot Cake helped his wife to her feet as they rushed outside with their children. Pinkie Pie was right behind them, pausing onto to grab Rarity. The poor unicorn seemed completely out of it but with Applejack's help Pinkie was able to get her outside just before Eiji came flying out of the front window.

The human tumbled across the ground, coming to a stop several feet away as the Yummy leapt out of the bakery and rushed for him. Eiji slowly rose to his feet as it approached him, not even flinching as it roared and pounced at him.

However, much to the Yummy's surprise, a bolt of violet energy slammed into it's chest, knocking it to the ground. Yowling in pain, the Yummy staggered back up to see what had attacked it.

Equally confused, Eiji looked around and was surprised to see Twilight had appeared beside him, her horn gleaming with magical energy as she glared at the beast.

"Give! Her! Back!" She demanded through gritted teeth before firing another blast at the Yummy. The second shot glanced off it's shoulder, leaving a small scorch mark on it's fur, "Nopony hurts my friends! Do you hear me!?"

Unimpressed, the Yummy began walking towards Twilight and Eiji again, flexing its claws and growling. Narrowing her eyes Twilight aimed her horn and unleashed another beam of magic. This time, however, the monster snarled and swiped at the blast, cancelling it out without even pausing. With a beastial chuckle it continued towards them, slowly picking up speed.

Twilight gasped in surprise and fired another shot at it, only to get the same result. Taking a few steps backwards she tried again and again, none of her blasts even slowing the monster down.

"It's no good!" Eiji cried as he tried to push her away, "Hurry and go! You can't stop it!"

Twilight ignored his pleas and stood her ground as the Yummy lunged at them. At the very last moment she summoned a forcefield around herself and Eiji, bouncing the Yummy off the wall of magical energy.

Awestruck, Eiji gazed at the dome surrounding them before looking back down at Twilight.

"I'm not going..." Twilight panted, wiping some sweat from her brow, "anywhere. There's no way I'm leaving you with that thing. I don't know how things work back in your world but here, friends never abandon each other."

"Twilight...You-"

*CRACK*

"GRAARRR!" With a savage roar the Yummy slammed its fist against the barrier, the impact creating several cracks. Twilight flinched but held her ground, pouring more magic into the shield to repair the cracks. Undaunted, the Yummy began to rain heavy blows onto the shield. Slowly but surely, Twilight's resolve began to fade. With each hit she felt her strength being leeched away as she expended more and more magic to maintain the barrier. Finally, the Yummy slammed both fists against it as hard as it could, finally shattering it.

Twilight dropped to ground in exhaustion, panting for air as the Yummy let out a roar of victory. Eiji quickly stepped in front of Twilight as the Yummy moved in for the kill but as it began to attack again, a rope was suddenly thrown over it's upper body. The hybrid looked down in confusion when a voice suddenly rang out;

"Yee-haw! Come on Big Mac! Heave-ho!"

"E'yup!" Big Macintosh replied as he and Applejack grabbed onto the other end and pulled as hard as they could. The sudden yank pulled the Yummy to the ground, allowing them to start dragging it away from Eiji and Twilight.

"Hes...a...big'un!" She said through her teeth as the Yummy struggled against them. Big Mac grunted a reply as the Yummy, managed to regain its footing and stand up. Snarling with rage it grabbed hold of the rope and began pulling against them. The Apple siblings' eyes went wide at how strong it was when it started to actually overpower them, slowly dragging them closer until..."Rainbow! Now!"

"Banzai!"

The Yummy looked at the sudden cry just as a rainbow colored streak came flying out of nowhere and slammed into its head. The impact knocked the Yummy off balance and the sudden slack on its end of the rope was all Applejack and Big Mac needed to lift it into the air and slam it against the ground.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Applejack spat the rope out of her mouth just as Rainbow Dash came in for a landing, "Whew, nice goin' there Rainbow. That varmint was a might stronger than he looked."

"No problem AJ," Rainbow replied with a smirk, "I couldn't let you hog all the glory."

Applejack returned the smirk but whatever come-back she had was cut off by the Yummy's growls. The three of them turned to see it getting back up to its feet, seemingly unfazed by the impact. She narrowed her eyes at it and grabbed the rope again. "Come on ya'll! Let's hit 'em again!"

Big Mac nodded and grabbed on as well as Rainbow took off again.

"On three! One! Two! Three-WHOA!" Applejack cried out in surprise as the rope went suddenly went slack. Just as she and Big Mac pulled the Yummy sliced the rope with its claws, sending the two earth ponies tumbling backwards into a building.

The Yummy ripped the lasso off of it and tossed it aside as it set its sights on the dazed farm ponies.

"Oh no you don't!" Rainbow Dash shouted as she came down from above and starting circling around it as fast as she could. A small rainbow colored tornado quickly formed around the Yummy. Inside it found itself being lifted into the air, the monster snarling and flailing its limbs as it tried to regain it's footing.

"You're not going anywhere! Let's see how you like my Buccaneer Bl-GAH!" Rainbow was cut off when one of the Yummy's thrashing limbs struck her wing and sent her tumbling to the ground.

With a thud, the Yummy dropped to the ground but it quickly jumped to its feet and let out a roar of frustration. Turning towards the downed pegasus, it let out a low snarl as trails of smoke leaked from its maw. It took a deep breath and, with a quick jerk of its head, launched a large fireball out of its mouth. Rainbow came to her senses just in time to see the projectile bearing down on her. However, just before impact she felt a pair of hooves grab onto her and pull her out of the way.

*KA-BOOM*

The fireball exploded when it hit the ground, leaving a massive black scorch mark where Rainbow Dash was just seconds before. Panting for air, Rainbow looked up and smiled at her savior. "Th-Thanks Fluttershy. I owe you one."

Fluttershy, also panting heavily, smiled at her friend. "It...it really wasn't...I-I just-"

"ENOUGH!" The Yummy bellowed, it's entire body shaking with rage. Taking another breath, it leaned its head back and began forming another, much large fireball. "YOU! DIE!"

"Stop!" Eiji cried as he tackled it from behind, breaking its aim and sending the fireball harmlessly into the air. The Yummy snarled and spun around to face Eiji, the human's fist smacking against its cheek as it did so, "Leave! Them! Alone!"

Eiji punctuated each word with one punch after another but the blows barely made the creature flinch. Undetered, Eiji aimed one last punch for its head but the Yummy caught his fist just before it hit.

Tossing the offending limb aside it backhanded Eiji across the face, knocking him to the ground. It then grabbed Eiji's shirt and pulled him back to his feet, driving it's fist into his stomach. The remaning ponies looked on in horror as the Yummy pummeled Eiji again and again, venting it's frustrations. When it was finally satisfied it tossed Eiji back down and pressed it's foot against his chest.

Groaning, Eiji lifted his arms and grabbed onto the Yummy's leg, trying desperatly to push it off of him. His efforts were in vain, however, as the monster leaned over him, pressing down even harder as it raised its claws for the kill.

Just as it struck a brilliant flash of light appeared right in front of it. Crying out in surprise, the Yummy stumbled backwards and covered it's eyes to shield them from the harsh light. After a second the light died down and it lowered it's arms...only to find a pair of magenta colored eyes glaring into its own.

"Begone." Celestia said, her voice cold and stern as she swiftly twirled around and kicked the Yummy, sending it sailing through the air and right into the statue of the Princess. Bouncing off the hard stone, the Yummy dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.

The princess allowed herself a little smirk before turning her attention to her subjects. She started by helping Eiji get back to his feet just as Twilight and her freinds ran up to join them. "Are you alright?"

Eiji gave her a slight nod but the beating had clearly taken its toll on him, despite his efforts to hide it. She then looked to the others and, seeing them all exhausted and sporting minor scrapes and burns, lowered her head and stepped towards the Yummy.

"Princess, we-"

"I'm so sorry I couldn't get here sooner," Celestia said solomnly, interrupting Twilight as her horn began to glow. She looked up again and glared at the fallen Yummy, focusing even more magic into her horn, "Everypony stand back. This creature shall be-"

"Wait!" Rarity cried suddenly, frantically leaping in front of the Celestia, "Please wait your higness! You can't destroy it! Sweetie Belle is inside that thing!"

"What!?" Celestia exclaimed, immediately extinguishing her horn, "What are you talking about? How did she-"

"It's true your highness," Twilight said as she hobbled up to join Rarity, "we all saw it happen. Eiji said it's a monster called a 'Yummy.' It took over Sweetie Bell's body but then turned into that thing, trapping her in it's body. We tried our best to stop it and save her but..." She looked away from her mentor as tears formed in her eyes.

Taking all this in, Celestia weighed her options, keeping her eyes in the Yummy as it recovered. Finally, she glanced back at Eiji, "Can she still be saved?"

"Well...I-" Eiji stuttered as the ponies looked to him with hope in their eyes. Hesitating a little, Eiji slowly nodded his head, "Yes, there is a way. Yummies are made up entirely of medals. If we can chip away enough of them we'd be able to reach inside and get her out. But..." He paused and looked down at the ground, clenching his fists, "But I don't think there's any way we can do that without-"

"Very well." Celestia interupted, opening her saddlebag with magic, "In that case, it's fortunate I was able to find what I was looking for."

Smilling she lifted a small jewlery box from the bag and sent it drifting towards Eiji. Confused, Eiji took the box in his hands and opened it, his eyes going wide at what he saw. Inside where three pink colored coins with golden rims. Each one was a slightly different shade from the others and had a different design etched into it. The first showed a unicorn's head with it's horn aglow, the next a pegasus in flight and the third was an earth pony rearing up on it's hind legs.

"T-These are..." Eiji stuttered as he took them out of the box to, the familiar feel of the coins banishing all doubts, "C-Core Medals! B-but how...where did..."

"I'm afraid I'm not sure myself," Celestia explained, "These were given to me as a gift many years ago. I had actually completely forgotten about them until I saw the one you had this morning. I hope you can put them to good use."

As the shock wore off, Eiji nodded and closed his hand around the Medals, "I will, your highness. But first I need-"

"EIJI!!"

The sound of Spike's voice grabbed everypony's as the he, Applebloom and Scootaloo came running up to them, the baby dragon waving Eiji's buckle and the broken Core Medal in the air. He skidded to a halt in front of Eiji and held them out to him.

"You...You said these let you fight monsters like that right!?" Spike asked desperately. "C-Can you really do it?"

Applebloom sniffled as she and Scotaloo looked up at him with tears pouring down their cheeks. "Please, ya gotta save Sweetie Belle! Ya just gotta!"

Ignoring the growls of the recovered Yummy, Eiji smiled and gave the three a light pat on their heads as he took the buckle from Spike. "Thank you. And don't worry..." He paused and turned toward the Yummy with a determinted look in his eyes. "Everything will be alright."

Eiji placed the buckle against his waist and two metalic straps suddenly emerged from it, wrapping around him to hold it in place. A small circular device also appeared on the right side of the belt. He inserted the Core Medals into the buckle's slots, each one snapping firmly into place and pushed down on one side, leaving the buckle at a slight angle. He then grabbed hold of the device and pulled it from the belt as it began to emit a strange electronic sound. He held it up for a moment before quickly swepping it across the front of the buckle, three tones ringing out as it passed over the Medals.

"Henshin!" Eiji cried as, to everypony's amazement, large images of Core Medals began to swirl around Eiji's body, forming three rings around his head, chest and legs.

'Unicorn! Tenma! Kouma!'

Several poines yelped in surprise as the belt actually spoke. At it's command a single Core from each ring moved forward and lined up vertically in front of Eiji.

'Uni-Ten-Kou~ma! Ahh~ Ahhhh~ Ahhhhh~ Ahhhhh!'

The surprises did end there as the belt proceded to sing a short melody as the three images combined into one and flew back into Eiji's chest. As it did so, a wave of light washed over the human's body, encasing him in strange armor. While it was primarily black, several parts of the armor were colored the same shades of pink as the Core Medals. His head was the lightest and featured large blue compound eyes and a prominant unicorn horn about the size of Twilight's. The chest section was a little darker with the forearm and shoulder guards having a ruffled, feather-like appearance. The legs were the darkest with parallel lines of color running down them, stopping at in the rings around his ankles.

On his chest was a circular crest with the image of the three combined Core Medals. However, the way they combined showed only the unicorn's head, pegasus' wings and the earth pony's legs, giving it the appreance of a regal alicorn.

The Yummy growled at the sight of this and took a step back, seemingly just as surprised as the ponies. Twilight was the first to snap out of the shock. She looked up to see all of her freinds jaws had dropped, even Celestia's eyes were wide at the sight before her.

"E-Eiji?" Twilight began nervously. "I-Is that...Is that OOO?"

Eiji turned towards her and nodded, lifting his arm to give the group a thumbs up. "That's right." He turned back towards the Yummy and started calmly walking towards it. "Kamen Rider OOO."

"RRAHHH!" The Yummy roared and charged towards Eiji, its arms poised to strike.

When it was close enough it jumped and tried to swipe at him with its claws but Eiji deftly swatted the blow aside with his arm, knocking it off balance. The Yummy quickly recovered and rushed him again, swinging its arms widly as Eiji backpedaled away from it. However, despite its best efforts, not a single hit connected. Eiji's graceful arm movements blocked or deflected each blow with seemingly no effort.

Snarling with rage, the Yummy pulled back its arm for another heavy blow. Much to its surprise, however, instead of blocking Eiji ducked underneath its arm and gave it a rough shove to send it tumbling to the ground. It slammed its fist on the ground and got back to its feet just as Eiji dashed towards it. The armor on his legs suddenly flashed and Eiji delivered a powerful kick to its chest, sending it stumbling backwards. Eiji pressed his attack, delivering a series of spinning kicks, each one hitting almost the exact same spot. Each impact sounded like shattering glass and each one caused a small shower of sparks to fly off of the beast, along with dozens of the silver coins which soon littered the ground.

From where they stood, Twilight and the others could see a large chunk of the Yummy's chest had been broken away by the assault, exposing the mass of coins inside as they leaked out of the gapping hole. However, they could also see something else inside. Every few seconds something white colored pushed a few of the coins aside as if trying to escape before being swallowed up again. Rarity let out a gasp when she saw this, followed by another when she saw the holes starting to close as the monster regenerated, threatening to seal her inside again.

"Now! HYAH!" Eiji cried as he ran forward, ducking under another wild swing, and drove his arm into the Yummy's chest. His second arm followed soon after as he reached deep inside of its body. Bellowing in pain the Yummy rained blows onto Eiji, slashing at his back and slamming its knees into his side as it tried its hardest to throw him off of it. More sparks flew as Eiji's armor endured the onslaught until finally it had had enough. Hissing into his face, the Yummy grabbed Eiji's shoulders and began to spin in place, dragging Eiji along with it. As it picked up speed, Eiji eventually lost his footing and was hurled into the air.

"Eiji! No!" Twilight's horn flared as she prepared to catch him with her magic. Before she could, however, the chest potiton of Eiji's armor flashed and a pair of pale pink wings appeared out of thin air. They gave a single, powerful, flap as Eiji righted himself and floated gingerly down to the ground, a small filly cradled in his arms.

"Sweetie Belle!!" Rarity cried as she rushed over, everypony following close behind. They gathered around Eiji as he gently laid Sweetie down. "Is...is she..."

"She's okay," Eiji said as he tenderly stroked the filly's mane, "Don't worry she's going to be-"

"Mhmm..." Sweetie Bell moaned softly, cutting off Eiji, and lifted her head. "R-Rarity?"

Rarity choked back a sob and leaned down to nuzzle her sister, "I'm right here Sweetie. Everything's alright now."

"M-My tummy hurts."

The older unicorn was at a lost for words but soon let out a light chuckle. "Oh, Sweetie Belle."

"Grahh....You!"

Everyone looked up as the Yummy finally climbed back to its feet. Its chest was completely whole again but its legs shook as it tried to walk towards them. Its breathing was ragged but it still managed to take a deep breath, flickering embers leaking from it's mouth. Rarity covered Sweetie with her body as everypony braced for the attack. Eiji, however stood perfetly still as his helmet flashed and his horn began to glow.

"Just! Die!" The Yummy lurched forward and released the fireball at the group. However, before it reached them it suddenly veered to the right, circled around and went right back at it. The monster yelped in surprise as the fireball crashed into it and exploded, knocked it right back down again.

Twilight's raised an eyebrow in surprise and she looked up at her mentor. "Princess? Did you do that?" Celestia shook her head, looking as confused as she was. "Well then who-" Her cut herself off and she looked back to Eiji again, her eyes wide. "Eiji? Was that..."

Eiji turned back to the group and nodded. Despite the helmet covering his face Twilight could swear he was smiling at them. "Levitation spell, right?" He said with a chuckle. "It...it just came to me." Twilight, along with everypony else, smiled at him as he turned back towards the Yummy. Grabbing the scanning device again, Eiji swept it across the belt's buckle. The Core Medals flashed as he did so, appearing to jump out of the buckle and spin before dropping back into the slots.

'Scanning Charge!'

The belts voice spoke again as Eiji's wings reappeared. Kicking off the ground Eiji took flight, soaring into the air. After gaining enough height a beam of light shot out from Eiji's horn and stuck the Yummy, forming a binding ring around it's chest. With the Yummy unable to move Eiji performed a loop Rainbow Dash would be proud of and began to dive towards the Yummy as it struggled to stand. Three rings of energy appeared in the air between them and as Eiji passed through each of them, his legs seemed to glow brighter and brighter. Just before impact he flipped forward, his wings open wide behind him and his legs our in front.

"SEIYA!" Eiji cried out as he drove both feet into the Yummy's chest.

*BOOM*

The force of Eiji's final attack caused the Yummy to explode into a shower of medals. Silence overtook Ponyville, broken only by the sound of the coins as they clattered to the ground. Taking a few deep breaths, Eiji straghtened himself up and snapped the buckle back to it's default postion. He then removed the Core Medals from buckle and gave it a firm tug. As he did so the belt retracted back into the buckle and his armor turned grey before fading away. After catching his breath he let out a sigh of reilef before turning back to the ponies.

"Is everyone al-OOF!" He cried out as Rainbow Dash slammed into him and knocked him down. Groaning in pain he looked up to see her sitting on his chest. "W-what are you-"

"That...was...SO AWESOME!" Rainbow squealed, just inches away from his face, "You totally kicked that things butt! I gotta admit I didn't really believe you when you said you fought monsters but boy was I-HEY!"

Twilight rolled her eyes as she grabbed Rainbow's tail with her magic and pulled her off of him. "Rainbow, give him some room. He's gotta be sore after that pounding he took earlier." She looked up at Eiji and smiled as the rest of her friends gathered around him.

Eiji chuckled as he sat up, shaking his head. "It's okay. Don't worry about me I'm fine. Really I-"

"Thank you!" Rarity cried as she leapt forward and hugged Eiji. "You saved my little sister! Thank you! Thank you so much! Mwah!" She planted a kiss on his cheek, making him blush quite a bit and eliciting a few giggles from the poines surrounding him.

"Oh my gosh that was so amazing!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing around Eiji as he got back to his feet. "That thing was all 'Grr, rawr I'm mean' and you were all 'Hiya! Take that!' and totally beat it up! That was the most super-incredible, stupendous, fantastical, wond-rffmm!"

Applejack let out a sigh as she covered Pinkie's mouth. "Simmer down now Pinkie. That goes for the rest of ya'll too. Come on and give the hero some breathin' room. Like Twi' said he's prob'ly hurtin' something fierce."

Eiji shook his head again as he stood up, brushing some dust off his clothes. "Thank you but I promise, I'm okay. I...I'm just glad I could help."

"I think you did a bit more than that," Celestia said with a smile, "I'm not sure what I was expecting when I heard your story but what I've just witnessed was quite the sight to behold."

Twilight nodded in agreement as she stood beside her mentor. "It's a good thing you were arrived when you did your highness. I don't know if we could have saved Sweetie Bell without those coins."

Eiji nodded as well, looking down at the Medals before turning towards the Princess, "Thank you your highness. I guess you'll be wanting these back now."

Celestia shook her head as he held the Medals out to her, a solemn look on her face. "I think you had better hold onto them. Something tells me you'll be needing them again."

Everyone's smiles vanished at this as the realization dawned on them. Eiji in particular seemed very troubled.

If a Yummy showed up here...Eiji squeezed the three medals in his hand, Then...that must mean he-

"Eiji?"

Snapping out of his throughts, Eiji looked down at Spike as the baby dragon held the broken red Core up to him.

"Here. I...I'm Sorry I couldn't help out more."

Eiji, along with everyone else, chuckled softly as he crouched down and rubbed his head. "You did great." He took the medal from him and smiled. "If it wasn't for you I might not have been able to save her in time."

"Oh my little Spikey Wikey," Rarity giggled, giving the little dragon a kiss on his cheek, "You were so brave."

"W-Well...I-I was...ehh...Umm..."

Scootaloo snickered as Spike tried his best to talk. "You wanna try that again with real words?"

While everypony else shared a laugh Eiji looked down at broken medal, letting out a sad sigh. "Ankh...I-huh?" He cut himself off when he noticed something glowing in his other hand. Just as he looked over, the three pink Core Medals suddenly flew from his grip and began circling the broken one.

Everyone jumped back in fright but the medals remained floating in midair. Seconds later a clattering could be heard all around them as the silver ones littering the ground began to move on their own. The pink Cores flashed even brighter as dozens of coins were lifted into the air and began massing around the broken medal.

Eiji and the ponies shielded their eyes from the light as the coins were pressed together. After a moment the pink light surrounding it turned to red as the three cores suddenly dropped to the ground lifelessly. As the light slowly died down all of them looked again to see the coins had formed into a solid shape floating in the air before them, an arm. It had five fingers like Eiji's but it was bright red and green with color. It also had two wing-like protrusions ontop of it and several rings on it's fingers.

While the ponies started at it in shock it 'turned' towards Eiji, who had a particularly dumbfounded experssion on his face.

"Tch!" It scoffed, much to everypony's continued surprised, and began to speak. "Oi, Eiji! What did you get us into this time? I was just getting used to being dead."

"...A-Ankh."

To be continued...

A/N: Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed it and that it was worth the wait. As always any comments, suggestions or questions would be greatly appreciated.

Translations:
Tenma= Pegasus
Kouma= Pony

UniTenKou Combo based on art done by DoctorRedBird on Deviantart, which I also used for the cover art. Special thanks to him for giving me his blessing.

Author's Note

Edit for 6/13, testing using different colored text for Medal names and inserted the theme song. Worked out good but I think the pink is a little too light. Anyone bothered by it? Also gave a few parts a bit of tweeking to correct some errors and improve it a little, at least I hope. Let me know what you guys think.

The Terrifying Threat, Celestia's Strategy, Approaching Danger

My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic -X- Kamen Rider OOO - Subarashii Harmony!!

Chapter 3: The Terrifying Threat, Celestia's Strategy, Approaching Danger

'Oh by the love of Epona move faster!!' Princess Luna pleaded silently, shooting a quick glare at the large clock on the throne room wall. 'I don't think I can take much more of this fool!'

It was a well known fact in Equestria that anypony has the right to come into the Royal Court and speak to the Princesses, provided they had an appointment of course. Upon entering the throne room each visitor had twenty minutes to offer proposals, make requests or voice concerns. This was usually more than enough time, allowing Celestia and Luna to meet with as many ponies as possible each day.

However, there was another, almost unknown rule about the Court. Should a pony's time run out one of two things would happen. The current Princess would either politely interrupt and point out the time or they would sit quietly and allow them another minute or two of leeway. The latter was usually a good sign that the Princess had taken an interest in what they were hearing. In this case, however...

'He's not getting another second!' Luna thought, trying her best to maintain her serene smile as she listened to the pony currently before her.

"In conclusion..." Prince Blueblood said haughtily as he swept his mane back, "based on all of the traits and accomplishments I've just listed, I believe I am prepared to take a more active role in the governing of Equestira."

'Not a chance! Not a chance in Tartarus you arrogant little-' The Night Princess cut the thought off before it was fully formed. She promsied Celestia she would do her best to reside over the afternoon court while she was in Ponyville investigating the recent events. This meant, above all else, keeping her temper under control. 'Still, she could have warned me that HE was on the schedule before I agreed.'

"Naturally I expect to start small," the stallion continued, oblivious to the sound of grinding teeth emanating from the throne. "Perhaps the governorship of Manehatten or even-"

*SLAM*

Both Blueblood and the Princess jumped in surprise as the throne room doors suddenly swung open and a single guardspony came running towards the throne.

"Princess Luna! I-Oh, s-sorry your highness..." The guard apologized, giving the perturped prince a slight bow before turning back to the Princess. "Prince-Captain Shining Armor has returned with his field report."

"Ahh, excellent. Thank you, good stallion, please show him inside," The guard bowed his head and hurried back out as Luna stepped down from the throne, "My apologies dear nephew but I'm afraid I must cut our meeting short. This is a matter of upmost importance. However, rest assured, I will discuss your proposal with my sister and inform you of our decision as soon as possible."

Luna braced herself, fully expecting Blueblood to whine and protest. However, he merely let out a dramatic sigh and bowed.

"I supposed it can't be helped, royal duty and such," His tone held a slight hint of frustration, clearly he was expecting to meet with Celestia today, "Thank you for your time Aunite, have a pleasant afternoon."

With another bow Blueblood turned to leave just as Shining Armor entered. As the two passed each other they exchanged a short nod.

"Captain."

"Blueblood." Shining Armor tried not to smirk as Blueblood scowled. The prince still wasn't quite used to him being a member of the royal family and Shining rarely missed an opportunity to point it out.

Shining Armor made his way up to the princess and saluted. He opened his mouth to speak but Luna raised her hoof to cut him off. She glanced past him, wanting to make sure Blueblood was well out of earshot before either of them said anything. Once the prince had departed and the doors closed Luna let out a heavy sigh, smiling at Shining Armor.

"Thou art a life saver Captain. We-" Luna caught herself slipping into archaic Equestrian and cleared her throat, "I am not sure how much longer I could stand listening to that blowhard. How does my sister put up with him?"

"I have no idea your highness. But it was an honor to come to your rescue my lady." Shining Armor replied with a chuckle, giving the Night Princess a respecful bow.

Luna rolled her eyes at him and gently tapped her hoof on the floor. "Oh, stop that. Raise your head Shining Armor, are we not family now?"

The unicorn blushed slighty as he stood up straight once more. "Sorry, force of habit."

"You are forgiven...this time." Luna winked at him playfully. "So, what do you have to report? Have you-"

A sudden flash of light interrupted her, forcing the pair to shield their eyes as a glowing object appeared at the base of the throne. The light faded after a few seconds, revealing the regal form of Luna's older sister.

Celestia took a quick look around the room before her eyes fell upon her sister and Shining Armor.

"Perfect, you're both here." Celestia said, a weary smile gracing her lips. "I have something vitally important to tell you two. Are there anymore appointments today Luna?"

"No," Luna replied, a slight hint of confusion in her voice. "Prince Blueblood was the last one on today's list."

"Excellent. Thank you again Luna, I knew I could rely on you," she gave her little sister a loving nuzzle before turning to Shining Armor. "Where is Cadance? Is she here with you?"

Shining shook his head. "She's still out helping with the search. Should I go and get her?"

"No!" Celestia cried, making the two jump in surprise. Mentaly chiding herself for the outburst, she took a calming breath continued. "I mean; no, that won't be necessary. In fact, I must ask you not to repeat anything I am about to tell you. Not to Cadance, or anypony else."

Shining Armor and Luna noted the seriousness in Celestia's voice. It was rare that the Sun Princess spoke in anything other than a calm, motherly tone.

The Prince-Captain swallowed nervously before bowing his head. "As you command your highness."

Celestia sighed at this but smiled all the same, she knew she could trust the two ponies before her with her very life. There was no need to be short with them. "My apologies Shining Armor, I meant that more as a request. I simply don't want to risk this information getting out until we're ready to make an official statement."

"Is something the matter sister?" Luna asked, having moved to Celesta's side, "Did something happen in Ponyville?"

Celestia paused for a moment, looking between the two of them as if trying to find the right words. "I'm afraid so. I suppose there's no point in trying to sugarcoat it. When I returned to Ponyville, it was under attack."

"Attack!?" Luna's wings flared in surprise as Shining Armor practically leapt forward.

"What happened?! Is anypony hurt?! Is Twilight-"

"Everypony is safe." Celestia said calmly, holding up her hoof to quiet them. "Aside from a some minor property damage and a few bumps and bruises there were no serious injuries. The attacker was a monster from Eiji's world. Thankfully my theory was correct, those coins were indeed Core Medals, and Eiji was able to use them to destroy it."

Luna and Shining Armor both let out a sigh of relief.

"However," She began again, the pair of royals snapping to attention once more. "I fear this is merely the begining..."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naturally the ponies who had witnessed the battle, most notably the Cakes and the Mayor, had plenty of questions about what happened and about the two strange new comers. Twilight and her friends quickly ushered Eiji and Ankh into the library while the I tried to reassure the citizens.

"Everypony please remain calm," Celestia pleaded, trying to quiet the frightened crowd. "I promise everything will be explained soon. Please be patient"

"How soon? What's going on!?" An Earth Pony cried out.

"Where did they come from?" another asked, "What kind of magic was that!?"

"Are we being invaded!?"

Celestia surpressed a sigh, trying as hard as she could to maintain her composure. "Please, I-"

"Excuse me your highness," Pinkie Pie interupted as she bounced past the Princess. "Let me handle this."

At this point Celestia was willing to try anything and nodded for Pinkie to go ahead. Pinkie shot the princess a playful wink as she raised her hoof to get the crowd's attention.

"Attention everypony!!" The pink pony bellowed, having pulled a megaphone seemingly out of nowhere. "I made two new friends today! Their names are Eiji and Ankh and they're both really nice!" She paused for a moment, letting out a sheepish chuckle. "Well technically I just met Ankh so he might not be as nice but Eiji likes him and that's good enough for me! If you would like to meet them yourselves we'll be having a 'Welcome to Ponyville' party for them later tonight! I'm sure they'd love to be friends with all of you too! We'll try to answer all of your questions then but for now please return to your business! We have a lot of preparations to make!"

With her announcement complete Pinkie's megaphone vanished once again and the gathered ponies murmered quietly amongst themselves. Much to Celestia's surprise, the crowd began to disperse, their converstations turning to what kind of treats would be at the party.

Celestia stood there wided eyed for a moment before breaking out into a fit of giggles. "Well done Pinkie Pie. You never fail to amaze me my dear."

"Aww, it was nothing your highness," Pinkie replied with a slight blush as she turned back into the library.

Celestia followed her inside and immediately had to supress a shudder when she spotted Ankh floating around the library's upper level. Depite the brief introduction Eiji had given her and the others outside the sight of him was still a bit unnerving.

Glancing down she saw the other ponies gathered around the reading table were just as distrubed, especially her student. It was understandable, of course. Having a stanger examine every inch of her home was bad enough but having an ill-tempered, disembodied arm do so was just plain unsettling. Celestia placed a comforting hoof on her student's back, hoping to calm her down. The unicorn visibly relaxed and smiled up at her teacher just as Ankh rejoined them.

"Well, it's not much," Ankh said, hovering next to Eiji. "but as far as roosts go it's better than nothing."

"Umm, thanks?" Twilight replied, unsure if that was a compliment or an insult.

Ankh seemed to ignore her and instead turned his attention to the pink Core Medals laying on the table. "So these managed to revive me? Interesting."

Eiji nodded and picked one up. "What do you think, Ankh? Can you tell us anything about them?"

Ankh twitched irritably at the question. "Never seen them before. It's possible they were made before mine were, like Maki's, and just never used. I can't be sure though." Ankh's his fingers hovered above the Medals but just before touching it he pulled back and scoffed at it. "But there's something really off-putting about them. I can't put a finger on it but they feel...disgusting."

"That's not very nice," Pinkie said with a frown. "They seem pretty nice to me. After all, they put you back together."

Ankh turned towards her and chuckled mirthlessly "Exactly. Core Medals embody selfishness and greed. Why would they repair my Core if they'd get nothing in exchange?"

"Well, maybe these are just really nice." Fluttershy answered, earning the approving smiles of everyone. Ankh seemed unconvinced but said nothing more on the subject.

*knock-knock*

A pair of quick knocks pulled everypony's attention back to the door as Rarity pushed it open and stepped inside, Spike right at her side. The sight of the white unicorn made everypony freeze for a split second before she gave them all a big smile.

"She's alright! Sweetie Belle's alright" She cried happily, rushing forward to give Eiji a hug. Everypony breathed a sigh of relief as the fashionista composed herself, still clinging to the human. "The doctor said she just has a little tummy ache but other than that she's just fine. They're going to keep her overnight just in case and my parents are with her now and-Oh thank you so much Eiji! You saved her life!"

Eiji's face was almost bright red at this point as he gently tried to pry Rarity off of him. Everypony seemed to find this amusing except for Ankh, who wasn't really paying attention, and Spike, who was currently giving Eiji is best death glare along with the 'I'm watching you' gesture.

After a moment Rarity finally calmed down enough to release Eiji and take a seat at the table, Spike quickly pulling up a chair between her and the human.

"Well, now that that's taken care of I s'ppose we shoud get down to business." Applejack began, knowing this was a subject they were avoiding but still had to address. "This Maki fella, ya sure he came here with ya?"

"Yes," Eiji said with a solemn nod. "There's no other explaination for that Yummy. All of the other Greeed were destroyed. I thought he was too but..."

The human trailed off, falling silent as he turned his attention to the small pile of Cell Medals on the table. He gripped the hem of his shirt tightly, his teeth clenching in frustration.

"I'm sorry. It's my-"

"Do not blame yourself Eiji," Celestia began, as if reading Eiji's thoughts. "You had no reason to suspect he had survived your last encounter. We were remiss as well. According to the reports two large objects flew out of the rift. In all the excitement after finding you, we completely overlooked that fact."

Eiji smiled at the princess but it was obvious he was still troubled, not that anypony could blame him.

"So, just how bad is this?" Rainbow asked, finally tearing her eyes away from Ankh. "You said this guy tried to destroy your world. Do you think he'll try doing again here?"

Eiji scratched his head as he thought about it and sighed. "He might. Maki wanted to see the end of the world because he thought it would make it 'complete.' I'm not really sure why he's the way he is but he's already strong enough to make a Yummy, that alone makes him too dangerous for this world."

"I agree," Twilight added. "however, we still need more information. For starters, can you tell us how he planned on ending your world? If we knew his plan we might be able to stop him before he causes too much damage."

"Hold it!" Ankh exclaimed, floating over to Twilight. "Don't get the wrong idea. Eiji and I may be stuck here but we have a score to settle with Maki. Leave him to us. You little weaklings would just get in the way."

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash growled and flew over to Ankh, getting right in his...palm. "Who're you calling weaklings!? We've taken on dragons, manticores and a whole army of freaky bug-pony...things! We're no pushovers and we're plenty tough enough to help fight this freak. Sure, maybe we couldn't take that Yummy thing down on our own but we didn't make things easy for it either! Besides," Rainbow grinned. "how much help can YOU be without the rest of you?"

There was an audible gasp from the other ponies as Rainbow finished her rant. After a few seconds of tense silence Ankh twitched a little and chuckled.

"For starters...Forehead Flick!"

"OW!" Rainbow cried out and stumbled backwards from Ankh's attack. Rubbing the little red mark on her head she glared at the disembodied hand and huffed. "Why you little-"

Ankh laughed and cracked his fingers. "Come on! I'll-"

"Enough! Both of you!" Celestia commanded, instantly pacifying Rainbow Dash. Ankh seemed hesitant but backed down as well a moment later. The princess sighed, calming herself, and turned back to Eiji. "Please answer Twilight's question if you can. Now that he's here, Maki is our problem as much as he is yours."

"You're right. We'll have a better chance if we work together." Eiji said, glancing over at Ankh as he spoke. "Maki's plan was to have one of the Greeed's absorb all of the Core Medals at once." He could see the confusion in the ponies' faces and quickly explained. "You see, each Greeed had a set of nine Core Medals and when they have all of their own their power is at it's peak. However, they could become even more powerful if they took in other Greeed's Cores as as well. The downside was that if they absorbed too many they could go out of control and turn into a rampaging monster. Maki wanted to force one of the Greed to do this and destroy everything. After that, he would destroy the rampaging Greed so he would be the last thing alive."

"He almost succeeded too." Ankh added darkly. "He managed to create his monster and it devoured a good chunk of the city. It transformed buildings, trees, even humans into millions of these," He picked up a few of the Cell Medals and tossed them onto the table. "and sucked them all up."

There was a long silence as the pair finished their explaination, broken only by Fluttershy's whimpers and Twilight's panting, as the Princess and her subjects tried to process this.

"That...that..." Twilight struggled to speak, tears forming in her eyes as she imagined such a horror unleashed in Equestria. "That's HORRIBLE! We can't let that happen! We have to stop him! W-We have...we have to..." She trailed off as the princess gently drapped her wing over her and nuzzled her.

"We will," Celestia said, those two words somehow soothing everypony at once. After making sure Twilight was okay she looked back up at Eiji. "So, if that is Maki's plan he would have to gather as many of the Core Medals as he could, correct?" Eiji nodded and Celestia's smile wided. "In that case we will simply have to collect as many as possible before he does. Not only will that prevent him from completing his plan but it will force him to come to us to take the ones we have. With any luck, by then Eiji will be prepared and he will still be weakened."

"Ha! Brilliant!" Ankh spat, sarcastically. "But that's easier said than done. According to you they're scattered all across this place. How exactly do you plan on finding them before Maki, Miss Sunshine?"

"Oh, that tears it! Nopony insults the princess while I'm around! Especially not a freaky thing like you!" Rainbow snarled as she lunged at Ankh, the Greeed barely managing to avoid her. She reared back to charge again but was stopped cold when a purple bubble appeared around her. "What the-OH, COME ON TWILIGHT! LET ME AT HIM!"

Twilight sighed and lowed Rainbow back to the floor as she pounded on the barrier with her hooves. She opened her mouth to lecture her but was cut off when Celestia cleared her throat.

The princess gave Ankh a playful smirk as she rose to her full height, casting a shadow over the arm. "Do not worry about my methods Mr. Ankh," The Greeed twitched a little at the honorific, "for now I only ask that you and Eiji trust me to handle the search while the two of you protect Ponyville if another of those monsters should appear."

Eiji rose to his feet as well and nodded. "Don't worry, I won't let you down. You can count on me your highness."

"I know I can," Her smile brighter than ever, Celestia gently tapped Eiji's shoulders with her horn. "With you here, I can rest easy knowing Ponyville is in capable hands." She paused, regarding all of her subjects. "Now, I'm afraid I must take my leave. There is much to do and precious little time to waste. Farewell, everypony."

With that Twilight and her friends rose to bow as Celestia turned and headed to the door. As she stepped out the library she turned back to face them once more.

"Be careful, all of you."

"We will, Princess." Twilight said, bowing once more as her mentor prepared to depart. "We will."

"Umm, Twilight?" Rainbow began irritably, tapping the side of the barrier. "Could you let me outta this thing please? I'm all nice and calm now."

Twilight blushed and chuckled nervously as she dispelled the barrier. "Heh-heh, sorry Rainbow. I-"

"Sneak attack! Hyah!" Rainbow cried as she suddenly pounced on Ankh, grabbing hold of the floating arm and wrestling it to the ground.

"Ha! Gotcha now!" The pegasus chuckled as she pinned Ankh to the floor. "Try and get outta this!"

"Forehead Flick!"

"Ow! Grrr, why you little- Take this!"

*Crunch*

"AUGH! She bit me!"

Twilight groaned and facehoofed while the others watched them go at it. With smile and a roll of her eyes Celestia stepped outside and teleported away, reappearing almost instantly in her throne room...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That is, unfortunately, our current situation," Celestia concluded solemnly as Luna and Shining Armor stared at her, trying to process all they had just heard.

"This is...most unsettling sister." Luna said as the information sank in. "Are you sure this 'Eiji' is up to the task?"

Celestia nodded. "I believe so. After all, this is an enemy from his world, one he has fought against for a long time."

"And we all know how that turned out." Shining Armor said, his tone as sharp as a sword. "With all due respect, I can't agree with this. We barely know anything about this 'human' yet you're trusting him to defend Ponyille against something he wasn't able to defeat in the first place."

Celestia turned to face her Captain of the guard. "Very well, then what do you suggest we do?"

Shining Armor straightened his back, standing at his full height. "Let me go to Ponyville. I'll take some of my best colts, find this...thing and wipe it out."

The sun princess let out a patient sigh, shaking her head at him. "Shining Armor, the creature that attacked Ponyville was merely an creation of Maki's, yet it was still incredibly powerful. Based on what Eiji has told me Maki himself is many times stronger and far more cunning. Even if he were vulnerable after being brought here, I doubt we will be able to find him until he reveals himself."

"So we just wait!?" Shining bellowed, stomping his hoof. "We sit back and let this monster roam Equestria, doing as he pleases!?! Meanwhile my sister's safety is in the hooves of some alien freak and his-"

"Shining Armor!" Celestia cut him off sharply, giving him the slightest glare she could manage. To his credit, Shining Armor met her gaze for several seconds before looking away. Celestia calmed herself before speaking again. "Now is not the time for rash actions. We're dealing with a foe the likes of which we have never encountered before.We cannot afford to act without knowing exactly what we're up against. The risk is simply too great."

Celestia stepped closer, leaning down she she could talk to him face to face.

"I understand your concerns, Shining Armor, believe me I do." She gently lifted his chin up to look in to his eyes. "Please, do not delude yourself into thinking you are the only pony who cares about Twilight. Or that you are the only one worried for her safety."

Shining was left speechless as the princess's words struck home. Taking a step backwards he looked down in shame. "I-I just-...I'm sorry your highness."

"It's alright." Celestia smiled as she draped her wing over the stallion. "If it is too much to ask for you to trust Eiji and Ankh, then please, trust me. I have faith enough for us both."

"I..." Shining Armor took a deep breath, trying to fight back the tears forming in his eyes. "I'll try Princess."

Celestia smiled down at him, using her wing tips to wipe the bits of moisture away. "That's all I ask."

While he collected himself she looked over at Luna who smiled back at her, giving her an approving nod at how she had handled the matter.

"I'm okay." Shining Armor said as he ducked under Celestia's wing and rubbed his eyes. Standing straight again he gave the Princesses a crisp salute. "Shall I deliever my report now your highness?"

"Please do," Celestia answered softly. "And please, there is no need for formality."

Luna chucked as she moved next to her sister. "I keep trying to tell him that, sister, but I fear it will take some time for it to sink in."

The Princesses shared a little chuckle before nodding for Shining Armor to begin.

The unicorn lowered his hoof, feeling a little more at ease, and began. "As requested, I gathered a squad of my best trackers and searched all over Canterlot for any trace of the objects that fell from the sky. Thanks to the description you gave me, we managed to find five of these 'Core Medals' so far. We don't know if there are anymore but we plan to continue the search until sundown. At which point..."

Luna smiled as he nodded for her to take it from there. "At which point my Night Guard will take over. I have already informed them of the situation and they are ready to pick up where the the captain's team left off."

Celestia nodded and turned to look out the window while she considered her options. The princess closed her eyes, feeling the sun sink down in the horizon, and took deep calming breath.

"Well done, both of you. Now for our next move," She turned back towards Shining Armor, "Before you change shifts, have the guards take the Medals you found to the Equestria Daily offices."

Both Luna and Shining Armor's eyes went wide in shock.

"The newspaper?" Luna asked, "Sister are you sure that's wise? Just now you swore us to secrecy."

Celestia chuckled a little at her sister's outburst. "I don't intend to give them the entire story just yet Luna. We'll let them take some pictures of the Medals and print up a story. It will describe them as incredibly dangerous objects and that, if found, they should be sent on to Canterlot as soon as possible."

"Ah, I see now!" Luna exclaimed, "If these medals were scattered throughout Equestria, then having everypony on the look out for them will allow us to gather them much faster and prevent them from falling into the wrong hands. Bravo, dear sister, quite clever."

"This...This could work." Shining Armor smiled, feeling hope well up inside him. "Consider it done! Err, that is, if there's nothing else."

Celestia shook her head as she began guiding the sun down the rest of the way. "That will be all Shining Armor. Tomorrow morning the medals you found will be sent straight to Ponyville." She chuckled softly, sneaking a look at Luna as she raised the moon for the night. "That is, if Luna doesn't mind delivering them for me."

"Hahhh..." Luna sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes, "I suppose. So long as you promise to handle Blueblood from now on."

"Haha, it's a deal." Celestia chuckled as night overtook the land. "Now, if you'll both excuse me, I'll be off to bed for the night. Thank you both for your all of your help today."

"Tis nothing dear sister, rest well."

"Goodnight Pri-Umm, Celestia. All in a days work."

The three royals exchanged a mutual bow before going their seperate ways. Shining Armor dashed out of the throne room to inform his troops of their new orders, Luna resumed the throne and prepared to begin the Night Court and Celestia made her way towards her chambers.

The sun princess yawned, stretching her wings, as she made her way to her room. Today had been quite eventful but she was confident things would settle down soon. As she approached the doors to her bedroom something caught her eye.

Coming to a halt, she turned her head towards a statue of an armored Earth Pony set on a small pedestal in the hallway. She passed it everyday on her way to and from her room but very few knew of its significance. With a heavy, sorrowful sigh, she trotted over to the statue and gazed into the stone pony's eyes.

"Yet again my dear little ponies are threatened..." She sighed, lifting her hoof and touching the statue's breastplate, specificly the sculpted gemstone set in the center. "Is it selfish of me to wish you were still here...Avalon?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset at Sweet Apple Acres was truly a sight to behold. The way the evening sun struck the orchad made each apple glisten like precious stones.

As Big Machintosh made his way up the small road to the farm house he couldn't help but marvel at the sight. He saw it almost everyday but it never got any less beautiful.

"Sure is great Sweetie Belle's alright isn't it Big Mac?" Applebloom asked from her perch on her brother's back.

"Ee'yup."

"And that Eiji fella sure was brave wasn't he? He really kicked that thing's rear didn't he?"

"Ee'yup."

Applebloom bided her time the entire walk, it was now or never. "Do you think we could go to back and check out the par-"

"Nope."

"Aww come on Big Mac please?" The youngest Apple pleaded.

The large stallion came to a stop, looking back at his little sister. "Sorry sis but it's almost yer bedtime. If ah done get you home Granny Smith'll have my hide."

"But I'm not even ti-" Applebloom whine trailed off into a yawn as she lay back down on his back. "...Fine."

Big Mac shook his head and he continued on his way. As he approached the farmhouse he spotted another pony coming the opposite direction.

When they got close enough Big Mac saw that it was a purple earth pony, his coat a few shades darker than Twilight Sparkle's, with a short black mane. He was a little scrawny but fairly tall, only a little shorter than Big Mac, and wore a pair of small round glasses.

"Good evening." the bespeckled said in an even, almost emotionless, tone as they passed each other.

"Ee'yup," Big Mac replied, giving the pony a slight nod.

The gesture was returned and the two continued on their way. Big Mac glanced back as the pony made his way towards Ponyville. Up on his back he felt Applebloom shudder a little.

"That feller sure was creepy wasn' he Big Mac?"

Normally Big Mac would have scolded his sister about being rude. This time, however, all he could do was nod in agreement.

"Ee'yup."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Maki glanced over his shoulder, watching the two ponies until they disappeared into their home. Satisfied that his new form was adequte he continued on his way towards the small town.

'What happened to my Yummy?' he asked himself. 'could these simple creatures have destroyed it? Or...could it be that HE was brought here as well.'

The Greeed-turned-pony clenched his teeth in anger before shaking his head to clear it.

'No matter. If OOO is here, I will see to his end first. With that, he continued on his way towards Ponyville.

To Be Continued...

Author's Note

Gotta say, this is gonna be really handy. Well this chapter was certainly a pain. I make no excuses for how long it took to get this chapter out but have to say I'm truly touched at the patience of my readers. You guys are amazing for sticking it out for me this long. I hope you enjoy the chapter, and I hope it was worth the obsurdly long wait.

Also, I'm sure OOO fans can guess at least three of the medals Eiji's got on the way. Anyone got a personal favortie they're hoping for?